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...
Tagged: poems
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...
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...
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...
John Burns of Gettysburg by Bret Harte
As U.S. forces rushed through Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1st, 1863 to meet the approaching Confederates on the northwest edge of town, they were joined by 69 year old John L. Burns, a War...
Herman Melville’s Poem “The Fall of Richmond”
Herman Melville (1819-1891) is best known for writing novels, like Moby Dick, and short stories, like Bartleby, the Scrivener, but he also wrote poetry, including poems about the Civil War. In 1866, he published...