Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1880-07-19
THE FIRST VICTORY OF
OUR FLAG.
BY REV. AUSTIN DODGE.

BY REV. AUSTIN DODGE.
Read at the Celebration in Putney, July Sd, lss
Our flags first victory was won
On the green hills of Bennington.
The nation in her darkest hour
Wrestled against the Briton's power;
From frontier lake to Potomac,
Wars boodhounds were upon her track.
New York was filed with deep distress;
Vermont was then a Wilderness;
Gloom, like pail, hung DER the land;
Despair unnerved the patriots hand.
Howe proudly made his vaunting boast.
1.-THE cause of liberty is lost"
Said John Burgoyne, zone campaign more,
Wen rout the rebs, the war'n be o'er.'
Down from the north storm descends;
Death to the colonies portends.
On every hand there goes the cry,
Throw down your arms-submit or die!"
Upon Lake Champlain's crystal tide
The British war ships proudly ride;
The blue sky bends above them bright,
The waves dance laughing in the light,
All hearts are filled with jollity
Boosting of easy victory.
Among the mountains rings cry;
"Ho, patriots, to the rescue iyl"
The lonely wood, the silent glen,
Are startled by the tramp of men.
Where Greylock throws his shadow deep,
Where Magogs silver waters sleep.
Where old Monadnock from afar
Greets first the rosy morning star,
Through wild ravine and deep morass,
Through the storm-scathed mountain pass,
The sturdy sire and stalwart son
Haste to the fight at Bennington.
The young bride spoke the parting word,
And buckled on her husbands sword;
Fond mothers dared not grleve that day,
And bade their loved sons haste away.
Men indeed then trod this cod,
Strengthened with the strength Of God;
staunch men, of heroic mould,
Lion-hearted, stalwart-souled,
Plain hammered men, Of no pretence,
or sterling. downright common-sense,
Unlearned in wisdom OF the schools,
Uncramped by fashions polished rules.
They were not clad in raiment fine,
They boasted no ancestral line,
Unused were they to lucious ease,
Unpampered by soft luxuries,
And yet they were men truly great;
These founders Of mighty state,
With powder-horn and hunting gun,
Flew to the fight at Bennington.
Upon that day of mastery
The morning sun rose gloriously,
Blithe sang the birds, as though the sod
Would not be wet with patriot blood.
The flowers ne'er wore fairer hue,
The heavens ne'er shone lovlier blue;
Yet on this day there hangs the fate
or the dear old Green Mountain State.
Yes; here decided now will be
The nations mighty destiny:
The battle lost, a savage horde
Will sweep Vermont with fire and sword.
or that dread day what tongue can tell,
Lurid and hot with fires of hell
Upon the height of walloomquick
The smoke clouds gather dark and thick,
The deep-mouthed cannon, peal on peal,
Make the rock-rlbbed mountains reel.
Brave Stark see. with manly form;
hear him cry, mid battle storm,
To-day we'll have the victory
Or Molly Stark a widow'll bel'
Yonder see Seth Warner stand,
Leading his brave Green Mountain band
His men dash through the cannon smoke,
Face bayOnet and saber stroke;
They charge the Hessian grenadiers,
Drive from the guns the cannoneers,
Fiercely they scale the steep redoubt.
Leap DER the breastworks with a shout,
And now in close encounter met,
Bayonet clashes bayonet.
In the last desperate charge he led
The British leader, Baum, fell dead.
The infantry and dragons yield:
Americans have won the held
Since that eventful summer dag,
The days of bloodshed now are Ger,
The savage war-cry sounds no more;
Gone are the days Of foreign strife,
The land no longer fights for life,
The child has to giant grown,
Old-time customs. too, have flown.
From Northern lake to Southern plain,
How vast the country's fair domain!
Her eloud-capped mountains kiss the skies,
Like magic mighty cities rise
Her prairies, boundless as the sea,
Teeming with wild fertility.
Here, the blue lake and mountain streamI
There, rivers mid the forests gleaml
The landscapes lovely scenery,
The hum of busy factory,
Land of the laundering cataracts foam,
Land where earth's outcasts find home
Grand her Atlantic surf-beat shorel
Her lullaby, Pacific's roar
This heritage, these boundless joys,
Were won by the Green Mountain boys.
We need men now, wise nobly trained
or clear-eyed vision, hands unstained,
Whose feet are planted on the rock
Who fear not storm or tempest shockS
Chivilric men, great-hearted, bold
Whose votes cannot be bought or sold-
Who, for the truth and 'gainst the lie,
Can face the world and dare to die.
We, too, can fight against the wrong.
Learn how to suffer and be strong;
Peace calls for valiant heroes, too;
The nation needs men, tried and true.
We need not wish our neighboT's chance.
We need not chafe at circumstance;
Live not for self-live for the night
And life shall radiant be with light.
These heroes bones have changed 10 dust,
The old kings arm is stained with rust;
But while the mountains greet the sun,
Shall live the deeds our sires have done.
On this glad day we celebrate
Hail to the old Green Mountain State
Why is a cows tail like the letter
Because it's the end Of Beef.
Little Bobby, aged three years, ha
tended Sunday school one or two nor
He is an apt scholar, and gives G
promise of being rich ethical fruit
At play with an older brother the @
day, his original Adam so far got
better of him as to cause him to cl
his little fists and strike his brot
Brother Tom was about to retalliate
his more formidable weapon, when b
cried out "No, no, no! Teacher say