The thirty-first day of December Three thousand dressed blue and gray All sons of the heavenly father Lay in a watery grave And the river runs red The river runs red One shot woke the Tennessee morning Soon fire and smoke filled the sky Then rain came down with no warning As sorrow fell down from all sides The river runs red The river runs red No winners or losers When you count the dead We watch it roll by We all bow our heads The guns have gone silent But the river runs red Now rogers was from alabama And Thomas an old New York town But soon they would die like blood brothers In the stream where their souls would flow down The river runs red The river runs red No winners or losers When you count the dead We watch it roll by We all bow our heads The guns have gone silent But the river runs red Some say you could see red for miles And it flowed that way so many years Now the water looks clean and untainted But Stones River will never run clear The river runs red The river runs red No winners or losers When you count the dead We watch it roll by We all bow our heads The guns have gone silent But the river runs red