Incident At Ebenezer Creek

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Well, the creek lies swollen before us And the bridge is a slippery span The guard with the Springfield rifle Is barring our freedom plan For days we have followed the wagons With all we own on our backs That long blue winding dragon With fire and death in its track [Refrain] But the pontoon bridge is gone [Verse 2] For us these bummers meant freedom That promise made good at last That four-score-seven-year promise Why then do they turn us back? They have warned us not to follow Too close behind their guns That the fighting up front is heavy When it hasn't even begun [Refrain] But the pontoon bridge is gone [Verse 3] Some say the avenging angel Has turned upon his own That all this talk of freedom Is just Sherman's marching song And some are pleading Jesus Asking what have they done wrong Running up and down that river bank And flailing their arms in song [Refrain] But the pontoon bridge is gone And Sherman's troops have gone [Verse 4] And some soldiers disobey orders To help build rafts of logs But they sink as oft as float And time is running out And rumors of Wheeler's cavalry To ship us back to the farms Or shoot us here right where we stand Helpless and unarmed [Refrain] But the pontoon bridge is gone And Sherman's troops have gone [Verse 5] Well, the camp lies now in embers Newspapers all been read And talk of a change in Washington Of a dream shot through the head And some say Ebenezer Is a cursed name for a creek And some say Jefferson Davis Is a blessed name to speak [Refrain] But the pontoon bridge is gone And Sherman's troops have gone And freedom now has gone