Musicians at WarInterpreting the Infantry Company Drummer

Defining the RoleDrummersFifersBandsmenBuglers

Field Musicians v. BandsmenDrummers Members of the BandAssigned to companiesPaid by regulationDictated routine by

“camp duties”Set cadence on the

marchInstruments were drum,

fife and/or bugle

Bands were regimental or brigade level assignments after 1862

Referred to as musicians or bandsmen prior to 1820s

Referred to as bandsmen after 1820s

Were often carried as privates or drummers on the roster

Sometimes civilians not enlisted but paid for by officers

Instruments were woodwinds and later brass

Titles / Ranks1775 1812 1820s 1850s

DrummerFifer

DrummerFifer

Private MusicianMusicianDrummerFifer

Buglers, 10th US Infantry, 1858

Musicians Assigned to an Infantry Company 1771 – British Army – 1

drummer per company, plus 2 fifers in the grenadier company

1775 – British Army – 2 drummers per company plus 2 fifers in the grenadier company

1780 – Continental Army – 1 drummer and 1 fifer per company

1812 – US Army – 1 drummer and 1 fifer per company

1861 – US Army – 1 drummer and 1 fifer OR 1 bugler (if riflemen)

In Reality: 1770s – nearly always, at least, one

drummer per company1843 – 1st Infantry was short drummers,

a private was assigned to the role as an extra duty (with extra pay)

1846 – 1st Infantry had 15 officers, 8 musicians and 155 bayonets

1861 – about 80% of companies had a drummer

104th Illinois ~ 10 musicians in rosters, however, 2 companies have two (E & H) and two have none (B &C)

DutiesCamus, Military Music of the American Revolution,

(University of North Carolina Press, 1976), p. 188. The primary beats and calls included, The General, The March, The Reveille, The Troop, The Retreat, The Tattoo, To Arms, The Parley or Church Call, Roast Beef, The Drummers Call, The Pioneers March, Three Cheers, The Grenadiers March, and The Rogues March. No period manual identified by Camus, includes all of the above, but many include other beats as well as drum signals to call corporals, sergeants, send for wood or water, etc

Drummer of the Guard ~ (Fifers were normally assigned as orderlies to officers of the

guard ~ See RO 18th Foot 28 December 1774, fifers to mount guard with LTC Bruce )

Duties of the DrummerBeat the fifteen or so identified beats and calls and an additional

number of signals that regulated the movements of an eighteenth-century infantry regiment.

Provide cadence on the march. Two orderly drummers were to attend the colonel or commander of the regiment to beat the necessary signals to communicate the colonel’s intentions to the company commanders. Whether or not marching commands were to be given by drumbeat is unclear during the American War. By the mid-1770s, the regiments trained with cadences from the drums and fifes, but did not rely on those cadences in the field. By 1778, regulations clearly promulgated ‘Drums should be used as little as possible in maneuvering of Regiments & Musik [sic] never.’

Flog soldiers ordered punished by regimental or general courts martial under the supervision of the drum major.

More on Duties of DrummersIn action, save the two orderly drummers, drummers and fifers

were to ‘stay with their respective companies, and to assist the wounded.’

Williamson (1781) suggested that the drummers and fifers were to practice at least ‘once a day, when the duty of the regiment will permit it.’ Simes (1776) suggested that they practice together at least twice a week. In the detachment of the 18th and 65th Foot in Boston in 1775, the order was ‘Whenever the Weather will permit, the Serjeant Major will see that the Drummers off duty go out to practice every day and that they stay out a proper time practicing.’

18th Foot, RO 23 February 1775

Non-musical DutiesClean the guardroom or guardhouse when

drummer of the guard. Simes (1776) also states that the drummers were to sweep out the officers’ and men’s necessary houses each morning.

Drummers on guard duty were also commonly responsible for serving as an orderly to the officer(s) of the guard. At least one period text, articulates that if bottles or even silverware were left on the table by the officers, the drummer should feel free to help himself. Drummers on guard were also apparently responsible for keeping the fireplace stoked with coals or wood. In general, it appears as if the housekeeping chores of the guard detail were to be carried out by the drummer of the guard.

Age of Drummers, American Revolution

22nd Regiment of Foot, 1778 average age 34 ¾ years old youngest 26 years old oldest 44 years old

Youngest enlisted at 12, next youngest 18 years old

Oldest served till 45 years old

Age of Drummers, Civil War• 1st Iowa Inf Regt. average age 20.6 years

old

• 4th Iowa Band average age 29 years old

• 4th Iowa Inf Regt. average age 21.4 years

old

• 104th ILL Inf Regt. average age 23 years old

Youngest drummer from Iowa, 12 year old Commodore P. Byam, the son of the 24th Iowa regiment’s colonel

Arming DrummersMost British drummers were

armed with a “short sword with a scimitar blade”

Return of 6 coys the 55th Foot Drummers, Fifers & Musicians (January 1776) — 12 Drums, 12 Drum Cases, 12 Drum carriages, 12 Pairs of Drum Sticks, 12 Caps, 2 Fifes, 2 Fife Cases, 22 Swords, 22 Sword Belts

American musicians were less likely to be properly armed early in the war

Musicians were authorized to carry swords, but….. 8th Ill – 1 for 1 qtr10th Ill – had 5 in early 186313th Ill had 216th Ill had 9 only 1 by 186422nd Ill had 21 in 186374th Ill had 25 for 1 qtr104th Ill had none107th Ill had 7Iowa had 2 musician’s

swords in 1861

Drummers under ArmsA variety of period sources articulate that drummers and fifers were to be thoroughly schooled in the manual of arms and be able to serve in the ranks when necessary. In Boston, a 9 March 1776 order makes it apparent that some drummers were under arms as privates. On 13 March 1776, General Howe further ordered all drummers unable to carry arms to be put aboard ship. It is unclear if he armed the drummers and fifers at that point. Some of the drummers of the 17th Foot appear to have served as privates in the ranks during the 1776 campaign but were returned to functioning as drummers in winter quarters.

An act to increase the pay of soldiers in the United States Army, and for other purposes. June 20, 1864

1841 – Privates $7 Musician $8 Corporal $9

1861Musicians

$12/monthPrivates $13/ monthMusicians &

Privates increased to $16/month in June 1864

1775 – Privates 8d/day Drummer 10d/day Corporal 10d/day

EquipmentDrummers were issued the

same equipment as privates excepting firearms and bayonets

Knapsacks, haversacks and canteens

Prior to the Civil War drummers almost always were issued swords

SummaryDrummers tended to be as old, if not

older, than the average privateDrummers carried the same equipment

as privates save for weaponsDrummers were not normally assigned

to fatigue dutyDrummers of the Guard had

housekeeping duties; Fifers served as orderlies on Guard

Drummers should be able to familiar with the manual of arms

Drummers often could play the bugle and/or the fife as well