Presentation of the Flag to Second Regiment of S.C. Vols.

This poem was written by Ellen Murray, a co-founder of the Penn School on St. Helena Island in South Carolina. The poem was originally published in the Newport Mercury on August 1, 1863.

Ye had no flag in those dark days of old,
Ye never looked to see,
What colors floated o’er your master’s home;
But now, that in your’e free
Strong hands the North has placed its holy flag,
Guard well the precious trust,
Nor ever bear’st backward from the field
Or trail it in the dust.

Ye has no leader in those days of old-
One flung his life away
Striving to reach you. Fresh from Kansas won,
His comrades leads to-day.
He who once stood for freedom while the world
Looked on with calm disdain,
Now leads yon Freedom’s youngest children on
In this your first campaign.

Ye had no cause in those dark days of old,
No cause! T’were least to say,
No strength to lift an arm, though from your life
Its all was wrenched away.
Now, soldiers, strike as men who have a cause,
Whose country calls for aid,
Whose God commands the strength of your right
Hands,
And let Him be obeyed.

Ye had no country in those days of old,
But now, from sea to sea,
Your great and glorious country claims of right
The service of the free,
Your country! Yours, from pine groves in the
North,
To where the rice fields glow,
Your country, with white roses in the hedge,
Or May-flowers in the snow.

A flag round which to rally, with its stars
Outshining from the blue,
A leader, whose life has been
To you and freedom true,
A cause! A country! Having theses we have
All that men ask to be,
Herces and martyrs calmly leading on,
To certain victory.
E. Murray