The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Tabernacle Choir

The “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was written at the time of the American Civil War. It is a poem and a prayer that puts righteousness, truth, and victory back into God’s hands. The melody is from a much older folk song, but Julia Ward Howe wrote those historic words that draw from the biblical meme of the ultimate battle against the forces of darkness and evil.

On this day, we acknowledge that all nations and peoples have fought their battles of independence many times and continue to do so to this day, even if the battlefield has moved into the realm of the invisible. Let us honor the many heroes of liberty of the human enterprise and sing for all the lands of the free.