Drums, Drills & Recreation

Drums, Drills and Recreation. . The parade ground was the heart of the frontier fort. Here soldiers gathered for roll call, drills, and dress parades beneath the stars and stripes flying high on the towering flagstaff., The parade ground was also used for recreation, including picnics, plays, baseball games, and evening concerts given by the regimental band., Captions: , Soldiers playing baseball on the parade ground at Fort Riley, Kansas, as they would have here at Fort Randall, 1870., Four companies and members of the regimental band of the 25th Infantry, an African-American regiment, stand in formation on the parade ground at Fort Randall., Book pages: , There was a band at Fort Randall, and we did regular garrison duty, including Sunday dress parades and skirmish drills. Once in every two months we had muster and general inspection by the commanding officer of the post, who called the roll and looked over the arms, accoutrements, clothing, and quarters. For this inspection we were obliged to appear on parade in full marching order, our knapsacks packed and bulging with our spare clothing., It was interesting to watch the arrival of a band of Indians at a military post. Often they visited us simply out of curiosity in large and small parties, sometimes several hundred or more, including women and children.