In the Civil War soldiers and civilians expressed themselves almost exactly as they had before the war was declared. Because both sides had had a common musical tradition, they both sang the same songs, regardless of the fact that logically they should have had nothing in common but bitter enmity. What songs the soldiers created themselves were merely old tunes given a passing context which generally concerned military life. The special songs of war, those expressing patriotic sentiment, were successful only when they were of the same musical type as the popular music of the period which was minstrel tunes, gospel hymns, and English sentimental ballads. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)