Drummer boy Johann Christoph Julius Langbein’s nickname “Jenny” traces back to his 1861 enlistment in the 9th New York Infantry, popularly known as Hawkins’ Zouaves. One writer noted that the 15-year-old German immigrant, “like the big soldiers in his regiment, was dressed in the Zouave uniform, with baggy knee trousers and a short flaring jacket, his head covered with a tasseled cap. Langbein looked so slight and childish that he seemed out of place among the strong, rough men around him, but every man in the regiment loved the little drummer boy. One big soldier, who had a sweetheart back home named Jenny, declared the boy looked like ‘the girl he left behind him,’ so the drummer was known by his grown-up comrades as ‘Jenny’ Langbein.”
Due to his small stature and innocent looks, the men watched out for his safety.
It turns out little Jenny could hold his own with the big men.
One man, 1st Sgt. David J. Green, described how, at the Battle of South Mountain during the Antietam Campaign, everyone was lying down as the Confederates attacked in force. After the initial musket fire slackened and the rebel yell died down, Jenny stood up and surveyed the situation. Green recalled: “Saying to him pretty sharply, ‘Sit down you damned little fool, you’ll get your head knocked off,’ he looked at me with a kind of queer expression, hitched up his trousers and with the reply, ‘that’s what I came here for,’ walked off towards the left where most of the firing was.”
Another man, 2nd Lt. Thomas Livingston Bartholomew of Company B, had promised Jenny’s mother that he’d look after the boy’s welfare. Jenny turned the tables on Bartholomew at the April 19, 1862, Battle of Camden, part of Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside’s North Carolina Expedition. During a charge by Hawkins’ Zouaves, a shell fragment ripped through Bartholomew’s neck. Shocked and stunned, he wandered aimlessly between the two sides as the firing continued. Jenny, having set aside his drumsticks to assist medical personnel, rushed to Bartholomew’s side and guided him to a relatively safe place. Jenny gave him water from his canteen and dashed off for help. He soon returned with the regimental surgeon, who proclaimed him beyond help and to leave him to his fate. Jenny refused. He ran back and fetched the Drum Major, Charles Wiley. He and Jenny carried Bartholomew to a house, and, when the fighting came too close for comfort, they loaded him into a wagon bound for a hospital.
Bartholomew recovered and became the regimental adjutant.
Jenny survived the war and wore his nickname proudly for the rest of his days. In 1895, he received the Medal of Honor for saving Bartholomew’s life. By this time, Jenny had become a successful lawyer and municipal court judge in New York City. He died in 1910 at age 63. He outlived his wife, Emma, and was survived by his second wife, Mary.
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