Some of you may not know that in addition to writing a drum book and related magazine articles I also published six history books, produced three documentary films and penned countless articles on topics ranging from the Revolutionary War – to the Civil War – to Major League Baseball. If you are interested in more information on two of my proudest efforts visit: http://www.pinstripepress.net/THPAubrechtDeal.jpg. Today I would like to share a study I did a while back that looks at the lives and legacies of soldier drummers during America’s Fight for Independence.
Throughout the history of warfare musicians have always played an important role on the battlefield. Military music has served many purposes including marching-cadences, bugle-calls and funeral dirges. Fifes, bagpipes and trumpets are just some of the tools that were used to instruct friend and intimidate foe.
Perhaps the most notable of these instruments was the drum. From as far back as the ancient days of Babylon, percussion rallied the troops on the field, sent signals between the masses, and scared the enemy half to death. During the Revolutionary War, drummers in both the Continental and English ranks marched bravely into the fight with nothing but their rudiments and sticks to protect them.
Remarkably, some of these musicians were in fact, very young boys, not quite yet into their teen years. That group however, was a minority. Despite popular culture’s portrayal of the little “Drummer Boy,” boys were actually an acceptation to the rule in early American warfare. According to The music of the Army… An Abbreviated Study of the Ages of Musicians in the Continental Army by John U. Rees (Originally published in The Brigade Dispatch Vol. XXIV, No. 4, Autumn 1993, 2-8.):
Boy musicians, while they did exist, were the exception rather than the rule. Though it seems the idea of a multitude of early teenage or pre-teenage musicians in the Continental Army is a false one, the legend has some basis in fact. There were young musicians who served with the army. Fifer John Piatt of the 1st New Jersey Regiment was ten years old at the time of his first service in 1776, while Lamb’s Artillery Regiment Drummer Benjamin Peck was ten years old at the time of his 1780 enlistment. There were also a number of musicians who were twelve, thirteen, or fourteen years old when they first served as musicians with the army.
Sixteen years, although young by today’s standards, was considered the mature age of a young man in the days of the American Revolution. It was also the average age of many fifers and drummers who marched in the ranks of General George Washington’s army. For example the 11th Pennsylvania Regiment boasted the following musician’s roll:
John Brown, fife – 14 years old, enlisted in 1777 (11 years in 1777)
Thomas Cunningham, drum – 18 years old, enlisted in 1777 (15 years in 1777)
Benjamin Jeffries, drum – 15 years old, enlisted in 1777 (12 years in 1777)
Robert Hunter, drum – 40 years old, enlisted in 1777 (37 years in 1777)
Thomas Harrington, drum – 14 years old, enlisted in 1777 (11 years in 1777)
Samuel Nightlinger, drum – 16 years old, enlisted in 1777 (13 years in 1777)
James Raddock, fife – 16 years old, enlisted in 1777 (13 years in 1777)
George Shively, fife – 19 years old, enlisted in 1777 (16 years in 1777)
David Williams, drum – 17 years old, enlisted in 1777 (14 years in 1777)
Despite their non-combatant roles in battle, many of these drummer’s war stories are even more compelling than those of the fighting men around them. For instance, Charles Hulet, a drummer in the 1st New Jersey…The following deposition was given by Hulett’s son-in-law in 1845:
“… said Hulett… enlisted in Captain Nichols company [possibly Noah Nichols, captain in Stevens’ Artillery Battalion as of November 9, 1776. In 1778 he was a captain in the 2nd Continental Artillery. See entry for Joseph Lummis] which was a part of the first Regiment of New Jersey in the service of the United States which Regiment was commanded by Col. Ogden. He enlisted as aforesaid on the 7 May 1778… He was engaged in the battle of Monmouth and was wounded in the leg and then or soon after taken a prisoner and by the enemy and carried in captivity to the West Indies, To relieve himself from the horrors of his imprisonment he joined the British Army as a musician and was sent to the United States. That soon after his return… he deserted from the British ranks and again joined the army of the United States and the south under General Greene. He was present at the siege of York and after the surrender of Cornwallis he was one of the corps that escorted the prisoners which was sent to Winchester… and he remained in service to the end of the war. This declarant always understood that said Hulett at the close of the war held the rank of Drum-Major.”
As primarily noncombatants, it is rare to have a detailed look at the service of any military musician. John George is an exception to that rule as he served the Continental Army’s supreme commander as his personal percussionist. His descendants have also done an exceptional job keeping his legacy alive through public commemorations. Arville L. Funk’s study titled From a Sketchbook of Indiana History, includes a profile of the first “famous” American drummer. It reads:
In a little known grave in south-western Marion County, Indiana, lie the remains of an old soldier traditionally acclaimed as “George Washington’s drummer boy.” This is the grave of Sergeant John George, a Revolutionary War veteran of the First Battalion of the New Jersey Continental Line. Through extensive and alert research by Chester Swift of Indianapolis into Revolutionary war records, muster rolls, field reports, pension records, etc., there is evidence that Sergeant George might have been the personal drummer boy of Washington’s Headquarters Guard during a large portion of the Revolutionary War…On September 8th of that year, Private George, who was listed on the company’s rolls as a drummer, fought in his first battle, a short engagement at Clay Creek, which was a prelude to the important Battle of Brandywine. Later, Ogden’s battalion was to participate in the battles of Germantown and Monmouth, serving as a part of the famous Maxwell Brigade. The Maxwell Brigade served during the entire war under the personal command of General Washington and was considered to be one of the elite units of the American army. According to John George’s service records, he served his first three-year enlistment as a private and a drummer with the brigade at a salary of $7.30 a month. When his three-year enlistment expired, George reenlisted as a sergeant in Captain Aaron Ogden’s company of the First Battalion (Maxwell’s Brigade) for the duration of the war.
Even today America’s armed forces boast some of the most talented musicians in the country with many of them still playing traditional instruments and cadences. Their storied history is one that should not be forgotten.
Off Beat with Michael Aubrecht 
