First, McDowell, bold and gay, set forth the shortest way, By Manassas, in the pleasant Summer weather, But unfortunately ran on a Stonewall, foolish man, And had a "rocky journey" altogether; And he found it rather hard to ride o'er Beauregard, And Johnston proved a deuce of a bother, And 'twas clear, beyond a doubt, that he didn't like the route, And a second time would have to try another. CHORUS.--Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve, For Manassas is a hard road to travel, Manassas gave us fits, and Bull Run made us grieve, For Richmond is a hard road to travel, I believe! Next came the Woolly-Horse,[12] with an overwhelming force, To march down to Richmond by the Valley, But he couldn't find the road, and his "onward movement" showed His campaigning was a mere shilly-shally. Then Commissary Banks, with his motley, foreign ranks, Kicking up a great noise, fuss and flurry, Lost the whole of his supplies, and with tears in his eyes, From the Stonewall ran away in a hurry. CHORUS.--Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve, For the Valley is a hard road to travel, The Valley wouldn't do, and we had all to leave, For Richmond is a hard road to travel, I believe! Then the great Galena came, with her port-holes all aflame, And the Monitor, that famous naval wonder, But the guns at Drury's Bluff gave them speedily enough, The loudest sort of reg'lar Rebel thunder. The Galena was astonished and the Monitor admonished, Our patent shot and shell were mocked at, While the dreadful Naugatuck, by the hardest kind of luck, Was knocked into an ugly cocked hat. CHORUS.--Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve, For James River is a hard road to travel, The gun-boats gave it up in terror and despair, For Richmond is a hard road to travel, I declare! Then McClellan followed soon, both with spade and balloon, To try the Peninsular approaches, But one and all agreed that his best rate of speed, Was no faster than the slowest of "slow coaches." Instead of easy ground, at Williamsburg he found A Longstreet indeed, and nothing shorter, And it put him in the dumps, that spades wasn't trumps, And the Hills he couldn't level "as he orter." CHORUS.--Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve, For Longstreet is a hard road to travel, Lay down the shovel and throw away the spade, For Richmond is a hard road to travel, I'm afraid.