First of July eighteen sixty three
At Gettysburg two great armies met
A turning point in our history
A chance encounter and the stage was set

Up from the south came Robert E. Lee
And seventy five thousand battle hardened men
Poised in the north was Gorge G. Meade
And eighty eight thousand to meet the challenge

Battle calls on the distant horizon
The men in blue meet the men in gray
The lines are drawn cannon smoke is risin'
From Gettysburg on this fateful day
First of July eighteen sixty three
A turning point in history

For three days the battle raged on
Up Seminary Ridge to Devils Den
Lees' men took Cemetery hill on the third afternoon
But by night fall were pushed back again

On the forth day Lee's men sat in wait
For meades' great charge that never came
So back to Virginia Lee's men slipped away
Under the cover of darkness and rain

Battle calls on the distant horizon
The men in blue meet the men in gray
The lines are drawn cannon smoke is risin'
From Gettysburg on this fateful day
First of July eighteen sixty three
A turning point in history

On the third day as the last bullets flew
Ten thousand men lie dead in the fields
Some dressed in gray others in blue
Ten thousand dreams that would never come true

Many good men were lost those three days
The price of battles can never be assessed
So many good men sent to early graves
And it will all be in vain should by chance we forget

South west of Harrisburg about thirty five miles
On the first of July on any given year
A few good people keep the memory alive
Listen close and you still can hear

Battle calls on the distant horizon
The men in blue meet the men in gray
The lines are drawn cannon smoke is risin'
From Gettysburg on this fateful day
First of July eighteen sixty three
A turning point in history