Men and my fence dissolved in splintering sound
To red-stained rubble! Then “General Wallace fell,”—
And when his men saw him knocked to the ground,
The center broke, and both the wings as well!
Pushed to the river bank, for one last stand,
Artillery and infantry stood side by side,
Guarding the only place where boats might land!
“Hold now”! Or drown in the Confederate tide!
Then on this wild confusion, darkness came,
And with the darkness, rain and piercing chill,