Annotation:Zollie's Retreat

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ZOLLIE'S RETREAT. AKA - “Zolly’s Retreat.” Old Time, Breakdown. DDad tuning. The tune commemorates the death of Confederate General Felix Zollicoffer at the Battle of Mill Springs, fought in January, 1862, near the home of the family of source Clyde Davenport in Monticello, Ky. The General, formerly a near-sighted newspaperman, had become disoriented in the close fight in the pouring rain and, in the process of reconnoitring, came upon some troops he took to be his own men. They were not. A colonel of the Union troops realized the nearsighted general's mistake and, in plain view of Zollicoffer's men, killed him with a point-blank pistol shot to the chest. That was the turning point of the battle.

Death of General Zollicoffer

Clyde's fiddling grandfather, Frank Davenport, was a Union soldier who fought at Mill Springs and witnessed the Confederates' defeat and retreat.

Source for notated version: Clyde Davenport (Monticello, Ky.).

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Augusta Heritage, AHR-014 – “Folk Music & Lore of the Civil War” (1994). County 786, Clyde Davenport - "Traditional Music From the Cumberland Plateau, vol. 1" (1986). Jalopy Records, Pat Conte - " American Songs with Fiddle and Banjo" (2011). Philbar Records, Phil Passen - "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp: Music of the Civil War on Hammered Dulcimer" (2011).

See also listing at:
See/hear the tune played by fiddler Kerry Blech on youtube.com [1]

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