SinceitscompositioninWashington’sWillardHotelin1861,JuliaWardHowe’s“BattleHymnoftheRepublic“hasbeenusedtomakeAmericaanditswarssacred.FewAmericansreflectonitsviolentandredemptiveimagery,drawnfreelyfrompropheticpassagesoftheOldandNewTestaments,andfewerstillthinkabouttheimplicationsofthatapocalypticlanguageforhowAmericansinterpretwhotheyareandwhattheyowetheworld.InAFieryGospel,RichardM.Gambledescribeshowthiscamp-meetingtune,pairedwithHowe’sevocativelyrics,becameoneofthemosteffectiveinstrumentsofreligiousnationalism.Hetakesthereaderbacktothesong’soriginsduringtheCivilWar,andrevealshowthosepoliticalandmilitarycircumstanceslaunchedthesong’sincrediblecareerinAmericanpubliclife.Gambledeftlyconsiderstheideabehindthesong--hummingthetune,readingthemusicforus--allwhilerevelinginthemultiplicityofmeaningsofandusestowhichHowe’slyricshavebeenput.“TheBattleHymnoftheRepublic“hasbeenversatileenoughtomatchtheneedsofCivilRightsactivistsandconservativenationalists,warhawksandpeaceniks,aswellasEuropeansandAmericans.ThisvariedcareershowsreadersmuchabouttheshiftingshapeofAmericanrighteousness.Yetitis,arguesGamble,thecreatorofthesongherself--herAbolitionisthousehold,Unitariantheology,andRomanticandnationalistsensibilities--thatisthetrueconductorofthismostAmericanofwarsongs.AFieryGospeldepictsmostvividlythesurprisinggenealogyof“TheBattleHymnoftheRepublic,“anditssureandcertainpositionasaculturalpieceintheuncertainamalgamthatwasandisAmericancivilreligion.
