Richard M. Gamble, "A Fiery Gospel: The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Road to Righteous War" (Cornell UP, 2019)

New Books in American Studies · Apr 13, 2020 · 41m

America’s most famous hymn was created in very unusual circumstances. Julia Ward Howe had travelled close to the front line and had witnessed a skirmish between Union and Confederate troops. Returning to her hotel, she entered a reverie, and, as she later explained it, was inspired to write new lyrics to a popular marching song. Her new composition – subsequently entitled “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” – described an almost apocalyptic intervention in which the evil of slavery would be thoroughly defeated. But the song took on a life of its own. Taken up in new causes, and internationally…