Taylor was only a boy, too young to carry a rifle, but he carried something just as important — the drumbeat of the regiment. In the Civil War, he marched with the 78th Colored Troops.
His clothes were rags, his body weary from hunger and cold. Yet when bullets tore the air and fear scattered the soldiers, it was his steady rhythm that held them together. Asked why he stayed, his reply was simple: “If I don’t beat this drum, who will know we came?”
Taylor wasn’t chasing medals. He fought for recognition, for freedom, for dignity. His drumbeat still echoes through history — the heartbeat of courage no war could silence.