That night the Texan hero was missed by all our men; But we smiled, for well we knew that he soon would come again, For a braver, or a better, or a more chivalrous knight Never put his lance in rest in the days when might was right; And he had the fox’s cunning, and the eagle’s restless eye, With his courage, to see danger, and that danger to defy. Two days passed by, and hour by hour the army moved, with gloom On heart and soul, as though each man stood gazing on his tomb; But all at once a sudden cry!—our hearts sprung, like a steed Who sees the flash and hears the gun, then headlong ploughs the mead— Then Walker’s name—another shout!—and each one, with content In breast and brain, accoutred, rushed delighted from his tent. We all knew what was coming, when at the reveillé, We saw the Texan head his men, and heard the laugh of MAY, For all had learned the news, and knew, that ere two suns went down Our army would be rolling, like a tempest, on Fort Brown; And that the foe in thousands were gathering in our way— Human panthers, couched in silence, expectant of their prey. At last we heard the order, and along the grassy plain Our army, like a sparkling snake, uncoiled its glittering train, And silently, but earnestly, we marched from dawn till night, And then laid down in silence till the breaking of the light: No fires disturbed the darkness, no sound betrayed our camp, Save, at intervals the countersign, with the sentinel’s measured tramp. Next morning we pursued our march: it was a sultry day; The sunlight flickered like a flame along our sandy way; But no one lingered, for we knew our foemen were before, And, like blood-hounds howling on the scent, we trailed the distant gore; For we thought of our associates, and the thought had power to drown All human feelings, for we heard the cannon at Fort Brown. For twelve miles unmolested had we marched, when brazen noon Beheld the enemy deploy along the green lagoon: Our hearts beat high, for we were few, and scarcely one before Had fleshed his sword in battle, or had heard the cannon’s roar; But Lexington and Concord and Bunker-Hill beheld Just such recruits victorious in the iron days of old. And now the word was passed—to halt, and each, in turn, was seen To stoop beside the limpid lake and fill his hot canteen; And then the order came to march; and now our foemen lay A musket shot before us, a barrier in our way, When, like a Paladin of old, BLAKE, brave as brave could be, Sprung from the lines, and spurred his steed along the grassy lea.