battle

Following the spoken "fire!" command, four successive canon shots can be heard. All four are loud, reverberating bangs, with quick, silent breaks in-between. Recorded from real canons in historic Williamsburg on an IPhone 5.

The chorus to the patriotic spiritual used to rally Union troops during the American Civil War. The song was adapted from its original version, "John Brown's Body" (an American folk song composed by William Steffe), by Julia Ward Howe,. The lyrics were initially published in The Atlantic Monthly in February, 1862.

The sound recording is of the song "Oh, My Lord" from the motion picture "Glory." The recording is a portrayal of a pre-battle song by the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first African American units during the Civil War, before their attack on Fort Wagner. The song is comprised of vocalists, tambourines, and harmonicas.