The Army Goes Rolling Along

Before “The Caisson Song” was adopted as the official tune of the U.S. Army, it was the proud anthem of the U.S. Field Artillery Corps. During a long march in the Philippines, Lieutenant Edmund L. “Snitz” Gruber overheard an officer roar “Come on! Keep ‘em Rolling!” Gruber, whose relative, Franz, composed the Christmas Song “Silent Night,” was suddenly inspired and that night wrote the now-famous melody. Fellow soldiers helped with the lyrics and in almost no time, all six regiments of the U.S. Field Artillery had adopted “The Caisson Song” as a popular marching tune.

During the last days of World War I, senior artillery leaders wanted to make “The Caisson Song” official, and mistaking the piece as composed during the Civil War, allowed bandmaster John Phillip Sousa to incorporate most of the song into his own composition “The U.S. Field Artillery March.” The song became a chart-topper during World War I, selling 750,000 copies. Discovering Gruber actually wrote the melody, an embarrassed but innocent Sousa made certain Gruber received his royalties. In 1948, the Army held a nationwide contest to find an official song. After four years of unsuccessful results and nearly 800 submitted scores, the Adjunct General’s office decided to recycle “The Caisson Song.” H.W. Arberg arranged the U.S. Army song, naming it “The Army Goes Rolling Along.” The Army copyrighted the song in 1956.