The Picket Guard or – All Quiet Along the Potomac by Ethel Lynn Beers (1827-1879)
“All quiet along the Potomac,” they say, “Except now and then a stray picket Is shot, as he walks on his beat to and fro, By a rifleman hid in the thicket. ‘T is...
Category: Poetry
Walt Whitman’s Poem “O Captain! My Captain!” Laments the Death of Abraham Lincoln
Writer, poet, and journalist Walt Whitman wrote several poems about the Civil War, which were compiled into two volumes called Drum-Taps, and Sequel to Drum-Taps, both published in 1865. He became personally involved in...
Herman Melville’s Poem Shiloh: A Requiem
The April 6-7, 1862 Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee was by far the costliest battle in terms of casualties up to that point in the year old Civil War. Each side suffered over 1700...
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Civil War Poem “A Nameless Grave”
During the Civil War, neither the U.S. or Confederate military or government issued any type of identification to their soldiers. Although official identification in the form of the now familiar metal “dog tags” were...
The Poem “The Craven” Ridiculed George McClellan’s Absence From the Field at the Battle of Malvern Hill
The July 1st, 1862 Battle of Malvern Hill was the final conflict in the Seven Days Battles at the end of the Peninsula Campaign. The Union Army had been driven back from near Richmond...
Herman Melville’s Poem “Chattanooga” is a Reflection on the Battle of Missionary Ridge
In 1866, writer Herman Melville published a book of poetry on the just completed Civil War called “Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War”. Melville’s Civil War poems paid tribute to the bravery of the...
“We Are Coming, Father Abra’am” Urged Northern Men to Answer Lincoln’s Call for 300,000 Troops
On July 1st, 1862, as General George McClellan’s unsuccessful and costly Peninsula Campaign was coming to an end, President Abraham Lincoln called on northern states governors to supply 300,000 more volunteers for the Union...
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Civil War Poem “Christmas Bells”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) one of America’s most popular poets both in his time and today, is remembered for poems such as Paul Revere’s Ride, Evangeline, and The Song of Hiawatha. While Longfellow didn’t...