What is your favorite patriotic song?
What words from that song stir your sole and why?
After being inspired by so many patriotic songs these past few weeks, let's take a look at the role music played in the Revolutionary War.
Music was not just for entertainment; it was the lifeblood of military communication and morale. Through fife and drum corps, both the Continental and British armies managed battlefield tactics, signaled camp routines, and inspired troops through the deafening noise and smoke of combat. Fife and drum signals also told soldiers in camp when to wake up, fetch wood or provisions, and show up for church. By signals of the drum, the Army rose in the morning, assembled, paraded, saluted, marched, and retired. During battle, the drummers could also call for medical assistance.
Music has a way of uniting people and generations. Music was used to boost morale for the troops.
Music in General Washington's Army
George Washington recognized the practical necessity of the fife and drum, but also enjoyed music in general. No doubt this was known throughout the ranks. However, in his orders to his army during the American Revolution, George Washington complained on June 4, 1777, that the "music of the army [was] in general very bad."
He ordered that "the drum and fife Majors exert themselves to improve it, or they will be reduced [demoted], and their extraordinary pay taken from them." He went on to say that specific hours would be assigned "for all the drums and fifes, of each regiment, to attend them and practice."
In the bitter Valley Forge winter of 1778, Washington's spirit was warmed by a serenade outside his headquarters by the musicians of Proctor's Artillery on February 22. This would be the first public recognition of his birthday.
Washington rewarded the fifers and drummers with a gift of one pound ten shillings. He acknowledged the fortitude of the musicians who would perform, without orders, in the subfreezing temperatures.
Yankee Doodle is one of the best known songs of the Colonial era. It was originally written as a slap in the face to Americans. British doctor Richard Schuckburg penned the words to mock American allies.
The words made the Colonists look rude, crude, and cowardly. A "doodle" was a country hick, and a "dandy" was a conceited jerk.
Reports say that British fifers and drummers teased the colonists by playing "Yankee Doodle" as their columns snaked along rural roads. In the small town of Lexington, the British soldiers confronted a line of Minutemen on the village green. A gun went off, British muskets opened fire, and in an instant eight Americans were dead or dying. British forces then continued on toward Concord and destroyed what weapons they found.
Now the British army had to march back to the safety of Boston. Colonial militiamen swarmed to the attack, taking up positions along the route. They hid behind trees and rock walls, picking off soldier after soldier. Some British troops broke ranks and ran. Others, angered by American tactics, broke into houses and set them on fire. Eventually, more British troops arrived from Boston to rescue the survivors.
Legend has it the colonial militiamen returned the musical insult as they counterattacked. They sang "Yankee Doodle" as British soldiers retreated. It was as if the Americans were singing, "How do you like us Yankee doodles and dandies, now?" The American Revolution had begun. "Yankee Doodle" soon took hold as an unofficial anthem for what became the American Continental Army.
The last major battle of the Revolutionary War took place near Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781. American troops and the French navy bottled up and blasted a big chunk of the British army there. Some witnesses reported that "Yankee Doodle" accompanied that British surrender, too. The Treaty of Paris, officially ending the war, was signed two years later. The United States of America was now its own, independent country.
Over time, new verses of "Yankee Doodle" were added, changed, moved, and removed. A verse about George Washington, for example, was tacked on after he took command of the Continental Army in June 1775. Interestingly, one of the most familiar verses did not appear until 1842. Today, it is the first verse of the song that every American knows:
Yankee Doodle went to town
A-riding on a pony
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it macaroni.
The Burley FamilySearch Center will be closed from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19th, for the Cassia County Fair Parade. The Center will open at 2:00 p.m. and will be open until the regular closing time of 6:00 p.m.
There are no classes scheduled for August; however, please stop by the FamilySearch Center during our normal operating hours for help with your family history questions!
To schedule Wednesday night youth groups, please contact Trina Winn at 208-242-6217
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