New York Volunteer, The

DESCRIPTION: "'Twas in the days of seventy-six, When Freemen young and old, All fought for independence then." "Tis my delight to march and fight Like a New York Volunteer." The City Regiments will defend Washington. The conflict in Baltimore is recalled
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1862 (The Campfire Songster, according to Silber-SongsOfTheCivilWar)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar soldier nonballad
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April, 1861 - Clashes between Massachusetts troops and the residents of Baltimore.
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #1596, p. 108, "The New-York Volunteer" (3 references)
Silber-SongsOfTheCivilWar, pp. 187-188, "The New York Volunteer" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lincolnshire Poacher" (tune)
NOTES [136 words]: The Baltimore conflict mentioned in this song took place on April 19, between the 6 Massachusetts regiment and civilians. The soldiers, who were very inexperienced, were being taken though the town in horsedrawn railroad cars (the railroads from north and south of Baltimore did not connect, so cars had to be hauled from one terminal to the other) when the mob started stoning them. Eventually the troops fired back; four soldiers were reported killed and more than three dozen wounded. At least twelve civilians are said to have been hurt. Although no other clashes were so violent, "until the end of the war, Baltimore was treated as an occupied city." (Source: Patricia L. Faust, editor, Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War, Harper & Row, 1986 (I use the 1991 Harper Collins edition), p. 37.)
Last updated in version 5.0
File: SCWF187

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography