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Weird Foods and Methods People Used to Survive During the Civil War

Khalid Elhassan July 21, 2021 36 min

Civil War drummer boy Alexander H. Johnson. Kentake

5. The Massachusetts Drummer

Civil War child soldier Alexander H. Johnson was born in Massachusetts, and enlisted in the Union Army when he was fourteen years old. He joined the 54^th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, whose exploits were depicted in the 1989 movie Glory, as a drummer boy when that regiment was formed. Since the 54^th Massachusetts was one of the Union’s first colored regiments, young Alexander was probably the first African American musician to enlist in the Civil War. He saw significant service during the conflict.

During the war, young Alexander was the with the 54th as it took part in the battles of Honey Hill, Boykins Mill, James Island, Olustee, and the siege of Charleston, South Carolina. He was present at the murderous assault on Fort Wagner and participated in Sherman’s march through the Carolinas. His drum was struck by enemy fire six times, and he was wounded in the leg while on active service. Alexander stayed with the 54^th Massachusetts until war’s end and his discharge in 1865.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.