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This text has been proofread but is not guaranteed to be free from errors. Corrections to the original text have been left in place.
Title: The Battles of Georgia
Author: Rogers, Loula Kendall, 1838-1931
Publisher: 
Place published: 
Date: 1923
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THE BATTLES OF GEORGIA.BY MRS. LOULA KENDALL ROGERS, POET LAUREATE GEOGIA

      DIVISION, U.D.C.Dark night had cast her somber veilAdown the battle plain,And here and there the moonlight fellUpon the gallant slain.O, Chickamauga! "Stream of Death!"Seest thou the watcher thereWho comes with soft and gentle treadTo seek her boy so fair?She finds the trail his young feet trod'Mid hillock and dell,Where grew sweet flowers brought for her'Ere clouds of war befell.And there beneath the towering oakHer precious darling Lay,The dreams of life all wrecked and dead -Where fell her boy in gray!The sun in golden splendor rose On Allatoona's height,And Autumn's regent poured her wealthEnshrined in radiant light.When - but list! the bugle far away,The cannon's thunder roar,Announce the carnage-blighted homesIn darkness evermore!On Kenesaw's immortal crestThe flames rose high and higherTill Marietta seemed herself A Kremlin pile on fire.There kingly Bishop - General Polk,With grand heroic love,Exchanged the soldier's earthly crownFor a crown of stars above!Brave Johnston held the assailant back,And hope once more came nigher,When lo! a message quickly sped -"Atlanta is on fire!"O, can it be? Can human foeBe so devoid of soul?Could Sherman scorn a mother's pleaIntent to reach his goal?His guns we heard on Upson Hills,Full sixty miles away,"O, God,!" I cried, "avert the stormAnd spare our boys in gray."Still nearer-nearer comes the roarToward Ocmulgee's tide,And Macon, queen of lovely homes,The vandal hosts defied.Old Wesleyan like Gibraltar stood,And ruffians would not dare To desecrate its classic halls,So blest each day with prayer.Her graduates in every StateIrradiate with LightAnd spread abroad the word of GodFor Justice, Truth, and Right.At length Columbus was besieged,Her flower-gemmed courts destroyed,Her factories burned, and orphans leftWhere thousands were employed.'Twas there that Mary Williams planned Beside her Husband's grave,To scatter roses every springNear Chattahoochee's wave.The work then spread all o'er the SouthMemorial Day we keep,And every spot is honored whereConfederate soldiers sleep.Then hail, all hail, to the woman trueUnited in this way,They've pledged to meet and work and pray,In memory of the gray!