Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1897-03-04
The Conquered Banner"

The Conquered Banner"
Perhaps no poem ever touched
and thrilled the hearts of the peo-
Pile of the South as did "'rhe Con
quered Banner" by Father Ryan.
1t came from the heart of the poet
at the time when the southland
stood in grief and in untold sor-
row. Though his face wore Sc
rious and almost sad aspect. he
dearly loved to gather children
about him, as he seldom spoke to
older people. He always held that
little children were angels that
walked with God, and that 1t was
privilege for priest to raise mis-
hand and give spotless childhood u
blessing, writes Aquila, in Colorado
Catholic.
1t was several years ago that
Aquila met with young lady from
the South who related to him the
following beautiful and touching
incident In the poets life.
"One Christmas was then
little girD," says the young lady,
Il came to father Ryan with book
mark-a pretty little scroll of the
Conquered Banner and begged
him to accept it. l can never for
get how his lips quivered as he
placed his hand upon my head and
said { a little kindly remembrance
touched him SOY:
"'Call your little sisters and i
will tell them a story about this
picture
"'Do you know, my little chill
dren, he said as We gathered about
his knee, that people said that the
Conquered Banner is great po-
EN-? Il never thought So he con-
tinued, in that dreamy, far off way
so peculiarly his own. But poor
woman who did not have much ed
ucation, but whose heart was filled
with love for the South, thought so,
and if it had not been for her, this
poem would have been swept out
of the house and burned up, and l
would never have had this pretty
book mark or this true story to
tell
"'Oh, you are going to tell US
how you came to write the Coz :
quered Banner l cried, all in
terest and excitement.
Yes he answered, .and / am
going to tell you how woman was
the medium of its publication
Then shadow passed over his
face, n dreamy shadow that was
always there when he spoke of the
Lost Cause and he continued.
IL was at Knoxville when the
news came that Gen. Lee had sur
rendered at Az ,nattox court
house. 1t was nj ri. nd was sit
ting in my room . b. Ise where
......v # the regi which /
vas chaplain, w.r- QUAR- '-s3. whom
.nr Old .. rade ra-.. 'r nj ssid
10 NE: All ia LOST t,crYefai lee
,.a7 surc, idered
IL icuked at him. I knew by his
whitened face that the news was
too true. 1 simply said: Leave
me- and he went out of the room.
l bowed my head upon the table
and wept long and bitterly. Then
a thousand thoughts came rushing
through my brain. L could not
control them. That banner was
conquered, its folds must be fI-led,
but its story had to be told. We
were very poor, my dear little chill
dren, in the days of the war. l
look around for IA piece of paper to
give expression to the thoughts
that cried out within me. All that
l could find was a piece of brown
wrapping paper that lay on the ia
BILE about an old pair of shoes that
a friend had sent me. seized this
piece of paper and wrote The
Conquered Banner
"Then l went to bed leaving
these lines there upon the table.
The next morning the regiment was
ordered away and L thought no more
of the lines written in such sorrow
and such desolation of the spirit on
that fateful night. What was my
astonishment q few weeks later to
see them appear above my name in
a Louisville paper. The poor woman
who kept the house in Knoxville
had gone, as she afterwards told
ME, into the room where / had
slept and was about to throw the
peice of paper into the fire when
she saw that there was something
written upon it. She said that she
sat down and cried, and copying
them she sent them to a newspaper
in Louisville. And that was how
the Conquered Banner got into
print. That is the story of this
pretty little scroll you have painted
for me.
when 1 get to be a woman,
said the young lady, Il am going to
write that story Are your he
answered. 'Ah, it is dangerous to
be writer, especially for woman,
but if you are determined, let ME
give yau name,' and he wrote on
a piece of paper the word Zona. 1T
is an Indian name,' he said in eX-
PLANTATION, and it means a snow
bird. You will always remember
like a snow bird to keep your white
wings unsullied. A woman should
always be pure, and every mother
should teach her boys to look upon
a woman as they would upon an
altar"
Thus far the incident was related
to me by my southern friend.