The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-08-23
General Pat CIeburne.

before the modern rifle was in
vented with telescope attachment,
enabling a soldier to put ball in
to his enemy at long range the civil
war took place in this country. The
Springfield rifle was considered the best
gun in the service, but the best part of
that gun was the bayonet at the shoot
ing end. Talk as we may about the
horrible carnage which the modern en-
gines of war are. sure to provoke in
action, it is nothing compared to the
old bayonet charge of a troop of men;
it is nothing like the wild courage
which inflames soldiers who look into
each others eyes and ram the bayonet
into each others bodies on the dread
full field of strife. The battle of
Franklin, Tenn, was such a battle. 1t
was a last ditch fight for the Confed-
crates under General Pat Cleburne,
chasing the forces of Federals to Nash
vile. This brave Irish-American lost
his life at the head OF his troops in one
of those bloody charges we have de-.
scribed.
Father Ryan, the. poet of the South,
paid glowing tribute in verse to the
gallant Arkansan. OF course it is in
tensely Southern, but that fact APP
pears rather to add than detract from
its'literary merit as a poem. OF Gen
eral Cleburne, he writes:
jor- general in the Confederate army,
is one which should not be forgotten
in the military annals of our race. He
was the hero of over thirty pitched
battles, and the number of minor ac-
tons in which he participated is he
yond precedent, He was distinguished
for decision and intrepidity, and al
most every movement committed to
his division was successful. He re-
ceived the incessant congratulations
of the Southern press, and was several
times complimented by the Confeder-
ate congress- After the death of jack
son he got the soubriquet of THE
"Stonewall of the West" for he was
to the army of Tennessee what Jack
son was to that of Virginia. But.
most of all, he was tender and generous
to the vanquished, and, as Ferguson
says, Kindly Irish of the Irish He
lies in a lonely grave in the village of
Columbia, Tenn, whittier he was borne
after the battle of Franklin by one of
his officers. l know I have not done
justice to his memory, but history will
not consign his name to oblivion. Bid
ing her consideration, let the foregoing,
be leafet to his memory
ecLEBURNE"
How far and fast the autumn blast
Beats the dead leaves DER the ground;
AS fast and far has the hand of war
Strewed our country's brave around,
And their nameless graves are the
oceans caves,
The forest and mountain glen.
Where the vulture screams as the angry
streams
Are hiding the bones of men,
And what anguished cries
From the South arise,
For the brave ones fallen in vain?
While the victor North
Rings Daens forth,
And eXults in her broad domain!
A fire suppressed in Vesuvius' breast
The latent fires of crime
In the human frame pulse on the same;
Till famed by the storms of time;
AS the laVa-fold swept uncontrolled,
Where Pompeii's glories shone,
So the Weakened rage of vandal age
When freedom is o'erthrown.
And We'll look in tears.
Through long, long years,
For the brightness shrouded Ger,
But the golden rays
OF her halcyon days
Shall return to the land no more.
Then fling the horde their base award
Their chief his triumphal crown;
Place vile deceit in his Judgment seat,
Where honor is trampled down;
Give paltry bride to the hired scribe,
To the venal bard his fee.
But him who draws in a righteous cause
A freeman's sword give me!
Though his bones should bleach,
On the sea washed beach,
Though his grave be the lowly mound,
IIis name shall chime
Through the halls of Time
And swell through the deep profoundi
Ye brave en- masse, who fall and pass
To the leaden halls of Death,
There are palms for the few, but alas
for you,
Not a leaf from the victor's wreath
But sing of one whose glory shone
Like a meteor, bright and grand
Who gave his name to the triumph of
fame
And his blood to his generous land!
The festive toast
The soldiers boast.
me type of a martial agel
Inc foe of wrong,
The soul Of song.
And the light of a future pagel