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The Old Soldier Fiddlers
The “Old Soldiers Fiddlers” was a
vaudeville act led by former Iron Brigade member “Colonel” John A.
Pattee that toured the country from sometime before 1904 until at
least 1916. Colonel Pattee had four other veterans in the
group, two Union and two Confederates. Billed as “Vaudevilles
Greatest Novelty Act”, they boasted none of them could read music,
and insisted everyone refer to them “fiddlers” rather than
“violinists”. The Old Soldier Fiddlers played for GAR Halls
and Soldier Homes, on opera house stages, and even at the 50th
Gettysburg reunion in 1913.
Their repertoire was a combination of
antebellum songs and camp tunes intermixed with jokes and banter.
“Goober Peas” was one of their favorites, and they used spoons,
bones and clapping to perform their music. The repartee would
start innocent enough, but got more and more pointed between the
Yankees and Rebs as the act progressed. Which side got the
better of the exchange would depend on the audience. Near the
end of the act, after orchestrating their brief rift, Colonel Pattee
would admonish the group for bickering, remind them we’d all fought
in that terrible War, but it was over now, and once again we were
all Americans. After making amends and shaking hands, the
troupe would finish the performance with a rousing patriotic tune to
reunite everyone.
Old Soldier Fiddlers performance March 2012 at the Civil War Museum in Kenosha on six YouTube videos:
Old Soldiers Fiddlers promotional postcard
John A. Pattee was born June 5,
1844 in Huron, MI. His mother recognized early on that her son was
musically inclined and gave him his first violin at least two years
before the War.
On August 5, 1862, at age 18 John joined Company K of the 24th Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and rose to the rank of corporal during his enlistment. He volunteered to serve in Battery B, 4th US Artillery, sometime before the battle of Gettysburg and was with them for 18 months. He was “with the guns” during the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor. Sometime during the Siege of Petersburg, Pattee returned to his infantry company. After hostilities ceased, he was part of the 24th Michigan Infantry contingent that went to Camp Butler, Springfield, IL accompanying Lincoln’s Funeral procession. John mustered out June 30, 1865, and seven months later married his wife, Eliza. Together they raised three children. In 1899, he attended Michigan Day at the Gettysburg Battlefield. Sometime after that, he promoted himself to Colonel, and formed “The Old Soldiers Fiddlers”. The group broke up sometime after 1916, but John continued to perform as an individual even after the group disbanded. He was playing and calling barn dance tunes on WEAF radio in New York until the week before they announced his death in December of 1924. To listen to a recording of John Pattee's radio program go to this website and click the 'Play' icon:
http://www.traemcmaken.com/media/blogs/index/pattee/patteemoneymusk.mp3
Pattee would have been about 78 years old when that recording was made. The ACWSA
has a group of musicians that recreate the Old Soldier Fiddlers act, and your's can too.
2012 Cast of the ACWSA's "Old Soldiers Fiddlers"
References:
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