mg: if Uhland had wanted to transport that message, he would have written something like "... but the enemy keeps shooting ..." instead of "... while I am just loading my gun ...".

Nevertheless, the poem has true tragedy. The problem arises from ritual singing.

My ancestors and relatives fought in many European armies, including German. Tragic songs were and are major means of identification, much more powerful than openly jingoistic ones. If you say they were abused and misunderstood - ok, don't have them sung anyway.