Classic Poem

Through all that sanguinary month of May
Grant had persistently without avail
Essayed to meet the foes in open field.
And now, just as the gateways of the June —
Virginia's June with all its perfect sweets
Of flowers, of birds, of meadows and of woods —
Opened to Nature's pageantries of peace,
The longed-for battle-hour at last appeared.

Before the Chickahominy which formed
The outer pale of Richmond's strong defense,
With heavy threatening skirmish-lines flung out,
Along the ridges woods and swamps aligned,
The Southern Army stretched, again intrenched,
Inviting the battalions of the North.
And 'twixt the armies twain, set face to face,
Lay the wide open, such as Grant had sought
And Lee had long evaded. To assault —
'Twas certain slaughter of heroic men,
Thousands of men. But if perchance he won,
Then would his enemy, beneath the blow,
Fall back upon the river, and the key
Of the South's Capital become his prize.
And so Grant made his terrible decision.