Drummers at Gettysburg

[Tom Elmore]

Part 1:

William H. Jenkins, of Company A, 38th Georgia. In late 1862, Private Jenkins was detached as a drummer. On the early morning of July 1, 1863, Gordon's Georgia brigade arose and marched toward Gettysburg. All, that is, except Companies A and K of the 38th Georgia, which someone forgot to relieve from picket duty. Eventually the companies abandoned their position, without ever receiving orders. "Bill Jenkins, the kettle drummer of Co. A, beat the long roll and the two companies marched quick step to overtake the brigade." (With the 38th Georgia Regiment, by F. L. Hudgins, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol. 26, no. 4 (April 1918), pp. 161-162; Compiled service records of William H. Jenkins, Fold3)

Charles F. Moody, with Company H, 5th Maine. Moody was born on February 9, 1848. In October 1861, he tried to join as a drummer boy with several regiments before finally being accepted by the 5th Maine. He weighed only 83 pounds when he joined the regiment and did not reach 100 pounds until a full year later. He is listed as present at Gettysburg (then 15 years old), as a musician in Company H. (National Tribune, September 12, 1907, p. 8; Fifth Maine, Maine at Gettysburg)

Thomas H. Sparks, of Company B, 59th Georgia. On July 3, 1862, Private Sparks was appointed as the regimental (field) drummer. At Gettysburg, he must have assisted wounded comrades in a field hospital, since he was captured on July 5. Exchanged, he was back with the regiment by early 1864 and again took up his drum, which likely was preserved in the baggage train. Later that summer, at Cold Harbor, he was captured again and separated from his drum, but it was returned to him in 1916, four years before his death. The drum has been well preserved. It was made of local materials and painted and decorated by its maker, Jasper M. Howell, who presented it to the regiment. About 24.5 inches in diameter and 18.5 inches high, it bears the inscriptions, "T. H. Sparks" and "Ga. Vol's C.S.A." (The Drum Returns Home, Georgia Backroads, Spring 2015, Armuchee, GA: Legacy Communications, Inc., pp. 29-33; Compiled service records of Thomas H. Sparks, Fold3)

Samuel W. Kelly, of Company A, 37th Massachusetts. Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, he was working as a shoemaker when he enlisted at the age of 40. His special duty as drummer relieved him from the ordinary private's duties, although during a fight he was assigned to assist the surgeons in the care of the wounded. In this capacity he served at the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. His health failed in October 1863, when the regiment was in New York City, and he was left behind at the hospital on Lexington and 50th on Manhattan's East Side. He was eventually discharged on July 8, 1864. (Chicopee Archives Online, Chicopee Public Library, Massachusetts, Digital Library of America)

Patrick F. Brannon, Company K, 15th Alabama. Read his story here: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/saga-of-drummer-pat-brannon-of-the-15th-alabama.197671/

Peter Guibert was a drummer with Company F, 74th Pennsylvania. He played on the march to Gettysburg, and again fifty years later at the reunion. Following his death on December 7, 1933, his family retained his damaged brass shell rope-tension snare drum. (Civil War News, August 2013; Civil War Service Index, Fold3)

 

[Tom Elmore]

Part 2:

Owen Hicks, Company C, 7th Ohio. He was detailed as a musician in April 1863, but took a musket into battle at Chancellorsville and at Gettysburg. On January 24, 1864, he was detailed as a drummer in the brigade brass band. He served out his time in the 5th Ohio and was promoted to sergeant in Company B of that regiment on June 20, 1865, the same day he was discharged from the army. (The History of Company C, Seventh Regiment, O.V.I., by Theodore Wilder, Oberlin, OH: J. B. T. Marsh, Printer, "News Office," 1866)

Louis E. Robertson, Company B, 42nd Mississippi. A farmer from Alabama, Private Robertson was mustered into service on May 14, 1862 at Granada, Mississippi. He was detailed as a musician for the regiment on August 28, 1862. At Gettysburg, he was taken captive on July 5, doubtless having been detailed to attend the wounded in a field hospital. By the summer of 1864, word was received that he had died at Fort Delaware. A single record entry clarified that he was a drummer for the regiment, however, although in November 1862 he was referred to as a fifer. (Compiled service records of Louis E. Robertson; National Archives, Microfilm Roll 42)

William H. Bullard, Company C, 70th New York. At the age of 19, Bullard enlisted on April 22, 1861 at Paw Paw, Michigan. He was mustered in as a musician on June 21, 1861, and in late August was promoted to fife major. In the summer of 1863, he was identified as a regimental drummer and on the field at Gettysburg served as a stretcher bearer under the direction of the brigade's Drum Major. Returning to the front to retrieve another casualty, Bullard "noticed a commotion near [Maj.] Gen. [Daniel] Sickles and saw him taken from his horse. I hastened to him thinking I could be of service in some way; the aides on his staff gave way for me." Bullard carried silk cords that he applied as a tourniquet on Sickles' leg and gave him a "stimulant" from his canteen – an alcoholic beverage, probably supplied by the medical department. He accompanied Sickles in an ambulance summoned to transport the general to a field hospital. In early 1864, Bullard transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps. (Roster of the 70th New York, https://museum.dmna.ny.gov/application/files/2715/5240/0306/70th_Infantry_CW_Roster.pdf; 1897 account by William H. Bullard, quoted in: Blowing Smoke, by Jim Hessler, America's Civil War, July 2009, Leesburg, VA: Weider History Group, pp. 50-51)

Samuel [H. or T.?] Ogletree, Company F, 8th Georgia. His existing service records are rather sparse and incomplete, but show that Private Ogletree enlisted on February 22, 1862 in Atlanta and was designated a musician from at least September 1863 through October 1864. However, a later military history noted that Ogletree had enlisted as a "drummer boy" and was present at Gettysburg. A recent biographical roster identifies him as Samuel Thomas Ogletree, who was born in 1844 and died in 1924. (Compiled service records of Samuel Ogletree; Confederate Military History, Extended Addition, vol. VII (Georgia), pp. 894-895; The 8th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1861-1865, A Biographical Roster, comp. by Richard Michael Allen, CA: Savas Beatie, 2018)

Elisha H. Stephens, Company E, 27th Indiana. At the outset of the war, most of the companies in the regiment enlisted at least one boy as a musician, as young as 12 years of age, but none older than 14 or 15. Most of these lads did not remain long in the army, but Elisha Stephens was one who stayed to participate at Gettysburg. He was mustered out of the service on September 1, 1864. On June 13, 1863, after a hard day's march, the regiment set up a nice camp on a bluff with a steady breeze and prepared for much needed rest when the drum suddenly sounded the "long roll." It heralded the beginning of the Gettysburg campaign. Nearing the battlefield on July 1, the non-combatants (including musicians) and ambulance teams were directed to report to the surgeon. (The Twenty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, by E. R. Brown, 1899)

 

[Tom Elmore]

Part 3:

Francis Voltaire Randall, Jr., Company F, 13th Vermont. Born on April 3, 1851, he was the son of Francis V. Randall, Sr., who served as colonel of the 13th Vermont at Gettysburg. Mustered into the service as a musician on January 1, 1863, he was assigned to Company F as a drummer, where he was called "Jimmie." He had an interesting escapade in April 1863, while escorting the daughter of a Virginia plantation owner through enemy lines, being questioned by none other than Col. John S. Mosby, but he was allowed to return to his regiment under an informal arrangement that was honored. At Gettysburg, when just twelve years old, he carried water to his comrades at the front, while under fire, for which he was later personally thanked by Brig. Gen. Stannard. He later joined the 17th Vermont, following his father. He died on March 6, 1924, a month shy of his 73rd birthday. (National Tribune, October 26, 1882, p. 7; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8626809/francis-voltaire-randall)

James P. Newberry, Company A, 15th Alabama. He enlisted at the age of 14 in July, 1861, as a drummer assigned to Company A. Newberry was marked present as of June 30, 1863, with the added notation that he was the "regimental drummer." Colonel William C. Oates, who led the 15th against Little Round Top on the second day, would recollect that "Jimmie" was "the best regimental kettle-drummer I ever saw; many times [he] beat tattoo and reveille." Newberry continued as drummer for the regiment until the surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. (Compiled service records of James P. Newberry, Fold3; The War Between the Union and the Confederacy, by William Calvin Oates)

Joseph Aarons, Company B, 109th Pennsylvania. Born in October 1850, he enlisted as a drummer in Company B at the age of "10 years, two months and a few days," according to a comrade, who later recalled: "He was considered at that time to be the smallest and youngest soldier in [Brig. Gen. John W.] Geary's Division; in fact, while on the march, with his drum slung on his back, those in his rear could see only his curly head above and his small slender legs below the drum. It was a curious sight to see the little fellow trudging along with men seemingly three or four times as big and strong; but his endurance was wonderful and was much commented upon by his comrades." Joseph was captured at Second Manassas and after being exchanged served as an orderly on Geary's staff. He was reported present at Gettysburg. Discharged on July 19, 1864, around the turn of the century Joseph was working in Philadelphia as a representative of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. (The Youngest Soldier, by John M. Valleau, Color Corporal, Co. C, 109th Pa., National Tribune, April 17, 1902, p. 3; Pennsylvania Memorial, plaque of the 109th Pennsylvania)

Thomas Lowery (or Lowrey), Company D, 6th Virginia. He enlisted in 1861 at the age of 14 as a drummer boy in his company. He remained a musician throughout the war and reportedly was present at Gettysburg. (Confederate Military History, Extended Addition, vol. IV (Virginia), p. 1007)

Robert Andrew Cassidy, 148th Pennsylvania. Although some sources identify him as a drummer, he held a leadership role as the "chief" or "principal" musician, supervising his regiment's "Drum Corps," which consisted (as of August 1, 1863) of nine drummers, six fifers and one bugler. This number was not far beneath the ten drummers and ten fifers that the regiment had when it was first organized in September 1862. At Gettysburg, Cassidy assisted his regiment's assistant surgeon, Alfred T. Hamilton, who established a forward aid station at the Jacob Hummelbaugh farm. Among his patients was Confederate Brig. General William Barksdale, who was brought off the field by Federal soldiers on the night of July 2. Cassidy devoted his entire attention to Barksdale, who died before daybreak on July 3. Just after the campaign, Cassidy suffered a sunstroke and was compelled to retire from active service. He died at Canton, Ohio on August 13, 1918, at the age of 78. (National Tribune, November 29, 1894; The Story of Our Regiment, A History of the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteers, ed. by J. W. Muffly, 1904, pp. 309, 314; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16452873/robert-a_-cassidy)

 

[Tom Elmore]

Part 4:

George Morin Merck, Company A, 11th Georgia. Merck was born at Gainesville in Hall County, Georgia on July 4, 1839. He was a farmer when he enlisted on July 3, 1861. When he reenlisted exactly one year later, he was described as 5'6" tall, with gray eyes, auburn hair, and a light complexion. In the first eight months of his military service, he was identified as a drummer, and thereafter as a "principal musician." At Gettysburg, he was left behind as a nurse for the wounded and taken captive. But he did not arrive at Fort McHenry until August 18, 1863, suggesting he was allowed to continue helping at a field hospital near Gettysburg for several weeks. He was eventually paroled from Point Lookout and was formally exchanged on February 13, 1865. Merck died on June 11, 1914, just 23 days shy of his 75th birthday, and was interred at Gainesville's Alta Vista Cemetery. (Compiled service records of George Morin Merck, Fold3; U.S. General Hospital, Camp Letterman, records; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25718617/george-moren-merck)

Gilman G. Foster, Company B, 13th Vermont. Born in Moretown, Vermont, Foster was employed as a farmer when the war broke out. On August 25, 1862, he enlisted for nine months' service, being then described as 19 years old, 5'8" in height, with blue eyes and "light" hair. He promptly appeared on the rolls as a drummer and held that title until mustered out of the service on July 21, 1863. At Gettysburg, a comrade recalled that he carried water from a spring to his company at the front, and also gave some to wounded Confederates. (Compiled service records of Gilman G. Foster, Fold 3; Pictorial History, Thirteenth Regiment Vermont Volunteers, War of 1861-1865, by Ralph Orson Sturtevant, Historian)

Andrew Butt, Company E, 61st Virginia. Enrolled February 26, 1862, at the age of 18, he was soon identified on the rolls as a musician/drummer. A company record states that "Private Andrew Butt, drummer boy, got lost from the company" immediately following the battle of Gettysburg. Federal records indicate he was captured on either July 3 or 5 and passed through Fort McHenry on his way to Fort Delaware, where he died on September 28, 1863, of chronic bronchitis. He is interred at Finn's Point National Cemetery in New Jersey. (Compiled service records of Andrew Butt, Fold3; Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ed. by Janet B. Hewett, part II, vol. 71, serial no. 83, Wilmington, DE: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1998, p. 747; https://www.interment.net/data/us/nj/salem/finns/index_ac.htm)

John Butler, Company F, 1st Michigan (infantry). Butler enlisted as a musician in Company F on July 19, 1861, and he reenlisted on February 22, 1864. He is presumed to be a drummer since he is the only musician listed in Company F on a clothing issue document dated July, 1863, and Company F received a snare drum from the regimental quartermaster on July 27, 1863. Butler was mustered out of the service near Jeffersonville, Indiana on July 9, 1865. (Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers in the Civil War, vol. 1, p. 22; Quartermaster records, July-September 1863, Bentley Historical Library, Civil War Collections Online)

Adam Stark, Company L, 14th Tennessee. Born circa 1836, Stark enlisted on May 31, 1861, and before the end of the year was designated as a musician. At Gettysburg, he was left behind to help nurse the wounded. When taken captive on July 5, he was described as a drummer. He spent some time at Camp Letterman General Hospital prior to his July 25 arrival at the General Hospital at the West's Buildings in Baltimore. On August 17, he was sent to the Point Lookout prison camp. After some months he took the Oath of Allegiance to the Federal Government and was transferred to Fort Monroe on March 2, 1864. (Compiled service records of Adam Stark, Fold3; U.S. General Hospital, Camp Letterman, records)

 

[nc native]

Austin Dix, Field and Staff 18th Virginia. Dix was a freed black who enlisted in May 1861. He was one of two freed blacks who were drummers for this regiment. Service cards show he was present for duty through August 1863 when he was discharged and received back pay for his service. (Fold3 service cards and service records)

 

[mwalker6043]

Calvin Gilbert, He was a coach maker in Gettysburg in the 1860 Census. He joined the Adams County Independent Blues on September 2, 1861. Then he was federalized on September 25 into Co. F, 87th PA Infantry. He was transferred to the band in October, 1861. he was transferred back to Co. F. Calvin was discharged when Congress cut funding for bands. He joined the 1st PA Reserves as a drummer during the battle of Gettysburg, but was not enlisted in the unit. He was sent to Chambersburg to serve in the Commissary Dept. until Chambersburg was burned in 1864. He finished his time in Washington D.C. rising to the rank of Captain. He was a principal in Chambersburg then moved back to Gettysburg around 1890. Calvin would live to be 100 years old.
Many of the replica cannons and War Dept. signs and plaques on the Gettysburg and Valley Forge Battlefields were made in his foundry in Gettysburg.

 

[Tom Elmore]

Part 5:

William A. Neal, Company E, 4th North Carolina (infantry). From Beaufort County, he enlisted as a musician (drummer) on June 3, 1861, at the age of 18. He may have been a field musician or else a band member. At Gettysburg, he was marked: "missing, thought sick and a prisoner." More specifically, entries record his capture on July 5, at Waterloo, Pennsylvania, and admission the next day at the U.S. General Hospital in Frederick, Maryland – indicating that he was traveling with the wagon train across South Mountain when captured by Federal cavalry. Sent to Fort Delaware, he was exchanged from Point Lookout on May 3, 1864, and at the close of the war was paroled from Gen. Johnston's army on May 1, 1865. (Compiled service records of William A. Neal, Fold3)

James D. Campbell, Company B, 109th Pennsylvania. Born on July 18, 1851, he enlisted in the company as a drummer on December 16, 1861, on that date being: "ten years, five months and eight days old. He was large for his age and very apt, besides he could handle the drumsticks to perfection." He participated in every engagement from South Mountain to Gettysburg. For a time, he served as a mounted orderly to Col. Stainbrook, until the latter's death at Chancellorsville. In 1864, he marched through Georgia, but he was mustered out at Savannah despite his pleas to be enrolled as a private. After the war, he served as an active member of GAR posts in Washington D.C. and Brooklyn, New York. (The Monroe Advertiser, Forsyth, Ga., May 12, 1891, reprinting an article in the New York Press; Service index for James Campbell, Fold3; Plaque to 109th Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Memorial, Gettysburg)

Jesse Seaborn Barnwell, Company C, 3rd Georgia. Born in June 1838 in Georgia, he enlisted as a private at Penfield, Greene County, on April 24, 1861, and was marked on the rolls as a musician before the end of the year. He is shown as a chief musician in 1864, through early 1865. An 1891 newspaper article described him as the "drummer boy" of the regiment, and another source mentions him as a drum major. Having served throughout the war, his presence at Gettysburg would be expected unless prevented by illness, although there is no confirmatory evidence to either refute or support his participation in that battle. After the war, he worked as a harness maker and had a carriage shop as of the mid-1890s. He died on August 9, 1906, and was interred in Wilkes County, Georgia. (Compiled service records of Jesse S. Barnwell, Fold3; The Morning News, Savannah, Ga., April 17, 1891, p. 8; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42104243/jesse-seaborn-barnwell)

James D. Burris, Company F, 7th West Virginia. Mustered into service at Morgantown as a drummer on September 20, 1861, at age 23, he was marked present as a drummer or musician on all subsequent rolls (including the period of the Gettysburg campaign), except for a brief hospitalization at Harper's Ferry in the Fall of 1862. He was mustered out at the conclusion of his three-year commitment on September 20, 1864. (Compiled service records of James D. Burris, Fold3)

Calvin A. Cowan, Company C, 16th Mississippi. A resident of Copiah County, Mississippi, he enrolled as a private at Corinth at the age of 28, on May 26, 1861. Detailed as a musician on November 28, 1861, he was identified as a drummer on April 14, 1862. He was still present as a drummer on the eve of the battle of Gettysburg (June 30), but was attached to the regimental band by April 1864. He deserted during the siege of Petersburg on January 27, 1865, accepted the Oath of Allegiance, and was sent to Chattanooga. When he took the oath, he was described as being 5'11" in height, with dark eyes, sandy-colored hair and a florid complexion. (Compiled service records of Calvin A. Cowan, Fold3)

Below is a drum used by the 13th Virginia Infantry until it was lost to Union forces at the third battle of Winchester, Virginia on September 19, 1864. Whether it saw action at Gettysburg is not known. (Displayed at the American Civil War Museum, at Tredegar, Richmond, Virginia, it was presented by Dr. Aurelius Finch Wheeler in 1916.)

 

[Tom Elmore]

Part 6:

Charles E. Felker, Company G, 32nd Massachusetts. On May 26, 1862, Felker was enrolled in the regiment as a musician, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, being listed as 18 years old. A surviving drum was traced to Felker through an inscription on the bottom head. During the fighting on July 2, Felker reportedly left this drum at the regimental aid station, "behind some boulders on the Stony Hill," while he was engaged in moving the wounded to a place of greater safety. Felker was mustered out of the service on June 29, 1865. (Civil War service records of Charles E. Felker, Fold3; Mike Cunningham Collection, Gettysburg Battlefield Relics & Souvenirs, by Mike O'Donnell, Alexandria, VA: O'Donnell Publications, October 2009, p. 102 – a photograph is shown of the drum)

Louis Myerberg (variant Lewis Meyersberg), Company I, 8th Alabama. A Mobile resident who was born in one of the Germanic states, he enlisted on May 21, 1861, as a musician. A regimental roster described him as a drummer. He was wounded with a gunshot in the left thigh at Gettysburg and captured, being first taken to the Union Twelfth Corps hospital, then sent to Fort Delaware and finally to Point Lookout. When released on May 10, 1865, he was described as having gray eyes, dark hair, ruddy complexion and stood just 5' 2 1/2" tall. (Colonel Hilary A. Herbert's History of the Eight Alabama Volunteer Regiment, C. S. A., ed. by Maurice S. Fortin, The Alabama Historical Quarterly, vol. 39, 1977, Alabama State Department of Archives and History, p. 303; Compiled service records of Louis Myerberg, Fold3)

Jesse J. Morris, Company K, 140th Pennsylvania. A resident of Millsboro, Pennsylvania, he was sworn into the service as a private at the age of 17, but first had to "tiptoe to reach the measuring stick." After March 1863, he was put into the Drum Corps and soon led the snare drummers. He eventually became Drum Sergeant, was detailed to division headquarters from January 1, 1864, and was appointed Drum Major on December 22, 1864. He was with the regiment through all its camps, campaigns and engagements, except for a 15-day furlough granted to him during the winter of 1864/1865. (Sketches of Those Living, Jan. 2, 1906, Company K, 140th Pennsylvania, https://www.lindapages.com/140pa/140-living.htm)

George H. Perry, Company A, 15th South Carolina. Described as a "musician for [the] regiment" over the period May 1863 through June 1864, he was previously identified as a drummer. Perry enlisted on August 15, 1861, at Lightwood Knot Springs, near Columbia. His service records continue until the end of 1864. (Compiled service records of George H. Perry, Fold3)

Sylvanus Perry Eaton, Company C, 44th New York. Born in November 1847, he was mustered into the service as a musician (drummer) at Coxsackie, New York on October 3, 1862, a month shy of his 15th birthday. At the battle of Fredericksburg on December 13 of that year, he took up a musket and was wounded below the knee. Returning to the regiment on March 11, 1863, he resumed his duties as a drummer. As of September 8, 1864, Eaton was serving in the hospital at City Point, Virginia. A month later, he transferred to the 140th New York. (Diary of Royal George Kinner, New York State Military Museum; Roster of the 44th New York;, https://museum.dmna.ny.gov/application/files/9715/5067/6279/44th_Infantry_CW_Roster.pdf; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/195837407/sylvanus-perry-eaton)

 

[Tom Elmore]

Part 7:

Henry Isaac Simmons, Company C, 17th Georgia. He enlisted at Columbus, Georgia on September 1, 1861, and a late 1862 roll describes him as a drum major. He was captured at Gettysburg and was acting as a nurse. As of July 29, he was still at a Gettysburg field hospital, when he provided an update on six soldiers from his company, two of whom he had helped bury soon after the battle. Although he did not mention having been wounded himself, on October 16, he was admitted to the West's Buildings Hospital in Baltimore with a gunshot fracture of his right shoulder. He was transferred to Fort McHenry on December 18 and was exchanged on March 17, 1864, after which he is recorded as a private but no longer a drum major. Severely wounded in the left lung on June 5, 1864, it does not appear he returned to active service before the war ended. (Compiled service records of H. I. Simmons, Fold3; July 29, 1863, letter from Henry I. Simmons, published in the Weekly Columbus Enquirer, Columbus, Georgia, September 1, 1863, p. 2)

George N. Hill, Company B, 12th Massachusetts. From March through at least July 1863, Hill was detailed as a drummer. While with his regiment at the front, he helped save the life of Private John E. Gilman of Company E, whose arm was mangled by a fragment from an incoming artillery round. Gilman recalled: "George N. Hill, one of the drummers, and several of the other boys came to my assistance. They got a towel from my knapsack and bound it tightly around my arm, just below the shoulder." That makeshift tourniquet was credited by the surgeon for keeping Gilman alive (Gilman became chief of the Grand Army of the Republic organization in 1910). Immediately after the battle, Hill served as a nurse at the hospital set up in the Lutheran Theological Seminary, where he contracted a debilitating illness that led to his transfer to the Invalid Corps in March 1864. (Compiled service records of George N. Hill, Fold3; Tale of Gettysburg Fight, The Celina Democrat, Celina, Ohio, December 5, 1913, p. 2; The True Citizen, Waynesboro, Georgia, October 29, 1910, p. 9)

Daniel McShane, Company B, 9th Alabama. A native of Ireland, he was a resident of Marshall County, Alabama at the time of his enlistment on May 21, 1861. Soon identified as a drummer/musician, he was recorded as being "absent without leave" as of July 1, 1863. Federal records indicate he was captured between July 2-4 and forwarded to Fort Delaware, via Fort McHenry. Upon his release at the end of the war, he was described as having hazel eyes, dark hair, a ruddy complexion and being 5' 5" tall. (Compiled service records of Daniel McShane, Fold3)

Unidentified drummer, 64th New York. When Adjutant James M. Pettit was struck on his face and head in the Rose woods on July 2, he was assisted to the rear by two men from his regiment, including an unnamed drummer who went to the front to assist the wounded off the battlefield. The three made it back to a field hospital a couple of miles to the rear. (Correspondence of James M. Pettit, 1861-'3, Special Collections, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York; Roster, 64th New York, New York Military Museum.)

Joseph D. "Dan" Hackney, Company E, 26th North Carolina. On May 28, 1861, at the age of 19, he was enlisted as a musician. In June 1863, he was appointed a drum major. Left behind as a nurse at Gettysburg, and possibly slightly wounded himself, he was taken prisoner on July 5. A wounded soldier of Company E named William W. Edwards recalled that "Dan Hackney … will long be remembered by us, for he waited over us like a brother." Hackney was paroled on August 24, 1863, and returned to his command. In early 1864, he was identified as chief musician of the regiment, retaining the alternate title of drum major. He ended the war at Farmville, Virginia, where he was paroled in mid-April 1865. (July 24, 1863, letter of William W. Edwards, North Carolina Digital Collections, State Library of North Carolina; Compiled service records of Joseph D. Hackney, Fold3)

 

[Tom Elmore]

Part 8:

Joseph Rutledge, Company K, 96th Pennsylvania. Born in 1843, in Durham, England, he listed his civilian occupation as "miner" when he was mustered into the service on October 1, 1861. On that same date he was recorded as a musician, but was identified as a drummer when he reenlisted in early 1864, being described as having blue eyes, light hair and complexion, and standing 5' 6" tall. His presence at Gettysburg is attested on the regimental plaque affixed to the Pennsylvania Memorial on Cemetery Ridge. (Muster Rolls and Related Records, 96th Pennsylvania, State Archives; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/202643156/joseph-rutledge)

Lindsey Harrison Carlton, Company B, 37th North Carolina. A farmer from Watauga County, North Carolina, he enlisted September 14, 1861, at the age of 23. Described as having a fair complexion, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and 6' 1" in height, by early 1862 he was listed on the rolls as a drummer. Captured May 27, 1862, at Hanover Court House, he was exchanged on August 5 of that year and took up his drum once again as a field musician. He sustained a gunshot wound in the arm at Gettysburg and spent time in hospitals at Richmond and Danville before reporting back to his regiment on December 11, 1863. Soon promoted to sergeant, he served in the ranks until captured on April 2, 1865. Imprisoned for eleven weeks, he was released on June 24. (Compiled service records of Lindsey H. Carlton, Fold3; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24564401/lindsay-harrison-carlton)

Calvin Gilbert, 1st Pennsylvania Reserves. Born in Gettysburg on April 8, 1839, he joined the 87th Pennsylvania and was affiliated with that regiment's band until September 1, 1862, when he was discharged with the dissolution of the regimental bands. At Gettysburg, he was a drummer with the 1st Pennsylvania Reserves, although reportedly he had not reenlisted in that regiment. He later performed commissary duties for other commands. Long after the war he returned to Gettysburg and joined the Skelly Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. The foundry where he worked produced many of the artillery pieces that were placed on the Gettysburg battlefield as well as at Valley Forge. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15391721/calvin-gilbert; https://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/2015/12/24/calvin-gilbert-and-the-gettysburg-cannon-carriages/)

Thaddeus Sadler, Company B, 43rd North Carolina. Born in Wake County, North Carolina, he was mustered into service on April 2, 1862, at the age of 18. He first appears on the rolls as a musician in autumn 1862, and toward the end of that year was transferred from Company G to Company B. He was specifically listed as a drummer as of early 1863. During the retreat from Gettysburg, Sadler was taken captive by Federal cavalry on July 5 at South Mountain, in the wagon train of the wounded, probably while assisting wounded comrades. Exchanged on Christmas Day, 1863, he was paroled at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. (Gallant Soldiers, Roll of Company G, The Gold Leaf, Henderson, North Carolina, January 23, 1896; Compiled service records of Thaddeus Sadler, Fold3)

Andrew Shaler, Company G, 123rd New York. Enlisting at age 18 on August 8, 1862, he was appointed as a musician on an unspecified date. However, as of July 17, 1863, he was carrying a drum, which a comrade borrowed to use as a level writing surface while composing a letter to his brother. (July 17, 1863 letter of W. Clark McLean, Company G, 123rd New York, McLean Family Papers, New York State Library, Albany, New York; Roster, 123rd New York, New York Military Museum.)