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War and the Muses - "Marching Thro' Georgia"
On November 16, 1864, Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman led the combined Armies of the Cumberland, the Ohio, and the Tennessee from Atlanta on his famous "March through Georgia," which brought them to Savannah in time for him to present the city to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift.
Aside from inspiring the eternal hatred of Confederate sympathizers for what became enshrined in "Lost Cause" mythology as an almost genocidal event, the march caused a number of songwriters to put pen musical tributes to Sherman and his men. The greatest and most enduring of these is "Marching Thro' Georgia" by Henry C. Work.
Henry Clay Work (1832- 1884), a native of Connecticut though raised in Illinois, was the son of Alanson Work. The elder Work, an abolitionist of some repute, is believed to have helped nearly 4,000 slaves reach freedom on "Underground Railroad," work for which he was several times imprisoned. The younger Work chose a different profession, becoming a song writer of some note. Although he composed quite a number of songs, mostly on a religious theme, just about the only tune one for which Work is now remembered � if at all � is "Marching Thro' Georgia"
Unlike most Civil War songs, "Marching Thro' Georgia" is reflective, recounting events that have already occurred, as if recalling them to memory. Thus, although apparently not consciously composed as a veterans' song, it caught the fancy of the former Union servicemen as they began to have reunions after the war. Indeed, it became so immensely popular among the veterans that by 1890 Sherman was thoroughly sick of the tune and actually asked that it not be played in his presence any longer.
Despite this, the song endured. And although it's rarely heard even today in the erstwhile Confederacy, its fame has spread far beyond the United States, British troops having been heard to sing it while on campaign in places all across the globe.
"Marching Thro' Georgia"
Ring the good ol' bugle, boys, we'll sing another song,
Sing it with the spirit that will start the world along,
Sing it as we used to sing it 50,000 strong
While we were marching through Georgia.
Chorus
Hurrah, hurrah, we bring the jubilee!
Hurrah, hurrah, the flag that makes you free!
So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea
While we were marching through Georgia!
How the darkies shouted when they heard the joyful sound!
How the turkeys gobbled which our commissary found!
How the sweet potatoes even started from the ground
While we were marching through Georgia!
Chorus
Yes, and there were Union men who wept with joyful tears
When they saw the honored flag they had not seen for years.
Hardly could they be restrained from breaking forth in cheers
While we were marching through Georgia!
Chorus
"Sherman's dashing Yankee boys will never reach the coast!"
So the saucy rebels said, and 'twas a handsome boast,
Had they not forgot, alas, to reckon with the host
While we were marching through Georgia!
Chorus
So we made a thoroughfare for freedom and her train,
Sixty miles in latitude, 300 to the main.
Treason fled before us, for resistance was in vain
While we were marching through Georgia!
Chorus
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