35.2–3 Alcides . . . Admetus’ bride] After Alcestis volunteered to die instead of her husband, King Admetus of Pherae (in Thessaly), by the arrangement of Apollo (then required to serve Admetus), sent Alcides (Hercules) to bring her back from the underworld. The story of Apollo’s servitude recurs in “In the Hall of Marbles” (p. 874) and in Clarel (247.5–9).
36.5 The Temeraire] HMS Temeraire figured prominently in the British victory over the French and Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in 1805. J.M.W. Turner’s painting The “Fighting Temeraire” Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken Up (1838) depicts the ship being towed by a steamboat.
36.7 Monitor and Merrimac)] See note 34.26. The battle between the Monitor and the Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) was the first engagement in naval history between ironclad ships.
37.11 The Victory, whose Admiral] HMS Victory was the flagship at Trafalgar of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758–1805), who was fatally wounded during the battle.
37.14 angel in that sun.] Revelation 10:1.
39.3 Shiloh] The battle of Shiloh, fought April 6–7, 1862, near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, ended in a Union victory. The combined Union and Confederate casualties were nearly 24,000 men killed, wounded, or missing.
39.25 The Battle for the Mississippi] A Union fleet commanded by Flag Officer David G. Farragut (1801–1870) forced the passage between Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the lower Mississippi on the night of April 24, 1862. The fleet then sailed about seventy miles upriver to New Orleans, which surrendered on April 25.
39.27 Migdol hoar] Migdol (“tower”), a prominent landmark near the Red Sea (see Numbers 33:7 and Exodus 14:2).
39.28 shawm] Old form of an oboe—thrown down, Melville means, during the initial despair of the Israelites after crossing the Red Sea.
39.30 Pharaoh’s stranded crew] Numbers 14 explains how Pharaoh and his army were “stranded.”
40.1 The Lord is a man of war!] Exodus 15:3.
40.20 The manned Varuna] USS Varuna, a Union steam-powered gunboat, sank after being repeatedly rammed by Confederate vessels during the naval battle fought on April 24.
40.25 The Ram Manassas] CSS Manassas, an ironclad ram that caught fire and exploded during the battle.
41.17 Malvern Hill] The Union army commanded by Major General George B. McClellan (1826–1885) repulsed repeated Confederate attacks at Malvern Hill, Virginia, on July 1, 1862.
41.25 cartridge in their mouth] Soldiers in the Civil War loaded gunpowder into their rifle muskets by biting open paper cartridges and then pouring the powder down the muzzle.
42.2 Seven Nights and Days] In the Seven Days’ Battles outside Richmond, which began at Oak Grove on June 25, 1862, and ended July 1, 1862, at Malvern Hill, Robert E. Lee (1807–1870) succeeded in driving McClellan away from the eastern approaches to the city and caused him to retreat into a defensive position along the James River.
42.22 The Victor of Antietam] The victor of Antietam is Major General George B. McClellan. Fought on September 17, 1862, near Antietam Creek outside of Sharpsburg, Maryland, the battle of Antietam was an important tactical victory for the Union, ending Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of the North and permitting Lincoln to issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln, however, relieved McClellan of his command of the Army of the Potomac for failing to pursue a retreating Robert E. Lee.
43.11–14 You, the Discarded . . . Arrayed Pope’s rout] McClellan was removed by Lincoln as general in chief of the Union armies on July 11, 1862, after the unsuccessful Peninsula campaign to capture Richmond. Then, on August 3, 1862, McClellan was ordered by the new general in chief, Henry Halleck, to abandon his campaign on the Virginia Peninsula and send the troops of the Army of the Potomac north to join the newly formed Army of Virginia under John Pope. After John Pope was defeated by Robert E. Lee at the Second Bull Run (Second Manassas), August 28–30, McClellan was restored to active command on September 2 and given authority over Pope’s troops as well as those of the Army of the Potomac.
44.27 Battle of Stone River, Tennessee] At the battle of Stones River (also known as Murfreesboro), December 31, 1862–January 2, 1863, Confederate Generals John Breckinridge (1821–1875) and Braxton Bragg (1817–1876) failed to drive Union forces under General William Rosecrans (1819–1898) from middle Tennessee. The combined Union and Confederate casualties were more than 24,000 men killed, wounded, or missing.
44.30 Tewksbury and Barnet heath] Sites of 1471 battles between the forces of York and Lancaster, familiar to Melville from Henry VI, Part III, and Richard III.
46.1–2 Running the Batteries . . . Vicksburgh] On the night of April 16, 1863, the Mississippi River Squadron under the command of Acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter (1813–1891) ran past Confederate batteries at Vicksburg, Mississippi, beginning the campaign that ended with the surrender of the city to Major General Ulysses S. Grant on July 4, 1863. With the fall of Vicksburg and, five days later, Port Hudson, the Union could freely navigate the Mississippi from its source to New Orleans.
46.27 Shadrach . . . Abed-nego] Daniel 3:12.
48.15 So Porter proves himself] Acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter was promoted to Rear Admiral for his crucial role in the capture of Vicksburg. See Melville’s note.
48.16 Stonewall Jackson] Confederate Lieutenant General Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson (1824–1863) led a successful attack against the exposed right flank of the Union army on May 2, 1863, during the battle of Chancellorsville. He was mortally wounded that evening when his own men mistook his returning scouting party for Union cavalry in the darkness and opened fire.
49.24 Romney march] Jackson led an expedition that left Winchester, Virginia, on January 1, 1862. After marching over icy roads in sleet storms, his forces occupied Romney, Virginia (now in West Virginia), on January 14.
49.27 Wind of the Shenandoah] During his campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, May 8–June 9, 1862, Jackson’s troops marched 350 miles, defeated three different Union commands in five battles, and succeeded in keeping nearly 60,000 Union troops from advancing on Richmond.
49.28 Gaines’s Mill] After leaving the Shenandoah Valley, Jackson’s command joined Lee’s army outside of Richmond and helped defeat Union forces at Gaines’ Mill, the third of the Seven Days’ Battles (see note 42.2), on June 27, 1862.
49.29 Manassas-plain] On August 25, 1862, Lee sent Jackson’s wing of the Army of Northern Virginia on a flanking march to the west of John Pope’s army. Jackson destroyed Pope’s supply base at Manassas Junction and then drew him into battle, leading to the Confederate victory at Second Manassas (Second Bull Run), August 28–30, 1862.
50.4 “My Maryland!”] A band had played the pro-secessionist song “Maryland, My Maryland” as Jackson’s corps crossed the Potomac at White’s Ford on September 5, 1862.
50.5 red Antietam’s field] Antietam was the bloodiest single day of the Civil War, with nearly 23,000 soldiers killed, wounded, or missing.
50.9–10 Marye’s slope . . . the shock and the fame] At the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1863, Union soldiers found a breach in the Confederate right flank on Prospect Hill, surprising Jackson and causing the Confederate line to begin to roll up, before Jackson responded with a successful counterattack (Marye’s Heights, on the Confederate left, was held by James Longstreet’s corps).
50.11 Moss-Neck] Moss Neck Manor, a plantation in Caroline County, Virginia, where Jackson established his winter quarters in 1862–63 and hosted Christmas dinner for Generals Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, and William Pendleton.
51.1 Gettysburg] The defensive victory won by Major General George Meade’s Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, July 1–3, 1863, was a turning point in the Civil War, serving as a “check” on Robert E. Lee’s second invasion of the North. Combined Union and Confederate los
ses were 51,000 men killed, wounded, or missing.
51.7 Dagon] The fish-god of the Philistines (see Judges 16:23).
51.12 He charged] An allusion to Brigadier General George Edward Pickett (1825–1875) and the failed assault by three Confederate divisions on the Union center at Gettysburg on July 3, popularly known as “Pickett’s Charge.”
52.6 The House-top] Under the conscription act signed by President Lincoln in March 1863, men who had been selected to be drafted could avoid service by hiring a substitute or by paying a $300 commutation fee. The new conscription act particularly angered New York’s poor Irish immigrants. The first draft lottery conducted in New York City under the act was held on July 11, 1863. Two days later mobs attacked draft offices in the city, beginning five days of looting, arson, and violence. Blacks, easy scapegoats for anger, were beaten, dragged through the streets, and lynched. The Colored Orphan Asylum on Fifth Avenue was burned to the ground, the children narrowly escaping.
52.9 No sleep.] The poem recalls the opening of The Curse of Kahema (1810) by Robert Southey, the English Poet Laureate of Melville’s youth.
53.1 Look-out Mountain] In the “battle above the clouds,” fought in heavy mist and rain on November 24, 1863, Union troops under Major General Joseph Hooker (1814–1879) drove Confederate forces from much of Lookout Mountain just outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Firing between the opposing sides continued into the night, when the Confederates withdrew the rest of their forces.
53.8 Kaf the peak of Eblis] In Islamic mythology, the chief fallen angel, Iblis, lives on Mount Kaf.
54.5 their General’s plan] On the afternoon of November 25, 1863, Grant ordered the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Major General George H. Thomas, to capture the line of Confederate rifle pits at the base of Missionary Ridge. The advancing Union troops quickly overran the first Confederate position and then continued up the ridge, capturing its crest and forcing the Confederates to retreat into northern Georgia.
56.1 The Armies of the Wilderness] The Wilderness, a dense second-growth forest of scrub oak, pine, and underbrush in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, was the scene of two major Civil War battles: the battle of Chancellorsville, May 1–4, 1863, in which Lee succeeded in driving the Union army back across the Rappahannock River, and the battle of the Wilderness, in which Lee attacked the Union army as it moved south through the woods, May 5–6, 1864, but failed to prevent Grant from continuing his southward advance toward Spotsylvania Court House.
57.6 Beliel’s wily plea] Beliel’s arguments in Paradise Lost, II.108–228, are not to enlist fighters, since he advises (line 228) “ignoble ease, and peaceful sloth,” not peace and not war.
58.6 Paran] In Genesis and Numbers, regularly referred to as a “wilderness,” as in the title of this poem. Nabal of Paran is described as a son of Belial (1 Samuel 25:17).
58.19 field-mouse . . . ant] See the revenge tragedy The White Devil, V.iv.109, by English playwright John Webster (c. 1580–c. 1634): “The ant, the field-mouse, and the mole.”
59.12 Lord Fairfax’s parchment deeds] Thomas, the sixth Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1693–1781), was the proprietor of more than five million acres of land between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers known as the Northern Neck of Virginia.
60.4 quiet Man] Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant.
60.20 Mosby’s prowling men] Confederate officer John Singleton Mosby (1833–1916) commanded a company of Confederate cavalry raiders who operated behind the Union lines in northern Virginia.
61.23 Stonewall had charged] See note 48.15.
62.24 Longstreet] Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet (1821–1904) led a successful attack against the Union lines in the Wilderness on May 6, 1864, which faltered after he was accidentally wounded by Confederate soldiers.
63.2 Sabæan lore] Perhaps the tales behind the riddles the Queen of Sheba (Saba, on the Arabian peninsula) posed to Solomon (1 Kings 10:1–3).
63.13 On the Photograph of a Corps Commander] The corps commander in question is Union Major General Winfield Scott Hancock (1824–1886).
63.18 Spottsylvania’s charge to victory] On May 12, 1864, Hancock’s Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac captured the “Mule Shoe,” a fortified salient at the center of the Confederate lines at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia.
64.7 The Swamp Angel] Moniker given by Union soldiers to the eight-inch Parrott gun that began shelling Charleston, South Carolina, at a range of four and a half miles on August 22, 1863. Positioned on a battery built between Morris and James Islands, the gun fired thirty-six 150-pound shells before its breech burst on August 23. The Union bombardment of Charleston resumed on November 16, 1863, and continued until the Confederate evacuation of the city on February 18, 1865.
65.22 The Battle for the Bay] In the battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864, Rear Admiral David G. Farragut’s squadron defeated the Confederate flotilla under the command of Admiral Franklin Buchanan (1800–1874). The Union victory closed off the main Confederate port on the Gulf of Mexico.
66.21 He lashed himself aloft] Farragut was lashed to the rigging of the mainmast of the USS Hartford in order to get a clear view of the action.
66.29 the forts] The entrance to Mobile Bay was guarded by Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan.
66.34 Dim buoys . . . hint of death below] Buoys marked the location of anchored torpedoes (mines) at the entrance to Mobile Bay; passage around the easternmost buoy minefield forced attacking vessels within range of Fort Morgan’s guns.
67.3 The Tecumseh!] The USS Tecumseh, an ironclad monitor, was leading the squadron past Fort Morgan when it struck a torpedo and sank, with the loss of ninety-three lives.
67.27 Selma strikes] CSS Selma, a wooden side-wheel gunboat, struck its colors and surrendered to the USS Metacomet.
67.29 the Tennessee!] The ironclad ram CSS Tennessee served as Admiral Buchanan’s flagship during the battle. The Tennessee was rammed by several ships in Farragut’s squadron.
69.1 Sheridan at Cedar Creek] At dawn on October 19, 1864, Confederate troops under Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early (1816–1894) surprised Union forces at Cedar Creek, Virginia, and drove them from their positions. Major General Philip Henry Sheridan (1831–1888), who was returning to his command from a conference in Washington, learned of the attack in Winchester, Virginia, and rode to the front on his horse Rienzi, rallying stragglers and directing a successful counterattack.
70.8 In the Prison Pen] The prisoner exchange cartel that negotiated between the Union and Confederate armies in July 1862 began to break down in the summer of 1863 because of the Confederate refusal to treat black soldiers and their officers as prisoners of war. By 1864 an increasing number of prisoners on both sides were being held in overcrowded stockades. During the war at least 30,000 Union and 26,000 Confederate soldiers died while being held as prisoners.
71.1 The College Colonel] Inspired by William Francis Bartlett (1840–1876), a Harvard student who was commissioned as a captain in a Massachusetts regiment in 1861. Bartlett lost a leg in the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, but remained in the army and organized a new regiment. He was wounded again at Port Hudson and in the Wilderness before being captured in the Petersburg mine crater battle on July 30, 1864. Bartlett spent two months in Libby Prison in Richmond until he was exchanged.
72.1 The Eagle of the Blue] See Melville’s note about Northwestern regiments that kept eagles as mascots.
73.1 A Dirge for McPherson] Major General James B. McPherson (1828–1864), commander of the Army of the Tennessee, was killed by Confederate gunfire in the battle of Atlanta, fought east of the city on July 22, 1864.
74.8 he urged his keel] An allusion to William Barker Cushing (1842–1874), who sailed a steam launch up the Roanoke River on the night of October 27–28, 1864, and used a
spar torpedo to sink the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Albemarle at its moorings in Plymouth, North Carolina, making him a national hero.
74.30 imps] Strengthens, propels, as a consequence of repair made to wing or tail feathers, in falconry.
75.7 The March to the Sea] The scorched-earth campaign of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), beginning with the departure of Union troops from Atlanta on November 16, 1864, and ending with the occupation of Savannah on December 21, 1864. Sherman’s army of 60,000 men marched on a front fifty to sixty miles across, engaging in widespread destruction of both public and private property.
75.9–10 Kenesaw . . . Allatoona’s glen] Confederate forces opposing the Union advance on Atlanta retreated to a defense line anchored on Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia, on June 18, 1864. Sherman launched an unsuccessful frontal assault on the Confederate positions on June 27, then outflanked the Confederates on July 2 and forced them to retreat to the Chattahoochee River. A Union garrison guarding the Atlanta–Chattanooga railroad at Allatoona Pass, Georgia, repulsed a Confederate assault on October 5, 1864.
76.1 Kilpatrick’s] Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick (1822–1898) commanded Sherman’s cavalry division during the March to the Sea.
78.1 The Frenzy in the Wake] Sherman left Savannah on February 1, 1865, and began marching into South Carolina, where his army inflicted greater destruction on private homes and property than in Georgia. The Union advance reached Fayetteville, North Carolina, on March 11 and Raleigh on April 13.
78.14 Sisera’s brow] Jael, the wife of Heber, killed Sisera, a Canaanite oppressor of the Israelites, by driving a nail through his temple as he slept (Judges 4:21).
79.1 The Fall of Richmond] Following the Union victory at Five Forks, Virginia, on April 1, 1865, Grant ordered a general assault against the Petersburg defenses at dawn on April 2. The attack broke through the Confederate lines, forcing Lee to evacuate Petersburg and Richmond that night. Retreating soldiers set fire to Richmond’s stockpiles of cotton and tobacco to prevent them from falling into Union hands; the flames soon spread and caused extensive destruction in the city.
Herman Melville- Complete Poems Page 91