Martial Music, War for South'n Independence: All Q LbNA #34479 (ARCHIVED)

Martial Music, The War for Southern Independence:
All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight

**20.May 2015: MISSING--I checked on the picket today, and he had gone AWOL.**

(One in an occasionally expanding series…)

Weary of War
Singing ‘round the Camp Fire


“The Picket Guard” or
“All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight”
Lyrics: Ethel Lynn beers, 1861
Music: John Hull Hewitt

All quiet along the Potomac, they say,
Except now and then a stray picket
Is shot as he walks on his beat to and fro,
By a rifleman hid in the thicket.
'Tis nothing, a private or two now and then
Will not count in the news of the battle;
Not an officer lost, only one of the men,
Moaning out all alone the death rattle,
All quiet along the Potomac tonight.

All quiet along the Potomac tonight,
Where the soldiers lie peacefully dreaming,
Their tents in the rays of the clear autumn moon,
O'er the light of the watch fires, are gleaming;
A tremulous sigh, as the gentle night wind,
Through the forest leaves softly is creeping,
While stars up above, with their glittering eyes,
Keep guard for the army is sleeping.

There's only the sound of the lone sentry's tread,
As he tramps from the rock to the fountain,
And thinks of the two in the low trundle bed,
Far away in the cot on the mountain.
His musket falls slack, and his face, dark and grim,
Grows gentle with memories tender,
As he mutters a prayer for the children asleep,
For their mother, may Heaven defend her.

The moon seems to shine just as brightly as then,
That night when the love yet unspoken
Leaped up to his lips when low-murmured vows,
Were pledged to be ever unbroken.
Then drawing his sleeve roughly over his eye
He dashes off tears that are welling,
And gathers his gun closer up to its place
As if to keep down the heart-swelling.

He passes the fountain, the blasted pine tree
The footstep is lagging and weary;
Yet onward he goes, through the broad belt of light,
Toward the shades of the forest so dreary.
Hark! Was it the night wind that rustled the leaves,
Was it moonlight so wondrously flashing?
It looks like a rifle -- "Ah! Mary, good-bye!"
And the lifeblood is ebbing and splashing.

All quiet along the Potomac tonight,
No sound save the rush of the river;
While soft falls the dew on the face of the dead --
The picket's off duty forever.

From Lesley Nelson-Burns' (aka the Contemplator)'s Folk Music Site: http://www.contemplator.com/tunebook/america/potomac.htm
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“During the first days of the war, a familiar War Department announcement as it appeared in the nation’s newspapers was: “All quiet along the Potomac.” One day in September, 1861, to the above announcement was appended the words, “A picket shot.”
This brief newspaper report was, supposedly, the inspiration for this song which was written by Mrs. Ethyl Lynn Beers of Goshen, New York.
From: “Songs of the Civil War” by Irwin Silber, Columbia University Press 1960; p. 118.

“This song was popular with both armies. The title is derived from newspaper reports which were ribbing General McClellan’s policy of delay after the first defeat of the Union forces at Bull Run, July 21, 1861. While the “Army of the Potomac” was being trained and organized, Lincoln’s patience became strained and he wrote to McClellan:
“My dear McClellan: If you don’t want to use the army, I should like to
borrow it for a while. Yours respectfully, A. Lincoln.”
The poem was published in Harper’s Magazine in November, 1861, under the title “Picket Guard” … The composer of the music was born in New York and at the time of the war was one of the most popular song writers in the South.”
From: “A History of the Civil War in Song, Singing Soldiers” by Paul Glass, Grosset & Dunlap 1964; p. 197.
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Follow the link (cut and paste) to listen to “All Quiet Along the Potomac” as performed by the 97th Regimental String Band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dVMpRfiD0s
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Letterbox Difficulty Rating:
Difficulty Rating = 2.0
Terrain Rating = 2.25
Thanx to Silent Doug; see: www.letterboxing.info/rating/

All directions are magnetic, and a pace equals two (2) steps.
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Clues:

From US Rte. 6 in Andover, find Lake Rd. Park along Lake Rd. near the yellow posts guarding the entrance to the Hop River Rail Trail. Head East and soon you will pass through a lighted tunnel by which Rte. 6 passes overhead.

After emerging from the tunnel, count approximately 61 paces and stand beside the boulder on the left side of the trail. Look East, uphill, for a piece of ledge sticking out of the top of the knob and make your way to it.

From atop the ledge, head East, slightly downhill along the ridge to a small tangle of fallen down pines. Standing in the midst of the “blasted pine” rubble, head 110° toward the end of a low rock wall.

On the south side of the wall, behind a trap door your picket stands guard.

Please stamp in away from the hiding place, and carefully avoid making or at least try to conceal social trails to the letterbox--especially in mud or snow! Kindly reseal the Lock-n-Lock type box, and re-hide the letterbox exactly where it was placed, covering it well and contact the placer if you find any problems.

Thank you, Connfederate