Field music.
The fife and drum corps became the chief dependence of the
regimental commanders for music as the fighting wore on. They remained with the army to the end, and sounded all the ‘calls.’
They served under the surgeon.
A cheerful bit of music is an inspiring thing to a tired column of soldiers on a long day's march or before a dangerous foe.
General Sheridan recognized the value of this stimulus to the men, and
General Horace Porter records that as late as March 30, 1865, he encountered one of
Sheridan's bands under heavy fire at
Five Forks, playing ‘
Nellie Bly’ as cheerfully as if it were furnishing music for a country picnic.
The top photograph shows one of the cavalry bands at
Auburn, in the fall of 1863.
The frayed trousers of the band below show hard service.
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The music that stayed with the soldiers—Talty's fifers and drummers |
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A band that had seen service, near Fairfax, 1863 |
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