"Charge!" thunders the leader; Like shaft from the bow Each mad horse is hurled On the wavering foe. A thousand bright sabers Are gleaming in air; A thousand dark horses Are dashed on the square. Resistless and reckless Of aught may betide, Like demons, not mortals The wild troopers ride. Cut right! and cut left! For the parry who needs? The bayonets shiver Like wind-scattered reeds. Vain--vain the red volley That bursts from the square,-- The random-shot bullets Are wasted in air. Triumphant, remorseless, Unerring as death,-- No saber that's stainless Returns to its sheath. The wounds that are dealt By that murderous steel Will never yield case For the surgeon to heal. Hurrah! they are broken-- Hurrah! boys, they fly! None linger save those Who but linger to die. Rein up your hot horses And call in your men,-- The trumpet sounds, "Rally To colors!" again. Some saddles are empty, Some comrades are slain And some noble horses Lie stark on the plain: But war's a chance game, boys, And weeping is vain. FRANCIS A. DURIVAGE. AN IMMORTAL TWAIN IT is a coincidence worthy of note, and heretofore unremarked by historians, that, as in the hour of birth of the National Flag there was given to posterity the name of a great Revolutionary hero, the hour of birth of the Confederate Battle Emblem immortalized the name of a hero of the Confederacy. At four o'clock in the afternoon of that hard-fought battle of Manassas (Bull Run), July 21, 1861, the Federals were thinning out the lines in gray. Now they were directing their efforts against the wings of Jackson and Beauregard. Jackson's solemn visage was growing more solemn; Beauregard was anxiously scanning the landscape beyond, in the hope of discovering the approach of badly needed reenforcements. Over the hill a long line was seen advancing. The day was hot and dry and not a leaf stirred in the dust-laden air. Clouds of smoke and grime enveloped the advancing troops and obscured their colors. General Beauregard raised his glass and surveyed them critically. [Illustration: GENERAL BEAUREGARD RAISED HIS GLASS AND SURVEYED THEM CRITICALLY.] He then called an officer and instructed him to go to General Johnston and inform him that the enemy was receiving reenforcements and it might be wise for him to withdraw to another point. Still, he was not fully assured that the coming troops were Federals! The flag hung limp and motionless and could not be accurately discerned. If these were Federals the day was surely lost. But if they were Confederates there was a fighting chance to win. He determined to hold his position, and called out, "What troops are those?"