"Death of the Chieftain" [c1865]
Words by
M. M. Topliff.
Music by
M. Stacy Johnson.

Boston, MAL OLIVER DITSON, 115 Washington St.
Phila.: J. E. GOULD.
Boston: T. T. BARKER.
Cincinnati: D. A. TRUAX.
Boston: C. C. CLAPP & Co.
N.York: BERRY & GORDON.
[M 1640
  .J]
[Lithographer] Greene.
[Plate No.] 7085
[Source: civilwardigital.com]

1. On the red field of battle,
O’er cover’d with slain,
A hero lay wounded,
Lay groaning with pain.
Yet his dying eye brighten’d,
As gasping he said,
On! on! my brave comrades!
The foemen have fled.

2. “My country! my country!
I’ve lov’d thee in life,
For thee havce I fallen
’Mid bloodshed and strife.
My country! my country!
In death still he cries,—
The heart stays its beating,—
The brave chieftain dies.”

3. ’Twas night and his comrades
With funeral tread,
To his last final home
Slow bore their loved dead.
No plumed steeds were prancing,
No dirge stirred the air,
Yet true hearts were mourning,
With sorrow’s deep care.

4. They laid him to rest
’Neath the dark blood stained sod,
Where oft in the battle
His footsteps had trod.
No monument marks it,
No willow trees wave,
With their sad drooping boughs
O’er the loved warrior’s grave.

5. But ’bove it in beauty
The wild flow’rets grow,
And sighing winds chant
A requiem low;
And green in our heart
As the sods o’er his grave,
His mem’ry still lingers.
Peace! peace to the brave.