The Battle Hymn of the Republic first appeared in an 1862 issue of The Atlantic Monthly magazine and were published as the Civil War battle song of the Republic.  The author, Julia Ward Howe, along with her doctor husband had been visiting a Union Army camp on the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.   Day after day Mrs. Howe watched the troops go by as they marched off to war and heard them singing the song “John Brown’s Body.” 
          One day, while witnessing a parade of soldiers singing this catchy tune, her former pastor, the Rev. James Freeman Clarke turned to Mrs. Howe and said, “Why don’t you write some decent words for that tune?”

         "I awoke in the grey of the morning, and as I lay waiting for dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to entwine themselves in my mind and I said to myself, “I must get up and write these verses, lest I fall asleep and forget them!”

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Complete with period costume, Tonya brings to life Mrs. Howe as she reflects on the writing of this most beloved hymn and what happened to her life afterward.  Approximately ten minutes. 
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