(Action of 19 June, 1864.)
It was early Sunday morning, in the year of sixty-four,
The _Alabama_ she steam’d out along the Frenchman’s shore.
Long time she cruised about,
Long time she held her sway,
But now beneath the Frenchman’s shore she lies off Cherbourg Bay.
Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave
Over the Union, the home of the brave.
Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave,
God bless America, the home of the brave!
The Yankee cruiser hove in view, the _Kearsarge_ was her name,
It ought to be engraved in full upon the scroll of fame;
Her timbers made of Yankee oak,
And her crew of Yankee tars,
And o’er her mizzen peak she floats the glorious stripes and stars.
Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave
Over the Union, the home of the brave.
Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave,
God bless America, the home of the brave!
A challenge unto Captain Semmes, bold Winslow he did send!
“Bring on your _Alabama_, and to her we will attend,
For we think your boasting privateer
Is not so hard to whip;
And we’ll show you that the _Kearsarge_ is not a merchant ship.”
Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave
Over the Union, the home of the brave.
Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave,
God bless America, the home of the brave!
It was early Sunday morning, in the year of sixty-four,
The _Alabama_ she stood out and cannons loud did roar;
The _Kearsarge_ stood undaunted, and quickly she replied
And let a Yankee ’leven-inch shell go tearing through her side.
Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave
Over the Union, the home of the brave.
Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave,
God bless America, the home of the brave!
The _Kearsarge_ then she wore around and broadside on did bear,
With shot and shell and right good-will, her timbers she did tear;
When they found that they were sinking, down came the stars
and bars,
For the rebel gunners could not stand the glorious stripes
and stars.
Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave
Over the Union, the home of the brave!
Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave,
God bless America, the home of the brave!
The _Alabama_ she is gone, she’ll cruise the seas no more,
She met the fate she well deserved along the Frenchman’s shore;
Then here is luck to the _Kearsarge_ we know what she can do,
Likewise to Captain Winslow and his brave and gallant crew.
Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave
Over the Union, the home of the brave!
Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave,
God bless America, the home of the brave!
[Illustration]