Primary Source
“His hair was matted with his gore
His hands were clenched with might
As though he still his musket bore
So firmly in the fight
He had grasped the foeman’s bayonet
His bosom to defend!
They raised the coat cape from his face
My God! it was my friend!
Think what a shudder thrilled my heart
’Twas but the day before
We laughed together merrily
As we talked of days of yore
‘How happy we shall be,’ he said
[‘]When the war is o’er and when
The rebels all subdued or dead
We all go home again![’]”
- Hanford L. Gordon, “Only a Private Killed,” 1861 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)