When
Where
Robert McMicken, Ph.D. Student, Department of History at UArizona
April 30, 2021, at 12:30 PM
As ceremonial vestiges of the antebellum period when militia units functioned more as social clubs than official military units, New England regimental bands questioned their new roles when units formed infantry volunteer regiments in the American Civil War. Bandsmen now served as stretcher bearers and surgical assistants in addition to their musical duties. Although most regimental bands were mustered out in 1862, the bands served as catalysts in the transformation of citizen to soldier, building community and identity within the regiments as musicians, quantitatively saving lives on the battlefield, and rallying public support for the war effort on leave.