No guardsman of the whole command
Halts, quails, or turns to flee;
With bloody spur and steady hand
They gallop where they see
Thy daring plume stream out ahead
O'er flying, wounded, dying, dead;
They can but follow thee.
So, Captain of the Body-Guard,
I pledge a health to thee!
I hope to see thy shoulders starred,
My Paladin; and we
Shall laugh at fortune in the fray
Whene'er you lead your well-known way
To death or victory!
George Henry Boker.
Kentucky was another state divided against itself. For a time, it endeavored to preserve neutrality, but finally chose the Union side. On January 19, 1862, the battle of Somerset was fought, resulting in a Union victory.
BATTLE OF SOMERSET
[January 19, 1862]
I gazed, and lo! Afar and near,
With hastening speed, now there, now here,
The horseman rode with glittering spear—
'Twas awful to behold!
Ten thousand men, in dread array—
On every hill and mound they lay—
A dreadful sight it was that day
To see the front they formed.
The polished sabres, waving high,
Flashed brightly in the morning sky;
While, beaming on the dazzled eye,
The glittering bayonets shone.
All, all was hushed among the trees,
Save now and then a gentle breeze,
Which stirr'd the brown and serried leaves
That in the forest lay.