I.
Shine forth upon the earth,
Bright day of dedicated birth,
And breathe in thundering accents thy command!
A mighty nation's heart awake,
Her self-enwoven fetters shake,
And vivify the pulses of the land!
Arising from the past
With stormy clouds o'ercast,
And darkened by a long-enduring night,
The Future's child and Freedom's—seraph bright!
Arise great day, and legions of the free,
Beneath thy conquering flag, lead forth to victory.
II.
Great Freedom dead! Foul thought
From lies of vaunting Treason caught,
And Fear's pale minions, wrapped in sorrow's pall.
Great Freedom dead! In God-like power,
'Tis Freedom rules e'en this dread hour,
And guides the tempest 'neath whose blows we fall.
Yea! War and Anarchy
Discord and Slavery,
And drunken Death, and all these tears
Shaking our hearts with unaccustomed fears—
E'en these are Freedom, waiting to arise
In glad eternal triumph from her foul disguise.
III.
Our country's glory slain!
Her kingdom rent and torn in twain!
Her strong foundations crumbling into dust!
With Truth's shield armed, and sword of light,
Speak thou, Columbia, in thy might,
Unharmed by thy false children's hate and lust.
Arise—no more betrayed
By fears too long obeyed,
And bid, from shore to distant shore,
Ten million voices, like the ocean's roar,
In one full chorus gloriously proclaim
The pride and splendor of thy star-immortal fame.
IV.
Arise! no more delay!
Arise! For this triumphant day
Shall crush the serpent cherished in thy breast.
E'en now the slimy coils unfold,
The venomed folds relax their hold,
The tooth is drawn that stung thee from thy rest.
Arise! For with a groan
Falls Slavery from his throne!
While, seizing Song's immortal lyre,
And girt afar with Heaven's Promethean fire,
Eternal Freedom, winged with prophecy,
Awakes, in swelling chords, the Anthem of the Free.
V.
No more Conspiracy,
With Treason linked and Anarchy,
Shall dig, with secret joy, their country's grave.
No more thy waning cheek shall pale,
Thy trembling limbs with terror fail,
Thy bleeding wounds Heaven's balsam vainly crave.
Uplift thy forehead fair,
And mark the monstrous snare
Of subtle foes, who sucked thy fainting breath,
And yielding thee to the embrace of death,
Awaited the fulfilment of their reign,
To shed thy lovely limbs dismembered o'er the plain.
VI.
No more, degenerate,
And heedless of their darkening fate,
Shall thine own children revel in thy woes—
Enchained to Mammon's loathsome car,
Led on by War's red, baleful star,
No longer shall they sell thee to thy foes—
No more abandoned, bare,
Piercing with shrieks the air,
Thy millioned slaves shall lift on high
Their black, blank faces, dragging from the sky
The curse, which, riding on the viewless wind,
Sweeps Ruin's hurricane o'er all of human kind.
VII.
No longer in sad scorn
Shall Freedom wander forth forlorn,
Forsaking her false kingdom in the West,
Quitting a world too sunk in crime
To heed that glorious light sublime—
No longer shall she hide her burning crest—
No more her children's cries
In vain appeal shall rise,
While ruthless War's fierce earthquake shocks
With throes convulsive thy dominion's rock,
And tyrants, in their proud halls, celebrate
The anguish of a nation tottering to her fate.
VIII.
Thy courts no more defiled,
Thy people's hearts no more beguiled!
What foes, what dangers shall Columbia fear?
Prosperity and holy Peace
Within thy borders shall increase—
The Future's dawning glory draweth near!
The vine-clad South shall rest
Upon her brother's breast,
And, smiling in the glory of his worth,
Her teeming wealth and sunny gifts poured forth,
While tributes of the world's full treasures blent
With tides of plenty lave the love-girt continent!
IX.
Joy! Joy! Awake the strain,
And still repeat the glad refrain
Of Liberty, resounding to the sky.
Around thee float thy sacred dead,
Whose martyr blood for thee was shed,
Whose angel choirs, celestial, hover nigh!
Joy! Joy! No longer weep:
Rich harvests shalt thou reap,
Whose seeds, in tears and anguish sown,
With bounteous rapture thy rich feasts shall crown,
When, rising to fulfil thy destiny,
Thou leadest the nations on to Peace and Liberty.
X.
Hail then to thee, great day,
Bright herald of the coming sway
Of Truth immortal and immortal Love—
Uplift in fuller strains thy voice,
Call all the nations to rejoice,
And grasp thy olive—Time's long-promised dove!
No longer tempest-tost,
Redeem dark ages lost;
And may the work by thee begun
Ne'er pause nor falter 'till yon rising sun
Beholds the flag of Promise, now unfurled
'Neath Freedom's conquering smile, extending o'er the world.
THE SURRENDER OF FORTS JACKSON AND ST. PHILIP, ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI.
A complete history of the bombardment and subsequent surrender of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and of the brilliant passage of our fleet up the Mississippi river, which resulted in the capitulation of New Orleans, is yet wanting, to afford the public a full comprehension of all the attendant circumstances, respecting which there appears to have been some misunderstanding. The daring exploit of running by the forts must be recorded as another evidence of the historic valor and coolness of the American navy. No less renown will attach in future times to the bombardment of the forts by the mortar fleet, conducted as it was entirely on scientific principles, and proving the efficiency of mortars, when used with discretion and with a knowledge of the localities. The great destruction in the forts was only fully ascertained after the surrender, and shows that the success of the fleet, in passing them safely, depended, in a great measure, upon the inability of greater resistance on the part of Fort Jackson.
A number of vessels, comprising the 'Western Gulf Squadron,' were commanded by comparatively young officers, and that very important branch of the same, the mortar flotilla, was mostly under the individual guidance of captains (acting masters) selected from the merchant marine. It became necessary for the navy department to select a commander-in-chief (flag officer) and a commander for the mortar flotilla, possessed of such qualities as to manage and render effective the various branches of this peculiar combination of armed vessels, as well as to inspire confidence and give satisfaction to their respective commands.
The appointment of Captain David G. Farragut as flag officer of the squadron, was acknowledged as a judicious one. He was popular in his fleet, and has realized the expectations of the country. His personal bravery was demonstrated during the hazardous passage of the forts—while his ship was enveloped in flames, kindled from an opposing fire raft—by his dashing attack on the Chalmette forts near New Orleans, and his speedy reduction of the city.
The choice of a suitable commander for the mortar flotilla was less difficult, inasmuch as this little fleet was a creation of the officer who was chosen as its leader. David D. Porter, for gallantry and ingenuity, for theoretical and practical seamanship, and for general popularity among the officers of his own rank and date, has no superior in the navy, and his appointment to this command was truly fortunate.
The squadron, after having rendezvoused at Key West and Ship Island, arrived without any material detention, at the South West Pass of the Mississippi. A want of acquaintance with the changes in the bar, occasioned probably by the sinking of four or five rafts, flatboats, and an old dry dock by the enemy, resulted in some delays, but the whole squadron at length, with the exception of the frigate Colorado, got safely over, and anchored twelve miles up the river at the head of the passes.
The efficiency of mortars, elevated permanently at forty-five degrees, depends chiefly upon an accurate knowledge of the distance to the object to be fired upon. This distance determines the quantity of powder necessary for the discharge, and the length of the fuses to be employed. Captain Porter understood the impossibility of judging and estimating distances and bearings correctly, particularly when the objects are for the most part hidden from view, as was the case with the forts on the wooded and crooked Mississippi, and had therefore requested of the department the aid of a party from the U. S. coast survey, and the writer of these notes had been detailed by Prof. A. D. Bache, the superintendent of that work. One acting assistant, two sub-assistants, and one aid were attached to the party, and the steam gunboat Sachem was placed at their disposal. This vessel arrived in the Mississippi on the 11th of April. Captain Porter at once requested Mr. Gerdes to furnish a reliable survey of several miles of the river, below and including the fortifications. In this service a number of gunboats belonging to the fleet and to the mortar flotilla accompanied the Sachem, partly to afford protection, and partly to draw the enemy's attention from the operations of the surveyors. Mr. Gerdes commenced work with his party on the 13th of April, and continuing for five consecutive days, made a reliable map of the river and its shores from the 'Jump' to and including Forts Jackson and St. Philip, with their outworks and water batteries; the hulks, supporting the chain across the river, and every singular and distinguishable object along its banks. The survey was made by triangulation carried forward simultaneously on both sides of the river. Two coast survey signals were found, the 'Jump telegraph post,' and 'Salt-work's chimney top,' of which the geodetic relations were known, and the work was founded upon a base line connecting these two points. Sub-assistant Oltmanns, and Mr. Bowie as aid, were detailed for the west shore, Mr. Gerdes and acting assistant Harris taking the eastern side, while sub-assistant Halter observed angles from permanent stations. The angular measurements were made with all kinds of instruments found suitable to the locality. Only a few of the stations were on solid ground, nearly all the shore being overflowed. Frequently the members of the party were compelled to mount their instruments on the chimney tops of dilapidated houses. In other places boats were run under overhanging trees on the shore, in which signal flags were hoisted, and the angles measured below with sextants. It was very satisfactory, however, that the last measurement determined (leading to the flagstaff on St. Philip) agreed almost identically with the location given by the coast survey several years ago. It seemed to be a regular occupation of the garrison in the fort, to destroy, during the night-time, the marks and signals which were left daily by the party; and for this reason, Mr. Gerdes caused numbered posts to be set in the river banks, and screened with grass and reeds so that they could not be found by the enemy in the dark. From these marks, which were separately determined, he was enabled to furnish to Captain Porter the distances and bearings, from almost any point on the river to the forts, and by the resulting data the commander selected the positions for his mortar vessels.
On the 17th day of April the mortar schooners were moved to their designated positions, and the exact distances and bearings of each vessel being ascertained from the map, were furnished to the respective captains. Then the bombardment fairly commenced, and was continued, with only slight intermission, for six days. Twice Captain Porter ordered some of the vessels to change their positions when he found localities that would answer better; the coast survey party furnished the new data required. From the schooners, which were fastened to the trees on the riverside, none of the works of the enemy were visible, but the exact station of each vessel and its distance and bearings from the forts had been ascertained from the chart. The mortars were accordingly charged and pointed and the fuses regulated. Thus the bombardment was conducted entirely upon theoretical principles, and as such with its results, presents perhaps a new feature in naval warfare. When the whole number of shells discharged from the flotilla is compared with those that fell and left their marks on the dry parts of Fort Jackson (to which must be added, in the same ratio, all those falling in the submerged parts), the precision of the firing appears truly remarkable, and must command our highest admiration, particularly when we consider that every shot was fired upon a computed aim.