CHAPTER XV. "TENTING ON THE OLD CAMP GROUND." NE Sunday evening in 1896, Mr. Grasheider sang "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground" at Trinity Church, Chicago, and the effect on the audience was so remarkable that it called out an editorial in the Tribune on the influence of that popular song of the civil war. On the occasion referred to, the song moved the fountain of tears in the soldiers and others who were present, recalling, as it did, many a scene in the Southland in the old battle days, so long ago, and yet so near. The melody is of that peculiar quality which will prevent the song from ever growing too old to reach the emotions of the human heart. In December, 1894, I lectured in Music Hall, Kansas City, Mo., on "The Story of Patriotic Songs." A special feature of the program was the singing of some of the great battle hymns and na tional songs whose history and illustrations of their influence were given in the lecture. The audience was quite large, and among those who honored me with their presence were members from three ex-Confederate posts. After giving the story of "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground," Captain Henry, a popular singer, and editor of a soldier's paper, began the song in a tone full of genuine feeling. The audience was requested to join in the refrain: "Many are the hearts that are weary to-night, It was extremely affecting to hear that large gathering of old soldiers of both armies give expression to their sentiment by singing this song of affection with a perfect unison of hearts as well as of voices. I cannot recall another instance when the chorus of "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground” was sung with more soul-feeling, with finer rhythm, or with more exquisite harmony, than by that audience composed of the Blue and the Gray. Two or three years ago the Chicago InterOcean printed several communications on the authorship of this song. One writer claimed that it was written on the night of the battle of Cedar Creek Hill, Va., and that Kittredge wrote the words, while his comrade, named Russell, com posed the music. In order to get the story of the song stripped of all fiction, I wrote to Mr. Kittredge, requesting the essential facts connected with its birth, and on the 2d of May, 1897, he wrote from his home at Reed's Ferry, N. H., as follows: "I take this time to give you a little history of 'Tenting on the Old Camp Ground.' I wrote the words and music at the same time one evening, soon expecting to go down South to join the boys in blue, and I desired to have something to sing for them, as that had been my profession, giving concerts for a few years before the war. I think I wrote the song in tears, thinking of my wife and little daughter; but I was not accepted when examined by the physician. He thought I could do my part better to sing for Uncle Sam, so I kept writing and singing for Liberty and Union. The song was composed in 1863, and published by Ditson, Boston, in 1864. "WALTER KITTREDGE." Mr. Kittredge was born in Merrimac, N. H., in 1832. At the age of twenty he began to give ballad concerts, and four years later he sang with Joshua Hutchinson, of the noted Hutchinson family. After the war broke out in 1861, he compiled a "Union Song Book," which was only a moderate success. His only composition which had merit enough to keep it alive is "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground." Like many other singers, Kittredge is a "poet" of one song only, and his fame rests solely upon the product of a sudden "inspiration"—if that term is permissible in this connection. "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground” is not an animating battle piece, of course, but is peculiarly touching in sentiment and plaintive in melody; and many thousands of soldiers, in the monotony of camp life and on weary marches, when thoughts of home burdened the mind, found relief in its pathetic tones and in the delightful harmony of the chorus. Such a song has a powerful hold upon human feelings. It touches the better part of our natures, and "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground," though not a song that has made exciting history, will be long and affectionately associated with the patriotic struggle for liberty and Union. CHAPTER XVI. SONGS OF CHEER AND PATHOS. MONG the fine songs of cheer which the war times produced, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" was one of the most popular. It was a great favorite in the homes of the North, and nowhere did it cause more genuine merriment than in the army when the boys were either on the march or in camp. The four stanzas are as follows: When Johnnie comes marching home again, We'll give him a hearty welcome then, The men will cheer, the boys will shout, And we'll all feel gay When Johnnie comes marching home. The old church bell will peal with joy, To welcome home our darling boy, |