CHARGE OF FREMONT'S BODY-GUARD
On they ride--on they ride--
Only three hundred,--
Ride the brave Body-Guard,
From the "Prairie Scouts" sundered:
Two thousand riflemen,
Ambushed on either side,
The signal of slaughter bide:
Ho! has the farmer-guide
Led them astray and lied?
How can they pass the wood?
On they ride--on they ride--
Fearlessly, readily,
Silently, steadily
Ride the brave Body-Guard
Led by Zagonyi.
Up leap the Southrons there;
Loud breaks the battle-blare;
Now swings his hat in air;
Flashes his saber bare:
"_Draw sabers;--follow me_!"
Shouts the brave Captain:
"_Union and Liberty_!"
Thunders the Captain.
Three hundred sabers flash;
Three hundred Guardsmen dash
On to the fierce attack;
Into the _cul-de-sac_
Plunge the Three Hundred.
Yell the mad ambushed pack--
Two thousand rifles crack
At the Three Hundred.
Dire is the death they deal,
Gleams the steel--volleys peal--
Horses plunge--riders reel;
Sabers and bayonets clash;
Guns in their faces flash;
Blue coats are spattered red--
Fifty brave Guards are dead--
Zagonyi is still ahead,
Swinging his hat in air,
Flashing his saber:
"Steady men;--steady there;
Forward--Battalion!"
On they plunge--on they dash
Thro' the dread gantlet;
Death gurgles in the gash
Of furious-dealt saber-slash;
Over them the volleys crash
Thro' the trees like a whirlwind.
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