"Marching Through Georgia" (sometimes spelled as "Marching Thru' Georgia" or "Marching Thro Georgia") is a marching song written by Henry Clay Work at the end of the American Civil War in 1865. The title and lyrics of the song refer to U.S. Army major general William T. Sherman's "March to the Sea" to capture the Confederate city of Savannah, Georgia in late 1864.
The song became widely popular with Union Army veterans after the American Civil War. The song, sung from the point of view of a Union soldier, tells of marching through Georgian territory, freeing slaves, meeting Southern Unionist men glad to once again see the U.S. flag, and punishing the Confederacy for their starting the war.
After the war, in parts of the southern United States, and particularly in Georgia, ex-Confederates and some white Southerners saw the song as a symbol of perceived excessive damage and political domination the United States army and government exercised over the former Confederacy and Southern states during the war. Coincidentally, Sherman himself came to dislike "Marching Through Georgia", in part because it was played at almost every public appearance that he attended. In fact, it was even played at his funeral. [1] [2] Outside of the Southern United States, it had a widespread appeal: Japanese troops sang it as they entered Port Arthur, [3] the British Army sang it in India, and a British town welcomed southern U.S. troops in World War II with the tune.
The song remains popular with brass bands, and its tune has been adapted to other popular songs, including the controversial anthem of Glasgow Rangers Football Club "Billy Boys" and "Come In, Come In". It was also sung by a black Northern transplant played by Ernest Whitman in the film Gone with the Wind, and by Ann Sheridan in Dodge City.
In the 1896 presidential election, the campaigns of both William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan featured political songs sung to the tune of "Marching Through Georgia". [4]
In the United Kingdom, the tune is used for the Georgist anthem, The Land , the de facto party song of the Liberal Democrats and of the former Liberal Party. Liberal Assemblies and Liberal Democrat Conferences were formerly closed with the song, and the song continues to be a favourite at the conference Glee Club. David Lloyd George used the tune for his campaign song George and Gladstone in his first election campaign in 1890. [5]
An anglicised version of the song was recorded between 1901 and 1903 during the Second Anglo Boer War. This version, although almost identical, included alternate lyrics and was issued as "Marching On Pretoria" on the Zonophone label. [6]
George M. Cohan referenced the "Hurrah! Hurrah!" line in one of the verses of "You're a Grand Old Flag", juxtaposed with a line from "Dixie".
In Japan, the song was played by the Salvation Army in the late 1880s. [7] In 1892, a set of new lyrics were written by Tomiya Tetsumaru to make the song more oriented to other Japanese marching songs, renaming it "Masuratake wo". [8] In 1919, Masuratake wo was parodied with lyrics by Soeda Azenbō and Shogetsu Watanabe as "Tokyo Bushi (Pai no Pai no Pai)", which subsequently became a perennially popular shin min'yō standard. The song was featured in the soundtrack to the film The Flower and the Angry Waves by Seijun Suzuki.
The Finnish protest song "Laiva Toivo, Oulu" (English: "The Ship Hope, Oulu") is set to the melody of "Marching Through Georgia", but with Finnish-language lyrics criticizing the actions of the captain of the titular frigate Toivo . [9]
The song is referenced in the title of two alternate history novels. S. M. Stirling's Marching Through Georgia references the title, and Ward Moore's Bring the Jubilee references the chorus.
In 1924, guitar and harmonica player Charlie Oaks released "Marching Through Flanders" for the Vocalion label (Vocalion 15104). It bears an identical melody to "Marching Through Georgia", but details the exploits of American troops in Belgium during World War I.[ citation needed ]
In the early 1940s during the Japanese rule of Korea, the Korean Liberation Army used the melody of "Marching Through Georgia" for their "March of the KLA". [ citation needed ]
In the classic western movie Shane (1953), ex-Confederate Frank "Stonewall" Torrey (Elisha Cook, Jr.) is goaded by another, harmonica-playing, character with an impromptu rendition of "Marching Through Georgia". In the 1966 Howard Hawks western El Dorado, the character Bull, in response to being shot at from a bell-laden church tower and then asked to provide cover, proclaims, "Well, just give me another gun and I'll play "Marching Through Georgia."[ citation needed ]
In 1961, Tennessee Ernie Ford sang this song on his album Tennessee Ernie Ford Sings Civil War Songs of the North.
The Stockton, California band Pavement emphatically reference Sherman's March to the Sea and song "Marching Through Georgia" in their song "Unseen Power of the Picket Fence" from their 1994 album reissue Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins .[ citation needed ]
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One version of the chorus for Come In is as follows:
Come in, come in, I'll do the best I can
Come in, come in, bring the whole bloody clan
Take it slow and easy, and I'll shake you by the hand
Set you down, I'll treat you decent, I'm an Ulsterman
The first verse and chorus from "The Land" is as follows:
Sound the call for freedom boys, and sound it far and wide,
March along to victory, for God is on our side,
While the voice of nature thunders o'er the rising tide:
"God gave the land to the people."
The land, the land,'twas God who made the land,
The land, the land, The ground on which we stand,
Why should we be beggars with a ballot in our hand?
God gave the land to the people!
One verse from this adaptation, occasionally sung by members of the Industrial Workers of the World, is as follows:
Come with us, you workingmen, and join the rebel band;
Come, you discontented ones, and give a helping hand,
We march against the parasite to drive him from the land,
With one big industrial union!
Hurrah! hurrah! We're going to paint 'er red!
Hurrah! hurrah! the way is clear ahead—
We're gaining shop democracy and liberty and bread
With one big industrial union! [11]
The song was interpolated into The United States of America's "The American Metaphysical Circus".
The Salvation Army has a tradition of adapting songs with their own Christian words. These words written by George Scott Railton
Shout aloud salvation, and we’ll have another song;
Sing it with a spirit that will start the world along;
Sing it as our comrades sang it many a thousand strong,
As they were marching to Glory.
Refrain:
March on, march on! we bring the jubilee;
Fight on, fight on! salvation makes us free;
We’ll shout our Saviour’s praises over every land and sea
As we go marching to Glory.
How the anxious shout it when they hear the joyful sound!
How the weakest conquer when the Saviour they have found!
How our grand battalions with triumphant power abound,
As we go marching to Glory.
So we’ll make a thoroughfare for Jesus and his train;
All the world shall hear us as fresh converts still we gain;
Sin shall fly before us for resistance is in vain,
As we go marching to Glory. [12] [13]
"John Brown's Body" is a United States marching song about the abolitionist John Brown. The song was popular in the Union during the American Civil War. The song arose out of the folk hymn tradition of the American camp meeting movement of the late 18th and early 19th century. According to an 1889 account, the original John Brown lyrics were a collective effort by a group of Union soldiers who were referring both to the famous John Brown and also, humorously, to a Sergeant John Brown of their own battalion. Various other authors have published additional verses or claimed credit for originating the John Brown lyrics and tune.
The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is an American patriotic song that was written by abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe during the American Civil War.
Sherman's March to the Sea was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by William Tecumseh Sherman, major general of the Union Army. The campaign began on November 15 with Sherman's troops leaving Atlanta, recently taken by Union forces, and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah on December 21. His forces followed a "scorched earth" policy, destroying military targets as well as industry, infrastructure, and civilian property, disrupting the Confederacy's economy and transportation networks. The operation debilitated the Confederacy and helped lead to its eventual surrender. Sherman's decision to operate deep within enemy territory without supply lines was unusual for its time, and the campaign is regarded by some historians as an early example of modern warfare or total war.
"You're a Grand Old Flag" is an American patriotic march. The song, a spirited march written by George M. Cohan, is a tribute to the U.S. flag. In addition to obvious references to the flag, it incorporates snippets of other popular songs, including one of his own. Cohan wrote it in 1906 for his stage musical George Washington, Jr.
The "Battle Cry of Freedom", also known as "Rally 'Round the Flag", is a song written in 1862 by American composer George Frederick Root (1820–1895) during the American Civil War. A patriotic song advocating the causes of Unionism and abolitionism, it became so popular that composer H. L. Schreiner and lyricist W. H. Barnes adapted it for the Confederacy.
"When Johnny Comes Marching Home", sometimes "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again", is a song from the American Civil War that expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war.
"Garryowen" is an Irish tune for a jig dance. It has become well known as a marching tune in Commonwealth and American military units, most famously George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry Regiment.
The Battle of Decatur was a demonstration conducted from October 26 to October 29, 1864, as part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War. Union forces of 3–5,000 men under Brigadier-General Robert S. Granger prevented the 39,000 men of the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General John B. Hood from crossing the Tennessee River at Decatur, Alabama.
"The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning" is a hymn of the Latter Day Saint movement. It was written by W. W. Phelps, one of the most prolific hymnwriters of early Latter Day Saint movement.
"The Bonnie Blue Flag", also known as "We Are a Band of Brothers", is an 1861 marching song associated with the Confederate States of America. The words were written by the entertainer Harry McCarthy, with the melody taken from the song "The Irish Jaunting Car". The song's title refers to the unofficial first flag of the Confederacy, the Bonnie Blue Flag. The left flag on the sheet-music is the Bonnie Blue Flag.
The Army of Georgia was a Union army that constituted the Left Wing of Major General William T. Sherman's Army Group during the March to the Sea and the Carolinas Campaign. Although the Army of Georgia name was soon applied to this force, it was not officially recognized until March 28, 1865.
The Battle of Johnsonville was fought November 4–5, 1864, in Benton and Humphreys counties, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. Confederate cavalry commander Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest culminated a 23-day raid through western Tennessee by attacking the Union supply base at Johnsonville. Forrest's attack destroyed a total of 28 Union boats and barges in the Tennessee River and millions of dollars of supplies, disrupting the logistical operations of Union Major General George H. Thomas in Nashville. As a result, Thomas's army was hampered in its plan to defeat Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's invasion of Tennessee, known as the Franklin–Nashville campaign.
"Dixie", also known as "Dixie's Land", "I Wish I Was in Dixie", and other titles, is a song about the Southern United States first made in 1859. It is one of the most distinctively Southern musical products of the 19th century. It was not a folk song at its creation, but it has since entered the American folk vernacular. The song likely rooted the word "Dixie" in the American vocabulary as a nickname for the Southern U.S.
"Over the Hills and Far Away" is a traditional British song, dating back to at least the late 17th century. One version was published in Thomas D'Urfey's Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy; a very different one appeared in George Farquhar's 1706 play The Recruiting Officer. A version also appears in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera of 1728.
Soldiers of the Queen is a song written and composed by Leslie Stuart. The song is often sung and published as "Soldiers of the King" depending on the reigning monarch at the time. The tune was originally composed by Stuart as a march celebrating the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal. The lyrics were added at a later date and the title changed. The song was then interpolated in the musical comedy An Artist's Model (1895).
"Pat Murphy Of Meagher's Brigade", also known as "Pat Murphy Of The Irish Brigade" or "Song Of The Splintered Shillelagah", is a song that comes from the American Civil War. The song tells the story of a "Patrick Murphy" who serves under the command of Brig. Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher in the Irish Brigade of the Union Army. Murphy serves to illustrate the plight of the Irish in the Civil War.
"Hail to Pitt" is the most traditional fight song of the University of Pittsburgh, which is commonly referred to as Pitt. The saying "Hail to Pitt!" is also the most traditional and commonly used slogan of the University of Pittsburgh and its athletics teams. The slogan is frequently used in promotional material, printed on merchandise and souvenirs. It was also the title of a 1982 history of Pitt athletics by author Jim O'Brien. The slogan is often used among alumni as a statement of affiliation, including as a closing signature in conversation or correspondence between alumni, and is sometime abbreviated as "HTP" or "H2P", the latter of which is a registered trademark of the university and is frequently used on official university signage and merchandise.
During the American Civil War, music played a prominent role on both sides of the conflict, Union and Confederate. On the battlefield, different instruments including bugles, drums, and fifes were played to issue marching orders or sometimes simply to boost the morale of one's fellow soldiers. Singing was also employed not only as a recreational activity but as a release from the inevitable tensions that come with fighting in a war. In camp, music was a diversion away from the bloodshed, helping the soldiers deal with homesickness and boredom. Soldiers of both sides often engaged in recreation with musical instruments, and when the opposing armies were near each other, sometimes the bands from both sides of the conflict played against each other on the night before a battle.
Toivo was a frigate built in 1871 at the Toppila shipyard in Oulu, Finland for Tradehouse J. W. Snellman. Toivo was re-rigged as a bark in 1880. She sailed for Tradehouse J. W. Snellman until 1888, when she was sold to Eriksen & Gjersöe, Sweden-Norway. The ship is believed to have been taken out of service in 1895.
"Lincoln and Liberty Too" was a campaign song supporting Republican Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 United States presidential election.
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