Play - The Legend of Jennie Wade

The Legend of Jennie Wade – Lonesome River Band
(Paula Breedlove, Brad Davis)
Paulajon MusicASCAP/Brad Davis Music BMI

“If there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath. And as the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for me, for we shall meet again.” -Sullivan Ballou in a letter to his wife.

Jennie Wade lived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania with her husband and childhood sweetheart Johnston “Jack” Skelly, until Jack left to fight for the Union in the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry. He was injured in the Battle of Winchester and taken to a nearby hospital where he ran into a childhood friend fighting for the South, Wesley Culp. He gave Wesley a letter to take to Jennie if he ever was in Gettysburg again, not knowing that two weeks later, Wesley would be there along with the entire Army of Northern Virginia. Before he was able to deliver the message, Wesley was mortally wounded, and his body never identified. Meanwhile, Jennie did her part for the Union baking bread for the soldiers until a stray bullet traveled through the kitchen door and killed her instantly. She never knew the fate of her friend Wesley or her dear Jack. Jennie was the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Song Lyrics

Jennie Wade was in the middle of a town tore all apart
Waiting for a true love who would always have her heart
Jack was wounded in Virginia where a rebel shot him down
His dying wish to send a letter back to her in his hometown

He found comfort in a childhood friend who’d joined the southern cause
He was ordered on to Gettysburg to hold the Union soldiers off
and promised Jack he’d deliver his last words to Jennie’s hand
but on a hill above that little town he died making a stand

Now Jennie Wade – still lived with hope in Gettysburg
Waiting for the soldier who was never coming home to her
She never knew – her boy in blue would not come back
Cause Jack’s letter lay lost in a fallen rebel’s sack

Though some wore blue and some wore gray, each night they were in her prayers
And she kept the bread a bakin’ so they’d not die hungry there
Till a stray sharp shooter’s blast found her kitchen door
She was gone before she knew what hit her, gone forever more

CHORUS: (Repeat), Instrumental, CHORUS: (Repeat)

Cause that letter lay lost in a fallen rebel’s sack