lelliott19
Brigadier General
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* OFFICIAL *
CWT PRESENTER
CWT PRESENTER
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Regtl. Staff Chickamauga 2018
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2013
THE DYING SOLDIER
Brother soldier! Come up nearer,
For my limbs are growing cold;
And thy presence seemeth dearer,
When thy arms around me fold;
I am dying, soldiers, dying;
Soon you'll miss me from the camp,
For my form will soon be lying,
'Neath the earth so cold and damp.
Listen brother soldiers, listen!
I have something I would say,
Ere my eyes are closed forever
To the lovely light of day;
I am going - surely going -
But my faith in God is strong,
I die happy - willing - knowing
That He doeth nothing wrong.
Tell my father when you greet him,
That in death I prayed for him -
And I hope that I shall meet him
In the world that's free from sin.
Dearest mother: God assist her -
now that she is growing old -
Say her boy would glad have kissed her
When his lips grew pale and cold.
Brother soldiers! catch each whisper -
'Tis my wife I speak of now,
Tell, oh! tell her how I missed her,
When the fever burned my brow,
Tell her she must kiss my babe-
Like the kiss I last impressed -
Hold her, as when last I held her,
Closely folded to my breast.
Tell my dear wife - may God bless her-
She was very dear to me;
Would I could once more caress her,
And her lovely face could see!
Tell my dear ones I remember
Every kindly parting word,
And my heart has been kept tender
By the thought their memories stirred.
Brother soldiers, let me see you
Press each hand before I die.
My good, kind friends, I'm loth to leave you,
Receive my fond, my last good bye.
Hark! I hear my Savior calling!
Tis His voice - I know it well.
When I'm gone, oh don't be weeping,
Soldiers, here's my last farewell.
Reprinted from the Mobile Tribune, in the Southern Banner, Mar. 26, 1862, page 1.