Hell on the Wabash

Hell on the Wabash is a 19th-century American folk tune, still popular with Fife and drum corps.

The tune first appeared as a banjo jig in a compilation of tunes published by Dan Emmett before 1860.[1] Hans Nathan described Hell on the Wabash as a variant of an Irish hornpipe called “The Night We Made the Match.”[1][2] Andrew Kuntz places the melody in the same family as "Hell on the Potomac" and "Wake Up Susan."[3]

Hell on the Wabash appeared again in 1862, as a fife and drum duet in The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide by Emmett and George Barrett Bruce.[1] The name was printed "H--LL on the Wabash," a possible reference to the 1779 Siege of Fort Vincennes, the 1791 destruction of the U.S. Army at St. Clair's defeat, or the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe. Emmett, born in Ohio in 1815, would have been especially familiar with the latter two. By 1868, the phrase was known as far away as Walla Walla, Washington, where a newspaper referred to "Hell on the Wabash" as 'an exclamation frequently indulged in' 'some years ago.'[4] The phrase was used to describe heated political tensions in the 1876 governor's race between James D. Williams and Benjamin Harrison.[5] A writer for the South Bend, Indiana newspaper South Bend News-Times still referred to "Hell on the Wabash" as a 'popular expression' in 1914,[6] and Congressman Finly Hutchinson Gray used the phrase in Congress as late as 1934.[7]

As a fiddle tune, "Hell on the Wabash" was popular with midwest canal workers.[8] Two early residents of Fort Scott, Kansas in Kansas Territory recorded that "Hell on the Wabash" was a popular dance tune at the settlement.[9] Carl Sandburg wrote a poem about a fiddler who played the tune as a variation of Turkey in the Straw.[1]

Frederick Fennell included Hell on the Wabash in his 1956 collection The Drummer's Heritage,[10] as well as his 1959 album The Spirit of '76.[11] In recent years, the tune has been associated with the United States Civil War era Iron Brigade, due to its use in the 1993 film Gettysburg.[12][13]

References
  1. Damm, Robert J (March 2011). "Rudamental Classics 'Hell on the Wabash'" (PDF). Percussive Notes: 28–30. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  2. Nathan, Hans (1956). "Early Banjo Tunes and American Syncopation". The Musical Quarterly. Oxford University Press. 42 (4): 455–472. JSTOR 740255. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  3. Kuntz, Andrew (1996). "The Fiddler's Companion". Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  4. William H. Newell, ed. (17 January 1868). "Hell!" (PDF). Vol. 7, no. 5. Walla Walla Statesman. page 2, column 2. Retrieved 19 May 2021. HELL!—"Hell on the Wabash," some years ago, was an exclamation frequently indulged in. That saying has become obsolete, and a new one has taken its place—"Hell at Washington." Some of the Eastern papers now head their Congressional news, "The Rump Hell at Washington." As excuse, or apology for the heading, one paper says it adopts the style "because there are so many devils in Congress." Another paper says it adopts the style mainly for the reason "that Congress does little else than labor to create a Hell in the South." Under this view of the case the heading seems not inappropriate.
  5. Brown, Dee (1966). The Year of the Century: 1876. Scribner. p. 237. ISBN 9781453274231.
  6. "Melting Pot". Vol. 31, no. 259. South Bend, St. Joseph County: South Bend News-Times. 9 September 1914. p. 6. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  7. Congressional Record, Seventy-Third Congress [House] (PDF). 3 March 1934. p. 3641. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  8. Jordan, Philip D. (1943). Ohio Comes of Age: 1873-1900 (PDF). Columbus, Ohio: Ohio Historical Society. p. 141. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  9. Goodlander, C.W (1900). Memoirs and Recollections of C. W. Goodlander of the Early Days of Fort Scott: From April 29, 1858, to January 1, 1870. Monitor printing Company. p. 39,52. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  10. Damm, Robert J. (July 2010). "Rudimental Classics 'The Three Camps'" (PDF). Percussive Notes: 32–35. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  11. "Members Of The Eastman Symphonic Wind Ensemble Conducted By Frederick Fennell. The Spirit Of 76 Music". DisCogs. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  12. "Sheet Music: Hell on the Wabash". FluteTunes.com. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  13. "Indiana During the American Revolution". Sons of the American Revolution. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
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