Upon waking the next morning, words came to mind and Howe penned a poem that could be sung to the "Brown" tune. A short time later, she gave the lyrics to the editor of Atlantic Monthly magazine, who named the piece the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and published the song in February 1862.
As the Civil War progressed, Howe had all but forgotten about her published poem when she learned that the hymn had often been sung by war prisoners in the South and had become a popular song. Credited with writing a moving hymn, Julia Ward Howe
felt the source of her poem was the difficult and heroic struggle of the Civil War. Howe is also known for helping war widows who were struggling financially. She worked for equal opportunity for women in education as well as business.