Tenting Tonight on the Old Campground
| Composer | Walter Kittredge |
| Lyricist | Walter Kittredge |
| Year Published | 1863 |
| Type | Patriotic |
| Playing Time | |
| Comments | In 1863, the singer received his draft notice and fully expected to go to the front at once, leaving his young wife and little daughter behind. But during his childhood Walter had been inflicted with rheumatic fever. So the draft board refused him, apparently not only because of his poor health, but as one authority asserted, because the board members felt he would be of more service to the Union cause and its fighting men as a singer with the Hutchinson group than as a soldier. Thus, the composer of "Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground," the "hauntingly plaintive" Civil War song, never served as a member of the Union Army. However, it was the receipt of his draft notice that was responsible for his creating the beloved ballad. The night after he had been rejected he slept fitfully, and when he awoke in the middle of the night "the burden of dread" was still foremost in his mind. In the solemn stillness of the night, Walter thought of the battlefields and of the many young men who had already given their lives. These conflicting emotions kept the singer awake. Finally he felt compelled to get up and put his thoughts on paper. The first stanza reveals his purpose, not only to bring cheer to others, but to help comfort his own heart. Sampler of American Songs, p.151 |