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If he had composed nothing else, it would have assured him lasting fame. “The Battle Cry of Freedom” became Root’s biggest hit by far. Total sales of all versions and editions may have approached 700,000 copies. That figure doesn’t count all of the different arrangements (for piano solo, song with guitar accompaniment, etc.) Nor does it count the number of times it appeared in anthologies. By the end of the war, it had sold 350,000 copies. The firm had sold 12,000 copies by the middle of November. Even with 14 printing presses operating without ceasing, the firm could not keep up with demand. Later in the year, the song was published by Root & Cady. He probably did not think of this song as any more special than any of his others, but the troops and public did. As soon as he read Lincoln’s call for troops, he sat down and wrote the words and music to “The Battle Cry of Freedom.” It was first performed at massive war rallies on July 24 and 26. Root had already composed numerous songs intended to inspire the Northern public to support the war effort. No one was under any illusion that reaching these quotas would be easy. President Lincoln and his cabinet wanted to avoid both a formal draft and the appearance of acknowledging how badly the war was going, but each governor received a quota to fulfill. The federal government made a formal request for fresh troops to Northern governors on July 2, 1862. Shortly afterward, the need for many more troops became apparent.
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Secretary Edwin Stanton actually ordered the closing of all federal recruitment offices. The war effort was not going well for the North at the beginning of 1862, although the War Department seemed to think it was. What is it about this song that has given it such staying power? A new song “The Battle Cry of Freedom” is nothing but a war song, yet many of you reading this are probably humming it right now. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” with its religious allusions, quickly found a place in hymnals, which it retains to this day.
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Perhaps the best known today is “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” but certainly the preeminent war song of its own day was “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” by George Frederick Root. Several songs of the Civil War remain well known to this day.