Chapter IV: Canto IV

1812-1820.
SOLDIERS.

But the changing cycle moved on,
With the waxing, waning moonlight.

'Twas when European nations
Fell to quarreling and fighting
Over maritime dissensions,
That James Madison, the ruler
Of this glorious republic,
Felt the tread of foreign despots
On his loved and native country,
On the soil of peace and freedom,
And was driven to defend it.
For, these strange marauding parties
Ventured far from their dominion,
From their rightful sphere of labor,
From their proper place of warfare.
When a public proclamation
Called the people to the conflict,
Called the brave and hardy people
To unfurl the starry banner,
Mighty men of valor rose up,
At the cry, "To arms! To battle!"
For the seaports of the Union
Were blockaded by Great Britain,
By our alien mother country,
By the hostile British Islands.
Many battles, hot and bloody,
Many sieges and repulses,
Many victories and losses,
Stained the youthful nation's annals.
First at Queenstown, an engagement,
Then at Frenchtown on the Raisin;
Fights at York and Sackett's Harbor,
At Fort George and Chancey Island,
And at Williamsburg, Fort Erie,
Plattsburg, Bladensburg, Bridgewater,
And at Baltimore, the city
Lying eastward in the Union.
From eighteen twelve, to eighteen sixteen,
Troops were going forth to battle.
Then the final blow was given,
In the country stretching southward,
In the fair Louisiana,
In the land of sugar-planting,
Which the nation's gold had purchased,
In the sum of fifteen millions,
From the French in eighteen hundred.
And the New Orleans ship harbor,
On the yellow Mississippi,
Rolling swift its turbid waters,
To the distant, mighty ocean,
Was blockaded by the English,
By Lord Packenham, the leader
Of the brave and valiant English.
Andrew Jackson led the columns
Of Columbia, the Union;
And the enemy were routed,
In the South, were whipped and routed,
Thus the troubles terminated,
And the mighty men of valor,
Who had answered to the roll-call,
Who had joined the military,
Laid aside the sword and musket,
Put away the cap and feather,
And returned to ways of quiet,
To the quiet of the hearthstone.
There were generals and captains,
In the army and the navy,
There were colonels, there were majors,
There were officers and soldiers;
Men who went from farm and fireside,
Men who went from shop and ploughshare.
All the States rose up in answer
To the martial proclamation.
There were Pike and Brown and Chandler,
Boyd, Macomb, and Scott and Winder,
Dudley, Harrison, and Hampton,
Miller, Wilkinson, and Bainbridge,
Hull and Perry, Jones, Decatur--
All these names adorn the record,
Mark the record of the contest.
And brave men from good old Garrard
Rallied to their country's standard,
And with spirits firm and steady,
Cheerful smiles and hearts undaunted,
Ready for the fitful changes,
Fortune's wheel was turning for them,
They put on their trusty armor,
And went forth to win or perish,
Went from Lancaster, Kentucky.
Captain Faulkner led to battle
Men and arms from Garrard county:
And the muster-roll is headed,
"Mounted Volunteer Militia,
Rendezvoused at Newport Barracks,
August, eighteen hundred thirteen."
Men who number nine and sixty,
In the stained and dusty archives,
Men who travelled near one hundred
Five and twenty miles to Newport.
Stephen Richardson, Lieutenant,
Meets us first upon the roll-call,
Isaac Renfro, next as Ensign,
Samuel Smith, and William Dunkard,
A. McQuea, and William Poor,
Rank as Sergeants next in order,
Then J. Nicholson, D. Perkins,
B. F. Smith, and William Truelove,
Are the Corporals, four in number;
For the Privates, see appendix,
In the chorus of my ditty.
Their commander's martial title,
Rose to General from Captain,
When the famous State militia
Held its reign in all the counties.
And 'twas thus with many others,
Of these veteran commanders.

William Woods enrolled a column
Of the warriors of Garrard;
"Mounted Volunteer Militia,
Seventh Regiment,"--its title.
First is Thomas Brown, Lieutenant,
Then is Arthur Progg, Lieutenant,
Then comes Edward Beck as Ensign;
J--n Smith and W. Talbot,
Are the first and second Sergeants;
Sergeants third and fourth then follow,
Samuel Scott, S. Long, in order.
Joseph Brady and James Lackey,
J--s Brunt and C--s Silvers,
Are the Corporals, four in number.
Forty Privates are recorded,
At the closing of my cantos.

Other soldiers went from Garrard,
Other citizens enlisted,
Of whose names no record lingers,
Save the register of mem'ry.
General William Jennings figured
In the battle on the Raisin;
And the soldier, Robert Elkin,
And our well-remembered Buford,
Are among the names familiar,
To the vet'rans of the city.
Michael Salter was Drum-major,
In the country's earlier struggle;
Was our one surviving scion,
Of the famous Revolution.
When their knell of death was sounded,
When they one by one went from us,
They were buried with the honors
Of the military calling;
They were followed to their resting
By the requiem fife of wailing,
By the muffled drum of sorrow,
By the solemn tramp of mourners,
By the fun'ral march of soldiers.
We are rearing brilliant guide-posts,
To the brave men of this era;
We are pointing to their actions,
With indelible mementos.
Thus may generations rescue
Sleeping heroes from oblivion;
May no recreant prove wanting,
In a sacred trust of homage.
Let the archives of the city,
The proud city of Lancaster,
Still perpetuate her warriors,
Still preserve her men of valor.
They are resting on their laurels,
In an everlasting quiet;
They have passed the rolling river,
To the armed hosts of heaven;
They have joined another Captain,
While we linger in the rearguard.
Yet their deeds are all emblazoned,
In the hearts they left behind them,
Hearts that gratefully award them
Tributes that shall never perish.
Fare ye well, ye gallant soldiers,
Who have fought our country's battles;
Whether soon or whether later,
Whether north or whether southern,
Whether east or west or foreign,
Ye have fought them well and bravely
In the ever changing cycle.
Bear, ye echoes, to our patriots,
Waft, ye breezes, our sad parting.