THE CIVIL WAR: THE TRUE STORY BOOK 1

Sam Sweeny

If you want to have a good time, jine the cavalry!
Jine the cavalry! Jine the cavalry!
If you want to catch the Devil, if you want to have fun,
If you want to smell Hell, jine the cavalry!

We're the boys who went around McClellian,
Went around McClellian, went around McClellian!
We're the boys who went around McClellian,
Bully boys, hey! Bully boys, ho!

We're the boys who crossed the Potomicum,
Crossed the Potomicum, crossed the Potomicum!
We're the boys who crossed the Potomicum,
Bully boys, hey! Bully boys, ho!

CHORUS
Then we went into Pennsylvania,
Into Pennsylvania, into Pennsylvania!
Then we went into Pennsylvania,
Bully boys, hey! Bully boys, ho!

CHORUS
The big fat Dutch gals hand around the breadium,
Hand around the breadium, hand around the breadium!
The big fat Dutch gals hand around the breadium,
Bully boys, hey! Bully boys, ho!

CHORUS

Ol' Joe Hooker, won't you come out of The Wilderness?
Come out of The Wilderness, come out of The Wilderness?
Ol' Joe Hooker, won't you come out of The Wilderness?
Bully boys, hey! Bully boys, ho!

CHORUS

Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, ever the dashing figure, was known to dress handsomely and tap his feet joyously. On the trail, or by the campfire after a hard day's ride, the Confederate cavalier enjoyed the rollicking and homesick songs played by his personal, "appropriated" banjo player, Sam Sweeney. "Jine (Join) the Cavalry" was a standard among Confederate horsemen. Sweeney, from Appomattox, Va., was one of the famous Sweeney brothers, three Irish-American musicians who played at raucous minstrel shows and even for Queen Victoria in the years before the Civil War. Older sibling Joel Sweeney, experts say, is the first documented white man to play the banjo, having learned the music from slaves by the mid-1830s. Considered by many to be the first pop star in America, the so-called "father of the banjo" was considered an innovator in the use of the five-string banjo, an instrument with roots in Africa.  "He was the one who brought (the banjo) into white, middle-American culture," says David Wooldridge, a museum technician with Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. Wooldridge recently gave a talk about Sam Sweeney at the Museum of the Confederacy's venue in Appomattox. "His brother (Joel) cast a long shadow and for a long time ... got all the credit," Wooldridge tells the Picket. "Sam was supposed to be just as good as his brother, or better."  Joel and Richard Sweeney died before the war. Sam Sweeney, also an adept fiddle player, joined Company H, Second Virginia Cavalry, in January 1862. His skills and fame quickly came to the attention of Stuart, who insisted the banjo player join his headquarters. Col. T.T. Munford, from whom Sweeney was "borrowed," later wrote, "Stuart's feet would shuffle whenever he was in Sweeney's presence, or even at the calling of his name.""Lorena," "Cottage by the Sea," "Soldier's Dream and "Old Gray Mare," were among Stuart's favorites, and Sweeney was often accompanied by a bones player and tambourine. Sweeney rode with Stuart during several notable campaigns, including Gettysburg. Sam Sweeney's personality was much the same as his fun loving general and . ... he followed the dashing cavalier playing and singing songs that he and his brothers performed for many thousands of people," wrote John R. Broughton in a J.E.B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust newsletter. "Wherever Stuart went, Sweeney was not far behind, his banjo ready."
The Charleston (S.C.) Mercury newspaper has this fascinating tidbit on Jan. 16, 1863: "Are you readers aware that Gen. Jeb Stuart carries with him wherever he goes, in all his circuits and raids, a brother of Joe Sweeney, the famous banjo player? Such is the fact. Sweeney is also a banjoist, and Stuart calls him his band. He carries his banjo behind his saddle, wrapped up in a piece of oil cloth, and whenever the cavalry stops, even to water their horses, the band strikes up on the banjo and picks a merry air. The performance of the banjo band in Pennsylvania drove several Dutch farmers raving distracted, for Sweeney swore that his banjo strings were made out of the viscera of their departed relatives and friends!" Two years into his military service, Sam Sweeney passed away at age 32 on Jan. 13, 1864, in winter camp. He likely never fired a shot in battle. A grieving Stuart wrote of the loss to his wife, Flora. "I Suppose you heard the sad tidings of poor Sweeney's death. He died of small-pox while I was gone. His loss is deeply felt."