It was wedded to the old college air "Lauriger Horatius," by Miss Hattie Cary, of Baltimore.
In affecting contrast to the reception given the Sixth Massachusetts in 1861 was that given it in 1898, when it passed through Baltimore on its way to Cuba. The historic regiment was met at the station by the mayor; school children drawn up along the line of march pelted the soldiers with flowers; each soldier was given a little box containing cake, fruit, and a love-letter; and a great motto was strung across the streets reading, "Let the welcome of '98 efface the memory of '61."
Page 424. To General J. E. Johnston. General Johnston, who had been stationed at Winchester with the Army of the Shenandoah, marched rapidly to Beauregard's aid, when the latter was attacked at Manassas, and upon his arrival left Beauregard, whom he ranked, in tactical command of the field, and assumed responsibility and general charge of the battle.
Page 435. Wanted—A Man. This poem is said to have so impressed President Lincoln that he read it to his Cabinet.
Page 444. Barbara Frietchie. This poem was written in strict conformity to the account of the incident as I had it from respectable and trustworthy sources. It has since been the subject of a good deal of conflicting testimony, and the story was probably incorrect in some of its details. It is admitted by all that Barbara Frietchie was no myth, but a worthy and highly esteemed gentlewoman, intensely loyal and a hater of the Slavery Rebellion, holding her Union flag sacred and keeping it with her Bible; that when the Confederates halted before her house, and entered her dooryard, she denounced them in vigorous language, shook her cane in their faces, and drove them out; and when General Burnside's troops followed close upon Jackson's, she waved her flag and cheered them. It is stated that May Quantrell, a brave and loyal lady in another part of the city, did wave her flag in sight of the Confederates. It is possible that there has been a blending of the two incidents.—Author's note.
Page 449. 'Tis Meagher and his fellows. Brigadier-General Thomas F. Meagher commanded the second brigade of the first division of the right grand division. It was called the "Irish Brigade," and Meagher himself had organized it. After Chancellorsville, it was so decimated that it was incorporated with other regiments.
Page 449. The wild day is closed. Burnside's attempt to carry the heights behind Fredericksburg by storm was perhaps the most insane of the war. In spite of McClellan's lack of promptness, thoroughness, and vigor, and a sort of incapacity of doing anything until an ideal completeness of preparation was reached, he was in many ways the best commander the Army of the Potomac ever had. Pope, Burnside, and Hooker were admittedly his inferiors.
Page 458. The Eagle of Corinth. The finest thing I ever saw was a live American eagle, carried by the Eighth Wisconsin, in the place of a flag. It would fly off over the enemy during the hottest of the fight, then would return and seat himself upon his pole, clap his pinions, shake his head, and start again. Many and hearty were the cheers that arose from our lines as the old fellow would sail around, first to the right, then to the left, and always return to his post, regardless of the storm of leaden hail that was around him.—Letter from an Illinois Volunteer.
At the close of the war, the eagle was presented to Governor Lewis, of Wisconsin, and provided with a suite of rooms in the State House Park at Madison.
Page 461. Ready. The incident described in this poem occurred probably during the first week of April, 1863. Rodman's Point is a strip of land projecting into the Pimlico River just below Washington, North Carolina.