Buglers of World War I
By Jari Villanueva, Taps Bugler
Among the overlooked aspects of World War One was the music performed by military bands and buglers. As in previous wars, music played an important part, not only providing morale and esprit de corps but also directing and maneuvering troops on the battlefield. Although the warfare of World War I changed the use of music in battle, music remained an important part of the day-to-day life of the doughboy soldier.
With America’s entrance into World War I and the mobilization of a huge force, there arose a further need for music in the military to provide for ceremonies, parades, concerts, and for the general morale of troops. Today, the US Army Band’s mission is to “provide music throughout the spectrum of military operations, to instill in our soldiers the will to fight and win, foster the support of our citizens, and promote our national interests at home and abroad.” That same thought applied as the United States expanded its army in the summer months of 1917.
Bringing to the war effort were thousands of bandsmen and buglers who would serve in regimental bands and as field musicians (buglers). You can find a history of bands at www.tapsbugler.com/history-of-bands-in-ww1-part-1/
This article, along with information on African American Bands in France, will complete Part II.There were three types of bugles used by the American Army in WWI: M1892, M1894, and the French Clairon. The M1892 Trumpet in G is known as the “Boy Scout Bugle.” It is the most common type of bugle used today and is in the key of G, although a B flat version was known to have been made as early as the 1930s. The word “bugle” in the United States is often used as a generic term for many types of horns, including the instruments used by the armed services and various other organizations such as the Boy Scouts and Drum Corps. Nevertheless, bugles have always been correctly specified by the armed services and the suppliers and manufacturers of these instruments as either bugles (a conical-bore natural horn) or a field trumpet (a cylindrical-bore natural horn over two-thirds of its length). A case in point is the standard so-called U.S. Regulation “G” bugle commonly used by the Boy Scouts and by drum and bugle corps before the introduction of valves or other key-changing devices.
This basic horn became the standard U.S. Army Cavalry trumpet in G, specification No. 325 dated May 2, 1892 (Quartermaster General’s Office, US War Department), which supplanted the previous model 1879 F trumpet with C crook. Detailed specifications with drawings and dimensions characterized these instruments. The trumpet described in the specifications was to be the basis for almost every bugle manufactured in the U.S. up to the present. This instrument had a tuning slide that could be pulled out (usually to a mark on the slide marked “F”) to lower the key from G to F. It should be noted that the M1892 was originally designed to have a crook (pigtail crook) used to bring the instrument down to F.
It is unknown who designed the model 1892 trumpet, but it seems likely that it may have been one of the manufacturers, such as C.G. Conn or the Wurlitzer Company, both firms being among the first to build these horns. It is also possible that the Kretchmar Company of Philadelphia may have influenced the M1892 design for they were making an excellent inventions-horn type field trumpet during the 1880s and had supplied the Army with M1879 F trumpets.
The Kretchmar model 1879 F trumpet was a well-made horn that played well but had no tuning adjustment. It may be likely that the Wurlitzer Company (or their suppliers) originated this M1892 design, for it has a basic layout not unlike the F trumpets they were supplying to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps (1881-1890?), except that the M1892 was much slimmer and more modern in appearance and of a much brighter trumpet sound. The Marine Corps adopted the bugle in 1881 over the strenuous objections of their fifers.
At the beginning of World War I, the standard Infantry bugle was the M1894 bugle in B flat. It was a small triple-twist brass instrument called a “Trench Bugle.” Unlike the M1892 Trumpet, the M1894 did not have a tuning slide. In 1912, the War Department issued specifications for the M1894. These specifications (Spec. #1152, dated April 25, 1912) detailed the make of the M1894 and the leather sling used to carry the instrument.
When the United States entered the war in April 1917, the country began to mobilize to recruit Soldiers and manufacture weapons and supplies to prosecute the conflict. Before the declaration of war, the U.S. Army had fewer than 200,000 regular soldiers. More than 4.7 million Americans would become part of the war effort in Europe through enlistments and conscription or draft by the newly organized Selective Service (a title chosen to make the military draft more palatable to the public). Dozens of Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, and Field Artillery bands would be included in this huge military force, and approximately 7,500 bandsmen and bandleaders would serve in the conflict over the war’s last two years. This number may not have included the U.S. Naval Bands on ships and U.S. Marine Corps Bands.
General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, was aware of the poor state of American military music that existed before WWI, and certainly his opinion was cemented when he arrived in France with his staff in June 1917. While in Europe, he heard many good French and British bands. He believed military bands were important in maintaining the discipline and morale of soldiers. One of General Pershing’s remarks during a dinner in France was characteristic of his intentions to improve the music of US Army bands, “When peace is declared and our bands march up Fifth Avenue,” he said, “I should like them to play so well that it will be another proof of the advantage of military training. Pershing would go on to improve the overall quality of military bands.
In addition to the bandsmen overseas, there were the field musicians who served as company musicians. Field music is the music that announces the daily routine of Army life, from waking in the morning for roll call (Reveille) to the various service calls during the day field music directs a Soldier’s life. By World War I, the bugle had supplanted the fife and drum as the primary signal instrument in the United States military. By the middle of the Civil War, it became evident that the bugle was a better instrument for conveying commands to troops in the field. Around 1875, the Army discontinued using the fife and used the trumpet (bugle), followed by the U.S. Marine Corps, which did the same in 1881. (much to the chagrin of Marine fifers) Although some Army units continued with fifes and drums in addition to the bugle (most notably the Hellcats of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point), bugles became the standard instrument for sounding calls on military posts. The calls had become standardized by the end of the 19th century after the revision of calls following the Civil War. The Navy adopted calls for use on shipboard, and the Army used signals that were divided into Infantry and Cavalry calls. In the Army, Navy, and Marines, field music was essential for not only the telling of time but for conveying orders quickly. Usually, each company, of about 100 men, would have a company bugler assigned. By World War I, bugles had completely replaced fifes and drums on the company level, and the war brought thousands of buglers who would serve the war as a “bugle boy of Company B.”
Bugle calls were divided into classifications.
Warning Calls: First Call, Guard Mount, Full Dress, Boots and Saddles, Drill Call. Formation Calls: Assembly, Adjutant’s Call. Alarm Calls: Fire Call, To Arms, To Horse. Service Calls: Reveille, Retreat, To the Color, The General, Flourishes, Mess Call, Church Call, Fatigue Call.
Music for the bugle calls was found in the government-printed Drill Regulations for the various branch services. Each service had a drill manual that included the calls. Calls were also published by commercial firms like Oliver Ditson and Carl Fischer.
A Drum and Bugle Corps was also formed in each infantry regiment of all company buglers of the regiment. One bugler of each company played a drum and one a trumpet or cornet when with the regimental band. All the buglers were under the Bugler Sergeant for leadership and general instruction. The buglers formed in the rear ranks of bands while in formation and played the bugle or trumpet parts to marches like Sousa’s “Sabre and Spurs” or M. L. Lake’s “American Trumpeter.” Buglers also played the dozens of bugle marches found in manuals printed by Ditson and Fischer. Marches like “You’re In The Army Now,” “American Flag,” “No Slum Today,” and “A Hunting We Will Go” were played along with drums. Buglers also played selections for Inspection and for Sound-Offs, which were the Three Cheers played at the beginning and end of trooping the line during a dress parade.
Bugle marches were compositions written for bugles that utilized the five notes that could be sounded on a bugle. These marches were written in eight-bar phrases so they could fit with common drum cadences in two-four or six-eight time. These bugle marches were usually written in AA-BB form like the drum cadences.
Mostly, bandsmen were picked from the draftees who joined the bands that were formed along with the regiments. National Guard units brought their own bands as they entered federal service. Under the table of organization, the bands (called band sections) were placed in the regimental headquarters company, which listed them by rank (Band Sergeant, Band Corporal, Musician First Class, Musician Second Class, and Musician Third Class) under the leadership of a commissioned officer. Buglers were chosen from those who played cornet, trumpet, or any other brass instrument. Many more were first-time players whose first music experience would be the bugle in camp.
Usually, one or two buglers were assigned to each company in a regiment. Four grades of buglers are provided for by Army Regulations, viz, Sergeant Bugler, who is in active command of all the buglers of a regiment; corporal buglers, who are in charge of the buglers of a battalion; buglers first class; and buglers. In each regiment of Infantry, there are 1 Sergeant Bugler, 3 Corporal Buglers, 13 Buglers First Class, and 13 Buglers, making a total of 30 men.
The Sergeant Bugler position harkens back to the Principal Musician of the Civil War era and had the same responsibilities. The Sergeant Bugler was in charge of all the regimental buglers (usually one-two to a company) and was responsible for the buglers’ training. In garrison, he played with the regimental band as needed, and in the field, he was with the staff or commanding officer, serving as the regimental bugler. Corporal Buglers were assigned to battalions (3-4 companies) as chief buglers. Paygrades showed a Sergeant Bugler made $40 a month for his services.
Once a soldier was identified as a bugler, he would usually be sent to a training school for buglers. Many of the camps where soldiers trained before being shipped overseas had some sort of school set up to train buglers. Drill manuals for each branch existed before WWI, but there was little written information on the exact duties to perform outside of the printed calls. Field music was under the authority of the regimental adjutant, who assigned training duties to the Sergeant Bugler. It was not until 1920 that “The Army Bugler, A Manual of Instruction for Buglers of all Arms of the Service” was written by W.T. Duganne, Sergeant Bugler, 62nd US Infantry. The manual outlines the buglers’ organization, rank, pay, uniform, equipment, and duties. It also covers training and performance.
With the increase in buglers coming into the military, contracts were let by the government to manufacture M1892 trumpets in G and M1894 bugles in B flat. C.G. Conn, H.N. White, Lyon and Healy, and Wurlitzer manufactured M1892s, while companies like Horstman, Wurlitzer, and Reiffel & Husted (R&H) made M1894s. Today, the M1892s are referred to as “Boy Scout Bugles” and the M1894s as “Trench Bugles,” although they probably were not used in the trenches of the war.
Today you can find these small M1894s on internet auction sites and at military shows. They are identified by the inscription on the bell, which marks the manufacturer, specification number (Spec. 1152), location of the Depot where issued, and production date. They have no tuning slides, and the pitch is not consistent between horns. Bugles without inscriptions were made for civilian use. These civilian bugles appear in instrument catalogs around the turn of the century.
It is interesting to note that Vincent Bach, the well-known trumpet maker, served as bandmaster of the 306th Field Artillery. This was the same regiment credited with bringing John Philip Sousa’s “Caisson Song” in 1917 which would become the official U.S. Army march, “The Army Goes Rolling Along.” According to bugle historian Jack Carter, Bach is reported to have trained buglers while in service.
American buglers who arrived in France saw the French buglers using the large belled clairons. Clairons are large belled, single-wrapped conical bugles in B flat. The French have used these instruments since the early 19th century. Clairons were the standard infantry signal horn used during the American Civil War and were imported by the thousands as well as manufactured in the United States. The so-called regulation Civil War infantry clairons (bugles) were made of copper with a brass garland (reinforcing band) pitched in the key of C. The addition of a crook (known as a pigs-tail crook) lowers the instrument into B flat. They were made or imported under contract and stamped by companies such as Stratton & Foote, Horstmann, Klemm Brothers, Draper Brothers, Church, and others.
The U.S. Army would use these instruments through the 1870s until they were replaced by the M1879 trumpets in F. The French continued to use these clairons through the latter part of the 19th century and still use them today, along with E flat Trumpets.
The American Infantry buglers liked the sound and ease of playing over the smaller M1894 horns. Even General Pershing thought so. In October 1918, General Orders came down to replace the smaller B flats with the French Clairons
General Orders No. 183. Paragraph 2 G. H. Q., A. E. F. (Oct. 21. 1918)
- The Chief Quartermaster will procure and issue for the use of all buglers of infantry regiments the B-flat bugle used in the French Army (clarion), and the bugle now being used will be turned in to the Quartermaster Corps or issue to all organizations except infantry. As the supply becomes exhausted, B-flat bugles will be issued to all organizations.
By command of General Pershing:
JAMES W. McANDREW.
Chief of Staff.
The small M1894 horns virtually disappeared from use in the US military following WWI. For the next 20 years, clairons were used by the US Army in addition to the M1892 trumpets in G. By World War II, the M1892 trumpet was the main signal instrument.
As photographic evidence shows, Infantry buglers switched from the M1894s to the French clairons. It is interesting that buglers did not switch completely to the M1892 G Trumpets. During WWI, the US Navy and Marine Corps used M1892s aboard ships. They were not issued the smaller M1894s but used the M1892s on ships and in the field.
With the outbreak of the World War, American composer, band leader and former Director of the U.S. Marine Band, John Philip Sousa, found himself responding to his patriotic urgings. He sought and received a commission from the US Navy to organize the bands at the Great Lakes Training Center in Illinois. As the war progressed in Europe, it was felt that it would be only a matter of time before America was drawn into the conflict. With the sudden growth of the armed forces to meet the war requirements came the need for musicians to staff bands and provide field musicians (buglers and drummers) to sound the military signals. Sousa was put in charge of over three hundred Sailors training for musical duty in the Navy. In addition to the bandsmen training for duty in Navy fleet bands, there were buglers training for duty on naval vessels.
Sousa combined the bandsmen and field musicians into a large marching unit that was known as the “Jackie” Band. This band toured the United States in Liberty Loan and Red Cross drives, raising millions of dollars for the war effort. He did this all for one dollar a month at the rank of Lieutenant and his influence and work resulted in many fine fleet bands. He left the Navy after the Armistice with the rank of Lieutenant-Commander, US Naval Reserve, and he proudly wore the insignia for the rest of his life, even being buried in the uniform.
Sousa realized the importance of training buglers for shipboard duty and formed a large drum and bugle corps in conjunction with the large band. These buglers were issued the M1892 trumpets in G which were used for the entirety of the war. Sousa would go on to compose several marches during his time in the Navy. These compositions used bugle marches or calls in several of his marches. He had written The Thunderer and Semper Fidelis years earlier. Those included bugle marches he had composed during his time in the U.S. Marine Band. The marches he wrote during WWI no doubt were composed with the buglers of the US Navy Training School at Great Lakes in mind. They are:
The Naval Reserve, 1917
The Chantyman’s March 1917
Bullets and Bayonets, 1918
Sabre and Spurs, 1918
Anchor and Star, 1918
The Golden Star, 1919
Interestingly enough, these marches, with the exception of Sabre and Spurs, were written for a trumpet in F, no doubt the M1879 F Trumpet, which Sousa was familiar with during his time in the U.S. Marine Band. Another issue is that the M1892 is in the key of G and is not conducive to bands who play regularly in flat keys. The solution Sousa found was not to procure F Trumpets, but rather to have the buglers pull the tuning slide out to the F mark.
British and French drum and bugle corps greatly impressed American military forces in Europe during World War I. Inspired by the European corps, the American Legion was formed in 1919 for war veterans and shortly thereafter began forming drum and bugle corps in the United States. The Legion selected the “G” trumpet for these ensembles because it was standard for army foot troops at the time. They developed their own version of the M1892 designs known as “American Legion,” utilized by competing drum and bugle corps. These instruments are easily identifiable by their length and represent a design trait that would remain consistent in drum corps brass instrumentation through the late 1960s. They have been referred to as Legionnaire or Fanfare bugles. Getzen in an early ad, referred to them as a herald or Fanfare Trumpet. King and Conn made versions in G and B flat.
Holton also designed a more streamlined “art deco “ bugle in the 1930s. In their catalog, it was referred to as a “Shrine Model.”
World War I set the stage for the use of bugles throughout the 20th century, which saw the rise of Drum and Bugle Corps first through Veteran organizations and then to civilian groups like Drum Corps International. Although the bugle is no longer an instrument of war, it is still used today in military ceremonies. The United States Army Band (Pershing’s Own) still uses a bugle to sound Taps at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, and at the National WWI Memorial in Washington DC, a bugler in a WWI uniform sounds the call as a tribute to the 4.7 million Americans who served during that conflict. The daily Taps at 5 pm is sponsored by the Doughboy Foundation.
The Doughboy Foundation was created to work alongside the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, a 12-member panel authorized by Congress in 2013 to establish a national memorial honoring those who served in World War I. Since the memorial opened in April 2021, The Doughboy Foundation has continued its mission of stewardship for the memorial and remembrance of those who served in the war.
Jari Villanueva served for 23 years with the United States Air Force Band, sounding Taps at Arlington National Cemetery as part of his duties. He was the Director of Military Funeral Honors for the State of Maryland for 10 years and now serves as the President of the Doughboy Foundation. He is the founder of Taps For Veterans and started Taps Across America, held every year on Memorial Day, in 2020
He is considered the country’s foremost expert on military bugle calls, particularly the call of Taps.
A full biography can be found at www.tapsbugler.com/jari-villanueva-biography-bio/
