Frederick William Nicholls Crouch emigrated from England to America in 1849, abandoning a career as a musician of no small repute. He sang in the choir of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, played viola and cello before royalty, and composed operas and Irish melodies. Crouch eventually settled in Richmond, and when the War Between the States began, the 52-year-old musician took up arms in defense of his adopted country. He enlisted in the Richmond Howitzers and served the entire four years of the conflict.

Crouch relocated to Baltimore around 1871 and took up choral conducting. He is buried on Confederate Hill in Baltimore's Loudon Park Cemetery.

"Kathleen, Mavourneen"