US Civil War
"Lay down the axe; fling by the spade; Leave in its track the toiling plow; The rifle and the bayonet-blade For arms like yours were fitter now; And let the hands that ply the pen Quit the light task, and learn to wield The horseman's crooked brand, and rein The charger on the...
"Lay down the axe; fling by the spade; Leave in its track the toiling plow; The rifle and the bayonet-blade For arms like yours were fitter now; And let the hands that ply the p...
2. Chapter 2There was in the central part of the county a beautiful grove in which the Methodists were accustomed to hold their annual camp-meetings. On account of its location and the shel...
3. Chapter 3In the spring of 1862 Gen. George B. McClellan with an army of 120,000 men, thoroughly drilled and lavishly equipped, set out from Washington to capture Richmond from the north;...
4. Chapter 4In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness, and humility; But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger; Stiffen the sinew...
5. Chapter 5Gen. John Pope, with his "headquarters in the saddle," set out from Washington with a numerous force to capture Richmond, and was reënforced by the remains of McClellan's army t...
6. Chapter 6Our next encounter with the Yankees occurred on the first day of September at a place called Ox Hill, near Chantilly on the Little River turnpike, in which they sustained a heav...
7. Chapter 7On the 20th of September McClellan sent one of his divisions over into Virginia, with the purpose, I suppose, of making a reconnoissance in force. It was attacked by the Light D...
8. Chapter 8I did not serve long as the adjutant of the 47th regiment. In March, 1863, Company I of the 40th regiment, having from one cause or another lost all its officers, unanimously de...
9. Chapter 9After the lamented death of General Jackson the divisions of the Army of Northern Virginia were organized into three corps, commanded, respectively, by Longstreet, Ewell, and A....
10. Chapter 10Hand to hand, and foot to foot; Nothing there, save death, was mute; Stroke, and thrust, and flash, and cry For quarter, or for victory, Mingled with the volleying thunder. --BY...
11. Chapter 11A prison is a house of care, A place where none can thrive, A touchstone true to try a friend, A grave for men alive. --_Inscription on the Old Prison of Edinburg._
12. Chapter 12But now we are in prison and likely long to stay, The Yankees they are guarding us, no hope to get away; Our rations they are scanty, 'tis cold enough to freeze,-- I wish I was...
13. Chapter 13'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home; A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there, Which seek through the world, i...