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Presentation Drum and Forage Cap
courtesy of the Museums Division Collection, U.S. Army Center of Military History

During the Civil War, this brass shell presentation drum sounded the call to arms. It bears the inscription "Henry Galloway", who was a Field Musician with Company H, 55th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. A sister regiment to the 54th Massachusetts, famed for its charge at Battery Wagner in Charleston, South Carolina, both were raised in 1863, of free Black citizens. By such service, African-Americans joined the ranks of the Regular Army in 1866, with the organization of the 9th and 10th Cavalry and later the 24th and 25th Infantry. The chasseur-style forage cap displays the 1896-pattern insignia of Company C, 25th Infantry, which earned the proud title "Buffalo Soldiers," while serving on the American frontier.

Courtesy of the Army Historical Collection, U.S. Army Center of Military History

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