Sound the Trumpet, Beat the Drums: Horse-Mounted Bands of the U.S. Army, 1820–1940 By Bruce P. Gleason (review)

Bruce Gleason has spent over thirty years researching the mounted bands of the world. It is truly a labor of love; his bibliography lists an M.A. thesis and seven published articles in six different journals. Having followed and encouraged his work for many years, I am aware of two more articles that have been published since this book went to press. In Sound the Trumpet, Beat the Drums, a thoroughly researched and extensive study, Gleason concentrates on the mounted bands of the United States Army.

Gleason proceeds chronologically, beginning with the origins of the mounted band in Middle Eastern and European traditions. He then moves to the American Revo -lutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Mexican–American war. The following chapters deal with the Civil War and the 1860s, the Plains Indian Wars, the 1870s to 1890s, the Spanish–American War, the turn of the twentieth century, the Mexican Expedition, World War I and the 1920s, the rise of the National Guard, and finally the 1940s and the demise of the tradition.

He thoroughly covers every mounted band, perhaps to an extreme. Regimental postings are listed in great detail, often including the names of the colonels (judicious use of tables here might have helped). His mixing of substantive notes with source citations in the footnotes is a minor inconvenience given the astounding wealth of information. Interesting stories of performances by bands, both mounted and dismounted, fill the book. There is also an extensive bibliography and thirty-nine illustrations.

Since such bands last performed in the 1940s, there are few people alive today who can remember the excitement they generated. Stories about the "Buffalo Soldiers" (9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments) have provoked some well-deserved interest. I still remember with fondness anecdotes about such bands told by a military bandmaster who had served in a cavalry regiment in World War I. Especially memorable was his description of the last step of stable call: the time when the men had to feed, water, and groom the horses, then clean the stable. Imagine the excitement generated by the visit of Vice President Charles Fair -banks and a Congressional delegation to open the 1905 World's Fair when they were met at Portland's Union Station by a mounted band and two hundred men of the 4th United States Cavalry, who escorted them through the center of the city to their hotel (p. 120). There was something fascinating about the horse troops, especially their bands.

What, then, was this mounted band tradition? In antiquity, musicians on horseback, the primary means of accelerated movement, served as signalers. They preceded and announced nobility, gave instructions to the troops, and served as messengers. Because of their importance as signalmen, they were normally mounted on gray horses (in contrast to blacks and roans) for quick identification (pp. 14–15). Other instruments were soon added to the signalmen, and bands were formed. At first, natural brass instruments were used, but by the nineteenth century, full brass–wind bands were in existence. Ensemble size as well as instrumentation varied over the years, with bands of sixteen to twenty-eight men. One may wonder, however, how Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky's overture 1812 sounded when the 110th Cavalry band of twenty men played it in the 1930s (p. 169).

For readers unfamiliar with horses, Gleason explains some of the problems involved in developing mounted bands. First, there is the horse. Until 1904, horses were simply purchased from private breeders, farmers, and ranchers, with often-unsatisfactory results. The United States Re -mount Service developed a methodical system of breeding horses and mules along strict height and weight specifications, resulting in strong, healthy geldings (castrated males) that were quieter, gentler, and potentially more suitable as everyday working animals (p. 118). It was also helpful for the...