The 111th Pennsylvane

Lyrics

[Verse 1] As we set out that fateful morn From Erie in the rain Down to Harrisburg by rail Upwards of a thousand strong The One-Eleventh Pennsylvane For many was the first time on a train In Harrisburg received our colors Received our Enfield guns Then continued on to Baltimore Where they drilled us into soldiers Drilled us into men Drilled us in the stock and trade of war [Chorus] And oh, what I did not know What I did not know [Verse 2] And we grew up as neighbors We grew up as friends My cousin Casper Kingsbury and I And he taught me how to hunt and shoot And I was proud as piе When they made him a liеutenant in our line When we finally got our marching orders We gave out a shout Though the feathered hats they gave us looked like hell When we crossed the Susquehanna Casper let his fall We all laughed and threw ours in as well [Chorus] And oh, what I did not know What I did not know [Verse 3] We disembarked in Harper's Ferry In a general alarm They deployed us in the heights above the town We waited for old Johnny Reb Though Johnny never came A more disappointed lot was never found But the enemy now was cold and fever Dysentery and lice And gambling and vice I'd never dreamed But our only fear in that year Was that the war would end Without a battle even being seen [Chorus] And oh, what I did not know What I did not know [Verse 4] We never saw Antietam Creek Nor marched in Sharpsburg Town Our fight was in the field between the woods And every foot we gained that morn By blood and sweat and toil Was swept away by the Texans under hood While generals and journalists Argue victory or defeat The private with his spade begins to dig And nowhere near a thousand strong The One-Eleventh Pennsylvane Now our dreams, they did not seem so big [Chorus] And oh, what I did not know What I did not know [Verse 5] We made our camp near Chancellorsville And huddled near the fire Heating up our hardtack and our beans Our guns were stacked when Stonewall Jackson Took us by surprise By being where Stonewall Jackson could not be And then we fought but we were caught By an enfilading fire And an unexploded shell crashed through our lines And chest and limbs and unsung hymns And God Almighty's ire My cousin Casper Kingsbury lay dying [Chorus] And oh, what I did not know What I did not know [Verse 6] And Gettysburg and Lookout Mountain And Missionary Ridge They recite them as a litany or a prayer But my heart was gone, I sang no songs The One-Eleventh trudged along I fought those battles as though I was not there And to second-guess the generals Though a private never can But I'm thinking that this war cannot be won My brothers and my sister Oh, how they stare Now that my fighting days are done [Chorus] And oh, what I did not know What I did not know