From Florence Howe Hall, The Story of the Battle Hymn of the Republic (Harper & Brothers, 1916, p. 54). Florence is Julia Ward Howe's daughter.

    Before publishing the poem the author made a number of changes, all of which, as I think, improvements. The last verse, which is an anticlimax, was cut out altogether.
    We find from her letters that she hesitated to allow the publication of the original draft of the "Battle Hymn" because it contained this final verse. She did not consider it equal to the rest of the poem. After consulting other literary people, in her usual painstaking way, she decided to have the first draft published.