Ben McCulloch - Steve Earle

We signed up in san antone my brother paul and me To fight with ben mcculloch and the texas infantry

Well the poster said wed 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 fightin man

He was every inch a soldier every word was his command

Well 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 were comin to the test

Well weve got to take saint louie 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 winters cold and the cursed fever too

My brother died at wilsons 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 youll be a foot soldier just like me In the devils infantry

And on the way to fayetteville we cursed mcculloch`s name

And mourned the dead that wed left behind and we was carrying the lame

I killed a boy the other night whod never even shaved

I dont even know what Im fightin for I aint 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