Finding Newport’s Musicians - The Early Military Bands
Post Return for the 1st United States Artillery Regiment at Fort Adams
September 1843, courtesy of the National Archives.
Some of the earliest professional bands were the bands of the Artillery Regiments at Fort Adams. Here are two of the bands stationed at the Fort before the Civil War. We know of musicians stationed at Fort Adams back to before the War of 1812 and compositions have been written about the Fort and the bands stationed there. You can hear some of that music here.
When construction of the “new” fort started in 1824 bands disappeared from the record until the 1840s. In 1841 the 2nd United States Artillery Regiment was stationed at the Fort, and each company had musicians assigned to them, but as far as we know there was no Regimental Band. Charles Klamke, a musician with Company F, 2nd Artillery, was one of the earliest known soldiers buried at the Fort Adams Cemetery. He died on September 21, 1842.
The First Regimental Band in Newport
The first recorded military band at Fort Adams was the Band of the 1st United States Artillery Regiment. This band was made up of musicians taken from the different companies of the regiment. You can see the names of each musician and what company they came from. You can also see that the band was formed on September 12, 1843. Below is a photo of the Fort Adams Post Return showing them designated as the Regimental Band.
Post Return for the 1st United States Artillery Regiment at Fort Adams
September 1843, courtesy of the National Archives.
We have been able to find out some information about the lives of those musicians. B. L. Center (Benjamin Center) was born and died in New Hampshire. Elisha Bennett came to the U.S. from England and died in Pennsylvania in 1879. He is buried in Johnstown, PA. We are still learning about the life of William Tyrrell, but we know a lot about his son George Tyrrell. George joined the band at Fort Adams in 1845, when he was just 12 years old. The letter below discusses his enlistment as a “music boy” even though the practice was frowned up at that time. He died at Fort Adams in 1865, a Sergeant in Company A, 3rd Battalion of the 15th United States Infantry Regiment. George Tyrrell is buried in the Fort Adams cemetery.
Letter dated May 15, 1845, from Fort Adams to Washington D.C.
courtesy of the National Archives.
Little is known about the other musicians in the band at that time, but we are still searching for records of their service and lives before and after their time in the band at Fort Adams.
The 1st Artillery Regiment would remain at Fort Adams in fall of 1845.
The 3rd Artillery Regiment
Post Return for the 3rd United States Artillery Regiment at Fort Adams
September 1848, courtesy of the National Archives.
On September 28, 1848, the Band of the 3rd United States Artillery Regiment arrived at Fort Adams, joining the Regimental Staff and three companies of artillery. The band appears in the Newport records of the 1850 United States Census. Many of the names are listed on the page shown below.
1850 United States Census - Newport, Rhode Island
One of these names might be familiar to anyone who has taken our tour of the Fort Adams Cemetery. Christian Zang was a member of the 3rd Band when they arrived in 1848. His daughter Mary would die at Fort Adams on November 1, 1848, not long after arriving in Newport. She is buried in the Fort Adams Cemetery. Christian Zang would muster out of the 3rd Band in October of 1853. A Christian Zang later serves in the band of the 15th New York Engineers early in the Civil War, settling in Washington D.C. after his service.
Grave of Mary Zang, photo by Mark Stickney
Another member of the band was Thomas Mulholland, a drummer, who enlisted in the Army in 1844 at the age of 11. He is not listed on the page shown above but we know he was a member of the band at Fort Adams as early as April of 1849. He is listed on the monthly Fort Return shown below. His father James served in the 3rd as a Hospital Steward. Thomas’ younger brother Ezekiel would join the Regimental Band at the age of 9 in 1850.
Post Return for the 3rd United States Artillery Regiment at Fort Adams
April 1849, courtesy of the National Archives.
All three Mulholland’s were still serving in the 3rd Artillery in December of 1853 when the regiment was sent to California. They left New York just before Christmas. What happened next was a tragedy.
James would survive but both of his sons would die while waiting to be rescued from the wreck of the San Francisco. Ezekiel would die on January 1st and Thomas on January 4th. You can read more about the Wreck of the San Francisco and hear some music written about the tragedy here.
There is a big gap in our records after the 3rd Artillery Regiment left Newport. We know that the 1st United States Artillery Regiment was back in Newport by 1858. We do have the names of 48 musicians.
Thank you for your support and for joining us on our musical journey.