He dashed down the line 'mid a storm of huzzas,

And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because
The sight of the master compelled it to pause.

With foam and with dust the black charger was gray;

By the flash of his eye and the red nostril's play

He seemed to the whole great army to say, "I have brought you Sheridan, all the way From Winchester, down to save the day!"

Hurrah, hurrah, for Sheridan!

Hurrah, hurrah, for horse and man!
And when their statues are placed on high,
Under the dome of the Union sky
(The American soldiers' Temple of Fame),
There with the glorious general's name,
Be it said, in letters both bold and bright,
"Here is the steed that saved the day

By carrying Sheridan into the fight,

From Winchester, twenty miles away!"

1865.

THE HIGH TIDE AT GETTYSBURG

(BY WILL HENRY THOMPSON)

Reprinted from The Century Magazine, with the permission of the author
A cloud possessed the hollow field,

The gathering battle's smoky shield:

Athwart the gloom the lightning flashed,

And through the cloud some horsemen dashed,
And from the heights the thunder pealed.

Then at the brief command of Lee
Moved out that matchless infantry,
With Pickett leading grandly down,
To rush against the roaring crown
Of those dread heights of destiny.

Far heard above the angry guns

A cry across the tumult runs

The voice that rang through Shiloh's woods

And Chickamauga's solitudes,

The fierce South cheering on her sons!

5

ΙΟ

15

EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN

HOW OLD BROWN TOOK HARPER'S FERRY
John Brown in Kansas settled, like a steadfast Yankee farmer,
Brave and godly, with four sons, all stalwart men of might.
There he spoke aloud for Freedom, and the Border-strife grew
warmer,

Till the Rangers fired his dwelling, in his absence, in the night:
And Old Brown
Osawatomie Brown,

Came homeward in the morning-to find his house burned down.

5

55

55

Then he grasped his trusty rifle and boldly fought for Freedom,
Smote from border unto border the fierce, invading band;

And he and his brave boys vowed-so might Heaven help and speed
'em!-

They would save those grand old prairies from the curse that blights the land:

And Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

Said, "Boys, the Lord will aid us!" and he shoved his ramrod down.

And the Lord did aid these men, and they labored day and even,
Saving Kansas from its peril; and their very lives seemed

charmed,

Till the Ruffians killed one son, in the blessed light of Heaven-
In cold blood the fellows slew him, as he journeyed all unarmed:
Then Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

Shed not a tear, but shut his teeth and frowned a terrible frown!

Then they seized another brave boy-not amid the heat of battle,
But in peace, behind his plow-share,—and they loaded him with
chains,

And with pikes, before their horses, even as they goad their cattle,
Drove him cruelly, for their sport, and at last blew out his brains:

ΙΟ

15

20

25

Then Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

Raised his right hand up to Heaven, calling Heaven's vengeance down.

And he swore a fearful oath, by the name of the Almighty,

He would hunt this ravening evil that had scathed and torn

him so;

He would seize it by the vitals; he would crush it day and night; he
Would so pursue its footsteps, so return it blow for blow,

That Old Brown,

Osawatomie Brown,

Should be a name to swear by, in backwoods or in town!

Then his beard became more grizzled, and his wild blue eye grew wilder, And more sharply curved his hawk's-nose, snuffing battle from afar; And he and the two boys left, though the Kansas strife waxed milder,

30

35

Grew more sullen, till was over the bloody Border War,

And Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

Had gone crazy, as they reckoned by his fearful glare and frown.

So he left the plains of Kansas and their bitter woes behind him,
Slipt off into Virginia, where the statesmen all are born,
Hired a farm by Harper's Ferry, and no one knew where to find him,
Or whether he 'd turned parson, or was jacketed and shorn;

For Old Brown,

Osawatomie Brown,

Mad as he was, knew texts enough to wear a parson's gown.

He bought no plows and harrows, spades and shovels, or such
trifles,

But quietly to his rancho there came, by every train,
Boxes full of pikes and pistols, and his well-beloved Sharp's rifles;
And eighteen other madmen joined their leader there again:

Says Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

"Boys, we have got an army large enough to whip the town!

"Whip the town, and seize the muskets, free the negroes and then arm

them;

Carry the County and the State, aye, and all the potent South.

40

45

50

55

On their own heads be the slaughter, if their victims rise to harm them— These Virginians, who believed not, nor would heed the warning mouth."

Says Old Brown

Osawatomie Brown,

"The world shall see a Republic, or my name is not John Brown."

60

'T was the sixteenth of October, on the evening of a Sunday— "This good work," declared the captain, "shall be on a holy night!"—65 It was on a Sunday evening, and before the noon of Monday, With two sons, and Captain Stephens, fifteen privates-black and white

Captain Brown,

Osawatomie Brown,

Marched across the bridged Potomac, and knocked the sentinel down; 70