- who was killed in the fight at Beverly, W. Va., Oct.
29, 1864
Twine wreaths plucked from the cypress bough
And with them deck the soldier's bier;
The rose is for the living now
And withered by the falling tear,
Twine wreaths! behold the dead is here,
The stricken branch is pale and sere.
The noise of battle now is hushed,
The smoke hands high on mount and hill;
Other than grows to which is crushed,
For men are lying cold and still,
Men that scarce an hour ago
Grappled and smote the charging foe.
And who is this so mute and pale
With death spots purpling his fair brow!
Is life's best thread so weak and frail!
In life's full flush an hour ago!
Yet there he lies with death's seal set
So dim, he seems e'en living yet.
Draw comrades near and look your last.
Aye weep! your tears fall not in vain,
Tho' heart is cold and life is past,
To you it will revive again,
And fees, if such he had, must feel
Those sightless eyes like points of steel.
He fell as thousands now do fall
Beneath our banner's spreading folds.
And it should be his shrouding pall,
For where that flag the eye beholds.
This thought, should soothe the mourner's woe,
He died to save it from the foe.
No further search! that life tho' young
When our country's altar laid,
HE Has greater praise than heroes sung,
When for it those few words are said;
"This is a Union Solder's grave
Who died his fatherland to save."
B. H. HOUSER
(Unreadable)
Beverly, W. Va., Nov. 15, 1864