One of the fun things of traveling to historical locations (and their gift shops) is finding unique items that you don't find at your local Wal Mart. While at Custer's Little Big Horn in Montana I found in the gift store a CD titled "Songs of the Seventh Cavalry" A small band and a female vocalist sing authentic Civil War and Westward Expansion songs once played or sung by members of the Seventh Cavalry. It has "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", "Shenandoah" , a Civil War Medley and of course the Song of the Seventh Cav, "Garryowen". People of that era found songs the staple of their entertainment and were used to build morale for the troops. Custer when he left for his campaign against the Indians wanted to take along the units 16 piece band mounted on white horses; but, General Terry wouldn't consent. So the band played as he left Fort Abraham Lincoln near Bismarck North Dakota on that fateful June morning. The CD even has the songs his officers sang on the night before the battle.
