Steve Earle - Ben McCulloch lyrics

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