The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1905-11-30
MThn Enrlnrn Hnnc.W

face,
And the wind stirred the young birds
nest:
But far or near in that troubled place,
Was found no joy-no rest.
Sure in its strength the river sped
With swift feet to the sea;
Calm, though with blood its waves ran
red.
Blood of the bond or free!
And mile on mile around the town
The goodly breast works rose,
And moclSl tho army marching down
And laughed at Nicksburg's foes.
o the boys in blue" came n weary way,
That May day long ago,
A dreary march to the town where lay
The stream like a bendcd bow;
Lo the frowning walls with death were
dark,
And the foe was brave and strong,
And fasting and toll had left their mark,
And the march was hard aGd long.
Three days the shot and bursting shell
Rained In burning shower;
Three days the cannon's challenge fell
With thunder's deafening power;
From height to height the guns hurled
back
The challenge each TO each,
And the quaking clouds hung thick and
black,
While Death and War held speech.
Three days, then gallant Sherman spoke,
Had | hundred mem
And three times fifty heroes broke
The ranks-"IIcre are we them
"The ditch is wide and deep; the wall
Is steep and high" said he.
"'Tis but hope-but some must fall
Ere Vicksburg ours can be-"
Three hundred yards the rough land lay
Between them and their goal;
Three hundred yards--ah, who can say
The thoughts that filled each souli
Before them, and ON either hand
They dared the rebel fire,
And behind them dark their own guns
stand
With wreck and ruin dire.
"Chnrge! Forward! On. press on! Your
hope
Is speed alone. my boys,
Swift as the wind adown that slope,
Their cheer drowned In tho noise
OF friend and foe, whose guns o'erhead
Deiiantly outpoured
Their heavy charge-no time for dread,
No heed for cannon's roar.
To bridge the ditch they could not leap
Half ran with boards, half bore
Long ladders-O, the walls were steep!
Thus dashed they to Deaths door;
All, Graveyard road" you rang with
cheers
And many n wild hurrah
For those bold and loyal volunteers,
On the bluffs of Chickasaw.
Two hundred yards and more they
passed.
No sign from that blank wall;
Then sudden, at a mighty blast
AS one man dead, they fall
Two hundred yards they raced with
Death,
One moment all was DER
OF all that band but twelve had breath,
Twelve only-woundcd sore.
o, the May day crept to the Nights
kind breast,
And sobbcd out her sorrow there:
And the rivers requiem hushed their
rest,
And the tears kept vigil fair
One passed unhurt through that strange,
made race,
Whot shiell woa hia nono knnws
But his comrades sleep In that hallowed
place
Where the binding river flows.
"Eleven wounded; one safe and sound;
The rest on the field lay dead
A fatal error, with slaughter crowned,
And nothing gained" men said.
Now the fields are green where the Grim
son dew
Lay thick on the trampled sod,
And grass-blade springs for each blood
drop. new,
Where of old the iron hoofs trod!
o the May sun smiles on our happy
land,
Unstirred by storm or strife
To-day but two of that valiant band
Are left in the ranks of life.
Two souls, that oft as the day dawns
bright,
From year to year, recall
As though it were yesterday, that fight,
When they stormed old Vicksburs's
wall.
Rosa Evangeline Angel.
She VIII Keep the Flag.
Mrs. j. ii. Farls, Smith Center, Kan
sas, has rebel flag captured by her
brother, Ira p. Whitney, Company B
127th Illniols, at Arkansaw Post, in
January, 1868. The flag Is made out OF