[An incident in one of the battles in the Wilderness at the beginning of the campaign of 1864]
DAWN of a pleasant morning in May
Broke through the Wilderness cool and gray;
While perched in the tallest tree-tops, the birds
Were carolling Mendelssohn’s “Songs...
Two armies covered hill and plain,
Where Rappahannock’s waters
Ran deeply crimsoned with the stain
Of battle’s recent slaughters.
The summer clouds lay pitched like tents
In meads of heavenly azure;
And each dread gun of the elements...
To the brave all homage render;
Weep, ye skies of June!
With a radiance pure and tender,
Shine, O saddened moon;
“Dead upon the field of glory,”
Hero fit for song and story,
Lies our bold dragoon.
Well they learned, whose hands have...
Two armies covered hill and plain,
Where Rappahannock’s waters
Ran deeply crimsoned with the stain
Of battle’s recent slaughters.
The summer clouds lay pitched like tents
In meads of heavenly azure;
And each dread gun of the elements...
