Sword and shield. (Clinton, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1885-09-12

oil ID ms :, and is Dresen ed 10 the read
els of he SWORD AND S I I'D as his
weeks con.ributiol Of
1IIE Ygu sEr,.
ayAs,. -, -, .,ffssyrof IL = of Sur Sur 6ibbon
have como e cast into its final form
the tragic story of the War OF the
Rebellion. he will find among the
mosS useful documents from which
he shall construct his history, the
southern Poems of the War;" for
written during the heat and dust Of
the conflict, oftenhmes with boom Of
the cannon in the writer's ears, or
the battle smoke around his tent,
they tell more clearly than anything
else can, the real feeling and temper
of the Southern people at this time.
Indeed in a complete collection OF
these war lyrics the nations heart
secrets lie revealed aud mirrored as
clearly and perfectly as the blue OF
the oyer-arching heavens and the
green Of bank -fringing trees are mir
rored in the most limpid OF noun
tain lakes. They tell almost as sue
cinclv as formal history, the whole
story, rom the brave, buoyant march
ing ouC Of the Southern troops to de-
fend .heir homes fr invasion,
down to the fearful and pathetic
sur. ender OF Lee and his veterans.
There is not an important battle. lost
or won, that does not elicit It's diree
or poem of p1aise. There is not a
general, who lays down his life for
country and honor, but has poet to
embody his deeds in song, and to
give voice TO the sorrow of the nation
over his fate. Even the women.
waiting and waiting and watching
with unfalter!ng courage for the end
of the Struggle. are not unsung. It
is as is God bad touched the lips of
the whole nation with coal Of fire |
from his altar and they broke forth
into song. In the begging Of such
collection of war lyrics, we find |
oooIco Of ron. > appearing 70 Une men
of the country to go forth and drive
the invader back. Written in the
liveliest and most stirring of meas
ures they bring yividly before the
mind the hopeful condition Of the
people. Reading them, we almost
seem to see the gallant companies,
brave, buoyant and hopeful, march
ing of to war to gay beat of the
drums, with colors flying in the
breeze and glancing in the sunlight,
while the ladies wave their handker
chiefs and shower down gay flowers.
1t seems more like a middle age
tournament than the commencement
of that deadly struggle that occurs
to the mind now when we think of
the war. These lyrics were COM
posed on the pattern of almost every
known war chant. We have adj
dresses modelled on "Scots Wha' Ha'
WI Wallace Bled,'' "Eruce's Adj
Dress" "The Battle Of Ivry,' etc.
The most stirring and popular of all
was James Il. Randall's "4,1aryland,"
commencing with these fervid words
s'The depot S heel is o thy shore,
Ma land!
Ills touch is Fl ny .em lie door,
Ma yla d.
AVenge the p 10 &c lore
T ma, neckec the g.. zee, Of i. ltimOre,
Ant be the yattle-queal of yofe.
NJ ylanG, My Malyl- ld. +"
And ending:
j. Il hea The d's mt thu lde hum,
Mary lGl
4 he Old ! Inc buy'e, fife anG d. um,
Ma ~. I'd
Sne is not de- d, no Ue. f, nos dunno, ,
Il IIuzz J Spe pros the Noanerl cum,
She bie les, she br n, she'll 3me she III come,
Ma 1laId, NV NJ ryl-nd!.' !
When such song as this, and the !
chants Of snch poetic Southern De- !
borahs as Mrs. G. A. Warfeld. of :
Kentucky, were sung literally from t
the Potomac to the Rio Grande, it is I
no wonder that there was no tllk a
but OF victory. These buoyant !
songs continue till the battle of Ma q
nassas, and then for the first time a
tender sob falters forth amid the glad S
clash of the joyful music, for South /
ern heroes have died and Southern t
blood has moistenel the grass Of the t
battle field. From tha lime on, we
can tell by the graver, grimmer and /
steiner tones Of the SONGS that war |
has begun in earnest. We see no '
more the battalions marching jaunt-
ly out, but instead a mother, grey
haired and perhaps widowed, cling
ng to, and fondly kissing the gal s
ant boy who shall march forth to a
hat terrible war, whence maybe he /
Will never come back. We see t
girls, Zoo, not with waving b
landkerchiefs and gay flowers, but S,
With brave, sweet words on their L
Fps, and tears gathered in spite Of t
heir determination in their eyes, v
sending out their lovers to fight for c,
nome and hearthstone. With these \
poems then would we need a history n
o tell us our women were patriotic il
Ind devoted and our men brave /? o
Then we know that our armies have f
suffered reVerses and that the faint Q
hearted are beginning to doubt, for B
We meet with Paul H. Haynes ?
Away With the Dastards Who