The Smithsonian Museum asks: What did the Rebel Yell sound like?

by Austin Petersen

Sounds of the South

The Library of Congress teamed up with the Smithsonian Museum to attempt to discover what the famous Confederate “Rebel Yell” might have sounded like. From the 1900’s to the 1940’s, Confederate veterans were asked to record the distinctive yell that sent shockwaves of fear into their Northern brothers they sought to kill. Northern troops reported that it gave them “a peculiar corkscrew sensation that went up your spine when you heard it”. No one knows the real origin of the yell, but it may have come from Native American or Scottish war cries. Many Native Americans sided with the South in the war.

Some ‘Johnny Reb’s’ that told the tale said that the yell sounded like a “rabbit’s scream”. Ken Burn‘s documentary on The Civil War claimed that it might have been a “foxhunt yip mixed with some sort of a banshee squall.”

One historian described the reasoning for the war cry:

The Confederate yell was intended to help control fear. As one soldier explained: “I always said if I ever went into a charge, I wouldn’t holler! But the very first time I fired off my gun I hollered as loud as I could and I hollered every breath till we stopped.” Jubal Early once told some troops who hesitated to charge because they were out of ammunition: “Damn it, holler them across.”






 

Austin Petersen is a homegrown Missourian with a lifelong passion for liberty. He grew up on a horse farm in Peculiar, Missouri and went on to attend Missouri State University, graduating with a degree in the Fine Arts. After developing a career in media in both New York City and Washington, D.C., he returned to Kansas City, MO, the city he now calls home. In 2016, Petersen appeared on the national stage as a candidate for president of the United States. He took second place in the crowded Libertarian primary behind Governor Gary Johnson and ahead of cyber security maverick John McAfee. During his campaign, Petersen earned many high-profile conservative endorsements, including Mary Matalin, Erick Erickson and Leon Wolf of RedState.com. Petersen also brings decades of professional experience in a wide variety of fields, from content production and media to business and political activism. He is the owner and chief executive of Stonegait LLC, a consulting firm specializing in photo and video services. He was also the director of production at FreedomWorks and an associate producer for Judge Andrew Napolitano’s show “Freedom Watch” on the Fox Business Network. Additionally, Petersen has a national following as a commentator and professional pundit. He is the founder of The Libertarian Republic, a powerful online news source for the public that receives an average of 1 million unique visits monthly and whose podcast, The Freedom Report, receives an average of one million monthly downloads. He is also a frequent contributor on television, appearing on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, MSNBC and on dozens of local radio shows.

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