John Lawrence “Laurenz” Rosenberger contributed to the power of music in peace and in war. Before the Civil War, he played violin on stage. In wartime Richmond, he exchanged his bow for a brass over-the-shoulder saxhorn and spent a year playing with the band of the 1st Virginia Infantry. Later, in 1864, he sounded musical notes with a post band in the Confederate capital. A Maryland native, Rosenberger returned to Baltimore after the guns fell silent, and later led the orchestra at Ford’s Theater. He lived a long life, passing away in 1918 at age 76. After losing his first wife, he remarried; his second wife and several children survived him.
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