The July air grew thick and hot—
They strewed the hillside with our dead;
They shook the vale with thund'rous tread;
And yet no answer from the hill,
Our grinning guns were deathly still.
They strewed the hillside with our dead;
They shook the vale with thund'rous tread;
And yet no answer from the hill,
Our grinning guns were deathly still.
But when the Rebel line swept down
Upon the road that led to town,
The Union rank its silence broke
Upon the road that led to town,
The Union rank its silence broke
And every frowning cannon spoke.
I've seen the forked lightning's play
Until the night was bright as day;
I've heard the dreaded thunder's wrath
That seemed to shake the very earth.
Then like the lightning's blinding flash,
Then like the thunder's deaf'ning crash,
Three hundred cannons' vengeful ire
I've seen the forked lightning's play
Until the night was bright as day;
I've heard the dreaded thunder's wrath
That seemed to shake the very earth.
Then like the lightning's blinding flash,
Then like the thunder's deaf'ning crash,
Three hundred cannons' vengeful ire
Burst forth in shot and shell and fire.
A mighty flame lit earth and sky—
I saw a host of heroes die—
I heard the crash of shattered steel—
I felt the boulders rock and reel;
Then all the scene grew black as night,
As hotter, fiercer grew the fight.
'Midst sick'ning smoke and flying sand,
The dead so thick we scarce could stand,
'Midst solid shot and bursting shell
A mighty flame lit earth and sky—
I saw a host of heroes die—
I heard the crash of shattered steel—
I felt the boulders rock and reel;
Then all the scene grew black as night,
As hotter, fiercer grew the fight.
'Midst sick'ning smoke and flying sand,
The dead so thick we scarce could stand,
'Midst solid shot and bursting shell
85
