The Robert Moxley Band, a group of African-American musicians, mostly local slaves, formed a military-style brass band in the years before the Civil War and held regular concerts in what is now Jacob Wheaton Park. In 1863, when the U.S. government began recruiting African-Americans into the army in segregated units, an army official who heard the band play in Hagerstown arranged for the group to enlist and serve together. During its service, it was known as the Number One Brigade Band, United States Colored Troops, and appeared at recruiting events, mostly in black communities, to encourage African-Americans to enlist. After serving in the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, in 1864, the band was transferred west and mustered out at Brownsville, Texas, in April 1866. Many Hagerstown and Washington County African-Americans served in the Union army and navy during the war that ended slavery. After the war, African-Americans took special pride in that service. Hagerstown had two Grand Army of the Republic posts, Reno Post #4, a white post, and Lyon Post #31, which served black members. Although few records survive, newspaper reports and event programs show that Lyon Post took part in many civic events despite the institutionalized discrimination its members faced in daily life.