The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-06-20

MISOEI.L.ANY
The following poetic version. Of re-
magkable and we'll remoplhered incident i'll
one Of the Wilderness fights, is from the
John r. Thompson, now residing nj Lon
don. 1t was written for, anu appears IN
the Crescent Monthly.
Lee to tlae Rear.
Dawn OF pleasant morning IN May
Broke through the Wilderness, cool and
grey;
While, perchcd in tire tanest tree-tops, the
birds
We're caroAing Mendcissohn's Songs with
ont words"
Far frorn the haunts Of men remote,
The brook brawled on with liquid note,
And nature, all tranquil and lovely, wore
The smile Of the spring, as in Eden Of yore.
Little by little, as daylight increased
And deepened the roscate flush III the
East
Little by little, did morning reveal
Two long, glittering lines oil steel:
Where two hundred Thousand !ayonc,s
CLEAN,
Tipped with the light OF the earliest beam,
And the faces are sullen and grim to see,
In the hostile armies Of Grant and Lee.
ALI Of a sudden, ere rose the SUI,
Pealed on the silence, the opening gun
A little white puff of smoke there came,
And anon the valley was wreathed In flame.
Down on the left of the rebel lines.
Where hrea.twnrk stands IN oopSe OF
pines,
Before the rebels their ranks can form.
The Yankees have carried the place by
storm.
Where many hero has found q grave.
And the gallant Confoderates strive III vain
The ground they have drenched with their
blood to regain.
Yet louder tho thunder of battle rosred
Yet deadlier fire on their columns poured:
Slaughter, internal, rode with despair,
Furiee, twain, through the smoky air.
Not far off, in the saddle there sat,
A grey bearded man, with black slouch
hat;
Not much moved by the fire was he.
Calm and resolute Robert Lee.
Quick and watchful, he kept his eye
On two bold rebel brigades close by
Reserves, that were standing land dying)
at case,
Where the tempest of wrath topplcd over
the trees.
For still with their loud, deep, bulldog
The Yankee batteries blazed away,
And with every murderous second that
sped,
dozen brave fellows, alas! fell dead
The grand old grev-beard rode to the space,
Where death and lis victims stood face to
face,
And silently waved his old SLOUGH hat =
A word of meaning there was in that.
'tFollow me. Steadyl Well save the day."
This was what he seemed to say;
And to tho light of his glorious eye
The bold brigade thus made reply:
We'll go forward, but son must go back"
And they moved not an inch in the peril
ous track;
SEQ to the rear and we'll send them to
HE'LL
Then the sound of the battle was lost in
their yell.
Turning his bride, Robert Lee
Rode to the rear. Like the waves of the
Bursting the dykes in their overflow.
Madly his veterans dashed on the toc.
And backward in terror that foe was driven,
Their banners rent and their columns riven.
Wherever the tide of battle rolled
Over the Wilderness, wood and wolf.
Sunset, out of crimson sky,
Streamed DER q field OF ruddier dye,
And the brook ran on with purple stain,
From the blood of ten thousand focmen
slain.
Seasons have passed since that day and
Again DER it's pebbles the brook runs clear,
Aud the field in a richer green is drest
Where the dead of the terrible conilic.
rest.
flushed is the roll of the rebel drum,
The sabres arc sheathcd and the cannons
are dumb,
And fate, with pitiless hand, has furlel
The flaS that once challenged the gaze of
the world.
Bntthe fame of the Wilderness tight abidcs;
And down into history gran'liy rides,
Calm and unmoved, as in the battle he sat
The grey-bcarded man, in the black slonch
hat.
PEI. N'SHHttcuNE ScV