Page images
PDF
EPUB

Ef any o' them Spanish ships shall strike her, East

or West,

Jest let the ban' play "Dixie," an' the boys'll do the

rest!

I want to see that Dixie,-I want ter take my stan' On the deck of her and holler: "Three cheers fer Dixie lan'!"

She means we're all united,-the war hurts healed

away,

An' "'Way Down South in Dixie " is national to-day!

I bet you she's a good 'un! I'll stake my last red

cent

Thar ain't no better timber in the whole blame settle

ment!

An' all their shiny battleships beside that ship air

tame,

Fer, when it comes to "Dixie," thar's somethin' in a name!

Here's three cheers an' a tiger,-as hearty as kin be; An' let the ban' play "Dixie" when the Dixie puts ter

sea!

She'll make her way an' win the day from shinin' East to West

Jest let the ban' play "Dixie," an' the boys'll do the

rest.

CHICKAMAUGA

BY G. T. FERRIS

1863

From shuddering trees and painted leaves
Strew redder dyes of crimson sod;
And brave men lie in ghastly sheaves,
As whirled there by the wrath of God.
Gray vapors hum with wings of death,

Whose roll-call speeds its fierce alarms;
And life sighs, "Here!" with parting breath,
Where bleeding thousands ground their arms.
For brothers face each other's steel,
Grim suitors in the last appeal.

1898

From laughing leas the bugles sing,

More shrill than bird to nesting mate;

O'er tented slopes the war notes ring,
And time again the tramp of fate.
Bright oriflamme of liberty,

Our bannered blazon flaunts the sky,
And hails the "sun-burst" in the sea,
A gallant people's anguished cry.
Now, brothers, touch in common weal
To right that foreign wrong with steel.

CHICKAMAUGA-1898

From Baltimore News

They are camped on Chickamauga !
Once again the white tents gleam
On that field where vanished heroes
Sleep the sleep that knows no dream.
There are shadows all about them

Of the ghostly troops to-day,
But they light the common camp-fire,—
Those who wore the blue and gray.

Where the pines of Georgia tower,
Where the mountains kiss the sky,
On their arms the Nation's warriors
Wait to hear the battle-cry,
Wait together, friends and brothers,
And the heroes 'neath their feet
Sleep the long and dreamless slumber
Where the flowers are blooming sweet.

Sentries, pause, yon shadow challenge!
Rock-ribbed Thomas goes that way,-
He who fought the foe unyielding
In that awful battle fray.

Yonder pass the shades of heroes,
And they follow where Bragg leads
Through the meadows and the river,—
But no ghost the sentry heeds.

Field of fame, a patriot army
Treads thy sacred sod to-day!
And they'll face a common foeman,
Those who wore the blue and gray,
And they'll fight for common country,
And they'll charge to victory
'Neath the folds of one brave banner,-
Starry banner of the free!

They are camped off Chickamauga,
Where the green tents of the dead
Turn the soil into a glory

Where a Nation's heart once bled;
But they're clasping hands together
On this storied field of strife,-
Brothers brave who meet to battle
In the freedom-war of life!

ALL UNDER THE SAME BANNER NOW

BY LAWRENCE SULLIVAN ROSS

From Address Delivered July 4, 1887, at Austin, Tex., Before the Surviving Veterans of Hood's Texas Brigade

But few of you are here to-day. The great majority of your old comrades fill unknown graves, with naught to mark their silent resting-places; but their names are embalmed in as many loving hearts as ever entwined

around living, or lingered around the graves of deceased, patriots. And to-day, as our memory recalls face after face of this vast spectral army, of those who have preceded us in the line of march to the silent shores, we shed the tear of affectionate remembrance, as echo gives praises to their memory and honor to their dust. Throughout the broad area of the world there never was a field more rich in facts which constitute the fiber of an earnest, active patriotism, than that found in the Southern struggle. And the lofty admiration in which your manhood, valor, and endurance, as well as the sublime resignation with which you accepted disappointment after great hopes and greater efforts, are held all over the world, shows how much the world yet values true and brave men, who could shake off troubles as great as these were, and by heroic efforts, in a time of peace, make them, to an impoverished country, but as flaxen withes bound around a slumbering giant. What wonder the world has stood amazed at the persistent vitality of our people? for, under your admirable conduct, every barrier to the flow of capital, or check to the development of our unbounded resources, was removed.

We see here to-day a free and independent mingling of men from every section of our broad domain, all prejudices of the past forgotten; and while our State has been fortunate in acquiring thousands of those who fought against us, and who are an honor both to the States which gave them birth, and ours which they have made their home, it matters not whence they come; they can exult in the reflection that our Country is the same, and they find floating here the same ban

« EelmineJätka »