Excerpt from The Old First: Massachusetts Coast Artillery in War and Peace March of the First, inspiration fired his soul; the music was repeating a message to him. Was there something in the brazen voice of the horns, a magical harmony of sound with sense; or was it merely the loyal Chaplain's imagina tion? At any rate this is what he heard: We're brothers of all noble men, Who wear our country's blue, We brothers find in any race, Where men are brave and true. But we've a pride in our own band, And we are all agreed, Whatever grand-deeds others do, The Old First still shall lead. So while our feet keep music time, Our hearts are proudly beating An echo to Man's forward hope That never knows retreating. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.