Rebel Yell Recordings

[privstull]

Hello pards,

Dont know if this is somethin new or not, but I found a recording of a veteran showing his version of the rebel yell on www.26nc.org/History/RebelYell/main.htm. It sounded very interesting and I would like to hear some of ya'll's comments on it.

[hiplainsyank]

Privstull,

thanks for finding that so we could listen in.

For a moment I was able to imagine myself as a Union soldier waiting to receive the charge of a couple thousand guys hollering like that. It was eerie. Very. It was nearly unnerving listening to it sitting here in front of my computer. I don't know how those blue coated soldiers stood it. All I could do was let out a sigh of relief when it was finished.

Wow.

Thanks again.

Joanna Norris Grimshaw

[paulcalloway]

Yeah thats been around awhile. Pretty thought provoking... it's sort of chilling in the throat of the old veteran who gave it. Would really like to have heard it while he was more youthful.

[DonSmithnotTMD]

Was it Company Aitch where the author said you couldn't do it without the impetus of combat?

[DougCooper]

combat yells/shouts/cheers are a way of releasing tension and expressing emotion - a combo of rage, fear, fury, etc. I am bit skeptical of the fidelity of this recording to the real deal since I first heard it a few years ago. Additionally, it was the effect from hundreds or thousands of throats that made the impression on startled Yankees. When it is dubbed over 500 times to simulate the effect of a regiment or brigade yelling, then you may have something like it.

[MassVOL]

Was it Company Aitch where the author said you couldn't do it without the impetus of combat?

I thought the requirement was half starved?

And now that I am thinking of it I think Shelby Foote said it in Ken Burns' Civil War.

[privstull]

Theres also a recording of the Rebel yell on Ken Burn's Civil War by a Confederate veteran attempting to do his Rebel yell even though he is very old. Its too bad we couldn't have heard the actual Rebel yell from when the veterans were young and in there prime, but atleast we have a good idea of what it sounded like.

[Vuhginyuh]

Here is another of equal age, several of the boys at the Gettysburg 75th.

http://www.mgilleland.com/feb2004.htm

Scroll down to this paragraph;

You can actually listen to recordings of the rebel yell made by Confederate veterans, one from a newsreel of the 75th anniversary of Gettysburg, and another performed in 1935 by Pvt. Thomas N. Alexander of the 37th North Carolina Regiment...Bell Wiley points out, "Old voices were too weak and incentive too feeble to create again the true battle cry."

and click on the ''another'' prompt.

[markj]

Greetings,

Interesting subject. However, I think we can reasonably postulate there was no one "rebel yell"; rather, there were "rebel YELLS." In an age where Americans were a lot more provincial than they are today, regional differences very likely played a big part in how such "yells" sounded. One account by a Federal indicates he heard rebel troops utter "a womanly scream." A "Virginia" yell was likely different from one uttered by, say, a Mississippi regiment.

I think it's a safe bet that "yells" were also drawn from hunting calls. Here's one intriguing idea: We might want to find recordings of traditional Scottish/Celtic or English vocalized hunting calls and see what they sound like.

Charlotte NC radio station WBT reportedly recorded a group of Confederate veterans also doing a "rebel yell" around 1935. I'm not sure if this recording still exists or, conversely, is one of those mentioned above. However, you might want to check it out. I found this information in the following article:

"We Always Tried to be Good People": Respectability, Crazy Water Crystals, and Hillbilly Music on the Air, 1933-1935. Grundy, Pamela. Journal of American History, March 1995, p. 1606.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[CJDaley]

Freddie Rickard just e-mailed this link to me, click it and listen, it's pretty cool!

http://www.26nc.org/History/RebelYell/main.htm

[OleMissRebel]

I really don't imagine that there were any distinct rebel yells i.e. an organized chant, rather just each Confederate screaming his own blood curdling yell.

Since I started reenacting I've always been told I have an extremely good yell, people in the front ranks often turn around and give me nasty looks because it hurts their ears. When I do it I'm just screaming my lungs out.

If I was going into a deadly battle I don't think I would use the same "yip-yip" that I use when calling my dog when I go duck hunting.

But you never know maybe they did.

[privstull]

I found another account of the Rebel yell written at http://9thvirginia.com/rebel_yell.htm.

[CJDaley]

Great post Chris! I think someone beat ya in another folder, but nontheless equally as interesting on your part!
http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3986

I'm an idiot, sorry for wasting band width folks, the Moderators are free to delete this.

In my defense, I posted this in CW History Folder as it has more to do with that than authenticity, but much like the Preservation Folder, I don't think too many guys check the CW History folder all that much. (although I could be wrong)

[texfed1554]

man,
I just heard that today. Very freaky. I reenact confederate, and i expected the rebel yell ( or from what i have learned as a texan rebel yell) very high pitched and alot faster. Is that correct? anyways the old vet made my bone chills when he gave that.

Alex James Belhumeur
5th Texas co.B
shirkers mess
victory is life :)

[privstull]

I agree, that from the few sources we have of the Rebel yell, that there was not just one Rebel yell. They probably varried from unit to unit and therefore could have ranged differently in sound. Also, we should take into consideration that the veteran had aged and therefore the yell could have sounded a bit differently when he was in his prime. However, I still think the best example we can go by to produce and authentic yell is from the veteran doing his version and the other few sources we have.

[KentuckyReb]

I have a book that a friend gave to me--she found it at a yard sale (she lives at those places in the summertime). It's called 'The Blue & The Grey', and no, it's not the book they made that ridiculous Patrick Swayze miniseries from back in the 80s. It's made up of first-person accounts. Official reports, newspaper dispatches, letters, memoirs, etc. Somewhere in there (I gotta dig for it--we got beaucoup windows out and a lot of rain damage) there is an account that, unless I remember it incorrectly, mentions noticeable regional differences in the yell. I recall the text on that 9th Virginia site being in there, but there were more also. Fairly detailed descriptions. I seem to remember three different versions being written out phonetically. I'll see if I can find it.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Translated from Swedish;

"The rebs ran at us in theír normal way, screaming and shrieking like little girls at play, but our volleys put them to their heels."

Gustus Eriksson

[Dignann]

For additional listening pleasure, check the wav file at the bottom of the link:

http://www.stonewallbrigade.com/articles_rebelyell.html

Eric