Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-25

gled freely with the men Of affairs of his
time. None of his enterprises turned out
particularly successful. and at the out
break of the civil war ne was but the
brilliant editor OF a struggling paper in
Mobile, Ala.
During these years appeared the poem
to Daniel Boone, the pioneer. 1t is strange
that the two only poems that o Hara
ever wrote should have been tributes to
the departed. The '.dirge to the brave
old pioneer. knight Grant of the wood.
The old Druid OF the west. Columbus
of the land,'' is full of the touches of
the master hand Byron in his Don Juan
has undertaken to lay down an under
standing Of the glory of the life of this
superman of the early days. but when
his lines are compared with those OF
OHara they appear pale and weak.
O'Hara was son Of Kentucky and was
familiar with the realm in which the man
Of skins and moccasins had battled with
Tecumseh His genius grasped and por-
trayed the glories that were wrapped up
in this pioneer life, and the whole of 1t
he wove into his dirge for the man whose
grave was but stones throw from his
comrades of the Mexican war and the
spot where his own remains were
eventually to rest.
When the civil war broke out Theodore
OHara. still a man but Just past forty.
Immediately volunteered for service. He
became colonel of the 18th Alabama
Volunteers and was at first assigned to
guarding the entrance Of Mobile bay.
Later he was on the staff of Gen. Albert
Sydney Johnston. with whom he fought
many battles. The esteem In which he
was always held was shown whenever
he was given any post In war or peace.
His dash and finesse in battle has called
forth much comment. and throughout the
struggle of the states his service was
most honorable. His spirit was that of
a soldier. and his friends have always
said that the happiest days of his life
were those he spent in military service.
O'Hara was with Johnston at the ter
rife conflict at Shiloh. AS member of
the staff of his chief he was by that Of
the arms of the Irish-American poet
soldier that Johnston fell. mortally
wounded. in rapture of the fight"
Gen. John C. Breckenridge had been
boon companion and intimate friend of
Col. O'Hara throughout his life. SO it
came to pass that after the death of
Johnston the 1rishman was transferred
to the staff Of Gen. Breckenridge. where
he became its chief. In that capacity he
served to the end of the war, participant
ing in many a gallant piece of fighting
and gaining particular distinction in that
heroic charge at Stone river.
When the war was finally over Col.
OHara, like many another southern gen.
tleman of his kind, repaired to his south
country and began the task of retriev-
ing his fallen fortunes. But the Nemesis
Of bad luck that seems to vent her spleen
on genius still lowered in his wake. He
went to Columbus, Ga, where he engaged
in the cotton business. Fortune seemed
to smile until fire destroyed his ware
houses and wrecked his business. Much
discouraged he retired to a plantation on
Chattahooche river, where, two years
later, he died of fever. At the time of
his demise he was but forty-seven years
OF age, still unmarried and his tall
form was still straight and unbending,
and his raven hair was but slightly thin
ned by time
In 1874 the state Of Kentucky sent for
the remains of the soldier-poet that they
might be laid to rest in the cemetery
where his great poem had been inspired.
The spot for his grave is midway be-
tween the monument of the dead of the
Mexican war and the monument to Daniel
Boone. his best loved hero. When he
was there buried the 'Bivouac of the
Dead was read over his grave and GER
tain lines OF il are inscribed on his tomb.
The tattered banner under which he had
fought in Mexico was his shroud and the
guns OF surviving comrades were dis
charged over his grave.
Through all these years the poems
OF OHara had been steadily growing
in fame. THE Bivouac" had gained dis
tinction in America and abroad even