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When Johnny Comes Marching Home

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The Civil War Song: When Johnny Comes Marching Home

When Johnny Comes Marching Home, is attributed to “Father Louis Lambert,” but most likely this is a pseudonym for Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore.

When Gilmore wrote When Johnny Comes Marching Home, he was the bandmaster of Union General Benjamin Butler’s army in New Orleans, Louisiana. The tune of this song may have been written by Gilmore, may be from a Negro spiritual, or may have come from an Irish air. This song is well-known and still popular in our times.

When Johnny Comes Marching Home

When Johnny comes marching home again,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We’ll give him a hearty welcome then
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer and the boys will shout
The ladies they will all turn out
And we’ll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.

The old church bell will peal with joy
Hurrah! Hurrah!
To welcome home our darling boy,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The village lads and lassies say
With roses they will strew the way,
And we’ll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.

Get ready for the Jubilee,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We’ll give the hero three times three,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The laurel wreath is ready now
To place upon his loyal brow
And we’ll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.

Let love and friendship on that day,
Hurrah, hurrah!
Their choicest pleasures then display,
Hurrah, hurrah!
And let each one perform some part,
To fill with joy the warrior’s heart,
And we’ll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.

Abraham Lincoln Elected to his Second Term as President

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November 8, 1864

On this day in 1864, Abraham Lincoln was elected to his second term as president of the United States.

President Abraham Lincoln

President Abraham Lincoln

This was one of the few elections in world history held in the middle of a civil war. As the country’s president and with the difficult circumstances of the ongoing Civil War, Lincoln might have tried to cancel or postpone the election until the war was over. Instead, Lincoln said:

“If the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.”

The Confederate Army had recently advanced so close to Washington, D.C., that by standing on top of a parapet with field glasses, Lincoln was able to watch a battle. On July 30, 4,000 Union soldiers were killed in a disastrous attempt to invade Petersburg, Virginia.

The army needed 500,000 more soldiers, Lincoln would probably have to call for another draft and the war debt was becoming unsustainable. On August 23, Lincoln wrote a memo to his cabinet saying:

“This morning, and for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected.”

As the presidential election day drew near, President Lincoln’s hopes for a second term were fading.

The Democrat Party had as its candidate former Union general George B. McClellan and its platform was based on ending the war. This policy turned out to be a huge mistake when news arrived early September that the Union Army had captured Atlanta and Mobile. The Union forces were now starting to win battles and the war. Suddenly, the Democrats looked like the party of surrender and this made all the difference in the election.

Abraham Lincoln won the election with 2,330,552 votes to challenger George B. McClellan’s 1,835,985 votes. Lincoln had 212 Electoral College votes to McClellan’s 21 votes. Lincoln carried every state except New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky.