The Battle Cry of Freedom

"Battle Cry of Freedom"
Cover of the 1862 sheet music for "Battle Cry of Freedom".
Song
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.

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. 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 his own patriotic song, "They Are There".

$% Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21566/21566-h/images/battlecry.pdf \new Score { \new Staff { << \new Voice = "one" \relative c'' { \clef treble \key bes \major \time 4/4 \partial 8*2 bes8 c | d8 d d8. c16 bes4 g8. a16 | bes8 bes bes8. a16 g2 | f4 f8. ees16 d8 f bes8. c16 | d2 c4 } \new Lyrics \lyricsto "one" { Yes we'll ral -- ly round the flag, boys, we'll ral -- ly once a -- gain, Shout -- ing the bat -- tle -- cry of Free -- dom } >> } }$

"Battle Cry of Freedom" proved popular among Union soldiers during the American Civil War. According to Henry Stone, a Union war veteran recalling in the late 1880s, the song helped the morale of Union soldiers:

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