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Drummer Boys
Johnny Clem was a famous Civil War drummer. He was only nine years old. He ran away from home to serve in war as a drummer boy. He got paid 13$ a month. While playing during a battle, he was forced to obtain a musket and fight, and he got wounded twice. He survived the war and remained a soldier and wasn’t a drummer any longer.
Johnny Clem
They drummer boys had to wear whatever they were given. At times they wore uniforms like the troops. Sometimes they wore no uniforms at all. When they were given uniforms they didn’t always fit just right.
The drummer boys didn’t need any kind of training at all. All they needed was a drum and sticks to play. Many boys had never played an instrument in their lives.
Many of the drummer boys were run a ways, especially if they were very young. They didn’t want to go to school so they would enlist in the war as drummer boys
Drummers were never armed with guns, but soldiers fought them anyway. They were scared and had to quickly grab a musket or some sort of weapon to defend their selves.
The average age of the drummer boys were usually teenagers. At a rank of 12-16 years old, but some kids lied about there age and got in as young as nine years old.
The drummer boys practiced while the army was practicing. When they got good, they could switch their instruments. They played almost constantly through the day. They had to learn and memorize the music by heart.
The drummer boys used the drums for different things then just playing the drums. They used them to play checkers and cards. They also unscrewed the top of the drums to carry things like cards, food, or even small dogs in them.
Training
Uniform
Run a ways
Fighting
Age of drummers
Practice
Other uses for the drums
http://www.genealogyforum.com/gfaol/resource/Military/Drummer.htm
link
Collett, James. “Drummer Boys.” Cobblestone 1989: 10-13. Foster, Stephan T. Drummer boy of Chickamauga. N.p.: Atlas Edditions , 1993. “music of the civil war .” NPS.gov. 2007. 23 Sept. 2008 work cited
work cited
