Again, there were many, far too many to count. On the whole, however, the North, or Union, had the better part of the poetic argument. The answer is not too far to seek. It is much easier to cheer for something, or to rally people around something, that already exists than to generate enthusiasm for something that is just coming into being. But when one looks for a counterpart to the Northern poems, one finds poetry such as follows, published in the Richmond Dispatch on May 23, 1861: