Manuscript

of

"Dixie"

The Greatest and Most Famous Song of The South

Called the Confederate "National Anthem"

Called the Battle Hymn of the Confederacy

(1859)

The original draft of "Dixie" is unknown, most likely discarded. However the author, Daniel Decatur Emmett, did write out and authenticate this manuscript as the substitute for the original draft.

Dan Emmett, composed and then first played "Dixie" on the 5-string banjo while working with Bryant's Minstrels in 1859. He claimed to have written it earlier but set aside. The song became an immediate hit. It was published in 1860 and republished later that same year.

A few months later, at the inauguration of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Montgomery, Alabama on February 18, 1861, "Dixie" was triumphantly played.

And as Southern soldiers marched into battle, they often marched as they sang "Dixie." Although the song was intended as harmless entertainment, when soldiers sang, "In Dixie land I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie," they doubtless meant something more than what the author had in mind.

It was reported that Theodore Roosevelt had suggested it as the National Anthem of the United States.