Battlecry of Freedom
[SGT COLLINS]
That’s right boys! Your union needs you! These are dire times. Remember the attack on our union at Fort Sumpter? Now remember Bull Run! And now, just this past month, our boys were attacked most viciously at Antietam

[BILLY]
Rotten Greybacks!

[COLLINS]
Are you gonna stand for this?

[ENSEMBLE]
No!

[COLLINS]
That’s right boys! Get yourselves in an orderly line so you can volunteer for the 95th. Yes, that’s it. That’s it! Going to have to learn formations soon enough

Yes, we’ll rally ‘round the flag, boys
We’ll rally once again
We will rally from the hillsides
We’ll gather from the plains
Shouting the battle cry of freedom
Yah!
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
[BUGLE BOY]
Yah!

[COLLINS]
Who here will join the fray
Stand up for men and tyranny?
Who here will sign today
Give up their name and family?
Who here is man enough
To free those in captivity?
Who here is not afraid to join the Union infantry?

[JEFFREY]
Sir, if I may?

[COLLINS]
Go ahead

[JEFFREY]
Came from Rockford, sailed the docks
From Michigan to Albany
I’ve proved my stock in war I’m told
With acts of skill and bravery
I shot a deer from half a mile
Smiled as the buck fell on the grass
You don’t want mere mortal men
You want the boys who’ve got the brass
[COLLINS]
You think you’ve got the brass?

[JEFFREY]
Absolutely, Sir!

[BILLY]
Ha!

[COLLINS]
How ‘bout you boy?

[BILLY]
I’m here, Sir! Ready to make my mark

See you’ve trained soldiers by the score
But you’ve never known me before!
You’ll learn about me by my salt and fame
Ask each year who’s no more far
Who’s earned their turn
Who’s set the bar
‘Fore this war’s over you’ll all know my name

[COLLINS]
What’s his name?
[ENSEMBLE]
What’s his name?

[COLLINS]
What’s your name, son?

[BILLY]
Billy Middleton, Sir

[COLLINS]
Son
You see boys who’ve come for miles
Who left their homes unselfishly
You see men who risked their lives
So broke the bonds of slavery
You want glory, frills aflame
Laurels that we all can view
Nobody will know your name
If all you care about is you

We are springing to the call
Of our brothers gone before
And we’ll fill our vacant ranks
With a million freemen more!
Shouting the battle cry of freedom

[ENSEMBLE]
Yah!

[COLLINS]
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!

[ENSEMBLE]
Yah!

[JEFFREY]
Sir, I’m here to enlist!

[COLLINS]
Bully for you, son, bully for you!
What’s his name?

[ENSEMBLE]
What’s his name?

[JEFFREY]
Jeffrey N. Davis

[BILLY]
Oh hey, it’s Jefferson Davis!

[JEFFREY]
Oh, no no no no no no no! Not Jefferson Davis! Jeffrey N. Davis!

[COLLINS]
Sweet Jesus, what an unfortunate name!

[JEFFREY]
Sir, with all due respect it’s Jefferson Davis that’ll have the unfortunate name when I’m through with him, Sir!

[COLLINS]
Bully for you, son! Bully for you! Stand in line, son, stand in line

We will welcome to our numbers
The loyal, true and brave
And although they may be poor
Not a man shall be a slave!
Shouting the battle cry of freedom

[ENSEMBLE]
Yah!

[COLLINS]
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!

[ENSEMBLE]
Yah!

[COLLINS]
The Union forever, boys
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Down with the traitors
And up with the stars!
While, we rally ‘round the flag, boys
We’ll rally once again
Shouting the battle cry of freedom

[ENSEMBLE]
Yah!

[COLLINS]
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!

[ENSEMBLE]
Yah!

[WALTER]
I’m here to enlist, Sir!

[COLLINS]
Oh, uh, no, boy, that won’t do. You’re a, well –

[WALTER]
Negro. ‘M well aware, sergeant. I am an able-bodied one at that. My daddy was a doctor

[BILLY]
Ha! A doctor! Them negros sure do tell their tales! Get outta here, boy, this war ain’t for you

[WALTER]
It’s true, Sir! My father served under General Zachary Taylor and taught me all he knows. I hear your last surgeon’s died and I’m here to replace him, Sir

[COLLINS]
Yes, son, that’s all well and good, but your color bars you from our ranks

[WALTER]
My color bleeds red same as the others

[COLLINS]
I don’t need a surgeon

[WALTER]
They all do

I won’t stand for idle hands
A gift from God, not put to work
Stick me with a frying pan
I’ll pull my duty and then some, Sir
I’ve even got my own supplies
I’ll keep the boys alive, you’ll say
Walter Suitor’s earned his keep
He’ll live to fight and earn his pay

[COLLINS]
Yes, you can cook and carry the bodies. You’ll get half the pay and double the work

[WALTER]
Thank you, Sir!

[COLLINS]
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh, what do we have now?

[YOUNG ALBERT]
I’m here, Sir. Ready to enlist

[COLLINS]
What a rag-tag bunch

What’s his name?

[ENSEMBLE]
What’s his name?

[ALBERT]
Albert
Albert D. J. Cashier
My name is Albert
Albert D. J. Cashier
I’m ready to sign up, Sir

[COLLINS]
What’s that? I can’t hear you son

[ALBERT]
Ready to sign up, Sir!

[COLLINS]
Okay. I can see you are a fine boy. But I dare say, boy, you are exactly that, you’re just a boy

[ALBERT]
No Sir. I’m not a boy, Sergeant. I’m a man

[COLLINS]
A man you say? Well, soon enough

[ALBERT]
I’m comin’ up on my nineteenth birthday

[COLLINS]
I don’t take kindly to lyin’, boy. You’re not 90 pounds drippin’ wet

[ALBERT]
I’m not lying, Sir. My birthday’s in December

[COLLINS]
Yeah, December what?

[ALBERT]
Twenty-fifth

[COLLINS]
Convenient! Pick the date of our Lord’s birth, easy to remember

[ALBERT]
Lord and I got the same birthdate, Sarge, I can’t help that

[COLLINS]
Knock it off! Year?

[ALBERT]
1843

[COLLINS]
That’d make you almost nineteen, sure enough! You got your lies down pat, do ya? Where were you born?

[ALBERT]
County Louth

[COLLINS]
What?

[ALBERT]
Ireland, Sir. Parents immigrated

[COLLINS]
Papers?

[ALBERT]
No, Sergeant, parents are dead

[ALBERT]
Convenient. Brother, sisters, someone to vouch for ya?

[ALBERT]
No, Sir

[COLLINS]
Wife? Children? Knock it off! If you’re lying, there’ll be nobody to miss you, I suppose. Anyway, we need the men. Alright, all of you line up for your exams. Alright! Show me your hands…alright, now your feet. That’s close enough. Alright, that’s fine

[BILLY]
Oh that’s more than fine, Sergeant, that’s prodigious I’d say!

[COLLINS]
You gotta mouth, boy. Make sure you don’t get it shot off. Alright grab your rations and your uniform, and next month you’ll get you first check for thirteen dollars

[BILLY]
Thirteen dollars more than I ever seen!

[COLLINS]
Next! Show me your hands. Alright, now your feet. You’ll do. Next!

[ALBERT]
Papers are flyin’ Sarge!

[COLLINS]
Tarnations! Uh, show me your hands. Yeah, we don’t have enough time for all that. We could probably use you as a bugle boy. Anyway, grab your uniform. You too
Alright! Listen up fresh fish! You are no longer shopkeepers, farmers, bakers, or, for that matter, are you boys. You are now going to join the men of Company G of the Illinois 95th Voluntary Regiment. We are ready to march for the preservation of our dear Union. You will defend our union from the pernicious conduct of the Confederate rebels who wish to tear our lives asunder!

[ENSEMBLE]
Yah!

[COLLINS]
We will welcome to our numbers
The loyal, true and brave
And although they may be poor
Not a man shall be a slave!
Shouting the battle cry of freedom

[ENSEMBLE]
Yah!

[COLLINS]
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!

[ENSEMBLE]
Yah!
The Union forever, boys
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Down with the traitors
And up with the stars!
While we rally ‘round the flag, boys
We’ll rally once again
Shouting the battle cry of freedom
Yah!
Shouting the battlecry of freedom!
Yah!