Will Henry Thompson (brother of Maurice Thompson; see “An Incident
of War,” and “The Ballad of a Little Fun”), a lawyer and poet
residing in Seattle, Washington, was born in Calhoun county,
Georgia, March 10, 1848. Mr. Thompson was a Confederate soldier,
and his “High Tide at Gettysburg” is one of the finest poems
inspired by the Civil War.
“High Tide at Gettysburg,” the day of Pickett’s charge, was the last day
of that memorable battle, July 3, 1863.
=Stanza 2.= =Lee.= See “Barbara Frietchie.”
=Pickett.= See “Greencastle Jenny.”
=Stanza 3.= =Shiloh.= See “Johnston at Shiloh.”
=Chickamauga.= See “Thomas at Chickamauga.”
=Stanza 4.= =Pettigrew=, (James Johnson) a Confederate brigadier-general who
was mortally wounded in Pickett’s charge. He was a native of North
Carolina (1828-1863).
=Waterloo.= June 18, 1815.
=Stanza 5.= =Kemper= (James Lamson, 1823-), a Confederate brigadier-general,
severely wounded and captured at Gettysburg. He has been governor of
Virginia.
=Garnett= (Richard Brooke, 1819-1863), a Confederate brigadier-general who
fell at Gettysburg.
=Armistead= (Lewis Addison, 1817-1863), a Confederate brigadier-general in
Pickett’s division, who was mortally wounded in the famous charge.
=Stanza 7.= =Doubleday= (Abner, 1819-1893), a Federal major-general of
volunteers, whose division was active in repulsing Pickett’s charge. It
was he who fired the first gun in defense of Fort Sumter.
For another rendering of this battle in verse see Edmund Clarence
Stedman’s “Gettysburg” (Complete Poems.).