It stands to reason that the monotony and stress demanded by the precise rythum of marching would be better accepted if the mind can match words to movement. Long hours of marching have been known to be more easily endured through songs. Long before the Revolutionary War songs were chosen specifically as marching songs (often referred to as 'walking songs')for armies to march in rythum to.
Remember 'Yankee Doodle went to town, A riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his hat, and called it macaroni'? Originally, this was sung by the British to make fun of the colonists. 'Macaroni' was British slang for 'fashionable dress'. The idea that a frontier commoner would refer to a feather in his hat as 'fashionable' was meant to be an insult. However, Dr. Joseph Warren, the man responsible for sending Paul Revere on his famous night ride, turned a British marching song into a Colonial anthem.
At the beginning of this Civil War a song about John Brown the abolitionist quickly became the marching song of recognition. John Brown led the Pottawatomie Massacre in 1856 and in 1859 the raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He was hung for treason in December of 1859.
'Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us' a hymn popular among black Southern people seems to be the tune originally associated with the melody of 'John Brown's Body'. Yet the song's actual origin is disputed. Crude lyrics such as 'Old John Brown's body is a-mouldering in the dust' do not necessarily suggest a pleasant after-life. Some claim the song writer and Union soldier Thomas Brigham Bishop penned the words. Others claim the origin actually traces back to a young Scotsman of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia who was also named John Brown.
Young soldier Brown was accustomed to his name being the target of many good-natured jokes. Lyrics such as 'his soul is marching on' were intended to tease the Scotsman. And, the catchy verses quickly traveled to other units as a good marching song. Last fall, the poet, Julia Ward Howe, after hearing troops sing 'John Brown's Body' while they marched in parade, accepted a challenge from Rev. James Freeman Clarke to write a 'more uplifting' version of the words.
On February 2, 1862, The Atlantic Monthly published Mrs. Howe's lyrics as a poem.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires 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.
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.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgement-seat; Oh be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on.
Mrs. Howe's lyrics, titled 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' guickly likened to the tune of 'John Brown's Body' have spread like wild fire. Soldiers, marching and singing the melody all over the north, are quickly declaring this their anthem of choice.
Mrs. Howe remembers writing the lyrics as, "I went to bed that night as usual, and slept quite soundly. I awoke in the gray of the morning twilight; and as I lay waiting for the dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to twine themselves in my mind. Having thought out all the stanzas, I said to myself 'I must get up and write these verses down, lest I fall asleep again and forget them. So, with sudden effort, I sprang out of bed, and found in the dimness an old stump of a pen which I remembered to have used the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper, as I had learned to do by often scratching down verses in the darkened room when my little children were sleeping. Having completed this, I lay down again and fell asleep, but not before feeling that something of importance had happened to me."
Mrs. Howe is married to Samuel Gridley Howe, director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Howe is known to be a radical Unitarian and a Transendentalist. Because of their mutual conviction in the value of development of every individual to work with the blind, the mentally ill or those incarcerated in prison, they are also outspoken against slavery. Many of their friends are radical abolitionists who supported John Brown. Mr. Howe's name has been associated with the 'Secret Six', a group of men believed to have bankrolled John Brown's activities. Actual identity of the Secret Six remains unknown. Some even suggest those supporters now regret their actions and strive to keep their identities unknown.
The Howes are parents to six children. Mrs. Howe remains devoted to her children's education and care even though her poems and plays have become increasingly popular in recent years.
The Howes are also actively involved in the United States Sanitary Commission that was founded when the war began. The purpose of the Sanitary Commission is to promote clean and healthy conditions in the military camps. The Sanitary Commission is responsible for staffing field hospitals, raising money, providing supplies and educating the military on matters of healthy sanitation. Many women have volunteered to work with the Sanitary Commission in direct service such as nursing or other tasks. Others help to raise money or manage the organization. The Sanitary Commission also provides food, lodging and care for soldiers returning from service.
Because of their work with the Sanitary Commission, Mr. and Mrs. Howe had been invited to Washingtong by President Lincoln. It was on this visit, after attending a Union Army Camp across the Potomac and hearing soldiers march in parade, that Mrs. Howe was challenged to write the inspiring words that have become known as 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' and accepted as the Union's official marching anthem.
