The Drum Major had a pivital role to play within the Regiment, it was his duty to train and oversee the practice and to also instill discipline in the young drummers. His designation as a Drum Major was an appointed title and not a rank, although he would certainly have been a very experienced senior drummer, each Regiment had at least one Drum Major.
This page is designed to pass on the knowledge of the Drum Major and to outline the role and duties of the Drummers themselves.What is not often apparent to us today is the fact that most soldiers could not read let alone tell the time or own a watch and so the daily life of the regiment was governed by the drum with designated tunes and beatings to announce the various activities through out the day.
The information within these pages is also very important to the soldier of the line as the calls and signals presented here (as sound files) need to be heard and learnt to facilitate a more accurate portrayal of the daily life within the Regiment.
Calls & Duties - Sound Files
Beat to annouce the start of the day -
Beat to Assemble troops -
Beat to annouce Dinner time -
Beat to tell the troops to Form Square -
Beat to let the troops know they are to March in Column -
Beatings for actions On the Firing Line -
Beat to let the troops know its tme to retire to barracks -