The Fort Delaware Cornet Band was attached to Heavy Artillery Battery G from Allegheny County, PA and stationed at Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island—off the shores of Salem County, NJ—from 1862 to 1865. The band was under the direction of principal musician and cornetist T.M. Todd (above, far left), a relative of Mary Todd Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln’s wife. Todd arranged music for the band as well as wrote the original composition “Sounds from Fort Delaware” for piano. T.M. Todd’s cornet can still be viewed at the Fort Delaware museum. The band performed for various drills and entertained both Union and Confederate men alike at the fort. The band also left the fort to perform in Philadelphia, PA, Wilmington, DE, and Rumsey’s Hall in Salem City, NJ among other locations. Some performances of note by the band included:
- A ball given by Major Burton (October 15, 1862).
- A serenade of the Jones and Schooley’s Batteries (November 19, 1862).
- A ball at the new soldiers’ barracks (June 10, 1863).
- An excursion to Wilmington with the Fifth Delaware (August 6, 1863).
- A ball given by Captain Ahl (August 27, 1863).
- A concert at Rumsey’s Hall in Salem City, NJ to benefit the Ladies’ Aid Society of Salem.
- A concert to benefit the Maryland sick (February 15, 1865).
- A celebratory performance at the news of the captures of Richmond and Petersburg (April 3, 1865).
When the band performed outside of the fort, pianist Prof. F. Losse of Philadelphia accompanied it.
Fort Delaware was originally constructed as a mid-19th century coastal defense site. In 1862, the War Department determined that it would be an ideal site for Confederate prisoners. During the course of the war 33,000 Confederates, political prisoners, and Federal convicts were imprisoned at the fort. Over 2,400 died while in prison.
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