Stonewall Brigade Band

It is the United States's oldest continuous community band sponsored by local government and funded, in part, by tax monies.

He enlisted the help of Edwin Cushing and prevailed upon A. J. Turner, his former music teacher in Newtown, to move to Staunton.

[7][8][9] The band's first formal concert occurred on July 17, 1857 at Union Hall on Beverley Street in Staunton.

During the 1850s, the band began a tradition of playing for civic occasions, including political rallies held for Presidents Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce and candidates Stephen A. Douglas and John C.

[10] On April 4, 1861, Turner's Silver Cornet Band, together with the Staunton Musical Association and the Glee Club, presented at Armory Hall the last concert that was to be given before the Civil War.

As well as entertaining the troops in the field, the band frequently appeared in concerts in Fredericksburg, Richmond, Staunton, and elsewhere to help recruiting rallies, clothing drives, and war relief fund raising.

[1][12][a] On August 22, 1861, Stonewall Jackson wrote to his wife "I wish my darling could be with me now and enjoy the sweet music of the brass band of the Fifth Regiment.