Dixie

The song Dixie was written by an Ohioan, Daniel Emmett! In his youth, Emmett served as an army fifer, and he eventually became an accomplishd player on the violin, flute and drums. In 1843, he helped organize the Virginia Minstrels, one of the earliest minstrel troops.

In 1859, Emmett was working in New York with Bryant's Minstrels. Since the show needed a new walkaround (a musical march featuring all the performers), Emmett dashed off the first version of Dixie in a single afternoon.

The song became an instant success. It was used as a Lincoln campaign song in 1860, and that same fall it had become a hit in London, England. It reached its height of popularity in New York in 1861, and was played by Union army bands in 1862 and 1863 (with unionized words!)

Dixie was used as part of a stage play in New Orleans in 1860, and became immediately popular in the city. In February 1861, it was played at the inauguration of President Davis in Montgomery, Alabama. Soon several publishers issued pirated editions with a variety of verses, and the song's popularity in New Orleans introduced it to soldiers moving east. They in turn spread it through the Confederacy.

On April 30, 1861, the Nashville Courier published the set of words that appear below. They were written by Albert Pike of Arkansas, and became the most popular Confederate version. Texans modified Pike's verses slightly by substituting the line, "Awake! To Arms in Texas."

Southrons, hear your country call you!

Up lest worse than death befall you!

To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!

Lo, all the beacon fires are lighted,

Let all hearts be now united!

To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!

Chorus:

Advance the flag of Dixie!

Hurrah! Hurrah!

For Dixie's land we take our stand

and live or die in Dixie!

To arms! To arms!

And conquer peace for Dixie!

To arms! To arms!

And conquer peace for Dixie!

Hear the Northern thunders mutter!

Northern flags in South winds flutter!

To arms, etc.

Send them back your fierce defiance!

Stamp upon the cursed alliance!

To arms, etc.

Fear no danger! Shun no labor!

Lift up rifle, pike and sabre!

To arms, etc.

Shoulder pressing close to shoulder,

Let the odds make each heart bolder!

To arms, etc.

How the South's great heart rejoices

At your cannon's ringing voices!

To arms, etc.

For faith betrayed, and pledges broken.

Wrongs inflicted, insults spoken,

To arms, etc.

Strong as lions, swift as eagles,

Back to their kennels hunt these beagles!

To arms, etc.

Cut the unequal bonds asunder!

Let them hence each other plunder!

To arms, etc.

Swear upon your country's altar

Never to submit or falter,

To arms, etc.

Till the spoilers are defeated,

Till the Lord's work is completed.

To arms, etc.

It's interesting that both authors had their differences with the Confederacy. During the war, Emmett remarked "...if I had known to what use they [the south] were going to put my song, I will be damned if I'd have written it." Albert Pike briefly became a Confederate brigadier general and commanded the Indian brigade at Pea Ridge, but he then quarreled with his commanders and fled to escape arrest. He ended the war in self-imposed exile.