"Blaze Away!" is a 1901

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

by the German-American composer

Abe Holzmann Abraham Holzmann (19 August 1874 – 16 January 1939) was an American composer, famous for his American march music, march "Blaze Away!". Life and career Abraham Holzmann was born in New York City on 19 August 1874. His parents were Jacob Ho ...

. It was his greatest success. Holzmann was inspired by the

Battle of Manila Bay The Battle of Manila Bay (; ), also known as the Battle of Cavite, took place on May 1, 1898, during the Spanish–American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squad ...

during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, when a command to American sailors to open fire on the Spanish fleet was reputedly met with the response "Well boys, let's blaze away" by the gunners. Building on the war fever in the United States, the cover of the sheet music featured an image resembling

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

charging at San Juan Hill.Shearer p.416 Very popular as a two-step, its success outlasted the war and it became a repertoire piece amongst military bands around the world.

References

Bibliography

* Shearer, Benjamin F. ''Home Front Heroes: A Biographical Dictionary of Americans During Wartime, Volume 2''. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. * Walsh, Thomas P. ''Tin Pan Alley and the Philippines: American Songs of War And Love, 1898-1946, A Resource Guide''. Scarecrow Press, 2013. 1901 compositions Compositions by Abe Holzmann American military marches {{US-music-stub