Thus, with the embellishment of war correspondents, a foraging expedition became a battle, a deserter became an armed adversary, and a shattered clock became a young hero’s drum, burst by a shell. Soon after, Horace Greeley had summoned Hendershot to New York and presented the boy with the silver drum and honored him with his famous sobriquet.

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Taylor argued that ‘Boy that he was, being irresistibly borne upon the wave of fortune to the embrace of so many and such distinguished friends and to such privilege and honors, [it is not surprising that Hendershot] concluded that there must have been something in his exploits heroic and meritorious.’ But, said Taylor, Hendershot was not the author of the story; it had originated with the press. Nor had he sought the title bestowed upon him by Greeley. Since ‘the bearing of his title can injure no one,’ Taylor continued, ‘I would advise that he be allowed to depend upon it for his future success. ‘In the words of our nation’s most honored hero,’ Taylor concluded, `Let us have Peace!’ And let all the earth keep silent when I say that Robert Henry Hendershot is the genuine Drummer Boy of the Rappahannock.’

Taylor was undoubtedly right when he said that a good share of the story had been the fancy or embellishment of battlefield reporters, further embellished by Hendershot. His critics were most probably wrong when they claimed that another had performed the deeds. In their quest to shift glory, they forgot the times in which the story arose, the historical context that Taylor tried to bring out in his testimony.

‘The battle was a disastrous one for our arms,’ Taylor wrote, ‘and while ‘fire in the rear’ papers were gloating over our calamity and pronouncing the war a failure, the loyal press found but little to cheer the heart of the despondent.’ It was to ‘divert the minds of the loyal from brooding over the disaster’ that prompted Greeley, who ‘[seized] upon this report and sent it flying over the land in the columns of the Tribune,’ Taylor wrote.

From a historic perspective, the story might be characterized as a media-created epic of heroism, inspired by an unremarkable episode at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Then, from out of the tale, Greeley plucked a boy and made of him a Northern icon. It was little more than mythology, but it served more than the sensationalist bent of the press; it also promoted patriotism and supported a cause. If propaganda is a legitimate weapon of war, then the worth of the Drummer Boy of the Rappahannock as a soldier may have equaled that of a regiment.

Hendershot was almost certainly the anonymous boy whose unremarkable deed inspired the story. He is without a doubt the boy on whom Greeley bestowed the title. It was he, then, who brought a brief moment of cheer and hope to a war-weary North in the dark days of late 1862.

Hendershot’s self-promotion was harmless, and led to a legend that ultimately enriched American folklore. History would have undoubtedly buried the story and the title if Hendershot had not kept them alive. For that reason alone, he deserves to be remembered as the original Drummer Boy of the Rappahannock.

This article was written by Anthony Patrick Glesner and originally appeared in the January 2004 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. For more great articles be sure to pick up your copy of America’s Civil War.

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