—
It looked dim for Lincoln’s election
To second term till changed complexion.
…Sheridan o’er Early won;
…Atlanta burned till it was done.
The army assured Abe’s selection.
———————————————-
© Dennis Allen Lange, 2019.
Posts Tagged ‘North South’
Impregnable Fort Fisher by Dennis Allen Lange
Posted in Civil War Poems, Limericks, My Poems, tagged bard on the hill, Ben Butler, Blue Gray, Civil War, Dennis Allen Lange, Edward Ord, Impregnable Fort Fisher, limericks, North Carolina, North South, poems, poetry, Thank God for the victory, Ulysses S. Grant, union general on July 22, 2018| Leave a Comment »
—
Ben Butler called Fisher too solid.
Grant fired him, which Ben thought was squalid.
…He showed a committee
…His proof, wanting pity.
They listened, their faces all stolid.
But news came, and streets filled with cheering.
Fort Fisher had fallen; the hearing
…Was filled with great laughter
…Which Butler joined after,
Concluding that Ord was unfearing.
————————————————————————–
After the Union’s General Benjamin Butler was removed by Grant and replaced by Ord, Butler went before a Congressional Committee to plead his case. In the midst of that hearing, while Butler was explaining with charts and graphs and maps that Fort Fisher was impregnable, newspaper boys began shouting the headline that Fort Fisher had fallen and cheering began in the street. “Impossible!” was Butler’s first response but a message was soon sent into the room confirming it. Laughter spread through the room and Butler finally joined in. He concluded with, “Thank God for victory.”
————————————————————————-
Another poem of mine about Fort Fisher:
https://thebardonthehill.wordpress.com/2017/03/30/fort-fisher-sounds-by-dennis-allen-lange/
————————————————————————-
© Dennis Allen Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2018.
To Burnside At Fredericksburg by Dennis Allen Lange
Posted in Civil War Poems, My Poems, tagged Abraham Lincoln, adieu, Ambrose, bard on the hill, battle, Blue Gray, bullet's pain, Civil War, confederacy, Dennis Allen Lange, North South, poems, poetry, pressure to fight, rebels, To Burnside at Fredericksburg, union, Virginia, waves on September 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »
(In the Civil War battle at Fredericksburg, Virginia, Burnside sent Union troops again and again across an open field toward the Southerners behind a wall on the Sunken Road and perched above on Marye’s Height. The Union was slaughtered before retreating, 13,300 casualties vs.4500 for the South.)
The sunken road. The Union attacked across open level ground from the right,
suffered many losses, and were repelled each time. Marye’s Height (pictured below) is a steep hill to the left. Confederate cannons fired down on the Union from there.
Did you, with ease, your blue waves send
To beat the shore that would not bend,
To paint their blood upon the wall
They battered ‘gainst, that could not fall?
Did you e’er feel the bullet’s pain
So they would not roll forth again
To-ward the South perched on the height,
No chance to win within blue’s sight?
Did they give their brief lives in vain
So you’d not have to bear the pain
Of facing Lincoln’s pressure to
Press on and fight, or bid adieu?
————————————————————-
The pictures are mine, taken a couple of years ago to a trip to Virginia where I
saw 5 major Civil War battlefields including Fredericksburg.
————————————————————-
© Dennis Allen Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2017.
An Early Merry Christmas by Dennis Allen Lange
Posted in Civil War Poems, My Poems, tagged Abraham Lincoln, An Early Merry Christmas, arduous, Atlanta, bard on the hill, Blue Gray, Civil War, Dennis Allen Lange, North South, poems, poetry, union confederacy, William Tecumseh Sherman, Yule on June 30, 2017| Leave a Comment »
—
One year, a present Sherman gave
…To Lincoln for the Yule
To cheer the dour president
…In his long arduous rule.
It was the perfect offering,
…And not from ease or thrift,
For William gave to Abraham
…Atlanta as a gift.
———————————————-
© Dennis Allen Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2017.
Fort Fisher Sounds by Dennis Allen Lange
Posted in Civil War Poems, My Poems, tagged Adelbert Ames, Admiral David Porter, Alfred Terry, armada, bard on the hill, Benjamin Butler, Blue Gray, Charles Paine, Civil War, confederate union, Dennis Allen Lange, Fort Fisher, general, North South, poems, poetry, port, Wilmington North Carolina on March 30, 2017| Leave a Comment »
–
Boom, boom! Boom, boom! The Union navy fires!
Boom, boom! Boom, boom! – the Civil War’s bass choirs.
Boom, boom! Fort Fisher’s what the cannon’s see
As North tests its invincibility.
Boom, boom! Boom, boom! Shells whistle, fall, and crash!
Boom, boom! Boom, boom! They fall like fists and smash!
Boom, boom! Boom, boom! And one by one the guns
Within the fort become exploding suns.
Boom, boom! Boom, boom! The navy’s cannons roar!
Boom, boom! Boom, boom! Can ears take any more?!
Boom, boom! Midst shells, the fort can see (boom, boom!)
The blue ranks forming in the smoke and gloom.
Then silence yawns –
…………………………………..a bird, if live, could sing,
Be clearly heard if ears did not still ring.
A caterpillar, in his softest crawl
Would sound like chalk that screeches on the wall.
Did some slip to the ugly booming brutes
And quickly push on all the buttons – Mute?
Or did the noisy nightmare swiftly end
And all awake at once, calm comprehend?
And then –
…………………shrieks, moans, and whistles – boats begin!
Shriek, shriek! Whistle, whistle! A hellish din!
And all the demons in the devil’s hell
Were screaming, shrieking, moaning – whistles tell
Two armies of the blue to charge the fort
That guarded well the Carolina port.
A rata, a rata, a rat tat tat!
Crescendo swells! A rata tat tat!
Shriek, shriek! Whistle, whistle! They blow and moan!
Guns roar! Men yell! They fall dead with a groan.
The cannons more selective now – boom, boom!
And midst the sounds, Fort Fisher meets its doom.
———————————————————————————-
Another poem of mine about Fort Fisher:
https://thebardonthehill.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/impregnable-fort-fisher-by-dennis-allen-lange/
———————————————————————————
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/fortfisher/history-articles/fort-fisher.html
———————————————————————————-
© Dennis Allen Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2017.
The Bard on the Hill 