Something to Shout About! 5 Famous Battle Cries and their Meanings
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2020/10/15/battle-cries/
Liberty Or Death
Attorney, politician and American Founding Father Patrick Henry used the famous expression “Give me liberty or give me death!” in the midst of the American Revolution. 1775 was the date and the city of Richmond, Virginia the location.
He addressed the Second Virginia Convention in the hope of organizing armed resistance to the British crown. “Henry’s words were not transcribed,” writes the Colonial Williamsburg website, “but no one who heard them forgot their eloquence”.
Those 7 words made a lasting impression on the conflict. A militia was then established, so the area could fight for its rights. Henry took the role of Virginia’s first Governor the following year.
“Liberty or Death” was so successful it made its way to the American Civil War, almost a century or so after the Revolution ran its course…
Rebel Yell
Associated with peroxide rocker Billy Idol, this eerie exclamation actually comes from the Civil War (1861 – 65). Confederate forces settled on the unsettling, by producing an animalistic sound that made Union soldiers’ neck hairs stand bolt upright.
Part of the Rebel Yell’s power derives from its mystery. There doesn’t appear to be a definitive version. However, it managed to instil fear no matter who was bellowing their lungs out.
History.com mentions recordings, made after the war, of “a shrill yelp that resembled the call of a coyote, though it may have varied from unit to unit.”
What about the Yell’s origins? The Daily Mail writes, “experts believe that it was influenced by Native Americans war cries or Scottish war cry traditions.” A treasure trove of tonsil-bruising evidence can be found at the Smithsonian Institute. They have examples of the cry on film, as made by veterans in the first half of the 20th century…
“Remember The Alamo!”
For Texans, not to mention many others, the Alamo and what happened there is burned into their consciousness. The infamous 1836 siege centred on a religious structure in San Antonio. Fighting raged between approx 200 Texans and Mexican forces led by Gen Santa Anna.