Gardiner Strube served as a drummer in Duryee's Zouaves, also known as the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War.
[1] After the war, he served in the Twelfth Regiment, Infantry, N.G.S.N.Y as the Drum Major.
[2] While in the 12th, he wrote Strube's Drum and Fife Instructor which was approved by the Secretary of War John A. Rawlins in 1869 for use in the Army of the United States.
[4] William F. Ludwig held Strube's Instructor in high regard, along with Bruce and Emmett's 1862 book saying, "Both of these instructors should receive equal credit for the firm establishment of the drum rudiments we have today.
[6] Strube's 25 Lessons, while influential, were actually a truncated version of Bruce and Emmett who themselves had removed several traditional American rudiments from the vocabulary they presented in their book.