The Rebel Yell

Think the rebel yell really did vary from region to region but was pretty much the same - definitely would scare religion into you! I believe it was a combination of yells, Indians and dogs into the mix. I believe the Indian contribution might be like these Cherokees, and the dog contribution like these hunters!

Dogs:

Cherokees:

Maybe even more frightening than a bunch of adrenaline pumped angry guys running at you screaming might be a bunch of adrenaline pumped angry cavalrymen riding at you screaming!
 
Agreed (above), but just as these hunters knew a language understood by their dogs, the Indians understood one another in their yelps. Their own narrations of battles including the Last Stand reveal a keen eye to what others were doing in the midst of attack. The rebels understood Jackson's command, to yell like banshees, and it worked.
Lubliner.
 
Jackson had a brilliant idea there and it worked very well according to accounts. I sure haven't read anything by Union soldiers saying they yawned when they heard it!
I lost an edit while trying to reply due to traffic on posting at the same time. As the story was;
The first 25 seconds of the second video sounds like me when I met a bear one evening while fixing supper. It had come upon my campsite close to its water source, with me tending the flames, and it reared up. I immediately stood and yelled the aforementioned monologue at the bear. Not a single curse came from my lips, nor any known word of mankind; just the guttural yelp and continual holler of a 'Obey me or I am dead' sounding man.
 
It was said that there was no "one" Rebel Yell. It varied, region by region. I used to raccoon hunt with my Dad and older brother when I was growing up. It was at night, and when the pack of hounds would hit a trail, my Dad would "holler them on" in order to encourage them. When the trail got hot and the sound of the hounds on a hot trail changed, the sound of the "hollering on" would change too. I can't help but think at least some of the Rebel Yell was derived from that old tradition. If I could describe it I would, but it does sound like some of the descriptions of the "yell" that I have seen and heard. Just my "2-cents"...
I think Ed Bearss thinks the same thing, and he probably knows.
 
Just for fun I've included the story below but the bottom video says it all!
Billy Idol named his 1983 album after drinking Rebel Yell" all night long …“I was at a party for Mick Jagger with Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards. They were drinking from a bottle with a confederate cavalry officer on it. It was called Rebel Yell. They told me it was a Tennessee southern sourmash and I decided to name my next album after it, and write a song called that.-Billy Idol
It is considered lower shelf and the label has changed through the years and I personally like the original the best:
View attachment 291115
It is proudly named after this:


Used to drink that during the 1960's. Not what you would call a smooth whiskey, but it got the job done. Made you feel patriotic too.
 
Imagine if you were the average Union "city slicker" from up North...it should scare the Bejesus out of you like you were being attacked in the outback or jungle! LOL


You know, before poking around in the war ' for real ' had had an idea the whole thing was over emphasized? Good grief no. Must have read dozens of accounts where Union men had their bones frozen. Battle toughened vets, no one's idea of soft, hated it. Maybe the veteran troops hated it more than green troops because they knew what was coming.
 
You know, before poking around in the war ' for real ' had had an idea the whole thing was over emphasized? Good grief no. Must have read dozens of accounts where Union men had their bones frozen. Battle toughened vets, no one's idea of soft, hated it. Maybe the veteran troops hated it more than green troops because they knew what was coming.
In most part I agree that it would be like being a major accident and getting crunched or shook up; hard to climb back into the driver's seat. But the green ones that had yet to see battle most often were told in what we call 'exaggerated verbiage' by the veterans what to expect. That in itself could be unnerving, thus proving ignorance can be bliss, and non-believers ignorant. Would you be willing to believe?
Lubliner.
 
A Federal chaplain described the Rebel Yell as sounding as if the “gates of Hades had been thrown open and all the demons came rushing out.”

Another Federal chaplain described it as “a wild eerie scream never uttered by savage beast nor civilized man.”
I love the way the Nineteenth Century described things. The famous rifled cannon at Vicksburg called " Whistling Dick " was described by a newspaper man back then as making a sound "as if all the imps of the lower Region were practicing phonetics on the final letter of the alphabet."
 
I love the way the Nineteenth Century described things. The famous rifled cannon at Vicksburg called " Whistling Dick " was described by a newspaper man back then as making a sound "as if all the imps of the lower Region were practicing phonetics on the final letter of the alphabet."
Aha, reminds me of the time in the fourth grade, Mrs. Lee was my teacher, and the class had flute practice. In the brief spell of silence one session, I opened up with a high-pitched shrill note by violent expulsion of breath. I got sent to the office for punishment. Mr. Gibbon was the principle. I had to agree it wasn't a nice sound.
Lubliner.
 
In most part I agree that it would be like being a major accident and getting crunched or shook up; hard to climb back into the driver's seat. But the green ones that had yet to see battle most often were told in what we call 'exaggerated verbiage' by the veterans what to expect. That in itself could be unnerving, thus proving ignorance can be bliss, and non-believers ignorant. Would you be willing to believe?
Lubliner.


Goodness yes. Would have believed anything- large sucker for that kind of thing. Otherwise known as easy prey.
 
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