William Haines Lytle --- Warrior-poet...

I was rotting around the Nov. 2 event in history and found this man a warrior-poet of the Civil War. Who was known for his poetry before the Civil War. His most famous poem was called “Antony and Cleopatra” in 1858...

From Wiki...

William Haines Lytle (November 2, 1826 – September 20, 1863) was a politician in Ohio, a renowned poet, and military officer in the United States Army during both the Mexican–American War and American Civil War, where he was killed in action as a brigadier general.

Snips... General Lytle had a Type A personality life for he was many this and fought in a few wars and found time for poetry. He was wounded a few times and capture once during the Civil War and killed in action at Chickamauga on the hill that now bears his name "Lytle Hill".

He was severely wounded in his left calf muscle in a fight at Carnifex Ferry on September 10, 1861, and was sent home to recover.

He was again wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Perryville in Kentucky on October 8, 1862. He was soon exchanged and rejoined the army.

Lytle was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia while leading a counterattack on horseback. Once his identity was known, respectful Confederates placed a guard around his body, and many recited his poetry over their evening campfires.[2] The hill where he died is now known as "Lytle Hill" in the Chickamauga National Military Park.

Snip... In death, he was honor by the confederates and honored that night with the reciting his poems back him with many verses for his famous “Antony and Cleopatra” ...

Snip... The shooter was never known except in this tale...

The alleged shooter of Lytle was never discovered, and to this day has never been discovered, all that is known is that the shooter was a Confederate sniper using a Whitworth .45 caliber percussion rifle.

However, according to history presented to The Daughters of The Confederacy, the shooter was Hillary Garrison Waldrep of Company B of the 16th Alabama Regiment of Infantry. In order to make the shot that was purportedly approved personally by General Bragg, Waldrep had to adjust the sights on his rifle for 200 yards beyond where they usually were. According to the account, once General Lytle fell to the ground, his horse was spooked and ran toward the Confederate soldiers. Bragg gave Hillary Garrison Waldrep General Lytle's horse, bed-roll and equipment. Waldrep later sold the horse for $100.

Snip... do not know if the tale is true...

Here a another bio on Lytle. There more detail in his death and about him... and description by others of him in battle losing a horse and getting and fighting on... and more...

Link; http://rutherfordtnhistory.org/william haines-lytle-met-his-match-at-chickamauga/

Gen. William Haines Lytle was a warrior-poet with a major reputation in the heyday of poetry.

His first known poem was written when he was 14. His best-known poem, “Antony and Cleopatra” was published in the Yale Book of American Verse and other anthologies.

Called Will by friends and family, Lytle was described as slight in build, but well developed with gray eyes and a resolute character.

“The chivalric temper was shown throughout his history … masculine, vigorous, gallant … Manly he was, and also gentlemanly,” wrote W.H. Venable in a memoir of Lytle.

In 1862, Lytle’s regiment took part in the endless march from Alabama to Kentucky, which led to his second battlefield wounding during the Battle of Perryville. The colonel was left on the field for dead, but did not succumb to his wound. He was taken prisoner and thus managed to miss the Battle of Stones River. He was exchanged on Feb. 4, 1863 and quickly moved to rejoin the army in Murfreesboro.

Snip... His death!!!

At Chickamauga, Lytle and his men performed well, even felling some 1,500 trees to build a pontoon bridge across the Tennessee River. The brigadier was to lead the First Brigade in a stand against the Confederate advance on what know is known as Lytle Hill. During the fight Lytle was struck in the left side of his face and fell from his horse.

“The ball struck him in the left corner of the mouth, passed through his head and came out near the right temple so that the blood welled up into his mouth so rapidly that he was unable to speak,” a fellow officer recalled.

He died in a matter of minutes and was once again left behind on the field of battle where Confederate soldiers protected his body. His poetry was loved by both Northerners and Southerners, particularly “Antony and Cleopatra” with its martial themes.

They read his poetry aloud in a makeshift tribute. They found some of his latest verses on his person including these lines he had written for his sisters:

“In vain for me the applause of men,
The Laurel won by sword or pen,
But for the hope, so dear and sweet,
To lay my trophies at your feet.”

5fish said:

I was rotting around the Nov. 2 event in history and found this man a warrior-poet of the Civil War. Who was known for his poetry before the Civil War. His most famous poem was called “Antony and Cleopatra” in 1858....

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where's the poem? do i need to find it myself?

His most famous poem... from wiki...

Antony and Cleopatra[edit]
Lytle's most famous poem, 1858:

I am dying, Egypt, dying!

Ebbs the crimson life-tide fast,

And the dark Plutonian shadows

Gather on the evening blast;

Let thine arm, oh Queen, enfold me,

Hush thy sobs and bow thine ear,

Listen to the great heart secrets

Thou, and thou alone, must hear.

Though my scarred and veteran legions

Bear their eagles high no more,

And my wrecked and scattered galleys

Strew dark Actium's fatal shore;

Though no glittering guards surround me,

Prompt to do their master's will,

I must perish like a Roman,

Die the great Triumvir still.

Let not Caesar's servile minions,

Mock the lion thus laid low;

'Twas no foeman's arm that felled him,

'Twas his own that struck the blow —

His who, pillowed on thy bosom,

Turned aside from glory's ray —

His who, drunk with thy caresses,

Madly threw a world away.

Should the base plebeian rabble

Dare assail my name at Rome,

Where the noble spouse, Octavia,

Weeps within her widowed home,

Seek her; say the gods bear witness, —

Altars, augurs, circling wings, —

That her blood, with mine commingled,

Yet shall mount the thrones of kings.

And for thee, star-eyed Egyptian —

Glorious sorceress of the Nile!

Light the path to Stygian horrors

With the splendors of thy smile;

Give the Caesar crowns and arches,

Let his brow the laurel twine,

I can scorn the senate's triumphs,

Triumphing in love like thine.

I am dying, Egypt, dying;

Hark! the insulting foeman's cry;

They are coming; quick, my falchion!

Let me front them ere I die.

Ah, no more amid the battle

Shall my heart exulting swell;

Isis and Osiris guard thee, —

Cleopatra, Rome, farewell!

rittmeister said:

where's the poem? do i need to find it myself?

Click to expand...

no look again... now...

rittmeister said:

where's the poem? do i need to find it myself?

Click to expand...

I found a collection of his poems...

https://archive.org/details/poemsofwilliamha01lytl/page/n10

A good read... note: I am a poet too just unknow...

I found his grave and take a look at the photos ... they left out he was a poet... shameful that is...

Link:https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5843271/william-haines-lytle

William Haines Lytle
BIRTH 2 Nov 1826
Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, USA
DEATH 20 Sep 1863 (aged 36)
Fort Oglethorpe, Catoosa County, Georgia, USA
BURIAL
Spring Grove Cemetery
Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, USA
PLOT Section 20, Lot 1
MEMORIAL ID 5843271 · View Source

Civil War Union Brigadier General. A Cincinnati, Ohio lawyer, he served as a captain in the Mexican War, became a member of the Ohio state legislature and, in1857, made an unsuccessful attempt to be the state’s lieutenant governor. After losing the election he was named the Major General of the Ohio militia. At the start of the Civil War he was commissioned Colonel of the 10th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, leading troops through West Virginia. During the early stages of the conflict, he was wounded twice and taken prisoner once. After being released by the Confederates in 1862 he was promoted to Brigadier General, US Volunteers. He was killed at the battle of Chickamauga.

Nestled into Cincinnati’s central business district, Lytle Park features a panorama of floral displays changing from tulips, magnolia and crabapple in the spring, to annuals and perennials in the summer and to annuals mixed with chrysanthemums in the fall.


The 2.31 acre park, bounded by Fourth and Lawrence Streets, is the original site of the Lytle family homestead, built in 1809 by General William Henry Lytle. The Park also features an 11-foot tall heroic bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln.

https://www.cincinnatiparks.com/central/lytle-park/

O' Be Joyful said:

Nestled into Cincinnati’s central business district, Lytle Park features a panorama of floral displays changing from tulips, magnolia and crabapple in the spring, to annuals and perennials in the summer and to annuals mixed with chrysanthemums in the fall.


The 2.31 acre park, bounded by Fourth and Lawrence Streets, is the original site of the Lytle family homestead, built in 1809 by General William Henry Lytle. The Park also features an 11-foot tall heroic bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln.

https://www.cincinnatiparks.com/central/lytle-park/

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yet annother dead strip of green, bees keep out!

Wehrkraftzersetzer said:

yet annother dead strip of green, bees keep out!

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That was an old photo from at least the late 80's, look at the autos. I picked it to show the Lincoln statue. It has since been upgraded and the bees now have a field day.

Here some more details in his last minutes…. another where old friends meet on the battlefield...

http://howcanamandiebetter.com/gen-williams-haines-lytle-poet-general/

Screaming the Rebel yell at the top of their lungs, the 11,000 battle-hardened Confederates surged through the gap in a devastating attack which instantly split the Union army and sent thousands of Yankees streaming in a complete panic towards Chattanooga. Lytle’s Brigade was sent to try to hold the line, on a position near the Widow Eliza Glenn’s remote cabin.

“If I must die, I will die as a gentleman,” Lytle said, making sure his uniform was parade ready, and then galloped to the front, shouting, “Forward into line!”

As Lytle brought his troops up, the Rebels were already swarming the hills, firing devastating point-blank volleys. Lytle, mounted on “Faugh-a-Ballaugh!” was an easy target for the Rebels, which Lytle didn’t know were commanded by Brig. Gen. Patton Anderson, a long time, close friend. Lytle was quickly shot down, and the Confederate fire was too furious to allow Lytle’s men to reach his body and carry it away. When he was identified by the Rebels, the Confederates placed a guard around his body.


THE DEATH OF GEN. LYTLE

Many Confederate officers stopped to pay their respects, and Gen. Anderson knelt beside his fallen friend and took a ring, several photographs, and a lock of hair to send through Union lines to Lytle’s family. That night, Lytle’s poetry was recited over the evening campfires of soldiers, North and South. The hill where he died is now known as “Lytle Hill” in the Chickamauga National Military Park.

Civil War Union Brigadier General. A Cincinnati, Ohio lawyer, he served as a captain in the Mexican War, became a member of the Ohio state legislature and, in 1857, made an unsuccessful attempt to be the state’s lieutenant governor. After losing the election he was named the Major General of the Ohio militia. At the start of the Civil War he was commissioned Colonel of the 10th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, leading troops through West Virginia. During the early stages of the conflict, he was wounded twice and taken prisoner once. After being released by the Confederates in 1862 he was promoted to Brigadier General, US Volunteers. He was killed at the battle of Chickamauga.



https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5843271/william-haines-lytle

I looked up the Lyle Family... They help found the University of Cincinnati... First Western land millionaires...

Link:
Lytle family - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lytle_family

Here is the story behind his famous poem...

Link: http://www.philarmstrongart.com/blog/2015/9/20/william-haines-lytle

I want to share a poem he wrote in 1858. In William Henry Venable’s book Beginnings of literary culture in the Ohio valley: historical and biographical sketches, which can be found in the Cincinnati Public Library’s Cincinnati Room, the rare book depository full of incredible artifacts (including this one), he details the story behind the making of Lytle’s most revered poem, Antony and Cleopatra:

“Antony and Cleopatra was written at the Lytle Homestead, Lawrence street, Cincinnati, in July, 1858. The author dashed it off in a glow of poetic excitement, and left the manuscript lying upon the writing-table, in his private room, where it was found by his friend, Wm. W. Fosdick, the poet. 'Who wrote that, Lytle?' inquired Fodsick. 'Why, I did,' answered Lytle, 'How do you like it?' Fosdick expressed admiration for the poem, and taking the liberty of a literary comrade, he carried the manuscript away, and sent it to the edition of the Cincinnati Commercial...” [source]

So here’s to remembering William Haines Lytle, the poet, the civil war general, and Cincinnatian. Continue to rest in peace, friend.

Snip... the city turned out for his funnel...

But as Cincinnatians, I can't help but feel we’re all partially responsible for carrying on the legacy of William Haines Lytle. According to legend, after his funeral at Christ Church Cathedral on 4th, people lined the streets to pay their respects in such great numbers that it stalled the funeral procession and his casket wasn’t delivered to Spring Grove until sundown. He was beloved for myriad reasons and affected the lives of enough Cincinnatians to warrant that turnout. But time has a way of lessening the potency of emotions, and since he was killed 152 years ago, many of us today don’t remember him. It’s not out of disrespect, it’s simply because he’s not in the public eye to the degree he was in the mid-19th century. Many may only know ‘Lytle’ as the park in front of the Taft Museum without knowing about the man behind the namesake. That’s why it’s important to spread the word and tell his tale. William Haines Lytle is an essential piece of Cincinnati history and we would be remiss to forget him.