The "Dying Soldier" is on the list of the titles of Tennessee Folksongs, E. C. Kirkland, JAFL 49, no. 234, 1946. The song itself is in a thesis by L. G. Crabtree, "Songs and Ballads Sung in Overton County, Tennessee;" George Peabody College for Teachers, Master's thesis, 1936. Unfortunately, this thesis has not been published, so content is not readily available.

There are several "Dying Soldier" songs, UK, Irish, Australian and U. S.; more than one mentions 'mother'. Buell Kazee recorded a "Dying Soldier" in 1928 (text not seen); the Carters did theirs in 1935.
A song called "Brother Green" also is about a soldier's death, but I don't think it is related. One of the 19th c. examples was widely distributed as a songsheet and is my candidate for the 'original', if one goes to a Kazee precursor. If anyone has Kazee's lyrics, that might help tie the Carter song down.

THE DYING SOLDIER
"Oh! Do Not Burey Me Here!" (sic)
Air: "Dearest May"
E. Walter Lowe, 19 NY Cavalry

1
Oh! bury me not 'neath foreign skies,
Where nought is bright to see,
So far from home, from those whose eyes
Are filled with tears for me;
But bear my body to the spot,
Near where the primrose smiled,
When I play'd 'round our little cot,
A merry happy child.
Chorus:
Oh! do not bury me here, where all is dark and drear,
But make my grave
Where the willows wave,
And friends can drop a tear.
2
When first the cry of war arose,
How fast our ranks did swell;
And not a friend did then suppose,
'Twould be the last "farewell;"
Friends passed me as I took the train,
Tears stood in many an eye:
I thought I'd see Estelle again,
But Oh! I've got to die!
3
Could I but live to hear it said,
That our blest flag once more
Waved "Peace" o'er every patriot's head,
And streamed from every shore:
But oh! life's sun is waning fast,
Death's hand is on my brow,
Farewell, loved ones, each hope is past-
I feel I'm going now!

Charles Magnus, New York and Washington, D. C.
Copy in Levy Sheet Music.
Listed in "American Song Sheets, Slip Ballads and Poetical Broadsides 1850-1870," Edwin Wolf 2nd, 205 pp. (Krause Reprint). The 1870 is misleading; the date of publication on the title page is 1865.