With the song of the minstrel in mine ear, For little Giffen of Tennessee! FRANCIS O. TICKNOR. GENERAL ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON. [Fell in the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing, Tenn., March 2, 1862.] IN thickest fight triumphantly he fell, No slanderous tongue can vex his spirit now, No bitter taunts can stain his blood-bought fame; Immortal honor rests upon his brow, And noble memories cluster round his name. For hearts shall thrill and eyes grow dim with tears, To read the story of his touching fate; Ye people! guard his memory-sacred keep THE CUMBERLAND. [The United States war-ship Cumberland, commanded by Captain Morris, was sunk, with her crew of a hundred men, by the Confederate ram Merrimac, in the famous naval battle at Hampton Roads, Va., March 9, 1862. After sinking, the flag at her mainmast still floated above the water.] AT anchor in Hampton Roads we lay, On board of the Cumberland, sloop-of-war; And at times from the fortress across the bay The alarum of drums swept past, Or a bugle blast From the camp on the shore. Then far away to the south uprose A little feather of snow-white smoke, And we knew that the iron ship of our foes To try the force Of our ribs of oak. Down upon us heavily runs, Silent and sullen, the floating fort; Then comes a puff of smoke from her guns, With fiery breath, From each open port. We are not idle, but send her straight From each iron scale Of the monster's hide. "Strike your flag!” the rebel cries, It is better to sink than to yield !"" Then, like a kraken huge and black, For her dying gasp. Next morn, as the sun rose over the bay, Every waft of the air Was a whisper of prayer, Or a dirge for the dead. Ho! brave hearts that went down in the seas! Ye are at peace in the troubled stream; Ho! brave land with hearts like these, Thy flag, that is rent in twain, Shall be one again, And without a seam! HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. THE RIVER FIGHT. [In April, 1862, Admiral Farragut ran his squadron past the Confederate batteries defending the Lower Mississippi, encountering and defeating a fleet of steamers, rams, and fire-rafts.] * ** * WOULD you hear of the River Fight? Sailed the Great Admiral. On our high poop-deck he stood, Bronzed in battle and wreck Bell and Bailey grandly led Each his line of the blue and red- And I mind me of more than they, Of the seamen passed away- What thought our Admiral then, Since the terrible day ? (Day of renown and tears!) When at anchor the Essex lay, Holding her foes at bay, When, a boy, by Porter's side he stood Till deck and plank-sheer were dyed with blood, 'Tis half a hundred years Half a hundred years, to-day ! Who could fail, with him? Who reckon of life or limb? Not a pulse but beat the higher! There had you seen, by the star-light dim, Five hundred faces strong and grim— The Flag is going under fire! Right up by the fort, with her helm hard a-port, The Hartford is going under fire! The way to our work was plain : Back echoed Philip! Ah, then- How they sprung, in the dim night haze, To their work of toil and of clamor! How the loaders, with sponge and rammer, How the guns, as with cheer and shout Brought up on the water-ways! First, as we fired at their flash, "Twas lightning and black eclipse, With a bellowing roll and crash; But soon, upon either bow, What with forts, and fire-rafts, and ships(The whole fleet was hard at it now, All pounding away!) and Porter Still thundering with shell and mortar 'Twas the mighty sound and form Of an equatorial storm! (Such you see in the far south, After long heat and drouth, The great black bow comes on-- |