The legendary American bandmaster Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (1829-1892) was born in Ballygar, County Galway, in Ireland, and emigrated to the United States in 1848. He settled in Boston, and soon established himself in the area as a virtuoso cornet player and bandleader, directing the Suffolk, Boston Brigade and Salem bands. In 1858 he founded "Gilmores Grand Boston Band" and rapidly earned a reputation as one of the foremost bandmasters in the nation, leading his band on several tours across the country. At the start of the Civil War he enlisted his band in the Union Army with the 24th...