During the Civil War, the South was by far the underdog.  They had fewer factories, less troops, less supplies, less everything except for great generals.  Their leading general was Robert E. Lee who said, "I don't believe we can have an army without music."  When marching into battle, it was very important to have a supporting band that would play certain types of music that would signal certain types of warfare movements, or purely to pump up the troop's morale.  Although just a few years before the Civil War, the North and the South were a United States that fought wars together.  As their differences grew stronger, the split happened.  The music styles from the South are completely different.  One example is what their songs are about, "Army of the south sang against hunger, exhaustion, cold, danger, wounds and an outnumbering, overwhelming enemy" because of their underdog status.  Not everyone in the South was fond of music, but General Stonewall Jackson was quoted, "The sweetest music I've ever heard is the Rebel Yell" referring to the battle cry of the Southern troops.  The Rebels had a song that was seen as their National anthem.  This song is called Dixie:

Dixie
I wish I was in de land ob cotton,
Old times dar am not forgotten,
Look away!  Look away!  Look away, Dixie Land!
In Dixie Land whar I was born in,
Early on one frosty mornin',
Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie Land!
Chorus:
Den I wish I was in Dixie,
Hooray!  Hooray!
In Dixie Land I'll take my stand,
To lib and die in Dixie!
Away, away,
Away down South in Dixie!
Away, away,
Away down South in Dixie! 

A second example we notice about how song is different in the South is how they speak.  In the first line, instead of using proper English to write the song, they spell out the words as the way they speak, "I wish I was in de land ob cotton," which was actually looked down upon from the North as being stupid.  There was a strong sense of southern pride in the South which really gave the Confederates an emotional attachment to some songs.  Some random facts about the song are that Dixie was written by Daniel Decatur Emmett who was an Ohioan Unionist.  Other Northerners talked about lynching him for writing Dixie, this explaining the extreme hatred for the South.  Not all Southern men are as passionate as some towards southern music.  General Stonewall Jackson stated that the Rebel Yell was the greatest type of music he had ever heard, yet didn't really care for Dixie.  This probably derives from his passionless care for music.  Since Dixie was their National Anthem, it was played at Jeff Davis' first inaugural address when he was announced the president of the Confederate States of America.  Southerners were so moved by the song, "Southern men took their stand to live or die for Dixie" no matter the cost.  After the surrender of the CSA,  even Abraham Lincoln wanted to hear Dixie because of its popularity in the South.  Not everyone caught on with Dixie, many men tried to re-write it and make the song lean towards a violent war type song.  This never caught on because men in the South wanted to sing about wishing they were in the land of cotton because that is what they loved.  Another song that the South produced was called "You Are Going To The Wars, Willie Boy."  The original song is written:   

You are going to the wars, Willie Boy, Willie Boy,
You are going to the wars far away,
To protect our rights and laws, Willie Boy, Willie boy,
And our banner in the sun's golden ray;
With your uniform all new,
And your shining buttons, too,
You'll win the hearts of pretty girls,
But none like me so true;
Oh, won't you think of me, Willie Boy, Willie Boy,
Oh, won't you think of me when far away?
I'll often think of ye, Willie Boy, Willie Boy,
And ever for  your life and glory pray.

Words and music were written by John Hill Hewitt.  Back in those days, there was almost no such thing as a woman fighting in a war.  She would maybe be a nurse, but never in a fighting uniform.  A good way to put it is, men fought in the wars while women stayed at home to weep for their boys in battle.  Soldiers of war were in many ways like the celebrities.  Women would line up to give the men going off kisses because of their bravery.  Even men in their sixties would woo girls who for forty years younger because of their charm of being in a uniform.  Ladies were "pestered by the notion [men] might find another girl, or more than one."  A Southern warrior by the name of Joe John Cowand wrote home that he had fifteen sweethearts, "They lean to me like a sore-eyed kitten to a basin of milk..." referring to how many women throw their selves upon men of war.

Although the Confederates put much emphasis into their songs, the Union was not without.  The Union songs are headed towards the same goal as the Rebels, but took a much different approach.  The Union songs usually involved a reference to previous battles that were either bloody, or battles that they lost.  In doing this they could remember their fallen brothers, but by the end of the song, they would sing of their victories, glory and honor.  One of the poems written by a northerner is called "At Gettysburg."  Going through the poem by segments will give a much clearer understanding of how the North's songs differ from their brothers down south.  Here it is written:

"A mist in our rear lay Antietam's dark plain,
And throughts of its carnage came o'er us;
But smiling beyond surged the fields of ripe grain,
And we swore none should reap it before us."

"He told how the foeman had closed in upon
His home by the Tennessee River.
He spoke of a sire in his weakness cut down,
With his last breath the traitor-flag scorning."

The very beginning of the poem does not start out with a loud battle cry or chant of some sort, but with the remembrance of an old battle called Antietam.  Antietam was the bloodiest single day battle in all of the Civil War.  That is the why in the poem thoughts of carnage run through their minds when reminiscing old battles.  As the poem continues, it begins to take a turn from temporarily mourning to the glory that lies ahead.  The Union writer hurls insults towards the South.  Calling their enemies weak which is their downfall and then calling them traitors to the Union.  Another excerpt from the poem:

"For days he had followed the cowardly band."

This reference to the South could be two things.  One, that it is purely out of name calling because of the intense frustration or hatred that has been brought to each side from such a deadly war.  Or two, because the South was so ill-prepared that they did not have near as many resources to supply their troops, let alone their band.  In this case, the writer could be referencing cowardly band to how poor sounding they are on the battle field.  A last quote from the reading: 

"To horse!  Pealed the bugle, while grape-shot and shell
Overhead through the forest were crashing;
A cheer for the flag-and the summer light fell
On the blades from a thousand sheaths flashing:

The honor and glory it must be to serve in a army of brotherhood.  Back in these days, horses were still a very valuable and decisive tactic to victory.  Also, the bugle was not just an instrument of choice for music purposes, but the bugle was used in cases of an all out charge or, to fix bayonets in many cases.  Back in the Civil War days, the fighting style was completely differnt with men lined up one by one ready to die before sacrificing their honor.  The Flag carrier was one of the most important jobs for a soldier and the men praised the flags, usually with loud rallying calls.  As the yells are screamed, the flag raised high, from a thousand sheaths come shining bayonets to defend the country they love.  Through song, we can truly understand the glory it was to fight in the Civil War.

There has been much focus on the songs, ballads, poems, and hymns of the Whites during wartime, but little study on the Blacks of that time.  Before the Civil War, there were hardly any free Blacks.  If they were free, it was only temporary until someone ripped up their papers, or if they were just an extremely rare case.  Nearly all Blacks were slaves.  What is surprising is the influence that Whites had on Black's musical taste.  In this review, "before the Civil War, there was no striking difference between the words sung by the Negros and the whites" it shows that the way white and black people worshipped or sang was very similar.  Missionary efforts from the Methodists and Baptists were at its height between the 1830's and 1850's.  Through their travel further South and West, the Whites shared their songs and culture with the newly found people.  Referring to the Whites, "there is amble testimony that in the white camp meetings were to be found much orgiastic emotionalism, in coherent ranting, wild gesticulation, and singing ecstasy involving shouts and jerks and marked by considerable improvisation."  Though the whites had their own revival camp meetings, some of their style may have rubbed off towards the African community.  Professor Newman I writes, "the spiritual has lingered in the South and been assimilated and given race flavor by the Negro" which means the African Americans took a form of the Whites spiritual fervor and made it their own.  As goes with their melodies, "the Negro's inheritance of music fundamentally different in basis from that of the white man and in his much more highly developed sense of rhythm, while Negro music preserves some echoes of Caucasian music."  Dating back from the times the slaves were still living in West Africa, drums and rhythm instruments were an important part in their lives.  This gives the Blacks an exceptional advantage over the Whites when it comes to dancing.  Although there is much commonality between Whites and Blacks, "Spirituals are solely the creation of the American Negro."  African Americans have solely created their own style of music that has been the uniqueness behind their culture that is so different from the Whites.

As we learned that Negro spirituals derived from White song, there is much more detail of why the Blacks partake in such activity.  Not only did they have music because it was fun and was quite interesting, they would have secret meetings to sing and boost morality level along with prayer and hero tales.  Most of what the Negroes sang was religious and a lot of their songs were depicted from daily life experiences.  Among music was also dancing, which was a form of music in their case.  To the Blacks, "Dancing was the universal rhythmic accompaniment to singing.  Africans danced for joy, and they danced for grief; they danced for love, and they danced for hate; they danced to bring prosperity, and they danced to avert calamity; they danced for religion, and they danced to pass time." Being from West Africa, these slaves come from a background of one of the oldest rhythmic instruments.  That instrument is the West African Drum.  The West African Drum is a type of drum that you beat with both hands very rapidly that produce great rhythm to dance and sing to.  There are countless amounts of differences from our culture to their culture.  One of those differences is the term orchestra.  When you think of an orchestra, you think string instruments such as a harp, violin, cello, and so on.  An orchestra in terms of the Slaves was accompanied by, "vocal, rhythmic, and instrument expression, [these were] employed to celebrate all the carious life situations, both ritualistic and festival."  In times of suffering and in times of need, slaves found ways to enjoy life through their unique use of music.