A Puritan War Song - To Canaan

This poem, published anonymously in the Boston Evening Transcript, was claimed by several persons, three, if I remember correctly, whose names I have or have had, but never thought it worth while to publish.     Where are you going, soldiers,     With banner, gun, and sword?     We 're marching South to Canaan     To battle for the Lord     What Captain leads your armies     Along the rebel coasts?     The Mighty One of Israel,     His name is Lord of Hosts!     To Canaan, to Canaan     The Lord has led us forth,     To blow before the heathen walls     The trumpets of the North!     What flag is this you carry     Along the sea and shore?     The same our grandsires lifted up, -     The same our fathers bore     In many a battle's tempest     It shed the crimson rain, -     What God has woven in his loom     Let no man rend in twain!     To Canaan, to Canaan     The Lord has led us forth,     To plant upon the rebel towers     The banners of the North!     What troop is this that follows,     All armed with picks and spades?     These are the swarthy bondsmen, -     The iron-skin brigades!     They'll pile up Freedom's breastwork,     They 'LL scoop out rebels' graves;     Who then will be their owner     And march them off for slaves?     To Canaan, to Canaan     The Lord has led us forth,     To strike upon the captive's chain     The hammers of the North!     What song is this you're singing?     The same that Israel sung     When Moses led the mighty choir,     And Miriam's timbrel rung!     To Canaan! To Canaan!     The priests and maidens cried:     To Canaan! To Canaan!     The people's voice replied.     To Canaan, to Canaan     The Lord has led us forth,     To thunder through its adder dens     The anthems of the North.     When Canaan's hosts are scattered,     And all her walls lie flat,     What follows next in order?     The Lord will see to that     We'll break the tyrant's sceptre, -     We 'll build the people's throne, -     When half the world is Freedom's,     Then all the world's our own     To Canaan, to Canaan     The Lord has led us forth,     To sweep the rebel threshing-floors,     A whirlwind from the North.     August 12, 1862.