Grand Haven Daily Tribune  August 9, 1898

The Michigan Volunteer.

―

BY DAVID FLETCHER HUNTON.

―

I saw him enlist in “Company F”;

A fine looking fellow was he;

He stood up erect, a beautiful man,

And brave as soldier could be.

I saw him again when marching away,

From home, and from all he held dear;

But who can describe, or what tongue can tell,

The thoughts of that young Volunteer?

A fair maiden pinned a rose on his breast,

And smiling kissed him “Good-Bye”;

But there was a pain deep down in her heart,

A pearl of a tear in her eye.

His mother came there, to bid him adieu,

To cheer him again and again;

But when she had kissed that patriot brow

Her heart seemed just rending in twain.

A brother and sister, were standing there,

In the light of a beautiful day;

While bravely trying their grief to control,

They dashed many tear-drops away.

His father was dead―his lips cold and dumb―

His eyes had been closed with a tear;

But there was a day when he marched away,

As a Michigan Volunteer.

That fair maiden weeps for him who has gone,

His mother is often in tears;

There’ll be desolate homes, and aching hearts,

For months, and perhaps for long years.

How many fond hearts are shedding today,

Drops of blood as sacred and dear,

As ever were shed on the field of strife,

By a Michigan Volunteer.

In fancy I see that young Volunteer,

With heart beating fast for the fray;

With “Company F”, he longs for the day,

When they can be marching away.

I see them in camp, and in cool undress,

The future for them has no fears;

As men, and soldiers, they stand “at the head,”

Of our Michigan Volunteers.

I see that young “Captain” drilling his men,

With the Stars and Stripes overhead;

But when they are done, and all get in camp,

They know him there only as “ED”.

‘Twas not for the love of a soldier’s life,

That sent him and quartered him here;

‘Twas duty which called him to be enrolled,

As a Michigan Volunteer.

Our city and country may well feel proud

Of the boys now at Tampa Bay;

When they shall be called to go to the front,

Like Veterans, they’ll march to the fray.

If any shall fall, and never return―

If not again we meet them here;

May Glory’s Gateways, stand ever ajar,

For those Michigan Volunteers.

Brave Michigan boys, we count upon you,

In this struggle to make Cuba free;―

We know you will fight, and bravely fight, too,

For that beautiful Pearl of the sea.

Then got to the rescue of men in chains,

Starving women, and children too;

Right under “Old Glory,” to battle fly,

Show what Michigan boys can do.

Not long shall Spanish oppression and hate,

Curse and scourge that beautiful shore;

Freedom shall smile where the serpent has trailed.

And Slavery shall thrive there no more:

Then bravely roll on, O tide of the war,

‘Till the blood of the boys of “Maine,”

Shall be avenged by the Blue, and the Gray,

In the fall of the Dons of Spain.

Grand Haven, Mich., June 29^th, 1898.