Fiddler’s Green, also known as the “Cavalrymen’s Poem” was published in the US Army’s Cavalry Journal in 1923 and became associated with the Cavalry Branch which later became the Armor Branch. The officer’s club at Fort Knox, KY (the home of Armor & Cavalry and the Patton Museum) was called the “Fiddler’s Green” and had the poem on the wall. This is a slightly modified version.

I served 24 years in the Army & Army Reserve with most of that service in Armor & Cavalry units. For me, this poem is a powerful reminder of the camaraderie and honor shared among tankers & cavalry troopers, and the Fiddler’s Green stands as their eternal reward as a place of rest, reunion, and peace.

Halfway down the trail
In a shady meadow green,
Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddler’s Green.

Marching past, straight through,
The Infantry are seen,
Accompanied by the Engineers,
Artillery and Marines,
For none but the shades of Cavalrymen
Dismount at Fiddler’s Green.

Though some go curving down the trail
To seek a warmer scene,
No trooper ever gets to pass
Ere he’s emptied his canteen
And so rides back to drink again
With friends at Fiddler’s Green.

And so when man and horse go down
Beneath a saber keen,
Or in a roaring charge of fierce melee
You stop a bullet clean,
And the hostiles come to get your scalp,
Just empty your canteen,
And go to Fiddler’s Green.