Clara Barton: A Centenary Tribute to the World's Greatest Humanitarian / Founder of the American Red Cross Society, Author of the American Amendment to the International Red Cross Convention of Geneva, Founder of the National First Aid Association of America

by Charles Sumner Young

A KNOT OF BLUE AND GRAY

Upon my bosom lies

A knot of blue and gray;

You ask me why; tears fill my eyes

As low to you I say:

I had two brothers once,

Warm hearted, bold and gay;

They left my side—one wore the blue

The other wore the gray.

One rode with Stonewall and his men,

And joined his fate with Lee;

The other followed Sherman’s march

Triumphant to the sea.

Both fought for what they deemed the right,

And died with his sword in hand;

One sleeps amid Virginia hills,

And one in Georgia’s sand.

The same sun shines upon their graves,

My love unchanged must stay;

And so upon my bosom lies,

The knot of blue and gray.