Julia Ward Howe, the daughter of a well to do New York banker and the mother of six children, is credited with penning the immensely popular and stirring rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic.     Julia was married to Samuel G. Howe and together they published an abolitionist journal called Commonwealth.      
She was an advocate for women's rights, for abolition and wrote several articles and books.  The story goes that in 1861, she visited the Army of the Potomac while camped in Massachusetts.  Troops marched past her singing the John Brown song.  Back in her hotel room, she wrote down the words to the battle hymn using the tune from John Brown, saying that these were more fitting.  The words were first printed in February of 1862 in an issue of Atlantic Monthly.  It gained popularity and soon became the most enduring song of the Civil War and can still stir the soul today.