Putnam Catlin: The Teenage Drummer of the Revolution

 

The military record of artist George Catlin’s father, Putnam Catlin (1764–1842), provides a remarkable window into the Continental Army. While our ancestor John Catland was wielding an anvil as a seasoned blacksmith in his sixties, his young cousin Putnam was serving at the absolute epicenter of General George Washington’s forces as a musician.

🥁 The Teenage Drummer of the Revolution

In the 18th century, a military drummer was not a performer; they were a vital tactical communications network. Amidst the smoke and roaring cannon fire of a Revolutionary battlefield, vocal commands were completely useless.

Putnam enlisted in 1777 at the astonishingly young age of thirteen. Serving in the 2nd Connecticut Regiment under Colonel Charles Webb, his drumbeats controlled the literal movement of the troops:

• Tactical Signals: Specific drum cadences signaled when to advance, retreat, wheel left or right, or cease firing.
• Daily Camp Regimen: Musicians beat out the "Reveille" at dawn to wake the camp, the "Pioneer's Call" for work details, and the "Tattoo" at night for lights out.

Valley Forge and the Main Army Campaigns

Because Putnam was embedded in the 2nd Connecticut, his service profile reads like a textbook of the war's most grueling chapters:

• Valley Forge (Winter 1777–1778): A thirteen-year-old Putnam survived the infamous, disease-ridden winter encampment, drumming through the freezing mud as Baron von Steuben systematically retrained the army into a professional fighting force.
• The Battle of Monmouth (June 1778): He was on the field during this massive, exhausting clash in New Jersey, drumming tactical commands in blistering 100-degree heat.
• The New York Highlands Defense: His regiment spent the later years of the war fortifying the strategic Hudson River corridor around West Point, preventing the British from cutting New England off from the rest of the colonies.

📜 The Certificate of Honorable Discharge

Putnam's service was so exemplary that he remained with the Continental Army for the entirety of the war, serving a total of six years.

On June 9, 1783, as the army dismantled at Newburgh, New York, Putnam was personally awarded the Badge of Merit for his six years of faithful service. His official discharge papers were signed by General George Washington himself.

Following the war, Putnam utilized the discipline of his military upbringing to study law, eventually becoming a prominent attorney and moving his family out to the Pennsylvania frontier—the exact setting where his son, George Catlin, would grow up listening to revolutionary lore and sketching his first pieces of art.

Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy