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Bivouac : to illustrate the poem by Whitman
The encampment of the Army of the Potomac at Cumberland Landing is a scene strikingly similar to that described by Whitman.
With the shadowy soldiers in the foreground one can gaze upon the Camp that fills the plain.
The ascending smoke from the camp-fires drifts about in the still air, while the horses stand at their fodder and the men await the evening meal.
Away to the left the low ground is covered with a pool of water formed by the rain that has fallen most of that day. To-morrow the wagon-trains in the distance will again move slowly along the heavy roads, and the soldiers will trudge forward toward Richmond.
This picture shows a scene in the famous Peninsula campaign, when the boys in blue were jubilantly responding to the demand of the North, ‘On to Richmond.’
When this view was taken the army had covered more than half the distance.
The soldiers' hopes rise with the smoke of the camp-fires all over the peaceful plain. |
