Written, Recorded and Performed by Jeff Stachyra with Claire Byrne / Fiddle
At the close of the Civil war, Southern held Union POWs are released and sent home from Vicksburg MS.
Four Mile Bridge
I’d rather walk to Mansfield on two broken legs
Than in a southern prison wishin’ I was dead
Keep in lock step now
Don’t you fall behind
Homeward we shall march
Set free at Four Mile Bridge
Some started in Cahaba, aboard that devils train
Derailed were those boxcars and shortened up our chain
Keep in lock step now
Don’t you fall behind
Homeward we shall march
Set free at Four Mile Bridge
Across the Big Black River, they will treat you so
Wrapped up in old glory, before they let you go
Keep in lock step now (boys)
Don’t you fall behind (son)
Homeward we shall march
Set free at Four Mile Bridge
Jackson Mississippi 30 miles or more
Marching men to Vicksburg to reach rivers shore
Keep in lock step now (boys)
Don’t you fall behind (son)
Homeward we shall march
Set free at Four Mile Bridge
Those that came from Georgia were dead before they gone
Roll ‘em in on wagons, they ain’t going home
Keep in lock step now (boys)
Don’t you fall behind (son)
Homeward we shall march
Set free at Four Mile Bridge (Fall in line – keep it straight)
I wanna see my mama, I wanna see my gal
If that girl is awaiting, marry her I shall
Keep in lock step now (boys)
Don’t you fall behind (son)
Homeward we shall march
Set free at Four Mile Bridge (Fall in line – keep it straight)
Gonna build myself a farmhouse on a mountaintop
So I can be much closer to my master in the sky
Keep in lock step now (boys)
Don’t you fall behind (son)
Homeward we shall march
Set free at Four Mile Bridge
Keep in lock step now (boys)
Don’t you fall behind (son)
Homeward we shall march
Set free at Four Mile Bridge
