The 26th NC Regiment Band

Researcher, Philip Dunigan, completed an enormous amount of research in order to tell the story of the Band from the perspective of Ed Peterson, Salem trombonist, captured in his letters home during the Civil War; this involves cross-referencing with maps and other diaries and records, to determine where the band was, on particular dates, and how they fit into the story and events of the war.

Walter Philip Dunigan

THE MORAVIAN MUSIC FOUNDATION

Moramus Award

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In Memoriam

            Through your insatiable thirst for knowledge, your capacious memory for detail, and your boundless energy and enthusiasm, you have sparked interest in the music of the Moravians in musicians, scholars, and audiences far beyond the confines of the Moravian Church. You have introduced musicians from many miles away to the riches of the Moravian musical heritage, and you have built bridges between the Moravian Music Foundation and the wider professional music world. Through your passion for this music and your vision of the future, you initiated the Moravian Music Foundation’s series of recordings, each presenting performances of the highest quality and thus engendering new respect for this body of music.

            As a member of the Moravian Music Foundation’s Board of Trustees, you insisted that both board and staff adhere to the highest standards in artistry and in production. You inspired the board to set, and to achieve, “big, hairy, audacious goals”. As a scholar you made possible the identification of otherwise-unknown works. As a performer you have made these works, and others, known to a wider audience.

            You have worked to preserve the Moravian musical heritage by encouraging its use and its perpetuation in recordings and in live performances. You have shared the Moravian musical heritage through your teaching, your own performance, your scholarship, and by introducing this music to your professional colleagues. You have celebrated Moravian music through the production of recordings and performances, and with your own unwavering good humor and passion for the music.

            For your ongoing commitment to the preservation, sharing, and celebration of the musical culture of the Moravians, we take great pleasure, with heartfelt thanks, in presenting to you the

MORAMUS AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO MORAVIAN MUSIC

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, June 13, 2003

The Moravian Music Foundation is the home of the only known complete set of extant Confederate band books from the war between the states.

This set belonged to the Moravian musicians from Salem, NC who were attached to the 26th NC Regiment. The MMF vault holds part-books from other bands, as well.

Extensive diaries by Julius Leinbach have proven invaluable, as an historic record. The diaries, and other papers, reside in the UNC Chapel Hill Wilson Library.

Collection Name: J.A. Lineback Papers, circa 1861-1863; 1914

Description of the original Julius Lineback wartime diaries and other papers:     http://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/l/Lineback,J.A.html

Portions of Julius Leinbach’s diaries are reprinted in a monograph (booklet) published by MMF, Regiment Band of the Twenty-Sixth North Carolina, along with the repertory list of the Band.
Order for only $4 at the MMF website

Interested in the whole story?

A JOHNNY REB BAND FROM SALEM: the Pride of Tarheelia
by Harry H. Hall, 2006, paperback
Order for only $15 at the MMF website

Information relating to Salem, NC and the 26th NC Regiment Band:

• Article for Moravian (June 2015) A Storm in the Land: Southern Moravians in the Civil War
• Webpage by Old Salem, Inc.  Salem, NC and the Civil War

MUSIC OF THE 26TH NC REGIMENT BAND – sheet music for brass band, edited and published by MMF
– THREE VOLUMES
Order online at the MMF website

MUSIC OF THE 26TH NC REGIMENT BAND – available on CD
– TWO CD COLLECTIONS
        A Storm in the Land
        Cheer Boys, Cheer!
American Brass Quintet performs
Order online at the MMF website

Today, the Federal City Brass Band performs as the 26th NC Regiment Band all over the country.

Often, they visit Salem.

Civil War re-enactors, known as the Federal City Brass Band, recreate the experience of the 26th NC Regimental Band, through dress, word, and music performance. http://www.jvmusic.net/federal-city-brass-band26th-nc-band/

MMF’s Collection of
Civil War Reproduction Instruments

The Moravian Music Foundation is the home of the only known complete set of extant Confederate band books from the Civil War. This set belonged to the musicians of the 26th NC regiment band, which was made up of Moravian men from Salem, NC. The MMF has part-books from other bands as well, and researcher Philip Dunnigan is working to identify which bands are represented by these books. Some books are believed to be from the 21st and 33rd NC regiment bands.

Generous donations to the MMF have allowed us, over the last few years, to have replica Civil War horns made by Robb Stewart. Robb creates and restores vintage brass instruments in his California workshop. So far the MMF’s replica Civil War Horn collection includes:

• 2 Eb Cornets
• 2 Bb Cornets
• 2 Eb Alto Horns
• 1 Bb Tenor Horn
• 1 Eb Bass Horn

We’d like to have an additional Bb Tenor Horn (approx. $4000) and an additional Eb Bass horn (approx. $8000) to round out our band of instruments. We’d also like to have a replica Civil War era drum (approx. $1500). Our hopes are to have musicians regularly perform music from the 26th band on these instruments.

Here are some links of civil war music interest:

Book Review of Johnny Reb Band from Salem by Winston-Salem Journal writer Tom Dillon
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_RelishArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192886607&path=!entertainment!general!&s=1037645508970

Recreated 26th NC Regimental Band
http://www.jvmusic.net/26thNCRegimentBandrecreated.html

26th NC Regiment (no mention of the band, only the fife and drum corp)
http://www.26nc.org/index.html

Civil War Bands
http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/music/bands.html

Description of the Lineback papers in the collections at UNC Chapel Hill
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/l/Lineback,J.A.

Vermont in the Civil War (mentions the 26th NC regiment band)
http://vermontcivilwar.org/museum/music/music.php

Civil War Art Print – Maryland, My Maryland (mentions the 26th NC regiment band)
http://www.allenscreations.com/mkmmm.html

North Carolina History Project’s entry about the Salem Brass Band
http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/139/entry

OTHER LINKS OF INTEREST:

26th NC Regiment (no mention of the band, only the fife and drum corp) http://www.26nc.org/index.html

Civil War Bands – an overview of several bands http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/music/bands.html

Vermont in the Civil War (mentions the 26th NC regiment band) Essay about music in the Civil War http://vermontcivilwar.org/museum/music/music.php

Civil War Art Print – Maryland, My Maryland by Mort Künstler (depicts the 26th NC regiment band, and gives a description of the scene and the band’s role in the crossing of the Potomac on the way to Gettysburg) http://www.allenscreations.com/mkmmm.html

North Carolina History Project’s entry about the Salem Brass Band’s role, being attached to the 26th NC Regiment during the Civil War. http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/139/entry