To Capt. John Ericson
Inventor of the Monitor
"Oh! Give Us a Navy of Iron" (1862)
The Popular Naval Ballad
Sung by J. H. Rainer
at Sanford's New Opera-House
Words by D. Brainerd Williamson
Music by James W. Porter

1.
O give us a Navy of Iron,
And to man it our Yankee Lads;
And we'll conquer the world's broad oceans,
With out Navy of Iron clads;
Then adieu to _Britannia's_ power,
We'll crush it when ever we please;
The _Lion_ shall yield to the _Eagle_,
And _Columbia_ shall rule the sea's.

CHORUS
O give us a Navy of Iron,
And to man it our Yankee Lads;
And we'll conquer the world's broad oceans,
With out Navy of Iron clads.

2.
Old England the foe of our fathers,
The foe of their children today,
Is gloating in hopes that our Union
In darkness is passing away.
But Treason shall die in its ashes,
And stronger than ever before;
We'll turn on the jealous old tyrant,
And punish John Bull at the door.

(CHORUS)

3.
And where in the wide world a nation,
That could cope with our Iron Jacks?
We would sweep all their seas and harbors,
Of their Warriors and Merrimacs.
Then prove to the despots of Europe,
That freedom must reign on the seas.

(CHORUS)