[No. 1146]
Dedicated to
Col. F. A. Bartleson
100th Ill. Vol.
"Battle of
Fort Donelson" [c1863; 11 Jan 1864; 5 Aug 1865]
SONG & CHORUS
(Fought Feby: 14th 1862.)
Words by
Rev. John Kidd
Music by
E. Grundy Esqr.

[Lithographer] Pearson N-Y--
Chicago, IL: H. M. HIGGINs, 117 Randolph St.
[28397]
[Filed Jany 11th 1864]
[COPYRIGHT
5Aug 1865
LIBRARY]
[M 1640
  .G]
[Source: civilwardigital.com]

1. ’Twas when the voice of the tempest was raging,
And snowwreaths lay thick on the desolate plain,—
When winter, her warfare yet sullenly waging,
O’er prostrated nature asserted her reign;—
’Twas when the anthem of triumph was chanted
Afar by the isles of the orient wave,
That the sons of the prairie rushed onwards. and planted
The flag of the free on the soil of the slave.

CHORUS [sung after each VERSE]
Harp of the North, reawake from thy slumbers,
Tell of the deeds of the brave and the free;
Let mountains and valleys reecho thy numbers,
And wind waft our shout and our song to the sea.

2. Dark frowned the fortress by treason erected.
Fierce were her squadrons, and dread their array,
And her banner, by thousands on thousands protected.
Waved where the Cumberland rolls on its way:
“On!” cried our chief; “tis the battle of Freedom:—
On! ’tis our country that calls to the fight:—
Heaven will behold with complacence, and speed them
Who know but to conquer, or die for the Right!”

3. Then, like the thundercloud suddenly rending,
The tumult of conflict rose high on the air,
And the rush and the roar of Battalions contending,
And the shout of success, and the shriek of despair;
And still, as the sulphurous clouds that hung o’er them
Were scatter’d or rent by the tempest’s rough breath,
Was the starspangled banner seen streaming before them,
And pointing the pathway to triumph or death.

4. One last, mighty struggle,— and broken defeated,
The foe in dismay and confusion retires:—
So our ancestors vanquished their foes, and repeated
In the deeds of the sons are the deeds of their sires.
Receive, gallant hearts, from a nation’s devotion
The tribute of praise we delightedly bring;
The triumph is yours,— with exulting emotion
’Tis ours of your toil and your triumph to sing.