Drummer boys in the Civil War were not all boys. The minimum enlistment age for a musician was technically twelve, and many regiments carried teenage drummers, but the Federal infantry preferred adult musicians where it could get them — drummers stood close to the colors, were prime targets, and needed steady nerves. The Irish Brigade carried both. The brigade's drum calls translated officers' commands through the smoke of close-range fights at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and the Wheatfield. Before a charge, the drummers played the long roll — the rapid, continuous beating that called the regiment to attention and announced an imminent advance. The drummers who survived Marye's Heights had carried the calls through one of the war's worst hours.

This W. Britain figure depicts an Irish Brigade drummer in regulation Federal infantry kit — dark blue blouse, light blue trousers, dark forage cap, the rolled blanket and haversack across his chest, the side drum slung on his right hip on the regulation drum sling. The drumsticks are in his hands at the ready position. The beard suggests an adult musician rather than a teenage drummer boy. The drummer is the audible centerpiece of any Irish Brigade marching-column or battle-line diorama, adding cadence and motion to the scene. Pair this figure with Irish Brigade Standing Firing No.1, the firing-line companion; with Irish Brigade Advancing Loading, the advancing companion the drummer would be calling forward; or with Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock, the II Corps commander whose orders the drummer would translate.

Scale: 1/30 (60mm). Matte-painted metal. W. Britain model 31385. From the American Civil War range. Single foot figure, supplied painted and ready for display.