A majority of all the drums used in the Union armies came from one factory in rural Massachusetts. Noble & Cooley was formed in Granville, Massachusetts, in 1854, and by 1854 the small firm produced 631 drums. In the summer of 1860, its workers turned out a very special “Lincoln drum” for use in Lincoln’s presidential campaign. But the real breakthrough came with the beginning of the Civil War. In 1863, when the conflict reached its height in terms of numbers, Noble & Cooley turned out 58,000 drums. If another industry exists that saw such rapid expansion, one is hard-pressed to find it.