Pebbles and Shells (Hawkes collection)/How "Fighting Joe" Hooker took Lookout Mountain
For other versions of this work, see How "Fighting Joe Hooker" Took Lookout Mountain.
POEMS OF WAR AND PATRIOTISM
HOW "FIGHTING JOE HOOKER" TOOK LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN
Know you the tale of a battle won Some thirty years ago,On a mountain top, when the Autumn sun In the west was sinking low?
It was a fight that the watching throng Were destined not to see,For the men went up five thousand strong Under the canopy
Of God's free sky, through the fleecy clouds That overhung the plain,And the eager eyes of the watchful crowds Strained after them in vain.
'Twas like a storm on a darksome night— This battle in the clouds,With the thunder's roll and the leven's light Among the mountain's shrouds.
The sky was dark on that Autumn day The air was damp and cold,But the fields and woods in their mantle lay Of crimson and of gold;
Fresh laurel grew on the mountain's side Among the evergreenAnd the granite rocks with the verdure vied To beautify the scene.
They come—they come o'er the verdant plain With flags but not with drum,By the broad highway and the narrow lane, They come, they come, they come!
They round the base of the mountain tall, Unnoticed by the foe,On the southern side of its rugged wall They stand to strike the blow.
"Advance! my boys," is the clear command It comes from "Fighting Joe,"And the men go up to the Rebels' stand, As only patriots go.
They climb the rocks and the frowning cliffs Like Sparta's patriotic sons,And they scale the steep through the friendly rifts Up to the Rebel guns.
Then fell a blight like the breath of Hell, Out of the mountain banks,With a storm of lead and a Rebel yell They fell upon our ranks;
We drove them back up the mountain walls, And gave them shot for shot,Till the air was filled with our shrieking balls And e'en the winds were hot.
The battle raged for a bloody hour, And neither had the best,Till just as the night was beginning to lower, When Hooker gained the crest.
He swept the foe from the mountain's crown, And on its utmost crag,Just as the radiant sun went down, Planted the starry flag.
A moment more and our signal gun Woke echoes in the glen,And the army knew that the fight was won By Hooker's gallant men.