Civil War-era songwriter Walter Kittredge was born on October 8, 1834, in Reed’s Ferry—now part of Merrimack, New Hampshire. A gifted musician from an early age, he became a traveling performer and prolific composer whose work often reflected the emotions of a divided nation.
Kittredge’s best-known song, “Tenting on the Old Camp Ground,” was sung by both Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Its mournful melody and lyrics about weary hearts, home, and the hope for peace gave voice to emotions shared across the conflict’s lines.
The song endures as a moving cultural artifact of the Civil War—not because it celebrates battle, but because it reveals the human longing for home and for an end to war.
