The Ballad of Van Zandt

Come ye, all young and old,

To hear the story that's never told!

In foregone Texas, a county dwelled-

It's name: Van Zandt; and it's men rebelled.

The South's creed had created their hate,

Van Zandt wanted to be a sovereign state.

In 1846, the law was passed.

The county was a country! But would it last?

Alas,the Federals disliked this act

From New Orleans, their men attacked.

The Army men followed command,

But the local citizens knew the land.

The Free State of Van Zandt had won,

And, later that night, celebration begun.

Men got drunk and left their posts,

So the sober Federals waltzed right in

And captured the tipsy Van Zandt men.

They shackled both their hands and feet

And locked them up in bitter defeat.

But not all was lost, for on that night,

The good doctor's file had been out of sight.

With that tool, he freed them all

And together, they broke the stockade wall.

North, East, and West they fled

And nothing else of them is said.

Van Zandt rejoined the USA,

And is still there to this day.

Now, my friends, I pray you've learned

The moral with which this story's concerned:

When drinking becomes a possibility,

Unlike the Van Zandts, use responsibility!