MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA

'''Marching Through Georgia''' (sometimes called ''Marching Thru' Georgia'') is a marching song written by Henry Clay Work in 1865, referencing U.S. Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea during the previous year.
It was widely popular with Union Army veterans after the war. However, General Sherman himself despised the song, in part because it was played at almost every public appearance that he attended.^[1] Outside of the Southern United States, it had a universal appeal: Japanese troops sang it as they entered Port Arthur, the British sang it in India, and it was popular with the Allies in World War II.
It remains a popular tune for brass bands, and has lent its tune to a number of other popular songs, including ''The Land'', ''Billy Boys'' and ''Come In, Come In''. It was also sung by a carpetbagger in Gone with the Wind.

Contents

Lyrics

References

Notes

External links

Lyrics

''Verse 1''

Bring the good old bugle, boys, we'll sing another song

Sing it with a spirit that will start the world along

Sing it as we used to sing it, 50,000 strong^[2]

While we were marching through Georgia.

''Chorus''

Hurrah! Hurrah! we bring the jubilee!^[3]

Hurrah! Hurrah! the flag that makes you free!

So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea

While we were marching through Georgia.

''Verse 2''

How the darkies shouted when they heard the joyful sound

How the turkeys gobbled which our commisary found

How the sweet potatoes even started from the ground

While we were marching through Georgia.
''Verse 3''

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.
''Verse 4''

"Sherman's dashing Yankee boys will never make 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.
''Verse 5''

So we made a thoroughfare for freedom and her train,

Sixty miles of latitude, three hundred to the main;

Treason fled before us, for resistance was in vain

While we were marching through Georgia.

References

★ Eicher, David J., ''The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War'', Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0-684-84944-5.

Notes

1. 5th Michigan Infantry Marching Band website
2. Sherman's armies in Georgia actually had 62,000 men
3. A biblical allusion to the freeing of the slaves. See Leviticus 25

External links

★ Sheetmusic in D (gif) with working midi & lyrics

★ Marching Through Georgia sheet music

★ Marching Through Georgia MIDI

★ "I am a Union Man" - Marching Through Georgia