Chapter 16 – This poem, Longstreet Night 2, focuses on what General Longstreet saw that night after the 2nd day of battle. He goes to Lee’s headquarters and finds Confederates celebrating as if they had won that day. In Longstreet’s mind they had really lost. General J.E.B Stuart is also there. Some call for a Court Martial, for his absence the last few days has really hurt the Confederate’s war effort.
by Christopher Rudolph © 2015
Chapter 16 – Longstreet Night 2
Just back of the line
Hospital an open field
Wounded rebels lay moaning
Surgeon’s saws did wield
For when a minié ball struck
Tearing muscle, shattering bone
Limbs were removed
Too gangrene prone
Longstreet wandered the field
The night gloomy dark
Heard screaming cries
Campfires flickered and sparked
Silently he mourned
For the dead and forsaken
No matter how hard they fought
Those hills could not be taken
Longstreet mounted his horse
In the dark rode
To General Lee’s headquarters
On the Cashtown Road (Chambersburg Pike now U.S. 30)
As he approached he smelled
Whiskey and roasting meat
Heard joyous singing
Bands and drums beat
Shouting congratulations to Longstreet
Hats high were tossed
They didn’t seem to understand
That they really had lost
Civilians and journalists
Gathered around Lee
General J.E.B Stuart was there
Back from his riding spree
Dressed in soft gray
Arms butternut braided
Stuart’s cavalry he bragged
Successfully raided
But other officers raged
Stuart had wasted precious time
Court Martial in order
He must pay for his crime
But Lee wouldn’t do it
He needed Stuart still
More battles to fight
And they must take those hills
Pickett also had arrived
With five thousand fresh men
When Sun meets the day
They will attack once again