Classic Poem

Two armies faced each other anxiously,
While the soft Maytime opened into June,
And the broad Rappahannock seaward flowed
Serenely, seeming never to have known
The sanguine stains of slaughter on its bosom.

Behind the host of Hooker grief and gloom
Followed the strange defeat at Chancellorsville.
Behind the host of Lee tumultuous joy
Welcomed the tidings of Confederate triumph.
The South was with exultance all aflame.
What pride she had in her victorious arms,
Her matchless warriors and their peerless Chief!
" Advance, our matchless Army! " was her cry.
" Forward, our peerless Leader! " was her song.
And 'twixt her cry and song her slogan rose,
Her passionate slogan, " On to Washington! "
At length they moved, the South's Invincibles,
Before the people's constant urgency
And the wild buoyance of their beating hearts.
And the vast Army wound by hill, through vale,
Like a huge python to Culpeper Court House.