Battle Hymn of the Republic

John Brown's grave, North Elba, NY (Stoddard 1896--Library of Congress)

    

     During the American Civil War, when the popular song Dixie was sung by Confederate troops, The Battle Hymn of the Republic was the inspirational marching song of the Union Army. The lyrics were written by Julia Ward Howe in November of 1861, after she heard Union soldiers singing the song John Brown’s Body at a campground near Washington, D.C.

     Wallace Steffe of Philadelphia claimed the music composition for John Brown’s Body, the same music composition which was used for the Battle Hymn of the Republic. But this claim was never proved and often challenged. If Steffe did not compose the music, who did?

     The song John Brown’s Body was first sung by soldiers at Fort Warren in Boston in May 1861.  It was published in Boston on July 16, 1861 with \the following credit: “Arranged by C.B. Marsh, origin, Fort Warren.” When The Atlantic Monthly published Julia Ward Howe’s Battle Hymn of the Republic in 1862, the author noted that she adapted the lyrics to her favorite melody “Glory, Hallelujah”—a Methodist hymn—which is the chorus music for John Brown’s Body.

     Should Methodists receive credit for the composition?  If you wish to continue this inquiry and join history’s detectives, click on:  http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/BattleHymnoftheRepublic.htm

     Turn up your speakers for a historic audio/visual performance of the Battle Hymn of the Republic on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5mmFPyDK_8 , or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir version:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpZ3jPMM5Ac

Original Lyrics:

Mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage
Where the grapes of wrath are stor'd;
He hath loos'd the fateful lightning
Of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watchfires
Of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar
In the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence
By the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel
Writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with My contemners,
So with you My grace shall deal:"
Let the Hero born of woman
Crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet
That shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men
Before His judgment seat.
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him!
Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies
Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom
That transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy
Let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.