The Bonnie Blue Flag

Cover of the 1861 sheet music for "The Bonnie Blue Flag"

"The Bonnie Blue Flag", also known as "We Are a Band of Brothers", is an 1861 marching song associated with the Confederate States. The words were written by the Ulster-Scots entertainer Harry McCarthy, with the melody taken from the song "The Irish Jaunting Car". The song's title refers to the unofficial first flag of the Confederacy, the Bonnie Blue Flag.

The song was premiered by lyricist Harry McCarthy during a concert in Jackson, Mississippi, in the spring of 1861 and performed again in September of that same year at the New Orleans Academy of Music for the First Texas Volunteer Infantry regiment mustering in celebration.

The New Orleans music publishing house of A.E. Blackmar issued six editions of "The Bonnie Blue Flag" between 1861 and 1864 along with three additional arrangements.

The "band of brothers" mentioned in the first line of the song recalls the well known St. Crispin's Day Speech in William Shakespeare's play Henry V (Act IV, scene ii).

Lyrical variations

The Bonnie Blue Flag, referred to in the song.

The first verse of the song goes:

We are a band of brothers and native to the soil,
Fighting for the property we gained by honest toil;[lower-alpha 1]
And when our rights were threatened, the cry rose near and far,
Hurrah! for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Although the second line is sometimes given as "fighting for our liberty with treasure, blood, and toil", University of San Diego professor Steve Schoenherr[1] and the library of Duke University[2] record the "property" version. According to Schoenherr, the song sheet was first published in 1861 by A. E. Blackmar and Brother in New Orleans. When Major General Benjamin Butler captured New Orleans, he allegedly arrested Blackmar, fined Blackmar $500, destroyed all copies of the music, and ordered that anyone caught whistling or singing "The Bonnie Blue Flag" would be fined $25 (roughly $500 in the 1860s).[3] Eleven other editions of the song were published with different lyrics.

Complete lyrics

1. We are a band of brothers and native to the soil

Fighting for the property we gained by honest toil[lower-alpha 2]
And when our rights were threatened, the cry rose near and far
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star!

Chorus:

Hurrah! Hurrah!
For Southern rights, hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

2. As long as the Union was faithful to her trust

Like friends and like brethren, kind were we, and just
But now, when Northern treachery attempts our rights to mar
We hoist on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Chorus

3. First gallant South Carolina nobly made the stand

Then came Alabama and took her by the hand
Next, quickly Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida
All raised on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Chorus

4. Ye men of valor gather round the banner of the right

Texas and fair Louisiana join us in the fight
Davis, our loved President, and Stephens statesmen rare
Now rally round the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Chorus

5. Now here's to brave Virginia, the Old Dominion State,

With the young Confederacy at last has sealed her fate,
And spurred by her example, now other states prepare
To hoist high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Chorus[4]

6. Then cheer, boys, cheer, raise a joyous shout

For Arkansas and North Carolina now have both gone out,
And let another rousing cheer for Tennessee be given,
The single star of the Bonnie Blue Flag has grown to be eleven.

Chorus

7. Then here's to our Confederacy, strong we are and brave,

Like patriots of old we'll fight, our heritage to save;
And rather than submit to shame, to die we would prefer,
So cheer for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Chorus[5]

Historical inaccuracies

The third verse of the song misstates the order in which the states seceded from the Union. The dates on which the states seceded are as follows:

South Carolina (December 20, 1860), Mississippi (January 9, 1861), Florida (January 10, 1861), Alabama (January 11, 1861), Georgia (January 19, 1861), Louisiana (January 26, 1861), Texas (February 1, 1861), Virginia (April 17, 1861), Arkansas (May 6, 1861), North Carolina (May 20, 1861), and Tennessee (June 8, 1861).

Thus, Alabama did not take South Carolina by the hand, but delayed its secession until the departure of Mississippi and Florida. The most likely reason for the discrepancy is literary license and a desire to fit within a certain poetic meter.

Union versions

As with many songs from the time of the American Civil War, this song had multiple versions for both the Union and Confederate sides. One Union version, written by J.L. Geddes, in 1863,[6][7] a British-born colonel who immigrated to the U.S., was called "The Bonnie Flag With the Stripes and Stars". Singing of Unionism and equality, it went:

We're fighting for our Union,
We're fighting for our trust,
We're fighting for that happy land
Where sleeps our father dust.
It cannot be dissevered,
Though it cost us bloody wars,
We never can give up the land
Where floats the stripes and stars.

Chorus: Hurrah, Hurrah,

For equal rights hurrah,
Hurrah for the good old flag
That bears the stripes and stars.
We trusted you as brothers,
Until you drew the sword,
With impious hands at Sumter
You cut the silver cord.
So now you hear the bugles,
We come the sons of Mars,
To rally round the brave old flag
That bears the stripes and stars.

Chorus

We do not want your cotton,
We do not want your slaves,
But rather than divide the land,
We'll fill your Southern graves.
With Lincoln for our chieftain,
We wear our country's stars,
And rally round the brave old flag
That bears the stripes and stars.

Chorus

We deem our cause most holy,
We know we're in the right,
And twenty million freemen
Stand ready for the fight.
Our pride is fair Columbia,
No stain her beauty mars,
On her we'll raise the brave old flag
That bears the stripes and stars.
Chorus
And when this war is over,
We'll each resume our home,
And treat you still as brothers,
Where ever you may roam.
We'll pledge the hand of friendship,
And think no more of war,
But dwell in peace beneath the flag
That bears the stripes and stars.

Chorus[8]

Another version went.

We are a band of Patriots who each leave home and friend,
Our noble Constitution and our Banner to defend,
Our Capitol was threatened, and the cry rose near and far,
To protect our Country's glorious Flag that glitters with many a star.

Chorus

Hurrah, Hurrah, for the Union, boys Hurrah
Hurrah for our forefather's Flag,
that glitters with many a star.
Much patience and forbearance, the North has always shown,
Toward her Southern brethren, who had each way their own;
But when we made our President—a man whom we desired,
Their wrath was roused, they mounted guns, and on Fort Sumter fired.
They forced the war upon us, for peaceful men are we,
They steal our money, seize our forts, and then as cowards flee,
False to their vows, and to the Flag, that once protected them,
They sought the Union to dissolve, earth's noblest, brightest, gem.
We're in the right, and will prevail, the Stars and Stripes must fly!
The "Bonnie Blue Flag" will be hauled down and every traitor die,
Freedom and Peace enjoyed by all, as ne'er was known before,
Our spangled Banner wave on high, with stars just Thirty Four[9]

Additionally, the Song of the Irish Volunteers, an anthem of the famous 69th New York regiment known as the Irish Brigade, was sung to the same tune.[10]

In popular culture

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Although later versions of the song give this line as "our Liberty, With treasure, blood and toil", the "property" line is the original version.[1][2]
  2. ↑ Although later versions of the song give this line as "our Liberty, With treasure, blood and toil", the "property" line is the original version.[1][2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Schoenherr, Steve (October 1, 2003). "The Bonnie Blue Flag". Archived from the original on August 21, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 Macarthy, Harry (1861). "The Bonnie Blue Flag". A.E. Blackmar & Bro. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Measuring Worth – Measures of worth, inflation rates, saving calculator, relative value, worth of a dollar, worth of a pound, purchasing power, gold prices, GDP, history of wages, average wage". Eh.net. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
  4. ↑ "We are a band of brothers / Bonnie Blue Flag". Musicanet.org. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
  5. ↑ Patriotic – the Bonnie Blue Flag
  6. ↑ "Browsing Levy Sheet Music Collection by Author "Col. J. L. Geddes (composer)"". JScholarship. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  7. ↑ "J. L. Geddes". Ancestry. Retrieved March 1, 2015. Born in Midlothian, Scotland on 23 Sep 1827 to Alexander Geddes and Elizabeth Carless. J. L. married Margaret Moore and had 7 children. J. L. married Elizabeth Evans. He passed away on 21 Feb 1887 in Ames, Iowa
  8. ↑ "Reply to "The Bonnie Blue Flag"". Civilwarpoetry.org. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
  9. ↑ "Reply to The Bonnie Blue Flag". Gallant10thmass.org. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
  10. ↑ Recording of song.
  11. ↑ John S. Rosenberg, "The Perils of Analogy" (John S. Rosenberg on TV), The New Republic, May 13, 1972, p. 23.

External links

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