[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqqHFHqkjjs]
Something for the weekend. The New York Volunteer sung by Bobby Horton who has waged a one man campaign to bring Civil War music to modern audiences. New York supplied more troops to the Union than any other state. Some 400-460,000 New Yorkers wore Union blue during the War in 27 regiments of Cavalry, 3 regiments of United States Colored Troops, 15 regiments of artillery, 8 engineer regiments and an astounding 248 infantry regiments. The New York Volunteers took a back seat to men from no other state in the Union in providing manpower to win the War.
At one time I had a number of Horton’s CDs (and loved them all, but was partial to The CSA Songs that dealt with cavalry). Overall I am struck how both sides used the same musical scores and changed the lyrics to the songs. Although I can’t place it off the top of my head, I know the tune to this song was used for several other songs as well.
The tune of this song was taken from the the song “The Poachers” by G. A. Hodson. Traditional tunes and popular music of the day were all enlisted in the war efforts of both sides and given new lyrics for the duration. The tune was used for the better known song, and one of my favorites, The Irish Volunteer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yavz9rzaOSY