Original song based on the tragic 'Lost Roswell Women' deportation of Southern women during the Civil War.
Story behind the song
Song is written from the perspective of a Confederate soldier, who returns home after the war to find his wife is gone forever.
Brief Historical Outline
In July 1864, Sherman’s Union army reached Roswell, Ga and the Mills. The Mills were worked mostly by women and a few older men, producing uniforms, tents, etc for the Confederacy. Sherman accused the workers of “treason” and the 400-500 women, some with children were deported to the Northern states. Some suffered abuses from the Northern troops and the terrified women were sent eventually by rail to Ohio and other places. Most were lost to their families forever, never able to return to their homes.
Music and lyrics by Ron Cline
Vocals Ron Cline
Guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass guitar Ron Cline.
Lyrics
When I was young I met a girl
Near my Georgia home
We pledged our love forever more
Beneath a Maple tree
We married in the Springtime
So happy we became
My love for her will never die
My true love Rose Marie
The storms of war were gathering up
In 1861
I left my home to serve the South
To fight in Tennessee
Thru raging war’s destruction
We struggled to survive
I held on to her memory
My true love Rose Marie.
My wife she worked hard in the mills
Near our Roswell home
The women made the uniforms
Their loved ones to keep warm
Sherman made his way down South
Burning as he went
He reached the Mills and found them there
His rage he did present
He rounded up the women folk
To ship them all up North
Loaded on to railroad cars
In tears they were sent forth
I came back home to search for her
An aching in my heart
Forever lost, our women folk
Our families torn apart.
Now I grieve for my lost wife
This pain will never end
I sit alone and ponder why
Things ever came to this
How Sherman had no mercy
And hurt the innocent
Forever I will yearn for her
My true love Rose Marie.