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Along The Bloody Lane
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Along The Bloody Lane |
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Gene Senior Member
since 2000-01-23
Posts 935Colorado, USA |
Along The Bloody Lane Along the sunken road, A long gray line met waves of blue, splashed with green and gold. Along Antietam Creek, a nations blood ran cold. A long and costly battle raged—neither side could claim victory, This longest, bloodiest day in American history. From over the hill appeared the Irish Brigade, With muskets emptied and bayonets fixed, They relentlessly pressed unto their grave. Abruptly met from the South with a volley of lead, The Army of the Potomac, lie bleeding and dead. Five-hundred, in twenty minutes time, Like the trampled wheat, so inclined, Lie twisted bodies, limbs entwined, Where blood and earth now mixed, Wave upon wave, like the wheat in the wind, Five-hundred more were thrust into the wind. Yet, still they’d come; Their gleaming bayonets flashed like burnished silver in the sun; Their every step keeping time to the beat of a drum. N’er a man did flinch, or skip a stride, As brothers fell, and bullets flied. Then, unexpectedly, they stopped—just short of a bayonet attack—to reload, With muskets unsuited for long-range fire, The stubborn blue line, now close enough to deliver their ire, Released a lethal blast of their 75 caliber load Directly into the line in the sunken road. The long gray line, now blood-soaked, and sun-drenched, Trying desperately to repel the onslaught—still firmly entrenched, Watched their courageous Colonel Gordon stand his ground. With four bullets already in him, striking him down, He raised up to receive yet another musket round. Now lying in a pool of his blood, face down, in his cap, He’d surely have drowned, if not for a bullet hole in his cap. Still shouting orders as he was carried away, His men looked to him as their invincible, saving grace, Until he was relieved by a Lightfoot officer, unwilling to stay, Who gave the fateful order of, "About Face!" "Damn it!" said one General, "I told him to turn ‘em around (inspirationally)— Not physically." After four brutal hours of fighting without yield, And, five-thousand dead on the battlefield, Confusion and fatigue had taken its toll, But the persistent blue machine was on a roll. Here was the chance, the North had waited to take, By capitalizing on a Southern mistake. With malice aforethought, the blue continued its attack. One by one, Johnny Reb was shot in the back— Cutting ‘em down as they turned and fled, The sunken road turned to a river of red— Bodies so thick, you could walk the line, End to end, stepping only on dead— Their gray blood flowed like red wine. Thousands of brave men have died before, And since, but this day at Antietam— Casualties, nearly twenty-thousand and four, Was the bloodiest, day of any American war. And, through it all, n’er a man did cower Or ever consider the thought of defeat, Until one misguided soul had sounded retreat. And so it goes, How "The Sunken Road" Came to be named, "The Bloody Lane." ______ ~Gene |
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| © Copyright 2000 Gene M. - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
Excellent writing, Gene. I never knew that so many people died in one battle. Mind boggling. Denise |
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Jon Mewett Senior Member
since 2000-03-04
Posts 1304 |
Mangled mutilation comes through here Gene, I get the horror of the scene well,confusion,blood ahh.... Great Writing. Jon |
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ESP Member Elite
since 2000-01-25
Posts 2556Floating gently on a cloud.... |
Wow....this is vivid stuff!! Great poem, I have learned much about something I knew nothing about. Thanks for sharing this with us! Oh yeah, what's root beer? Is it nice? Can I try some? Love and hugs, Lizzie  "Poetry is the true expression of my soul, it is my ultimate means of communication. It is my rainbow of delight." |
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kaile
since 2000-02-06
Posts 5146singapore |
WOW....this poem tells us vividly how terrible war can be but how it brings out the best in mankind too...lovely ")allow me to write this informal cinquain for you ")Shot I fall, Yet my hands Hold tightly onto my Rifle [This message has been edited by kaile (edited 04-19-2000).] |
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Gene Senior Member
since 2000-01-23
Posts 935Colorado, USA |
Thanks Everyone, I learned a lot too. In researching this, I was amazed at what these brave men went through. In just one day--nearly 24,000 casualties--and it was more or less, a 'stale mate.' We've never lost that many in one day--not even in WWII. I hope that this one stays in the record books. Then, 10 months later at Gettysburg, in 3 days--nearly 60,000 casualties. That's the entire amount from all of the Viet Nam War. The Civil War was brutal and horrific--and they called this the first modern war? ~Gene |
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Munda Member Elite
since 1999-10-08
Posts 3544The Hague, The Netherlands |
I'm sorry, but I do not know much about war and was amazed by the amount of casulties named here. I always liked to think that men in those days at least stand a change compared to these days. I guess I was wrong huh ? Great poem though and very well written  (and I learned something ! ) |
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PrincessPoet Member
since 2000-04-15
Posts 133Long Beach, Calif. |
Hi U Gene! Very informative Poetry, it reminded me of the movie, "Glory" It's such a big difference between then & now. and, thanks for your reply.  Your failures in life come from not realizing your nearness to success when you give up. -Yoruba Proverb Poetry & Friendship, PrincessPoet |
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twinsgd Member
since 2000-02-13
Posts 416Ontario,Canada |
Fantastic writing Gene. One could almost smell the powder, hear the guns, and envisage the carnage. and what did we learn. Not too much I fear. Jack |
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