From The Jack Morgan Songster "compiled by a Capt. in Gen. Lee's Army" (Raleigh, N.C.: Branson & Farrar, 1864), page 50:

Faded Flowers.

The flowers that I saw in the wildwood
    Have since drooped their beautiful leaves,
And the many dear friends of my childhood
    Have slumbered for years in their graves.
Oh! the bloom of the flowers I remember,
    But the faces I never more shall see,
For the cold chilly winds of December
    Stole my flowers, my companions from me.

The roses may bloom on the morrow,
    And many a friend have I won;
Yet my heart will bow down with its sorrow,
    When I think how the loved ones are gone.
'Tis no wonder that I'm broken hearted,
    And stricken with sorrow should be,
We have met, we have loved, we have parted,
    My flowers, my companions and me.

How dark looks this world, and how dreary,
    When we think of the ones that we love,
Yet there's rest for the faint and the weary,
    When friends meet with lost ones above.
Yet in heaven I can but remember
    When from earth my proud soul shall be free:
Then no cold chilly winds of December
    Can part my companions and me.