The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1885-10-08

For Benny Ravens, y!
What fellow in the Sixteenth
Has forgotten old Al. Mix,
Who, when the rebels chased him back,
Put in his biggest ticks?
His chickens were all yellow-legs,
He know where good things grow,
And always got the very best
For Benny Ravens, o!
On slsirmish-line in rife-pit,
Our soldiers fighting fell;
Ofmingled dead of rank and file
True history will tell.
Eleventh's Foster always went
Where any man could go,
And with him Walker joined the ranks
Of Benny Ravens, o.
The men who carried the musket,
The men who won the fight,
They faltered not, but bravely stood
In ranks, by day and night.
They bore our glorious banner
Before II daring foe
That yielded TO the Stars and Stripes
OF Benny Ravens, y!
The Adutants of our brigade
God bless them all we say;
For when they made their details out
To hear was to obey.
And when they marched on dress parade
And stood US in Il row,
We surely thought them twice as big
AS Benny Ravens, y!
Cadle in Alabama dwells,
And Candee in the West;
Myer and Arson don't respond
Are they at Parade Rest?
Lawrence and Stidgcr not here
Their orders came to go;
Wen meet them at our last tattoo
With Benny Havens, o!
Kinsman now works for Uncle Sam,
Rood in Mount Vernon dwells;
Wilson in Jasper runs u bank,
And Clark of Shiloh tells
King, as Presiding Elder, waits
For Gabriel's trump to blow!
And PomutZ-has passed in his checks
To Benny Ravens, .!
The fighting Fourth Division
Was never known to yield;
Brave Gresham fell far in the front
On fierce Atlantas field.
Smith sought the midst of battle
With his face toward the foe;
McArthur's Scotch cap waved us on
To Benny Ravens. OF
The Thirty-second Illinois
Marched with us to the sea
In sxty-four and sixty-fve,
Those years of jubilee.
First Minnesota Battery,
How quick your shots would go
To tell the rebS that we were there,
With Benny Ravens, o!
Here's to gallant General Hedrick--
He was badly shot, you know;
Atlanta's fight found him in front.
Where he would always go.
And when we marched on Washington,
Where we were glad to go,
We found him drinking iced champagne
With Benny Ravens. o!
We remember our MCPHERSON
Brave, gallant, through and through;
Whose memory is sacred
To all the Boys in Blue.
Blair was a noble soldier,
Beloved by friend and foe;
Well ne'er forget them when we sing
OF Benny Ravens, o!
Hurrah for General Sherman,
Our gallant old "Tecump";
He whooped us up when on n march,
And made the rebels hump"
From Vicllsburg to Savannah
He fought and flanked them so,
They thought it was the very devil
With Benny Havens, o!
Here's to our great commander
Victorious u. S. Grant,
Who, when he moved upon their works,
Had no such word as can't
God bless the grand old hero,
His time had come to go,
And he is safely home, ats last,
With Benny Ravens, o!
Hurrah for Hickenlooper
Our gallant Engineer,
Who, when the boys would "whoop her " up
Knew no such word aSfear.
He built our bridges, cut our roads,
And told us where to go;
And now he'll blaze the way for US
TO Benny Havens, OF
sOh, here's to General Belknap-
Our leader tried and true
As brave AS any lion N
Where there was work TO do.
So, when his labor's ended,
And he is called TO go.
He'll find his name enrolled with ours
And Benny Havens, o.
Then cheer Oh cheer for Belknap,
The bully boy, you knew,
Who jcrSed a " reb" across the works
In a way that wasn't slow.
When we march up to heaven,
Where we all hope to go,
Wen pitch his tent in camp with us
And Benny Iiavens, o!
The marches of or army
We never can forget,
In mud and dust, and heat and snow,
And weather dry and wet.
And when the cavalry rushed back
And made their usual blow,
We knew there was fight ahead
For Benny Ravens, o!
The Doctors came at sick-call
And did their work up brown,
With sweet blue mass and EPSON salts
To wash the quinine down.
With "spiritus Jrumenti"
They sOothed the soldiers wo.
Oh! how they'd love to saw the bones
OF Benny Ravens, o.
They say all Quartermasters
Look out for number one;
But when we shouted sowbelly,"
They knew work must be done.