A typical rope tension drum measuring just over 17″ in diameter and standing approximately 13 1/2″ tall. The wooden body has an old dark brown painted finish that has heavily flaked and chipped over time while the hoops, held in place by fairly loose and frayed cords, have a faded period scarlet paint. Both of the drumheads have large tears and the snares are no longer attached. There are six leather tugs still installed, but only one has a scalloped edge and appears to be original, the rest seem to be period or field replacements and some of the brass stud decorations surrounding the peep-hole are missing. There is no maker's label on the interior but there does seem to be something illegible written in pencil. The drum was handed down by the descendants of Andrew Jackson Webb (1849–1924), of Fluvanna County in central Virginia. Mr. Webb, like most of his fellow Virginians, rushed to serve the nascent Confederacy and enlisted as a Private in the Fluvanna Artillery No. 1, known as the ’Sons of Fluvanna,’ on June 20, 1861. He mustered into the 1st Co. and served in that unit until October 4, 1862, when it was merged with its sister battery, Fluvanna Artillery No. 2, the ‘Fluvanna Light Artillery,’ to form the Fluvanna Consolidated Artillery. The Fluvanna Artillery was part of the Army of Northern Virginia and fought at the First Manassas, the Peninsula Campaign, Antietam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Cold Harbor. During the battery's service, Webb rose slowly but surely in the ranks between 1862 and 1865, being promoted to 3rd Corporal, 2nd Corporal, Corporal, and Sergeant. In 1864, they were siphoned off from the Army of Northern Virginia and formed part of Gen. Jubal Early's Army of the Valley, serving in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, and took part in numerous actions, including the battles of Monocacy and Cedar Creek. On March 2, 1865, they fought at the battle of Waynesboro, Virginia, and were all taken prisoner by the Union forces when Early's command was routed by a flank attack by George A. Custer’s cavalry division. Webb spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner interred at Fort Delaware, and eventually settled in West Virginia where he spent the remainder of his life.
The drum remained with Webb's descendants following his passing in the 1920s until it was sold to a collector in 2002 by his great grandson (a copy of the original notarized sales receipt is included). Also accompanying the drum is a binder containing an article on Civil War drums and drummers, as well as copies of period newspaper articles on Mr. Webb's Civil War service. It is amusing to note that, according to several of the articles and his obituary, he was credited as having fired the last cannon shot of the war—an impossibility due to his being held prisoner by the Union prior to the cessation of hostilities. Also included are copies of several postwar photographs of Mr. Webb and his family, as well as a copy of The Fluvanna Artillery by David G. Martin, published by H. E. Howard in 1992. The latter book has the pages mentioning Webb listed on the frontispiece. This is a splendid piece of Civil War history, is associated with a known Confederate artilleryman, and would make a fine addition to a collection.
