Song that inspired this blog.

"The Invalid Corps"

I wanted much to go to war
And went to be examined,
The surgeon looked me o'er and o'er,
My back and chest he hammered.
Said he, "You're not the man for me,
Your lungs are much affected,
And likewise both your eyes are cock'd,
And otherwise defected!"

So, now I'm with the Invalids,
And cannot go and fight, sir!
The doctor told me so, you know,
Of course he must be right, sir!

While I was there a host of chaps
For reasons were exempted,
Old "pursy", he was laid aside,
To pass he had attempted.
The doctor said, "I do not like
Your corporosity, sir!
You'll "breed a famine" in the camp
Wherever you might be, sir!"

So, now I'm with the Invalids,
And cannot go and fight, sir!
The doctor told me so, you know,
Of course he must be right, sir!

There came a fellow, mighty tall,
A "knock-kneed overgrowner",
The Doctor said, "I ain't got time
To take and look you over."
Next came along a little chap,
Who was 'bout two foot nothin',
The Doctor said, "You'd better go
And tell your mam you're a-comin'!"

So, now I'm with the Invalids,
And cannot go and fight, sir!
The doctor told me so, you know,
Of course he must be right, sir!

Some had the ticerdolerreou,
Some what they call "brown critters",
And some were "lank and lazy" too,
Some were too "fond of bitters".
Some had "cork legs" and some "one eye",
With backs deformed and crooked,
I'll bet you'd laugh'd till you had cried,
To see how "cute" they looked.

So, now I'm with the Invalids,
And cannot go and fight, sir!
The doctor told me so, you know,
Of course he must be right, sir!

Hear a rousing rendition of the "Invalid Corps" camp song as performed by the 2nd South Carolina String Band here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tq85CuoQu0


Time for a little story behind the name I chose for my webpage. The structure of the US Army to this day is organized into 10 companies in each infantry regiment. They are given letter designations:

A (now known as "Able")
B (now Baker)
C (now Charlie)
D (now Dog)
E (now Easy)
F (now Fox)
G (now George)
H (now How)
I (now Item)
.... <----(see what I did there?)
K (now King)
L (now Love)
M (now Mike)

The company of men unfit for combat duty were usually assigned to Headquarters company (now abbreviated HQ or, during WWII, "CP" for "Command Post"), assigned with desk jobs and clerical work.

During the Civil War, men who were wounded or crippled and could not fight jokingly referred to themselves as "Company Q." Typically the numbers in other companies in a regiment dwindled after the first battle as scores of men were killed, wounded or deserted, but there was never any shortage of new recruits for "Company Q"!!

I always wanted to join the military but I know I'd never make the cut as a soldier, so thus my blog's name, "Dispatches from Company Q" It's an inside joke.

:)

Notice there is not and has never been a company "J" Some non-military personnel might think this is a superstitious practice, like building skyscrapers with no 13th floor. There is however a very good reason for this. It started in the Continental Army of the American Revolution, when all communication between units was hand-written on paper. The fancy penmanship at the time made the letter 'i' and the letter 'j" almost indistinguishable from one another. Therefore, the letter "j" was eliminated altogether.

This is nearly a 300-year old practice that has persisted until today. The United States military has always upheld tradition and retains certain practices which may seem antiquated or obsolete. Like ceremonial swords as part of a Navy or Marines officer's dress uniform, for example.


As a general military historian, I also noticed that today's dress uniform for any branch of the military is typically the combat uniform of several generations ago.

For example the dark blue or black Navy dress uniform my grandfather wore in the 1940's looks strikingly like this photo of a young crewman from the Spanish-American war.

(photo comparison below)

my Grandpa - 1941




this dude - 1898




I can't find any good image examples, but the bright red US Marine Corps marching band uniform of 1942 really uncannily resembles some red British uniforms of the turn of the century (Napoleonic era) and the dress uniform of the US Marines in 1861 looked a lot like the Crimean War infantry of the British Army 1855-1859.

It's all deeply entrenched in centuries of tradition.

Now uniforms and how they evolved are another fascinating subject that would warrant creating a whole new blog in itself, but I worked until about 2 AM last night, am running on about 30 minutes' worth of sleep and am extremely brain-fried and zombiefied, so you'll have to forgive me if I start to ramble.

So until next time I should probably...