- Joined
- Jan 8, 2012
From the Facebook page of the US Army's Old Guard Fife & Drum Corps for Black History Month, we have the story of Alexander H. Johnson, a young drummer boy who enlisted in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry at the age of 16.
He is remembered as the first black musician to enlist during the American Civil War and is commended for his exceptional musical skill and service under Col. Robert G. Shaw during the war.
Orphaned before he was five years old, he took to drumming as a young child and remarked that he “beat a drum every day he has been able since childhood.” He was adopted by William Henry Johnson, an abolitionist and former slave who is noted for becoming the first black lawyer in the U.S.
After his service in the Civil War, Mr. Johnson joined the Grand Army of the Republic and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in Worcester, MA. He founded a drum corps to teach young drummers, and Johnson’s Drum Corps appeared in a musical review (what we might consider to be a modern-day muster) in 1881 along with many other corps. His exceptional playing and teaching helped spread “The Major’s” influence and style to many drummers in the late 19th century, including the beginnings of American jazz drumming.
He is remembered as the first black musician to enlist during the American Civil War and is commended for his exceptional musical skill and service under Col. Robert G. Shaw during the war.
Orphaned before he was five years old, he took to drumming as a young child and remarked that he “beat a drum every day he has been able since childhood.” He was adopted by William Henry Johnson, an abolitionist and former slave who is noted for becoming the first black lawyer in the U.S.
After his service in the Civil War, Mr. Johnson joined the Grand Army of the Republic and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in Worcester, MA. He founded a drum corps to teach young drummers, and Johnson’s Drum Corps appeared in a musical review (what we might consider to be a modern-day muster) in 1881 along with many other corps. His exceptional playing and teaching helped spread “The Major’s” influence and style to many drummers in the late 19th century, including the beginnings of American jazz drumming.