Note BATTLE-HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC — PART IV THE CIVIL WAR

Page 384. Battle Hymn of the Republic. This, perhaps the loftiest strain of American patriotism, was inspired by a visit which Mrs. Howe paid to Washington in December, 1861. She heard the troops singing "John Brown's Body," and, at the suggestion of James Freeman Clarke, determined to write some worthy words to go with that air. The words were written almost at once, and were taken back to Boston by Mrs. Howe. She gave them to James T. Fields, editor of the "Atlantic Monthly," and they were published in the issue of that magazine for February, 1862, being given the entire first page. Mr. Fields furnished the title. Strangely enough, the poem attracted little attention, until a copy of a newspaper containing it was smuggled into Libby Prison. Chaplain Charles C. McCabe read it there, and presently the whole prison was singing it. After his release, Chaplain McCabe continued to call attention to the song, and its merits were soon widely recognized. President Roosevelt has suggested that it deserves to be the national anthem.