Doctor McGuire, fresh from the ghastly spectacle of the silent battle-field said: "General, this day has been won by nothing but stark and stern fighting." "No," replied Jackson very quietly, "it has been won by nothing but the blessing and protection of Providence." LIEUT.-COL. G. F. R. HENDERSON, C.B. August Thirtieth In the rapidity with which the opportunity was seized, in the combination of the three arms, and in the vigor of the blow, Manassas is in no way inferior to Austerlitz or Salamanca. That the result was less decisive was due to the greater difficulties of the battle-field, to the stubborn resistance of the enemy, to the obstacles in the way of rapid and connected movement, and to the inexperience of the troops. LIEUT.-COL. G. F. R. HENDERSON, C.B. _Second Battle of Manassas, 1862_ August Thirty-First My deep wound burns, my pale lips quake in death, I feel my fainting heart resign its strife, And reaching now the limit of my life. Lord, to thy will I yield my parting breath, Yet many a dream hath charmed my youthful eye; And must life's visions all depart? Oh, surely no! for all that fired my heart To rapture here shall live with me on high; And that fair form that won my earliest vow, That my young spirit prized all else above, And now adored as Freedom, now as Love, Stands in seraphic guise before me now; And as my failing senses fade away It beckons me on high, to realms of endless day. [Sonnet composed by John Laurens as he lay dying of wounds and fever incurred in a campaign against the British in South Carolina.--Editor] September AUTUMN SONG My Life is but a leaf upon the tree-- A growth upon the stem that feedeth all. A touch of frost--and suddenly I fall, To follow where my sister-blossoms be. The selfsame sun, the shadow, and the rain That brought the budding verdure to the bough, Shall strip the fading foliage as now, And leave the limb in nakedness again. My life is but a leaf upon the tree; The winds of birth and death upon it blow; But whence it came and whither it shall go, Is mystery of mysteries to me. JOHN B. TABB September First Around me blight, where all before was bloom! And so much lost! alas! and nothing won; Save this--that I can lean on wreck and tomb, And weep--and weeping pray--Thy will be done. ABRAM J. RYAN (_The Prayer of the South_) _General Hood evacuates Atlanta, 1864_ September Second Sixty thousand of us witnessed the destruction of Atlanta, while our post band and that of the Thirty-third Massachusetts played martial airs and operatic selections. CAPT. DANIEL OAKEY, U. S. A. _Sherman enters Atlanta, 1864_ September Third