Will Henry Thompson. See note on “High Tide at Gettysburg.”
=Stanza 3.= =Lee.= See “Barbara Frietchie.”
=Stanza 6.= =Hancock= (Winfield Scott, 1824-1886), a distinguished Union
general, and the Democratic candidate for President in 1880. He was
conspicuous for his gallantry at Gettysburg, where he was wounded. The
reference in this stanza is probably to the battle of Spottsylvania,
where he captured and held a salient of field-works on the Confederate
center, afterward known as “the bloody angle.”
=Stanza 9.= =Hill=, either A. P. or D. H., both noted Confederate generals.
=Gordon= (George Washington), a brilliant Confederate leader, well known
after the war as a lawyer and public speaker.
=Stanza 12.= =Sherman.= See “The Smallest of the Drums.”
=Stanza 16.= =Wilderness.= See “Lee to the Rear.”