Happy Independence Day. The day on which founding architects and rivals Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died was, coincidentally, the anniversary of the day America was birthed.
Jump ahead: 4 score and 7 years (87 years in contemporary language) to the Civil War — after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. And then, 126 years — to another score… from Glory… the film, based on the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and their commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw.
James Horner (ahem — famed Academy Award Winner for “Titanic”) scored a Grammy for “Glory”. Best Instrumental Written for a Motion Picture or for Television. The Boys Choir of Harlem provided the beautiful voices. “Blow the horn, play the fife” gets me every time. Give ‘em HELL, 54th!”
The story:
July 18, 1863, they — the 54th — stormed Fort (Battery) Wagner on a suicide mission. Glory Hallelujah! If a soundtrack had accompanied the assault, it probably would’ve been “The Battle Hymn of The Republic”. Sadly, 25 year-old Gould’s heart did not go on after reaching the parapet: He was shot right through it after urging his men, “Forward, 54th— Forward”. Since he was an officer, his body should have been returned. Not in this case. His regiment was African American. He was not. Confederate payback. He and the men who died with him were buried in a mass grave. Due to weather and beach erosion, they eventually became part of the sea. Had it not been for this film, many people would probably not know about Shaw and the 54th. But, what does that have to do with the Fourth — of July — besides bombs bursting in air? HEY! There’s modality to my madness…
Civil War geeks know July 4th means the Battle of Gettysburg was over the day before — on July 3, 1863. In 3 days, casualties estimated at over 51,000 human beings and 5,000 horses painted the sleepy town at the crossroads red. Johnny Reb and Billy Yank fatefully and literally bumped into each other in a little farming hamlet with “Independence Day” right around the corner. It was a pivotal event in our country’s short history and an infamous address that will not soon be forgotten geographically, or as a short speech by a seemingly divinely inspired Mr. Lincoln (I highly recommended it as an example of brevity made beautiful and potent. C’mon, PEOPLE! Government of the people, by the people, for the people… but, for this republic — it STILL is news — Papa may have, Mama may have — But, God Bless the Child That’s Got It’s Own, America.)
What? You say you don’t think about the Republic much, nor its Battle Hymn (or, was that — you don’t think much of the Republic?) I’m talking about “The Battle Hymn of The Republic” here. I mean, who wrote it? How did it come about? Yes, HOWE. Julia Ward Howe — that(’s) how(e). In 1861, a friend of Mrs. Howe’s suggested she write new verses for the fight song after they heard it sung in DC at a public review of troops. Afterward, Mrs. Howe went to bed and woke up with a song in her head. She felt compelled to take pen to paper before she lost the long verses that were completing themselves. And — Holy Stanzas! There were many. She maintained she barely looked at the paper as she wrote. The result of her inspiration was later used by the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments.
The music actually morphed from a ditty that passed through many a campfire sing along as a spiritual associated most memorably with John Brown ‘s Body (Lies A-Mouldering in the Grave) — a tale (in song) about the Abolitionist Extraordinaire — hanged in 1859 — “martyr” to the white abolitionist cause. It actually came from “Say Brothers Will You Meet Us”, a tune drafted by William Steffe in 1855. Many black southerners came to adopt it in the “Canaan’s Happy Shore” form. This was a crossover hit, folks.
So, back to Gettysburg… Were it not for the circumstances surrounding that battle…well, I do believe jazz most certainly would not be one of America’s favorite exports. With a Rebel Yell — the last Confederate wave in a sea of humanity — Pickett’s Charge — defined the watermark of the Confederacy on July 3, 1863. It was a slaughter…the next day, on July 4, a shattered Robert E. Lee retreated with his forces. It was a devastating blow for an already severely tested Southern force that turned the tide for America… blood red and “Army of The Potomac” blue…but, white — still.
Another 100 years of Fourth of July’s brought the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, and the Reverend Martin Luther King.
He, too, was fond of the Battle Hymn of The Republic, and publicly ended his last address, “I Have Been To The Mountaintop”, on April 3, 1968, with… ”Mine eyes have seen the coming of the Lord”.
Keep marching on…Happy Birthday, America.