Harvey Elisha Pond, a private in the Company D, 136th New York, was killed at the battle of Resaca. His descendant, a Friends of Resaca supporter, found this poem about the Battle along with her ancestor's service information in an old family Bible. The poem is from a yellowed newspaper clipping. It reads as follows:

Voices from Home
From Our Special Correspondent

On the afternoon of Sunday, May 15 the Rebels made their last fierce attack upon our lines at Resaca. The 150th was under heavy fire until dark, and was then taken to a ravine just back of the line of battle. The men were hardly asleep before a terrific fire opened, lasting about fifteen minutes, and after this no one felt like sleeping, and as we laid anxiously waiting a fresh attack the air seemed to be filled with messages from our quiet homes.

Listen boys to the spirit voices,
Whispering in the evening air,
As from our homes and mothers
Comes this sad but earnest prayer:

"Oh God! watch over the soldiers,
Be with them in camp and field,
Strengthen them in trying hours,
When to the tempter they would yield.

"Oh God! bless our country
With a peace in honor wrought.
Let the Union stand yet firmer
For the fields so dearly bought.

"Oh God! keep my child! my boy!
In the hollow of thy hand
Let him safely meet all dangers,
Fighting for the Father-land."

Boys, heed these gentle warnings,
By our tearful mothers given.
Let us live to them an honor,
Or with faith meet them in heaven.

- Submitted by Renee Young

Sandra Medina, an Attorney in California, was greatly inspired by a visit to the Resaca Battlefield in 1997. She wrote the following poem about her experience with this pristine landscape.

Heros asleep in the graves at Resaca
I think you did not plan it so
When first you came to this sweet Georgia wood.

You were only men then, or boys,
And brave beyond what could have been expected.
Full of dreams, with lives to live.

It was not to be.

Is it enough, not to be forgotten?
Is it enough to lie beside your comrades,
True believers with you in a sacred cause?

It has to be.

There is nothing else in this quiet space but sleep
And honor that lasts forever.

Do you have a poem, essay, or other material inspired by the Resaca Battlefield? Send it to us.

Read Letters written by participants in the battle here.