(Continued from previous blog)
Byers’ doctor had advised that travel and a change of climate was necessary for the restoration of his health.1 And, indeed, his health was restored and Byers flourished in his job as a U.S. Consul in Zurich, Switzerland. In his leisure time he would write books, poems and also write articles for leading magazines and newspapers. He remained as a U. S. Consul in Zurich, from 1869 to 1884, serving under four republican presidents: Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. And in 1884, during the last year of President Arthur’s term, Byers was appointed as the Consul General for Italy.
It was also in 1884 that Byers published his first small volume of poetry, The Happy Isles, and Other Poems. The book was dedicated to his loving wife and the title was based on the widely acclaimed epic poem he had written in memory of their young daughter who had died at age seven. In the hauntingly beautiful and sad poem, The Happy Isles, an angel in paradise asks “what loveliest thing there was, that was most fair of anything on earth … While in their midst stood one of mortal birth …” (his daughter). The poem is twelve pages long.
In 1885, Byers was recalled from office by democratic President, Grover Cleveland. And Byers returned to Oskaloosa and continued writing which included a 600-page detailed book on the civil war, published in 1888, titled: “Iowa in War Times.”
Then in 1891, the republican president, Benjamin Harrison initially appointed Byers as Consul to St. Gall, Switzerland and later as Consul General to Switzerland. But, under Grover Cleveland’s second term, Byers was again recalled from office in 1894. He had served as a U.S. Consul for close to a total of twenty years. This time, when he returned to the United States, he made his home in Des Moines, Iowa to continue with his love of writing. In 1918, he moved to California and wrote articles and poetry for the Los Angles Times even while he was still in his ninety’s. At age 92, he invited 92 friends to his birthday party. He died in 1933, at age 95.
Prior to his time as a prisoner of war, Byers had not shown any inclination to become an author or to write poetry. But being isolated in a prison camp tends to focus the mind on the basic interests in life. The first recorded time of Byers’ attempt at poetry was in a letter to a friend shortly after he had been captured by the confederates. He wrote this verse:
“Well, William! My boy, ‘tis in prison I thank ye;
They’ve got me, at last, just for being a Yankee!” 2
The following year, while in the confederate’s Columbia, S. C. prison, he would write the poem that would change his life: Sherman’s March to the Sea. Many years later, while he was living in Des Moines, he wrote, The March to the Sea: A Poem, which was a poetic and descriptive account, of over 130 pages, on Sherman’s entire march. One critic who found “technical faults” and some problems with the syntax went on to say: “after noting these things, one is forced to admit that Major Byers book has an atmosphere of spontaneity and rich simplicity that amounts possibly to genius and gives it a value far above far more flawless work.” 3 Others have referred to The March to the Sea as “probably his best work.” 4
Now, seventy-seven years after his death, perhaps Byers is best known in Iowa for the lyrics he wrote for the Song of Iowa to the tune of O Christmas Tree. At the time he wrote the song, he was at his home on Terrace Road in Des Moines. No doubt, since he had lived in the beautiful and scenic countries of Switzerland and Italy and traveled throughout Europe, he was asked many times which land or country he preferred. He responded to that question in the first two stanzas of the song:
You asked what land I love the best,
Iowa, tis Iowa,
The fairest State of all the west,
Iowa, O ! Iowa,
From yonder Mississippi’s waters stream
To where Missouri’s waters gleam
O ! fair it is as poet’s dream,
Iowa, in Iowa.
See yonders fields of tasseled corn,
Iowa in Iowa,
Where plenty fills her golden horn,
Iowa in Iowa,
See how her wonderous praries shine.
To yonder sunset’s purpling line,
O ! happy land, O ! land of mine,
Iowa, O ! Iowa
Byers had dreamed of Iowa when he was a prisoner of war and many years later he found the simple beauty of Iowa also to be a poet’s dream.
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1. “The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: July 1, 1868 – October 31, 1869; Ulysses S. Grant Association, p. 485
2. The Palimpsest, Vol. XIII, No. 11, November 1932; The State Historical Society of Iowa; “And Pen” by Ruth A. Gallagher, p. 449
3. Godey’s Magazine, Vol. CXXXV, July to December, 1897, New York; “A Poet of the Civil War” by Chelifer, p. 497
4. The Palimpsest, p. 449