“A soldier of the Union mustered out,”
…Is the inscription on an unknown grave
…At Newport News, beside the salt-sea wave,
…Nameless and dateless; sentinel or scout
Shot down in skirmish, or disastrous rout
…Of battle, when the loud artillery drave
…Its iron wedges through the ranks of brave
…And doomed battalions, storming the redoubt.
Thou unknown hero sleeping by the sea
…In thy forgotten grave! with secret shame
…I feel my pulses beat, my forehead burn,
When I remember thou has given for me
…All that thou hadst, thy life, thy very name,
…And I can give thee nothing in return.
The Bard on the Hill 