Annotation:President's March (1) (The)

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PRESIDENT'S MARCH [1], THE. American, March. Identified by 93 yr. old Benjamin Smith of Needham, Mass. in 1853 as one of the most popular tunes of the Americans in the Revolutionary War, until their musicians learned "Yankee Doodle" and "The White Cockade" from hearing the British playing them in the distance (Winstock, 1970; p. 71). The distinguished Shaker Issachar Bates (1758-1837), who served as a fifer boy at Bunker Hill, used this melody as the basis for his hymn “Rights of Conscience,” expressing his pacifist views and paying tribute to George Washington and Mother Ann Lee. Shakers who had served in the Revolution declined all soldiers’ benefits bestowed by the United States government and ‘conscientiously objected’ to further military service.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Barry Phillips & Friends - "The World Turned Upside Down."

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