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Shane Adkins Volume 47, Issue 11 www.huntsvillefolk.org November 2013 CIVIL WAR BANDS By Robert Garofalo and Mark Elrod Regimental bands of the Confederate and Union armies served their units in many ways. They were highly effective in attracting new recruits, and morale boosters of the first magnitude -- playing lively marches and quicksteps to lift the spirits of war- weary soldiers on the march, and to inspire them just before and sometimes during battle. The military bandsmen also served as medics or corpsmen, assisting surgeons in field hospitals, and helping to evacuate wounded soldiers or to bury the dead. When soldiers were encamped for long periods of time, they were entertained regularly with concerts and serenades by the band. At Next Meeting these performances, musicians demonstrated their musical and technical skill by playing their most difficult pieces -- usually November 17th operatic selections arranged by eminent bandleaders. Sometimes the two armiesThe Huntsvillewere so close Traditionalthat a band could Music be heard in the 2:00 P.M. opponent's camp. Association meets on the third Sunday of During the 1840s and 1850s many town bands had attached Huntsville/Madison Public Library Auditorium themselves to the localeach mili tia,month wearing their uniforms and participating in Ourannual next or meeting semi-annual is: musters. Their participation was highly valued because bands were so helpful in Htma recruiting civilianSunday, soldiers. WhenFebruary hostilities 21st broke out in April 1861, both sides were2:00 busy -organizing 4:30 PM volunteer units and the Coffeehouse Music Series militia bands were in such demand that many commanding Presents officers paid large sums of money to procure a good one for their regiment. Huntsville/Madison Many bands enlisted Public as a complete Library unit. Auditorium shane adkins Prior to the Civil War, U.S. Army regulations (also used by the Confederate States Army) authorized each regiment to enlist up to 16 men to serve as musicians. Photographs and muster roles show that bands varied from 6-24, with an average of 12-16 musicians. Most bands used only brass and percussion instruments, although http://www.bryanbowers.com/occasionally they might have one or more woodwinds. Instrumentation varied widely according to the deprivations of war; but a typical arrangement had 1st and 2nd parts for E-flat cornet, B -flat cornet, E-flat alto, and B-flat tenor; single parts for B-flat baritone, B -flat bass, E-flat bass; side and bass drum, plus cymbals if available. Bands used several types of brass instruments -- upright, bell- front, circular, and over-the-shoulder (the latter configuration was designed so that the troops marching behind the bands could hear Opening Music by the music). The drums had rope tension devices. Bob White Civil War band music may be divided broadly into three categories: st martial (marches, quicksteps, patriotic airs), dance (polkas, waltzes, November 21 schottisches, gallops), and popular (sentimental ballads, operatic airs). 7:00PM The music is filled with emotion, spirit, and charm. The actual music used by approximately a dozen Civil War bands has survived and is now in public and private collections. For more information on period brass bands and instrumentation, this site Old Country Church recommends Garofalo and Elrod's A Pictorial History of Civil War Era Musical Instruments and Military Bands. This comprehensive volume contains approximately 240 photographs and illustrations (lithographs, prints, paintings, Inside this Issue and sheet music covers). Most of the photographs have never been published Page 1: Civil War Bands before; nearly half are of musical instruments made in America between 1840 and 1870. Page 2: November Area Events/ Executive Board http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/music/bands.html Page 3: The Berry Patch 1 November Area Events President Old Time Music and Crafts Week Ellery Curtis 256.684.3153 [email protected] st rd October 31 – November 3 Alabama Folk School ~ Camp McDowell ~ Nauvoo, Alabama Vice President Elmcroft Assisted Living Gig Jim England 256.852.5740 [email protected] Nobember 2nd 3:00 PM 8020 Benaroya Lane ~ Huntsville, Alabama Sec/Treasurer Pat Long 256.539.7211 [email protected] The Fried Tomato Buffet Tuesday Night Jam Every Tuesday night in November beginning at 6 PM Publicity Chair 26035 Main St ~ Ardmore Tennessee 38449 ~ (931) 427-4950 Bob Hicks 256.683.9807 [email protected] Gurley's Music Barn Tuesday Night Jam Performance Chair Every Tuesday night in November beginning at 7:00 PM 45 Peck Hollow Rd ~ Somerville, Alabama 35670 Jerry McGough 256.883.1392 [email protected] Brew Grass Jam Public Service Chair November 6th 6:00PM Jim England 256.852.5740 [email protected] Straight to Ale Tap Room ~ Huntsville, Alabama http://www.straighttoale.com/ Operations Co-Chair George Williams [email protected] Harbor Chase Retirement Home November 9th 10:30 AM Webmaster 4801 Whitesport Cr. ~ Huntsville, Alabama Brian Curtis 256.975.8484 [email protected] Second Saturday Old-Time Jam November 9th 1:00 - 4:00 PM Newsletter Editor Alabama Constitution Village ~ Huntsville, Alabama Brian Curtis 256.975.8484 [email protected] http://www.earlyworks.com/the-museums/constitution-village New Hope Saturday Night Jam Every Saturday night in November beginning at 6:00 PM New Hope Senior Center ~ New Hope, Alabama Folk Mission Fundraiser Songs of Woody, Willie, Bob & Bruce November 16th 7:30PM Straight to Ale Tap Room ~ Huntsville, Alabama www.folkmission.org Old Time Music and Crafts Week HTMA Meeting October 31 – November 3, 2013 November 17 th 2:00 PM Huntsville/Madison Public Library Auditorium ~ Huntsville, Traditional Book Binding, Doug Baulos Alabama Suzy Thompson, Fiddle I HTMA Coffeehouse Music Series Jimmy Triplett, Fiddle II November 21st 7PM Bill Mansfield, Banjo I Burritt on the Mountain ~ Old Country Church ~ Huntsville, Adam Hurt, Banjo II Alabama Tim Avalon, Mandolin I Regency Retirement Village Gig Eric Thompson, Mandolin II Nobember 23rd 3:15 PM Susie Coleman, Guitar I 2004 Max Luther Dr. ~ Huntsville, Alabama Jim Holland, Guitar II Alabama Folk School at Camp McDowell | 105 DeLong Road | Nauvoo, AL (205) 387-1806 — main | (205) 563-9990 — Cell | [email protected] Visit our website www.huntsvillefolk.org 2 The Berry Patch MR. PENN AND THE WITCH Several years before the witches were placed on trial in Salem, Massachusetts residents of Pennsylvania were accused of being a witch and placed on trial. In fact, during the 1700s witches were commonly found, in the people’s imagination at least, throughout Europe and most of the American Colonies. It was believed that a witch could place a curse on either man or beast. In 1684, Margaret Mattson, was charged with being a witch and placed on trial. Mrs. Mattson lived at the mouth of Crum Creek (present-day Delaware County, Pennsylvania) and was accused of bewitching 20 of her neighbor’s cow so that “they gave little milk.” The brief record of the arrest and trial of Mrs. Mattson does not show the method of bewitching she used—the English language could not have played any part; she was from Sweden and spoke no English. William Penn, creator of the colony, was present when Mrs. Mattson was brought to trial. Penn saw the charge of witchcraft as a threat to his Holy Experiment—Quakers were supposed be immune from low conduct such as bewitching a cow. For the trial, Penn stacked the deck in favor of Mrs. Mattson by appointing himself as the sole judge to try the case and saw to it the jury was composed of Mrs. Mattson’s neighbors who were friends of the accused. The evidence against the defendant would, by today’s standard, be considered totally insufficient to convict. But Mrs. Mattson was being tried at a different time and age—a time when the mere accusation of being a witch was often deemed sufficient to convict. The record of Mrs. Mattson’s trial is scanty, at best. The only known evidence of her being a witch was the testimony of Henry Drystreet that, years earlier, he had been told that Mattson was a witch. The other damning evidence to support the accusation was the testimony of Charles Ashcom who said that Mrs. Mattson’s daughter told him that her mother was a witch and had cast a spell on the cows. Through a translator, Mrs. Mattson requested that her daughter be brought before the court, giving the accused opportunity to confront the witness and cross-examine. Today, none of this testimony would have been allowed in the manner it was then presented. William Penn, acting as judge, denied the request that the daughter be brought before the court. On its face, this ruling seems very damaging to Mrs. Mattson. But Penn seems to have had a game plan that, in the end, would favor the defendant. Penn did not allow anyone, except himself, to question Mrs. Mattson, this through a translator. To his question, “Are you a witch?” the answer was “No.” Next, he asked, “Have you ever ridden though the air on a broomstick?” The poor lady was confused by this question which she likely did not understand. Nonetheless, Mrs. Mattson said that she had, if fact, ridden a broomstick through the air. Penn, sensing her confusion and looking for convenient way to bring the trial to an end, told Mrs. Mattson that he knew of no law against such conduct and instructed the jury to find her not guilty. The jury found her not guilty of being a witch, but found her “Guilty of having the Common Fame of a Witch, but not Guilty in Manner as She stands Indicted.” This was a most unusual verdict. She was not judged to be a witch; she was only guilty of having the “fame” of a witch.
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