- Tenting on the Old Camp Ground
Infobox Standard
title=Tenting on the Old Camp Ground
comment=
image_size=
caption=Cover, sheet music, 1864
writer=Walter Kittredge
composer=
lyricist=
published= 1864
written=1863 [Smith, "Stories of Great National Songs", p. 155: "I wrote the words and music at the same time one evening, soon expecting to go down South to join the boys in blue, and I desired to have something to sing for them, as that had been my profession, giving concerts for a few years before the war. ... The song was composed in 1863, and published by Ditson, Boston, in 1864." [quoting Kittredge] .]
language=English
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original_artist=
recorded_by=
performed_by="Tenting on the Old Camp Ground" was a popular song during the
American Civil War . A particular favorite of enlisted men in theUnion army , it was written in 1863 byWalter Kittredge .Lyrics
Lyrics from the original sheet music: [Kittredge, "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground" (Sheet music).] :We're tenting tonight on the old camp ground,:Give us a song to cheer:Our weary hearts, a song of home:And friends we love so dear. :"Chorus:"::Many are the hearts that are weary tonight,::Wishing for the war to cease;::Many are the hearts looking for the right::To see the dawn of peace.::Tenting tonight, tenting tonight,::Tenting on the old camp ground.
:We've been tenting tonight on the old camp-ground,:Thinking of days gone by,:Of the loved ones at home that gave us the hand,:And the tear that said, "Good-bye!":"Chorus"
:The lone wife kneels and prays with a sigh:That God his watch will keep:O'er the dear one away and the little dears nigh,:In the trundle bed fast asleep.:"Chorus"
:We are tenting tonight on the old camp ground.:The fires are flickering low.:Still are the sleepers that lie around,:As the sentinels come and go.:"Chorus"
:Alas for those comrades of days gone by:Whose forms are missed tonight.:Alas for the young and true who lie:Where the battle flag braved the fight.:"Chorus"
:No more on march or field of strife:Shall they lie so tired and worn,:No rouse again to hope and life:When the sound of drums beat at morn.:"Chorus"
:We are tired of war on the old camp ground,:Many are dead and gone,:Of the brave and true who've left their homes,:Others been wounded long.:"Chorus"
:We've been fighting today on the old camp ground,:Many are lying near;:Some are dead, and some are dying,:Many are in tears.:"Final Chorus:"::Many are the hearts that are weary tonight,::Wishing for the war to cease;::Many are the hearts looking for the right,::To see the dawn of peace.::Dying tonight, dying tonight,::Dying on the old camp ground
References
Bibliography
*Billings, John D.; Charles W. Reed (illus). "Hardtack and Coffee: The Unwritten Story of Army Life". Boston: George M. Smith & Co. (1887).
*Kittredge, Walter. "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground" (Sheet music). Boston: Oliver ditson & Co. (1864).
*Smith, Nicholas, Col. "Stories of Great National Songs". Milwaukee: The Young Churchman Co. (1899).External links
* [http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/6000/6682/cusb-cyl6682d.mp3 "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground"] ,
Peerless Quartet (U.S. Everlasting 1079, 1909)—" [http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/index.php Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project] ".
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21566/21566-h/images/tenting.pdf "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground" (Sheet Music)] , [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/21566 Oldroyd, Osbourne H. "The Good Old Songs We Used to Sing, '61 to '65", ] — [http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page "Project Gutenberg"] .
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21566/21566-h/music/tenting.midi MIDI] for "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground", from Project Gutenberg.
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