Chapter 114 The Last Days of the Confederacy (excerpt)

The Rapidan River hints at another scene that has been mentioned so often since the war, but this one also shows the spirit of both armies, and allow me here to relate what I remember.One day in March, near dusk, two armies were reviewing their appearance on two facing mountains by the river.At the end of the review, a luxurious military band of the Continental Army played "Hi!Columbia" and "Yankee Doodle" patriotic melodies.The Union Army on the opposite side responded with patriotic cries.So the band on the other side played the soul-stirring "Dixie" again, but this also aroused the powerful cry of 100,000 southern troops.

After a while, when the stars appeared in the sky like witnesses, all was silent, and then came the old tune "Home, Good Home" from the same band.This familiar and sentimental note pierced the hearts of the soldiers as the river rolled.The mountain echoed with the thunderous response of the two armies. What is it in this ancient music that touches the sympathetic chords, so thrills the souls, and makes the warriors tremble with emotion?That is homesickness. No doubt, for tens of thousands of people on one side, they thought of their eternal home, and maybe they could go home after the next battle.

For the tens of thousands on the other side, they also think of their dearest earthly home, where their loved ones are bowing around their home altars at dawn, asking God to bless the warriors far away Good health.