The Band:

The Band:. For Conflict or Conflict. , The 18th Infantry’s 40-piece Regimental Band was housed at Fort Phil Kearny in a 24 by 64 green log, panel constructed, dirt roofed barrack. The band provided drummers and buglers for drill, ceremony, and combat commands during the day. In the evening they would gather at an octagonal bandstand surrounding the flagstaff to serenade the post with martial or popular music of the day. On special occasions they would orchestrate waltzes at post dances. Their duties were truly ones of extremes; besides sounding commands or music to march by, members might also be called on to act as messengers, medical orderlies, or combat soldiers. Band members at the fort also built Colonel Carrington’s house, in addition to serving as clerks or supply personnel., There is more historical information on the band at Fort Phil Kearny than some of the other units. It is known that the band members carried Spencer Carbines even though the men seldom went into combat as a complete unit. Following the December 6, 1866 skirmish, Colonel Carrington transferred these weapons to the cavalry, hoping to increase their fire power. All these weapons were lost in the Fetterman Fight two weeks later. Sadly, it is also known that the first death at Fort Phil Kearny was Bandmaster, Master Sergeant William Curry, who died of typhoid and pneumonia, leaving behind a wife and two boys., “As we passed the Fort some distance we came to a halt for nearly an hour and a half . . . crossing the stream and ascending the bluffs beyond. As we lay there the brass band at the Fort commenced playing. Such sounds in such a scene! There was something in the wild, sweet strains that filled and floated through the deep reechoing valley that spoke of home; yet so far distant and in so wild a place that it partook of the nature of the scenes around it. It was like looking through the ‘glass of time’ into the dim Past . . . ”From the diary of Davis Willson, August 7, 1866, near Fort Phil Kearny.