"The Last Long Mile", also known as the "Plattsburg Marching Song", is a

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

era

marching song A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's ...

written in 1917. The song is attributed to Emil Breitenfeld, who wrote the song while serving as a lieutenant in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

History

The Last Long Mile was originally composed by Emil Breitenfeld while the musician was training with the 17th New York Regiment in

Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding ...

.The Singing Program of World War I: The Crusade for a Singing Army Author(s): E. Christina Chang Source: Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Oct., 2001), pp. 19-45 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. The song—originally known as either ''The Long Last Mile'' or the ''Plattsburg Marching Song''—quickly became popular with soldiers, and was presented along with other soldier's compositions to the National Board on Army and Navy Camp Music. The board liked the song, and considered it one of the best songs to have been produced in soldier's camps. The song was later featured in the first issue of ''Music in the Camps'', an activity book produced for army and navy training camps. The song, now renamed ''The Last Long Mile'', was later featured in ''Toot Toot'', a musical compilation produced by

Henry Wilson Savage Henry Wilson Savage (March 21, 1859 – November 29, 1927) was an American theatrical manager. Biography Henry W. Savage was born March 21, 1859, in New Durham, New Hampshire. He graduated from Harvard in 1880. He became president of the Henry W. ...

and published by T. B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc. Following the war and his exit from the army in 1919, Breitenfeld moved to California and wrote music for silent films and stage plays. He was the father of

Paul Desmond Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and composer, best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for composing that group's biggest hit, " ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Long Mile, The 1917 songs Songs of World War I