United States Marching Song: When Johnny Comes Marching Home

The song “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” was written by Irish-American bandleader Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, who published it in 1863 under the pseudonym of “Louis Lambert.” The tune of the song was taken from the popular drinking song “Johnny Fill Up the Bowl,” which was written the same year. The song put into melody Americans’ desires to see their young soldiers return home from war, namely the American Civil War (1861-1865), and was popular on both sides of the conflict, Union and Confederacy. The song shares a similar tune as the equally popular Irish tune, “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye.” This rendition of the song was performed by Derek Warfield in 2002 for his album “Faugh-a-Ballagh (Clear the Way).”