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Martial Music, War of the Rebellion: The Vacant Ch LbNA #66031 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Connfederate
Plant date:Oct 18, 2013
Location: Hop River Rail Trail
City:Willimantic
County:Windham
State:Connecticut
Boxes:1
Found by: Bungalow Boxer
Last found:Oct 23, 2014
Status:FFFFFFFm
Last edited:Nov 21, 2016
Martial Music, The War of the Rebellion:
The Vacant Chair **MISSING, retired**

(One in an occasionally expanding series…)


“The Vacant Chair”
Circa 1861-62

Words by: H.S. Washburn
Music by: George F. Root


We shall meet but we shall miss him.
There will be one vacant chair.
We shall linger to caress him
While we breathe our ev'ning prayer.
When one year ago we gathered,
Joy was in his mild blue eye.
Now the golden cord is severed,
And our hopes in ruin lie.

CHORUS: We shall meet, but we shall miss him.
There will be one vacant chair.
We shall linger to caress him
While we breathe our ev'ning prayer.

At our fireside, sad and lonely,
Often will the bosom swell
At remembrance of the story
How our noble Willie fell.
How he strove to bear the banner
Thro' the thickest of the fight
And uphold our country's honor
In the strength of manhood's might.

CHORUS

True, they tell us wreaths of glory
Evermore will deck his brow,
But this soothes the anguish only,
Sweeping o'er our heartstrings now.
Sleep today, O early fallen,
In thy green and narrow bed.
Dirges from the pine and cypress
Mingle with the tears we shed.

CHORUS


From the website of Poetry and Music of the War Between the States: http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/union/songs/battle_hymn.html
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"Written at Thanksgiving time in 1861, this maudlin piece of melancholia undoubtedly struck a responsive note in many a home, both North and South, where the family gathered for the annual celebration and found themselves staring at “the vacant chair.”
Soldier and civilian alike responded to the unabashedly emotional pleading of the composition and made it one of the most widely sung songs of the war. The poem first appeared in the Wocester Spy, and was written in commemoration of the death of Lieutenant Johh William Grout, Fifteenth Massachusetts Infantry. [Lt. Grout was killed at the Battle of Balls Bluff, 21st. October 1861.]
Apparently some other composer had set Henry J. Washburn’s poem to music without success, and the song did not achieve its popular acclaim until George F. Root tried his hand at setting a tune. The song won many admirers on both sides of the lines, with at least three Southern editions reported.”

From: “Songs of the Civil War” by Irwin Silber, Columbia University Press 1960; p. 119.
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Follow the link (cut and paste) to listen to “The Vacant Chair” as performed by the 97th Regimental String Band:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSetV9MHo4k
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BYOInk: there is no pen, bring a brown stamp pad or marker.

Letterbox Difficulty Rating:
Difficulty Rating = 1.0
Terrain Rating = 3.25
Thanx to Silent Doug; see: www.letterboxing.info/rating/

All directions are magnetic and a pace equals two (2) steps.
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The 'box lies within the limits of Willimantic, access to the Hop River Rail Trail is off Flanders River Rd. in Columbia. Approx. 1 mile round trip.
From Willimantic Rd./Rte 66 East in Columbia, turn left onto Flanders River Rd. and park in front of the yellow gate to the Hop River Rail Trail. This is located across from #1 Flanders R. Rd.
NOTE: you will NOT want to park here if it is snowy, icy or otherwise slick and slippery.
There are a couple of other ways nearby to access the rail trail but I will leave you to your own devices if conditions warrant an alternate plan.

Head East on the rail trail toward Willimantic. A woods road will cross the RR right of way and run briefly concurrent before jumping out to Willimantic Rd. Continue East passing behind a number of businesses. The trail follows the elevated old RR bed over a low area until you come to a RR bridge spanning the Willimantic River.

Cross the span (hence the terrain 3.25 difficulty rating). I did not trust the partial, rusted metal catwalk and crossed on the rail ties between the remaining tracks.

NOTE: I discourage hunting this 'box in snowy, icy or otherwise slick and slippery weather. Crossing the RR bridge is not for everyone in the nicest weather: there are rotted ties, and open gaps between the ties. Not every 'box is for every 'boxer.

Look for your Vacant Chair just past the RR span at the base of the single telegraph pole under a SPOS.
Beyond this, the rails become live behind Mackey’s.
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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