The
troops were singing
John Brown's Body as they marched. The Rev. James Freeman Clarke, who was watching them with the Howes, asked
Ms. Howe if she could think up some more inspiring
words for the rousing
melody. That night at the
Willard Hotel the opening line came to her in her
sleep. She lit a
candle, and completed the lyrics before
dawn. She sold her
poem to the
Atlantic Monthly for
ten dollars. It appeared on the
front page of the
February 1862 issue. Oliver Ditson and Company published the
sheet music soon after.