Littlefield Drum

(music)

[Narrator] During the American Civil War, amid the thunder of cannons and the crack of muskets, another sound echoed across the battlefield.

(drum beat)

It was music played with purpose, not entertainment.

(drum beat)

It was the beat of a drum.

(drum beat)

Different rhythms and combinations conveyed different messages, making it a valuable communication tool between soldiers and commanding officers.

Often just a boy or young man, the drummer conveyed a commander's orders, signaling troops to fire, advance, retreat, or shift formation. The beat of a drum carried farther and clearer than a human voice, making it the most effective call to action. Drums were also an important part of moving from one place to another. For a regiment marching 15 or 20 miles a day with packs on their backs and muskets on their shoulders, the steady beat of a drum could lift weary spirits.

Soldiers continued to live by the melodies and beats of a drum from the battlefield to the barracks. From waking up and eating to roll call and lights out, nearly every part of a soldier's day was regulated by a drum. At times, bugles and trumpets were used to relay orders as well.

Early in the Civil War, each regiment was required to organize a field band, typically made up of fifes, bugles, and drums. These musicians not only helped signal tactical movements, but also performed for soldiers and nearby communities, boosting morale. World War I marked the end of the drum as a tool of war, as new technologies like field telephones and radios took over the role of communication.

So what became of these once vital instruments whose rhythms guided soldiers more than 150 years ago? Some of them have been passed down through the generations and kept in private family collections. One of the drums has been living a quiet and protected life in the State Historical Museum of Iowa for almost 100 years. This particular drum was used in Iowa as a training tool for Civil War soldiers, mostly because it had already served in a war that took place decades before.

[Kay Coates, Collections Coordinator State Historical Society of Iowa] This artifact is a drum used during the War of 1812 and later during the Civil War. The drum is made from wood. On the front of the drum, there's an off-white oval painted with a Federal eagle in the center. The eagle is holding a banner in its beak that says E pluribus unum. Underneath the eagle, there's a banner that says M. Littlefield and Moses Littlefield was the owner of the drum.

Moses Littlefield was born in Milford, Massachusetts in 1789. He enlisted in the militia at age 23. During the War of 1812, he served as a drummer in Edward's regiment artillery.

This isn't what War of 1812 drums would have looked like. The design would have been different. So, I don't know how it came to have this design specifically. The alternating stripes and the design of the eagle are very different from what would have been painted in the War of 1812. And even Civil War drums don't have a lot of uniformity in how they're painted. And so it could be that sometime between the War of 1812 and the Civil War, it was painted. It could be that it was painted after the Civil War. We really don't know.

[Narrator] In 1839, Moses Littlefield received a land grant from the US government and journeyed to the Iowa Territory, where he established a farm on land that would become Jackson County. He brought his drum along, unaware it would be called into action once more.

[Coates] When the Civil War breaks out. Moses Littlefield serves as a drill sergeant, basically for recruits. He wasn't necessarily enlisted in any of the Iowa regiments, but according to the family stories, he helped to train the recruits who were enlisted in Iowa regiments with this drum.

[Narrator] After Moses died, the drum was willed to his grandson Hollister. In 1930, Moses’ great-grandson Ora presented the drum to the State Historical Museum of Iowa. Recently, it received conservation treatment that re-adhered flaking paint, repaired the skin along the top and bottom of the drum and replaced the twine. A very careful cleaning completed the process, helping this remarkable artifact endure the next 200 years, a testament to the rhythm it once set in American history.

[Coates] This drum tells the story of multiple important themes in US and American history, including the fragility of nationhood, the expansion of the United States, and equality for all people.