Virgil Caine is the name
And I served on the Danville train
Till Stoneman's cavalry
Came and tore up the tracks again

In the winter of '65
We were hungry, just barely alive
By may the tenth, Richmond had fell
It's a time I remember, oh so well

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singin'

They went
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la

Back with my wife in Tennessee
When one day she called to me
Virgil, quick, come see
There goes Robert E Lee!

Now I don't mind choppin' wood
And I don't care if the money's no good
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest
But they should never have taken the very best

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singin'

Like my father before me
I will work the land
Like my brother above me
Who took a rebel stand

He was just eighteen, proud and brave
But a yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud below my feet
You can't raise a Caine back up
When he's in defeat