Classic Poem

Into the Shenandoah Valley marched
Lee's Army, and beside the Blue Ridge slopes
That caught the splendors of the westering sun,
Northward it steadily and swiftly passed.
But by the foothills of those azure mounts,
Along the eastern side of those bright crests,
Another army strode. And overhead
Moved on the heights the unseen Sabaoth,
The White Battalions. Thus the two earth hosts
Swept under skyey legions on and on.

Past the Potomac pressed the Southern ranks —
Ewell advancing up the Cumberland,
Raising before him consternation wide;
Longstreet and Hill meeting at Hagerstown,
Rushing their columns over dusty roads
To Chambersburg. As one notes suddenly
A black and thunderous cloud, with lightnings rent,
Loosing its windy cohorts down the sky,
And flees for shelter from the approaching storm,
So filled with terror at the sound and sight
Of Southern forces treading Northern soil,
The population fled the invader's path;
While just beyond them, helpless, terrified,
Lay Harrisburg, the Capital, Lee's goal.