At the beginning of the War, T. Martin Towne was a musician who toured the upper Midwest with a singing group known as "The Continentals." Two of Townes' brothers (Hiram and Clinton) enlisted in the Third Battery, First Michigan Light Artillery. Towne contributed to the War effort by writing patriotic songs, although he would later join a Wisconsin regiment.
After the War, Towne returned to his musical pursuits, possibly as a music teacher in a school. Much of his later compositional output consisted of Christmas and Easter pageants for children.
For more information on the works of T. Martin Towne, visit Benjamin Tubb's excellent The Music of Thomas Martin Towne (1835-1912).
"O! Touch Not My Sister's Picture" || Old Abe the War Eagle