1862: “On to Richmond” — a Southern Poem

The following poem was written sometime after McClellan’s failed 1862 Peninsula campaign. Variations of the poem can be found on-line but this is the only version I’ve found with what I believe is closer to the original version of the poem. It is clearly written on period paper.

The title of the poem is On To Richmond and it was intended to be sung to a musical air called Gay and Happy which I believe was composed by Anne Rush about 1860. [Source: Broadside Ballads]

I located several references to the poem online, but the only source in which I found it fully transcribed and published was in the Ozark Folk Song Collection at the University of Arkansas, where it appears with several notable word variations under the title, “We have the Navy.” One notable example is the line, “McGruder turned about and gave the Yankees gass,” whereas the Ozark version reads, “And Old Magruder was about to give the Yankees grass,” which, in my view, is semantically incoherent. It is possible that the 1951 transcription in the Ozark Collection was executed inaccurately, but I consider it more likely to be an instance of linguistic alteration that occurred as the song was transmitted from one singer to another. In any event, it’s not surprising that this poem did not get widespread publication in Northern newspapers. I couldn’t even find it in the Southern press though I feel certain it appeared there somewhere.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

We have the Navy, we have the men

We are bound to Richmond

To storm the Rebel den.

chorus

On to Richmond early in the morning

On to Richmond, I heard the Yankees say.

We’11 storm them on the North

We’ll storm them on the South

We’11 storm in the center, and run the rebels out.

On to Richmond, &c., &c.

But Lee was in the center