WHEELER’S BRIGADE AT SANTIAGO

'NEATH the lanes of the tropic sun The column is standing ready, Awaiting the fateful command of one Whose word will ring out To an answering shout To prove it alert and steady. And a stirring chorus all of them sung With singleness of endeavor, Though some to “The Bonny Blue Flag” had swung And some to “The Union For Ever.” The order came sharp through the desperate air And the long ranks rose to follow, Till their dancing banners shone more fair Than the brightest ray Of the Cuban day On the hill and jungled hollow; And to “Maryland” some in the days gone by Had fought through the combat’s rumble And some for “Freedom’s Battle-Cry” Had seen the broad earth crumble. Full many a widow weeps in the night Who had been a man’s wife in the morning; For the banners we loved we bore to the height Where the enemy stood As a hero should His valor his country adorning; But drops of pride with your tears of grief, Ye American women, mix ye! For the North and South, with a Southern chief, Kept time to the tune of “Dixie.”