University of Virginia Library

BENTONVILLE.

In a note to the compiler, the author of the stirring
battle-field poem "Bentonville," says: "I beg to
offer my poem, written on the field at the close of the
first day's fight. I was serving with the Beaufort
Volunteer Artillery, of Beaufort, South Carolina, the
oldest military organization on the continent, but
one—the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company,
of Boston. I should like the poem to appear in a permanent
publication, as it is prima facie evidence that

we certainly whipped Sherman at the battle of Bentonville,
despite the great disparity of numbers.
From that point of view the little poem derives its
importance."