The Columbiad: A Poem Part 16

Now roll, with kindling haste, the long stark lines, From wing to wing the sounding battle joins; Batteries and field-parks and platoons of fire, In mingled shocks their roaring blasts exspire.

Each front approaching fast, with equal pace, Devours undaunted their dividing s.p.a.ce; Till, dark beneath the smoke, the meeting ranks Slope their strong bayonets, with short firm shanks Protruded from their tubes; each bristling van, Steel fronting steel, and man encountering man, In dreadful silence tread. As, wrapt from sight, The nightly ambush moves to secret fight; So rush the raging files, and sightless close In plunging thrust with fierce conflicting foes.

They reach, they strike, they stagger o'er the slain, Deal doubtful blows, or closing clench their man, Intwine their twisting limbs, the gun forgo, Wrench off the bayonet and dirk the foe; Then struggling back, reseize the musket bare, Club the broad breech, and headlong whirl to war Ranks crush on ranks with equal slaughter gored; Warm dripping streams from every lifted sword Stain the thin carnaged corps who still maintain, With mutual shocks, the vengeance of the plain.

At last where Williams fought and Campbell fell, Unwonted strokes the British line repel.

The rout begins; the shattered wings afar Roll back in haste and scatter from the war; They drop their arms, they scour the marshy field, Whole squadrons fall and faint battalions yield.

The great Observer, fixt in his midsky, View'd the whole combat, saw them fall and fly: He mark'd where Greene with every onset drove, Saw death and victory with his presence move, Beneath his arm saw Marion, Sumter, Gaine, Pickens and Sumner shake the astonish'd plain; He saw young Washington, the child of fame, Preserve in fight the honors of his name.

Lee, Jackson, Hampton, Pinckney, matcht in might, Roll'd on the storm and hurried fast the flight: While numerous chiefs, that equal trophies raise, Wrought, not unseen, the deeds of deathless praise.

As Europe now the newborn states beheld The shock sustain of many a hard-fought field; Swift o'er the main, with high-spread sails, advance Our brave auxiliars from the coast of France.

On the tall decks their curious chiefs explore, With optic tube, our camp-enc.u.mber'd sh.o.r.e; And, as the lessening wave behind them flies, Wide scenes of conflict open on their eyes.

Rochambeau foremost with his gleamy brand Points to each field and singles every band, Sees Washington the power of nations guide, And longs to toil and conquer by his side.

Two brother chiefs, Viominil the name, Brothers in birth but twins in generous fame, Behold with steadfast eye the plains disclose, Uncase their arms and claim the promised foes.

Biron, beneath his sail, in armor bright, Frown'd o'er the wave impatient for the fight; A fiery steed beside the hero stood, And his blue blade waved forward o'er the crowd.

With eager haste descending on the coast, Thro the glad states they march their veteran host, From sea-nursed Newport file o'er western roads, Pitch many a camp, and bridge a hundred floods, Pa.s.s the full towns, where joyful crowds admire Their foreign speech, gay mien and gilt attire, Applaud their generous deeds, the zeal that draws Their swords untried in freedom's doubtful cause.

Thro Hartford plains, on Litchfield hills they gleam, Wave their white flags o'er Hudson's loaded stream, Band after band with Delaware's current pour, Shade Schuylkill's wave and Elk's indented sh.o.r.e, Join their new friends, where allied banners lead, Demand the foe and bid the war proceed.

Again Columbus turn'd his anxious eye Where Britain's banner waved along the sky; And, graced with spoils of many fields of blood, Cornwallis boastful on a bulwark stood.

Where York and Gloster's rocky towers bestride Their parent stream, Virginia's midmost tide, He camp'd his hundred nations, to regain Their force, exhausted in the long campaign; Paused for a moment on a scene so vast, To plan the future and review the past.

Thro vanquisht provinces and towns in flame He mark'd his recent monuments of fame, His checker'd marches, long and various toils, And camp well stored with wide collected spoils.

High glittering to the sun his hands unfold A map new drafted on a sheet of gold; There in delusive haste his burin graved A country conquer'd and a race enslaved.

Its middle realm, by fairer figures known And rich with fruits, lay bounded for his own; Deep thro the centre spreads a branching bay, Full sails ascend and golden rivers stray; Bright palaces arise relieved in gold, And gates and streets the crossing lines unfold.

James furrows o'er the plate with turgid tide, Young Richmond roughens on his masted side; Reviving Norfolk from her ashes springs, A golden phoenix on refulgent wings; Potowmak's yellow waves reluctant spread, And Vernon rears his rich and radiant head, Tis here the chief his pointed graver stays, The bank to burnish with a purer blaze, Gives all his art, on this bright hill to trace His future seat and glory of his race; Deems his long line of lords the realm shall own, The kings predestined to Columbia's throne.

But while his mind thus quafft its airy food, And gazing thousands round the rampart stood, Whom future ease and golden dreams employ, The songs of triumph and the feast of joy; Sudden great Washington arose in view, And allied flags his stately steps pursue; Gaul's veteran host and young Hesperia's pride Bend the long march concentring at his side, Stream over Chesapeak, like sheets of flame, And drive tempestuous to the field of fame.

Far on the wild expanse, where ocean lies, And scorns all confines but inc.u.mbent skies, Scorns to retain the imprinted paths of men To guide their wanderings or direct their ken; Where warring vagrants, raging as they go, Ask of the stars their way to find the foe, Columbus saw two hovering fleets advance, And rival ensigns o'er their pinions dance.

Graves, on the north, with Albion's flag unfurl'd, Waves proud defiance to the watery world; Degra.s.se, from southern isles, conducts his train, And shades with Gallic sheets the moving main.

Now Morn, unconscious of the coming fray That soon shall storm the crystal cope of day, Glows o'er the heavens, and with her orient breeze Fans her fair face and curls the summer seas.

The swelling sails, as far as eye can sweep, Look thro the skies and awe the shadowy deep, Lead their long bending lines; and, ere they close, To count, recognise, circ.u.mvent their foes, Each hauls his wind, the weathergage to gain And master all the movements of the plain; Or bears before the breeze with loftier gait, And, beam to beam, begins the work of fate.

As when the warring winds, from each far pole, Their adverse storms across the concave roll, Thin fleecy vapors thro the expansion run, Veil the blue vault and tremble o'er the sun, Till the dark folding wings together drive, And, ridged with fire and rock'd with thunder, strive; So, hazing thro the void, at first appear White clouds of canva.s.s floating on the air, Then frown the broad black decks, the sails are stay'd, The gaping portholes cast a frightful shade, Flames, triple tier'd, and tides of smoke, arise.

And fulminations rock the seas and skies.

From van to rear the roaring deluge runs, The storm disgorging from a thousand guns, Each like a vast volcano, spouting wide His hissing h.e.l.l-dogs o'er the shuddering tide, Whirls high his chainshot, cleaves the mast and strews The shiver'd fragments on the staggering foes; Whose gunwale sides with iron globes are gored, And a wild storm of splinters sweeps the board.

Husht are the winds of heaven; no more the gale Breaks the red rolls of smoke nor flaps the sail; A dark dead calm continuous cloaks the glare, And holds the clouds of sulphur on the war, Convolving o'er the s.p.a.ce that yawns and shines, With frequent flash, between the laboring lines.

Nor sun nor sea nor skyborn lightning gleams, But flaming Phlegethon's asphaltic steams Streak the long gaping gulph; where varying glow Carbonic curls above, blue flakes of fire below.

Hither two hostile ships to contact run, Both grappling, board to board and gun to gun; Each thro the adverse ports their contents pour, Rake the lower decks, the interior timbers bore, Drive into c.h.i.n.ks the illumined wads unseen, Whose flames approach the unguarded magazine.

Above, with shrouds afoul and gunwales mann'd, Thick halberds clash; and, closing hand to hand, The huddling troops, infuriate from despair, Tug at the toils of death, and perish there; Grenados, carca.s.ses their fragments spread, And pikes and pistols strow the decks with dead.

Now on the Gallic board the Britons rush, The intrepid Gauls the rash adventurers crush; And now, to vengeance Stung, with frantic air, Back on the British maindeck roll the war.

There swells the carnage; all the tar-beat floor Is clogg'd with spatter'd brains and glued with gore; And down the ship's black waist fresh brooks of blood Course o'er their clots, and tinge the sable flood.

Till War, impatient of the lingering strife That tires and slackens with the waste of life, Opes with engulphing gape the astonish'd wave, And whelms the combat whole, in one vast grave.

For now the imprison'd powder caught the flames, And into atoms whirl'd the monstrous frames Of both the entangled ships; the vortex wide Roars like an aetna thro the belching tide, And blazing into heaven, and bursting high, Sh.e.l.ls, carriages and guns obstruct the sky; Cords, timbers, trunks of men the welkin sweep, And fall on distant ships, or shower along the deep.

The matcht armadas still the fight maintain, But cautious, distant; lest the staggering main Drive their whole lines afoul, and one dark day Glut the proud ocean with too rich a prey.

At last, where scattering fires the cloud disclose, Hulls heave in sight and blood the decks o'erflows; Here from the field tost navies rise to view, Drive hack to vengeance and the roar renew, There shatter'd ships commence their flight afar, Tow'd thro the smoke, hard struggling from the war; And some, half seen amid the gaping wave, Plunge in the whirl they make, and gorge their grave.

Soon the dark smoky volumes roll'd away, And a long line ascended into day; The pinions swell'd, Britannia's cross arose And flew the terrors of triumphing foes; When to Virginia's bay, new shocks to brave, The Gallic powers their conquering banners wave.

Glad Chesapeak unfolds his bosom wide, And leads their prows to York's contracting tide; Where still dread Washington directs his way, And seas and continents his voice obey; While brave Cornwallis, mid the gathering host, Perceives his glories gone, his promised empire lost.

Columbus here with silent joy beheld His favorite sons the fates of nations wield.

Here joyous Lincoln rose in arms again, Nelson and Knox moved ardent o'er the plain; Scammel alert with force unusual trod, Prepared to seal their victory with his blood; Cobb, Dearborn, Laurens, Tilghman, green in years But ripe in glory, tower'd amid their peers; Death-daring Hamilton with splendor shone, And claim'd each post of danger for his own, Skill'd every arm in war's whole h.e.l.l to wield, An Ithacus in camp, an Ajax in the field.

Their Gallic friends an equal ardor fires; Brisk emulation every troop inspires: Where Tarleton turns, with hopes of flight elate, Brave Biron moves and drives him back to fate, Hems in his host, to wait, on Gloster plains, Their finish'd labors and their destined chains.

Two British forts the growing siege outflank, Rake its wide works and awe the tide-beat bank; Swift from the lines two chosen bands advance, Our light-arm'd scouts, the grenadiers of France; These young Viominil conducts to fame, And those Fayette's unerring guidance claim.

No cramm'd cartouch their belted back attires, No grains of sleeping thunder wait their fires; The flint, the ramrod spurn'd, away they cast; The strong bright bayonet, imbeaded fast, Stands beaming from the bore; with this they tread, Nor heed from high-wall'd foes their showers of lead.

Each rival band, tho wide and distant far, Springs simultaneous to this task of war; For here a twofold force each hero draws, His own proud country and the general cause; And each with twofold energy contends, His foes to vanquish and outstrip his friends.

They summon all their zeal, and wild and warm O'er flaming ramparts pour the maddening storm, The mounted cannons crush, and lead the foe Two trains of captives to the plain below; An equal prize each gallant troop ameeds, Alike their numbers and alike their deeds.

A strong high citadel still thundering stood, And stream'd her standard o'er the field of blood, Check'd long the siege with fulminating blare, Scorn'd all the steel and every globe of war, Defied fell famine, heapt her growing store, And housed in bombproof all the host she bore.

No rude a.s.sault can stretch the scale so high, In vain the battering siege-guns round her ply; Mortars well poized their deafening deluge rain, Load the red skies and shake the sh.o.r.es in vain; Her huge rock battlements rebound the blow, And roll their loose crags on the men below.

But while the fusing fireb.a.l.l.s scorch the sky, Their mining arts the staunch besiegers ply, Delve from the bank of York, and gallery far, Deep subterranean, to the mount of war; Beneath the ditch, thro rocks and fens they go, Scoop the dark chamber plumb beneath the foe; There lodge their tons of powder and retire, Mure the dread pa.s.sage, wave the fatal fire, Send a swift messenger to warn the foe To seek his safety and the post forgo.

A taunting answer comes; he dares defy To spring the mine and all its aetnas try; When a black miner seized the sulphur'd brand, Shriek'd high for joy, and with untrembling hand Touch'd quick the insidious train; lest here the chief Should change his counsel and afford relief: For hard the general's task, to speak the doom That sends a thousand heroes to the tomb; Heroes who know no wrong; who thoughtless speed Where kings command or where their captains lead, --Burst with the blast, the reeling mountain roars, Heaves, labors, boils, and thro the concave pours His flaming contents high; he chokes the air With all his warriors and their works of war; Guns, bastions, magazines confounded fly, Vault wide their fresh explosions o'er the sky, Enc.u.mber each far camp, and plough profound With their rude fragments every neighboring ground.

Britain's brave leader, where he sought repose, And deem'd his hill-fort still repulsed the foes, Starts at the astounding earthquake, and descries His chosen veterans whirling down the skies.

Their mangled members round his balcon fall, Scorch'd in the flames, and dasht on every wall: Sad field of contemplation! Here, ye great, Kings, priests of G.o.d, and ministers of state, Review your system here! behold and scan Your own fair deeds, your benefits to man!

You will not leave him to his natural toil, To tame these elements and till the soil.

To reap, share, t.i.the you what his hand has sown, Enjoy his treasures and increase your own, Build up his virtues on the base design'd, The well-toned harmonies of humankind.

You choose to check his toil, and band his eyes To all that's honest and to all that's wise; Lure with false fame, false morals and false lore, To barter fields of corn for fields of gore, To take by bands what single thieves would spare, And methodise his murders into war.

Now the prest garrison fresh danger warms; They rush impetuous to each post of arms, Man the long trench, each embrasure sustain, And pour their langrage on the allied train; Whose swift approaches, crowding on the line, Each wing envelop and each front confine.

O'er all sage Washington his arm extends, Points every movement, every work defends, Bids closer quarters, bloodier strokes proceed, New batteries blaze and heavier squadrons bleed.

Line within line fresh parallels enclose; Here runs a zigzag, there a mantlet grows, Round the pent foe approaching breastworks rise, And bombs, like meteors, vault the flaming skies.

Night, with her hovering wings, a.s.serts in vain The shades, the silence of her rightful reign; High roars her canopy with fiery flakes, And War stalks wilder thro the glare he makes.

With dire dismay the British chief beheld The foe advance, his veterans shun the field, Despair and slaughter where he turns his eye, No hope in combat and no power to fly; Degra.s.se victorious shakes the shadowy tide, Imbodied nations all the champaign hide, Fosses and batteries, growing on the sight, Still pour new thunders and increase the fight; Sh.e.l.ls rain before him, rending every mound, Crags, gunstones, b.a.l.l.s o'erturn the tented ground, From post to post his driven ranks retire, The earth in crimson and the skies on fire.

Death wantons proud in this decisive round, For here his hand its favorite victim found; Brave Scammel perisht here. Ah! short, my friend, Thy bright career, but glorious to its end.

Go join thy Warren's ghost, your fates compare, His that commenced, with thine that closed the war; Freedom, with laurel'd brow but tearful eyes, Bewails her first and last, her twinlike sacrifice.

Now grateful truce suspends the burning war, And groans and shouts promiscuous load the air; When the tired Britons, where the smokes decay, Quit their strong station and resign the day.

Slow files along the immeasurable train, Thousands on thousands redden all the plain, Furl their torn bandrols, all their plunder yield.

And pile their muskets on the battle field.

Their wide auxiliar nations swell the crowd, And the coop'd navies, from the neighboring flood, Repeat surrendering signals, and obey The landmen's fate on this concluding day.

Cornwallis first, their late all-conquering lord, Bears to the victor chief his conquer'd sword, Presents the burnisht hilt, and yields with pain The gift of kings, here brandisht long in vain.

Then bow their hundred banners, trailing far Their wearied wings from all the skirts of war.

Battalion'd infantry and squadron'd horse Dash the silk ta.s.sel and the golden torse; Flags from the forts and ensigns from the fleet Roll in the dust, and at Columbia's feet Prostrate the pride of thrones; they firm the base Of Freedom's temple, while her arms they grace.

Here Albion's crimson Cross the soil o'erspreads, Her Lion crouches and her Thistle fades; Indignant Erin rues her trampled Lyre, Brunswick's pale Steed forgets his foamy fire, Proud Hessia's Castle lies in dust o'erthrown, And venal Ans.p.a.ch quits her broken Crown.

Long trains of wheel'd artillery shade the sh.o.r.e, Quench their blue matches and forget to roar; Along the enc.u.mber'd plain, thick planted rise High stacks of muskets glittering to the skies, Numerous and vast. As when the toiling swains Heap their whole harvest on the stubbly plains, Gerb after gerb the bearded shock expands, Shocks, ranged in rows, hill high the burden'd lands; The joyous master numbers all the piles, And o'er his well-earn'd crop complacent smiles: Such growing heaps this iron harvest yield, So tread the victors this their final field.

Triumphant Washington, with brow serene, Regards unmoved the exhilarating scene, Weighs in his balanced thought the silent grief That sinks the bosom of the fallen chief.

With all the joy that laurel crowns bestow, A world reconquer'd and a vanquished foe.