During his junior year at Bowdoin College, Lt. Rogers enlisted in the Grand Army of the Republic. On June 7, 1864 at Cold Harbor, VA, a rifle-ball penetrated Rogers's lungs, and he had only hours to live. A Confederate doctor attending his wounds was astounded to see the D.K.E. membership pin on his chest. The Confederate, too, was a D.K.E. The pin was sent back to Maine, with a note explaining the circumstances. Rogers is buried in the National Cemetery at Cold Harbor, VA.
At a regional D.K.E. convention in Boston, the story of the young Bowdoin student, Lt. Edwin Searle Rogers was presented. Minot was moved to write the following poem.
BROTHERS IN DKE
Upon a southern battle-field the twilight shadows fall;
The clash and roar are ended, and the evening bugles call.
The wearied hosts are resting where the ground is stained with red,
And o'er the plain between them lie the wounded and the dead.
And out upon the sodden field, where the armies fought all day,
There came a group of soldiers who wore the rebel gray.
But peaceful was their mission upon the darkened plain:
They came to save their wounded and lay at rest the slain.
And tenderly their hands performed the work they had to do,
And one among them paused beside a wounded boy in blue,
A Northern lad, with curly hair and eyes of softest brown,
Whose coat of blue was red with blood that trickled slowly down.
Excerpt from a poem written in Edwin Rogers's memory by John Clair Minot Bowdoin College Theta D.K.E, 1896.
At a regional D.K.E. convention in Boston, the story of the young Bowdoin student, Lt. Edwin Searle Rogers was presented. Minot was moved to write the following poem.
BROTHERS IN DKE
Upon a southern battle-field the twilight shadows fall;
The clash and roar are ended, and the evening bugles call.
The wearied hosts are resting where the ground is stained with red,
And o'er the plain between them lie the wounded and the dead.
And out upon the sodden field, where the armies fought all day,
There came a group of soldiers who wore the rebel gray.
But peaceful was their mission upon the darkened plain:
They came to save their wounded and lay at rest the slain.
And tenderly their hands performed the work they had to do,
And one among them paused beside a wounded boy in blue,
A Northern lad, with curly hair and eyes of softest brown,
Whose coat of blue was red with blood that trickled slowly down.
Excerpt from a poem written in Edwin Rogers's memory by John Clair Minot Bowdoin College Theta D.K.E, 1896.
During his junior year at Bowdoin College, Lt. Rogers enlisted in the Grand Army of the Republic. On June 7, 1864 at Cold Harbor, VA, a rifle-ball penetrated Rogers's lungs, and he had only hours to live. A Confederate doctor attending his wounds was astounded to see the D.K.E. membership pin on his chest. The Confederate, too, was a D.K.E. The pin was sent back to Maine, with a note explaining the circumstances. Rogers is buried in the National Cemetery at Cold Harbor, VA.
At a regional D.K.E. convention in Boston, the story of the young Bowdoin student, Lt. Edwin Searle Rogers was presented. Minot was moved to write the following poem.
BROTHERS IN DKE
Upon a southern battle-field the twilight shadows fall;
The clash and roar are ended, and the evening bugles call.
The wearied hosts are resting where the ground is stained with red,
And o'er the plain between them lie the wounded and the dead.
And out upon the sodden field, where the armies fought all day,
There came a group of soldiers who wore the rebel gray.
But peaceful was their mission upon the darkened plain:
They came to save their wounded and lay at rest the slain.
And tenderly their hands performed the work they had to do,
And one among them paused beside a wounded boy in blue,
A Northern lad, with curly hair and eyes of softest brown,
Whose coat of blue was red with blood that trickled slowly down.
Excerpt from a poem written in Edwin Rogers's memory by John Clair Minot Bowdoin College Theta D.K.E, 1896.
At a regional D.K.E. convention in Boston, the story of the young Bowdoin student, Lt. Edwin Searle Rogers was presented. Minot was moved to write the following poem.
BROTHERS IN DKE
Upon a southern battle-field the twilight shadows fall;
The clash and roar are ended, and the evening bugles call.
The wearied hosts are resting where the ground is stained with red,
And o'er the plain between them lie the wounded and the dead.
And out upon the sodden field, where the armies fought all day,
There came a group of soldiers who wore the rebel gray.
But peaceful was their mission upon the darkened plain:
They came to save their wounded and lay at rest the slain.
And tenderly their hands performed the work they had to do,
And one among them paused beside a wounded boy in blue,
A Northern lad, with curly hair and eyes of softest brown,
Whose coat of blue was red with blood that trickled slowly down.
Excerpt from a poem written in Edwin Rogers's memory by John Clair Minot Bowdoin College Theta D.K.E, 1896.
Inscription
Edwin S. Rogers
Killed at Cold Harbor, Va.
June 7, 1864
AE 21 years
