The Drummer Boy

[civilwartalk]

The Town House was used for quartering soldiers during the Civil War. A story is told from that violent era that is particularly sad.

A group of Union soldiers had captured a young confederate drummer boy. Because he was so young, the soldiers didn't want to send him to prison, for they knew he would die. Instead they decided to keep the boy with them, making him sort of a mascot.

Things went well for several weeks, but then the soldiers got bored. They started to pick on the confederate drummer boy. They made him do all of their labor, wash their clothes, clean their guns and shine their boots. The boy became so discouraged he started to cry and beg for his mother. That infuriated the soldiers, who told him to grow up and act like a man. After all, he was a soldier. The poor boy cried and begged all the more for his mother.

One night the soldiers were drinking and started picking on the drummer boy. They were tossing him from one drunken soldier to another when one of them missed. The boy came flying out of the window and landed on a rock below, killing him instantly.

Today, people working in the building say they hear strange sounds - sounds of a little boy crying, begging for his mother.

(From Ghosts of Harpers Ferry by Stephen D. Brown)