MEMORIES OF THE BLUE AND GRAY
by Henry Lynden Flash
(1835-1914)

            
We are gathered here a feeble few
  Of those who wore the gray--
The larger and the better part
  Have mingled with the clay:
Yet not so lost but now and then
  Through dimming mist we see
The deadly calm of Stonewall's face,
  The lion-front of Lee.

The men who followed where they led
  Are scattered far and wide--
In every valley of the South,
  On every mountain side,
The earth is hallowed by the blood
  Of those who, in the van,
Gave up their lives for what they deemed
  The sacred rights of man.

And you who faced the boys in blue
  (When like a storm they rose),
And played with Life and laughed at Death
  Among such stalwart foes,
Need never cast your eyes to earth
  Or bow your heads with shame--
Though fortune frown, your names are down
  Upon the Roll Of Fame.

The flag you followed in the fight
  Will never float again--
Thank God it sunk to endless rest
  Without a blot or stain!
And in its place "Old Glory" rose
  With all its stars restored;
And smiling Peace, with rapture, raised
  A pean to the Lord.

We love both flags...let smiles and tears
  Together hold their sway;
One won our hearts in days agone--
  One owns our love today.
We claim them both with all their wealth
  Of honor and of fame--
One lives, triumphant, in the sun;
  And one a hallowed name.

A few short years and "Yank" and "Reb,"
  Beneath their native sod,
Will wait until the Judgement Day
  The calling voice of God--
The Great Commander's smile will beam
  On that Enrollment Day,
Alike on him who wore the blue
  And him who wore the gray.

Postwar Remembrances

This page is http://civilwarpoetry.org/confederate/postwar/bg-memories.html
Last modified 18-April-2001