The rat-a-tat-tat of the snare drum, accompanied by the thundering beat of the bass drum, was all Kalamazoo’s Orcutt Post veterans of the Civil War needed when marching in local parades or rousing the men’s spirits at events and annual reunions. The bass drum was their proud centerpiece, with its colorfully hand-painted post name and city on the head. After the war, Union veterans formed the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), an organization to preserve the friendships developed during the war. Eventually, it became a powerful political force to benefit the veterans and their survivors.

In 1882, Kalamazoo’s Civil War veterans organized Orcutt Post #79. It was named after one of their fellow soldiers, Benjamin F. Orcutt, who had served as Kalamazoo County sheriff. He was killed in the line of duty in 1867.

At the Orcutt Post’s peak in 1886, it had 174 members. By the end of the 1920s, there were only 19 surviving Civil War veterans in the entire county. Seven were members of the Post. The last surviving member was Smith H. Carlton. He died in 1943 after being hit by a car.

Today, the Orcutt drum is on permanent display in the Museum’s Time Pieces exhibit—and is an important reminder of the service and sacrifices of those men and their families during a tumultuous time in our history.