In the last civil war,
The white folks, they began it,
But before it could close,
The Negro had to be in it.
At the battle of San Juan hill,
The rough-riders they began it;
But before victory could be won
The Negro had to be in it.
The Negro shot the Spaniard from the tree,
And never did regret it;
The rough-riders would have been dead to-day
Had the he Negro not been in it.
To Buffalo, McKinley went,
To welcome people in it;
The prayer was prayed, the speech made,
The Negro, he was in it.
