Battle Hymn Of The Republic

Battle Hymn of the Republic

John Brown was a leader to many, but a pacifist he was not. In his passion to end slavery and help keep all men free, he led a raid on Harper’s Ferry which precipitated the Civil War. He was killed by hanging in December of 1859.

Union soldiers made him into a hero and often sang a camp song in his memory. The song, called “John Brown’s Body,” had a memorable tune but the lyrics were uninspiring.

Julia Ward Howe had been invited to Washington DC by President Lincoln. In November of 1861, her trip to the Capitol to meet with him took her through the war camps of Virginia. While crossing Upton Hill, she heard the Union soldiers singing about John Brown. She loved the tune but, being a poet, wished for better words. Her pastor suggested that she write something more fitting for the spirited music.

That night, she awoke from her sleep with lyrics flashing through her head. In her own words: “I awoke in the grey of the morning, and as I lay waiting for the dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to entwine themselves in my mind, and I said to myself, ‘I must get up and write these verses, lest I fall asleep and forget them!’ So I sprang out of bed and in the dimness found an old stump of a pen ... I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.”

When she had finished, she had written one of the greatest tributes to the American spirit ever penned. The Atlantic Monthly published her work in 1862 and it sparked the nation, instilling the country with a sense of fervor and pride. When Lincoln first heard it, he stood up, eyes tearing, and asked for it to be sung again.

It has become the theme for innumerable patriotic causes and events as it has the uncanny ability to be called upon for almost any season and any patriotic agenda. Winston Churchill requested it for his own funeral and many others have stood proudly at it’s playing.

It is what patriotism is all about. It is pure, unadulterated God and Country and it is found in virtually every American hymnal ever printed. You know it as “The Battle Hymn Of The Republic”. Here are Julia Ward Howe’s awe-inspiring lyrics:

BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC

1-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.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

His truth is marching on.

2-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.

3-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.

4-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.