My way to honor this day.
In 1861, a month after the start of the American Civil War, a Boston regiment premiered a song using two folk tunes. One tune and chorus was Glory, Hallelujah, which had originated in Southern US religious camp meetings in the early 19th century. A later account of the authorship of the words:
“We had a jovial Scotchman in the battalion, named John Brown. ... [A]nd as he happened to bear the identical name of the old hero of Harper’s Ferry, he became at once the butt of his comrades. If he made his appearance a few minutes late among the working squad, or was a little tardy in falling into the company line, he was sure to be greeted with such expressions as “Come, old fellow, you ought to be at it if you are going to help us free the slaves,” or, “This can’t be John Brown—why, John Brown is dead.” And then some wag would add, in a solemn, drawling tone, as if it were his purpose to give particular emphasis to the fact that John Brown was really, actually dead: “Yes, yes, poor old John Brown is dead; his body lies mouldering in the grave.”
The song became widely popular in the US Army and was often improvised, but two standard lines were:
“John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave, His soul’s marching on.”
And,—
“He’s gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord, His soul’s marching on.”
During a public review of the troops outside Washington, D.C. Company “K” of the 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, sang the song. In the audience was Julie Ward Howe. Howe was a fervent abolitionist and tireless advocate for women’s education and suffrage. She went back to her room at Willard’s Hotel and went to bed. Early the next morning, she awoke with lines in her hed. She sprang from bed, found a small stub of a pencil and jotted down the words in the near darkness. Comparing Slavery to the Biblical judgement of the end times, she drew references to Isaiah and Revelations. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic became the anthem of the anti-slavery forces of the North.
Howe's 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 stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, Glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
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.
(Chorus)
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.
(Chorus)
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.
(Chorus)
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.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.