Albert Carter, a soldier in the 8th Vermont Infantry, left a love poem preserved by his family. Tom O’Connor shares the poem and four modern musical responses. The original poem is Carter’s; most lyrics in the recordings are AI-generated. Readers can compare the versions and vote.
Key facts
- Albert Carter served in the 8th Vermont Infantry.
- The original poem contains three verses and a chorus.
- The four recordings are modern responses, not Civil War recordings.
Albert Carter left behind a love poem. It holds three verses and a chorus. More than 160 years later, I set his words to music. Now I want your help. Which version carries their feeling best?
Albert was my friend’s great-great-grandfather. He served in the 8th Vermont Infantry. In a military record, he is a name. In his poem, he is a man we can hear.
Albert’s Words
Remember The Hour When Sadly We Parted
Song by A. A. Carter
I remember the hour when sadly we parted. The tears on your pale cheek glistening like dew. When clased in your arms almost broken hearted, I was by the bright sky, I’d ever be true, true to the love that nothing – – and true to the flag of my country forever.
Oh let not my own love, the summer wind winging their sweet laden zephers oer land and sea, bring ought to your heart with the autumn birds singing but hopes for the future and bright dreams of me, for while in your pure heart my memory you’re keeping, I neer un be lonely while waking or sleeping.
But of which the shouts of country is ringing as the land that foul trators have sought to betray, you hear oer the voices so joyfully singing that hes gone where theres dark —- whose tears and sad parting are banished forever.
Chorus
Then weep not, love weep not, think homes are vain, for when this fatel war is over, we will surely meet again.
Spelling and punctuation follow the typed copy of the poem.
Read his words first. Then meet the soldier who wrote them. Four songs built from his poem wait at the end.
Who was Albert Carter?
I found Albert in the free Muster Roll App. His name gave me a starting point. My friend’s family history filled in the rest. Albert kept a diary of his days in the army. He drew portraits and wrote poems. His brother George served in the same regiment.
Finds like this keep me digging. A name turns into a person with a family, a talent, and private thoughts. That same focus on single lives drives my Steel and Honor series.
One detail stands out.
According to the family, Albert drew portrait sketches for fellow soldiers and officers. He charged the officers more.
That detail feels familiar. Albert knew what his work was worth. He also knew which customers could afford to pay more.
His sketches traveled home in soldiers’ mail. Families got a face to hold onto. Picture opening one. You could study the face and show it to a neighbor. You could come back to it on the nights the distance felt long.
A portrait gave a family something words could not. It gave them a face.
Life Between the Battles
Albert’s diary points to another side of the war. It shows the daily life between the battles.
Camp life meant drill, guard duty, and steady military chores. Soldiers kept their wool uniforms, muskets, and cartridge boxes in order. Much of the war passed in those plain hours. (National Park Service: Life of a Civil War Soldier)
Food brought its own trouble. Hardtack, salt pork, beans, and coffee filled a soldier’s plate. Men softened the hard crackers in coffee or tossed them into soup. Sutlers sold extras to men with cash, but at steep prices. Money spent at the sutler’s tent could not go home to the family. (National Park Service: Hardtack during the Civil War)
Disease made camp deadly. The 8th Vermont lost 119 men killed or mortally wounded in battle. Disease killed 248. To know a regiment, you count both losses. (National Park Service: 8th Regiment, Vermont Infantry)
Against that backdrop, a sketch, a letter, or a poem mattered. Making something personal kept a soldier tied to life outside the army.
Private Keller Bobb served in the 130th Pennsylvania, not Albert’s regiment. He wrote home from Fort Marcy, near Washington. Few things, he said, made a man “feel their own weakness” more than being “alone in a strange country.” His letter shows why word from home mattered so much. (National Park Service: A Letter Home from Fort Marcy)
The 8th Vermont’s War
The regiment’s service carried its men from Louisiana to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.
The 8th Vermont fought at Georgia Landing on October 27, 1862. It fought at Fort Bisland on April 12 and 13, 1863. It joined the siege of Port Hudson from May 25 to July 9, 1863. The fall of 1864 brought three more battles. The regiment fought at Opequon, also called Third Winchester, on September 19. Fisher’s Hill followed on September 22. Cedar Creek came on October 19. (National Park Service: 8th Regiment, Vermont Infantry)
These battles trace the regiment’s path. Only Albert’s diary and his own records can show where he stood within it.
At Cedar Creek, the 8th Vermont fought a close, brutal fight to save its flags. The regiment took 164 men into the battle. It lost 110 of them, killed, wounded, or captured. Those numbers hit harder when you picture each one as a face Albert might sketch. (National Park Service: Stand of the Eighth Vermont)
Good research works on two levels. First, I check dates, movements, and records to learn what happened. Then I study daily routines, family ties, and letters to learn what it meant.
It also takes restraint. I state what the evidence shows. I mark where questions remain.
How was Albert’s poem set to music?
Albert’s poem gave me a new way to share part of his story.
I used Suno, an AI music tool, to turn his poem into songs. Three versions open with words from Albert’s first line, “the hour when sadly we parted.” The fourth, Carry This Word, takes a different path. It imagines a soldier’s letter home. Suno wrote most of the lyrics in all four songs.
To be clear, Albert wrote the poem printed above. The other lyrics are modern and AI-generated. All four recordings are modern responses to his poem.
You’ll hear four versions. Which one moves you? Does the music change how you see the man who wrote the poem?
Version A: Remember the Hour
Version B: The Hour We Parted
Version C: Promise We Made by the Door
Version D: Carry This Word
Find a Name of Your Own
Maybe Albert’s story will send you looking for a name of your own.
The free Muster Roll App searches Union and Confederate service records. Try an ancestor’s name or a soldier from your hometown. One result can start a trail through regimental histories, letters, diaries, and family papers. Tell me what you find.
Steel and Honor grows from that same curiosity about people caught in great events. The series follows West Point friends whose bonds the Civil War puts to the test.
Albert’s family kept his words. My friend shared his story. Now you can help choose the version that carries it forward.
Reader Poll
Which version best carries the feeling of Albert’s love poem?
A: Remember the Hour
B: The Hour We Parted
C: Promise We Made by the Door
D: Carry This Word
To vote, leave A, B, C, or D in the comments. Reading this by email? Reply with your letter. One letter is enough. If you like, tell me what stayed with you: the voice, the melody, or Albert’s words.
#SteelAndHonor #HistoricalFiction #CivilWarHistory #8thVermont #FamilyHistory #CivilWarPoetry #SunoMusic #TomOConnor
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote the original poem?
Albert Carter wrote the poem printed in the article. His family preserved his words.
Are the recordings historical?
No. They are modern musical responses created with Suno. Most lyrics in the four songs are AI-generated.
How can readers vote?
Leave A, B, C, or D in the comments to choose a version. Email readers can reply with their chosen letter.