Respectfuly dedicated to
E. F. Dixey, Esq.
"He's Gone to the Arms of Abraham" (1863)
Comic Ballad.
by Septimus Winner, 1827-1902
[melody from "Secash", being a verion of
"The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1861) by Harry McCarthy]

[Source: b1065@Duke]

1.
My true love is a soldier
In the army now today,
It was the cruel war that made him
Have to go away;
The "draft" it was that took him,
And it was a "heavy blow,"
It took him for a Consript,
But he didn't want to go.

CHORUS
He's gone---He's gone---
As meek as any lamb,
They took him, yes, they took him,
to the Arms of Abraham.

2.
He's gone to be a soldier,
With a knapsack on his back,
A fightin' for the Union
And a livin' on "hard tack."
Oh, how he look'd like Chistian,
In the Pilgrim's Progress shown,
With a bundle on his shoulders,
But with nothin' of his own.

(CHORUS)

3.
Oh, should he meet a rebel,
  A pointin; with his gun,
I hope he may have courage
  To "take care of number one."
If I were him, I'd offer
  The fellow but a dram;
For what's the use of dying
  Just for Jeff or Abraham?

(CHORUS)

4.
Indeed, to be a soldier,
  It is so very hard,
For when a fellow has his fun
  They poke him on the guard;
One day he shot a rooster,
  The captain thought it wrong;
As so to punish him they made
  Him picket all night long.

(CHORUS)

5.
I haven't got a lover now,
  I haven't got a beau;
They took him as a ray recruit,
  But mustered him, I know;
He's nothing but a private,
  And not for war inclined,
Although a hard old nut to crack
  A colonel you might find.

(CHORUS)

6.
My true love is a soldier,
  Upon the battle-ground,
And if he ever should be lost
  I hope he may be found;
If he should fall a fightin'
  Upon the battle-plain,
I hope some other chap may come
  And pick him up again.

(CHORUS)