Howe's lyrics were written in November 1861 and first published in "The Atlantic Monthly" in February 1862. She was paid $4.00 for the song. It is based on the music from the song "John Brown's Body". It was made famous by Charles Cardwell McCabe, a Union Army chaplain during the American Civil War. He sang it in front of President Abraham Lincoln who stood and asked to hear it a second time. It quickly became the unofficial anthem of the Union. Since that time, it has become a popular and well-known American patriotic song.