The daily clarion. [volume] (Meridian, Miss.) 1863-1866, 1865-01-06
NO. Iol.


that moves us as we stand is the sbak inc
q the ground crossed by the coming OF
the chariot wheels of mans artillery
Nearer and nearer "its murmur swelIs.
above, below, around, bursting in
arrange chorus forth, confused and
shrill and though the last rays of tha.
sun only just seemed 10 tremble DER the
battlefield this would only seem
TO mean that, as sign of heaven they,
though faeting, would survive many an
eye then watching their decline-lnr
Hthe day that dawned on battle would
surely set in death" They come tLey
come! Forward men, forward resounds
from lips Of leader after leader. Con
scious of the important results awaiting
the action of that dread hour-enthused
with devotion to patriotism and vic
tory+-animated by the love of the fair
one whose -plighted faith was his, and
nerved by the Justice Of the great Am
and the noble Cleburne could stand no
longer below, but with one wild shout
fof--Follow me, men! and one elastic
leap, he, sprang to victory or death
,"bright victim to ambitions" heights
attained. Did his step falter? No. Did
his cheek blapch? No. Did his lin
qniyer? NoiI Did his eye flash IT
did,, it did--with Joy, because he knew
the battle would be won by or Iiltlc
Confederacy his.
4 What; think ye, could have been his
thoughts when he reached the heights?
Were they of his far off home in his own
green isle, around which clustered the
shamrock's tender vine !? Were they OF
the mother and father who reared him
there? Were they of the brothers and
with whom he held sweet converse, ard
walked to the house Of prayer together?
Think ye that he thought the prayers
which, when but tiny boy, he lispcd
beside his mothers knee, would watt
their shielding incense on him at that
moment !? Think ye that the day star
OF his. ambition rose before him then,
Turing him to descend lest he fall in
after it had guided him to its highest
summit ?-or, think ye, that "amidst his
perils he saw one only love-he felt no
sigh orsafety but prayer for her"
id W saAiection chained him to her here,
m Ambition tore the links apart"
Oh God knows the nature of his
man can we'll affirm that
they were noble-that they were worthy
Of the brave soldier who stood upon those
heights barring to the foe his generous,
manly heart--a heart that did not even
belong to him. And thus he fought his
eye flashing with triumph, his bosom
swelling with bright hopes, until the
glorious sun fell in the western sky, and
with its lastray illumining the sparkling
life bloc d Of the foe fell dripping from
his sword, and the dust of the battle field
scattered on his plume, he fell and
'ttaught his last best lesson-how to die"
The fierce din of battle did not stille the
sobs. of his soldier followers, for he was
dead. Cleburne, thou art gone--gono
Just when thou wouldst have wished to
stay stay to see realized the glorious
dream of freedom 10 our land--to thy
adopted land, for which thou hast too no.
bly, shed thy hearts last blood, even unto
death. Thou art gone-just when the
orange trees for thy nuptial day were send.
ing forth their buds, but which dared not
expand its petals for the dread harbinger
as . chilling death-dew that ominously
descended nightly upon her, and which
now by that frost of death dew are all
blackened DER and blighted. Thou art
gone--the laurel wreath thou didst SO
nobly win still rests upon thy brow, though
now the damp sepulchral, icy wreath,
chryastlized by the frosts of death. Thy
dream is o'er-brightly, gloriously, DER;
no more will thy thoughts dwell upon
future day, when with thy wreath of laurel
on thy brow, thou couldst go to the home
Of thy boyhood and tell the tale of its
capture, tell how proudly, how dearly
thou didst gain it. No more will thine
eye brighten at the happy joy ofvictory.
No more will thy inspiring voice guide
onward to fame those who gloried in thee
as their -chieftain. No more canst thou
drain the charmed cup Of fame. "Thou
hast fought thy last battle" and with Thy
martial cloak around thee" sleepest
where the tramp of the war horse on the
green turf above thee will not even a
rouse thy slumbers. But methinks that
when thy spsrit took its fight, it cast a
crown immortal around the heights Of
Franklin. .."
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