THE DRUMMER BOY OF SHILOH

Unidentified young soldier in Confederate infantry uniform, possibly drummer boy.

290 Foundation

VERBATIM

Luke 23:46, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”
 
During the War Between the States the soldiers on both sides occasionally found a common bond in their music. Bell I. Wiley wrote in his book entitled, The Life of Johnny Reb “…at Fredericksburg, during the wars second winter, a crack group of Union musicians posted on the northern bank of the Rappahannock, staged a concert unique in the annals of war. The program began with a medley of Northern airs – patriotic tunes and war songs…

‘Now give us some of ours,’ shouted the Confederates across the river. Without hesitation the band swung into the tunes of ‘Dixie,’ ‘My Maryland,’ and ‘The Bonnie Blue Flag.’ One song that crossed the battle lines was ‘The Drummer Boy of Shiloh,’ written and composed by William Shakespeare Hays of Louisville, Kentucky. This story of a young Union drummer boy, wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, provided a folk hero for many people.

On Shiloh’s dark and bloody ground, the dead and wounded lay.

Amongst them was a drummer boy who beat the drum that day.

A wounded soldier raised him up; his drum was by his side.

He clasped his hands and raised his eyes and prayed before he died:



Look down upon the battle-field, Oh Thou, our Heav’nly friend,

Have mercy on our sinful souls, the soldiers cried, “Amen.”

For gather’d round a little group, each brave man knelt and cried.

They listen’d to the drummer boy who prayed before he died.



“Oh, mother!” said the dying boy, “Look down from Heav’n on me,

Receive me to thy fond embrace, Oh take me home to thee.

I’ve loved my country as my God, to serve them both I’ve tried.

He smiled, shook hands, death seized the boy who prayed before he died.



Each soldier wept then like a child, stout hearts were they and brave.

The flag his winding sheet, God’s book the key unto his grave.

They wrote upon a simple board these words “This is a guide

To those who mourn the drummer boy who prayed before he died.”