Dress our pale cheek in timid smiles,
To hail a master in our house,
Or brook a victor's scorn?
No! though destruction o'er the land
Come pouring as a flood;
The sun that sees our falling day,
Shall mark our sabre's deadly sway,
And set that night in blood!
For gold let Northern legions fight,
Or plunder's bloody gain;
Unbribed, unbought, our swords we draw,
To guard our homes, to fence our law,
Nor shall their edge be vain.
And now that breath of Northern gale
Has fanned the stars and bars,
And footstep of invader rude,
With rapine foul, and red with blood,
Us rights and liberty debars.
Then farewell home, and farewell friends;
Adieu each tender tie;
Resolved, we mingle in the tide,
Where charging squadrons furious ride,
To conquer or to die.
To horse! to horse! the sabres gleam;
High sounds our bugle call;
Combined by honor's sacred tie,
Our word is, Rights and Liberty!
March forward, one and all!
--Louisville Courier.
