The National tribune., 1883-08-09
in the Territory where it is now spurned
and deied. As an institution, polygamy is
no less hideous than slavery, and it should
be exterminated at any cost.
Songs of the Camp.

the publication of old army ballads. From
a poetical standpoint they are metrically
imperfect and plainly deficient in literary
grace, but they will wildly recall to the
minds of our comrades the scenes which in
| spired them. The men who fought the
battles of the rebellion differed from those
of other armies that have waged great
wars in the worlds history in that
! they were almost as fond of talking and
We're of fighting. Recruited as they were
from all professions and trades, they never
| ceased to maintain their individuality, and
although they became, before the war ended,
| the equal of regular troops in point of dis
cipline, they never displayed that blind
indifference to results which characterizes
the professional soldier. They obeyed orders
without question, but without yielding their
right to criticise the wisdom of military
movements and the conduct of their COM
manders; and the plans of past and projected
campaigns, and the comparative ability of
their generals was as much the subject of
discussion among them as among the learned
editors and their fellow citizens who re-
manned at home. We presume the entire
history of the war might be compiled from
the letters, which, as individuals, they wrote
home to their friends and families, and some
OF the narratives and descriptions of military
events thus furnished conclusively show
that in the rank and file were more intelli-
gent critics and more accurate observers than
the historians themselves. And just as their
opinions found expression in their private
correspondence, so they took form in these
army ballads which sometimes depicted the
achievements of particular regiments or
corps and sometimes the yalor and proves
of favorite generals, sometimes portrayed
the amenities of camp life, and sometimes
the horrors of rebel prisons, but in general
and always embodied the feelings and senti-
ments of our veterans at the various stages
of the war.
The authors of these ballads, as rule, pos
sessed but the crudest knowledge of versif-
cation, but they had the kpack of giving to
their doggerel realistic tone, and the very
homeliness of their verse made it the more
potent to touch the heart of the soldier
Such song for instance as Old Rosy is the
Man," which is almost wholly devoid of lit
erary merit, had the effect of arousing the
most intense enthusiasm whenever it was
sung, and, like many other ballads of the
same description, had most exhilarating
influence upon the spirits of the army. So
too, the prison ballads, although of little
poetic value, are, by reason of the asso-
Citations connected with them, still lovingly
cherished by thousands of our veterans.
They speak of past that was real and act
ual, and they appeal to the survivors as no
verses, however artistic, from the pen of
poet dependent entirely upon his imagina-
tionfor his theme, possibly could. The wan
dering poet of New Hampshire who, after
his release from AndersonvilIe, had his rude
prison songs printed in simple ballad form,
and sold them at Camp Parole, Annapolis,
was evidently a man of little education, and
was certainly q very Indifferent rhymster,
but the soldier cared nothing for the style of
the verses so long as they embodied the facts
and feelings which were familiar to him,
and it is not strange that every Yeteran's
scrap-booll should now contain SEINE of these
forgotten ballads. The ballads which we
have selected for publication IN this weeks
issue, comprise but small portion of those
which were heard In the camps and on the
marches of our army twenty years ago, and
they are, perhaps, neither the most inter
esting nor the most popular among them,
but they are certainly typical of the time
when they were written, and they viii be
read with delight by thousands who once
felt their spell.
.