Turning to the North, the first tune we meet is the famous 'John Brown's Body,' one of the most stirring marching songs ever written, a favorite among soldiers the world over. Its origin is humble--a camp-meeting song among many, sung by the negroes in the South years before the War, to religious words. It may be, indeed, a negro folk-song, though its authorship is claimed for William Steffe, a composer of Sunday-school music. It was started on its patriotic career by the 'Tigers,' a battalion in the 12th Massachusetts Regiment. The words 'Say, brothers, will you meet us?' were taken from the lips of recruits by Captain Hallgreen, the author of the poem. John Brown, the hero of the song, was not the John Brown of Harper's Ferry, but a good-natured Scotchman, who was the subject of a current joke among the men. The words were prophetic, for John Brown of the 'Tigers' lost his life during a retreat of the Union forces. All attempts of the superior officers to substitute a name with more dignity and fame miscarried, and John Brown was made immortal by his fellows. The 'Twelfth' sang the song from city to city and the swing of it set people wild. Later, when heard in camp, the tune appealed so strongly to James Freeman Clarke, that he induced Julia Ward Howe to dignify it with more serious words. 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' was the result. A composer whose Civil War songs achieved almost the rank of national songs is George F. Root (1820-1895). His 'Battle Cry of Freedom,' 'Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching,' and 'Just Before the Battle, Mother' became favorites during the war and have enjoyed an afterglow of popularity since. Dr. Root was an exponent of the Lowell Mason system,[85] and was a convention leader who had followed Mason in his method of diffusing music among the masses. He was a pupil of George J. Webb and also pursued the study of his art in Paris. As a final word we must recall Henry Clay Work's 'Marching through Georgia,' which is perhaps the best of the tunes written expressly as war songs. It is a stirring melody with all the qualities of a national anthem, though unfortunately its partisan inspiration and associations will not allow it to be such. There is nothing to record in the way of patriotic songs since the stormy days of the Civil War. Peaceful times have turned composers' attention elsewhere, and progress in the higher forms of art music has gone on apace. Accordingly, it now becomes our duty to record the achievements of American musicians in the field of conscious creative endeavor. C. S. FOOTNOTES: [60] 'Nationalism in Music,' in 'The International,' Dec., 1913. [61] H. E. Krehbiel, 'Afro-American Folksongs,' 1914. [62] H. E. Krehbiel, _op. cit._ [63] Richard Wallaschek: 'Primitive Music,' London, 1893. [64] 'Slave Songs of the United States,' New York, 1867. [65] 'Ten Years in South Africa.'