Yankee Hurrah  "Resounding, Continuous Cheer"

Many Civil War veterans have remarked on the very different yells produced by Northern and Southern soldiers during battle. "I could easily tell whether our troops or the enemy were making a charge by the peculiar character of their outcry", reported a Yankee surgeon. "On our side it was a resounding, continuous hurrah while the famous dread inspiring 'rebel yell' was a succession of yelps, staccato and shrill". A New York Herald correspondent reported that the Rebel yell was "shrill, exultant, savage... different from the deep, many, generous shout of the Union soldier".

The Yankee yell, which undoubtedly had many variations, is most often referred to as a cheer and is reported to have been a series of hurrahs. A Union colonel reported: "Our own men give three successive cheers, and in concert." The spontaneous cheers during a charge would probably have been delivered with abandon and not very much in concert. Southern soldier J. Harvey Dew of the 9th Virginia Cavalry gave his interpretation of the Yankee "characteristic yell- 'Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!' (This yell was called by the Union soldiers a 'cheer', and was intended for the word 'hurrah', but that pronunciation I never heard in a charge. The sound was as though first syllable, if heard at all, was 'hoo', uttered with an exceedingly short, low, and indistinct tone, and the second was 'ray', yelled with a long and high tone slightly deflecting at its termination. In many instances the yell seemed to be the simple interjection 'heigh', rendered with the same tone which was given to 'ray'.)"

Dew went on to explain that he believed the difference between the Yankee and Rebel war whoops was a result of the prewar lives led by the men. Southerners, he explained, were used to being outdoors in sparsely populated areas and often yelled loudly at dogs, cows, or neighbors. Northerners lived more closely together and had little experience in yelling, thus they simply adapted the old method of "Hip, hip, hurrah" cheering.

Fascinating Fact:  An Indiana officer told of his regiment's yells at the Battle of Murfreesboro: "We went forward toward a Rebel regiment... double quick, and uttering these unearthly Hoosier yells that have been heard so often on the Battlefields."


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