The Flag Of The Red, White And Blue

Additional Verses to an Old Song.

BY REV. J. G. FORMAN.

I.

Blest banner of Freedom! Thy pinion

Floats wide o’er the land and the sea;

The emblem of peaceful dominion,

Our eyes turn with rapture to thee.

Though war-clouds and danger are o’er us,

Thy folds are still dear to our view;

With the flag of our country before us,

We march to the Read White and blue,

We march to the Read White and blue,

We march to the Read White and blue;

With the flag of our country before us,

We march to the Read White and blue.

II.

The glorious ensign ne’er sever,

Let it float in the ether above,

Its stars the bright symbol, forever,

Of Union and Freedom and Love.

May they never grow dim in their shining,

Nor fade from their colors so true,

The stars and stripes still entwining,

Hurrah for the Red, White and Blue.

III.

Though traitors shall meet and dissemble,

And armies of Rebels shall rise,

Our banner shall cause them to tremble

As it waves in the bright Southern skies;

And millions of patriot voices

Shall the chorus of Freedom renew,

And shout as the nation rejoices,

Hurrah for the Red, White and Blue.

Benton barracks, St. Louis, Feb. 1862.

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 12, 1862, p. 4