Francis Hopkinson

Francis Hopkinson (1737–1791) was a Philadelphia lawyer, judge and composer, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence for New Jersey. He wrote satirical songs and ballads for the patriot cause; The Battle of the Kegs is the best known.

The poems here are taken from American War Ballads and Lyrics, edited by George Cary Eggleston (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1889), where it is printed under his or her name: The Battle of the Kegs.