Civil War Period Lyrics to "The Vacant Chair"
Item #: AA2443
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This is a Civil War period piece of stationary with the lyrics to the song, "The Vacant Chair", a song that became a popular funeral song with families during the Civil War, and veterans of the military long after the Civil War. The empty chair, in recognition of fallen comrades, is still observed in today's military traditions. The song was written in 1861 by Henry Washburn. The song was inspired after his visit with a family who had lost one of the family, a Lieutenant, at the Battle of Ball's Bluff. Civil War musical composer George Root wrote the music to accompany the lyrics. The song goes, "We shall meet, but we shall miss him. There will be one vacant chair; We shall linger to caress him While we breath out evening prayer. When a year a go we gathered, Joy was in his mild blue eye, But a golden chord is severed, And our hopes in ruin lie. Chorus, We shall meet, but we shall miss him, There will be one vacant chair, We shall linger to caress him While we breath our evening prayer. At out fireside, sad and lonely, Often will the bosum swell, At remembrance of the story How our noble Willie fell; How he strove to bear our banner, Through the thickest of the fight, And uphold our country's honor, In the strength of manhood's might. Chorus- There, they tell us, wreaths of glory Ever more will deck his brow, But this soothes the anguish only, Sweeping o'er our heart strings now, Sleep today, O early fallen, In thy green and narrow bed, Dirges from the pine and cypress Mingle with the tears we shed. Chorus". On the back side of these lyrics is a list of horse by individual from Company C, 12th Virginia Cavalry when they were near Natural Bridge, Virginia on April 20th, 1864. The individuals named are Captain Johnathon H Ford, Lieutenant William H. Myers, 1 st Sergeant Robert S. D. Heironimus, Sergeant Edgar H. Davis, Sergeant T. M. Eddy, Sergeant George C. Chenowith, Sergeant Thomas J. Jackson, Corporal Joseph S. Rudolph and Corporal William H. Pipher. The horse were described by color and assigned a dollar value, as the Confederate Army requireed mounted personnel to provide their own horses. Either one of these documents on it's own is pretty unique, but together make for a pretty rare combination!
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