Song Name: The Bonnie Blue Flag
Year of Release: 1861
Written By: Harry McCarthy
Released by: No original recording exists, though later renditions are available
Key Lyrics: "And when our rights were threatened, and the cry rose near and far/Hurrah! for the Bonnie Blue flag that bears a single star."
"Hurrah! Hurrah!/For Southern rights, Hurrah!"
"But now, when Northern treachery attempts our rights to mar/We hoist on the Bonnie Blue flag that bears a single star."
"Then here's to our Confederacy, strong we are and brave/Like patriots of old we'll fight, our heritage to save."
Description: The song's melody was adopted from the tune "The Irish Jaunting Car," and the titular flag was the unofficial first flag of the Confederacy, a blue flag with a white star (the Bonnie Blue flag). Along with "Dixie" and "God Save the South," the song was one of the three de facto national anthems of the Confederacy. The lyrics are explicitly pro-South, portraying the Union as infringing on the rights of the South, the Confederates as brave defenders of their homeland and traditions, and the whole conflict as a showcase of Union tyranny and aggression. Interestingly, the song, despite its pro-rebellion viewpoint, gets the order in which the Southern states seceded completely wrong.
Why It Was Important: The song's explicit pro-Southern lyrics resonated with Southerners who felt that their ways of life were being threatened. The song framed the Civil War as a dispute over states' rights and never mentioned slavery, likely to provide a sanitized version of the South. Like many Civil War songs, the melody written by one side was adopted by the other side. The Union put their own spin on the song's lyrics. Interestingly, the song's lyrics still survive despite an effort to destroy any trace of it; after the 1862 Battle of New Orleans, Union general Benjamin Butler arrested the song's publisher, burned all copies of the music, and threatened to fine anyone singing or humming it. Despite this, Annie Chambers Ketchum, a Confederate widow, published and distributed new lyrics, meaning that despite efforts to erase the song from history, records of it still remain. The song remains associated with the Confederacy in popular culture, appearing in films such as Glory and Gettysburg. Furthermore, in Gone With the Wind, Rhett Butler names his child "Bonnie Blue Butler" after another character remarks on the child's blue eyes.
Recordings:
Bonnie Blue Flag - (with lyrics) (YouTube rendition)