Composer. He received recognition in the 19th century as a composer of over 2000 ballads and two operas, yet usually his works were not well-received by critics. Besides composing songs, he was a talent cellist. Before leaving London, he and a business partner contributed to the development of zincography. Born Frederick William Nicholls Crouch, he emigrated to the United States in 1849, eventually, after seven years in Maine, settling in Virginia where he found employment at Richmond's St. Paul's Episcopal Church. At the start of the American Civil War, he joined at the age of 53 the Confederate Army, serving in the Richmond Grays and the 1st Richmond Howitzers with distinction as the bugler. Crouch composed his most famous and haunting Irish ballad, "Kathleen Mavourneen," which quickly became a favorite of the Confederates and was sung around the soldiers' campfires almost nightly. The song was documented as being sung by world-recognized Irish soprano Catherine Hayes in June of 1848 for Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace. The song was featured in the 1994 film "Gettysburg," being sung in the Confederate camp the night before Pickett's Charge and is still heard frequently to this day. Following the war, Crouch continued to compose while he taught music and voice. There has been controversy about the authorship of the song "Oh How I Hate to Get up in the Morning", some saying that Irving Berlin composed it many years later, while others equally adamant that Crouch had the honors. Recent research has shown, however, that Crouch was the actual composer, writing the song to cheer up his fellow Confederate soldiers. Most of his compositions were burnt in a fire during the Civil War. Near the end of his life, he was found living in poverty and nearly blind. After his death, he was buried in military honors. He married four times and reportedly had as many as 27 children. Before leaving England, he had with his first wife Lydia Pearson at least six children including Eliza Emma Crouch or the beautiful French court courtesan Cora Pearl.