The Lyon Campaign in Missouri: Being a History of the First Iowa Infantry was written by Eugene F. Ware as a memoir primarily of his three months of military service in 1861 during the early days of the American Civil War, though the first several chapters cover life in Iowa in the preceding decades. It was published in 1907, and while parts of it were based on Ware's journals, I believe the discussion of dance found in one chapter to be more what Ware remembered in 1907 than a contemporaneous account. I don't regard it as reliable documentation for details of dance from 1861, but I feel reasonably confident that the broad strokes are accurate.
Before going into what Ware had to say, let me give a little background.
The 1st Iowa Infantry operated for about three months, from mid-May to mid-August, 1861, and fought in Missouri, including the Battle of Wilson's Creek, under the command of General Nathaniel Lyon. Before that, however, during the mustering and training, Ware and his fellow soldiers had access to civilian pursuits, and Ware was invited to a ball.
In 1861, Iowa was a frontier state, right at the border where states gave way to territories. This is very obvious on the map below (click to enlarge) of the United States at the beginning of the Civil War (source: Maps, Etc.). Iowa is right in the middle, where pink (Union states) meets orange (territories).
Ware called the dances he discussed "pioneer dances", which reflected this aspect of Iowa's status.
German immigration also figures prominently in Ware's recounting. That's a huge topic (covered in some detail here), but the most critical point is that in the 1840s and 1850s, almost 1.5 million Germans immigrated to the USA (see the chart here) and became a significant part of the expanding cities and settlements of the northern USA from Pennsylvania westward. Naturally, they brought their culture, including dance and music, with them.
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Ware's specific points about dance:
1. Quadrilles (known as cotillions) were overwhelmingly popular, in nine-to-one proportion to country dances. One can see how the square dance ended up being considered emblematic of America. The tendency of Americans to use the term "cotillions" for quadrilles, creating confusion as to exactly how they were danced, is on full display here.
The pioneer dances were entirely "square cotillions," with an occasional "country dance"...The "cotillion," otherwise called the "quadrille," was to the "country dance" in favor as nine to one.
2. The term "country dances" has evolved into "contra dances" over the years. "Country" vs. "contra" is one of those long-running debates, and I don't give Ware a lot of weight in resolving it (these dances were being called "contra" before the 1860s), but it's interesting to see the opinion of someone who lived through the evolution of the term:
...an occasional "country dance" (which pedantic philologists have changed to "contra dances" as they have changed the old-fashioned welch-rabbit to "rarebit")
3. Numerous figures for these "cotillions" (quadrilles) were created; they were called or taught by both local callers and traveling dance teachers and were published as well. Local callers were young men of society.
Everybody understood the cotillion. The figures were very numerous. Every town and village had persons who could teach them. New figures were continually invented, and traveling dancing teachers kept the towns instructed. In addition to this the new figures were printed and illustrated in pamphlets on the subject, and were described in the newspapers. Every town and village had "callers" who could call and explain the figures, old and new. They were the pets of society, and generally first-class young men who could go anywhere and be received anywhere.
4. "Round dances" such as the waltz and polka were attributed to the wave of German immigration in the 1840s and 1850s and were considered immodest by parents and ministers, though they were nonetheless popular among young people. This is the age-old story of young people scandalizing their elders with their dances. The waltz was in America long before the mid-nineteenth century and the arrival of the polka was part of a worldwide craze. But if their popularity was originally limited to major east-coast population centers, it makes sense that German immigrants would have helped extend their reach. I've felt for years that German immigrants clearly influenced American dance (how could they not?) and brought particular dances with them (though not necessarily the waltz and polka). It's nice to see someone who lived in the nineteenth century support this theory.
The effect of the German immigration upon this American state of society was very marked. The Germans who came were educated and intelligent; they had their "round dances" -- the waltz, polka, and many others. The American parent did not like these dances; they were too intimate, too familiar. The parent forbade the child to dance any of the "Dutch dances," but the old-fashioned parent could not control the situation. The German had come to stay, and so had his dances. The pulpit, which in those days found fault with every amusement that it did not originate or control, denounced the German dances with fierce phrases.
5. German immigrants were likewise credited (or blamed) for adding couple dances to the quadrille and creating waltz quadrilles, polka quadrilles, and the "octagon schottische quadrille". This is a claim I've never heard before, and I'm not sure it holds up. Waltz and polka quadrilles both existed in England, waltz ones from quite early on and polka ones from the 1840s, and I think there were non-German routes that they took to America, though that doesn't rule out German influences operating as well.
The German modified the "cotillion," and we had the waltz quadrille, and the polka quadrille, and many others; for instance, the "octagon schottische quadrille."
6. There was a "pantomime waltz quadrille" called "New Catholic" about which Ware says nothing further. This is relatively trivial, but it provides some context for Elias Howe's "Punch and Judy Quadrilles".
It was at this Fort Madison dance that I first saw the "New Catholic." It was a pantomime waltz quadrille.
A full transcription of Ware's remarks on dancing is below.
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The Lyon Campaign in Missouri: Being a History of the First Iowa Infantry, by Eugene F. Ware. 1907.
Excerpt from Chapter 8, pp. 90-91:
A grand ball was given at the City of Fort Madison a few miles up the river, and I was invited to it. It was a typical ball of the times. I may digress here to speak a little of the dancing of the period. The pioneer dances were entirely "square cotillions," with an occasional "country dance" (which pedantic philologists have changed to "contra dances" as they have changed the old-fashioned welch-rabbit to "rarebit"). The "cotillion," otherwise called the "quadrille," was to the "country dance" in favor as nine to one. The country dance was executed in two long lines; it was more of an open-air dance, because it could be performed on the sod. Everybody understood the cotillion. The figures were very numerous. Every town and village had persons who could teach them. New figures were continually invented, and traveling dancing teachers kept the towns instructed. In addition to this the new figures were printed and illustrated in pamphlets on the subject, and were described in the newspapers. Every town and village had "callers" who could call and explain the figures, old and new. They were the pets of society, and generally first-class young men who could go anywhere and be received anywhere. The effect of the German immigration upon this American state of society was very marked. The Germans who came were educated and intelligent; they had their "round dances" -- the waltz, polka, and many others. The American parent did not like these dances; they were too intimate, too familiar. The parent forbade the child to dance any of the "Dutch dances," but the old-fashioned parent could not control the situation. The German had come to stay, and so had his dances. The pulpit, which in those days found fault with every amusement that it did not originate or control, denounced the German dances with fierce phrases. The subserviency of the church membership to the pulpit in those days was something that is very difficult now to understand. The attack on the German dances lasted through years; they were called immodest, and the diversion of infidels. But the German and his dances were irresistible.
In a furtive way the German dances spread among Americans. That kind of dancing was not born into them, and so had to be taught. Then came a compromise in society, a combination of the two styles. The German modified the "cotillion," and we had the waltz quadrille, and the polka quadrille, and many others; for instance, the "octagon schottische quadrille." There was never anything as intricate or delightful ever invented as the dances of that period. They required quickness, brightness, attention, and grace. Each of the girls and many of the boys, of that period, had them all.
It was at this Fort Madison dance that I first saw the "New Catholic." It was a pantomime waltz quadrille. Those were the days when the dancing-master traveled with his wife from city to city and made money, organized bliss, and supplied the communities with ecstasy. From the Fort Madison dance I sadly returned to Keokuk.
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The entire book is available at Google Books. It contains a great many interesting details about life in Iowa as well as first-hand military history and is worth reading in its entirety for those who are particularly interested in the American Civil War era.
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