Snare drum
Made by William S. Tompkins, Yonkers
New York, 1863
Wood, metal, leather, rope, animal skin
Gift of Kate Streetor
MHS Collections
1920 063 0001
Both Union and Confederate army regulations authorized each infantry company to have two musicians, usually a drummer and fifer. Drums were used to signal camp duties and battle orders, maintain the rhythm of the march, and entertain troops in band concerts; and because both factions believed themselves to be the protectors of liberty, patriotic signs and symbols adorned northern and southern military paraphernalia. This drum features an ornately inlaid shell with a popular concentric star design similar to those on other drums made by William S. Tompkins of Yonkers, NY.
St. Louisan William C. Streetor used this particular rope-tension snare drum in the Civil War. Streetor, a sign writer and painter, joined the 7th Regiment of the Enrolled Missouri Militia (E.M.M.), one of several Unionist militia organizations in the divided state of Missouri. He was relieved of duty in November 1864 with the rank of sergeant major, having served 3 months. Streetor served earlier in the war as a drum major with the 3rd Regiment, U.S. Reserve Corps.
Organized by the Virginia Historical
Society with additional support from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter
Foundation and the
Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Changing Exhibitions Fund, American. Support
in St. Louis is provided by The Stanley and Lucy Lopata Foundation
This exhibition has been made possible in part
by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Great Ideas Brought to Life.
