Robbie Robertson spent eight months developing the music for The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down while playing chords repeatedly on a piano in Woodstock, New York. Levon Helm helped him research the history and geography of the American Civil War era before any lyrics were written.
The Band recorded the track for their self-titled second album released in fall 1969. The song appeared on live albums Rock of Ages from 1972 and Before the Flood from 1974.
The opening stanza references George Stoneman's 1865 raid behind Confederate lines at Petersburg, Virginia. The song mentions the destruction of the Richmond and Danville Railroad that supplied the Confederate Army during the final year of the American Civil War.
Joan Baez recorded a modified version of the song that became a RIAA-certified Gold record on the 22nd of October 1971. The Record World Top Singles chart placed her version at number one for the week of the 25th of September 1971.
Dan Rys of Billboard described the song as an anti-war statement grappling with devastation rather than Confederate glorification. Jack Hamilton from the University of Virginia stated in Slate that it functions primarily as an anti-war song pointing to references about bells ringing and people singing in the chorus.