Note THE BLUE AND THE GRAY — Chapter I

Page 563. The Blue and the Gray. The poem grew out of an item which appeared in the New York "Tribune," in 1867: "The women of Columbus, Mississippi, animated by nobler sentiments than many of their sisters, have shown themselves impartial in their offerings made to the memory of the dead. They strewed flowers alike on the graves of the Confederate and of the National soldiers." The poem, prefaced by this item, was first published in the "Atlantic Monthly" for September, 1867, and at once attracted wide attention.