Seasons have passed since that day and year-- Again o’er its pebbles the brook runs clear, And the field in a richer green is drest Where the dead of a terrible conflict rest. Hushed is the roll of the Rebel drum, The sabres are sheathed, and the cannon are dumb; And Fate, with his pitiless hand, has furled The flag that once challenged the gaze of the world; But the fame of the Wilderness fight abides; And down into history grandly rides, Calm and unmoved as in battle he sat, The gray-bearded man in the black slouched hat. [Southern.] [Illustration] [Illustration] Kearsarge and Alabama (Action of 19 June, 1864.) It was early Sunday morning, in the year of sixty-four, The _Alabama_ she steam’d out along the Frenchman’s shore. Long time she cruised about, Long time she held her sway, But now beneath the Frenchman’s shore she lies off Cherbourg Bay. Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave Over the Union, the home of the brave. Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave, God bless America, the home of the brave! The Yankee cruiser hove in view, the _Kearsarge_ was her name, It ought to be engraved in full upon the scroll of fame; Her timbers made of Yankee oak, And her crew of Yankee tars, And o’er her mizzen peak she floats the glorious stripes and stars. Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave Over the Union, the home of the brave. Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave, God bless America, the home of the brave! A challenge unto Captain Semmes, bold Winslow he did send! “Bring on your _Alabama_, and to her we will attend, For we think your boasting privateer Is not so hard to whip; And we’ll show you that the _Kearsarge_ is not a merchant ship.” Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave Over the Union, the home of the brave. Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave, God bless America, the home of the brave! It was early Sunday morning, in the year of sixty-four, The _Alabama_ she stood out and cannons loud did roar; The _Kearsarge_ stood undaunted, and quickly she replied And let a Yankee ’leven-inch shell go tearing through her side. Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave Over the Union, the home of the brave. Hoist up the flag, and long may it wave, God bless America, the home of the brave!