GENERAL HOOD'S LAST CHARGE.
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The shrieking of shell and the cannon's deep boomAre thundering still at the gate of the tomb, The rattle of grape-shot replying.
But ah! the last enemy conquers to-night,And death is the victor—in vain is the fight When God and his creature have striven;The struggle is over; life's colors are furled—Are lost in the dark of the vanishing world; The bonds of the spirit are riven.
But ere I go down 'neath the conqueror's tread,And lie white and still in the ranks of the dead Through silence forever unbroken,To you, my old heroes, my Texas Brigade,From the dimness of death, from the cold of its shade, One last solemn charge must be spoken:
"My faithful old followers, steady and true,My children are orphans,—I give them to you, A trust for your sacredest keeping.By the shades of the heroes who fought at your side,By the few who have lived, and the many who died, By the brave army silently sleeping,
