Paul+Harvey+Story

Wendy Seitz The Song The crisp fall air lightly ruffled James’ blond hair. He could smell winter coming. He hiked along the creek bank, ignoring his mother’s calls for him to come back to the house. He stopped to take a drink. Suddenly, there was a crashing of branches and a flurry of movement. James instantly sank out of sight behind a rock. His eyes grew wide as he saw a tall dark-skinned man running wildly through the woods. The man did not see the small boy as he paused to listen for some unknown foe. The man quickly took a drink from the creek and then sprinted on, jumping over the stream in one stride and then he was gone. The forest was quiet for a moment and then came the sound of dogs barking. James came out of hiding, looking around to see if it was safe to continue with his hike. The barking got louder and then James was flat on his back with a large hound dog sitting on his chest. At first the dog growled, but then it took a good sniff of James and licked his face. The dog sat on the boy, panting, and waiting for his master to see his catch. Another few seconds went by and James could just barely see the feet of a group of men coming towards the creek. “Get off him Boomer!” roared the loud voice of the leader. “He ain’t no Negro.” commented another man. James sat up as the dog ran to sit next to his master, the leader of the group. He studied the men as the breath returned to his chest. He couldn’t figure out what these men were doing and why the dog was trained to sit on people when he found them. The men were carrying guns and metal shackles that clanked loudly as they moved. Then, it suddenly hit James - they were slave hunters. The man he had seen running was running from them because he belonged to someone. “Boy - did you see a Negro man runnin through here?” asked the leader. James carefully considered his answer while he stared at the men. His parents didn’t like slavery, but he didn’t want the men to hit him if he lied. In his heart he knew the right answer. “Yes sir - he ran off that a way” James said as he pointed off in the wrong direction. Boomer came to get a quick pet and to lick James’ face one last time as the men started moving off in the direction that James had pointed. Boomer sounded off as he took off running again, nose to the ground, trying to pick up the scent of the man. James waited until the men were out of sight and then took off running home. He arrived breathless and bolted the door behind him. His mother, Julia, gave him a stern look and came towards him wielding a large wooden spoon. He braced for the smack on the leg he had earned for ignoring her calls. The spoon smacked down hard and James fell hard, his legs weakened from his running. “Where have you been? I know you heard me callin you!” his mother sternly asked. “I was down in the woods and I saw a runnin slave.” He responded. His mother’s face softened and she put a finger over her lips. She took James by the arm and gently led him to the back of the house. There was the bookshelf that had all the musty old books his father had collected over the years with rails to keep the books from falling out. Mother pointed to the floor and James noticed the small crack in the floor sticking out from under the shelving. Mother had always been very careful about scrubbing the floor in this room and now James understood why. Mother moved the bookcase and there was a trap door in the floor. James opened up the door and climbed down into the hole at the urging of his mother. He couldn’t even stand up in the tunnel and so he crawled along until there was a more open space. There was a straw mattress on the floor and a table with the legs cut off so it would fit in the space. Out of the shadows came the man that James had seen running in the woods. They stared at each other for a moment and then the man bolted towards the back of the space towards the next part of the tunnel. “Wait- I won’t hurt you.” James called after the man. The man slowly came back into the room and sat down on the mattress. He looked absolutely terrified. He finally broke the silent and he and James sat and talked for a time. James had lots of questions about the lives of slaves and where the man was headed. The man said he had a wife and children who were ahead of him. They had already made it to Canada. He wanted to meet up with them once he was across the border. His story touched James’ heart. James wanted to help this man and other people like him. Finally, James heard his mother calling his name and he crawled back through the tunnel into the house. James’ mother pushed the bookcase back over the trap door, which was practically invisible in the scrubbed, dust free floor. Boomer was barking outside the door. James’ mother pushed him out the back door to go into the barn and stay out of sight. As James ducked into the barn he heard Boomer inspecting the house. After a while, his mother came out and got him. The men hadn’t found the trap door - the family was safe, at least for now. Father came home from the field and heard all about the day’s adventures. While no one said anything directly about the man under the trap door, James knew his father understood perfectly what was going on. James talked to his parents about joining the military to help the Union Army in the war, but they both told him he was too young. Still, James couldn’t get the idea out of his head. The next night James and his father went behind the barn and moved a large rock that covered the other opening to the tunnel. The man climbed out carrying a small parcel containing food and a small jug of water. The man thanked both of them and then took of into the woods after consulting the sky. James’ father explained the idea of the drinking gourd, with the North Star being the guide for the slaves to travel north. As he lay in bed, James made up his mind to join the army. He quietly put together a bundle of clothes and his __Bible__. He pulled on his toughest work boots as he slipped out the door. He traveled all night and slept for a while in a haystack on the side of the road. He finally reached a town where no one knew him. He went to the recruiting office. Even though the man in charge was sure James was too young, James convinced him that a spot in the band was a good match for him. James got his assignment and was given the directions where the company was camped. James traded some kitchen work for a good meal and a bed at the tavern for the night. In the morning James made his way into the camp. He found the general in charge and gave him his papers He was sent to the lieutenant in charge of the band. Lieutenant Smith looked James up and down and handed him a fife, which James had never held before in his life. James found his way into the tent of a fellow fife player. James introduced himself and found out his fellow musician’s name was Philip. Philip mostly ignored James, but when he took to practicing James watched him closely and imitated him. When the band practiced in the afternoon James stood in the back and tried his hardest to play along. He wasn’t very good, but the bandleader told him he had potential. James followed the men to dinner and then he went to bed early. Most of the men stayed up drinking and playing cards, neither of which James found interesting. Over the next several months James got better and better at the fife. He also got stronger and stronger as the company hiked toward battle. James’ thirteen-year-old body tired much more quickly than those of the full-grown soldiers, but James did his best. He learned many songs including “Lincoln and Liberty”. James still liked to take little hikes away from the rest of the company. Sometimes James ran into more runaway slaves. One even taught him a riddle about going north called “Follow the Drinking Gourd”, which was supposed to guide slaves north to freedom. It made James think about home and it made him sad. James thought about going home sometimes, but he soldiered on. James was at the battle of Bull Run and saw lots of death. He even helped bury Philip. The saying goes that “time marches on,” which is exactly what James discovered. Soon enough James turned fourteen without so much as a happy birthday from anyone. After a while James began to forget what it was like to live in a real house and live with a family. The men began to see James as a friend and a good soldier. He pulled his weight around camp and even began to write a song for the band. One night another company came and camped with James and his fellow men. The cornetist was a man named Patrick. He saw James sitting in his tent working on a song and came to sit with him. James shared his work with Patrick and they discussed how the song was coming along. James was becoming discouraged with the song and Patrick helped James reignite his interest in the tune. Soon after James’ company got orders that their time serving the army was up. They were all sent home or were allowed to re-enlist. If they went home they were given full military honors and were given twenty-five dollars to get home. James decided it was time to head home. He traveled with his fellow soldiers and caught a train heading towards his home. He wasn’t sure what kind of welcome he was going to get after running away, but he hoped to find his family in good health and hoped they would let him come home, even if it meant a whipping. James got home late at night about a week after leaving his camp. As he approached the door he heard his mother crying and his father trying to comfort her. “Julia you can wait up forever- there is no way for us to know if he’s alive or dead. He could be writing us and the letters got lost.” his father said soothingly. James knocked at the door and heard his mother’s gasp at the sudden sound in the quiet night. The door flew open and once again James found himself flat on his back. His mother was hugging him so hard he could hardly breathe. The look on his face must have shown how much pain he was in because his father pulled his mother off of him and sat her in her chair by the fire. Tears were rolling down the faces of both of his parents. He had never seen his father cry before, but after all he had seen in the war it didn’t really bother him. They sat up all night talking about why he had gone, what he had done, his experiences in the war and what had happened at home while he was gone. His mother had been hard at work going to political rallies, taking nursing shifts for the wounded who were sent home and generally trying to support the army. Now that James was home she planned to continue supporting the army and hoped that he would help her. James was glad to help her in any way he could. Over the next several months Julia and James traveled to towns surrounding their home, spreading the word for the Union Army and helping the cause in any way they could. One day Julia and James were attending a political rally with a group of friends. A band from a local unit was going to play several songs and a local girl was to sing, but there was one problem - the fife player was sick. James volunteered to play in the band on the stipulation that they played the song //John Brown’s Body//, which was Philip’s favorite song. The rally went off without a hitch and the band’s rendition of //John Brown’s Body// put tears in the eyes of everyone in the audience. As they were getting ready to leave James’ mother was commenting on the lyrics to //John Brown’s Body//. “The song is beautiful, but I’m not so sure how I feel about the lyrics” Julia was saying to their neighbor, Peter. “Well, I think they are just wonderful. If you don’t like them then maybe you should try to write better ones” Peter returned. Julia pursed her lips and said nothing more, but James could see that the comment had stuck in her head. During the whole trip home Julia sat quietly, seeming to be deep in thought. And now the rest of the story: Julia’s full name was Julia Ward Howe. The night after the rally Julia went to bed with the notes of //John Brown’s Body// ringing in her head. In the middle of the night Julia sat up and fumbled out of bed. She grabbed the stub of a pen and scribbled out new lyrics to the tune. The new lyrics of the song were published in February of 1862 in “The Atlantic Monthly”. The song with its new lyrics became widely known. It is called //The Battle Hymn of the Republic// and is played by military and civilian bands to this day.

References Annonymous. // Julia Ward Howe //. Retieved from 

Lewis, Jone. // Writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic //. Retrieved from .

McGranahan, Ronald W. // Bands and Musicians of the Civil War //. Retrieved from .