And a one, and a two, and a three four five six!
Or a one, and a two, and a three four five!
From my home right here,
To the end way down there!
And then I have a choice
Of a one, a two, or a three, or a four!
First named in early 1861,
And born of famous birth!
What name do I have?
And who is the father?
Hint:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Turning to this one again, I think @trolley813 was onto something... But the 'name you have' is actually:
EXCELSIOR
As this is the name of:
A famous chess problem set by the great chess player Sam Loyd ('the father') back in 1861.
The name is taken from a famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Hint) and literally means 'ever upward'. It is intended to reflect the relentless movement of a pawn from its starting square all the way up the board where it is promoted to a higher-value piece in the course of solving the problem or winning the game. The name 'Excelsior' is now used for any chess problem incorporating such a movement, rather than just the precise set-up used by Loyd in his original poser.
How is this reflected in the puzzle? Pretty much exactly what @trolley813 said:
The possible movements of a pawn moving across the board to get promotion are described here...
And a one, and a two, and a three four five six!
Or a one, and a two, and a three four five!
From my home right here,
To the end way down there!
A pawn can move from its second-row starting position to the other side in 6 one-step moves, or in 5 moves where the first move covers 2 spaces (as an unmoved pawn is allowed to do). Its 'home' is its starting position, while 'the end way down there' is the other end of the board.
And then I have a choice
Of a one, a two, or a three, or a four!
Once a pawn reaches the other side it can be promoted to one of 4 possible pieces: a knight, a bishop, a rook, or a queen.
Hopefully this strategy pays off and the march in question is a march to victory!
Another partial (and probably wrong) answer: Are you
Alice Liddell (and father being Lewis Carroll)?
Because
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, she acted as a Queen's pawn. This pawn (as well as any other one) can march across the board in either 5 or 6 moves (depends on the first move being d2-d4 or d2-d3), and in the end she has the choice to promote to 1 of the 4 different pieces (queen, rook, bishop or knight).
Unfortunately
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland were probably started by Carroll in 1862, not 1861, and the answer does not bear any relation to Goodfellow.
Partial Answer
I think the name you have is
The marching tune is referencing the civil war. The name could be Abraham Lincoln... or possibly, the Confederate States of America.
"And a one, and a two, and a three four five six!"
The initial Confederacy was established in the Montgomery Convention in February 1861 by seven states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, adding Texas in March before Lincoln's inauguration) Texas doesn't count here because it was before the inauguration.
"Or a one, and a two, and a three four five!
-- expanded in May–July 1861 (with Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina), and was disintegrated in April–May 1865. It was formed by delegations from seven slave states of the Lower South that had proclaimed their secession from the Union. I count Texas here. These eleven states eventually formed the Confederate States of America.
"From my home right here,
To the end way down there!"
Lincoln lived in Springfield, IL. The confederacy went as far south as Florida/Texas.
"And then I have a choice
Of a one, a two, or a three, or a four!"
The Crittenden Compromise was an unsuccessfully proposed to Lincoln, a proposal to permanently enshrine slavery in the United States Constitution, and thereby make it unconstitutional for future congresses to end slavery. The compromise proposed four Congressional resolutions.
"First named him in 1861,"
On March 4th, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated (named) as President of the United States.
