Fifes and drums regulated soldiers' lives in camp and communicated orders to massed troops on the battlefield. Richard Willoughby Thompson (c. 1742-1837), buried in Fancher Cemetery, served as a field musician during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. According to his grandson Henry's recollections from the 1920s, Thompson was born in Dublin, Ireland, enlisted in the British army, and was captured while picking blackberries before changing sides and joining the colonials in Virginia. He became Fife Major of the 5th Virginia Regiment, later served as Drum Major of the 3rd and 4th Virginia Regiment in October 1779, and trained other field musicians as Virginia units organized during the war. During the War of 1812, Governor Return J. Meigs appointed the aged Thompson Master Musician of the Ohio Militia, and he joined General William Henry Harrison's Grand Camp near Upper Sandusky, where he trained and drilled field musicians. An eyewitness remarked that his activity was remarkable for a man of his age. Thompson was murdered on December 28, 1837. Rebekah Lee Thompson (1762-1852) is buried beside him, and other known Revolutionary War veterans buried in Fancher Cemetery are Benajah Cook of Connecticut, William Fancher of New York, Zimri Hills of Connecticut, and James Garlinghouse of New Jersey.