The Maryland in the Civil War Message Board

The American Civil War

BUGLES

Their red and blue, ragtag flag stood out,
Against their dust covered uniforms of gray.
Savagely we fought to kill our enemy,
As the battle raged on in the heat of the day

Volley after volley we put forth our blaze,
With thousands of led balls snapping flesh and bone.
Blistering sweat rolled down every face,
As the tunes of war by bugles were blown.

There was a clanking sound of ramrods in barrels,
As each new minie ball was loaded and fired.
Some shot aimlessly into the smoke,
While others took aim at the worn and tired.

Bullets were popping like the fourth of July,
Yet our enemy kept surging ahead.
All at once they broke and ran off in groups,
Scattering as for the forest they fled.

From behind the protection of a stacked-stone wall,
The victorious cheered or just sat starring,
At all the bodies of friend and foe
While for the wounded the surgeons were caring.

Soon the war was over and I survived,
Despite it's brutality on trampled ground.
From boy to man I was transformed,
Though, still in the night I hear its sound.

OUR FLAG

Our flag is fabric wove of thread,
Carried by heroes live and dead.
She stands for justice and courage too,
With her colors; red, white and blue.

For all who serve her, they’ll be cheers,
For any who die, they’ll be tears,
For all who love her, life is swell,
For those who harm her, war is hell.

How many moms have cried before,
As they sent their children to war.
How many dads have not returned,
Because our freedom must be earned.

Wars were waged where brave men died
As patriots fought side by side.
Our flag is still the pearl of earth,
Because of those who prove her worth.

BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER

In the course of becoming officers
The young men of West Point bonded like brothers.
Till roomers of Civil War transformed friend to foe,
As many cadets chose to serve others.

Fifty-five of sixty major battles fought,
Were lead by graduates of the long gray line.
Yankees and Rebels ravaged one another,
For to kill and plunder were virtues of the time.

Over six hundred thousand soldiers were consumed,
Not counting multitudes of population.
Cities, farms and the countryside were laid to waste,
Before our Union was restored to a nation.

THE LITTLEST SOLDIER

Nine year old Johnny Clem who stood just four feet tall,
Ran away from Ohio to answer his country’s call.

He joined up with the Union and became a drummer boy,
Soon to prove the gun he wore was far more than a toy.

Armed with a sawed-off musket, cut down to just fit him,
He shot a Rebel horseman who tried to do him in.

Awarded his sergeant’s stripes and the silver medal,
His comrades offered him hot coffee from their kettle.

The newspapers of the North, gladly published his story,
Telling of the nine year old who earned his country’s glory.

THE CIVIL WAR

In 1860 life was good,
'Till its simpleness ceased one day.
The North wished to save the Union
While the South chose to break away.

America was torn apart
As six hundred thousand died.
Throughout four years of total war,
Women without husbands cried.

The sad fact of the Civil War
Is what was left at its end.
Too many times, men's evil acts
Destroyed both foe and friend.

The problem was, once it began,
There was no peace or compromise.
Total victory must be proclaimed
Before rage would leave men’s eyes.

Destroy all that helps the enemy,
Was the cry of either side.
Anything to obtain victory,
As death on horseback did ride.

Black men dressed in old uniforms
Became the Union's reserve.
They fought and died for their freedom
And their rights they earned and deserve.

Lifestyles would forever change
For all who survived the war.
It had ended as it began,
With sadness, misery and more.

Both sides prayed to the same God,
And spoke words from the Bible.
The prayers of both were not answered,
For all involved were liable.

WAR

As war is fought it takes charge,
And events spin out of control.
The madness of men can alter the soil
Which nourishes the roots of their soul.

Many things will forever change,
Far more then wished to be.
As the wrath of war starts to destroy,
Those things we fight to keep free.

War is the greatest plague of man,
Religion, state, and sanity.
Any scourge is more preferred,
Than the one which disables humanity.

When war breaks out, boundaries change
And all who die are a token,
Of the rage that must run it's course,
Before words of peace are spoken.

FREEDOM

In their new uniforms,
The young march off
Not knowing who shall return.
With a proud devotion,
They brandish their flag
Leaving loved ones to wonder and yearn.

May we all be buried
By all of our children
Is an ancient tribal prayer.
They're so easy to lose
But so hard to forget;
Such a burden for a parent to bear.

Oh, the taste of victory
Shall soon be forgotten;
But, never that which was lost.
For those rows of white headstones
In peaceful green fields,
Make it easy to tally the cost.

America has survived all attempts to destroy
Knowing the cruelty of war,
And, we who remain
Must help keep her free
For those who can march no more!

THUNDER IN THE GROUND

Cannons are bellowing from a ridge far away.
The battle lines are forming and there’s little time to pray.
Musket balls are pelting like hailstones from the sky;
I'm so full of fear cause I don 't want to die.

From beyond yonder hill comes a terrifying sound,
It's the music of the buglers and there's thunder in the ground.
The fast-riding troopers have all drawn out their swords.
They 're shouting and screaming as they charge up the gorge.

It's hard to believe how many make it through;
As they're hacking and shooting at the boys dressed in blue.
Then come the soldier men who run upon their feet,
Every time I drop one, my heart skips a beat.

There's a storm on the ground made of death, dust and smoke.
My throat is so dry, I can 't help but choke.
The fury of the battle is bound to settle down,
When most of the fighters lie dead on the ground.

After dark, the stretcher-bearers are afraid to search around.
The wild hogs eat the wounded and I can 't stand the sound.
Come dawn, we dig ditches for all the brave, lifeless men.
Then quote words from our Bible praying heaven lets them in.

THE FEVER OF FEAR

Cannons are bursting hot metal from the ground.
Soldiers are looting and burning our town.
The fever of fear rushes through my veins,
As too many Bluecoats jump from troop trains.

Smoke from hot barrels is swirling around,
As four thousand muskets volley their sound.
All of my comrades have stopped a lead ball;
Most cry out, then stumble and fall.

Even the young lad who carried our flag,
Now he lies dead as he clings to that rag.
Wagons with the wounded trail blood on the ground,
Death and destruction are easily found.

The Generals are crying 'cause they can't stand defeat;
But it's always the soldier who dies on his feet.
Horse hooves are pounding on a bridge made of boards,
As the sunlight reflects from the blades of their swords.

Quickly I hide out in the roots of a tree,
Where the dirt has eroded and there's just room for me.
After dark I sneak out with the cover of fog,
Then float down the river, as I cling to a log.

Songs of their victory, ring out through the night,
While from the cold, muddy water, I see their firelight.
It makes me remember my old country church,
Where the preacher spoke God's word from his holy perch.

That the seed of all conflict began in a cave;
When man, like the wild wolf had to prove he was brave.

BLACK POWDER BRIDGE

A courier rider hands his papers to me;
They are instructions from Robert E. Lee.
I am advised now is the time,
To stop the troop movement on the Rock Island line.

I muster my men and they load up the boats,
We powder our pistols and darken our coats.
Traveling the currents, the sun slips from sight,
As brave men with a purpose have gathered to fight.

We capture a bridge before the moonrise,
The Yankees who are here shall soon feed the flies.
The evil of war feeds on my brain
As I light the fuse to destroy a train.

Above us a trestle of timber and tar
As we pull our oars for a willowed sandbar.
From the banks of the river; we watch it approach;
There's shadows of soldiers, in the windows of a coach.

With a burst of bright yellow and a roar in my ear,
I hear them scream as they 're falling in fear.
The river is boiling in steam, steel and stems,
Back home their families shall soon sing funeral hymns.

The one lone survivor was a red stallion stud,
I lassoed his neck, and freed him from the mud.
As I ride in his saddle beneath the stars that shine,
I pray for forgiveness and some peace of mind.

War is a lesson we ‘re eager to learn
When man has that fever to murder and burn.
Lord, please forgive me for what I have done,
For all those I've silenced were some mother's son.

THUNDER IN THE GROUND

Cannons are bellowing from a ridge far away.
The battle lines are forming and there’s little time to pray.
Musket balls are pelting like hailstones from the sky;
I'm so full of fear cause I don 't want to die.

From beyond yonder hill comes a terrifying sound,
It's the music of the buglers and there's thunder in the ground.
The fast-riding troopers have all drawn out their swords.
They 're shouting and screaming as they charge up the gorge.

It's hard to believe how many make it through;
As they're hacking and shooting at the boys dressed in blue.
Then come the soldier men who run upon their feet,
Every time I drop one, my heart skips a beat.

There's a storm on the ground made of death, dust and smoke.
My throat is so dry, I can 't help but choke.
The fury of the battle is bound to settle down,
When most of the fighters lie dead on the ground.

After dark, the stretcher-bearers are afraid to search around.
The wild hogs eat the wounded and I can 't stand the sound.
Come dawn, we dig ditches for all the brave, lifeless men.
Then quote words from our Bible praying heaven lets them in.