As on their ranks he thundered,
Defiant as the storied Greek,
Amid his brave three hundred!

They well recall the tiger spring,
The wise retreat, the rally,
The tireless march, the fierce pursuit,
Through many a mountain valley:
Cross Keys unlock new paths to fame,
And Port Republic's story
Wrests from his ever-vanquish'd foes,
Strange tributes to his glory.

Cold Harbor rises to their view,--
The Cedars' gloom is o'er them;
Antietam's rough and rugged heights,
Stretch mockingly before them:
The lurid flames of Fredericksburg
Right grimly they remember,
That lit the frozen night's retreat,
That wintry-wild December!

The largess of their praise is flung
With bounty, rare and regal;
--Is it because the vulture fears
No longer the dead eagle?
Nay, rather far accept it thus,--
An homage true and tender,
As soldier unto soldier's worth,--
As brave to brave will render,