How Musical “Battles” Connected Women to the Violence of Civil War

Belle Montgomery

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Laura Hastings Hatch's 'Battle of the Wilde'

To paraphrase historian David McCullough, the Civil War was fought in 10,000 places, from Valverde, New Mexico, and Tullahoma Tennessee, to St. Alban’s, Vermont, and Fernandina on the Florida coast. The battle locations were many, but the conflict was alive beyond the battlefields, too – including parlors across the nation.
The American Civil War saw an explosion of popularity for battle pieces — compositions that invited those on the home front to imagine the events of the war through music, thanks to the power of sonic imagery. They became a regular component of life at the home front for many (mainly northern), white women.
In an article for the Summer 2016 volume of 19th Century Music, Professor Elizabeth Morgan of St. John’s University examines the role these pieces played on the home front. She traces the genre’s popularity back to...
Rest of Article: https://www.wqxr.org/story/how-musical-battles-connected-women-violence-civil-war/
 
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