#26 War - Revolutionary to Civil, Its WAR!
In the most recent series of posts, we’ve been looking at
the Drums and their religious/faith beliefs. Now we jump back to the beginning
and again start over, this time focusing on the Drums and their military
service.
As far as we know, military service for this family
begins with George(Jacob,Philip).
Laura Helman tells us:
Laura Helman tells us:
George Drum, Sr., served in the War of the American Revolution as a
private in the Fourth Class in Captain Peter Hays Co. under Colonel Philip
Boehm, Williams Township, Northampton County. Fourth Battalion, 1782. July 25, 1796, he was commissioned a Captain of Militia for frontier
service. Fifth Company, Eighth Regiment.[1]
George’s service, therefore, began at age 20. It is
unclear from this short paragraph, or from other sources discovered so far,
what the length of this service was. Helman goes on to say that in “1796, he was commissioned a Captain of
Militia for frontier service”, again leaving out the details surrounding
this event. But then, Helman wasn’t writing a book, she was producing a genealogy. I suppose we should be happy she gave us the
details that she did! Other genealogies I have seen are just names on a bracket
that offer few details if any at all!
When Helman wrote the Drum Genealogy, according to my
grandmother, Helman got some information through a few interviews with family
members, but most of her information was gathered from letters family members
sent her in response to her requests. In her forward, Helman writes, “Much
interesting data has been obtained by correspondence. The writer desires to
thank those who assisted in any way whatever. But many letters brought forth no
reply.”[2]
One would think that military service would be one topic that families would
brag about but even in this their responses were apparently lacking. Helman
will tell us of one person’s military service but fail to include another’s,
sometimes within the same family, sometimes parent and child.
Of course, except for a few apparent omissions in her
book that I was able to uncover, it may be that Helman did uncover all the records
available about this family’s military service prior to 1927. If records of
service do exist, I have not been successful finding many. An acquaintance of
my mother’s, Margaret Market of Pikeville, TN, said in a letter to my mother,
Eleanor, written in December of 1988, “There were five Drums in the Revolution,
too. That’s a remarkable history for our family.”
 |
| Margaret’s Letters |
Other than what a bunch of rebels we were in those days,
what is remarkable to me about her statement is that I cannot find evidence to
support the statement. She didn’t say who they were but, of course, one wants
to believe her. She was, after all, a Drum. She used the name Margaret in her
daily life but her name, as given to her by the family when she was born[3],
was Margaretta F. Drum(William A., John A., John, Philip, George, Jacob,
Philip). “Yes, I am the Margaretta in Helman’s book”, she wrote.
In 1988, Margaret was 67 and she certainly had the Drum
sense of humor. She tells my mom that no, she is not a widow “but many times I
gave it serious thought.” Her two letters also tell us that John A.’s branch of
the family tree (John’s son; her Grandfather) has come to an end. Daughters
married into other “trees” and sons have all passed. Her second letter, which
she dated “Jan 24”, but was postmarked Jan. 23, 1989, ends with the statement,
“So we are the end of John A. Drum’s line. Kind of sad, really.”
 |
| From a sheet of postage stamps issued in 1995. |
Even when military records are located, they can prove to
be confusing compared to the other information available. A search of records
in the Pennsylvania Archives turned up a record for the Civil War soldier named
Charles H. Drum.
And we find a Charles H. listed by Helman among Isaac’s
sons.[5] Isaac’s Charles H. was born in 1842 making his
age 19 in 1861, same as is on the Archive record. These two Charles H. Drums
are quite likely the same person; a match, yet Helman never mentions this
service in her book. The Archive record says he enlisted Sept. 12, 1861 in
Philadelphia and was mustered in that same day as a Private in Company F,
Regiment 95, Infantry. The record further states he was discharged on November
2, 1864.
 |
| as depicted in: Devens, R. M., Our First Century: being a Popular Discriptive Portraiture of the One Hundred Great and Memorable Events of perpetual interest in the History of our country, Political, Military, Mechanical, Social, Scientific and Commercial: embracing also delineations of all the great historic characters celebrated in the annuals of the Republic; men of Heroism, Statesmanship, Genius, Oratory, Adventure and Philanthropy. (Springfield, MA: C. A. Nichols & Co.; Easton, PA: J. W. Lyon, 1876). |
A visit to Gettysburg National Military Park in
Gettysburg, PA, brings us to the Pennsylvania Monument on the
battlefield. Close examination of the monument reveals the name “Charles Drum”
as having fought there. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for “our”
Charles, these two are not the same individuals. They belonged to different
regiments and companies (F-95 vs. C-147).
So, apparently Isaac saw one of his sons march off to
fight the Civil War but get no mention by Helman. She does, however,
mention Isaac, himself! On page 14 she says,
Isaac Drum served in the Civil War. He enlisted June 10, 1861; enrolled
Aug. 10, 1861. Honorably discharged Dec. 11, 1863, at Chestnut Hill,
Philadelphia. Certificate of Disability. The discharge is in the care of a
grandson, Dayton Lauderbach.
An “Isaac Drum” is also found in the PA Archives! The age
matches up (42) and he was mustered in at Camp Luzerne as a Corporal, which all
sounds right for a 42-year-old father from Drums. He enlisted in Huntington,
however, which might be seen as odd given that Huntington is just southwest of
State College so a fair distance away from Drums (approximately 160 miles). The
Archive’s Isaac was discharged with a Certificate of Disability, as well.
However, at some issue are the enlistment date, discharge date, and the
terminology that is used.
Helman says Isaac “enlisted” June 10, 1861 and “enrolled”
Aug 10, 1861. The Archives Isaac “enrolled” Aug. 10, 1862 and was “mustered in” Sept. 20, 1862. Helman’s Isaac was
“Honorably Discharged” Dec. 11, 1863 at Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia; the
Archive’s Isaac was discharged March 1, 1863, location not noted.
A visit to Isaac’s grave in Dodson Cemetery, Shickshinny,
PA (approximately 20 miles northwest of Drums), provides another clue, perhaps
confirming the two Isaac’s are one and the same and suggesting some of Helman’s
information is therefore incorrect. His gravestone includes his military
Company (I) and Regiment (143); information that agrees with the Archive’s
Isaac’s record. The stone adds “P.V.” standing for Pennsylvania Volunteers:
“Co. I. Reg. 143 P.V.” One clear error on Helman’s part is made apparent by Isaac’s
stone. According to the stone, Isaac died on August 14, 1894, Helman has it as
August 4, 1894.[6]
Again, in Helman’s defense, she was working mostly from letters she received
from various Drums. One can only imagine the handwriting variations she dealt with.
One other Drum not mentioned by Helman as having served was
found in the Archives that has relevance to “our” Drums – Redmond C. Drum. Helman’s
list does include a son of Philip II named Redmond Conyngham[7]
Drum(Philip, George, Jacob, Philip) and this fellow would have been
20 in 1863 when the record says enrollment occurred (June 17, 1863 in
Bloomsburg). He mustered in to the militia as a Private on June 20, 1863 in
Harrisburg and was discharged one month later, July 28, 1863. He was 72 when he
died in 1915 and is buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery, Thornhurst (Lackawanna
County), PA.
Helman mentions a few war records of men who are
maternally “attached” to the “tree” so appear in the book listed under a name
different than Drum. For example, one of those she mentions is William N.
Martin. He married Ellen Schleppy who was the daughter of Abraham Schleppy and
Elizabeth Drum Schleppy(Philip,
George, Jacob, Philip). Helman tells us Martin served in the Civil War
and was wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek, October 16, 1864.[8]
The battle actually took place on October 19, 1864.
Fought at Cedar Creek in Virginia, it was the last major battle of Gen. Philip Sheridan’s Shenandoah Campaign.
After a series of major victories across Virginia earlier in the month,
Sheridan was called to a military conference in Washington, D.C. leaving his
army to destroy food and supplies to keep these items out of the hands of the
Confederate troops. On the morning of October 19, Confederate General Jubal
Early mounted a surprise attack on the Union soldiers pushing them back three
miles. As Sheridan was returning, he began to hear the battle ahead and spurred
his horse forward on a 12-mile dash that became legend as “Sheridan’s Ride”. He
rallied his retreating troops and mounted a counter-attack that won the final
victory. Destroyed, Early’s army was never again able to mount a serious
attack.[9]
The next war to come along in which it appears a Drum
played a role (no pun intended), was the “War to End all Wars”: World War I.
We’ll have a look at what we know about the Drums who served in THAT war when
the next post, The War to End All Wars, appears on June
17, 2019 in the Drums of Drums, PA.
[1] Helman,
Laura M., History and Genealogy of the Drum Family (Allentown, PA:
Berkemeyer, Keck & Co., 1927) p 3
[2]
Helman, Forward.
[3] Helman,
p 9.
[4]
Helman, p 14.
[5]
Helman, p 14.
[6] Helman,
p 14.
[7]
Helman lists him as “Redmond C.”. His grave stone includes the middle name as
“Conyngham”. An obituary posted on the website findagrave.com says he was named
after Redmond Conyngham, a Butler Township landowner and friend of his father’s
(Philip II).
[8]
Helman, p 7
[9]
“This day in history: October 19 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-cedar-creek
accessed 3/3/2018
No comments:
Post a Comment