The following article is spliced together from several sources: Wikipedia , http://members.aol.com/h4texas/yell.htmplus the following link where you can actually hear a recording from an old Civil War vet.

Listen to the rebel yell here:

http://www.26nc.org/History/Rebel-Yell/rebel-yell.html

“To our knowledge this is the only surviving example of the Rebel Yell given by one of the 140,000 Tar Heels who defended the state of North Carolina.”

 

The Notorious Rebel Yell

A distinctive feature of the Southern soldier was the rebel yell, a long, quavering sound that became legendary. One of the challenges of reenacting is to determine what this famous call actually sounded like. After the war a number of veterans sought to describe the yell in print. One of the most detailed descriptions came from J. Harvie Drew, a soldier in the 9th Virginia Cavalry. He gave this transcription of the rebel yell:

“Woh–who–ey! Who–ey! Who–ey! Woh–who–ey! Who–ey! (The best illustration of this “true yell” which can be given the reader is by spelling it as above, with directions to sound the first syllable “woh” short and low, and the second “who” with a very high and prolonged note deflecting upon the third syllable “ey.”)

Others rendered the yell as “yai, yai, yi, yai, yi” and “y-yo yo-wo-wo.” From these examples, it would appear the yell was both multi-syllable and also composed of pattern that was repeated several times.

Several recordings of possibly accurate yells exist. One, from a newsreel documenting the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, documents several Confederate veterans performing the yell as a high-pitched “Wa-woo-woohoo, wa-woo woohoo.”

Given the differences in descriptions of the yell, there may have been several distinctive yells associated with the different regiments and their respective geographical areas.

In Ken Burns‘ documentary The Civil WarShelby Foote recounts the story of an old Confederate veteran invited to speak before a ladies’ society dinner. They asked him for a demonstration of the rebel yell, but he refused on the grounds that it could only be done “at a run”, and couldn’t be done anyway with “a mouth full of false teeth and a belly full of food”.

In his autobiography My Own Story, Bernard Baruch recalls how his father, a former surgeon in the Confederate army, would at the sound of the song Dixie jump up and give the rebel yell, no matter where he was: “As soon as the tune started Mother knew what was coming and so did we boys. Mother would catch him by the coattails and plead, ‘Shush, Doctor, shush’. But it never did any good. I have seen Father, ordinarily a model of reserve and dignity, leap up in the Metropolitan Opera House and let loose that piercing yell.”

The rebel yell stood in definite contrast to the more disciplined cheer of the Yankees. The latter has been described in these terms:

The Federal or “Yankee” yell, compared with that of the Confederate, lacked in vocal breadth, pitch, and resonance. This was unquestionably attributable to the fact that the soldiery of the North was drawn and recruited chiefly from large cities and towns, from factory districts and from the more densely settled portions of the country.

. . . their peculiar, characteristic yell [was] — “Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!” (This yell was called by the Federals a “cheer,” and was intended for the word “hurrah,” but that pronunciation I never heard in a charge. The sound was as though the 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 its termination. In many instances the yell seemed to be the simple interjection “heigh,” rendered with the same tone which was given to “ray.”)

Whatever the sound or the origins of the rebel yell, its use and effect on the battlefield was undeniable. Col. O. M. Roberts commanded the 11th Texas Infantry in several battles in Louisiana, and left this account of Texans and the rebel yell:

“The Texas soldiers in line of battle, with their attention intensely alive to what they were doing and how they should act, were cool enough and intelligent enough to pass the word along the whole line of battle like an electric current; and when the command was given, “Forward, charge!” it, too, would be rapidly passed, and then simultaneously the Texas “rebel yell” burst out from the whole line, as all together they dashed at double quick toward the enemy. The effect of that yell was marvelous….Such yells exploded on the air in one combined sound have been heard distinctly three miles off across a prairie, above the din of musketry and artillery.”

The yell has often been linked to Native American cries. Confederate soldiers may have either imitated or learned the yell from Native American groups, many of whom sided with the Confederacy. The yell has also been associated with hunting cries. This holds some credence since hunting was more popular in the South than in the North.

Another plausible source of the rebel yell, advanced by the historian Grady McWhiney, is that it derived from the screams traditionally made by Scottish Highlanders when making a Highland charge during battle. At the Battle of Killiecrankie, “Dundee and the Chiefs chose to employ perhaps the most effective pre-battle weapon in the traditional (highland) arsenal – the eerie and disconcerting howl” (Hill J.M.,1986), also “The terror was heightened by their wild plaided appearance and the distinctive war-cry of the Gael – a high, savage whooping sound….” (MacLeod J., 1996 pp 140). Also earlier documentation during the Romanconquests of Britain suggest the use of a particular yell uttered by the northern Celtic tribes of the region, in conjunction with wearing blue “woad” body paint and no clothing.

The notion that the rebel yell was Celtic in origin is further supported by James Hill (1986 pp 173) “The first United States census in 1790 revealed a well defined ethnic division between the Northern and Southern states. In new England (sic) 75 percent of the people were Anglo-Saxons in origin, while Celts outnumbered Anglo-Saxons in the South two to one.” “A decade before the American Civil War the South – from Virginia to Texas was probably three-quarters Celtic.” This evidence is also supported by McDonald & McWhiney’s research into the Celtic nature of the Southern States, (McDonald, F., 1978) & (Mcdonald, F., & McDonald, E.S. 1980). There is also linguistic evidence from Scottish Gaelic, where there is significant support to link a high pitched scream or cry with Highland Scots battle tactics – “Goir – shriek, or cry with a shrill piercing voice” (Dwelly E., 1973: 515); forms the syllable of “goiream – let me shout” – cry, shout in Goiream a’ Chogaidh – battle Cry. Also “Gaoir – cry of pain or alarm, cry of woe, derisive cheering, wailing” and “Gaoir Chatha – battle cry” (Dwelly E., 1973: 475).

A third explanation, with special reference to the rebel yells uttered by the Army of Northern Virginia is that the rebel yell was partly adapted from the specialized cries used by men experienced in fox huntingSidney Lanier, the poet and Confederate veteran, described his unit’s yell as “a single long cry as from the leader of a pack of hounds.” [1]