The Roster, the Drums, The Flag
What pops out on this Return of the Virginia Regiment 1 Dec 1757 ?
Two Drummers in every company.
Two Drummers are in every of the 8 companies.
The picture here is of reenactors portraying the Captain George Mercer Company 1755-1757, showing only one drummer.
As an aside this picture shows a flag. It is interesting to note that in all our research over years of reading the letters of the Virginia Regiment, not one mentions a flag. That is not to say we won't find a reference. We just have not found one yet.
The background in this picture is a sketch by Jim Moyer, author of this blog.
At one point the reenactor community seemed to think there were no drummers.
But our research kept turning up many pleas in the letters of Colonel George Washington for Drums and Drummers.
The Drummer is like the modern Army's Radio Man.
The Radio operator receives commands and communicates those commands to others.
The drummer sends signals to the troops that carry further than a voice. The drummer organizes the rhythm of the mark. The drum calls all day long for start of the day, for assembly, for alarm, for attack. The Drums keep order in chaos.
The Head Flogger he is.
The drummer also carries the Cat of Nine Tales. He's also assigned to lay the whip on the men.
Of all the Virginia Regiment reenacting groups this is the only one lucky enough to have one drummer.
And our guy does carry the whip.
There's a local Maryland group that has several drummers.
And more about 2 Drummers
We thought for a long time only Washington's company had 2 drummers and the rest of the companies only had one.
We thought so because of the return of 9 Oct 1756. The Returns for that 9 Oct 1756, Colonel George Washington's company shows 2 drummers but only one drummer for all the other companies.
By 1 Dec 1757 there were 2 drummers listed in every company.
Even more interesting is that a Ranger company had a drummer too. Of the first two Ranger Companies created by the House of Burgesses in 1755, the first Ranger Company under Captain William Cocks also had a drummer.
See Founders Online footnote : 2. A weekly return from Cocks at Patterson Creek, dated 3 July 1756, lists in his ranger company one captain, one lieutenant, three sergeants, one drummer, and thirty-two rank and file (DLC:GW).
And only 8 companies shown here?
The other 2 companies of the 10 companies were farmed out to Charleston SC. The two Virginia companies are headed by Captain George Mercer and Lt Col Adam Stephen are in Charleston SC, under Colonel Bouquet. The two companies were sent to Charleston SC to guard against possible slave revolt and Indian attack, because the local militia left for the frontier to deal with the Indian threat there.
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Here is 1 Dec 1757 Return:
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Here were their stations at the time:
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Blog compiled authored by Jim Moyer 11/21/2021
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Ranger Company having a Drummer
FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON
TO WILLIAM COCKS,
4 JUNE 1756
TO WILLIAM COCKS
[Winchester, 4 June 1756]
To Captain William Cockes—of the Rangers. Sir,
I received yours, complaining of the irregular method of supplying you with provisions; and communicated the contents to Commissary Walker, who writes you on this head: His directions you must follow1 You must make out an accompt of the pay which is owing to you, and transmit it to me per the first opportunity.2 Take care to be very vigilant and active; and to communicate all the intelligence that is remarkable and certain. You must always, upon any alarm, have regard to the summons of each other; and to unite on all extraordinary occasions. Endeavour at working by stratagem; to way-lay and surprize the Enemy; rather than seek them in an open pursuit.
I was greatly surprized and angered to hear of the dastardly behaviour of seven of your men, who fled from a less number of the Enemy, without discharging their pieces. Such behaviour merits the fate that some of our men [(]for the like offence) will soon meet with.3 and, you may assure your company that they shall not escape unpunished for such Offences. Your parties that go for provision, should always be made strong. I am &c.
G:W.
Winchester—June 4th 1756.
LB, DLC:GW.
1. None of this correspondence between Cocks, Thomas Walker, and GW has been found.
2. A weekly return from Cocks at Patterson Creek, dated 3 July 1756, lists in his ranger company one captain, one lieutenant, three sergeants, one drummer, and thirty-two rank and file (DLC:GW).
3. The Maryland Gazette (Annapolis) for 1 July 1756 reported that on 29 May “an Express arrived [in Williamsburg] from Cox’s fort, with Advice, That the Indians had killed and scalped two Men belonging to it, that were out a Hunting, wounded a third, and a fourth was missing, of the Party which consisted of Seven; that they drew up on an Eminence near the Fort and fired at it several Times.”
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