Update to my previous post - these are the current lyrics to the Field Artillery Song, rewritten, presumably by Ed Gruber, in the 1920s or 1930s. They obviously post date WWI given the references to Doughboys and digging and I can't imagine anyone else rewriting the lyrics given that Ed Gruber was alive and well until 1940. However, I have no conclusive proof of either point.

The Field Artillery Song (The Caissons Go Rolling Along)

1. Over hill, over dale,
We have hit the dusty trail,
And those Caissons Go Rolling Along
Counter march! Right about!
Hear those wagon soldiers shout
While those Caissons Go Rolling Along

Chorus: For it’s “Hi! Hi! Hee!
In the Field Artillery
Call off your numbers loud and strong
And where e’er we go
You will always know
That those Caissons Are Rolling Along

2. To the front, day and night
Where the doughboys dig and fight
And those Caissons Go Rolling Along
Our barrage will be there
Fired on the rocket’s flare
While those Caissons Go Rolling Along - Chorus

3. With the cavalry, boot to boot
We will join in the pursuit
And those Caissons Go Rolling Along
Action front, at a trot
Volley fire with shell and shot
While those Caissons Go Rolling Along - Chorus

4. Should the foe penetrate
Ev’ry gunner lies in wait
And those Caissons Go Rolling Along
Fire at will, lay ‘em low
Never stop for any foe
While those Caissons Go Rolling Along - Chorus

5. But if fate me should call
And in action I should fall
Keep those Caissons a rolling Along
Then in peace I’ll abide
When I take my final ride
On a Caisson that’s Rolling Along - Chorus

After last Chorus, add
Batt’ry Halt!

In 1948, the Army conducted a nationwide contest to come up with its own official song. None of the five winners achieved any notable popularity. In 1952, the secretary of the Army appealed to the music industry for a composition. Composers submitted an avalanche of more than 800 songs.

But no submission sparkled enough to be accepted. So a soldier music adviser in the Adjutant General's office was asked to try his hand at it. As a result, H.W. Arberg adapted "The Caisson Song" to become the official U.S. Army song, "The Army Goes Rolling Along" - which isn't bad as official songs go.

However, no Artilleryman (or woman), and certainly no holder of the Ancient or Honorable Order of Saint Barbara, ever refers to the song as ANYTHING other than the Field Artillery Song!

The Army Song

Intro: March along, sing our song, with the Army of the free
Count the brave, count the true, who have fought to victory
We’re the Army and proud of our name
We’re the Army and proudly proclaim

Verse: First to fight for the right,
And to build the Nation’s might,
And The Army Goes Rolling Along
Proud of all we have done,
Fighting till the battle’s won,
And the Army Goes Rolling Along.

Refrain: Then it’s Hi! Hi! Hey!
The Army’s on its way.
Count off the cadence loud and strong (TWO! THREE!)
For where e’er we go,
You will always know
That The Army Goes Rolling Along.

Verse: Valley Forge, Custer’s ranks,
San Juan Hill and Patton’s tanks,
And the Army went rolling along
Minute men, from the start,
Always fighting from the heart,
And the Army keeps rolling along.
(refrain)

Verse: Men in rags, men who froze,
Still that Army met its foes,
And the Army went rolling along.
Faith in God, then we’re right,
And we’ll fight with all our might,
As the Army keeps rolling along.
(refrain)

I stumbled into this site while looking for the words to the current "Field Artillery" song, which once appeared with some derisive comments about the lyrics by a civilian employee. They're apparently gone.
Because I was one of the winning co-authors for the new words the "The Mountain Battery," chosen to replace the traditional Field Artillery Song appropriated by the Army, I will post both the committee-edited words and my (much better) verses on this site if you so wish and notify me via email: rchschmidt@hotmail.com.

It's a story.