The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1899-10-31
THE DRUM MAJOR.
Was Originally Court Functionary In
Europe.

|
majors hereafter, according to the
provisions of the army bill passed
at the last session of congress. The
fact that while the gorgeous giant
with the big cane is an important part
of state militia dress parades he has
|! had no place in parades Of United
States infantry is not SO strange when
one hears the explanation.
"The thing is simple enough"
said military antiquarian. "You
have only to remember that in the
United States regular army there are
no hussars and no Polish lancers.
Just wait moment and ] think | can
show you the connection. 1t is rather
a paradoxical connection, but it is
there, all the same,
"The general idea is that nothing
is to be found in the United States
army that was not in the British reg
! qlar army in the fourteenth year of
the reign Of George III. By that, Of
course, I mean nothing in the way OF
ranks and disciplinary arrangements.
One or two things may have dropped
out of use-the rank Of cornet, for
example, which was formerly the low
est commissioned rank in the cavalry
both in the American and in the Brit7
ish army,
"On the other hand, they have sew
eral things that we have not. fyou
will take the trouble to look it up,
you will find that every one of these
things has been introduced into the
British army since our war of indie
pendence. The Polish lancer became
famous under Napoleon l., and the
British straightway turned half a
dozen or so of their regiments of light
dragons into lancerS, not only equip
ping them with lances, but also CIV
ing them the Polish caps with the
square, fiat tops, which they still wear
on full dress parade. 1t was about
the same time that they took up the
name hussar, which is Hungarian
and comes down all the way from the
days of Matthias Corvinus, the Hun
garian king, whose old stirrups were
sold the other day, l see, for 81, 700.
With the name of hussar the British
army took the dress of the Hungarian
cavalier-the uncovered busby, the
Turkish dolman or flying jacket,
trimmed with fur and hanging loose
on the left shoulder, and so on. They
have given up the flying jacket, but
the rest of the Hungarian dress they
still keep. 1t was all initiated from
the French, who had had hussars two
generations earlier. Murat, the spec
tacular marshal of the empire, made
it famous and popular.
$50 far so good. We have most
things that they had in 1776, not
what they took up in Napoleon'8 time.
But one thing their standing army
had which we have not had hereto
fore, and that is the drum major.
Naturally enough, too, there would
be no drum majors in the continental
army, because the continentals were
the only old, constitutional English
militia, representing the shire and
borough levies of the middle ages,
transferred to the American colonies,
while the standing army-with their
red coats, the royal livery-were an
extra constitutional body of troops
that began to exist under the Stuarts
mere royal retainers, in fact. Now,
the drum major was first heard of in
England in the reign Of Charles /.
He was an officer of the royal house
hold originally, and his title was
drum major general The Stuarts
were very fond of initiating the
French court, and a whole century
earlier than the days of Charles |,
the king of France had had his drum
general and drum colonel to teach
the royal drummers. 1t was only
after Charles /. had had his head cut
off that Louis XIV. reduced his drum
generals and drum colonies to drum
majors, But the drum major retained
the authority TO chastise his sub
ordinates,' and the big cane to do it
with, which latter all drum majors
still WELD for the edifcation Of adj
miring crowds,
$50, you see, this office of drum
major was thing associated with the
court and the absolutis standing
army. For wonder it did not fine
place in the army that originated in
votes of the continental congiess.
AZ N how or1r eta4a Ynilifioo TOD, nm