“They're Burning Georgia Down” by Balsam Range

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C. M. Sheffield

Puritan Board Graduate
I attended a concert at The International Bluegrass Music Association last evening in Raleigh. The group Balsam Range performed this song and it brought down the house.


The Yankee letter said that they'd be comin' any day
And if we planned on gettin' out alive we best be on our way
Our tattered grey was torn between if we should run or fight
But our Southern pride swelled up inside as we dug in for the night
Then we heard a rider callin', "They're comin' down the road!"
And the firey flash of twenty-pounders started to explode
'Tried our best to stop them but our efforts were in vain
In the distance you could hear the sound of Dixie's last refrain

They're burnin' Georgia down
Those devils dressed in blue
They took the higher ground
Dying's all we can do
And let us, bound to fall
Smell the smoke and the cinder
They're burnin' Georgia down
But we never will surrender.


Sherman left Atlanta leading sixty thousand of his best
Spreading the destruction over 50 miles abreast
Marching to the sea, leavin' nothing in their path
Factories, farms, and churches; nothing spared their wrath
Oh Christmas Day in '64, they cut off our supplies
And then they offered Mr. Lincoln up Savannah as a prize
And though our lines are broken
We fought on till the end
And pray someday we'll find a way to Dixie once again

They're burnin' Georgia down
Those devils dressed in blue
They took the higher ground
Dying's all we can do
And let us, bound to fall
Smell the smoke and the cinder
They're burnin' Georgia down
But we never will surrender
They're burnin' Georgia down
But we never will surrender
 
It's haunting to visit Civil War battlefields in the South. Often preserved as they would have been then are the farmlands and fields and fences and woodland edges where battles took place, and the details are explicit of just where troops would have emerged from the woods and the routes the battle took through those farmlands.
 
It's haunting to visit Civil War battlefields in the South. Often preserved as they would have been then are the farmlands and fields and fences and woodland edges where battles took place, and the details are explicit of just where troops would have emerged from the woods and the routes the battle took through those farmlands.
It is. I recently visited the house where Stonewall Jackson died at Guinea Station in Virginia. They have kept everything in the room as it was the day he died. Standing there, looking down at the bed where he breathed his last was surreal.
 
It is. I recently visited the house where Stonewall Jackson died at Guinea Station in Virginia. They have kept everything in the room as it was the day he died. Standing there, looking down at the bed where he breathed his last was surreal.


Thank you for sharing. I was born in Georgia and raised in the Appalachians of VA. It was a delight growing up in those hills. I have fond memories of visiting Civil War sites throughout my youth. It has been many years since I have visited the Stonewall Jackson Shrine. Once my wife and I have children, I intend to take them to visit those sites.
 
I was born in Georgia and raised in the Appalachians of VA.
I'm from Savannah and proud Georgian. My family have been in southeast Georgia since its founding. I consider myself a missionary to North Carolina. :D

Where did you grow up in western Virginia? I have friends in those parts.
 
It's haunting to visit Civil War battlefields in the South. Often preserved as they would have been then are the farmlands and fields and fences and woodland edges where battles took place, and the details are explicit of just where troops would have emerged from the woods and the routes the battle took through those farmlands.
I live very close to the Antietam battlefield. There is a road called Bloody Lane, where 5500 men died in the space of 3 hours. It filled me with such a heavy sense of oppression and gloom that I’ll never go back. Neither side could claim victory—it was just sheer carnage. Each night on the anniversary of the battle the townspeople light a candle on the field for each man who perished. It is quite impressive to see but still terribly sad,
 
I live very close to the Antietam battlefield. There is a road called Bloody Lane, where 5500 men died in the space of 3 hours. It filled me with such a heavy sense of oppression and gloom that I’ll never go back. Neither side could claim victory—it was just sheer carnage. Each night on the anniversary of the battle the townspeople light a candle on the field for each man who perished. It is quite impressive to see but still terribly sad,
Yes, I felt that same gloom. Just a terrible thing.
 
My father was a avid civil war relic hunter, and amassed quite a collection by the time of his death. Much of my youth was relic hunting for such items. It’s amazing what you can find from from a time that feels so long ago. We live near Shiloh, TN and often visited the battlefield when I was a child. The battle of Shiloh had more casualties (23,741) than total American casualties in all three of the nation’s previous wars- the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War (23,273). It is an interesting place of history to visit, and I share the feeling of awe and gloom to be where so many men fought and perished.
 
I am an older guy. Ever hear of Liberty Day in the South? It is July 3rd. Kid's today have no idea what that is. I was visiting my sister one Spring during that time and the Alabama flag was being raised over the American flag in a procession. I protested being a new veteran. I was also a Southern Sympathizer but was ignorant of the custom. It was raised to emphasize State's rights over Federal rights.

I had read some books on Christianity and the War we are speaking about. I also leaned heavily upon Walter William's short here : The Civil War wasn't about slavery. I believe the issues about this war are confusing to most. It seems to be about topics concerning Economics, Slavery, and Governmental Authority. All three issues were troublesome. So were other Federal issues Politically. But the most edifying thing I have read was Douglas Kelly's book Peacher's with Power. https://www.amazon.com/Preachers-Power-Douglas-Kelly/dp/0851516289

Yeah, I know I am posting an Amazon link but they have some used editions for cheap. Yes, I have read Banner's book on Southern Presbyterian Leaders also. But I appreciated Kelly's book the best. It shows the heart of a Gospel generated Pastoral ministry from different views. The North did want to divide and conquer. I believe it was successful in dividing. I also believe it was just as racially divided as the South. I became a Christian because I was challenged to join a group that I abhorred and didn't want to join when I was in the Navy and based in Virginia. I was verbally warned if I didn't join I might suffer. If I joined I would be cared for. I was scared and far from home at the age of 18. I refused and ended up reading the scriptures to my eternal benefit.
 
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On a side note, my family owns some land in Purdy, TN. Though a very rural and isolated place, during the Civil War an infamous northern sympathizer, Colonel Fielding Hurst, lived in Purdy. The area itself became known as the “Hurst Nation”. Hurst lead the 6th TN cavalry (Federal) and was claimed to be mortal enemies with Nathan Bedford Forrest. Hurst caused quite an uproar in the area (ordered the burning of the courthouse, several homes, and eventually executed several men), and was chased around and eventually driven to Memphis by Forrest and his troopers. Hurst was so reviled in the area that a poem was written about him. It goes as follows:


“Despair for the children

who lie now in bed.

The widow, the aged

the soldier who bled.

For out of the "Nation"

comes a sickness and curse -

God save us all

From the demon called Hurst.

Like vandals of old

through our land they did ride

With Hunger and Death

always close by their side.

Came Terror, his herald -

but the wailing comes first . . .

We know he is coming,

That demon called Hurst.”
 
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