Music from B is for Battle Cry: A Civil War Alphabet

The poems in Battle Cry can be sung to the tune, "Hard Times Come Again No More", a popular Civil War era song by Stephen Foster. A parody was often sung by soldiers tired of the infamous army hard bread ration. You are encouraged to download this music for personal and classroom use.

To hear or download this music, please click on the titles below (right-click the mouse-PC users, or hold down control button-MAC, and click the mouse):

Hard Crackers, Come Again No More
(Union Army parody of Stephen Foster's Hard Times Come Again No More )

Let us close our game of poker, take our tin cups in hand While we gather 'round the cook tent's door Where dry mummies of hard crackers are given to each man, Oh, hard crackers, come again no more!

Chorus: 'Tis the song and the sigh of the hungry Hard crackers, hard crackers, come again no more Many days you have lingered upon our stomachs sore Oh, hard crackers, come again no more!

There's a hungry, thirsty soldier, who wears his life away With torn clothes, whose better days are o'er. He is sighing now for whiskey and with throat as dry as hay Sings," Hard crackers, come again no more!"

Chorus:

'Tis the song that is uttered in camp, by night and day 'Tis the wail that is mingled with each snore. 'Tis the sighing of the soul, for spring chickens far away Oh, hard crackers, come again no more!

(Sometimes mush was served instead of hardtack, which didn't make the soldiers any happier!)

But to groans and to murmurs there has come a sudden hush, Our frail forms are fainting at the door; We are starving now on horse-feed, that the cooks call mush Oh, hard crackers, come again once more!)

Chorus: It's the dying wail of the starving Hard crackers, hard crackers, come again once more; You were old and very wormy, but we pass your failings o'er Oh, hard crackers, come again once more!

This music was performed on April 18th, 2009, by the author, Patricia Bauer, and her good friends, Andrena Wingate and Nick Cobbett, all of whom teach in the same school. The illustrator, David Geister, provided the spoken word portion of Battle Cry. Todd Syring of Syring Music in Minneapolis, MN, produced all three pieces.

Enjoy !