Marching through Georgia
by Henry Clay Work
About:
Marching through Georgia is a marching song written by Henry Clay Work at the end of the American Civil War in 1865. It was made for U.S. Maj. General William Tecumseh Sherman's march to the sea in order to capture Savannah, Georgia in the previous year.
This song became very popular with Union Army veterans after the war. Ironically, this song was disliked by General Sherman himself. This was because it was played at nearly every public appearance that he attended.
Marching through Georgia is a marching song written by Henry Clay Work at the end of the American Civil War in 1865. It was made for U.S. Maj. General William Tecumseh Sherman's march to the sea in order to capture Savannah, Georgia in the previous year.
This song became very popular with Union Army veterans after the war. Ironically, this song was disliked by General Sherman himself. This was because it was played at nearly every public appearance that he attended.
Henry Clay Work, Marching Through Georgia (arr. J.P. Sousa). Youtube. N.p., 22
Mar. 2013. Web. 5 Jan. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=UD5Mua8R3U8>.
Mar. 2013. Web. 5 Jan. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=UD5Mua8R3U8>.
The song's lyrics are as follows:
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]
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]
BEN LEE