The Bonnie Blue Flag


"The Bonnie Blue Flag", also known as "We Are a Band of Brothers", is an 1861 marching song associated with the Confederate States of America. The words were written by the entertainer Harry McCarthy, with the melody taken from the song "The Irish Jaunting Car". The song's title refers to the unofficial first flag of the Confederacy, the Bonnie Blue Flag. The left flag on the sheet-music is the Bonnie Blue Flag.
The song was premiered by lyricist Harry McCarthy during a concert in Jackson, Mississippi, in the spring of 1861 and performed again in September of that same year at the New Orleans Academy of Music for the First Texas Volunteer Infantry regiment mustering in celebration.
The New Orleans music publishing house of A.E. Blackmar issued six editions of "The Bonnie Blue Flag" between 1861 and 1864 along with three additional arrangements.
The "band of brothers" mentioned in the first line of the song recalls the well known St. Crispin's Day Speech in William Shakespeare's play Henry V.

Lyrical variations

The first verse of the song goes:

We are a band of brothers, and native to the soil,
Fighting for our liberty with treasure, blood, and toil;
And when our rights were threatened, the cry rose near and far,
Hurrah! for the Bonnie Blue Flag, that bears a single star.

These lyrics appear in a version held by the Library of Congress. It was published by A. E. Blackmar and Brother in New Orleans in 1861. The second line is sometimes given as "fighting for the property we gained by honest toil." University of San Diego professor Steve Schoenherr
and the library of Duke University record the "property" version which also has a publication date of 1861. When Major General Benjamin Butler captured New Orleans, he allegedly arrested Blackmar, fined him $500, destroyed all copies of the music, and ordered that anyone caught whistling or singing "The Bonnie Blue Flag" would be fined $25. Eleven other editions of the song were published with different lyrics.
Annie Chambers Ketchum, a Confederate widow who risked her liberty to publish new verses to be sung, published a new version of the song under the title "." The following verses were published in a eulogy by Gilberta S. Whittle in the 1904 ':

I
"Come, brothers, rally for the right!
The bravest of the brave
Sends forth his ringing battle-cray
Beside the Atlantic wave.
She leads the way in honor's path:
Come, brothers, near and far,
Come, rally round the Bonnie Blue Flag
That bears a single star!
Hurrah! hurrah! for Southern rights
Hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag
That bears a single star!
II
We've borne the Yankee trickery,
The Yankee gibe and sneer,
Till Northern insolence and pride
Know neither shame nor fear;
But ready now with shot and steel
Their brazen front to mar,
We holst aloft the Bonnie Blue Flag
That bears a single star.
III
Now Georgia marches to the front,
And close beside her come
Her sisters of the Mexique sea,
With pealing trump and drum;
Till answering back from hill and glen
The rallying cry afar,
A nation holsts the Bonnie Blue Flag
That bears a single star.
IV'''
By every stone in Charleston Bay,
By each beleaguered town,
We swear to rest not night nor day,
But hunt the tyrants down;
Till bathed in valor's holy blood
The gazing world afar
Shall greet with shouts the Bonnie Blue Flag
That bears a single star."

Complete lyrics


1.
We are a band of brothers and native to the soil
Fighting for our liberty with treasure, blood, and toil
And when our rights were threatened, the cry rose near and far
Chorus:
2.
As long as the Union was faithful to her trust
Like friends and like brethren, kind were we, and just
But now, when Northern treachery attempts our rights to mar
Chorus
3.
First gallant South Carolina nobly made the stand
Then came Alabama and took her by the hand
Next, quickly Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida
Chorus
4.
Ye men of valor gather round the banner of the right
Texas and fair Louisiana join us in the fight
Davis, our loved President, and Stephens statesmen rare
Chorus
5.
Now here's to brave Virginia, the Old Dominion State,
With the young Confederacy at last has sealed her fate,
And spurred by her example, now other states prepare
(Alternately:
Now here's to brave Virginia, the Old Dominion State,
Who with the young Confederacy at length has linked her fate.
Impelled by her example, let other states prepare
Chorus
6.
Then cheer, boys, cheer, raise a joyous shout
For Arkansas and North Carolina now have both gone out,
And let another rousing cheer for Tennessee be given,
Chorus
7.
Then here's to our Confederacy, strong we are and brave,
Like patriots of old we'll fight, our heritage to save;
And rather than submit to shame, to die we would prefer,
Chorus

Historical inaccuracies

The third verse of the song misstates the order in which the states seceded from the Union. The dates on which the states seceded are as follows:
  1. South Carolina
  2. Mississippi
  3. Florida
  4. Alabama
  5. Georgia
  6. Louisiana
  7. Texas
  8. Virginia
  9. Arkansas
  10. North Carolina
  11. Tennessee
Thus, Alabama did not take South Carolina by the hand, but delayed its secession until the departure of Mississippi and Florida.

Union versions

As with many songs from the time of the American Civil War, this song had multiple versions for both the Union and Confederate sides. One Union version, written by J. L. Geddes, in 1863, a British-born colonel who immigrated to the U.S., was called "The Bonnie Flag With the Stripes and Stars". Singing of Unionism and equality, it went:

We're fighting for our Union,
We're fighting for our trust,
We're fighting for that happy land
Where sleeps our father dust.
It cannot be dissevered,
Though it cost us bloody wars,
Chorus:
We trusted you as brothers,
Until you drew the sword,
With impious hands at Sumter
You cut the silver cord.
So now you hear the bugles,
We come the sons of Mars,
Chorus
We do not want your cotton,
We do not want your slaves,
But rather than divide the land,
We'll fill your Southern graves.
With Lincoln for our chieftain,
We wear our country's stars,
Chorus
We deem our cause most holy,
We know we're in the right,
And twenty million freemen
Stand ready for the fight.
Our pride is fair Columbia,
No stain her beauty mars,
Chorus
And when this war is over,
We'll each resume our home,
And treat you still as brothers,
Where ever you may roam.
We'll pledge the hand of friendship,
And think no more of war,
Chorus

Another version went:

We are a band of s who each leave home and friend,
Our noble Constitution and our Banner to defend,
Our Capitol was threatened, and the cry rose near and far,
To protect our Country's glorious Flag that glitters with many a star.
Chorus
Much patience and forbearance, the North has always shown,
Toward her Southern brethren, who had each way their own;
But when we made our President—a man whom we desired,
Their wrath was roused, they mounted guns, and on Fort Sumter fired.
They forced the war upon us, for peaceful men are we,
They steal our money, seize our forts, and then as cowards flee,
False to their vows, and to the Flag, that once protected them,
They sought the Union to dissolve, earth's noblest, brightest, gem.
We're in the right, and will prevail, the Stars and Stripes must fly!
The "Bonnie Blue Flag" will be hauled down and every traitor die,
Freedom and Peace enjoyed by all, as ne'er was known before,
Our spangled Banner wave on high, with stars just Thirty Four

Additionally, the Song of the Irish Volunteers, an anthem of the famous 69th New York regiment known as the Irish Brigade, was sung to the same tune.

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