Vicksburg. A poem

Preface

It is not without hesitation that the author gives this poem to the public. That it has fallen far below his own ideal, prepares him to admit, what doubtless all can see, imperfections in it neither small nor few.

But he has sought to present a faithful picture of that campaign, greatest in our civil war ; and especially to make vivid the life of the soldiery during the siege of Vicksburg.

He has sought accuracy in the historical account, and believes he has succeeded. To do this, however, he has occasionally in troduced facts, hitherto unpublished, and which in one case, at least, corrects a statement made by Badeau in his "Military Life of Gen. Grant." The large majority of incidents contained in the poem, are drawn from life ; and where otherwise, they are in entire harmony with the spirit of the great, sad scenes which pass here before the eye.

And the author wishes to make a confidant of the reader, so far as to say, that the poem was most difficult to begin. There were so many good points of departure that he is not sure now he has selected the best. But, after consideration he chose the time when transports successfully ran the the blockade of Vicksburg, because it was an enterprise wholly new in war, and was in reality the last beginning of the triumphant end. All previous campaigns against the city are briefly summed up in the opening pages, and the spirit of contemptuous ridicule visited upon Gen. Grant by the Confederate authorities, indicated. Extended notes have not been possible, but a few w r ords of explanation will be found occasionally, and the author wishes to say in this connection, that the poem will be best understood by those most familiar with the details of the Vicksburg campaign.

The music to the lullaby has been furnished by his old instructor and present friend, O. L. Castle, LL.D., Professor of Belle Lettres and Latin, Shurtleff College, Upper Alton, 111., and whose kindly and valuable assistance in other directions he is here glad to acknowledge.

And finally : It has been very far from the author's purpose that the interest of the poem should depend wholly upon the subject chosen. But whether he has succeeded in adding anything beyond this, he now submits to the public for decibion.

Part First

Book i. — Introductory Lines.— A Night Scene — Pemlerton and Officers in Council — Grant's Plans Loudly Ridiculed — Heavy Cannonading- Interrupts a Toast to his Defeat, and they go Forth to Witness the First Passage of Transports Befoie Their Batteries — Scene Described.

Book 2. — Night of 22d of April, 1863. — Pemberton Still Perplexed at the Federal Movements. — Second Fleet of Transports — His Chagrin and Wrath. — Begins to Understand Grant's Purpose.

Book 3. — New Carthage, La. — Scene in the Federal Camp. — Soldiers Conversing. — Their Experience in the Swamps of Louisiana Narrated — Federal Description of " Running the Rebel Batteries. — Poem, " A Call for Volunteers." — Is War Ever Right?— Decision that the War for the Union is Wholly Just.

Book 4. — Tribute to Vicksburg— Pemberton's Purpose to Reinf* res Bowen at Grand Gulf Changed by Sherman's Feint from the North — Discovers the Feint When Too Late— Is Startled by Tidings of a Battle Between the Federal Forces and the Grand Gulf Garrison, Near Port Gibson — Dispatches Johnston for Aid.

Book 5.— The Federal Camp— Description of the March from Perkins' Plantation— The Bombardment of Grand Gulf; and the March Inland, after Landing at Bruinsburg, Miss.— Tncidents: A Soldier Drowned— A Poem, -Out of the Darkness, a Voice "—A Negro Patriarch's Blessing at Midnight.

Part Second

Book i.— Review— Grant on the Gunboat at Grand Gulf— The Immortal Decision on which Hinged the Destiny of" the Nation — The Crisis Passed — Vicksburg Must Fall !

Book 2.— A Glance at Both Armies— Grant's Dispatches to Washington, D. C, That He Would Not Communicate with Grand Gulf for Many Days— Bears Date May 11, 1863, or the Same Date as that from Washington, D. C, Received Long Afterward, Directing Him to Co-operate With Gen. Banks Against Port Hudson— Rebels' Mistaken Estimate of Grant's Design— Pemberton Marches Out of Yicksburg With Heavy Force, in a Vain Effort to Find Grant's Base— Is Imperatively Ordered to Join Johnston, and is Struck in the Movement by the Advance of the Federal Army, Returning from the Capture of Raymond and Jackson.

Book 3.— A Statement of Grant's Movements— The Armies Gather Centrally Toward Champion Hill— Battle of Champion Hill Described.

Book 4. — The Pursuit of Pemberton's Beaten Army.

Book 5.— The Sabbath Battle— Poem, "Sabbath Bells "—Grant Receives the Order from Washington Bearing Date May 11, Instructing Him to Unite His Forces With Those of Gen. Banks' Below Port Hudson- Orders Instead the Battle of Big Black River— The Charge— The Capture—Destruction of the Bridge Over the River by the Enemy— Building Bridges Aftei the Victory.

Book 6.— Closing in on Vicksbuig— Confusion in the City— The Surviving Three Pieces of Artillery, Which Win in the Long Race, and Get Back to the Works— Pemberton's Successful Effort to Rally His Men- Federal Advance— Sherman at Haines' Bluff— His Emotion at Beholding the Scene of His Former Failure— His Tribute to Grant.

Book 1.— The Loyal River, and the Site of Vicksburg Described— The River's Soliloquy— Federal Advance Drives the Enemy into His Works

Experience of a Certain Regiment — Bloody Scenes.

Book 2.— Grant Determines to Assault the City All Along the Lines- Porter's Part in the Attack— The Charge of the 22d of May as Seen by Generals Grant, Sherman and McClernand— The Sad Repulse. Book 3.— The Federal Camp— Scenes in the Trenches Three Weeks after the Charge— Visit of Citizens to the Army, and Among These, Citizen Hearty, to See His Friend, Sergeant Mars— Desires to Learn the Life of a Soldier— Is Duly Initiated— Does n't Sleep Good on the Hard Bed —Is Told to Pocket' the "minie" that Visited His Couch -Discusses the Charge— Thinks He Could Have Managed it Better— Wants to Know Why it Failed.

Book 4.— The Charge Described by the Sergeant— Its Fierce Character- Destruction of Life— Entangled in the Vines and Hindered by Abrupt and Precipitous Ravines— Rebels turn to fly— Rallied by their Officers, and Are Heavily Reinforced— All of the Sergeant's Regimental Field- Officers Wounded and Taken From the Fight— Command Given Which the Ground Made Impossible to Obey— Another Command Not Thoroughly Understood— Scattered Troops— The Regiment in Advance of Most of the Brigade, and Far Ahead of the Remainder of the Division—Flag Captured— Seventy-five Men Answer to the Roll Call, on the Hillside, of the Two Hundred and Forty Who Went into the Fight- Counter Charge of the Enemy Repulsed by These, Led on by a Captain Who Received the Command — The Sergeant Returns from a Place Under the Rebel Forts After Nightfall -Flag of Truce— The Startling Call to Dinner.

Book 5.— The Education of Citizen Hearty Continues— Picket Before the Enemy— With the Reserve— Poem, « Picket in Arkansas "—Discussion as to the Influence of War Upon Character— Interruption : "A Shot at the Front"— A Picket Demoralized by a Shot on the "Crazy Bone"— Laughter-A Story by Jolly Man-Shells from Porter's Mortar Fleet Observed— Pickets Delighted— Scene Described.

Book 6. — Cave Life in Vicksburg — War vs. The Home — A Mother and Two Children at the Entrance of a Cave — Wise Mabelleof Four Years is asking Her Mother Strange Questions — Their Conversation — Mabelle's Discovery of " Falling Stars," or the Fuse-burning Shells of Porter — A Shell Falls Near By — Alarm of Mabelle — Babe Awake- and Cries — Mabelle's Farther Questions — Another Shell — Mabelle's Request for a Lullaby — " By and By," or the Mother's Song to Her Children.

Book 7. — Federal Camp — Life in the Trenches— Death of Two Soldiers — Sergeant Mars on " Fatigue ''-- Takes Citizen Hearty Along — The Couch on Grape Shot — Spades! — The Advance Rifle Pit — Swift Workers — Texas Rifle Balls — Trench Finished — Hearty's Resolve.

Book S. — Hearty's Education Progressing — Walks to the Springs With Sergeant Mars — Card-playing! — The Spring! — Danger From Our Siege Pieces — Mine Before Logan to Be Sprung.

Bojk 9. — IntheCity — Cave Life Again — Mabelle's Father Brought Back Slightly Wounded and Sick — Is Discouraged and Wants Pemberton to Surrender — A Tall, Angular Woman Calls Him a Coward — Bids Him Give His Gun to Women, Who Will Fight— He Offers To Do So— Woman Leaves in Disgust — The Terrible Explosion — Heavy Firing Along the Line — Woman Returns — Wants to be Protected — Soldier Seeks to Return to His Command — Faints on the Way — Learns of the Failure of Logan's Mine.

Book 10. — Sergeant Mars and the Company to Which He Belongs Are "Supports" to the Men in the Rifle Pit — Citizen Hearty, Tired Out, Remains on the Hillside, Safe — A great Rain ! — Citizen Hearty Drowned Out — Climbs the Hill Where Sergeant Mars is Stationed — Is the Object of Jests — Is Offended, but Appeased by Appeal to the Harder Lot ot the Men in Logan's Front, in the Crater — Jolly Man Called For — Stores: "Milking in Missouri," " Missouri Bears," "Hit Him on the Wrong End"— Interrupted by Story of the Picket — Strange News — Hearty a Sharpshooter! — He Shoots a Horse! — Disastrous Result — W T ill Not Wade in the Mud of the Trench and Retires Disgusted — His Experi-

7.0 ence at the Wash Sheds — Hears of an Unwelcome Animal that Run» on Man's Flesh — Is Disgusted with War, Since it Cannot be Waged with Decency — Mars Points out a g — y — b — k On His Clothing — It is too much — Hearty Takes his Final Departure From Camp.

Book ii. — Johnston's Camp — The Disheartening Tidings — Famine in Vicksburg— The Inflexible Grant Holds His Own— "The Few, Great, Weighty, Last Days of the Siege!"

Book 12. — In the City — The Cave — Mabelle Goes, Unknown to Her Parents, After a Drink of Cool Water for Her Papa — Is Fatally Wounded By a Piece of Shell From a Ten Pounder Carelessly Dropped by Confederate Soldiers Under the Impression that it was a Fuse and Nonexplosive — Death Scene — Brief Funeral Service by Aged Pastor — His Words Interrupted by a Soldier Passing by With the Cry :

•' Pemberton's surrendered — the fighting's done! The white flag's out and Grant the day has won!"

Sad Words of the Mother, While Are Heard Afar the Cheers of the Federals.

Book 13. — A Triumphant Paean for the Double Victory East and West — The Fourth of July Consecrated Anew — Living and Dead — Aye, Even the Continentals, Who Unfurled Our Flag, Interested in the Grand Triumph— The Entry Into Vicksburg— Logan's Division Given the . Place of Honor and Proudly Leads the Way.— "Thus Ours Was the Gallant City!"

VICKSBURG.

OUR! great in deeds before unknown , to war,

yircjfc Noontide of that dread strife that -% -^r brought near doom

The latest born of nations, I would sins' First; where in equal rivalry great deeds Contend.

l 3

Lo! Vicksburg calm upon her hills, Unconquered waits, stern mistress of the wave, That inland sweeps its loyal current on, Chafing and vexed, to seek the unfettered sea.

Hid now her trench-scarred sloping terraces In early gathering gloom, where low and black, Night sweeps her wing of reeking plume afar, Scattering a fine mist o'er the land.

Secure They guard the lofty heights to whom the task Belongs, and the commander and the lew, His chosen leaders, sit in council sate, And 'gratulations oft and oft repeat O'er him, the ever persevering Grant, Defeated as they deem.

And Pemberton:

" We Ve checked the enemy's advance again ! His gunboats pushed their way along Yazoo

And Bayou Steele, and Cyprus Lake, and reached The Rolling Fork by tortuous stream, and sought To pierce our lines above Haines' Bluff.

And thus Success were his if reached Yazoo again, But in Big Sunflower's sluggish bed we stopped His labored way, and drove him back.

What next Will he contrive ? "

" Some plan," an aid replies, '" To reach us safe without our reaching- him. A flight above is his best course I ween. Our guns are not so trained to reach him there. If he but man balloons with heavy force, And hither drop his fifty thousand men, I fear we should be taken by surprise ; Aught less than this need not astonish us." And as in childhood's games the eager boy -Snatches the ball ere other outstretched hands

Succeed, so is the jovial theme caught up Amid its wordy flight.

" Nay, he may dig A tunnel hither from yon swamps. The force The river drove from that canal may turn Their spades with equal profit to such task. Has he not sought to fashion nature over And readjust the rivers through the land ? This puny mimic of the Titans old Still dares Titanic deeds ! If such his plans A thousand more as futile may remain." To these their chief in juster mood replied: " If you were sent to capture Vicksburg here, What deep laid plan were yours ? It may not be Alone the foeman's fault he fails to £ain A foot hold, front or rear. Gibraltar this, Of all that thus are named the strongest far. Bayou and lake and river gird us round And lofty heights with works invulnerable,

Planned and replanned by skill nowhere surpassed. Not grim Sevastopol could equal this. I trow Td rather hold the place than take it!" Unchecked, but changed by these grave words,

the stream Flowed sprightly still, and thus another spake: "And hold with ease while still the enemy Goes plunging through our tangled swamps. Canal He cannot use, nor finish, for that matter. Our Tiber fights oar battles well. Moon Lake, Cold Water, Tallahatchie join, and now The streams which clasped in warm embrace the

foe Deserve enshrining. Here! a toast to these, The gods, aye, great or small, the river gods Who fight for Vicksburg, with defeat to Grant ! "

Loud rang the jocund shout, and ready hand Obeyed the will, nor heard they deep and far

The sentry gun upon the upper hills Hurl out its angry challenge to its foe. First Pemberton the notes of war perceived, As oft the shock of pulsing thunder smote Above the sound of mirth, and sternly spoke: tl Silence ! What means that battery's salute ? The guns along the river's front seem all engaged! Go quickly, bring me word."

And quick he went; But swifter than he went he swift returned Nor tarried with his message. "'Tis a fleet! Haste, haste and see ! The enemy appears. Boats iron ribbed and belching fiery death Lie low upon the river, while there hug The far shore transports light, revealed by gleam Of cannon's flaming mouth."

Astonished much, Each silence kept, till soon his speech he found. And Pemberton:

iS

"What, safe? Our heavy guns Should blow them from the stream ! It cannot be Gunboats may dare our long blockade, but not The river boats that only float on waves Peaceful and safe."

"To see is to believe,"

The aid replied.

And forth they passed to view A scene that war, tho' artist, tried and old, Skillful with pencil (dipped albeit in blood Alway), and painting pictures sad and grand Or red with cruelty, nor painting two Alike, ne'er equaled in his youth or prime; Night was the canvas, lit by cannon's flame!

Black o'er a surging river hung a heaven That gleamed anon with redder stars than e'er Flamed splendor earthward; sudden meteor lights Unorbited, and fading instantly;

Comets from chaos born with circling path And trail of flame, did seem to strand themselves And burn their hearts out, yonder on the hills. And shapes on shore but guessed at, indistinct, Dim shadowy outlines, demons dark of wrath, Took on the sudden form of lightnings fierce And sounded thund'rous, terrible, till earth Trembled. The air in palpitations beat Its fear, and wav'ring shrieks and stern commands Jostled th' infernal whistling screams of things, That shot in unmarked paths their unseen weights, Resistless voices, taught their speech in Hell. And all the city felt the black imp's breath, Whose heavy* wing low drooped on shore and

stream.

And then the sudden splendor !

Light on bluff, And by the blazing boat upon the wave ! Till passed the weird and ghostly fleet, and passed

The dread surprise that froze all hearts with fear. Back to their council room they silent passed, Nor soon the former quip and jest resumed. And gravely Pemberton :

" What number these, The transports ? "

" Three or four," an aid replied, " That passed us safe, and one destroyed."

"And what Their purport ? "

"'Tis another of Grant's plans." "Nay," said a third, "the Blunderer has hope In happy blundering to find escape From certain doom."

" 111 reasoned," Pemberton Made answer; "yet amid conjectures all, He means, I think, but this, to get supplies. His troops below have seemed on forage bent; And then, beside, such act would tend to keep In other minds the thought of something done."

■ The mazy labyrinth of winding stream And spreading flood, untangled was at last."

The "thick- lipped mortar." — Part I, Book 5.

Part I.— Book 2

AR is the game of guess. This known and that Conjectured, then the march, the ISiV-HlF battle won,

Or else the place and march and battle lost. Guessing the best or worst, doth win or lose. Write u incompleteness somewhere' 1 on each plan Of conflict since men gathered armies. Lo! Courage oft fails, leagued with a limping guess, And feebleness hath won where guess was hale.

He wisest is, whose guesses straightest fly From peak to peak of knowledge, o'er a sea Unknown between. Great captains those who see The peaks. But they who go peak hunting, lack The stamp of greatness; they who look and look, In the still hour before the strife and storm, And see no point uplifted as a sign. And such was Pemberton, peak hunting now, Here, where before we saw him 7 mid the night, O'erwhelmed with conflict dread and new.

A score Of days and twain hath April wept and smiled, Changeful of moods, now fav'ring friend, now foe, Nor yet hath time the question solved, oft asked, What plan the fed'ral chief pursued.

'Tis night.

Again uncertain, he who Vicksburg holds Would find solution, and his words are these: "And still the movement south goes on! Can Grant

So foolish be that now he hopes to gain A solid footing on this side, while stand The works of Warrenton and stronger works Below? Grand Gulf our second Vicksburg is. And well the river guards our line between, Save Congo Island ; and the foe who dares A landing there, goes to his doom. And if, — A thing impossible — the strong works fell, The road but leads the foe along to death. No troops could force Black River's bluffs when

manned As we could man them ere he came. No ! No ! 'Tis but an effort made to cut us off from help, Supplies, and men, from Texas and the West ; Or else to join the forces farther down And seize the points less strong. Remotely still This threatens Vicksburg, but not now ; —

What sound Is that ?

2 5

— It cannot be — and yet I'll see: — Again the thundershock from guns that man The river batteries !

— A second fleet Of transports ! Aye, and onward — !

Curse the guns !

As well have " quakers " for the good they do. Aye ! talk of Grant with jeer and sneer ! a thing Of withering scorn yon transport is. A sneer At these high hills with meaning to it. Curse, Ah, doubly curse the guns, each worthless piece, That boasts so long and loud and acts so low. To send a fleet of transports by ! Why, soon, Without more effort they may start a line, And "ticket through, " from Cairo to the Gulf. A fleet of transports ; merest shells that dare The shotted wrath of monster guns that hold In their long grasp this shore a score of miles ! Dare ? Yes, and do, most easily, for there

Beyond the bluffs of Warrenton they go ! One sunk ? What of it ? All the rest remain. This means hot work. Madness ? There's method

there.

If Grant can pass our front , so may he go At will to any landing place he finds Unoccupied. We cannot hold each inch Of land upon the eastern shore.

That fleets Of iron, or equipped for naval fight, To give us shot for shot, should seek to pass Our boasted batteries, surprises not. But transports !

And not once, but twice, and be Successful ! Hurl the guns from place at once, And give free way, — save thus the cost of shelling. What's this ?

A courier with message sent With speed from trusty Bowen at Grand Gulf.

' The enemy with heavy force is at Hard Times.'' The plan is plain. Grand Gulf will be assailed ; And if it fall the place so coveted, A base for operations on this side, Will at the last be found.

To Stevenson Must order go: 'what troops we here may spare, Hold read)' as a reinforcement small, Grand Gulf to aid, or nearer Warrenton.' "

PART I.-BOOK 3.

MARS! thou blood-stained, thou manslaying Mars, Stormer of Walls ! Not ended yet thy toil.

Discord to thee is grateful still, and Wars. Or if not now in equal strife the gods Contend, like spirit stirs th' uneasy mind Of mortals. And be mine the task to mark Their fates who strive, the single hero lost In host heroic. Nor the rest, nor march,

Nor bloody field that sees the right, omit.

Not least their work who through the lowland

toiled,

1 Mid wave and mire, what time in ease their foe

Did wait in scornful calm upon his hills.

The mazy labyrinth of winding stream

And spreading flood, untangled was at last,

And what seemed purposeless and scattered wide

Took shape and head.

The gathering army placed

Its heavy van, unlooked for, far beyond

Sweep of the city's guns or column's charge.

And these who active were the while we sat

With Pemberton in council safe, attend !

Nor elsewhere wait than with these few

Whose rank is naught, but private soldiers they ;

A friendly group, as oft they met and talked

O'er deeds achieved, or guessed the farther plan,

Or mayhap spoke of home the ne'er forgot.

List, while the random stream of converse runs.

" My sleep was soundly sweet last night, the sleep That soothes the righteous. Well ! perhaps the

inarch Through fearful storm and many a miry mile From Smith's plantation had part in 't. Ye gods ! Preserve me from the like again. I thought The marching from the Bend was hard enough, When on the narrow top of what levee The water left, and one by one, we went. ' Twas mire below, and rain above, and when Your foothold yielded, water on the flank : I speak in language military. Yea, Much more, to be exact. If to besiege Is to surround on ev'ry side the place, Then once the water held me under siege. I loved, a boy, to coast right well in days We talk of now as long ago, but not Such coasting as I practiced then. To slide Through mud and measure what the depth might be

Of water half way up on either side

The path that formed the only ground to tread.

But that was Paradise to yesterday ;

The flat barge ferry o'er the bayou wide

Did land us once again upon the shore,

The same long shore we 'd traveled on : not wide

Nor long enough indeed this time we found.

What excellent appearance wore the men

Who formed the grand advance on Vicksburg

town, When halted at that Crevasse !

The levee Was gone, and wild the waters swept before, And land ahead could no man see. The trees On either hand waved free their leafy tops But bathed their bodies in the flood. Half score Of feet in depth the water lay. And then The boats from great boards fashioned round, they

brought,

3*

Frail shells that dodged the forest trunks, and bore The heavy freight amid the cypress knees Only to land it still where mud and mire Usurped the solid land. E'en mules did scorn Such travel. More than one leaped overboard, And slowly did their ears from fond sight fade Seen on dry land by federals never more. New Carthage ! What a town it is ! and yet In these abandoned houses here last night Was shelter from the storm. And so my sleep Was sweet."

" Nor heard the cannons' roar ? "

" No, what ? "

" The deep report came sixty miles along So loud to wake me.

Vicksburg's guns again With shot and shell would stay the passing fleet Of gunboats and their charges. You can see The shot-scarred transports yonder at the shore ! r

2 33

And seized with one desire they turned their steps Where now secure, the battered, shattered hulls Lay happy, swinging up and down, as if They felt the sweet relief from danger passed And knew no care on this calm morn, beneath The friendly shelter of the tree-hid shore. Grim guardian gunboats, here and there made fast With cable circling some thick, gnarled trunk, Frowned black, with wrath pent up in iron hearts, Forgiving and forgetting naught. A barge Amid that strife cast loose, slow floating by, Delayed, now met their eye, and slow passed on. The peaceful spell o'er all things resting now Seemed doubly strange. A deed so great, and now A morn so calm ! As if all acts of man Surprised not Nature, nor were worth her note. Against the burcVning thought, contending speech At last found strength to cope, and thus one spoke :

"We live in days of glory new and great, And . record proud is this for Hist'ry's page, Matching a deed that stood so vast alone.'" " Like thoughts my comrade has," another said, " And since they first defied the cannon's wrath With transports, he has sought to tell in verse, The story bold ! I have it here unknown, And ere he sends it north, I thought but fair We who best know, should of its merits judge. It opens where the crews their boats did leave And soldiers rushed to fill their places. List !

k A call for volunteers! The General has need of the boats yonder, and the crews refuse to run them. A call for volunteers! Who HI man the boats to -pass the batteries, and dare the vengeance of all Vicksburgf Engineers ive need, and firemen; yes, from the -pilot down, we ask for men. Ho, Volunteers ! whose willing spirit volunteered in months long gone, hear ye this second call for volunteers ! Tour names again! Who first -will lead the TvayP 1

Hear the shout ! as the word flies by, 1 I go] ' Pm another] and see How high and low for the honor vie, In danger first, or death, if it be. Never the like before was seen Tho' now the world is old, Never the like to startled ears By any tongue was told.

The new crews man the deserted boats, And all is dark and heavy and damp, As down the river each vessel floats From the shelt'ring shore, and friendly camp. Silent as death they ride their course, Targets frail for the iron ball, Certain to come with awful force, To be answered not at all.

Endure while hand is to learn desistance !

Did you know its grip on the soul

Has wrench more deathly than fierce resistance ?

Few shrink 'mid the battle's roll;

But to be still, stand still, and take it,

Flinching not, nor afraid,

This is clear grit and naught can shake it,

Here the heroes are made !

Twinkles merrily each far light

Where heights that hide the enemy loom.

Red flowers opening 'mid the night,

But drooping low at noon of its gloom.

And silently still the moments go,

The foe sleeps well, I ween ;

Thanks to the night and their slumber deep

The boats pass by unseen.

Hark ! Was it thunder ? Ah, storm, indeed ! Peal on peal with the lightning's flame ; Solid clouds with their deadly bolts And wrath of Hell whatever its name. See on the shore ! the gloom is gone, Up, fiercely, flames the fire, Houses are blazing now to light The strife so grand, so dire.

Sight remembered forever ! Lo,

Crowds the city into its streets.

Sweeps the shot from the floating foe,

Dauntless courage the wild storm meets !

Lost are their homes that crown the height,

And lost the city fair,

If in spite of the batteries' might

Safe pass the transports there.

*Tis a fear undefined, but its spell

Fires and freezes the hearts of them all.

For none might plainly the peril tell

Beyond the crash of the cannon ball.