The Tennessee Drummer Boy
A few days before our regiment moved
our drummer had taken quite ill
and off to the hospital he did go
a vacancy left us to fill
The evening proceeding the day of the march
a negro came through our line
the guards brought him up to the Captain
to see what was on his mind
"I know of a drummer who'd like to enlist"
he said, to the Captain there
"Then have him on ground in the morning"
'twas heard the good Captain declare
Then in the new morning at reveille
the drummer just twelve years old
came into our camp with his mother
and soon their sad story was told
She and the lad were from East Tennessee
where her husband was recently killed
she came here to search for her sister
a quest that was yet unfulfilled
"If you could please take my son sir
a very short time to abide
perhaps I could find some employment
and a place for us two to reside"
During the story the young boys eyes
were fixed upon the soldier
whose face was grim when he replied
"I expected someone a bit older"
"Don't be afraid" said the young boy
"please sir, please let me come"
with the heart of a lion he spoke on
"fear not sir, I can drum"
The Captain then called for his fifer
to put the young boy to the test
here would be a good baptism
he would need to play quite his best
The fifer was now a good natured man
as tall as a man could be
he had to bend down to look square at the boy
with his hands upon his knees
The fifer then was heard to ask
"Do you think you can play with me"?
with joy in his words, the boy did respond
"Oh yes sir, you will see
I played for Captain Hill at home
way back in Tennessee"
The fifer played "The Flowers of Edinborough"
quite hard this test was made
the boy just followed flawlessly
each note the fifer played
The music brightened everyone
and brought us all to joy
the Captain then turned to the woman
saying, "Madam, I will take your boy"
"Captain please bring my boy back"
with tears upon her cheeks
"rest assured we will do that ma'am
we're discharged in six short weeks"
PART TWO
The drum and fife now marched us out
with cares not upon our mind
our steps were light by the music of
"The Girl I Left Behind"
"Little Eddie" as we did call him
brought us joy with his rhythmic beat
whenever we had good food to share
"Little Eddie" was first to eat
Many times I noticed that
our fifer was a fatherly soldier
for when there was a stream to ford
"Little Eddie" was on his shoulder
During the fight at Wilson's Creek
I was stationed with the guns
while some of us and some Illinois
into the ravine did run
They knew that there was the enemy
in pockets quite concealed
there they were engaged and soon
good blood spilled on the field
The battle raged on for some time
and we wheeled our battery 'round
we fired upon the enemy
and soon they left that ground
We felt triumphant for a time
the battle now was stilled
but then the sad news came to us
General Lyon had been killed
That night I stood my guard duty
my watch closed with morning call
I stood high above that deep ravine
where many good men did fall
It was a dreary lonesome beat
the moon down early that night
the stars twinkled through the haze to give
the night it's only light
Occasionally I placed my ear
down to, or near the ground
to find if footsteps I could hear
but nothing made a sound
But far off was the sound of wolf
his howl did break night air
as if he smelled the banquet that
for him we did prepare
The morning light soon streaked the sky
the land now plain to see
and then I heard the familiar sound
of the morning's reveille
At first I thought it the enemy drum
as it came past the creek so clean
but as I listened long I knew
it came from the deep ravine
I listened to the sound, it was
quite familiar to me
it was our little drummer boy
the lad from Tennessee
I was about to desert my post
when an officer and two men
came up to me and I bade them hear
the sound of our young, dear friend
I asked for permission to go to his aid
the officer kindly consented
"but back at this spot within twenty minutes
is where I want you presented"
I started right then to go down the hill
I followed the sound of the drum
and with the good grace of God it was
upon the young boy I did come
His back did rest upon the trunk
of a tree that had fallen there
his drum was hung upon a bush
just dangling in the air
As soon as he discovered me
he dropped his sticks and said
"You, corporal... I am glad to see
I thought I was surely dead"
He felt quite poorly as he sat
so deep in this ravine
"Can you give me a drink"? he asked
as he reached for my canteen
I had not a drop to give him there
my canteen it was dry
I turned then to a sound I heard
of a brook through the bushes nearby
I went to fetch him water when
he cried "Oh please don't leave"
each word was like an arrow that
had caused my heart to grieve
He cried to me that he could not walk
as I with some water returned
both feet were lost to the cannonball
and the ghastly news I learned
After caring for his thirst
he looked at my face and said
"this man said a surgeon could cure my feet
and that I would not be dead"
I now saw the man lying near him
as he had been shot through the bowels
I only imagined the night for them
and wondered of their howls
The man was an enemy soldier
who gave all his precious to give
his buckskin suspenders had bound Eddie's legs
with hopes that the young boy would live
In a moment, the enemy cavalry
made a deep resounding tramp
Eddie and I were now prisoners
taken off to the enemy camp
The officer took Eddie
to the front, where he did ride
but by the time we reached their camp
our Tennessee drummer boy died
A special thanks to a dear friend Rich Kacin
for drawing the picture of the boy and the fifer.
for drawing the picture of the boy and the fifer.
This page was last updated on: November 30, 2001
