The trouble with history is that there is so much of it. As an example, the band of the Seventh Regiment New York State Militia achieved national renown in the nineteenth century for its excellence under two of its bandmasters. But to understand the significance of this famous music organization, it is necessary to know where it fits into the historical development of American bands. Further, since it was a regimental band, it is also necessary to have a passing familiarity with military ceremonies and the band's musical responsibilities and functions during much of the nineteenth century, roughly from 1825 through the Civil War to the death of Carlo Cappa in 1893. This is especially true today, when even the armed forces have greatly diminished the number of formal ceremonies in which music is an integral part.

In 1825, some New York musicians decided to form a band that was not attached to a militia unit. They called themselves the Independent Band and advertised that they were available for civilian as well as military engagements. In 1834 the name was changed to the National Band, with Allen Dodworth as conductor. An Albany, New York, newspaper advertisement that year for the Titus and Angevine Circus includes the National Band “from the City of New York”; it shows a mixed variety of instruments performed by fourteen musicians, the normal size for a band at that time (plate 10.1).

The Dodworth family—Thomas (1790–1876) and his four sons, Allen T. (1817–1896), Harvey B. (1822–1891), Charles R. (1826–1894), and Thomas J. (1830–1896)—were central to the musical scene in New York, not only founding the famous Dodworth Band but also important in the formation of the New York Philharmonic. At first all were involved in performing, but Allen later became a very influential and successful social dance instructor, while Harvey directed the Dodworth Band and went into music publishing and retailing. The Dodworths also innovated the way marching bands were heard; they developed the over-the-shoulder brass instruments seen in an 1851 illustration of the Boston Brass Band, which calls the reader's attention to “their new uniform and improved instruments” (plate 10.2). These instruments were extremely popular with marching and military bands during and following the Civil War.