Memoir 1, Page 62, Civil War Song Lyrics

"Our gallant comrades have fallen and sealed the precious legacy with their lives."

Woods’ adaptation of the phrase “lie mouldering in the grave” is a reference to the Union marching song “John Brown’s Body,” a variation of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” that includes the lyric “John Brown’s body lies amouldering in the grave.” For a complete version of these lyrics, click here.

"But O weeping wives, mothers sisters, dry up your tears,—your sorrowing cannot ransom them from the cold, cold ground."

The phrase “cold, cold ground” is also a lyric from the song “Massa’s in de Cold Ground,” a minstrel song in which slaves mourn their dead master, though it is possible Woods pulled the phrase from a different source. If this song was his source, Woods’ inclusion of these lyrics seems rather strange, particularly due to his own attitude towards slavery. For the complete lyrics, click here.