blugrniz4u
Member
In 1862, Union Army Captain Robert Ellicombe was near Harrison's Landing in Virginia. The Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land.
During the night, he heard the moans of a severely wounded soldier. Not knowing if the soldier was friend or foe, Capt. Ellicombe crawled on his stomach through the gunfire to bring the soldier back for medical attention. Unfortunately, the soldier died. When the Captain lit a lantern, he went numb with shock -- it was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the South, and enlisted in the Confederate Army without telling his father.
The next morning Captain Ellicombe requested a full military burial despite his son's enemy status. His request was partially granted. Out of respect for the Captain, his commanding officers gave him one musician.
He chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of his dead son's uniform.
These are the words Captain Ellicombe put to his son's haunting melody:
Day is done
Gone the sun
From the lakes
From the hills
From the sky
All is well
Safely rest
God is nigh
Fading light
Dims the sight
And a star
Gems the sky
Gleaming bright
From afar
Drawing nigh
Falls the night
Thanks and praise
For our days
'Neath the sun
'Neath the stars
'Neath the sky
As we go
This we know
God is nigh.
During the night, he heard the moans of a severely wounded soldier. Not knowing if the soldier was friend or foe, Capt. Ellicombe crawled on his stomach through the gunfire to bring the soldier back for medical attention. Unfortunately, the soldier died. When the Captain lit a lantern, he went numb with shock -- it was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the South, and enlisted in the Confederate Army without telling his father.
The next morning Captain Ellicombe requested a full military burial despite his son's enemy status. His request was partially granted. Out of respect for the Captain, his commanding officers gave him one musician.
He chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of his dead son's uniform.
These are the words Captain Ellicombe put to his son's haunting melody:
Day is done
Gone the sun
From the lakes
From the hills
From the sky
All is well
Safely rest
God is nigh
Fading light
Dims the sight
And a star
Gems the sky
Gleaming bright
From afar
Drawing nigh
Falls the night
Thanks and praise
For our days
'Neath the sun
'Neath the stars
'Neath the sky
As we go
This we know
God is nigh.
