Previous posts for October 8th are here: Louis Vierne; Toru Takemitsu; Walter Schumann (2019), Giulio Caccini (2020), Giulio Caccini (2021), Giulio Caccini (2022), and Giulio Caccini (2023)
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Walter Kittredge (8 October 1834 – 8 July 905) was an American performer and songwriter, who wrote over 500 songs, many of them dealing with themes of abolitionism and the American Civil War, the most famous of which was "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground."
Sentimental Effusion on a War Song
The upbeat patriotic music of 1861 was replaced by sadder, more sentimental songs as the reality of the terrible cost of the Civil War set in. One of these songs was Tenting on the Old Campground, written by New Hampshire composer and musician Walter Kittredge [and] captured the feelings of the veteran soldiers who had lost so many of their comrades in the seemingly never ending war, men who wanted it to end so they could go home. The song became very popular with both civilians and soldiers on both sides, and thousands of copies of the sheet music were sold. – ironbrigader.com
“Tenting Tonight” was a favorite song
Of the soldiers in gray and of soldiers in blue,
Who both shared the view that the war was too long,
While dreaming of home when the fighting was through.
For Kittredge success must have been bittersweet,
He must have felt pride, but anxiety,
The South, in the end, had gone down to defeat,
But oh! At what cost to society!
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