The First Gun is Fired! "May God Protect the Right!" Rallying Song and Chorus.

Chicago: Root & Cady, 1861. 8vo, white song sheet. 1 p. Inscription and autograph of recipient on verso.

First edition of the first Civil War song sheet, published a mere three days after the attack on Fort Sumter in April of 1861, with a fine period inscription on the verso.

George F. Root (1820–1895) was a Massachusetts-born composer and music educator, who produced more Civil War songs than any other composer. Reflecting on the writing of this important piece of Civil War music, Root would recall, "in common with my neighbors I felt strongly the gravity of the situation, and while waiting to see what would be done, wrote the first song of the war.” Root had the song printed the day after he wrote it, and arranged for its performance the same day as well. It was performed by the popular Lombard Brothers in Metropolitan Hall in Chicago at a patriotic "Rally for the Union and Flag" convened by the Republican party where those attending pledged to support the current administration—"every man with his prayers, his purse and his sword." Root was at the rally and distributed copies of the song to the audience, who joined in during the chorus; all three verses were printed in the Tribune the same day. The song would instantly become one of the most popular songs of the Civil War throughout the North, propelling Root to great fame. He would go on to write some thirty additional Civil War songs, including the equally popular Battle Cry of Freedom. In a personal letter to Root, Lincoln would declare, "You have done more than a hundred generals and a thousand orators.”

An early inscription on the verso attests to circumstances some five days later very similar to those of the song’s first performance, noting that the copy offered here "was received at the Wigwam in Chicago (where Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency) on the occasion of one of the first war meetings after the southern rebellion broke out." Root was present at this event as well which was attended by 10,000 souls who took "the oath of Fealty" on April 20, 1861. The note further records that copies were “distributed through the large audience who sang it with a will and afterwards solemnly and with uplifted hands, pledged themselves to fidelity to the Union repeating the oath of allegiance after Hon. Judge Manniere[?].” The note is signed “J.B. Sutton."

Bearing the musical directive Maestoso, this song was intended to be sung in a stately and majestic manner:

The First Gun is Fired! "May God pro-tect the right!" Let the free-born sons of the North a-rise In power’s a-venging might! Shall the glorious Union our Fathers made, By ruthless hands be sunder’d, And We of freedom sacred rights By trait’rous foes be plunder’d?

Root describes the firing on Fort Sumter as an event that "waked into stern determination the patriotism of every loyal heart"—a spirit very much expressed in his song. According to P. H. Carder, the melody and its harmonies strongly resemble that of The Heavens Are Telling from Haydn's Creation.

Root was an avid practitioner of what might be called occasional music. As he would profess, "I never dreamed of eminence as a writer of music…I am simply one who…makes music for the people, having always a particular need in view." He excelled at making accessible music that served a specific purpose, for the classroom, church, home, and in this case, a patriotic rally—his song serving to unify an alarmed public on the brink of civil war. "'The First Gun Is Fired' captured a historic moment and filled a need in the first days of the war."—Carder.

Rare. Not in Wolf. OCLC records only one copy, at the Newberry Library, as well as later multi-page editions.

An important Civil War song sheet with an “eyewitness” note, capturing the mood and spirit of the opening moments of the War.

CONDITION: Good, creased, a few small breaks.

REFERENCES: Carder, P.H. George F. Root, Civil War Songwriter: A Biography (Jefferson, N.C, 2008), pp. 101–104; Cornelius, Steven. Music of the Civil War Era (Westport, CT, 2004), pp. 18, 41.