Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1884-08-21
THE DRUM.
The History OF a Popular Instrument
of Percussion.

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'The mufiied drums sad roll has beat
The soldiers last tattoo
No more on hfe's parade shall meet
That brave and warlike few
On fames eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents lie spread,
And glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the deadIn
The history of this instrument of per-
cussion, whose stirring notes are princi
pally used for military purposes, especial
ly for exciting the soldiers under the ia
tigue Of march or in battle, dates far
back, and is probably as long as the hu-
man race. The drum, or rather rude
substitute, has been favorite instrument
from the North Pole to Patagonia, from
the great plains Of America to the arid
deserts Of Asia. Over thousand years
before the Christian era there is a record
Of the Egyptians having possessed drums.
They probably obtained them from the
East; for in Hindustan the legendary his
tory goes back to the mystic gloom in
which tradition is born. The Saraeens
called the drum tambur, the French tam
bour, the Italians tumburo, the Spaniards
tamber, the Germans tronmeI, the Danes
from, Icelandic thruma 0hunder), Anglo
Saxon dream. The kettle drum, the bass
drum and tambourine are probably all in
cluded in the Hebrew name toph. The
Greeks ascribed the invention of the
drum to Bacchns. Go anywhere on
the earth's surface to-day and we find
the drum-except the Chinese, for it
does not make noise enough for them to
go to battle by. Nothing short Of war
gongs can create the clamor they need
to help them in their battles. Kettle
drums are always used in pairs, one of
which is tuned to the keynote. The or
dinary drum, dear to the militia and the
small boy, consists of wooden or brass
cylinder with skin head at each end.
John Lisca, the avenger of Huss, be-
queathed his skin to his gallant compan-
ions in arms to form the covering of
drum which was to summon them in case
of danger.
The bass-drum is the giant among
drums. 1t is too well known to be de-
scribed in this article. 1t was formerly
called the long drum, on account of the
longitudinal1ty Of its cylinder, but that
portion Of it has now been shortened so
as to almost equaIize its length to its
diameter. Brass has long supplanted
wood as body for drums from which
real work in the field is expected The
drum was not used for drilling infantry
to keep step until the middle of the
eighteenth century, and the roll, such as
we now know it, was only regulated some
hundred years ago. The drummers' art
then became more difficult, and to per-
feet it regimental schools were estab-
Eshed, the master of which was the
drum-major. However simple the beats
Of the drum may appear, it is, neverthe-
less, by long practice only that perfection
can be attained, and the student must
possess quick ear and nimble wrist
Each company Of the United States in
fantry has one fifer and one drummer,
who rank as priyates. They execute sig
mails, perform at paTades, drills and re-
views, and attend to the wounded on the
field of battle.
There are many examples of the brav-
cry of drummers in military history.
Among them was Pierre Tournee,
French drummer known as "the drum
mer who won the battle of Kehl" Dur
ing this engagement the French troops
were endeavoring to force passage
across bridge, the head of which was
obstinately defended by the Austrians.
For lag time the issue of the conflict
was doubtful. At length Pierre was
seized with brilliant idea. He man
aged to ferry himself and his drum across
the stream on a stray plank, and few
moments later there rang out from
wood on the enemy's right flank the
hoarse rattle Of the pas de charge. Be-
ieving themselves to be outfanked, the
Austrians became panic-stricken and
broke In confusion; the French rushed
over the bridge and the battle was won.
For this exploit Perre received the cross.
Orders deciding the fate Of some Of
the greatest battles in history have been
written on the drum, which is frequent
ly made to serve as desk in the field,
and drum head courts martial have
brought speedy and condign punishment
to many offenders.
Junot, colonel-general of the hussars
in the French imperial army, had his
first introduction to Napoleon across
drum head. It was at the siege of
Toulin, where Junot was only q private
soldier of the artillery and Napoleon a
newly-made brigadier- general, and the
latter, visiting one of the batteries, called
for q soldier who could write, and Junot
proffered his services. At the generals
dictation he wrote an order on a drum
head. Just as he had finished, shot
from the enemy struck the ground almost
at his feet and dashed shower of earth
over the document. 'sThere, mon gen
eral," said Junot, gayIy, springing to his
feet, 1--WE shall not want for sand to dry
it, since messieurs the enemy have saved
us the troublen From that moment
Junots rise was rapid, until, under the
empire, one of his victories in Portugal
gave him the title of duke.
In the history Of our own country we