Anonymous
Brass-Mounted Army
[Verse 1]
Oh soldiers, I’ve concluded to make a little song
And if I tell no falsehood there can be nothing wrong
If any be offended at what I have to sing
Then surely his own conscience applies the bitter sting

[Chorus]
Oh, how do you like the Army
The brass-mounted Army
The high-falutin’ Army
Where eagle buttons rule

[Verse 2]
Whisky is a monster, and ruins great and small
But in our noble Army, Headquarters gets it all
They drink it when there’s danger, although it seems too hard
But if a private touches it, they put him under guard

[Chorus]
Oh, how do you like the Army
The brass-mounted Army
The high-falutin’ Army
Where eagle buttons rule

[Verse 3]
The Army’s now much richer than when the war begun
It furnishes three tables where once it had but one
The first is richly loaded with chickens, goose, and duck
The rest with pork and mutton, the third with good old buck
[Chorus]
Oh, how do you like the Army
The brass-mounted Army
The high-falutin’ Army
Where eagle buttons rule

[Verse 4]
Our generals eat the poultry, and buy it very cheap
Our colonels and our majors devour the hog and sheep
The privates are contented, except when they can steal
With beef and corn bread plenty to make a hearty meal

[Chorus]
Oh, how do you like the Army
The brass-mounted Army
The high-falutin’ Army
Where eagle buttons rule

[Verse 5]
Sometimes we get so hungry that we’re bound to press a pig
Then the largest stump in Dixie we’re sure to have to dig
And when we fret, an officer who wears long-legged boots
With neither judge nor jury, puts us on double roots

[Chorus]
Oh, how do you like the Army
The brass-mounted Army
The high-falutin’ Army
Where eagle buttons rule
[Verse 6]
These things, and many others, are truly hard to me
But still I’ll be contented, and fight for Liberty
And when the war is over, oh what a jolly time
We’ll be our own commanders and sing much sweeter rhymes

[Chorus]
Oh, how do you like the Army
The brass-mounted Army
The high-falutin’ Army
Where eagle buttons rule

[Verse 7]
We’ll see our loving sweethearts, and sometimes kiss them, too
We’ll eat the finest rations, and bid old buck adieu
There’ll be no generals with orders to compel
Long boots and eagle buttons, forever fare ye well

[Chorus]
And thus we’ll leave the Army
The brass-mounted Army
The high-falutin’ Army
Where eagle buttons rule