WHO WON MARENGO
Slow the burning sun was waning
Where Napoleon's line had reeled,
Where the blood of France was staining
All the verdure of the field;
Where Napoleon's line had reeled,
Where the blood of France was staining
All the verdure of the field;
Where her bravest sons were lying,
Piled in heaps of mangled dead,
And the moaning of the dying
Filled the air with sounds of dread;
Piled in heaps of mangled dead,
And the moaning of the dying
Filled the air with sounds of dread;
Where the muskets' furious rattle
Never ceased, and cannon frowned,
And the din and shock of battle
Shook the earth for miles around;
Never ceased, and cannon frowned,
And the din and shock of battle
Shook the earth for miles around;
There the Corsican had blundered,
And his army was undone,
And the Teuton's guns had thundered,
And the Austrian had won.
And his army was undone,
And the Teuton's guns had thundered,
And the Austrian had won.
There with all her army scattered
By the whirlwind of the fray,
And with half her legions shattered
France had surely lost the day.
By the whirlwind of the fray,
And with half her legions shattered
France had surely lost the day.
And her great commander madly
Raving at this first defeat,
Said unto his drummer sadly,
"Victor, beat the quick retreat."
Raving at this first defeat,
Said unto his drummer sadly,
"Victor, beat the quick retreat."
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