John Hill Hewitt

John Hill Hewitt (July 11, 1801, New York City – October 7, 1890, Baltimore) was an American composer, playwright, and poet. He is best known for his songs about the American South, including "A Minstrel's Return from the War", "The Soldier's Farewell", "The Stonewall Quickstep", and "Somebody's Darling". His output during the American Civil War earned him the epithets "Bard of the Stars and Bars" and "Bard of the Confederacy".

Over his career, Hewitt wrote over 300 songs, a number of cantatas and operettas, and one oratorio, as well as plays, poems, and articles for magazines and newspapers. Hewitt's output earned him the epithets "Bard of the Stars and Bars" and "Father of the American Ballad".

Hewitt eventually bought the Augusta-based Blackmar publishers, but the business failed after the war. Hewitt returned to Virginia to teach at the Wesleyan Female Institute in Staunton and at the Dunbar Female Institute in Winchester. He bounced back and forth between Maryland and Georgia for the next few years, eventually ending up in Baltimore, where he remained until his death on October 7, 1890.