A 1885 popular song.
Words by Edward Harrigan.
Music by Dave Braham.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
1. At break o' day, when I started away
In the year of eighteen sixty-one
A gallant band from our own northern land
We marched with the sword and the gun
In jackets blue, and the trousers, too
Our banners gaily trimmed with green
Then a trooper's pride hanging by my side
Oh, a soldier boy's canteen
Chorus:
So, dear old friend, it's then I do intend
To keep your memory fresh and green
So let's take a sip and wet our lip
From a soldier boy's canteen
2. No tale I'll tell of the shot and the shell
Nor the din of heavy cannon's sound
'Tis over now, and the old farmer's plough
Tears up ole Virginia's ground
Confed and Yank, oh, they often drank
Beside a rich and pearly stream
Then a pint and gill, sure 't would often fill
Oh, a soldier boy's canteen
3. A drop of rye, taken oft on the sly
In the night or day, it would find its way
To army tents of the brave regiments
In both of the blue and the gray
When darkness fell, oh, we'd hear "all's well"
From trench, and river, and ravine
There on picket post, oh, the Rebs we'd toast
From a soldier boy's canteen