• From: Chillicothe, Ohio
  • Registered: 2010-08-16
  • Posts: 1,013

Topic: Cold Virginia Snow

156 years ago today (January 12, 1865), my great-grandfather, Pvt George Willis, Company H, 39th KY Infantry (Union) was ambushed and killed by Confederate guerillas while returning to Kentucky after fighting in the battles at Marion Virginia (Dec 17-18, 1864) and Saltville Virginia (Dec 20-21, 1864). He had the misfortune of being the 39th's last battle casualty before the Civil War ended. He left my great-grandmother Joanna alone with 5 children and a farm to care for. I tried to imagine what he might have said if he had been able to write a letter to her on the eve of the Saltville battle.
https://soundcloud.com/user-198880521/c … ginia-snow


Cold Virginia Snow Ken Willis


Intro: G C G D G (finger picked)




Verse 1






[G]I write to you Joanna from [C]just outside of [G]Saltville


[G]We're camped on Walker mountain and it looks like it might [D]snow [D7]


'Tween the [G]marching and the fighting I [C]think about you [G]often


[G]So I send this letter [D]just to let you [G]know


Verse 2




[G]The fight we had two days ago [C]really was a [G]bad one


[G]Some good boys in blue were lost but I'm still doing [D]fine [D7]


And the [G]colonel spread the word tonight through the [C]39th Ken-[G]tucky


[G]In the morning we will join the charge a-[D]gainst the Rebel [G]lines [G7]




[C]I pray tomorrow will be a victory for the [G]Union


But should a [Em]musket ball cause me to fall and it [A]be my time to [D]go [D7]


My [G]soul will rest in heaven and my [C]heart with you Jo-[G]anna


[G]My body will lie underneath this [D]cold Virginia [G]snow


Verse 3





[G]I had never thought much about [C]snow in south Vir-[G]ginia


[G]But these mountains that surround us now are covered up in [D]white[D7]


So we [G]sit close to our fires and pull our [C]blankets tight a-[G]round us


[G]Waiting for the bugle call that will [D]come at morning's [G]light [G7]




[C]I pray tomorrow will be a victory for the [G]Union


But should a [Em]musket ball cause me to fall and it [A]be my time to [D]go [D7]


My [G]soul will rest in heaven and my [C]heart with you Jo-[G]anna


[G]My body will lie underneath this [D]cold Virginia [G]snow


Verse 4




[G]The papers say the South is whipped and this [C]war will soon be [G]over


[G]Then we can celebrate and hear the church bells [D]ring [D7]


Hug the [G]children tight this Christmas and [C]tell them that I [G]love them


[G]And if the Lord is willing I'll be [D]home again come [G]spring [G7]




[C]I pray tomorrow will be a victory for the [G]Union


But should a [Em]musket ball cause me to fall and it [A]be my time to [D]go [D7]


My [G]soul will rest in heaven and my [C]heart with you Jo-[G]anna


[G]My body will lie underneath this [D]cold Virginia [G]snow


[G]Yes my soul will rest in heaven and my [C]heart with you Jo-[G]anna


[G]My body will lie underneath this [D]cold Virginia [G] snow



{eoc} 

I want to read my own water, choose my own path, write my own songs
  • From: The Land Of Song
  • Registered: 2007-12-10
  • Posts: 5,704

Re: Cold Virginia Snow

OMG I know the civil war was brutal, but here you've brought a personal account of a tragic event. I have damp cheeks after reading and listening to your song a fitting tribute to your forefather. One word.... brilliant.     

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

Phill Williams's Website

  • From: Chillicothe, Ohio
  • Registered: 2010-08-16
  • Posts: 1,013

Re: Cold Virginia Snow

Thanks for the comments Phill. The actual story of my great-grandfather's death is something you would expect to see in a movie.  When they left Virginia, the route the 39th was traveling through southeast Kentucky passed close to his farm. As the plan was to just march a few more miles before setting up a camp, he asked and received permission to stop and visit his family for a short time and then catch up with his company. I can imagine the joy his wife and children felt to see him again. Soon the dogs were barking and there were noises coming from his barn. He went to investigate and saw some Confederate guerillas were stealing horses from his barn. Seeing a uniformed Union soldier approaching, he was gunned down in his yard with the family watching.  It was listed as a battle casualty.  The trauma to the family had to be incredible.     

I want to read my own water, choose my own path, write my own songs
  • From: Wellington New Zealand
  • Registered: 2010-03-24
  • Posts: 1,388

Re: Cold Virginia Snow

Great piece of writing,this is  a bit special.     

The King Of Audio Torture
  • From: The Land Of Song
  • Registered: 2007-12-10
  • Posts: 5,704

Re: Cold Virginia Snow

I can imagine the joy of them all only to be torn apart by a cowardly and vengeful act. They must have been devastated. My condolences.     

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

Phill Williams's Website

6 Reply by Peatle Jville (edited by Peatle Jville 2021-01-12 20:47:57)

  • Registered: 2015-07-31
  • Posts: 2,792

Re: Cold Virginia Snow

Ken I love the way your poignant song  tells us your family history and the hardship of war and battle and its traumatic effect on family. To me it is very important these pieces of history are never  forgotten and your song is an excellent way of doing that for generations to come.   A brilliant idea to imagine how it would be  in a letter your lyrics do that well and I think your ancestors would be  proud of the way you wrote this song. "But should a musket ball cause me to fall and it be my time to go My soul will rest in heaven and my heart with you Jo-anna"  to me would have been exactly how I would imagined  how he felt. Your an exceptional song writer Ken.

  • mojo01
  • mojo01
  • Head Pickle Rhymer
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  • From: nacogdoches texas
  • Registered: 2014-10-27
  • Posts: 567

Re: Cold Virginia Snow

great song and love the story and history behind it     

out of tune out of key and out of touch

8 Reply by TIGLJK (edited by TIGLJK 2021-01-13 00:52:52)

  • TIGLJK
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  • Registered: 2010-05-11
  • Posts: 3,221

Re: Cold Virginia Snow

Ken
To me that is the best song lyric ever written here on chordie !
If you don't mind, I would like to have permission to share this story with
my students when we study the Civil war. I always try to make it personal.
U.S. Grant's escort bugler (Seth Flint,a.k.a. Charles Seaver)was from my small town
and played taps at Appomattox after the surrender.
That song is so good - it gives me chills listening to it.
Have you ever visited the site where he was attacked ?
Great song !
Jim

p.s.  I can empathize with this story. Not as storylike as the description you gave of your great grandfather and great grandmother,
but my dad was killed in an accident when I was 8 months old leaving my mother on a farm with 10 kids.
Must have been the same sort of shock, but somehow she pulled it off, reminds me of the strength your great grandma must have had as well.
Thanks for sharing your terrific saga. It should be in a movie.It is that powerful !

Your vision is not limited by what your eye can see, but what your mind can imagine.
Make your life count, and the world will be a better place because you tried.

"Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except only the the best." - Henry Van Dyke
  • From: Chillicothe, Ohio
  • Registered: 2010-08-16
  • Posts: 1,013

Re: Cold Virginia Snow

Jim, I'd be honored if you told the story to your students. I've always been fascinated with the Civil War and currently have about 65 books about the conflict in my collection. I've visited and walked around the Saltville battlefield where Pvt. George Willis fought in 1864.  Back in the summer of 2011, Zurf hosted a Chordie get-together/jam on the Shenandoah River in VA.  Those that attended had a great time getting acquainted, playing music and floating the river. It was the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and I had an idea about writing songs to make a Civil War CD.  I had already visited Gettysburg and Antietam years ago, so I spent one day while everyone else was floating the river and drove to visit the battlefields at Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, and the Wilderness.  I only ended up writing 4 songs (VA Snow came much later) so I gave up on the project.

One evening I was playing my songs at a campfire after spending a day paddling with a local canoe club. I was approached by a lady that said she was a school teacher that taught 8th grade in a country school a couple counties away.  They were in the midst of studying the Civil War and felt some of the students were finding it boring. She had a theory that since most kids at that age like music, it might get their attention if I would be willing to come to her school, talk about the war and play my songs. I agreed, but was a little apprehensive as my memories of the 8th grade was the bluster of smart-aleck boys and giggling girls passing notes to each other. I took several books with pictures to pass around, asked them a lot of questions about their knowledge of the war, answered a ton of questions, played my songs (plus a few other Civil War songs I know) and had an absolutely enjoyable day. I performed for three classes that day and for the next several years the school invited me back (paid me 50 bucks for expenses and fed me each time, although I would have done it for free). A couple years ago the lady retired and sadly I haven't received any calls since.     

I want to read my own water, choose my own path, write my own songs

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