"Manassas" (1861)

BY MRS. CATHARINE ANN (WARE) WARFIELD

THEY have met at last, as storm-clouds Meet in heaven, And the Northmen, back and bleeding Have been driven; And their thunder has been stilled, And their leaders crushed or killed, And their ranks with terror thrilled, Rent and riven.

Like the leaves of Vallambrosa They are lying, In the midnight and the moonlight, Dead or dying; Like those leaves before the gale, Fled their legions—wild and pale— While the host that made them quail Stood defying!

When in the morning sunlight Flags were flaunted, And "Vengeance on the Rebels" Proudly vaunted, They little dreamed that night Would close upon their flight, And the victor of the fight Stand undaunted.

But peace to those who perished In our passes, Light be the earth above them, Green the grasses. Long shall Northmen rue the day, When in battle’s wild affray, They met the South’s array At Manassas.

(compiled by Emily V. Mason, Baltimore, 1867), 52–53.