USA > Indiana > History of the Seventy-Fourth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry ; a three years' organization > Part 10
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After being wounded in front of Kenesaw, I was first taken to Field Hospital, thence to Athens, thence to Chattanooga, where an order came to send the officers up to Lookout Mountain and the men back to Nashville. This was done by two men gathering up the cot and carrying it down to the train-but a short distance-or if an officer he was carried to the ambulance and sent up the mountain. I overheard the order to the men so when they took up my cot, my uniform had been neatly hidden under the covers and I told them "I go to the train,"' so in due time I reached Nashville and was taken to the Offi- cers' Hospital where I got the surgeon to telegraph my father who soon arrived. Upon his arrival he failed to fall in love with the surroundings and I suggested that he go over to Cap- tain Driver's and see if he would not take me in. He did so and upon asking the surgeon's permission he granted it and I was soon located in a nice room with many comforts about me and with one of Captain Driver's daughters reading to or con- versing with me.
One day while thus seated the ligature sluffed off the artery and the blood spurted all over bed and wall. The lady gave a war whoop, I gave a yell and soon the room was full of people. Quick action with a tourniquet stopped the flow of blood and my life was saved. A few days after my father arranged to take me home which was done by placing me on a cot, hiring men to carry same to and from trains and transporting me in an express car.
In 1905 I visited Nashville and I hunted up Captain Driv- er's daughter, finding the Captain and his wife had both died. I visited his old homestead, which stood exactly as it had during the war. I stood in the same room where my life had so nearly ebbed away forty years before. I saw with my mind's eye the past go by. I called to mind the suffering I had gone through, the weary couch that supported me. I felt the sutuers
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tearing in my wound and the laps lying open as they did while going over the corduroy road from Field Hospital to Athens. I saw the ghastly face of a comrade who died at my side in the ambulance while going over that terrible road. I heard the spade digging his grave but a few feet from the road side and knew some mother's darling was being laid in a grave that no loving hand could ever bedeck with sweet flowers. I remem- bered how in the hospital at Chattanooga a lady unknown to me came to my cot and kneeling pleaded in prayer with "Our Father in Heaven" to spare my young life and permit me to return to loved ones at home. God bless that lady wherever she be for I often think that her prayer with those of my mother and father and sisters must have reached the Throne.
The most disagreeable march and night passed by the 74th Regiment was the day we marched from Nashville, Tenn. to Lavergne and camped under cedar trees-no tents-snow, sleet and rain.
The last time I saw my colored servant (a boy of about twelve years of age) was at Chickamauga. When the first vol- ley was fired he started for the rear on jack-rabbit time and as I was otherwise "engaged" I failed to have him leave my haversack.
Should any of the boys see him, kindly give him my ad- dress and have him return my haversack by "Parcels Post". He can keep the "Hard Tack and S .- B .- ".
Captain Runyan was the first president of the 74th or- ganization and was instrumental in bringing it to life at a general soldier's reunion held at the Fair Ground at Warsaw. Indiana.
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OFFICIAL REPORT
March 24th, 1909.
Colonel Thos. Morgan,
Dear Colonel and Comrades :-
I received from General E. A. Carman, Chairman Chick- amauga and Chattanooga National Park Commission, War Dept., Washington, D. C., request for special report as to part 74th Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry took in the second day of the Battle of Chickamauga.
I enclose a copy of my report. To-day I received a letter of which the following is a copy, viz. :
"War Department, Chickamauga and Chattanooga Nat'l Park Com. "Washington, "March 18, 1909. "Dear Sir :-
"Your letter of the 11th instant accompanying your pa- per on the 74th Indiana at Chickamauga, September 20th, 1863, is received, and it is just the information we are after, and neither too much nor too little of it.
"Please accept our thanks for your courtesy in the matter.
"Very truly yours, (Signed) E. A. CARMAN, Chairman of Commission.
209 Marion Street, Elkhart, Elkhart County, Indiana March 11, 1909.
General E. A. Carman,
Chairman, Chickamauga Park Commission,
Room 524, War Department,
Washington, D. C.
I am in receipt of your letter dated February 25, 1909, asking for information regarding the part taken by the 74th Regt. Ind. Vol. Infty. at the battle of Chickamauga, not given in the official reports, and if that regiment was engaged after 4 p. m., of the 20th of September, 1863, and particularly whether it was engaged on Snodgrass Ridge.
I think the reports of the various officers are, in the main,
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correct, as they are published in "War of the Rebellion"-Offi- cial Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Vol.XXX-Part 1, Reports Chickamauga Campaign, Serial No. 50.
I visited the Chickamauga Battle Field for the first time after the battle at the time of the dedication of the National Park, and again during the Spanish-American War, and it seemed to me certain that our regiment (the 74th Regt. Ind. Vol. Infty.) approached the field on the morning of September 19th by a road near a residence occupied at the time I revisited the field by Lee Davis, and that we marched thence to the Kelley Home, the place mentioned by Col. C. W. Chapman, in said volume, page 415, as the place where we were "halting and taking a hasty cup of coffee," and "hasty" indeed it was, for the few who got any.
The official reports seem brief and meager descriptions of the terrible and momentous event which followed, as must nec- essarily be the case in any description of any such contest.
In the report of Colonel Chas. W. Chapman in said Volume at page 417, lines 10 and 11 he says, "we marched by the flank into an open field on our right, and bivouacked for the night." At the time I revisited the Battle Field, as above, it seemed to me certain the place where we thus bivouacked was in the Dyer field. During the fighting in the forenoon of the 19th of September, we had stripped ourselves of knapsacks, blankets, etc., which we left where we halted between charges, and as we were moved from point to point, we never saw them again, and. consequently when we bivouacked, as above, we had no way to make ourselves comfortable. Some succeeded in getting some straw. More had to sleep on the bare ground. It was very cold. Orders were given that no fires would be allowed. Most of the men had no rations and no water. All were worn out by the terrible experiences of the day. It was a terrible, cheerless, cold, desolate, miserable night.
In the Report of Col. Chapman above referred to, he says, page 417, lines 21, 22, 23, "the brigade then moved to the left by the flank, about 300 yards, and formed on the left of Rey- nold's Division, etc." I think Col. Chapman is in error in this. . I think we were on the right of Gen. Reynold's Division. I think the place where we thus formed on the morning of Sep- tember 20th was in the Poe Field-the 10th and 74th Indiana were in the front line, the 74th Indiana being on the left of the 10th Indiana. My Company G, of which I was in command, had only one company, B, to its left, which was the only company
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between my company and Reynold's Division. In the report of Maj. Gen. J. J. Reynolds, in the volume above referred to, page 441, he says, "Two brigades of the Third Division, Fourteenth Corps Brennan's, were on my right." Other reports corroborate my opinion. I feel confident that Col. Chapman ought to have said we "formed on the right of Reynolds' Division." During the desperate fighting which occurred at this place, our men, between the charges of the enemy, flattened themselves upon the earth, or crouched closely behind the slight breastworks they had built. Every exposure, or movement invited and received a storm of bullets from the vastly superior force of the enemy in front. While all were ready for a renewal of the charges of the enemy, which was expected to occur at any moment, no one exposed himself unnecessarily. At this juncture a fine look- ing man came walking leisurely along our regimental line from the right, a target for a storm of bullets, but taking no heed of them. Occasionally he stopped to peer in the direction of the enemy, apparently to observe their movements. I asked him who he was. He said he was Col. King, and that he commanded a brigade in Reynold's Division. He passed on, to our left, and afterward was killed. I never saw a man more regardless of danger than he appeared when he was at my Company G, as above.
While the 74th Ind. Vol. Infty. was at this point, I vol- unteered to make a flying trip to the Ninth Regt. Ind. Vol. Infty., to try to obtain from my friends in that Regiment, some ammunition, which we were sadly in need of. I was quite suc- cessful, and for this service was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor. Shortly after my return from this trip, Adjutant Geo. O. Smith, of our regiment, was wounded. He never re- turned to the regiment. I was detailed Acting Regimental Adjutant. It had been the custom in the 74th Indiana that the Adjutant should assist in the command of the regiment almost as if he were next in rank to the commanding officer, which custom continued as long as I remained Acting Regimental Adjutant, which was nearly the remainder of the war.
Shortly after I was thus detailed, we observed squads of men, from our right, obliquing toward our rear. Then they came in larger squads, and faster, and by regiments and brigades. It seemed as if all to our right was going, and it was. Lieut. Col. Baker, commanding our regiment, received no orders. He and I went to consult Col. Marsh B. Taylor, commanding the Tenth Regiment Ind. Vol. Infty., of our brigade, the only regiment left on the line, on our right. He had no orders. All
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our Division and Brigade officers, and all the troops, except the 10th and 74th, had gone to the rear, apparently obliquely toward our left, we knew not where. Col. Taylor, the ranking officer, took command of the two regiments as quasi-brigade commander. Then the operations described in the report of Myron Baker, Lieut. Col. Comdg., 74th Ind., published in said volume, page 420, (lower third of page) ensued.
Col. Chapman, in his said report (middle of page 417) says. * ** by a flank movement on our right the brigade was compelled to change front, and in so doing the brigade be- came separated." This separation of the brigade was occasioned by the confusion following the withdrawal of Gen. Wood's Division from the line of battle. The 10th and 74th Indiana were then and there separated from the brigade, and until evening of the day, moved and fought without orders from any officers other than their own, as above, and as hereinafter set forth.
Col. Chapman, in his said report, same page says: "The Seventy-fourth and Tenth Indiana, having reported to Gen. Reynolds, fought with him during the day." I think this is certainly incorrect. Gen. Reynolds' movements, as described in his report, and the movement of the 10th and 74th Indiana. as described in the report of Lieut. Col. Baker, and as described hereinafter, show conclusively that this statement of Col. Chap- man was a mistaken one, made from hearsay, as Col. Chapman had been wounded the previous day, and was not in command, or with us, at the time referred to. This mistake of Col. Chap- man has been accepted by some writers, and has occasioned much doubt and error as to the movements of the 10th and 74th Indiana Sunday afternoon, September 20th.
At the time I revisited the battlefield, as aforesaid, it seemed to me certain that the place Lieut. Baker described as "in rear of a fence and some old log buildings" was the vicinity of the Dyer blacksmith shop. Our situation here was desperate. We were about out of ammunition. The rebel hordes were moving in mass in the field near "the old log buildings" which had been our rear, but was now our front; many of them were clad in blue, so it was uncertain whether they were friends or foes. The rebel forces which had been assaulting us from the position we had left were closing upon us, and our two regi- ments were alone, as in a vise, about to be crushed. Certainly no iren on earth ever behaved better than did the 10th an ! 74th Indiana in that terrible emergency. Every man seemed to know we were alone on the field, apparently surrounded, anc that our only hope was to act unitedly and coolly and in in-
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plicit obedience to the few remaining officers. The officers knew not what to do. All we could do was to fight as best we could: and this we determined we would do until all were gone, or some opportunity might occur for our deliverance, but for the latter there seemed no hope. However, after a time, an opening was discovered in the rear of the position which Gen. Rey- nolds' Division had formerly occupied, and the 10th and 74th Indiana Regiments were moved successfully through that open- ing, being the movement which Lieut. Col. Baker describes when he says in his report, "The regiment now moved through the woods toward the left." The "open ground where Hazen's brigade was lying behind some log fortifications," (Lieut. Col. Baker's report, page 421) was, I think, on part of the Kelley property. While we were at this place "where Hazen's brigade had been withdrawn" from, our two regiments were apparently alone. We had no one to give us orders-no one to support us, and we received no assaults from the enemy. There was terrible sound of fighting, apparently in our then rear. We thought of marching toward the sound of battle, but believed that such movement would lead us against brigades and divisions of rebel forces, against which we would be powerless; which I still believe, for I am confident that the conflict whose sound we then heard was occasioned by the assaults of the rebel hordes from whom we had escaped as they flung themselves against our beloved "Old Pap Thomas" on Snodgrass Hill, and by rea- son of the overwhelming forces of the enemy, it would have been utterly impossible for us to effect a junction with the forces under Gen. Thomas while those contests were raging.
A little before dusk in the evening, the 10th and 74th Ind. iana moved from the place Hazen's brigade had occupied, as aforesaid, Lieut. Col. Baker in his report, speaks very briefly He says (page 421) "These regiments (10th and 74th Ind.) both left that part of the field under a severe artillery fire." "Severe" is not severe enough a word to describe this artillery fire-no word is severe enough. It was the most terrible artillery work I ever experienced. It seemed as if the air was full of missils-as if the air was burning up. As our two regiments passed through a field before reaching the base of a mountain, we encountered and passed vast numbers of rebel soldiers. They seemed almost worn out by the hardships of the battle, and al- most dazed by our sudden and unexpected appearance. They seemed as if they might be organized forces, but if so they were considerably demoralized. They might easily have killed many of us, but did not do so. We might easily have killed many of them, but thought best to plunge through them and
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REGIMENT INDIANA VOL. INF.
rejoin our own forces without stopping to fight them under that terrible artillery fire. Through all these exigencies the 10th and 74th Indiana bore themselves most nobly and preserved their organizations intact, though with sadly diminished num- bers.
On reaching the base of a mountain we determined that at its top we would make a rally. This was done. There were quite a number of stragglers from other commands whom we had overtaken, and others who appeared from various direc- tions. All were ordered into our ranks. Most of them obeyed voluntarily ; the remainder obeyed at the point of the bayonet or musket. We thus congregated quite a force. Night was ap- proaching-we had practically no ammunition-no rations-no equipage. Col. Taylor, commanding, invited Lieut. Col. Baker and me to a consultation as to what should be done. I thought best to retire along what I suppose is the road through McFar- land's Gap, and attempt to overtake and rejoin our army. Lieut. Col. Baker agreed with me. Col. Taylor said: "I came here to fight rebels, and will never get a better chance, but perhaps the majority may be right. Get ready to move at once." So we moved, forcing all stragglers along with us, until we arrived at Rossville where we rejoined our brigade.
What mountain was it where we made that last stand ? At the time we did not know its name. After reading reports, descriptions, etc., of the battle, I was confident it was Snodgrass Hill. Some writers, who were not with us, doubted or dis- puted this. When I revisited the field, for the first time after the battle, at the time the National Park was dedicated, my wife was with me. and I determined to ascertain whether my opinion was correct. We took a carriage, and followed up the route the 74th Indiana took in the battle. The driver claimed to know the field, and seemed to, until I wanted him to go to the place where the battle opened, and where the monument to the 74th Indiana is located. He insisted upon going in what proved to be a wrong direction, but I over-ruled him, and ordered him to go the way I thought we ought to go to find the place, and we found it just as and where I thought we would find it. Then, to test the correctness of my recollection, I ordered the guide to tell me nothing and I directed our movements, taking the same course the two regiments took on the evening of the second day of the battle until we reached the foot of the mountain above spoken of. Being fully convinced that this was the same mountain where our regiment had rallied as above, and that my wife and I had reached it by the same route that the 10th and 74th Indiana had reached it on the evening of September
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HISTORY OF THE 74TH
20th. 1863 (although under easier circumstances), I asked the guide the name of the mountain, and he said it was Snodgrass Hill, and his statement proved to be correct. From memory, I then described to my wife and to the guide the lay of the ground the remainder of the way up, and at the top, where we made the rally, and when we got there we found that my description, made from memory as above, and before I had seen the ground since the battle, was entirely correct. Having, after my long absence, thus correctly led the way all over the field, and having told correctly from memory, before reaching or seeing them. about all the principal points, I proved to my own satisfaction, beyond a doubt, that Snodgrass Hill was the identical place where we made the last rally, as aforesaid, and that whether Steedman had fought on that ground or not, it was the place described by Lieut. Col. Baker in his said report, made at the time, as "on a hill where General Steedman's Division had been fighting." (Volume above referred to, page 421). There was but little fighting after that last rally. The enemy seemed to have had all the fighting he wanted.
When our two regiments arrived on the hill and made the rally above referred to, there were no other organized Union troops there, or in sight. We had no knowledge of where there were any. We had only a belief that they had retired through what I believe is McFarland's Gap, toward Rossville. We found no organized troops after we left that mountain until we overtook our Army encamped at Rossville, where we rejoined our brigade. Had we remained on the moun- tain, exposed, alone, we now know, as we then thought, that we would have been overwhelmed.
Thus the 74th Regt. Ind. Vol. Infty. ("The Walnut Crackers") and the 10th Regt. Ind. Vol. Infty. were "two of the three regiments which opened the battle of Chickamauga," (see reports of Gen. Rosecrans, Gen. Thomas, Col. Chapman and others), and on Snodgrass Hill, on the night of the last day of the battle "The Seventy-fourth and Tenth Indiana were the last organized bodies of infantry that left that ground." (See report of Lieut. Col. Baker above referred to).
No man can write any adequate history of any great bat- tle. I write this from memory, aided only by the volume of the Rebellion Record above referred to, but I have stated the facts as I believe them, except that many details are omitted.
Yours respectfully,
Formerly Capt. Comdg. Co. G and Actg. Regtl. Adjt. 74th Ind. Vol. Infty.
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MORGAN'S RAID IN KENTUCKY As Seen by BEN W. CARR
On or about the 28th of December, 1862, our Brigade re- ceived orders to draw three days' rations and be ready to march at once. We were drawn up by the side of the L. and N. Railroad at Gallatin, Tenn. The morning was very rainy. Presently a freight train came up and the 74th ordered to go aboard which we did and started north, not knowing our des- tination. It somehow became known that Morgan's Cavalry had crossed the Cumberland River at some point east of us, cut across the country in our rear and was tearing up the railroad so as to cut our Cracker Line, so that Rosecran's Army could not get any rations, they being at the front preparing for the Battle of Stone River which occurred on December 30, 31 and January 2. The only battle fought in two different years (1862 and 1863) commenced in '62 and ended in '63, but this is somewhat digressing from what I started to tell. To resume, we proceeded to Bowling Green, Ky., and were there ordered to get off which we did, about 10 o'clock at night. The rain ceased about that time and the weather turned very cold and those that were riding on top of the cars had their cloth- ing pretty well soaked. We built a roaring fire to keep warm and to dry our clothing, but in less than ten minutes the order to fall in came and we started north, crossed the Barron River and the railroad bridge, marched about a mile and filed off to the east some distance and ascended a round top hill where we were ordered to stop for the night and not allowed to make any fire. By this time it was bitter cold and our clothes were frozen. I had a rubber poncho and my bunk mate, Truman N. Bratt, had an army blanket. We spread the poncho on the ground and covered with the army blanket. Somehow in the night I rolle .! off the bed and in the morning when I attempted to rise I found that my hair was frozen to the ground and Comrade Bratt took an old case knife without a handle and blade about three inches long full of nicks and sawed me loose from the ground. The call, "fall in" came and we marched on to Bacon Creek, Ky., where we saw the first bridge that the rebels had burned. About 8 o'clock that day I had a hard chill and then fever set in. At Nolinville where we found the railroad bridge burned the troops crossed the river on a wagon bridge and camped for the night. I being sick, along with several others, remained at Nolinville. We asked permission of one of the natives to let us stay in an empty house in the village. He said. "Boys, I
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HISTORY OF THE 74TH
am a Union man but I have to play Reb and if I let you'uns stay here they will burn me out and beside the Morgan Cavalry are on this side of the river and if you stay you all will be captured for the Cavalry will be in here as soon as it gets dark but if you are bound to stay I will let one of my niggers carry in a lot of wood for you so you can take your blankets and blind the windows and keep quiet. Maybe they won't find you all." We did so barricade the door with cordwood and went to sleep. There was a vacant storeroom that adjoined the house in which we stayed. About 2 a. m. I unbarred the door and slipped quietly out and found about 50 cavalry horses hitched back of the house in an orchard. I tiptoed up quietly and looked in at the windows and saw about fifty Rebel Cavalrymen eating and drinking and having a good time (but I did not try to capture them). Next morning when we got up they were gone, then we crossed the river in time to start on our trip. The next place was Elizabethtown. There the bridge and grain elevator was burned. All of those places were guarded by the 91st Illinois Regiment, one company in a place, and were captured in de- tail by Morgan. We followed on to Muldrange Hill where they burned a trestle bridge about three hundred feet long and about seventy-five feet high, where we came up to them just at dark and had a sharp skirmish with them as they were cross- ing Rolling Fork River, wounding Gen. Bazil, Duke Morgan's Chief of Staff and one section. Two guns of their battery camped there that night. Next morning we resumed the march as far as Bardstown Junction where we were ordered to re- turn to the front.
THE UNITED STATES ARMY AND NAVY CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR
is conferred by the President, in the name of Congress, for having, "in actual conflict with the enemy,-distinguish- ed himself,-conspicuously,-by gallantry and intrepidity,- at the risk of his life,-above and beyond the call of duty." - United States Laws.
The U. S. Congress requires a far higher degree of valor before granting its Medal of Honor than is required by any other nation for its similar decoration.
It is the hardest to gain-the fewest in numbers - the least known-yet the most eagerly coveted and highly prized Military and Naval Decoration of Honor in the world.
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THE SEVENTY-FOURTH By CARRIE CHILDS DEARDORFF
We might have won it, The North, but still I doubt it, Great 74th; First on the field and last to leave it, History says, and I believe it, Brave 74th.
Where the shot and shell was thickest And grim warfare raged the quickest, Stood 74th; Not a man but was a giant,
With a soldier's heart reliant, In 74th.
Bore they well, and all together, Death, disease, and every weather, Strong 74th; Now with numbers thinned and slim Warm hearts ache, and eyes grow dim. Weak 74th.
Yet at camp fires year by year, They sit in loving cheer, This 74th, And their stories tell once more,
Fight old battles o'er and o'er, Gay 74th.
The war is done, who won it, Who can tell, depend upon it The 74th; And as each camp passes on, Still some soldier will live on, Of the 74th.
And from rise till set of sun, He will tell of battles won, By 74th. Time and cities will decay, While this "Vet" will blaze away, 'Bout 74th.
Later on his audience gone To himself he will praise on, The 74th. Till the winds and waves content, Sigh around the monument Of 74th.
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HISTORY OF THE 74TH
To the 74th Ind. Volunteer Infantry COMPANY E.
Roll back waves of oblivion, Stop Time your ceaseless flight, Old 74th, shake off thy sleep, "E" Company rise tonight! Let not a face be missing, What to us are fifty years, Let not a voice be silent, Ring out in gallant cheers.
Do you see the flags aflying Adown the busy street ? Do you hear the bugle sounding And the tread of many feet ? Do you feel the thrill of glory 'Mid the marching to and fro, The prayers, the tears, the Spirit Of fifty years ago ?
Do you see the strength of manhood, The flower of lusty youth, Crowd forth themselves to offer, In this war of right and truth ? Brave hearts ask naught but sorrow, Strong limbs court weariness, Leaning forward to the burden, As receiving a caress.
Do you mind the very day, boys, We firmly wrote each name, And started forth so bravely, To win a grave or fame? There was not a coward 'mong us, As we gave our best, our all, Trusting in that God of Battles, Who e'en notes the sparrow's fall.
Tonight a little remnant, Left from the ebb and flow, Let us watch while they march by us, Those youths of long ago. Comrades who fought beside us, Do you see them through your tears, As memory lights up tent and field Through fifty changeful years ?
Shining bright on sunny hillsides, And where lone rivers run, Where'er the soldier sleepeth, That place hath glory won. Sweet flowers of peace are blooming, Where once was bloody strife, The din of battle ended, We enter into life.
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THE LAST CALL
Tune-"He's the Lily of the Valley."
Long years have passed, my comrades, since the camp-fires of the brave
Went out upon the sunny, southern plain,
And many a war-worn soldier is resting in his grave,
Who marched with us through southern dews and rains; But we meet and talk about them and remember them with love, And we tell of deeds of valor they have done,
Their weary feet are resting on the plains of peace above, And the songs up there are all of victory won.
Clicrus-
But we'll meet you and we'll greet you, Oh! my comrades over there- In the fields of peace and gladness far above;
Where the roar of guns and the roll of drums no more break on the air,
When the watchword and the password shall be love.
The sentry's step no more resounds through the dim and silent camp, No more the bugle's warning note is heard,
No more upon our ears shall fall the strong and measured tramp, They have heard from heaven, their Great Commander's word, No more for them the noise of war, the fierce and bitter fight, The long and weary march beneath the sun,
Their snowy tents are pitched along the shining slopes of light, The tattoo has been sounded and they're gone. Chorus-
Some sleep in unremembered graves, where sweet magnolias bloom, And roses shed their fragrance on the air,
But the years roll by unheeded and our summons soon will come, To join our fallen comrades over there; And when at last we ground our arms and wait our summons home And turn our steps toward the other shore;
May those comrades come to meet us and greet us in that land, Where wars and fightings cease forevermore.
Chorus-
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TO THE FLAG
Full fifty years have slowly passed-fifty to a day, And it seems as down life's stream we quietly drift away, That WE are the BOYS, full of laughter and noise, Who saluted the Colors that day.
We boys marched away, full of life, proud and gay, With visions of glory-success in the fray;
With thoughts of the sweethearts who promised to stay If we brought back the flag we saluted that day.
We brought home the flag-but the boy ne'er came back, The boy had been lost-in war's red blinding wrack; In his place came bronzed Vets-Could the sweethearts say nay ? For the Vets brought the flag they saluted that day.
We miss our boys who stacked their arms-at their last bivouac, To no more of our reunions, can we call lost comrades back; So be ready for inspection-and when TAPS the bugles say, Just furl the flag around us we saluted that day.
Growing Old, Comrades
A little more love at the close of day
A little less anxious to have our way,
A little less ready to scold and blame A little more care for a brother's name. And so we are nearing our journey's end Where time and eternity meet and blend.
A little less care for bonds and gold, A little more zest in the days of old,
A broader view and a saner mind
A little more love for all mankind.
A little more careful of what we say And so we are passing a-down life's way.
A little more love for the friends of youth A little more zeal for established truth, A little more charity in our views A little less thirst for the daily news,
And so we are folding our tents away And passing in silence at close of day.
A little more leisure to sit and dream A little more real the thing unseen, A little bit nearer those ahead With visions of loved ones long since dead,
And so we are going where all must go Back to the dust, our God said so.
A little more time, a little more tears And we shall have filled our number of years, Lfe's book be closed and our prayers be said And we be part of the countless dead. Thrice happy then, if each soul can say I'm happy that Jesus passed my way .- Ibid.
HE
N BING BOUND TO DERY MAR - 2 1939
N. M
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