Much as we might do today,  Civil War era Americans were fond of "borrowing" familiar tunes and adding new, topical words to create parody songs in response to current events. In 1863, well-known southern editor John R. Thompson drafted just such a song, entitled, "Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel". Based on the minstrel tune "Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel" (arranged in 1853 by Ohioan Dan Emmett),  Johnson’s parody version was meant to poke fun at the Union army’s seemingly endless stream of commanding officers and many failures in Virginia in the first two years of the war.

While the song has many verses, a few excerpts will demonstrate its flavor:

Would you like to hear my song? I’m afraid it’s rather long
Of the famous "On to Richmond" double trouble,
Of the half-a-dozen trips and half-a-dozen slips
And the very latest bursting of the bubble.

Regarding the First Battle of Manassas, Johnson had this to say:

First McDowell, bold and gay, set forth the shortest way,
By Manassas in the pleasant summer weather,
But unfortunately ran on a Stonewall, foolish man,
And had a "rocky journey" altogether;
And he found it rather hard to ride o’er Beauregard,
And Johnston proved a deuce of a bother,
And ‘twas clear beyond a doubt that he didn’t like the route,
And a second time would have to try another.

The song’s final verse begins thus:

We are very much perplexed to know who is the next
To command the new Richmond expedition. . .