Ben McCulloch

We signed up in San Antone, my brother Paul and me

To fight with Ben McCulloch and the Texas infantry

Well the poster said we'd get a uniform and seven bucks a week

The best rations in the Army and a rifle we could keep

When I first laid eyes on the General, I knew he was a fighting man

He was every inch a soldier, every word was his command

His eyes were cold as the lead and steel forged into tools of war

He took the lives of many and the souls of many more

Well they marched us to Missouri and we hardly stopped for rest

Then he made this speech and said, "We're coming to the test"

Well we've got to take Saint Louis, boys, before the Yankees do

If we control the Mississippi, then the Federals are through

Well they told us that our enemy would all be dressed in blue

They forgot about the winter's cold and the cursed fever too

My brother died at Wilson's Creek and, Lord, I seen him fall

We fell back to the Boston Mountains in the North of Arkansas

Goddamn you, Ben McCulloch

I hate you more than any other man alive

And when you die

You'll be a foot soldier just like me in the Devil's infantry

And on the way to Fayetteville, we cursed McCulloch's name

And mourned the dead that we'd left behind and we was carrying the lame

I killed a boy the other night who'd never even shaved

I don't even know what I'm fighting for, I ain't never owned a slave

So I snuck out of camp

And then I heard the news next night

The Yankees won the battle

And McCulloch lost his life, yeah

Goddamn you, Ben McCulloch

I hate you more than any other man alive

And when you die

You'll be a foot soldier just like me in the Devil's infantry