The Bonnie Blue Flag
We are a band of
brothers, and native to the soil,
Fighting for the
property we gained by honest toil;
And when our rights
were threatened, the cry rose near and far:
Hurrah for the Bonnie
Blue Flag that bears a single star!
Chorus:
Hurrah! Hurrah!
for Southern rights, Hurrah!
Hurrah for the
Bonnie Blue Flag
That bears a
single star!
As long as the Union
was faithful to her trust,
Like friends and
like brothers, kind were we and just;
But now when Northern
treachery attempts our rights to mar,
We hoist on high
the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
(Chorus)
First, gallant South
Carolina nobly made the stand;
Then came Alabama,
who took her by the hand;
Next, quickly Mississippi,
Georgia, and Florida --
All raised on high
the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
(Chorus)
Ye, men of valor,
gather round the banner of the right;
Texas and fair Louisiana
join us in the fight.
Davis, our loved
president, and Stephens, statesman are;
Now rally round
the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.
(Chorus)
And here's to brave
Virginia! The Old Dominion State,
With the young Confederacy
at length has linked her fate;
Impelled by her
example, now other States prepare
To hoist on high
the Bonnie Blue Flag, That bears a single star!
(Chorus)
***
Lyrics by Harry
Macarthy (d. 1880)
***
Harry Macarthy, an
English-born vaudeville entertainer, emigrated to the
United States in
1849 and lived in Arkansas. He and his wife traveled throughout
the South, featuring
him singing in various culture dialects and dancing to ethnic
music. It
has been reported that while he traveled during the Civil War years, that
he had a cockatoo
who squawked "Three cheers for Jeff Davis" while on stage.
"The Bonnie Blue
Flag" premiered in the spring of 1861 during a performance
in Jackson, Mississippi.
Then, in September, it was performed at the New
Orleans Academy
of Music to an audience of soldiers headed for the
Virginia front.
Macarthy suddenly
was in demand for performances all over the South
during the war years.
Although he composed other patriotic songs, "The
Bonnie Blue Flag"
was his greatest success. Among other songs he
wrote were "Missouri
and The Volunteer," "It is My Country's Call," also
known as "The Volunteer."
"The Bonnie Blue
Flag" was a hit with Confederate soldiers and
civilians alike
and remains one of the classic Southern War songs.
