Battle Cry of Freedom

For the 1988 book, see Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era.
"Rally 'Round the Flag" redirects here. For other uses, see Rally 'Round the Flag (disambiguation).

"Battle Cry of Freedom"
Cover of the 1862 sheet music for "Battle Cry of Freedom"
Song
Published1862
Songwriter(s)George Frederick Root

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.[1]

A modified Union version was used as the campaign song for the Lincoln-Johnson ticket in the 1864 presidential election, as well as in elections after the war, such as for Garfield in the 1880 U.S. presidential election.[2] The song was so popular that the music publisher had 14 printing presses going at one time and still could not keep up with demand. It is estimated that over 700,000 copies of this song were put in circulation. Louis Moreau Gottschalk thought so highly of the song that in his diary he confided that he thought "it should be our national anthem" and used it as the basis for his 1863 concert paraphrase for solo piano "Le Cri de délivrance," opus 55, and dedicated it to Root, who was a personal friend. Charles Ives quoted the song in several compositions, including his own patriotic song, "They Are There".[3]

% Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21566/21566-h/images/battlecry.pdf \new Score { \new Staff { << \new Voice = "one" \relative c'' { \clef treble \key bes \major \time 4/4 \partial 8*2 bes8 c | d8 d d8. c16 bes4 g8. a16 | bes8 bes bes8. a16 g2 | f4 f8. ees16 d8 f bes8. c16 | d2 c4 } \new Lyrics \lyricsto "one" { Yes we'll ral -- ly round the flag, boys, we'll ral -- ly once a -- gain, Shout -- ing the bat -- tle -- cry of Free -- dom } >> } }
  1. ^ McIvor, James (October 31, 2006). God Rest Ye Merry, Soldiers: A True Civil War Christmas Story. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-4406-2731-6.
  2. ^ Millard, Candice (2011). Destiny of the Republic. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. p. 70. ISBN 9780767929714.
  3. ^ Sinclair, James B. (1999). A Descriptive Catalogue of the Music of Charles Ives. Yale University Press. pp. 518–520. ISBN 9780300076011.