Part 25 (2/2)

'They buried him with his n.i.g.g.e.rs!'

Together they fought and died.

There was room for them all where they laid him, (The grave was deep and wide).

For his beauty and youth and valor, Their patience and love and pain; And at the last together They shall be found again.

'They buried him with his n.i.g.g.e.rs!'

Earth holds no prouder grave; There is not a mausoleum In the world beyond the wave, That a n.o.bler tale has hallowed, Or a purer glory crowned, Than the nameless trench where they buried The brave so faithful found.

'They buried him with his n.i.g.g.e.rs!'

A wide grave should it be; They buried more in that shallow trench Than human eye could see.

Aye, all the shames and sorrows Of more than a hundred years Lie under the weight of that Southern soil Despite those cruel sneers.

'They buried him with his n.i.g.g.e.rs!'

But the glorious souls set free Are leading the van of the army That fights for liberty.

Brothers in death, in glory The same palm branches bear; And the crown is as bright o'er the sable brows As over the golden hair.

Buried with a band of brothers Who for him would fain have died; Buried with the gallant fellows Who fell fighting by his side;

Buried with the men G.o.d gave him, Those whom he was sent to save; Buried with the martyr heroes, He has found an honored grave.

Buried where his dust so precious Makes the soil a hallowed spot; Buried where by Christian patriot, He shall never be forgot.

Buried in the ground accursed, Which man's fettered feet have trod; Buried where his voice still speaketh, Appealing for the slave to G.o.d;

Fare thee well, thou n.o.ble warrior, Who in youthful beauty went On a high and holy mission, By the G.o.d of battles sent.

Chosen of him, 'elect and precious,'

Well didst thou fulfil thy part; When thy country 'counts her jewels,'

She shall wear thee on her heart.

The heroic courage displayed by the gallant Phalanx at the a.s.sault upon Fort Wagner was not surpa.s.sed by the Old Guard at Moscow. Major-General Taliaferro gives this confederate account of the fight, which is especially interesting as it shows the condition of affairs inside the fort:

”On the night of the 14th the monster iron-plated frigate New Ironsides, crossed the bar and added her formidable and ponderous battery to those destined for the great effort of reducing the sullen earthwork which barred the Federal advance. There were now five monitors, the Ironsides and a fleet of gunboats and monster hulks grouped together and only waiting the signal to unite with the land batteries when the engineers should p.r.o.nounce them ready to form a cordon of flame around the devoted work. The Confederates were prepared for the ordeal. For fear that communications with the city and the mainland, which was had by steamboat at night to c.u.mmings' Point should be interrupted, rations and ordnance stores had been acc.u.mulated, but there was trouble about water. Some was sent from Charleston and wells had been dug in the sand inside and outside the fort, but it was not good. Sand bags had been provided and trenching tools supplied sufficient for any supposed requirement.

”The excitement of the enemy in front after the 10th was manifest to the Confederates and announced an 'impending crisis.' It became evident that some extraordinary movement was at hand. The Federal forces on James Island had been attacked on the morning of the 16th by General Hagood and caused to retire, Hagood occupying the abandoned positions, and on the 17th the enemy's troops were transferred to Little Folly and Morris Islands. It has been stated that the key to the signals employed by the Federals was in possession of General Taliaferro at this time, and he was thus made acquainted with the intended movement and put upon his guard. That is a mistake. He had no such direct information, although it is true that afterwards the key was discovered and the signals interpreted with as much ease as by the Federals themselves. The 18th of July was the day determined upon by the Federal commanders for the grand attempt which, if successful, would level the arrogant fortress and confuse it by the mighty power of their giant artillery with the general ma.s.s of surrounding sand hills, annihilate its garrison or drive them into the relentless ocean, or else consign them to the misery of hostile prisons.

”The day broke beautifully, a gentle breeze slightly agitated the balmy atmosphere, and with rippling dimples beautified the bosom of the placid sea. All nature was serene and the profoundest peace held dominion over all the elements. The sun, rising with the early splendors of his midsummer glory, burnished with golden tints the awakening ocean, and flashed his reflected light back from the spires of the beleaguered city into the eyes of those who stood pausing to gather strength to spring upon her, and of those who stood at bay to battle for her safety. Yet the profound repose was undisturbed; the early hours of that fair morning hoisted a flag of truce between the combatants which was respected by both. But the tempest of fire which was destined to break the charm of nature, with human thunders then unsurpa.s.sed in war, was gathering in the south. At about half-past 7 o'clock the s.h.i.+ps of war moved from their moorings, the iron leviathan the Ironsides, an Agamemnon among s.h.i.+ps, leading and directing their movements, then monitor after monitor, and then wooden flags.h.i.+ps. Steadily and majestically they marched; marched as columns of men would march, obedient to commands, independent of waves and winds, mobilized by steam and science to turn on a pivot and manoeuvre as the directing mind required them; they halted in front of the fort; they did not anchor as Sir Peter Parker's s.h.i.+ps had done near a hundred years before in front of Moultrie, which was hard by and frowning still at her ancient enemies of the ocean. They halted and waited for word of command to belch their consuming lightnings out upon the foe. On the land, engineering skill was satisfied and the deadly exposure for details for labor was ended; the time for retaliation had arrived when the defiant shots of the rebel batteries would be answered; the batteries were unmasked; the cordon of fire was complete by land and by sea; the doomed fort was encircled by guns.

”The Confederates watched from the ramparts the approach of the fleet and the unmasking of the guns, and they knew that the moment had arrived in which the problem of the capacity of the resistant power of earth and sand to the forces to which science so far developed in war could subject them was to be solved and that Battery Wagner was to be that day the subject of the crucial test. The small armament of the fort was really inappreciable in the contest about to be inaugurated. There was but one gun which could be expected to be of much avail against the formidable naval power which would a.s.sail it and on the land side few which could reach the enemy's batteries. When these guns were knocked to pieces and silenced there was nothing left but pa.s.sive resistance, but the Confederates, from the preliminary tests which had been applied, had considerable faith in the capacity of sand and earth for pa.s.sive resistance.

”The fort was in good condition, having been materially strengthened since the former a.s.sault by the indefatigable exertions of Colonel David Harris, chief engineer, and his valuable a.s.sistant, Captain Barnwell. Colonel Harris was a Virginian, ex-officer of the army of the United States and a graduate of West Point, who had some years before retired from the service to prosecute the profession of civil engineering. Under a tempest of sh.e.l.ls he landed during the fiercest period of the bombardment at c.u.mmings' Point, and made his way through the field of fire to the beleaguered fort to inspect its condition and to inspire the garrison by his heroic courage and his confidence in its strength.

Escaping all the dangers of war, he fell a victim to yellow fever in Charleston, beloved and honored by all who had ever known him. The heavy work imposed upon the garrison in repairs and construction, as well as the strain upon the system by constant exposure to the enemy's fire, had induced General Beauregard to adopt the plan of relieving the garrison every few days by fresh troops. The objection to this was that the new men had to be instructed and familiarized with their duties; but still it was wise and necessary, for the same set of officers and men, if retained any length of time, would have been broken down by the arduous service required of them. The relief was sent by regiments and detachments, so there was never an entirely new body of men in the works.

”The garrison was estimated at one thousand seven hundred aggregate. The staff of General Taliaferro consisted of Captain Twiggs, Quartermaster General; Captain W. T.

Taliaferro, Adjutant General; Lieutenants H. C. Cunningham and Magyck, Ordnance Officers; Lieutenants Meade and Stoney, Aides-de-Camp; Major Holcombe; Captain Burke, Quartermaster, and Habersham, Surgeon-in-Chief; Private Stockman, of McEnery's Louisiana Battalion, who had been detailed as clerk because of his incapacity for other duty, from most honorable wounds, acted also in capacity of aid.

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