The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-08-23
OUR BATTLEFIELD SOLDIERS.

BY COLONEL JOHN INCOME.
The soldiers of the Union war. which had
four years duration,
Were hardy when, in 'SiNty-one, the
South sought separation,
They rallied to her rescue of the flag that
We admire.
And met the foe OH many fields where
men were tried by fire.
Before the echo of the shots that bat
tered Sumtcr's fort
Reverberated DER this land, we knew
hut one resort;
For the challenge was defiant, from those
contumacious guns,
Which spoke with Treasons version to
our Nations loyal sons.
And the thunder of those cannon had
hardly died away,
Before they formed in regiments, all
eager for the fray;
And the earth began to tremble from the
internecine strife.
When they met to test their prowess by
taking human life.
Bullets. shells and sabres. disease, and
loatsome prison pen.
Took victims by the thousands, each
week from loyal men
Good citizens from families where do
nestle bliss was found
Who heard the call of duty in the war
drums thrilling sound!
They broke away from loving friends, all
conscious of the cost
To future generations, If the cause they
loved were lost;
They did it with Il Acknowledge that the
foe. in their aggression.
Were bent upon destruction to accom-
plish rank secession.
But they learned as they grew older, and
the months rolled into years,
That there was more than lighting for
our gallant volunteers;
The excitement of Il battle is an Incl
dent of strife,
But getting to and from the field Is Just
as hard as life.
The clash of arms, the battles smoke,
the lurid hash-the roar.
May make Il man forget himself while
thinking OF his corps;
But the stain Of nerve and tendon, II he
survives the fight
viii impair the vital forces that nothing
can put right.
Thirty-siN years of peaceful life which We
have lived to see
Were not required to demonstrate the
loss of energy:
For those who served in action met an
other foe as well,
In the changes of the climate that has
often tolled knell
A million lives were tinctured with in
Sidious baleful germs
That never had been heard of as prepar-
ing food for worms,
And the cemeteries fatten on the RUNS
of our host
Who have struggled from the column
and have yielded up the ghost.
For this country's institutions they put
all they had at stake,
And the sacrifice they offered was the
greatest they could make;
Not only self was given when the pulses
bounded strong.
But the friends at home all suffered for
the banner of our song.
And that banner now resplendent, with
its five and forty stars,
IS a symbol of the grandest peace that
ever followed wars;
rhe trinity of colors, and the beauty of
design,
shed IA lustre on achievements of the
Union heroine.
The women and the children in that con-
fict had part,
And their deft and tender labors touched
the rugged soldiers heart;
'or they feared the hard home duties
which the lack of men imposed,
\ nd in that mighty contest n great for
titude disclosed.
Near fields where blood was ebblng fast
they ministered to pain,
\nd their greatest institution was the
Sanitary train:
The grandeur of their actions was at
tested many ways.
And for their self-uenying zeal, old SOL
diers speak in praise.
n the long and bloody struggle, those
men on either side,
Who saw each others valor in the surge
of battles tide.
Conceived a strong opinion that the sol
diers of this land
lad the elements of heroes, with pre-
ponderance of sand
Their matchless intrepidity revealed their
courage high;
\nd when the war was over they could
give reason why
This people should be firmly bound in one
amalgamatiOn,
And North and South In unison COM
pose a happy nation.
n amity to mingle; In fraternity to dwell.
Depending on each other, disturbances to
quell:
And should foreign potentate encroach
upon our right,
Then touch their loyal elbows in forma-
tion for a fight.