Page:Pieces People Ask For.djvu/109

Rh 'Twas the last fight at Fredericksburg,—
 * Perhaps the day you reck,—

Our boys, the Twenty-second Maine,
 * Kept Early's men in check.

Just where Wade Hampton boomed away,
 * The fight went neck and neck.

All day we held the weaker wing,
 * And held it with a will;

Five several stubborn times we charged
 * The battery on the hill,

And five times beaten back, re-formed,
 * And kept our columns still.

At last from out the centre fight
 * Spurred up a general's aide;

"That battery must silenced be!"
 * He cried as past he sped.

Our colonel simply touched his cap,
 * And then, with measured tread,—

To lead the crouching line once more
 * The grand old fellow came;

No wounded man but raised his head,
 * And strove to gasp his name,

And those who could not speak or stir
 * "God blessed him" just the same.

For he was all the world to us,—
 * That hero gray and grim;

Right well he knew that fearful slope
 * We'd climb with none but him,

Though while his white head led the way
 * We'd charge hell's portals in.

This time we were not half way up,
 * When, midst the storm of shell,

Our leader, with his sword upraised,
 * Beneath our bayonets fell;

And as we bore him back, the foe
 * Set up a joyous yell.