On June 14, 1888, The New York Times reported that the members of the Shaler's Brigade Association, a Civil War brigade under the leadership of General Alexander Shaler, had the previous day dedicated four monuments at the field of Gettysburg. The dedication was part of a twenty-five-year reunion (since the Battle of Gettysburg) for surviving members of the brigade. The event was described in extensive detail (almost two hundred pages of it) in Shaler's Brigade. Survivors of the Sixth Corps. Reunion and monument dedications, at Gettysburg, June 12th, 13th and 14th, 1888, from which the quotations below are taken. More about Shaler's command and its activities during the battle may be found in Shaler's Wikipedia biography.
Of interest to dance history is that on the evening of June 13th, after dedicating the monuments, a ball and reception were held:
...at 9 P. M. all wended their way from headquarters to the Rink Building, a large, commodious structure, where was being held the grand Complimentary Ball and Reception, tendered by the 23d Pennsylvania, in honor of the event. The ball-room was appropriately decorated for the occasion, with two stages erected at opposite sides of the room, for the Bands; while, from the front of the building was a transparency, emblazoned with the legend, "The 23d Pennsylvania Welcomes Shaler's Brigade and their Friends." One hundred and fifty written invitations had been sent to the good people of Gettysburg, inviting "Yourself and ladies" to the Camp-fire, the Dedication and the Complimentary Ball and Reception, and when Colonel John F. Glenn, as Grand Conductor of the Ball, led off in the Grand March, with his good wife, there followed at least twelve hundred people— some four hundred ladies being in the line; the G. A. R. Band, of Gettysburg, playing the dancing music, while the McKnightstown Cornet Band gave the promenades, so that music was in the air a tall times. An original, unique and very appropriate ball program was distributed, containing thirty-six dances, wherein are the names of the regiments of the brigade, its winter camps, and actions in which it had participated were embraced, as a souvenir of the occasion; the ladies receiving a specially decorated one in silken corded pencil and bow of ribbon. Everybody got one to carry home, while two thousand handsome programs proper, containing the dances and promenades, were passed around for use in the festivities. (pp. 89-90)
Of particular note:
- That's an enormous attendance, and the gender imbalance is fascinating: at least twelve hundred people in the Grand March, but only four hundred ladies? Were all the rest men marching together? That seems appropriate for soldiers, but around four hundred extra men at a ball? Wow...
- Alternating dancing and promenading, with a different band for each, was a fairly common ball format in late nineteenth-century America. I have seen many dance cards with this format.
- The dual programs: one as a souvenir, and one to take home. That sounds practical, doesn't it? But it's complicated!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before moving on to the program, a few more quotes about the ball:
Sweets and lemonade were served throughout, not just at intermission:
There was but one round of refreshments—but it was a continuous one, of ice-cream in all flavors, pound, sponge and other cakes, lemonade, etc., and it kept the volunteers to their Commissary Committee busy; but they enjoyed it, all the same, to be permitted to cater to such guests. (p. 90)
I suspect that the Commissary Committee was made up of African-American veterans, as is heavily suggested by the dialect in this review of the ball:
Frank, of the 23d Commissary Department, in his stump speech at the Rink Building, after speaking of the heavy mortars of Betz's best, Gibson's light batteries and grape and cannister of Duffy's Pure Malt, exclaimed: " Talk about your engagements at de first Gettysburg, it was nothing to compare when de batteries were opened at de Ball; for "after de fight were over dare programs were full of engagements. Many, many fell.The fire was so hot that the best of dem had to take water." (p. 151)
It's interesting that an African-American gave a speech at the reunion. I'm uneasily uncertain whether to interpret that quote as Frank having been deliberately comic for effect or as making fun of him.
The music was dedicated by the composer:
The Grand March, "Guard the Flag," played at the 23d Ball and Reception, was presented by the composer, George Vickers, Esq., of Philadelphia, with his compliments. (p. 150)
It was apparently a hit; an 1892 arrangement states that it was "sung in the Public Schools everywhere, and at School-house flag-raisings; it is also played by the bands of the U.S. Army and Navy." This arrangement is online at the University of Maine's Digital Commons.
Members of the Brigade manned the door and handed out programs, a surprisingly hazardous duty:
John Henderson, Geo. Boyer and William Bartley, with the stalwart policeman of the train, were a good team in charge of the door at the Ball. (p. 151)
Colonel Wallace and Bill Baker took charge of the distribution of the programs of the Ball. They say the next time they take charge of such work it will be by orders and not as volunteers, as they lost nearly all their buttons in the desire to "just give me another one." (p. 142)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moving on to the dancing, more or less, here's the souvenir program, with the dedications for each piece:
1. Grand March - 6th Corps—from Manchester to Gettysburg
2. Quadrille - Queens Farm
3. Polka - Yorktown
4. Lancers - Williamsburg
5. Glide and Schottische - Fair Oaks
6. New York City's Delight "The Chasseurs," - 65th N. Y. Vols.
7. Octagon - Charles City X Roads
8. Polacca - White Oak Swamp
9.Waltz-Danish - Turkey Bend
10. Varsouvienna - Malvern Hill
11. Lawn Tennis - Chantilly
12. Our Absent Friends, The 1st Long Island—67th N. Y. Vols.
13. Saratoga Lancers - Fredericksburg
14.Varieties - Mud March
15. Redowa - Marye's Heights
16. Quadrille— Robinson - Salem Church
17. " " "The Nation's Mecca," - Gettysburg
18. Syracuse's Delight - Our 122d New York Vols.
19. Cotillion - Funkstown
20. Virginia Reel - Rappahannock Station
21. Stephinie [sic] Gavotta [sic] - Mine Run
22. Irish Jig - Brandy Station
23. College Lancers - Johnson's Island
24. Shaler's Brigade Delight - Another Re-Union
25. Mazourka - Wilderness
26. Caledonian - Spottsylania
27. Polo - Hanover Court House
28. Plain - Coal Harbor
29. Loomis Lanciers - Petersburg
30. Philadelphia's Delight - Old 32d Pennsylvania Vols.
31. Schottische - Fort Stevens
32. Galop - Opequon
33. Highland Fling - Cedar Creek
34. Medley - Sailor's Creek
35. All Hands Around - Appomattox
36. The 23d Penn's Vols. Delight - Hope all enjoyed themselves
That's a...very long program:
- At least four versions of the Lancers: standard, Saratoga, College, and Loomis's. "Octagon" may also have been a Lancers, as there was an eight-couple Lancers published in the mid-1880s by that name. A. M. Loomis was a major late nineteenth century American choreographer of both couple dances and quadrilles.
- Other named, choreographed quadrilles famous enough to have left published instructions: Polacca, Lawn Tennis (edited 9/7/19 to add: which I have since reconstructed, starting here), Varieties (presumably Parisian), Caledonians, and Polo. The plain "Quadrille" at #2 was probably the First Set, or French Quadrille. "Quadrille Robinson" at #16 and #17 may have been the First Set done to different music or it might have been a choreography.
- The "Plain" at #28 may have meant the First Set again, or it might mean called figures. "Medley" at #34 might be meant as a "Varieties"-type quadrille with couple dances mixed in.
- There were only nine couple dances: a polka; a "glide and schottische" (which I think might have been a waltz and then a schottische); a "Danish" Waltz, which was a sequence dance; a Varsouvienna [sic]; a redowa; the Stephanie Gavotte, another sequence (edited 8/31/2019 to add: which I have since reconstructed, here); a mazurka (probably a couple dance at this late date); a schottische; and a galop. No waltzes?
- I'm not sure what this cluster of dances were; they sound more like toasts:
6. New York City's Delight "The Chasseurs,"
12. Our Absent Friends
18. Syracuse's Delight
24. Shaler's Brigade Delight
30. Philadelphia's Delight
36. The 23d Penn's Vols. Delight
Maybe these were the waltzes?
- And, finally, the miscellaneous: the Grand March, a cotillion (that would have been some sort of dance party game), a Highland Fling (a solo?), Irish Jig (a country dance?), the Virginia Reel, and "All Hands Around", which I suspect would have been either a cotillion figure or a promiscuous quadrille figure. (Edited 9/7/2019 to add: A promiscuous quadrille figure, "Hands All Round", was given in C. H. Rivers in A Full Description of Modern Dances (Brooklyn, c1885), consisting solely of eight measures in which four couples joined hands and slid left completely round.)
That's a very impressive and ambitious program, and I love seeing so many familiar names from dance manuals. But...fourteen quadrilles, mostly different? That's challenging, even for experienced dancers. And time-consuming. But the ball wasn't particularly long:
The dancing was kept up until midnight, the old and young joining in the festivities with mirth and zeal, it being expressed by the people of Gettysburg as one of the grandest and most, enjoyable balls in the history of the town. Everybody seemed to enjoy the occasion, from the General and his good wife, to the Secretary and his "little" daughter. (p. 90)
So how did they get through the thirty-six dances in the souvenir program in three hours? Fourteen quadrilles alone would take up most of the time, especially if one were trying to get hundreds of dancers to form sets.
The answer is...they didn't.
The souvenir program appears to have been some sort of idealized ball program which they did not actually dance. We know this because they also published the actual ball program, the "Program Proper of the Dances and Promenades at the Ball", made up mostly of waltzes and quadrilles with promenade music between each for strolling. I won't list the promenades, but here are the dances, in three sets as they were divided on the program:
Grand March - Guard the Flag
1. Quadrille - Riverdale
2. Quadrille - Lanciers
3. Quadrille - Schottische
4. Waltz - Congress
5. Quadrille - Leap Year
6. Waltz - Queen Anne
7. Quadrille - Polka
8. Waltz - Victor
9. Quadrille - Plain
10. Waltz - Ida May
11. Quadrille - Lanciers
12. Galop - Amazon
The opening grand march, two Lancers, three quadrilles which were probably versions of the first set to different pieces of music, unspecified scottische and polka quadrilles (always nice to see those documented on a dance card!), four waltzes, and a final galop. Two intermissions. This is a much less interesting program, utterly conventional and suitable for dancers of average skill, but it's much more realistic.
This program alone would not have warranted a writeup, but I have never encountered the idea of an imaginary ball program as a souvenir before, and find it interesting that it includes so many known choreographed quadrilles and couple dances. I wouldn't be surprised to find two or three of these on a dance card, but not so many on a single program. It does at least suggest that they were known beyond the studios of their choreographers!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shaler's Brigade. Survivors of the Sixth Corps. Reunion and monument dedications, at Gettysburg, June 12th, 13th and 14th, 1888 may be found online at archive.org and Google Books. The dance programs are on pages 91-93.
Comments