DIXIE (SONG)
From Knob Knowledge
This song was written by Dan Emmett and first sung in New York in 1859. It was first used by the Confederacy on February 15, 1861, at Jefferson Davis's inauguration in Montgomery, Alabama. After he heard of Lee's surrender, Lincoln had the Marine Band play Dixie. He said: "I have always thought 'Dixie' one of the best tunes I ever heard. I have heard that our adversaries over the way have attempted to appropriate it as a national air. I insisted yesterday that we had fairly captured it. I presented the question to the attorney general, and he gives his opinion that it is our lawful prize. I ask the band to give us a good turn upon it." (Response to serenade, April 10, 1865)
The text of the song can be found in an old copy of The Guidon (c. 1950). It used to be played at Friday dress parades, but it is now played only as part of a medley of pieces or for special occasions. (Sources: The Civil War Dictionary, rev. ed., by Mark Mayo Boatner, p. 242. REF E468 .B7 1988; The Lincoln Encyclopedia, comp. and ed. by Archer H. Shaw, p. 80. REF E457.92 1950) (HN)
