Moses Holland, a Revolutionary War drummer boy

As part of my ongoing look at the Revolutionary War in honor of America’s 250th birthday, I next turned to the service of my 5th great‑grandfather, Moses Holland, born in Virginia on November 17, 1758.

For many years, Moses’ military service has been repeated in newspapers, historical markers, online trees, and even in DAR applications. An obelisk in his memory stands at Big Creek Baptist Church near Williamston, South Carolina—the church he organized in 1788—and describes him as a Revolutionary patriot who was present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. The surrender took place on October 19, 1781, after a three‑week siege that effectively ended major fighting in the war. But none of these commemorations provided actual documentary evidence.

After reviewing many references, I found only two records that meet the standard of reliable documentation. The first is a payment entry recorded under December 10 in Virginia’s Revolutionary‑era public accounts. It lists “Moses Holland, for pay as Drummer to Charlotte,” identifying him as a drummer in the Charlotte County militia. Although the ledger page does not repeat the year, entries of this type come from the early 1780s, when Virginia was settling militia pay and public service claims. This establishes that Moses served as a drummer in a Virginia militia unit associated with Charlotte County—a role that carried both military and communication responsibilities.

A second, independent source places Moses in a 1777 militia record. This listing appears in the List of the Revolutionary Soldiers of Virginia, compiled by archivist H. J. Eckenrode in 1912 from original state records. The notation “War 23 (1777)” indicates that Moses appears in a 1777 document within that archival series. Together, these two records show that Moses served more than once and was active earlier than the single payment entry alone would suggest. Although neither provides a full-service history, both confirm that he was officially recognized by Virginia as a Revolutionary War soldier and that his role as a drummer was documented.

A drummer boy in the Revolutionary War wasn’t simply a musician—he was essential to communication. At about age 16, Moses would have learned drum signals that told soldiers when to wake, assemble, march, load their weapons, or move into position. On a battlefield filled with smoke and gunfire, where officers’ voices could not carry, the drum conveyed orders. In camp, the drummer kept the daily routine running by marking roll call, meals, and other duties.

After the war, Moses moved to South Carolina and settled in what became Anderson County. Married twice, he was the father of several children. In 1788 he founded Big Creek Baptist Church and served as its pastor for 41 years, playing a foundational role in the region’s early Baptist growth. A July 1884 article in The Atlanta Constitution reported that his son, Elijah M. Holland, owned a pair of yard gloves said to have been worn by Moses “during the surrender of Cornwallis to Washington at Yorktown, over 100 years ago.” The article describes the gloves as well preserved despite heavy use and repeats several family traditions about Moses’ long ministry, his two marriages, and his death in 1829.

Even though he was young during the war, Moses held a position that required steadiness, discipline, and reliability—qualities that offer a glimpse of the character he carried into his long life of ministry and community leadership. He died in Williamston on September 8, 1829.

References

• An Old Relic, The Atlanta Constitution, July 6, 1884, Atlanta, Georgia.
• Big Creek Baptist Church Historical Marker, South Carolina; https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=8441. 
• History of Big Creek Church: Big Creek Records from 1801 to 1850, The Intelligencer, Anderson, South Carolina, August 24, 1898.
• List of the Revolutionary Soldiers of Virginia: Special Report of the Department of Archives and History for 1911, H. J. Eckenrode, Archivist, p. 222, Richmond, Virginia, 1912; https://ia601602.us.archive.org/4/items/listofrevolution09virg/listofrevolution09virg.pdf.
• Personal visit to Big Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Williamston, South Carolina.
• Siege of Yorktown; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown?utm_source=copilot.com. 
• The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Volume IX: Virginia. Biographies 1902, History Records 1902, Periodicals 1902, Society Records 1902, image 127, FamilySearch.