Historical Documents

Drum and Fife Manuals

“A New, Useful and Complete System of Drum Beating” by Charles Ashworth, 1812 (missing pages 11 and 22)

“Col. H.C. Hart’s New and Improved Instructor for the Drum” by Col. H.C. Hart, 1862

“The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide” by George Bruce and Dan Emmett, 1862

The above PDF’s were created from the images available at Fife & Drum Online.

“The Manual of Instruction for Drummers” by George D. Klinehanse, 1853

“United States Regulation Drum and Fife Instructor” by Elias Howe, 1861

“The Army Drum and Fife Book” by Keach, Burditt and Cassidy, 1861

“The Union Drum and Fife Book” by Henry Simpson and Ira Canterbury, 1862

“Army Regulations for Drum, Fife and Bugle” by William Nevins, 1864

“Strube’s Drum and Fife Instructor” by Gardiner A. Strube, 1869

“Trommel-Schule zum Selbstunterricht, Self-Instructor for the Drum” by Robert Kietzer, 1891

Drummer Boy Diaries and Recollections from the Civil War

Quite by chance I stumbled upon the published diary of a young Civil War drummer boy. Naturally, I was curious if other such accounts existed. I am happy to say that indeed other publications exist. Below you will find information about three such books. These books are in the public domain and I am making them available for download in PDF format. Links are also provided to the original online source where other formats are available.

• The Recollections of a Drummer-Boy by Harry M. Kieffer (1845-1930)
  • Originally published in 1881, this copy revised and published in 1911
  • Was in the 150th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers
  • Source: Internet Archive
• A Drummer-Boy’s Diary: Comprising Four Years of Service with the Second Regiment Minnesota Veteran Volunteers, 1861-1865 by William Bircher (1845-1917)
  • Published in 1889
  • Was in the 2nd Regiment Minnesota Veteran Volunteers
  • Source: Internet Archive
• Drum Taps in Dixie: Memories of a Drummer Boy, 1861-1865 by Delavan S. Miller (1849-1917)
  • Published in 1905
  • Was in the 2nd New York Heavy Artillery Regiment
  • Source: Internet Archive

Since these accounts refer to specific dates and locations during the Civil War, you may want to brush up on your Civil War history. Here are some links to get you started:

The Civil War

Civil War Timeline

Civil War Timeline