<P> `` Chester '' is a patriotic anthem composed by William Billings and sung during the American Revolutionary War . Billings wrote the first version of the song for his 1770 songbook The New England Psalm Singer , and made improvements for the version in his The Singing Master 's Assistant ( 1778 ) . It is the latter version that is best known today . </P>
in billings original version chester was written for
his 1770 songbook The New England Psalm Singer