[Written for the Richmond Dispatch]
a War Song,
for the Richmond Fayette Artillery.
(respectfully Dedicated to Capt. H. Coalter Cabell.,of R. F. A.)
by W. Winston Fontaine.
‘ Arise ye sons of proud Virginia!
Unfurl your banner to the gate;
Unsheathe your swords, on whose insignia
Is seen the trembling tyrant pale.
To arms! to arms! men of the South,
And let the tyrant, Lincoln, know.
In thunder tones, from cannon's mouth,
You fear nor heed no Northern foe.
And, when the foeman's booming bomb
Shall, whizzing, whirl athwart the sky--
(Tho' with each shot grim death may come)--
The Fayette —— shall it basely fly?
No! no! not here the recreant one,
Would thus disgrace Lafayette's name--
The hero-friend of Washington
Shall ne'er by these be brought to shame;
For in each breast there burns a fire
Enkindled by Virginia's breath;
And every son has learned from sire,
‘"Give liberty, or give me death!"’
And should we fall upon the field,
Oh, tell me not we die in vain:
The one who falls with Freedom's shield
Is not among the nameless slain;
For poet — sons and daughters fair--
Of this, our own free Southern land,
Will sing of us in plaintive air,
And name us in the hero-band.
So, then, to arms! sons of the South,
And let the tyrant, Lincoln, know,
In thunder tones, from cannon's mouth,
You fear nor heed no Northern foe.
’ Richmond, Va., April 19, 1861.
