Just Before the Battle, Mother

from Memories From Gettysburg by Jeff Greenawalt

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about

This song is another composition by George F. Root, probably the most popular composer of popular songs during the Civil War. It is also among the songs listed in the Gettysburg Compiler as one of the songs the ladies of Gettysburg sang on June 30, 1863, as General John Buford's cavalry rode into town.

lyrics

Just before the battle, Mother, I am thinking most of you;
While upon the fields we're watching, with the enemy in view.
Comrades brave around me lying, fill'd with tho'ts of home and God;
For well they know that on the morrow, some will sleep beneath the sod.

Chorus:
Farewell Mother you may never
Press me to you heart again;
But O, you'll not forget me, Mother,
If I'm number'd with the slain.

Oh, I long to see you, Mother; and the loving ones at home;
But, I'll never leave our banner, till in honor I can come.
Tell those traitors all around you, that their cruel words, we know,
In every battle kill our soldiers by the help they give the foe.

Chorus

Hark! I hear the bugle sounding, tis the signal for the fight,
Now may God protect us, Mother, as he ever does the right.
Hear the "Battle Cry of Freedom," how it swells upon the air;
Oh, yes, we'll rally round the standard, or we'll perish nobly there.

credits

from Memories From Gettysburg, released June 17, 2022
This recording was made using some orchestral samples recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra.
The Library of Congress provided the original sheet music I used to make this arrangement.

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all rights reserved

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about

Jeff Greenawalt image

Jeff Greenawalt Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Three of my great passions are acting, music, and history. Being retired from a real job gives me the time to pursue them full-time. I managed to combine all three through performing living history and period music. My under-graduate degree is in theater arts. While pursuing a career in health care administration, I managed to also study guitar and voice. I hope you enjoy the result! ... more

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