Upon that eventful day,
Shattered, and marred, and ghastly pale,
Had fallen beneath the deadly hail.

Prince and peasant were there!
Rich and poor, master and slave,
Wise and simple, timid and brave;
Old men with snow-white hair,
Young men of noble birth,
Boys just from their native shore,
And the homes they shall see no more,
Stretched on the cold, damp earth;
And mother and sister may watch in vain,
They never shall press those lips again.

Clasped in a fond embrace
Was a young and gentle pair,
And the love that was pictured there
Made holy that dreadful place.
Near by a chieftain bled,
While his faithful dog still kept
A mournful watch where he slept,
And mourned above the dead,
Then gazed on the pallid lips and brow:
It is death--does he comprehend it now?

Just as they fell they lay--
Struck down in the dreadful strife;
And the latest look they wore in life
Death had not taken away: