I am researching the background of a song titled "The Legend of the Rebel Soldier", which is supposed to be a Confederate song at the time of the Civil War. It is supposed to be a direct rewrite of an Irish folk song / ballad, "Shall my soul pass through old Ireland". Both songs are contained in the database for this site. Although the Civil War version appears in modern Confederate songbooks, I have been unable to verify that it was a song or poem at the time of the Civil War or shortly afterwards. If anyone can come up with any type of material that can verify that this was a song or poem of the Civil War time, I would be most appreciative. Currently, my research indicates that the song may have been arranged / written? in 1963 by the blue grass singer Charlie Moore, who also recorded it along with other groups, including The Country Gentlemen, for which it became a signature song. What I don't know is whether Moore simply rewrote the Irish song or actually revised and updated a Civil War song or poem. His song is supposed to be in the Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music. As for the Irish song, where I started my original research, I am, also, trying to verify the earliest date it became public and whether an author was ever attributed to it. It is supposed to commemorate the death of Terence MacSwiney, who starved himself to death in a British prison, in 1920. If the "Legend" is a true Confederate version rewrite, then the history of the Irish song is incorrect.