Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park commemorates the site of Florida's largest Civil War battle on February 20, 1864.
Image details
Contributor:
Pat Canova / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
DECTH3File size:
24.7 MB (867.8 KB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
3600 x 2394 px | 30.5 x 20.3 cm | 12 x 8 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
19 February 2005Location:
Olustee Florida USAMore information:
During the American Civil War, music played a big part on both sides of the conflict: Union and Confederate. On the American Civil War battlefield, different instruments including bugles, drums, and fifes were played to issue marching orders or sometimes simply to boost the morale of one's fellow soldiers. Singing was also employed as a recreational activity, but as a release from the inevitable tensions that come with fighting in a war, particularly a war in which the issue of freedom of a race is to be decided. In camp, music was a diversion away from the bloodshed, helping the soldiers deal with homesickness and boredom. Soldiers of both sides often engaged in recreation with musical instruments, and when the opposing armies were near each other, sometimes the bands from both sides of the conflict played against each other on the night before a battle. In May 1861 the United States War Department officially approved that every regiment of infantry and artillery could have a brass band with 24 members, while a cavalry regiment could have one of sixteen members. The Confederate army would also have brass bands. This was followed by a Union army regulation of July 1861 requiring every infantry, artillery, or cavalry company to have two musicians and for there to be a twenty-four man band for every regiment