This poem relates an adventure that befell a Confederate scouting party near Hogan’s Ford, on the Coosawattee, while out upon a reconnoitering expedition late in 1864, or early in 1865. 46. SHERIDAN’S RIDE. By Thomas Buchanan Read. Thomas Buchanan Read, poet and artist, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1822. After a roving youth, he settled in Philadelphia, in which town and various Italian cities most of his life was spent. He died in New York City, May 11, 1872. The lyrics “Drifting” and “The Closing Scene “ show Read at his best as a poet. Sheridan (Philip, generally known to army men as “Little Phil,” 1831-1888), was the most distinguished Federal cavalry leader in the Civil War. Serving in the early part of the war with the Army of the Cumberland, during the latter portion of the conflict he was with the Army of the Potomac, and rendered Grant important aid in crushing Lee. His own version of his famous ride (October 19, 1864,) may be read in his memoirs. It has been said of Sheridan that he was never defeated, but often plucked victory from the jaws of defeat. =Line 2.= =Winchester.= The capital of Frederick county, Virginia, and the key to the Shenandoah valley. 47. DOWN THE LITTLE BIG HORN. By Francis Brooks. Francis Brooks, a Chicago poet, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee, March 7, 1867, and died near Geneva, Wisconsin, April 12, 1898. A memorial edition of his poems, edited by Wallace Rice, was issued in the autumn of 1898. Custer (George Armstrong) was born in New Rumley, Ohio, December 5, 1839. He entered the army directly after his graduation from West Point in June, 1861, and participated in all but one of the battles of the Army of the Potomac, attaining the rank of major-general at twenty-five. He had eleven horses shot under him in battle. After the Civil War he served in several Indian campaigns. His last fight, on the banks of the Little Big Horn river in Montana, took place June 26, 1876. See “Custer,” by Edmund Clarence Stedman (Complete Poems). =Stanza 2.= =Sitting Bull=, who commanded the Indians in the Custer fight, was a Sioux chief, born about 1837. He was killed while resisting arrest in the Sioux outbreak of December, 1890. =Stanza 3.= =Rain-in-the-Face=, a Sioux chief, who had been imprisoned for murdering a sutler and veterinary surgeon, but had subsequently escaped. See Longfellow’s poem, “The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face.” =Stanza 7.= =Comanche.= See “Miles Keogh’s Horse,” by John Hay (Poems). 48. THE BOND OF BLOOD. By Will Henry Thompson. Will Henry Thompson. See note on “High Tide at Gettysburg.” =Stanza 3.= =Lee.= See “Barbara Frietchie.”