Sept 1862 lyrics

September 1862 
 lyrics and melody by Tobie Hoffman June 2014

Sept 1862

Sharpsburg, Maryland  gray and blue

General Lee had his eye on the north

His ragged men like hungry wolves

The Potomac river behind his back

30,000 ready to attack

To strike at the heart of the Union

Lee's secret plan  his army split

Jackson racing from the south

As they marched through Maryland streets

Citizens hid behind closed doors

Maryland My Maryland

Could not rouse the soldiers ardor

So they camped and waited

On the ridge along Antietam

Chorus

Some wore blue and some wore gray

Some turned back and some would stay

Some lived on, Many died

By the creek they called Antietam

70,000 men in blue

To the Union they were true

Armed with the southern strategy
Wait in the night and summer heat

Gen. McClellan always cautious

Waited 18 crucial hours

To strike at the heart of the Rebels

first Light the battle had begun

Surged back and forth in early morn

15 times by 10 am

8000 men lay wounded or dead

Generals killed

Commanders injured

Men loading and firing , others flee
What were the final words they cried?

On the cornfields of Antietam

Chorus

Some wore blue and some wore gray

Some turned back and some would stay

Some lived on, Many died

By the creek they called Antietam

Federal army ever stronger

Overtook the sunken road

They shot their prey

Like sheep to slaughter

A frenzy seized them as they stood

Union soldiers firing on their knees
Bodies piled  by 2s and 3s

On the Bloody Lane of Antietam

Southern line nearly severed

But from the south 3000 men

Marched in to mount  one last battle

There to smash the union flank

Burnside of the northern army
pleads for help none would come
No ground was gained pushed back again                                              

Cross the bridge above Antietam

Chorus

Some wore blue and some war gray

Some turned back and some would stay

Some lived on, Many died

By the creek they called Antietam

The muskets silenced, the sun is down,                                         

Lees army slipped away is gone

Half his army from the carnage

Returned to sacred southern soil

Lincoln wired his commander

Destroy the rebel army now

To end this war at Antietam


It is not prudent

to pursue

We will not chase the rebels home

McLellan tells the president

More than 20,000 men

lose their lives, their limbs and more

On the cornfields, bridges, and the roads

On that day along Antietam

Some wore gray and some war blue

Some laid down and some broke through

Some lived on, Many died

By the creek they called Antietam