First Black Union Musician to Enlist During the Civil War

Claude Bauer

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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.

Alexander Johnson 1.jpg









 
Dick Slate and Austin Dix were free black men who enlisted as musicians in the 18th Virginia Infantry on June 30, 1861. Dick Slate served until August 1862 and Austin Dix was discharged from service August 31, 1863.
 
Dick Slate and Austin Dix were free black men who enlisted as musicians in the 18th Virginia Infantry on June 30, 1861. Dick Slate served until August 1862 and Austin Dix was discharged from service August 31, 1863.
OK, I changed the title of original post to: First Black Union Musician to Enlist During the Civil War. Do you know if there were any prior to Slate and Dix in the Confederate army, or were they, to the best of your knowledge, the first for the Confederacy? If you have any references for them, I'd like to learn more!
 
OK, I changed the title of original post to: First Black Union Musician to Enlist During the Civil War. Do you know if there were any prior to Slate and Dix in the Confederate army, or were they, to the best of your knowledge, the first for the Confederacy? If you have any references for them, I'd like to learn more!

I'll do a little looking around to see what I can find. Dick Slate was actually listed as a drummer but the last time I checked, drummers are musicians too. (I think) These men happened to serve in one of the regiments that one of my direct ancestors belonged to so I happened to have a short book about the 18th Virginia with a regimental roster. That makes life easier when it comes to finding information about the men who served in a particular regiment. By the way, the book was written by the late James I. Robertson
 
I would suggest that, probably, the first black Union musician enlisted in the First Kansas Colored Infantry, which was organized before the 54th Massachusetts.
 
In response to Claude's inquiry, the 1st South Carolina Infantry had a band made up of free black men as of the regimental roster dated January 1, 1862. When these men joined the Confederacy I'll have to do a little research to see but the possibility does exist there were musicians who were black that enlisted earlier than Dick Slate and Austin Dix of the 18th Virginia Infantry.
 
I would suggest that, probably, the first black Union musician enlisted in the First Kansas Colored Infantry, which was organized before the 54th Massachusetts.
That's possible, but the Army's Old Guard F&D Corps released this story and they are pretty knowledgeable about military history in general and the Army's musical history in particular. The First Kansas may have had musicians--I don't know. If they did, I'd love to learn more about them, but we have solid evidence from the 54th Mass. for Mr. Johnson, so until we learn otherwise...
 
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