Battle Hymn of the Republic (original version)

New England Song Series No. 1:

"BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC"

Origins of a Civil War Song

By Roger Lee Hall

Click on these links:

The Words

The Music

The Recordings

Related Links

The story how the words to this famous Civil War song were written have been told often, but seldom directly from its author. Also, for many years the tune has been misunderstood and inaccurately credited.

Let's look at the two elements of the song, beginning with the...

The Words

First verse:

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.

Here is the story about the song, as told by the poet herself:

"It would be impossible for me to say how many times I have been called upon to rehearse the circumstances under which I wrote the 'Battle Hymn of the Republic'... We were invited, one day, to attend a review of troops at some distance from the town. The review was discontinued, and we saw a detachment of soldiers gallop to the assistance of a small body of our men who were in imminent danger of being surrounded and cut off from retreat. We returned to the city very slowly, of necessity, for the troops nearly filled the road. My dear minister was in the carriage with me, as were several other friends. To beguile the rather tedious drive, we sang from time to time snatches of the army songs so popular at that time, concluding, I think with 'John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the ground; His soul is marching on.' The soldiers seemed to like this, and answered back, 'Good for you!' Mr. Clarke said, 'Mrs. Howe, why do you not write some good words for that stirring tune?' I replied that I had often wished to do this, but had not as yet found in my mind any leading toward it.

I went to bed that night as usual, and slept, according to my wont, 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 a 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...At this time, having completed my writing, I returned to bed and fell asleep, saying to myself, 'I like this better than most things I have written.'

The poem, which was soon published in the 'Atlantic Monthly,' was somewhat praised on its appearance, but the vicissitudes of the war so engrossed public attention that small heed was taken of literary matters. I soon, and was content to know, that the poem soon found its way to the camps, as I heard from time to time of its being sung in chorus by the soldiers."

--from Reminiscences 1819-1899 by Julia Ward Howe, Boston, 1899.

The Music

In his Book of World-Famous Music (5th ed, 2000), James J. Fuld has written an extensive and authoritative account of how the Battle Hymn and its "Glory Hallelujah" chorus evolved from late 1850s to the early 1860s. He writes that: "On Nov. 27, 1858, Brothers Will You Meet Us? was copyrighted as a separate hymn by G.S. Scofield, New York, NY. No copy of this separate publication has been located, but it was soon reproduced in the Dec. 1858 issue of Our Monthly Casket, published by the Lee Avenue Sunday School, Brooklyn, vol. 1, no. 8, p. 152. The music and words of the Glory Hallelujah Chorus are present. The opening words of the song are "Say, brothers, will you meet us," and the song became known as a Methodist hymn by this title." The hymn has been often credited to William Steffe but proof of his authorship is not conclusive.

But there was also the song "John Brown" published by Charles Sprague Hall in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1861, which includes the Glory Hallelujuah Chorus. The reference is not to the anti-slavery fighter, John Brown, but instead was poking fun at Sgt. John Brown at Fort Warren in Boston. The song jokingly begins: "John Bown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave." This tune was the one Julia Ward Howe mentioned in her book and was the one she knew, not the Methodist hymn. It is not known for sure who wrote the "John Brown" song, but it was not William Steffe.

As shown in the above illustration, the second line of the first printings of the Battle Hymn Chorus had an additional "Glory" making it even more stirring:

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

As Julia Ward Howe wrote about her war hymn: "I soon was content to know, that the poem soon found its way to the camps, as I heard from time to time of its being sung in chorus by the soldiers."

Why isn't it sung now as the marchlike hymn that she intended? It is most often sung like a sentimental pop song.

Well, there is a performance of "John Brown" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic" with its original marchlike intensity by the oldest choral society in the United States --
The Old Stoughton Musical Society

The original sheet music cover states:

Adapted to the favorite Melody "Glory, Hallelujah"
written by Mrs. Dr. S. G. [Samuel Gridley] Howe.

This sheet music was published by Oliver Ditson in Boston in 1862.

A later description of this Civil War song

"The Singers had received an invitation to participate in the World's Peace Jubilee, to be held in Boston in June [1872]...Mrs. Julia Ward Howe's stirrring lyric, 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic,' was on the programme, to be sung to the air of 'John Brown.'...Every word of that first line rang through the Coliseum as if sounded out of a trumpet. The great audience were carried away on a whirlwind of delight; the trained musicians in the orchestra bent forward in forgetfulness of their parts...When the grand old chorus 'Glory, glory, hallelujah,' followed, with a swelling volume of music from the great orchestra, the thunder of the bands, and the roar of the artillery, the scene was indesribable. Twenty thousand people were on their feet. Ladies waved their hankerchiefs. Men threw their hats in the air, and the Coliseum rang with cheers and shouts of 'The Jubilees! The Jubilees forever!"

--from The Story of the Jubilee Singers by J.B.T. Marsh, 1880.

The Recordings

Hear original versions of "John Brown" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
performed by The Old Stoughton Musical Society Chorus,
directed by Roger Hall, from a concert, "Music in Old Boston," celebrating
the 350th anniversary of the City of Boston in 1980.

To hear these songs, click on the link in this box...

"John Brown" and
"Battle Hymn of the Republic"

These two songs and more rare music are included
on the CD and Listener's Guide,
prepared for the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial:

"Lincoln and Liberty": Music from Abraham Lincoln's Era

50th anniversary of a hit record

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has made numerous recordings of Julia Ward Howe's Civil War song, performed from the 1944 arrangement by Peter J. Wilhousky, which has become the preferred one for choruses everywhere.

It should be mentioned that in the 1944 arrangement, the last verse ends with the original words: "As He died to make men holy, Let us DIE to make men free." This was later changed for Mormon Tabernacle Choir recordings to:
"As He died to make make holy, Let us LIVE to make men free." That is the same as changing the words of a valuable historical document and is typical of "politically correct" changes made to songs from the past to make them more appealing in recent times.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir had their biggest million-seller of the song in 1959 when a 45 record of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" made the pop charts. According to Joel Whitburn in his authoritative The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits,
this Mormon Tabernacle record was on the Billboard charts for 11 weeks and
reached as high as No. 13. It also received a Grammy Award in 1959 for Best Performance By a Chorus.

This was a shortened version of Julia Ward Howe's Civil War song and was suggested to Columbia Records by the popular Cleveland disc jockey Bill Randle, so the song would fit easily on a 45 RPM record. Here is the back of the recod sleeve with the last verse:

"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 live ["die" in the original] to make men free,
While God is marching on!

See the Wikipedia article about Julia Ward Howe's song at

The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Related Links

"Lincoln and Liberty" - Music From Abraham Lincoln's Era
Massachusetts Music
New England Songster
New England Music Archive
Singing Stoughton
Society For Earlier American Music