Abram Joseph Ryan, a Catholic priest who served as a Confederate chaplain, became the poet of the defeated South with verses like The Conquered Banner, which bids the soldiers furl their flag. Alongside these patriotic laments are religious meditations, hymns to the Virgin and poems on grief, faith and the passing of earthly things.
Its Confederate patriotism is unreconstructed and of its time, but the book is an essential document of postwar Southern memory. Download the free EPUB.