Reference

Many soldiers brought musical instruments from home to pass the time at camp. Banjos, fiddles, and guitars were particularly popular. Aside from drums, the instruments Confederates played were either acquired before the war, or imported, due to the lack of brass and the industry to make such instruments.

The New York Herald, 1862. "When soldiers North and South marched off to war, they took with them a love of song that transcended the political and philosophical divide between them. Music passed the time; it entertained and comforted; it brought back memories of home and family; it strengthened the bonds between comrades and helped to forge

This meant that the soldiers’ lives were governed by the sounds of the bugles, fifes, and drums that structured the day, and by the sound of drum corps and brass bands that accompanied military ceremonies. In Union bugler Oliver Norton’s colorful phrase, field musicians were the “mouthpiece for the general.” Those who had volunteered for the military had placed themselves under the noisy rule of military musicians, and the sound of camp calls and marches became synonymous with their lives as soldiers. While a large brigade would take pride in the musical proficiency of its full band or drum corps, a battle-hardened regiment also took pride in its handful of musicians, knowing that their modest sound was a musical reflection of hardships shared and survived.