The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1896-10-14
DRUMMER DUMPEY.

Dumpey was drummer in foot bat
terry of the United States artillery sta
toned at one of the harbor posts In the
east. His descriptive list showed him
feet inch high, sallow complexion, brown
hair and 36 years of age. There were only
two things he could really do well drum
and drink. So the junior lieutenant of
the battery, who was his good friend, - to
use Dun!pey's own words, dubbed him d..
There were a number of boys in the gar
fson, and we were all on intimate terms
with Dumpcy. To us. in spite of his 80
years and the fact that he hal served
through the four years of the rebellion, he
seemed but boy. He was always good
natured, ready for n swim or fish, ready
to play ball, and sometimes, when in a
particularly amiable mood, ready to give
us lesson on the drum, which he consid-
cred the liking of instruments"
Riddles are all right" he said once
when the coloncl's son venturel to differ
with him, "fddles are all right, but, ."
with superior smile, mot for soldiers
Did you ever hear tell of fiddler of Chick.
amauga? Come, answer me that l."
OF course we sided with DunIpey. What
real boy wouldn't?
L CAN S6b MN HOW, Win MS NFuln SUNG
from his neck, his little figure drawn up
TO it's full height, proudly showing us how
to make the drum talk"
"This is what we played at Mission
Ridge, " and then he would begin.
One heard the tramp of marching feet,
the thunder of cannon the rattle of mus
kerry, the shouts and hurrahs of the men,
and. above all, the b-a-dub-dub, the rub
a-dubdub Of the drum 1t sent the cold
shivers down our backs, the blood jump
ing through our veins, and our boyish
hearts thumpcd and thumped until we
thought they must surely burst. Then he
would change, and in an instant all was
different
The slow and solemn beat of the muflled
drum, the long, melancholy, almost hui
man, roll, and we knew that the battle was
over, and that the dead were being laid
away to their last rest. The tears in our
eyes, choking in our throats, and then
They dressed me up in soirr clothes,
They treated me so kindly,
And yet never could forget
The girl left behind me.
And we'd fall in and march behind our
friend until we reached the battery quar-.
tiers.
ltwas a sad day for the battery, and par.
ticularly for DumpeJ, when the junior lieu
tenant left our post by transfer. The very
next day Dumpey was in the guurdhousa
with general charges against him Inter
ccssiOn proved of lloavail; the captain was
determined to make an example OF him,
but the court was leniCnU, so after Il
months confinement Dumpey came but,.
to us, but AN altered man Not thar his
manner had changed toward us--hc was
fripnI--hIIt hTN- i-b nd
lightness Of heart seemed gone
Hell get me yet, was all he said when
we asked him the trouble. He of
course, meant the captain, who for some
unaccOuntable reason had taken strong
dislike to the lowly drummer. Things
went from bad to worse Dumpey was in
the guardhouse continually, first for one
thing and then another which, though
trivial enough i'll their way, were rapidly
building up bad reputation for him,
which he did not really deserve.
The end came when they found him
drunk on guard. The general court, which
tried him, found him guilty and sentenced
him to pc drummed out of the service.
The colonel wrote to the reviewing author
ity rather strongly in his favor, but Dunn
pcy was doomed Nothing could save
him, and the sentence was duly confirmed.
Never did sun shine brighter never were
skies bluer, never was nature more gen2r-
Gus than on that dreadful May morning
almost 30 years ago. We had all been to
see DunpCy at the guardhouse the night
before. We had shaken hands with him
and carried him such boyish gifts as we
could to assure him of cur loyalty and
friendship, and he, poor old boy, had turn
ed his face away from us and wept like a
child.
1t was the first and only time l had ever
seen II man drummed out of the service.
can never again see such IL shocking sight
of mans humanity to man.
Almost 30 years ago-I was a very
young boy then, still | remember that the
sur was bright and that the skies We're blue
| remember that the air was soft and
balmy. | remember that the flag, emblem
of liberty and equality, threw out the glory
of its stars and stripes straight and strong
to the morning breeze, | remember that
we all stood huddled together waiting
and-then it came.
First the drums and flies, then two
platoons of men fully armed and equipped,
their bayonets flashing and sparkling in
the sunlight and between them Dumpey,
with head closely cropped and ON his back
board marked Drunkard -
And still-the sun shone, the skies were
blue and the flag Tapped gayly overhead,
On they came, the drums and flies play
ing the ROgues March"
Poor old soldier poor old soldier,
Iarr'd and feathered and then drumm'd out
Because he couldn't keep sober.
Our hearts We're in our threats, but we
clinched our hands and held our places
like men.
There was no music in the march 1t
was simply IA wailing and sobbing of the
drmns-the drums to drum Dumpey out
of the service; Dumpey, their champion,
their hero, their king,
But on they came
Poor old soldier, poor old soldier.
just as they passed us we heard some
one ask:
What makes him walk so queer? He
seems to be linping
Every boy there could have told him
that it was the bullet he got at Mission
Ridge, which the doctors had never been
able to take out