Links to the 150th Anniversary

Monday, July 28, 2014

By a creek they call Antietam Sept 1862


Cannon and Cornfield at Dawn 

Sept 1862
lyrics and melody by Tobie Hoffman July 2014



Am\ G                                                            F/E
September 1862                                          Sharpsburg, Maryland  gray and blue
Am/G                                                             F/Em
General Lee had his eye on the north          Ragged men like hungry wolves
Am\ G                                                             F/E
The Potomac river behind his back             30,000 to attack
Am /E/Am
To strike at the heart of the Union
C/G                                                                     Am/Em
Lee’s army split his secret plan               Jackson racing  from the south
F/G/Am                                                               F/G/Am
As they marched through Maryland streets     Citizens hid behind closed doors
C/G                                                                     Am/Em
Maryland My Maryland *                               Could not rouse the soldiers ardor
F/G/Am                                                                               
So they camped and waited                                             
    Em/Am
 On the ridge along Antietam

 Chorus

Am/Em                                                                                   
Some wore blue and some war gray                             
 Am/Em
 Some turned round and some would stay
Am/G/F7                                                                              
Some lived on, Many died                                                
   Em/Am
 By the creek they call Antietam

70,000 men in blue                                                        
To the Union they were true
Wait at night in the rain and heat                                
Armed with the southern strategy                
But Gen. McClellan always cautious                               
Waited 18 crucial hours
To strike at the heart of the Rebels

At first light the battle was begun                                            
Surged back and forth in early morn
15 times by 10 am
                                                      
8000 men lay wounded or dead
Generals killed                                                             
Commanders wounded
Men loading and firing , others flee                            
What were the final words they cried?
On the cornfields of Antietam

Chorus
Federal army ever stronger                             
Overtook the sunken road
They shot their prey                                         
Like sheep to slaughter
frenzy seized them as they stood
Yankees  firing on their knees                          
Bodies  piled  by 2s and 3s                                                                
At The Bloody Lane of Antietam
   
Southern line nearly severed                         
 But from the south 3000 still
Dared to march for one last battle                   
There to smash the union’s will
Burnside of the northern army
pleads for help none would come             
Image result for antietam national battlefield No ground was gained
pushed back again
Cross the bridge above Antietam

 
Chorus 2

Some wore gray and some wore blue
Some laid down and some broke through
Some lived on, Many died
By the creek they call
Antietam                                                               




The muskets silenced, the sun went down,                                        
Lees army slipped away  was gone
Half his command  in the carnage
Returned to sacred southern soil
The wounded filling every building
Where four walls and a roof were found
In the farmlands of Antietam

Lee outnumbered three to one
Braced for another days attack
Lincoln wired his commander
Destroy the rebel army now
It is not prudent to pursue
McClellan waited  stopped again
It was too late to catch  his foe
Fled  away far from 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

More than 20,000 men
lost their lives, lost  their limbs
On the cornfields, bridges, and the roads
one day along Antietam

Gonna lay down my sword and shield
By a creek they call Antietam 
_______________________________________________________

From our friends at Wikipedia
*"Maryland, My Maryland" is the official state song of the U.S. state of Maryland. The song is set to the tune of "Lauriger Horatius" — better known as the tune of "O Tannenbaum" — and the lyrics are from a nine-stanza poem written by James Ryder Randall (1839–1908). While the words were penned in 1861, it was not until April 29, 1939, that the state's general assembly adopted "Maryland, My Maryland" as the state song.
The song's words refer to Maryland's history and geography and specifically mentions several historical figures of importance to the state. The song calls for Maryland to fight the Union and was used across the South during the Civil War as a battle hymn.[3] It has been called America's "most martial poem."[4]
Occasional attempts have been made to replace it as Maryland's state song due to its origin in support for the Confederacy and lyrics that refer to President Lincoln as a "tyrant," "despot," and "Vandal," and to the Union as "Northern scum."[5] To date all such attempts have met with failure.

No comments:

Post a Comment