Steve Earle – Ben Mcculloch (Guitar)

Half-Step Down (Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-Eb)
Key
-
Versions (2)

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Chords

[Verse 1]
Am                               G               C
We signed up in San Antone, my brother Paul and me

      G                                        Am
To fight with Ben McCulloch and the Texas infantry

                                              G            C
Well the poster said we'd get a uniform and seven bucks a week

            G                                     Am
The best rations in the army and a rifle we could keep

                                         G                      C
When I first laid eyes on the general I knew he was a fighting man

          G                                      Am
He was every inch a soldier, every word was his command

                                                      G             C
Well his eyes were cold as the lead and steel forged into tools of war

     G                                          Am
He took the lives of many and the souls of many more

                                          G                  C
Well they marched us to Missouri and we hardly stopped for rest

  G                                                     Am
Then he made this speech and said, "We're coming to the test"

                                          G                C
Well we've got to take Saint Louie boys before the Yankees Do

          G                                         Am
If we control the Mississippi then the Federals are through

                                        G                 C
Well they told us that our enemy would all be dressed in blue

             G                                                Am
Well they forgot about the winter's cold and the cursed fever too

                                        G               C
My brother died at Wilson's Creek and Lord I seen him fall

     G                                                Am
We fell back to the Boston Mountains in the North of Arkansas
[Chorus]
   G
Goddamn you Ben McCulloch

                                D
I hate you more than any other man alive

      C  C/B  Em       Am                           Em
And when you die you'll be a foot soldier just like me

         D            G
In the Devil's infantry
[Verse 2]
Am                                     G               C
And on the way to Fayetteville we cursed McCulloch's name

        G                                                          Am
And mourned the dead that we'd left behind and we was carrying the lame

                                       G           C
I killed a boy the other night who'd never even shaved

         G                                                     Am
I don't even know what I'm fighting for, I ain't never owned a slave

                                     G                   C
So I snuck out of camp and then I heard the news next night

        G                                         Am
The Yankees won the battle and McCulloch lost his life, yeah
[Chorus]
   G
Goddamn you Ben McCulloch

                                D
I hate you more than any other man alive

      C  C/B  Em        Am                           Em
And when you die you'll be a foot soldier just like me

         D            G
In the Devil's infantry