THE CAVALRY CHARGE. WITH bray of the trumpet 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 sabre, And one on the rein, As rings the word, “Gallop!”. To a horse's hot flank : And swift is their rush As the wild torrent's flow, When it pours from the crag On the valley below. "Charge!" thunders the leader: Each mad horse is hurled Are dashed on the square. Resistless and reckless Like wind-scattered reeds. Vain-vain the red volley That bursts from the square,— The random-shot bullets Are wasted in air. The wounds that are dealt For the surgeon to heal. Rein up your hot horses And call in your men,— The trumpet sounds "Rally And some noble horses Lie stark on the plain; But war's a chance game, boys, And weeping is vain. FRANCIS A. DURIVAGE. THE CAVALRY CHARGE. HARK! the rattling roll of the musketeers, As under the cloud the Stars go by, "But his soul marched on!" the Captain said, For the Boy in Blue can never be dead! And the troopers sit in their saddles all Like statues carved in an ancient hall, And they watch the whirl from their breathless ranks, And their spurs are close to the horses' flanks, Hurrah! a new swath through the harvest again! Hurrah for the Flag! To the battle, Amen! BENJAMIN F. TAYLOR. THE CHARGE BY THE FORD. EIGHTY and nine with their captain Slow rose the mist from the river, What is it moves by the river, Silence! They see not, they hear not, Ah! 'twas a man-trap infernal- Ninety had ridden to battle, Nine of the ninety came back. Honor the name of the ninety; Eighty and one of the troopers Lie on the field of the slain- Cold are the dead there, and gory, Give them three cheers and a tiger! THOMAS DUNN ENGLISH. CAVALRY SONG. OUR good steeds snuff the evening air, Each carbine sends its whizzing ball: Dash on beneath the smoking dome: |