"Oh, evil the black shroud of night of Chantilly, That hid him from sight of his brave men and tried." KEARNEY AT SEVEN PINES SO that soldierly legend is still on its journey,-- That story of Kearney who knew not how to yield! 'Twas the day when with Jameson, fierce Berry, and Birney, Against twenty thousand he rallied the field. Where the red volleys poured, where the clamor rose highest, Where the dead lay in clumps through the dwarf oak and pine, Where the aim from the thicket was surest and nighest,-- No charge like Phil Kearney's along the whole line. When the battle went ill, and the bravest were solemn Near the dark Seven Pines, where we still held our ground He rode down the length of the withering column, And his heart at our war cry leapt up with a bound. He snuffed like his charger, the wind of the powder,-- His sword waved us on and we answered the sign; Loud our cheer as we rushed, but his laugh rang the louder, "There's the devil's own fun, boys, along the whole line!" How he strode his brown steed! How we saw his blade brighten, In the one hand still left,--and the reins in his teeth! He laughed like a boy when the holidays heighten, But a soldier's glance shot from his visor beneath. Up came the reserves to the mellay infernal, Asking where to go in,--through the clearing or pine? "O, anywhere! Forward! 'Tis all the same, Colonel! You'll find lovely fighting along the whole line!" Oh, evil the black shroud of night of Chantilly, That hid him from sight of his brave men and tried! Foul, foul sped the bullet that clipped the white lily, The flower of our knighthood, the whole army's pride! Yet we dream that he still,--in that shadowy region Where the dead form their ranks at the wan drummer's sign,-- Rides on, as of old, down the length of his legion, And the word still is "Forward!" along the whole line. EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN. THE CAVALRY CHARGE WITH bray of the trumpet And roll of the drum, And keen ring of bugle, The cavalry come. Sharp clank the steel scabbards The bridle chains ring, And foam from red nostrils The wild chargers fling. Tramp! tramp! o'er the greensward That quivers below, Scarce held by the curb bit The fierce horses go! And the grim-visaged colonel, With ear-rending shout, Peals forth to the squadrons The order: "Trot out!" One hand on the saber, And one on the rein, The troopers move forward In line on the plain. As rings the word, "Gallop!" The steel scabbards clank; As each rowel is pressed To a horse's hot flank; And swift is their rush And the wild torrents flow, When it pours from the crag On the valley below.