73. the blue coat.
The following ballad is from the pen of Bishop Burgess, of Maine, and was contributed by him to the book published and sold at the Sanitary Fair in Baltimore, under the sanction of the State Fair Association of the women of Maryland:
The blue coat of the soldier.
You asked me, little one, why I bowed,
Though never I passed the man before?
Because my heart was full and proud
When I saw the old blue coat he wore.
The blue great-coat, the sky-blue coat,
The old blue coat the soldier wore.
I knew not, I, what weapon he chose,
What chief he followed, what badge he wore;
Enough that in the front of foes
His country's blue great-coat lie wore.
The blue great-coat, etc.
Perhaps he was born in a forest hut,
Perhaps he had danced on a palace-floor;
To want or wealth my eyes were shut,
I only marked the coat he wore.
The blue great-coat, etc.
It mattered not much if he drew his line
From Shem or Ham, in the days of yore;
For surely he was a brother of mine,
Who for my sake the war-coat wore.
The blue great-coat, etc.
He might have no skill to read or write,
Or he might be rich in learned lore;
But I knew he could make his mark in fight,
And nobler gown no scholar wore
Than the blue great-coat, etc.
It may be he could plunder and prowl,
And perhaps in his mood lie scoffed and swore;
But I would not guess a spot so foul
On the honored coat he bravely wore.
The blue great-coat, etc.
He had worn it long, and borne it far;
And perhaps on the red Virginian shore,
From midnight chill till the morning-star,
That worn great-coat the sentry wore.
The blue great-coat, etc.
When hardy Butler reined his steed
Through the streets of proud, proud Baltimore,
Perhaps behind him, at his need,
Marched he who yonder blue coat wore.
The blue great-coat, etc.
Perhaps it was seen in Burnside's ranks,
When Rappahannock ran dark with gore;
Perhaps on the mountain-side with Banks,
In the burning sun no more lie wore
The blue great-coat, etc.
Perhaps in the swamps was a bed for his form,
From the seven days battling and marching sore,
Or with Kearny and Pope 'mid the steelly storm,
As the night closed in, that coat he wore.
The blue great-coat, etc.
Or when right over, as Jackson dashed,
That collar or cape some bullet tore;
Or when far ahead Antietam flashed,
He flung to the ground the coat that he wore.
The blue great-coat, etc.
Or stood at Gettysburgh, where the graves
Rang deep to Howard's cannon roar;
Or saw with Grautt the unchained waves
Where conquering hosts the blue coat wore.
The blue great-coat, etc.
That garb of honor tells enough,
Though [ its story guess no more;
The heart it covers is made of such stuff,
That coat is mail which that soldier wore.
The blue great-coat, etc.
He may hang it up when the peace shall come,
And the moths may find it behind the door;
But his children will point, when they hear a drum,
To the proud old coat their father wore.
The blue great-coat, etc.
And so, my child, will you and I,
For whose fair home their blood they pour,
Still bow the head, as one goes by
Who wears the coat that soldier wore.
The blue great-coat, the sky-blue coat,
The old blue coat the soldier wore.
