I have photocopy of the entire article, so it's real.

Alden's texts (with the melodies) are all brief, but the period he refers to seems to be (IIRC) just before the Civil War. I posted his "Shenandoah" text in another thread. Capt. John Robinson, writing in "The Bellman" about 1917, also recalled a version from the '50s or '60s.

There seems to be no truly contemporary record of the song during the Civil War, but neither can there be much doubt that it was sung at that time as a shanty.

I don't believe I've ever noticed any first-hand reference to the song being sung by soldiers during the Civil War. Carl Sandburg recalled that it was being sung in the army by 1898, when he was a soldier.