(originally by Johnny Horton)

[Intro]
C F C G C F C G
C F C G C F C

[Verse 1]
G C F
Well, 1814 we took a little trip
G C
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip’
F
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
G C
We met the bloody British in a town near New Orleans

[Chorus]
C
We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin’
G C
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago
C
We fired once more and they begin to runnin’
G C
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

[Interlude]
C F C G C F C G

[Verse 2]
C
We looked down a river
F
And we see’d the British come
G
And there must havе been a hundred of ‘em
C
Beatin’ on thе drums

[Verse 3]
C
They stepped so high
F
And they made their bugles ring
G
We stood beside our cotton bales
C
And didn’t say a thing

[Chorus]
C
We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin’
G C
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago

We fired once more and they begin to runnin’
G C
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

[Interlude]
C F C G C F C G

[Verse 4]
C
Old Hickory said
F
We could take ‘em by surprise
G
If we didn’t fire our muskets
C
‘Till we looked ‘em in the eye
F
We held our fire ‘till we see their faces well
G
Then we opened up our squirrel guns
C
And really gave ‘em – well we

[Chorus]
C
Fired our guns and the British kept a-comin’
G C
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago
C
We fired once more and they begin to runnin’
G C
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

[Interlude]
C F C G C F C G

[Verse 5]
C
They ran through the briars
F
And they ran through the brambles
G
And they ran through the bushes
C
Where the rabbit couldn’t go
F
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn’t catch ‘em
G C
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

[Bridge]
F
We fired our cannon ‘til the barrel melted down
G C
So we grabbed an alligator and we fired another round
F
We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind
G C
And when we touched the powder off the gator lost his mind

[Verse 6]
C
They ran through the briars
C
And they ran through the brambles
C
And they ran through the bushes
G C
Where the rabbit couldn’t go
F
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn’t catch ‘em
C A C
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

[Chorus]
N.C.
We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin’
N.C.
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago
N.C.
We fired once more and they begin to runnin’
C
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

[Outro]
C F C G C F C G C
To the Gulf of Mexico
C F C G C F C G C F C G C F C G C
To the Gulf of Mexico