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The first song written for the war, The First Gun is Fired, was first published and distributed three days after the Battle of Fort Sumter. George F. Root, who wrote it, is said to have produced the most songs of anyone about the war, over thirty in total. Lincoln once wrote a letter to Root, saying, "You have done more than a hundred generals and a thousand orators".
The southern states had long lagged behind northern states in producing common literature. With the advent of war, Southern publishers were in demand. These publishers, based largely in five cities (Charleston, South Carolina; Macon, Georgia; Mobile, Alabama; Nashville, Tennessee' and New Orleans, Louisiana), produced five times more printed music than they did literature.
In the Confederate States of America, God Save the South was the official national anthem. However, Dixie was the most popular. United States President Abraham Lincoln said he loved Dixie and wanted to hear it played, saying "as we had captured the rebel army, we had also captured the rebel tune". At an April 9, 1865 rally, the band director was surprised when Lincoln requested that the band play Dixie. Lincoln said, "That tune is now Federal property...good to show the rebels that, with us in power, they will be free to hear it again". The other prominent tune was The Bonnie Blue Flag, and like Dixie was written in 1861, unlike Union popular tunes which were written throughout the war.
The United States did not have a national anthem at this time (Star Spangled Banner would not be recognized as such until the twentieth century). Union soldiers frequently sang the Battle Cry of Freedom, and the Battle Hymn of the Republic was considered the north's most popular song.
Read more about this topic: Music Of The American Civil War