At A Dinner To General Grant

When treason first began the strife     That crimsoned sea and shore,     The Nation poured her hoarded life     On Freedom's threshing-floor;     From field and prairie, east and west,     From coast and hill and plain,     The sheaves of ripening manhood pressed     Thick as the bearded grain.     Rich was the harvest; souls as true     As ever battle tried;     But fiercer still the conflict grew,     The floor of death more wide;     Ah, who forgets that dreadful day     Whose blot of grief and shame     Four bitter years scarce wash away     In seas of blood and flame?     Vain, vain the Nation's lofty boasts, -     Vain all her sacrifice!     "Give me a man to lead my hosts,     O God in heaven!" she cries.     While Battle whirls his crushing flail,     And plies his winnowing fan, -     Thick flies the chaff on every gale, -     She cannot find her man!     Bravely they fought who failed to win, -     Our leaders battle-scarred, -     Fighting the hosts of hell and sin,     But devils die always hard!     Blame not the broken tools of God     That helped our sorest needs;     Through paths that martyr feet have trod     The conqueror's steps He leads.     But now the heavens grow black with doubt,     The ravens fill the sky,     "Friends" plot within, foes storm without,     Hark, - that despairing cry,     "Where is the heart, the hand, the brain     To dare, to do, to plan?"     The bleeding Nation shrieks in vain, -     She has not found her man!     A little echo stirs the air, -     Some tale, whate'er it be,     Of rebels routed in their lair     Along the Tennessee.     The little echo spreads and grows,     And soon the trump of Fame     Has taught the Nation's friends and foes     The "man on horseback"'s name.     So well his warlike wooing sped,     No fortress might resist     His billets-doux of lisping lead,     The bayonets in his fist, -     With kisses from his cannons' mouth     He made his passion known     Till Vicksburg, vestal of the South,     Unbound her virgin zone.     And still where'er his banners led     He conquered as he came,     The trembling hosts of treason fled     Before his breath of flame,     And Fame's still gathering echoes grew     Till high o'er Richmond's towers     The starry fold of Freedom flew,     And all the land was ours.     Welcome from fields where valor fought     To feasts where pleasure waits;     A Nation gives you smiles unbought     At all her opening gates!     Forgive us when we press your hand, -     Your war-worn features scan, -     God sent you to a bleeding land;     Our Nation found its man!