He Walked All the Way the Home

In the grim and final hour of the War between the States
He had enough dying, all the grief that he could take
From the Appamattox Courthouse, where the deed was sadly done
There was no place left for him to go but home
He walked all the way home to Southampton County
To carry all he owned and try to forget
Wearing sadness like a mantle for the friends he lost in vain
He walked all the way home to start his life again
In the end he knew the reasons but so many had been lost
For years to come the fallen would sleep beneath the cross
What he held in angry silence, time could never burn away
It was just the saddest price he'd ever pay
He walked all the way home to Southampton County
To carry all he owned and try to forget
Wearing sadness like a mantle for the friends he lost in vain
He walked all the way home to start his life again
When he stopped to take some water at a little roadside place
A pretty southern widow sadly looked into his face
As they talked a while his blue eyes seemed to ease her broken heart
One day he came back and took her home
He walked all the way home to Southampton County
To carry all he owned and try to forget
Wearing sadness like a mantle for the friends he lost in vain
He walked all the way home to start his life again
He walked all the way home to start his life again