View source for Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!

==The Tramp in 19th Century Popular Song==

===Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!===
'''Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!''' was a Northern song written by [[George F. Root]] (1820-1895). It was so popular the Confederacy created their own lyrics.
George Root's other tunes include ''[[The Vacant Chair]]'', ''Battle Cry of Freedom'' and ''Just Before the Battle Mother.''

==Lyrics==
:In the prison cell I sit,
:Thinking Mother dear of you,
:And our bright and happy home so far away,
:And the tears they fill my eyes
:Spite of all that I can do
:Though I try to cheer my comrades and be gay.

''Chorus:''
:Tramp! tramp! tramp!
:The boys are marching
:Cheer up comrades, They will come.
:And beneath the starry flag
:We shall breathe the air again
:Of the free land in our own beloved home.

:In the battle front we stood
:When their fiercest charge they made,
:And they swept us off a hundred men or more;
:But before we reached their lines
:They were beaten back, dismayed,
:And we heard the cry of vict'ry o'er and o'er.

:So within the prison cell
:We are waiting for the day
:That shall come to open wide the iron door;
:And the hollow eye grows bright
:And the poor heart almost gay
:As we think of seing home and friends once more.

===Southern Lyrics===
:In my prison cell I sit,
:Thinking, Mother, dear, of you,
:And my happy Southern home so far away;
:And my eyes they fill with tears
:'Spite of all that I can do,
:Though I try to cheer my comrades and be gay. 

:Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!
:The boys are marching;
:Cheer up, comrades, they will come.
:And beneath the stars and bars
:We shall breathe the air again
:Of freemen in our own beloved home.. 

:In the battle front we stood
:When their fiercest charge they made,
:and our soldiers by the thousands sank to die;
:But before they reached our lines,
:They were driven back dismayed,
:And the "Rebel Yell" went upward to the sky. 

:Now our great commander Lee
:Crosses broad Potomac's stream,
:And his legions marching Northward take their way.
:On Pennsylvania's roads
:Will their trusty muskets gleam,
:And her iron hills shall echo to the fray. 

:In the cruel stockade-pen
:Dying slowly day by day,
:For weary months we've waited all in vain;
:but if God will speed the way
:Of our gallant boys in gray,
:I shall see your face, dear Mother, yet again. 

:When I close my eyes in sleep,
:All the dear ones 'round me come,
:At night my little sister to me calls;
:And mocking visions bring
:All the warm delights of home,
:While we freeze and starve in Northern prison walls. 

:So the weary days go by,
:And we wonder as we sigh,
:If with sight of home we'll never more be blessed.
:Our hearts within us sink,
:And we murmur, though we try
:To leave it all with him who knowest best.

==References==
* Eicher, David J., ''The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War'', Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0-684-84944-5.

== External links ==
*[http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/4000/4314/cusb-cyl4314d.mp3 "Marching Through Georgia"], Harlan & Stanley (Edison Gold Moulded, 1904)&mdash;''[http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/index.php Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project]''. 
* [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200002356/pageturner.html?page=1&section= Marching Through Georgia sheet music].
* [http://freepages.music.rootsweb.com/~edgmon/marching.mid Marching Through Georgia MIDI].
* [http://www.friesian.com/ross/marching.htm "I am a Union Man" - Marching Through Georgia].

==External links==
*[http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/1000/1360/cusb-cyl1360d.mp3 "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!"], Harlan & Stanley (Edison Gold 9439, 1905)&mdash;''[http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/index.php Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project]''. 

[[category:Tramps and Hobos in Popular Song]]
[[Category:Songs of the American Civil War]]