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Military & Patriotic Music

Robert E. Lee wrote in 1864, "I don't believe we can have an army without music."

Long before telephone and radio communications became available, the military musician could reach the ears of men well beyond the human voice: with a pattern of drum beats or bugle call it was possible for commanders to move large numbers of men around the battlefield. The drum gave them the time and kept them together, the trumpet and bugle sounded the clarion call to arms.

Many American historic events occurred with the support of a military musical unit. Prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, colonial soldiers marched to the music of fifes and drums. During the Civil War, military leaders on both sides relied on military musicians to entertain troops, position troops in battle, and stir the troops on to victory. Military bands have a brilliant history. Bands, such as the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and the 1st Infantry Division, received decorations for their performance in combat.

Pre-Revolutionary War

Prior to the Revolutionary War, colonists readily adapted to British military traditions and rapidly accepted England's military ideas. They copied British militia organization, utilized British training manuals, and used British officers to drill their troops.

As far back as 1633, in the Colony of Virginia, drummers performed for marching practice during militia drills. In 1659, the Dutch supplied the militia of their new colony with drums. In 1687, the importance of music to the militia was further demonstrated when Virginia voted to purchase musical instruments for its militia. All free white males were required to serve in these units and supply their own rifles. Drummers received money for their services and public funds furnished their instruments. The first known band in the colonies was a band in New Hampshire in 1653 comprising of 15 hautbois (oboe) and 2 drums.

The elite militia units in the colonies obtained the services of bands. Officers funded these bands. In 1747, the Pennsylvania colonists formed regiments and Colonel Benjamin Franklin was the regimental commander in Philadelphia. In 1756, the Regiment of Artillery Company of Philadelphia, commanded by Franklin, marched with over 1000 men accompanied by "Hautboys and Fifes in Ranks." It is likely that the term "hautboy" did not refer solely to oboes, but to military musicians, and that Franklin had a well-balanced band. This marks the first recorded appearance of an American military band in the colonies.

The colonists had many opportunities to hear British "Bands of Musick." Most of the 95 "regiments of foot" serving in the colonies from 1755-1783 had bands attached to them. Bands of Musick, following the "harmoniemusick" model, comprised of six to eight musicians performing on oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons. They were separate from the field music units that sounded signals. Bands of Musick performed for special occasions and ceremonies. The appearance of these bands stimulated the musical environment within the colonies and contributed greatly to the future development of American military bands. American bands adopted an instrumentation similar to that of the British "Bands of Musick."

Music thrived in the colonies with the establishment of music schools, concert halls, and stores. Concerts were given in all the cultural centers. Boston papers advertised concerts as early as 1729. Josiah Flagg organized a military band of wind instrumentalist in Boston which performed at Faneuil Hall becoming the pioneer band for performance of military music in America. In 1776, a concert hall opened in New York providing evening concerts on weekdays throughout the summer. Philadelphia, also a cultural center, presented well-organized concert programs. British Army bands and American militia bands performed concerts in all these cities.

Ken | Playlist | 03 July 2002

The Colonies Go To War

After the Boston Tea Party (1773), the British antagonized the colonists by closing the port of Boston. To improve their defenses and prepare for war, the colonies formed Committees of Safety and forced Tory militia officers to resign. Officers sympathetic to independence replaced the Tory Officers. The colonists also accumulated stores of military supplies and established minuteman companies.

Musicians in the minuteman companies provided the steady rhythms needed to drill the new militia. On April 19, 1775, William Diamond (in some accounts Dinman), a drummer in Captain John Parker's Lexington militia company, beat To Arms at the Battle of Lexington. Also present was Jonathan Harrington, a fifer. Diamond later went on to march the Lexington militia to Bunker Hill. Some time after Bunker Hill, Diamond set aside his drum in favor of a musket and served throughout the remainder of the Revolution, to include the Battle of Yorktown, as a foot soldier.

Within days of the Lexington battle, militiamen arrived in Boston from all the New England Colonies and eastern Canada. The Massachusetts Provincial Continental Congress requested aid from the Second Continental Congress to strengthen Boston's defense. As the delegates entered Philadelphia they were met by an infantry company with a band parading them through the streets of the city. The Continental Congress responded by establishing the New England Army and appointing George Washington commander of all continental forces.

Support for independence grew and spread throughout the colonies as the war in New England intensified. The colonists held rallies with patriotic speeches and banners. Militia companies drilled while bands played patriotic melodies. By the time of the Revolution, American bands conformed to the European "Harmoniemusick" model.

At least seven regiments were known to have bands. The bands of the 3rd and 4th Regiments of Artillery served until the end of the war. Near the end of the Revolution, both bands gave frequent civilian concerts. One of them continued to exist into the nineteenth century under the name of the "Massachusetts Band."

Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, founded the U.S. Army as the Continental Army. From the very beginning of the Continental Army, drummers and trumpeters have been included. The resolution starts:

Resolved that six companies of expert riflemen be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia; that each Company consist of a captain, three lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals, a drummer or trumpeter, and sixty-eight privates.

Army Hit Kit

Of Popular Songs

Issued Monthly by Special Service Division Army Service Forces, U. S. Army dd July, 1943.

click image to enlarge Page 1 & 2
click image to enlarge Page 3 & 4	click image to enlarge Page 5 & 6

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