"Richmond On The James" lyrics

Our land is filled with mourning
From Bourbon to Malone
And many wives and mothers
Are weeping, sad and lone
For many youthful heroes
Are among the noble slain
On a blood-red field near Richmond
Fair Richmond on the James

A soldier boy at Richmond
Lay gasping on the field
The battle strife was over
And the foe was forced to yield
But fell one noble hero
Before the foe-man's aim
On the blood-stained field at Richmond
Fair Richmond on the James

A comrade stood beside him
As his lifeblood ebbed away
They had been chums together
Since boyhood's early day
Together they had struggled
'Mid strife and grief and pain
But to part that night at Richmond
Fair Richmond on the James

He said, "My noble comrade
You will miss me for awhile
But the faces that once loved us
Again on you will smile
Again you will be foremost
In all the village games
While I lie here at Richmond
Fair Richmond on the James

Take the sword home to my brother
And the star upon my breast
To my young and gentle sister
The one that I loved best
And a brown lock from my forehead
To my mother who still dreams
Of the safe return of her soldier boy
From Richmond on the James."