t the conclusion of Friday's service of prayer and remembrance at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., the congregation (which included President George W. Bush and former Presidents Clinton, ...

In November 1861, the poet Julia Ward Howe took the melody of the abolitionist singalong “John Brown’s Body” and added a new set of lyrics meant to inspire the Union to righteous victory. The editors ...

In February 1862, the Atlantic Monthly published Julia Ward Howe’s “The Battle Hymn Of The Republic,” and in doing so, helped cement a national identity in a nation engulfed by civil war. The poem ...

It was sung at Ronald Reagan's funeral, and adopted with new lyrics by labor radicals. John Updike quoted it in the title of one of his novels, and George W. Bush had it performed at the memorial ...

Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021. During the Civil War, the “Battle Hymn” became a rallying cry of the ...

As conservatives gained power and confidence in the decades after Barry Goldwater’s defeat, each of the three political tributaries whose convergence fueled the movement—anticommunism, antitaxation, ...

The ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ has marched its way through American history. But does it do justice to Jesus? I learned most of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" before I started grade school. The ...

To end a holiday concert at Montréal’s symphony hall earlier this month, superstar conductor and five-time 2023 Grammy nominee Yannick Nézet-Séguin led his hometown orchestra, two soloists, a massive ...

In Kenner-born pianist Jon Batiste's hands, the 19 th-century "Battle Hymn of the Republic'' has taken on an eerie, emotionally complex vibe, with elements of bamboula rhythm, blues vocals and a sort ...

Julia Ward Howe remembered years later that she had awakened around dawn in her room in Willard’s Hotel with the lyrics floating in her head. It was November 1861, and she was on her first trip to ...