Hendershot claimed he was denied admission to the academy because of his wounds or his inability to pass the entrance exams. No application exists for him, however, in the academy’s records. Instead, Hendershot returned to Poughkeepsie Business College for a brief time, during which he married Alice Blanchard, a fellow student. In 1867 he collaborated with a writer, William Sumner Dodge, who produced a 200-page biography, Robert Henry Hendershot; or, the Brave Drummer Boy of the Rappahannock. Around the same time, he moved to Omaha, Neb., and began working for the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1870 he applied for and received an appointment as postal clerk on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad. From his office in Chicago, Hendershot then labored in relative obscurity for another decade.

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His name once again became familiar to the public in 1881, when the Grand Army of the Republic newspaper, the National Tribune, sponsored a ‘youngest soldier’ contest. The first man nominated was Robert Henry Hendershot. With unusual modesty, Hendershot did not refute the claims of many other, younger men to the title. Another five years would pass before he would emerge from the shadows.

In 1885, after his retirement, Hendershot took out his silver drum once again. Thereafter, the now self-promoted ‘Major’ Hendershot toured the country with his son, Cleveland, who played the fife. Although they principally performed at GAR functions and other patriotic gatherings, their tour also took them into Canada, and to the Kingdom of Hawaii, where they entertained Queen Liliuokalani.

By July 1891, the month Hendershot posted a letter to the National Tribune restating his claim to the title Drummer Boy of the Rappahannock as well as that of ‘youngest soldier,’ he was one of the best known veteran drummer boys. He was invited to lead the Michigan Department in the GAR parade during the organization’s annual national encampment in Detroit that August.

There were certain old soldiers, however, who were not pleased by the fame and honors Hendershot enjoyed. One of them was the 7th Michigan’s former drum major, Wilbur F. Dickerson. In a letter to the encampment’s organizers, Dickerson pronounced Hendershot a fake and asked them to remove him from his place of honor. In other letters Dickerson asked members of the 7th Michigan to help him spearhead a campaign to discredit Hendershot.

More than 60,000 veterans paraded before 200,000 spectators to open the encampment. Hendershot marched at the head of the Michigan vets, tapping the cadence on his silver drum with sticks carved from the spear of an ancient Hawaiian warrior, a gift from Queen Liliuokalani. It was an auspicious moment for Hendershot, but disgrace would soon follow. Dickerson’s efforts to discredit Hendershot began to pay off on the day following the parade at the reunion of the 7th Michigan Infantry, when Hendershot found himself the subject of an inquiry during which he was asked to tell his story and lay out his evidence. Members of the 7th Infantry who had crossed in the boats at Fredericksburg were questioned, and Hendershot was cross-examined. In the end, the members of the regiment concluded that Hendershot’s claims were false and stripped him of his title.

On August 8, the day after the 7th held its reunion, the 8th Michigan Infantry met. Its agenda also included a debate on Hendershot’s claims. Hendershot, who was present at first, quickly departed when he realized the course upon which his comrades were headed. The 8th’s judgment was even more severe than the 7th’s: The regiment found him guilty of ‘fraud, imposition, and construed forgeries,’ as well as deserting his flag under fire. The members of the 8th formally drummed Hendershot out of the regiment.

But if Hendershot was not the Drummer Boy of the Rappahannock, then who was? The names of several former drummer boys were submitted for consideration. The men of the 7th Michigan Infantry tendered the names of two of their former drummer boys, John T. Spillaine and Thomas Robinson. The men of the 8th Michigan Infantry claimed the title rightfully belonged to Charles Gardner, who had died in 1864 from wounds received during the siege of Knoxville. The 31st Ohio Infantry nominated Avery Brown, who already bore the sobriquet ‘Drummer Boy of the Cumberland.’

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