Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
An American Civil War song from 1863
Words: anonymous
Music: based on “Bonnie Dundee” an old Scotch air
Sung by Vancha March
Accompaniment by Benjamin R. Tubb
Get the sheet music and accompaniment here:
sheetmusicsinger.com/riding-a-raid
Lyrics
1. Tis old Stonewall the Rebel that leans on his sword:
“Now each cavalier that loves Honor and Right,
Let him follow the feather of Stuart to night!”
Come tighten your girth and slacken your rein;
Come buckle your blanket and holster again;
Try the click of your trigger and balance your blade
For he must ride sure that goes Riding a Raid!
CHORUS
Come tighten your girth and slacken your rein;
Come buckle you blanket and holster again;
Try the click of your trigger and balance your blade
For he must ride sure that goes Riding a Raid!
2. Now gallop now gallop to swim o[‘]er t[‘]e ford!
Old Stonewall, still watching, prays low to the Lord:
“Now Bye dear old Rebel! the river’s not wide,
And Mary-land’s light’s in her window to guide.”
Come tighten your girth and slacken your rein;
Come buckle your blanket and holster again;
Try the click of your trigger and balance your blade
For he must ride sure that goes Riding a Raid!
3. There’s a man in a white house with blood on his mouth!
If there’s knaves in the North, there are braves in the South.
We are three thousand horses, and not one afraid;
We are three thousand sabres, and not one dull blade.
Come tighten your girth and slacken your rein;
Come buckle your blanket and holster again;
Try the click of your trigger and balance your blade
For he must ride sure that goes Riding a Raid!
4. Then gallop, then gallop by ravines and rocks!
Who would bar us the way take his toll in hard knocks;
For with these points of steel, on the line of Penn,
We have made some fine strokes, and we make them again.
Then tighten your girth and slacken your rein;
Come buckle your blanket and holster again;
Try the click of your trigger and balance your blade
For he must ride sure that goes Riding a Raid!
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An American Civil War song from 1863
Words: anonymous
Music: based on “Bonnie Dundee” an old Scotch air
Sung by Vancha March
Accompaniment by Benjamin R. Tubb
Get the sheet music and accompaniment here:
sheetmusicsinger.com/riding-a-raid
Lyrics
1. Tis old Stonewall the Rebel that leans on his sword:
“Now each cavalier that loves Honor and Right,
Let him follow the feather of Stuart to night!”
Come tighten your girth and slacken your rein;
Come buckle your blanket and holster again;
Try the click of your trigger and balance your blade
For he must ride sure that goes Riding a Raid!
CHORUS
Come tighten your girth and slacken your rein;
Come buckle you blanket and holster again;
Try the click of your trigger and balance your blade
For he must ride sure that goes Riding a Raid!
2. Now gallop now gallop to swim o[‘]er t[‘]e ford!
Old Stonewall, still watching, prays low to the Lord:
“Now Bye dear old Rebel! the river’s not wide,
And Mary-land’s light’s in her window to guide.”
Come tighten your girth and slacken your rein;
Come buckle your blanket and holster again;
Try the click of your trigger and balance your blade
For he must ride sure that goes Riding a Raid!
3. There’s a man in a white house with blood on his mouth!
If there’s knaves in the North, there are braves in the South.
We are three thousand horses, and not one afraid;
We are three thousand sabres, and not one dull blade.
Come tighten your girth and slacken your rein;
Come buckle your blanket and holster again;
Try the click of your trigger and balance your blade
For he must ride sure that goes Riding a Raid!
4. Then gallop, then gallop by ravines and rocks!
Who would bar us the way take his toll in hard knocks;
For with these points of steel, on the line of Penn,
We have made some fine strokes, and we make them again.
Then tighten your girth and slacken your rein;
Come buckle your blanket and holster again;
Try the click of your trigger and balance your blade
For he must ride sure that goes Riding a Raid!
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