Daily Video — “The Rebel Yell” (1930s)

“It was the ugliest sound that any mortal ever heard—even a mortal exhausted and unnerved by two days of hard fighting, without sleep, without rest, without food and without hope.” – Ambrose Bierce,  “A Little of Chickamauga” (1898)

Today’s video comes from a rare film in the Library of Congress, and presented on YouTube by Smithsonian Magazine where Confederate veterans demonstrate the “Rebel Yell”, the ear piercing scream(?)/shriek(?) that they could make whilst charging Union lines in the Civil War.  It is a sound unique to the Confederate soldier, never heard before or since.  Thanks to OpenCulture for the information and links.

All videos are owned by their respective YouTube Channels and users and are embedded here for your benefit to use in class in compliance with the appropriate copyright provisions.