{"id":"01KG8AJNCE7PVRVVQ30YDZ2BQ3","cid":"bafkreigzp3drxjjfaaxbxrnhielffmxlzeye43ol7sswpem2popdsvpa5q","type":"segment","properties":{"description":"# The March to the Sea.\n## Overview - What this is (type, form, dates, scope)\n\"The March to the Sea.\" is a segment of text, a poem, extracted from the larger work, *Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.* It is part of the Melville Complete Works collection. The poem, written by an unknown author, focuses on General Sherman's march through the American South in December 1864, during the American Civil War.\n\n## Context - Background and provenance from related entities\nThis poem is contained within the poetry collection [Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.](arke:01KG8AJ6FNQ0XKWBY52P8DRPC9) and was extracted from the file [battle_pieces_and_aspects_of_the_war.txt](arke:01KG89J1G8S4TRWXNCBRKCRKS8), which is part of the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. The poem is preceded by \"At the Cannon’s Mouth.\" and followed by \"The Frenzy in the Wake.\"\n\n## Contents - What it contains, key subjects and details\nThe poem describes the Union Army's march to the sea, focusing on the soldiers' experience and the impact of the march. It highlights the soldiers' relentless advance, the destruction they caused, and the mixed emotions of those affected. The poem celebrates the \"glorious glad marching\" and the freedom experienced by the soldiers, while also acknowledging the \"wailing\" and \"terror\" left behind. It concludes by emphasizing the lasting memory of Sherman and his army's march.\n","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:28.907Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"The March to the Sea.","end_line":2740,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:35.910Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"The March to the Sea.","source_file":"01KG89J1G8S4TRWXNCBRKCRKS8","start_line":2631,"text":"The March to the Sea.\r\n(December, 1864.)\r\n\r\n\r\nNot Kenesaw high-arching,\r\n  Nor Allatoona’s glen--\r\nThough there the graves lie parching--\r\n  Stayed Sherman’s miles of men;\r\nFrom charred Atlanta marching\r\n  They launched the sword again.\r\n        The columns streamed like rivers\r\n          Which in their course agree,\r\n        And they streamed until their flashing\r\n          Met the flashing of the sea:\r\n            It was glorious glad marching,\r\n            That marching to the sea.\r\n\r\nThey brushed the foe before them\r\n  (Shall gnats impede the bull?);\r\nTheir own good bridges bore them\r\n  Over swamps or torrents full,\r\nAnd the grand pines waving o’er them\r\n  Bowed to axes keen and cool.\r\n        The columns grooved their channels.\r\n          Enforced their own decree,\r\n        And their power met nothing larger\r\n          Until it met the sea:\r\n            It was glorious glad marching,\r\n            A marching glad and free.\r\n\r\nKilpatrick’s snare of riders\r\n  In zigzags mazed the land,\r\nPerplexed the pale Southsiders\r\n  With feints on every hand;\r\nVague menace awed the hiders\r\n  In forts beyond command.\r\n        To Sherman’s shifting problem\r\n          No foeman knew the key;\r\n        But onward went the marching\r\n          Unpausing to the sea:\r\n            It was glorious glad marching,\r\n            The swinging step was free.\r\n\r\nThe flankers ranged like pigeons\r\n  In clouds through field or wood;\r\nThe flocks of all those regions,\r\n  The herds and horses good,\r\nPoured in and swelled the legions,\r\n  For they caught the marching mood.\r\n        A volley ahead! They hear it;\r\n          And they hear the repartee:\r\n        Fighting was but frolic\r\n          In that marching to the sea:\r\n            It was glorious glad marching,\r\n            A marching bold and free.\r\n\r\nAll nature felt their coming,\r\n  The birds like couriers flew,\r\nAnd the banners brightly blooming\r\n  The slaves by thousands drew,\r\nAnd they marched beside the drumming,\r\n  And they joined the armies blue.\r\n        The cocks crowed from the cannon\r\n          (Pets named from Grant and Lee),\r\n        Plumed fighters and campaigners\r\n          In the marching to the sea:\r\n            It was glorious glad marching,\r\n            For every man was free.\r\n\r\nThe foragers through calm lands\r\n  Swept in tempest gay,\r\nAnd they breathed the air of balm-lands\r\n  Where rolled savannas lay,\r\nAnd they helped themselves from farm-lands--\r\n  As who should say them nay?\r\n        The regiments uproarious\r\n          Laughed in Plenty’s glee;\r\n        And they marched till their broad laughter\r\n          Met the laughter of the sea:\r\n            It was glorious glad marching,\r\n            That marching to the sea.\r\n\r\nThe grain of endless acres\r\n  Was threshed (as in the East)\r\nBy the trampling of the Takers,\r\n  Strong march of man and beast;\r\nThe flails of those earth-shakers\r\n  Left a famine where they ceased.\r\n        The arsenals were yielded;\r\n          The sword (that was to be),\r\n        Arrested in the forging,\r\n          Rued that marching to the sea:\r\n            It was glorious glad marching,\r\n            But ah, the stern decree!\r\n\r\nFor behind they left a wailing,\r\n  A terror and a ban,\r\nAnd blazing cinders sailing,\r\n  And houseless households wan,\r\nWide zones of counties paling,\r\n  And towns where maniacs ran.\r\n        Was it Treason’s retribution--\r\n          Necessity the plea?\r\n        They will long remember Sherman\r\n          And his streaming columns free--\r\n            They will long remember Sherman\r\n            Marching to the sea.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"The March to the Sea."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJ6FNQ0XKWBY52P8DRPC9","peer_type":"poetry_collection","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1G8S4TRWXNCBRKCRKS8","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AJNCEX4VV3K5MRD445X1V","peer_type":"segment","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AJNCG9KQ8HPTAVBQB2VAM","peer_type":"segment","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:38.894Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:29.147Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}