Battle Hymn of the Republic
| Composer | |
| Lyricist | Mrs. Julia Ward Howe |
| Year Published | 1862 |
| Type | Patriotic |
| Playing Time | 2:57 (medley with Battle Cry and Marching Through Georgia) |
| Comments | Union soldiers' letters and diaries make it clear that "John Brown's Body" (which gained stanzas on a seemingly monthly basis as the war progressed) was a beloved marching song. In November 1861, Julia Ward Howe wrote new lyrics so as to give the majestic melody more dignity and power. Soldiers were slow in accepting the new words, but the resultant "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is the war's greatest musical legacy. |
| When the Civil War broke out there was no great national hymn, generally
accepted as such. This need of a new national hymn to meet the new and existing
conditions, one that would be the great peace song, yet the war song of the nation was
deeply felt at the very beginning of the war. At the request of many prominent Union men,
a committee, composed of scholars and statesmen was appointed to select such a hymn for
the use of the homes in the north and the army in the field. The committee waited three months for such a song. Twelve hundred competitors presented their compositions for the prize of $250 for the music and $250 for the words; but not one of them was accepted. The committee found that there was no soul-feeling, no fire of patriotism, running through the songs. Of all the twelve hundred songs composed in 1861 in competition for the prize of $500-not one is alive today! But Julia Ward Howe, then not widely known as a poet, had visited the Army of the Potomac, and there she saw the commotion of war, the bodies shattered, the lives sacrificed, and the stress and agony of the government in its mortal grapple with rebellion. These things lay heavy on her heart which throbbed in unison with the great heart of the nation; an one night in December, in 1861, she sprang from her bed and wrote the expression of her soul in these words of living power. When she returned to Boston she showed them to James T. Fields, then editor of the Atlantic Monthly. He suggested the title, "Battle Hymn of the Republic"; and published them promptly. In the Atlantic Monthly for February, 1862, the poem is printed on the first page, but the name of the author is not mentioned; indeed, no names are appended to the table of contents. Notes from Bill Warren,
SNGSTR8.SAM CWM |
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| In 1861, Julia Ward Howe was invited to a military review in the Virginia camps. Hearing her singing "John Brown's Body" on the way back, her pastor invited her to find better words for the melody. She wrote the "Battle-Hymn of the Republic" that evening. |