This document is an excerpt from the famous ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’, written by American writer Julia Ward Howe, set to the music from the song ‘John Brown’s Body’. Originally identified as the ‘John Brown’s Body’ Song, it was first played publicly a month before the start of the American Civil War, on Sunday 12 May 1861. In this version, the lyrics were created courtesy of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the Massachusetts militia, otherwise known as the ‘Tiger Battalion’ and included the words: ‘John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave, His soul’s marching on’. While many found satisfaction in the repeated reference to John Brown’s soul, others condemned the lyrics as cold and impertinent, and pushed for the adoption of more appropriate, and perhaps more eloquent, words. 

After hearing this song during a public review of the troops outside Washington, Julia Ward Howe was inspired to write ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’. Strongly encouraged by her friend, American theologian and author James Freeman Clarke, Howe set about writing new words to the song ‘John Brown’s Body’, set to the music of William Steffe.

Remembering how the inspiration came to her, Howe recalls waking ‘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’. The author proceeded to ‘scrawl the verses almost without looking at the paper’, scared that by the morning the sudden flash of inspiration may have escaped her. 

Feeling immense anguish and sadness at the growing conflict between the north and south, Howe channelled these emotions into the creation of lyrics which resounded with the entire nation, resulting in its publication on the front page of The Atlantic Monthly of February 1862. 1863 also saw the song published as a broadside by the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments in Philadelphia. While primarily associated with the American Civil War, ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’ came to be identified with the women’s suffrage movement and Black civil rights workers during the twentieth century. ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’ has without doubt stood the test of time and is celebrated today as a patriotic song, yet the power of the lyrics with their allusion to Judgment Day (New Testament, Rev. 19) remain synonymous with the events of the American Civil War.

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