When it comes to Neely's statement, I dont think that it is actually clear one way or the other whether Whitman favors the Union or if he is advocation the abolitionist cause.
"Beat! Beat! Drum!" in my opinion is meant to be so ambiguous because I think that Whitman himself didn't quite know how to feel about the Civil War. So, to say that he did not care one way or the other about the fight for freedom is a little harsh a criticism from Neely in my estimation. Perhaps Neely interpreted (in this poem anyway) the drums to represent a nationalist sentiment as opposed to one of freedom.
When comparing "Beat! Beat! Drum!" to the poems by Horton and Timrod, what stands out most clearly is the fact that Whitman does not pick a side, nor does he address the nature of war itself. Both Horton and Timrod make it clear in their poems that they either have a clear side that they are on (Timrod) or that they wish to critque the nature of war itself (Horton). Whitman's poem when set next to Horton's and Timrod's works seems a little empty in a way. I say empty because Whitman does not give the reader anything to think about in the way that Horton and Timrod do. The language of Whitman's poem is not very complex or overly intriguing, nor is the subject matter. Horton and Timrod at least make use of staunch imagery and metaphor in a way that entreats the reader to look more deeply into their poems.
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Whitman gives us the perspective of the civilians, the outsiders who don't care for the politics of union or abolition. We can attest to his neutral stance by highlighting his recognition of Americans from all walks of life on both sides of the line.
I am not trying to enforce stereotypes when I say this, but the confederate economies _were_ primarily agrarian, while the northern states rapidly industrialized and cradled nascent service sectors. It is no coincidence that we find the following terms grouped by stanza in Whitman's 'Beat! Beat! Drums!'
First stanza:
"Into the solemn church..."
"Into the school..."
"Leave not the bridegroom..."
"Nor the peaceful farmer..."
Second stanza:
"Over the traffic of cities...
wheels in the streets"
"At night in the houses?"
"Bargainers' bargains... brokers or speculators"
"Singer attempt to sing?"
"Lawyer rise in the court"
Intuitively, Whitman is describing the South and the North in terms of their respectable labors. His language does not show bias towards one side or another nor does it attempt to estimate a value on any American worker.
As Remy states, Neely goes too far in attributing a 'mystical nationalism' to Whitman's works. If he is nationalist by virtue of his neutrality and wish for a better nation, I do not see what is so mystical about that.
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