Among the many problems that plagued the South during the War Between the States was keeping the troops in the field supplied with the tools of their terrible trade. Chief among the items in perennial short supply were shoes. Letters, diaries, and eyewitness accounts from the period all attest that the sight of shoeless Confederate soldiers was a common one.
As the anonymous author of this poem makes quite clear, the Southern soldier took justifable pride in his ability to harry the enemy "back into Hell" despite his lack of proper footwear.
"The Barefooted Boys"