My name is Charlie Porter I was a union soldier In 61, I signed up to fight And it was a great adventure But I have to tell you Not the fairytale I had in mind And when General Lee surrendered And victory finally arrived I heard no one hoot or holler No hip-hurray for the stars and stripes We only cried Back when it started Proud and foolish hearted I thought I had a taste for rebel blood But we were only children They killed us and we killed them And the misery and the dying made us numb By then, holding back the sorrow Was kind of like holding back the tide The men did not hoot or holler Nor hip-hurray for the stars and stripes We only cried And oh, victory seems hollow At the price of half a million lives A cold and weary stillness follows You hear no hip-hurray for stars and stripes You only cry