The Rhode Island boys cheered us on out of sight, After giving the following injunction: "Just keep up your courage, you 'll come out all right, For it's only nine miles to the Junction." They gave us hot coffee, a grasp of the hand, Which cheered and refreshed our exhaustion; We reached in six hours the long-promised land, For't was only nine miles to the Junction. There were not many attempts to describe the battles in which the soldiers took part, and they were left to the poets, who did not see them, and had to depend, not very successfully, upon their imagination. There was, however, a ballad of the Seven Days' Fight before Richmond, evidently written by a soldier, and of some force and vigor. It begins: -- Away down in old Yirginny many months ago, McClellan made a movement and made it very slow. The Rebel Generals found it out and pitched into our rear; They caught the very devil, for they found old Kearney there. In the old Yirginny low-lands, low-lands, The old Yirginny low-lands, low. The bard details the fights as though they were a succession of Union victories, and concludes with a defense of General McClellan:-- Now all you politicians, a word I have for you, Just let our little Mac alone, for he is tried and true; For you have found out lately that he is our only hope, For twice he saved the Capitol, likewise McDowell and Pope. The enthusiasm aroused by General McClellan among the rank and file of the Army of the Potomac had no counterpart in regard to any other commander, was proof against failure and defeat, and lingered, to a certain extent, even to the close of the war. His removal caused a great deal of indignation, and called out a good many protests and appeals for his restoration. A song, Give us back our old Commander, was a good deal sung at the time:-- Give us back our old Commander, Little Mac, the people's pride; Let the army and the nation In their choice be satisfied. With McClellan as our leader, Let us strike the blow anew; Give us back our old Commander, He will see the battle through. Give us back our old Commander, Let him manage, let him plan; With McClellan as our leader, We can wish no better man. The very rollicking and nonsensical chorus of Bummers, come and meet Us, belongs to this period, and was almost as popular as John Brown's Body, fulfilling amply and simply the conditions for relieving the lungs. Like the sailors' "shanties" and the plantation choruses, it was capable of indefinite extension and improvisation. The following is a specimen of its construction:-- McClellan is our leader, we've had our last retreat, McClellan is our leader, we've had our last retreat,