To Major General Lovell H. Rousseau, U. S. A.
"The American Flag" (1863)
A Patriotic Song and Chorus
Written and Composed
by William Shakespeare Hays, 1837-1907

[Source: 011/019@Levy]

1.
All hail to the star spang-led flag of the free,
The flag of our Un-ion, the pride of out msail-ors;
Oh! still let it wave o'er the land and the sea,
A-mer-i-ca's em-blem of truth, rank, and stat-ion.
  The thun-ders may crash.
  The light-nings may flash,
It shall flail wher-ev-er we stand it;
  It shall ride on the wave
  With the son's of the brave,
Who will die in the cause to de-fend it.

CHORUS
  In peace of in war,
  Our flag is still there--
We will nev-er for-sake it, no! nev-er!
  On land, or at sea,
  Our mot-to shall be-
The A-mer-i-can "U-nion For-ev-er."

2.
Lone Star of the West- Ken-tuck-y the brave-
Thy sons and thy daugh-ters, all join in com-mun-ion,
So long as the "star spang-led ban-ner shall wave,"
Be true to your-selves, and the flag of the Un-ion.
  The flag it is ours,
  Let no for-eign powers
Ever tramp-le u-pon it, or take it;
  Where--ev-er we are,
  In peace or in war,
Ken-tuck-y! oh! ne-ver for-sake it.

(CHORUS)

3.
How proud-ly it floats when un-furled in the air,
And the Ea-gle, in maj-es-ty, hov-ers, a-bove it,
It seems then there's a charm in each stripe and each star,
The A-mer-i-can flag! oh! how dear-ly we love it;
  In peace or in war,
  The flag is still there--
We_will ne-ver for-sake it, no_never!
  On land, or at sea,
  Our mot-to shall be--
The A-mer-i-can "Un-ion For-ev-er."

(CHORUS)