Rebel Yell

[gem]

In this exclusive clip from the 1930s, Confederate veterans step up to the mic and let out their version of the fearsome rallying cry.

 

[Northern Light]

This seems comical to us now, but can you imagine several hundred young, strong men's screaming as they charged toward you? it must have been ferocious!

 

[Patrick H]

I've seen this clip quite a few times and I always enjoy it. It's kind of hard to imagine these nice old gents being fearsome warriors back in their younger days, but I'm sure they were. I get a real kick out of them, and it appears the crowd around them is enjoying their performance, too.

 

[kfranklin]

The Museum of the Confederacy has a phenomenal album where they attempt to replicate the rebel yell using original recordings remixed and remastered. A lone soldier sounds odd but an entire brigade has this odd echoing unearthly sound. It's quite terrifying as it does not sound human nor animal.

 

[Frederick14Va]

A fair amount of research has been conducted in recent years into the famed "Rebel Yell".... harvesting not only the hand full of recordings of aged vets... but also collecting the attempts by many including Federal officers experiencing same.... trying to explain in words what it sounded like.... and its not the redneckish "Yeee haw" as many have long thought it to be..... Many more reputable reenactment units now actually practice it... for use on the field....

Granted as others have said... the singular Yep Yep Whoo doesn't seem very threatening... however when you multiply it by many hundreds or thousands..... it quickly develops into a ominous taunting that echoes into the environment that makes it difficult to evaluate numbers,, or if yet seen.... what exact direction its coming from..... The acoustics of it seems to naturally and confusingly bounce around in the air.... especially in wooded areas.... like a swarm of bee's.... echoes all around you... a hundred... could sound like and give the impression of thousands.....

Additional thoughts.... besides just tormenting and unnerving the enemy... it could have also served as a catalyst to keep the southern ranks pushing forward.... It seems quite un-natural to do the yell standing still.... like you have to be moving forward at a brisk pace to go along with it... When the band plays you habitually will fall in step with the cadence... Same reaction.... Same might hold true with the yell... your pards left and right of you are also doing it... your doing it too... moving forward in a wave... conscious focus to keep up the yell.. the pace and forward momentum... less incidental focus on what the enemy might be blasting into your ranks as much.... We read Federal officer accounts of attacking Confederates surging forth with the yell... blasting massive holes in the advancing ranks with artillery and musketry... undaunted the attack line continues without even a pause or waver.... Kinda makes you think more on the theory.... The yell serving multiple purposes....

 

[Lauren]

Granted as others have said... the singular Yep Yep Whoo doesn't seem very threatening... however when you multiply it by many hundreds or thousands..... it quickly develops into a ominous taunting that echoes into the environment that makes it difficult to evaluate numbers,, or if yet seen.... what exact direction its coming from..... The acoustics of it seems to naturally and confusingly bounce around in the air.... especially in wooded areas.... like a swarm of bee's.... echoes all around you... a hundred... could sound like and give the impression of thousands.....

Wow, I'd never considered this before: the Rebel Yell as a sort of tactic to bolster their ranks, at least in the imagination of the enemy. This makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[bankerpapaw]

I'd hate to be on the receiving end of thousands of Southern boys charging my position.

 

[Patrick H]

The Museum of the Confederacy has a phenomenal album where they attempt to replicate the rebel yell using original recordings remixed and remastered. A lone soldier sounds odd but an entire brigade has this odd echoing unearthly sound. It's quite terrifying as it does not sound human nor animal.

I've heard this recording, too. It sounds nothing like the old vets in the LOC film clip, above. But still, it's another old veteran recorded.

I've concluded from this that there was no one "official" version of the yell, and that it probably varied from unit to unit.
This is a case where the old vets don't agree, but they are all still probably right.

 

[Nathanb1]

I've said this before....I never understood what it would be like with thousands of men doing the rebel yell till I went to an Aggie game. It's no surprise the first president of A&M was Sul Ross, who fought Comanches before he was a Confederate General. I've often noticed the "roar of the crowd" in other stadiums....well, we "whoop." Picture yourself facing this with a little artillery thrown in the mix. It'll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, for sure....

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...&mid=62CDFB90FADDD901586D62CDFB90FADDD901586D

 

[AUG]

Further information on the veterans in the video:
The first speaker is Dr. Ernest S. Lewis, who was president of the board of directors of Camp Nicholls and had served as a surgeon in the 3rd Georgia Cavalry; he introduces Superintendent Robert H. Hackney, who was in charge of the Camp Nicholls veterans home. Hackney served in Company D, 30th Louisiana Infantry during the war. The first to give the Rebel Yell was James Dinkins, who served in the 18th Mississippi Infantry and 18th Mississippi Cavalry. Dinkins was followed by Leonard Waller Stephens, who was commander in chief of the United Confederate Veterans; during the war he was a member of Company E, 27th Louisiana Infantry. Next was Charles P. Jones, who served in the 25th Tennessee Infantry. After Jones came Paul Villavaso, who served in Gaudet's Company, St. James Regiment, Louisiana Militia. I believe he also served in the Pelican Light Artillery of Louisiana. Next came Cyrus LaGrange, who was a member of the 7th Louisiana Cavalry, Company B. After LaGrange came J.W. Manney, who was a member of Company A, 2nd Louisiana Cavalry, and may have served in Morgan's Cavalry as well. Next came James M. Blount, who I believe served in Company A, 13th Louisiana Infantry. After Blunt came Frank E. Powell, who was a member of Companies A/E, 10th Louisiana Infantry in the Army of Northern Virginia. And last but not least was James Augustus Pierce, who fought with Company D, 7th Alabama Cavalry during the war.
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/1932-rebel-yell-video.83290/#post-629696

This video has been posted several times before.
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/rare-video-of-cs-veterans-giving-the-rebel-yell.93471/#post-776223
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/what-the-rebel-yell-sounded-like.73875/#post-483388
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/abs...ll-recorded-by-smithsonian.38260/#post-358264

 

[Patrick H]

I've said this before....I never understood what it would be like with thousands of men doing the rebel yell till I went to an Aggie game. It's no surprise the first president of A&M was Sul Ross, who fought Comanches before he was a Confederate General. I've often noticed the "roar of the crowd" in other stadiums....well, we "whoop." Picture yourself facing this with a little artillery thrown in the mix. It'll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, for sure....

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=aggie crowd kyle field&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=62CDFB90FADDD901586D62CDFB90FADDD901586D

Now we're talkin'! That's excellent!

 

[Northern Light]

I've said this before....I never understood what it would be like with thousands of men doing the rebel yell till I went to an Aggie game. It's no surprise the first president of A&M was Sul Ross, who fought Comanches before he was a Confederate General. I've often noticed the "roar of the crowd" in other stadiums....well, we "whoop." Picture yourself facing this with a little artillery thrown in the mix. It'll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, for sure....

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=aggie crowd kyle field&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=62CDFB90FADDD901586D62CDFB90FADDD901586D

Aggies..... remembering on of my favourite movies!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rilj85YCS1Y#t=2

 

[Private Watkins]

"Chawge 'em boys, chawge 'em..."

 

[Private Watkins]

Further information on the veterans in the video:
The first speaker is Dr. Ernest S. Lewis, who was president of the board of directors of Camp Nicholls and had served as a surgeon in the 3rd Georgia Cavalry; he introduces Superintendent Robert H. Hackney, who was in charge of the Camp Nicholls veterans home. Hackney served in Company D, 30th Louisiana Infantry during the war. The first to give the Rebel Yell was James Dinkins, who served in the 18th Mississippi Infantry and 18th Mississippi Cavalry. Dinkins was followed by Leonard Waller Stephens, who was commander in chief of the United Confederate Veterans; during the war he was a member of Company E, 27th Louisiana Infantry. Next was Charles P. Jones, who served in the 25th Tennessee Infantry. After Jones came Paul Villavaso, who served in Gaudet's Company, St. James Regiment, Louisiana Militia. I believe he also served in the Pelican Light Artillery of Louisiana. Next came Cyrus LaGrange, who was a member of the 7th Louisiana Cavalry, Company B. After LaGrange came J.W. Manney, who was a member of Company A, 2nd Louisiana Cavalry, and may have served in Morgan's Cavalry as well. Next came James M. Blount, who I believe served in Company A, 13th Louisiana Infantry. After Blunt came Frank E. Powell, who was a member of Companies A/E, 10th Louisiana Infantry in the Army of Northern Virginia. And last but not least was James Augustus Pierce, who fought with Company D, 7th Alabama Cavalry during the war.
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/1932-rebel-yell-video.83290/#post-629696

This video has been posted several times before.
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/rare-video-of-cs-veterans-giving-the-rebel-yell.93471/#post-776223
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/what-the-rebel-yell-sounded-like.73875/#post-483388
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/abs...ll-recorded-by-smithsonian.38260/#post-358264

One or two ladies appear to be playing a prominent role on stage... do you know who they were? I don't know why, but every time I've seen that clip I've wondered if one of them might be Helen Dortch Longstreet...? Probably not, but just curious who they might be, probably UDC...

 

[Drew]

Additional thoughts.... besides just tormenting and unnerving the enemy... it could have also served as a catalyst to keep the southern ranks pushing forward....

Yes - the practice goes back to the Romans (or before). You unnerve the enemy but also provide an outlet for stress (fear) among the attackers. Somewhere in my mess I've got a book that attributes the origin of the Rebel Yell to a Native American fox hunting cry, meant to scare the bejeezus out of the prey. One of these days I'll find it and post it.

 

[Northern Light]

One or two ladies appear to be playing a prominent role on stage... do you know who they were? I don't know why, but every time I've seen that clip I've wondered if one of them might be Helen Dortch Longstreet...? Probably not, but just curious who they might be, probably UDC...

Probably just daughters!

 

[leftyhunter]

In this exclusive clip from the 1930s, Confederate veterans step up to the mic and let out their version of the fearsome rallying cry.

Very good find I had no idea anyone recorded some old timers during the rebel yell! They actually sounded fairly similar to each other. My understanding is it was based on an old timey Scottish war yell from say back in the days of William Wallace maybe even older then that. No doubt if the yell came from thousands of young men it was ferocious. I imagine that there was plenty of yelling from both sides.
Leftyhunter

 

[leftyhunter]

In this exclusive clip from the 1930s, Confederate veterans step up to the mic and let out their version of the fearsome rallying cry.

I have an album of some old 1950's rocka billy called'rocking bones" and they also do a rebel yell. Also notice many in the crowd are waving American flags has well. By the 1950's the stars and bard would have a new political meaning back then it appears more historical.
Leftyhunter

 

[gem]

Very good find I had no idea anyone recorded some old timers during the rebel yell! They actually sounded fairly similar to each other. My understanding is it was based on an old timey Scottish war yell from say back in the days of William Wallace maybe even older then that. No doubt if the yell came from thousands of young men it was ferocious. I imagine that there was plenty of yelling from both sides.
Leftyhunter

yeah, this is from Smithsonian.

 

[gem]