A favorite song of remembrance and mourning in both North and South, this version of “The Vacant Chair” presents George Root‘s setting of Henry S. Washburn‘s popular poem:
The “noble Willie” of verse 2 is 18 year old John William “Willie” Grout of the 15th Massachusetts Volunteers, who died at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff.
18thMass.com posts these accounts, excerpted from regimental histories & recent battlefield visits:
Ball’s Bluff Revisited (PART 1)
Ball’s Bluff Revisited (PART 2)
Alfred W. Thompson painted the Battle of Ball’s Bluff in “Cannonading on the Potomac” (c.1869):
Here’s a brief comics retelling of that battle, from Marek’s 2009 book, Hour 72!:
The Hardtacks 