Oh they do exist. I did a search of the Library of Congress Memory project, which is the greatest digital project in the world, I'm happy to say. A bunch turned up. Two typical songs:

THE
DOVE OF PEACE.

Written by A. ANDERSON, Philadelphia.

When the dark cloud of rebellion
Enshrouded our land,
The war cry resounding,
From Georgia to Maine;
The Dove of sweet peace,
No longer could stay,
She spread her bright pinions,
"And flew weeping away."

The rumbling of chariots,
And the cannon's wild roar,
Where the war horses are prancing,
Or dashing through gore;
Ungenial the clime
To the Dove of sweet peace,
She has fled from our nation
Till these tumults shall cease.

She has flown to a distance,
In quiet to dwell,
There weeping and cooing
In her quiet lone cell,
A waiting the hour,
When the rainbow of peace
Shall burst the dark cloud,
And the war-cry shall cease.

When the dark cloud of rebellion
Enshrouded our land,
And the war-cry resounding,
From Georgia to Maine;
The Dove of sweet peace,
No longer could stay,
On her bright golden pinions--
"Flew weeping away."

February, 1863.

HARRIS, Printer, S. E. corner Fourth and Vine Streets, Philada.

Peace. Written by a Fool. [n. p.] [n. d.]

A Fool. <http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/amss:@[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

SHELF LOCATION
American Song Sheets, Series 1, Volume 7

LYRICS
PEACE.

WRITTEN BY A FOOL.

AIR--"The American Boy."

Peace on earth, good will to men,
Our blessed Saviour cried,
He agonized upon the cross,
And for us all he died.

The dogs of war are now let loose,
Our country's rent in twain,
The life blood of our brethren South,
The Northern hands do stain.

They ask for nothing but their rights,
Which from their fathers came,
They wish for to be let alone,
Why should their wish be vain.

There is some honest, noble hearts,
Yet in the Northern land,
Who scorn to act a tyrant's part,
Or shake the traitor's hand.

Then come, let's drop our arms of steel,
And be good friends once more,
Let's feel the woes that others feel,
Love God and him adore.

Then should the storm of war arise.
Our hearts in anger driven,
We'll lift on high our tearful eyes,
And beg to be forgiven.

Jerry


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


Bob wrote:



The reason I asked Alison about bluegrass-type music is that I thought there

might be some Civil War era anti-war songs I don't know about. The only WWI

and WWII songs I could think of were all pretty much pro-war, or at least
about missing home or a soldier . . . but I am sure there's at least one
anti-war song for every war.



I hope Ali comes up with something. I did some searches and couldn't come up with any anti civil war songs. They were more one sided, north against the south, slavery vs. anti slavery type songs. As for WWI and WWII anti war songs, the only thing I found was a song called "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier"

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