html.skin-theme-clientpref-night @media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os }An old blue cap that a soldier wore,
Where the shot and shell were flying;
Where the air was filled with the cannons' roar,
And the groans of the wounded and dying.
A soft brown curl that shaded a face,
The sweetest on earth to me;
That holds in my heart a sacred place,
And haunts me where'er I may be.
A shoe—a dainty, wee baby shoe,
That Nellie, our darling wore;
Ere the angel of death closed those eyes of blue,
That will open nevermore.
A violet, that lifted its modest head
'Neath the blue of southern skies;
'Twas plucked by a friend from the lowly bed
Where a fellow hero lies.
April 20, 1868.