Some forum members may be interested in recent articles of mine on British military music. Happy to share specific references on request.
British Military Music and the Legacy of the Napoleonic Wars, The Historical Journal
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X24000372
Historians have increasingly stressed the impact of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars on Britain and Ireland. Less attention, however, has been paid to the legacies of martial mobilization after 1815. Drawing on hitherto unused press and archival sources, this article assesses the implications of wartime military expansion for the music profession, and musical culture more generally, in the decades after Waterloo. It demonstrates that men and boys who honed their instrumental skills in uniform embarked on a variety of civilian musical careers, becoming instructors, wind performers, composers, and even opera singers. The article traces the post-war circulation of regimental instruments and reveals that a multitude of militia and volunteer bands remained active long after demobilization. The wartime proliferation of military bands, moreover, encouraged the subsequent spread of quasi-martial wind ensembles in wider society. Finally, the article proves that brass bands were first introduced to Britain and Ireland in a regimental guise. The influence of the military on musical culture after 1815, in short, was palpable and often profound, and manifested itself in numerous ways and settings.
British Military Music in Battle during the Napoleonic Wars, International Journal of Military History and Historiography
This article investigates the presence and significance of British military music in action during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Based on a diverse body of sources, including contemporary military manuals, archival collections, and soldiers’ memoirs, it argues that regimental bands did not normally strike up in the heat of battle. Highland pipers, on the other hand, were celebrated for playing in combat. Bugles and trumpets were crucial for relaying tactical commands to dispersed skirmishers and cavalrymen, but British drummers were less often heard under fire. The article also explores the non-musical duties of drummers and bandsmen in combat, including their contributions as stretcher-bearers. It ends by highlighting music’s importance in shaping how battles were remembered, drawing on evidence from regimental commemorations and Victorian military art.