Music in the Confederate Navy

[Quarter Gunner Bohlman]

A link about music in the Confederate Navy.

http://www.astrococktail.com/CSNmusic.html

Anyone know any other CSN music sites?

Thanks~

[GaWildcat]

Site about songs about the Alabama http://www.marshall.edu/library/spec...music_menu.asp

One thing to keep in mind, Chanties were not sung on CS warships, much as they were not sung on Ships of the US Navy or Royal Navy... most of the songs heard shipboard would have been forebitters, or foc'sle songs. The decks, both Spar and Gun had to be have silence mantained for the passing of orders. Most of the chanties that are now so well beloved are merchant fleet or whaling chanties.

[Quarter Gunner Bohlman]

Songs of the Civil War Navy

[GaWildcat]

Note that the title says Ballads? these would be the forebitters and fo'c'sle songs. What must be kept in mind was that the deep water navy of the Confederate Navy, while garnering great public acclaim, was tiny compared to the river and bay squadrons, which is where Mallory put the largest hopes of the CSN. He WANTED a deep water Navy, but knew that the hopes were pinned on an aggressive navy in home waters, and a vast majority of those were steam gunboats both wooden and Ironclad, so the chanty tradition would have been lower among the river navy. The crews of the Deep water commerce raiders were almost all foreign enlistments, many of them Royal Navy veterans, who would have kept a silent ship during evolutions or when on watch, as that was the tradition they were used to. Not saying they wouldnt break out the instruments and song when allowed to skylark....