Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1892-01-27
awHEN WE FOLLOWED ROBERT LEE.
BY REV. B. D. TUCKER, OF NORFOLK.

The following impromptu poem was CON
posed by Rev. B. D. Tucker, Chaplain Of th
pickett Buchanan Camp Of Confederate We
erans," and read by him at their Camp Fir
in Norfolk Tuesday, January 10Th, 1902 on th
occasion Of celebrating the anniversary Of tn
birth OF Gen. Robert E. Lee
| By the old familiar light
OF the camp fire burning bright,
Let us gather here, to-right
Tell the tale, sing the well-remembered glee
AS in the embers of the past,
! Hear again the trumpet's blast
As in the days when we followed Robert Let
There is snow upon our hair
And the furrowed marks Of care
| How they tell the wear and tear
OF the years which have sped. but let it be;
We are boys, o-night, once more
| As in the brave old times of yore
When that flag we proudly bore,
/ In the days when we followed Robert Lee!
| Rag OF treason" they may call
The old banner-but to all
Who once loved 1t tits the pail
OF the dear old Southern cause; and shall be
As sacred lock we save,
Or flower from some loved grave
Dear as WQ6u we saw IL wave
In the days when we followed Robert Lee!
For still our bosoms swell
At the old Confederate yell,
And we love TO sit and tell
OF the years when we struggled to be free!
Call us ''rebels"-but the name
1t will bring no blush Of shame
Twas the synonym Of fame
In the days when we followed Robert Lee!
There was laughter as well as tears
And the old Confederate hears,
Far across the waste Of years,
Its echo like the echo of the seal
And the old rheumatic pain
VIII be vexing him in vain,
For it makes him young again
As in days when he followed Robert Leel
For as we sit here and gaze
In the camp fre's genial blaze,
All! the tricks our fancy plays
And the visions which our mem'ries make u
seel
Once again the armies tramp,
Thro' the snow and rain and damp
Then the pleasures Of the camp,
As in days when we followed Robert Lee!
Ahl the stained old haversack
With It's bacon and hardtack,
And that Whit of apple jack,
And thscofres made of rye-they may be
Not dainty bill of fare
But it must have been the air,
For they tasted mighty fair''
In the days when we followed Robert Lee!
And as the memory wh1rlS,
How 1t brings up all the girls
With the dancing eye and curls
And laughter like the ripple Of the sea!
OF the tender soft farewell,
And the kiss remembered we'll
But 'twould never do to tell
How we loved when we followed Robert Lee
And the trumpet sounds once more,
As we fight our battles DER
Midst the rattle and the roar
How we charged in our struggles to be free!
Ahl it was glorious sight,
For we struck with all our might
When we battled for the right
In the days when we followed Robert Lee!
Like the wind among the pines,
As he rides.on down the lines,
While every bayonet shines,
Sounds the cheer as his noble form we see!
oh! the world shall never know
How in all our veal and woe,
In the grand old long ago
We trusted as we followed Robert Lee.
But the visions will not stay,
And the flag is furled away,
For we fought and lost the day.
All! the faces we never more shall see,
But they counted not the cost,
Twas willing holocaust
And the glory was not lost
In the days when we followed Robert Lee