# Does anyone know the source of these military quotations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2018, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-source-of-these-military-quotations/810719 "2018-03-17T08:16:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steven\_Estes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Steven\_Estes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Estes)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-source-of-these-military-quotations/810719/1 "2018-03-17T08:16:22Z")
Does anyone know the source of these two military quotations? 1. “The generals are always prepared for the last war”. This appeared in a book by Barbara Tucman, but I suspect it is much older. 1. The marching drill: I left my wife and forty-eight children A red-headed baby in starving condition. Left Left Left right left Etc. I’ve been looking for the sources of two quotations for years–having gone as far as writing the research units at West Point and Annapolis, but they were unable to locate the sources. Nonetheless, it’s worth a shot here. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-source-of-these-military-quotations/810719/2 "2018-03-17T08:53:26Z")
[Stop Preparing for the Last War: Arm Yourself for the New One](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-berman/stop-preparing-for-war_b_2490775.html) > [@](#): > > As early as 1929, Lieutenant Colonel J. L. Schley, of the Corps of Engineers wrote in The Military Engineer: “It has been said critically that there is a tendency in many armies to spend the peace time studying how to fight the last war,” a sentiment repeated by the Dallas Morning News in 1937: “There is a partly justified criticism that peacetime generals are always fighting the last war instead of the next one.” ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-source-of-these-military-quotations/810719/3 "2018-03-17T09:04:17Z")
Many recent repetitions have the generals “fighting the last war” rather than preparing for it. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-source-of-these-military-quotations/810719/4 "2018-03-17T09:20:27Z")
Military cadences seem to be an American thing. [Military cadence - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_cadence) I thought I would look and see if there is a British military equivalent; it seems that our troops are a lot more literate…🙂 [http://www.thefewgoodmen.com/thefgmforum/threads/british-marching-songs-section.14267/](http://www.thefewgoodmen.com/thefgmforum/threads/british-marching-songs-section.14267/) \*Some talk of Alexander and some of Hercules, of Hector and Lysander and such great names as these. But of all the world´s brave heroes there is none that can compare, with a tow, row, row, row, row, row to the British Grenadiers. 2.) Those heroes of antiquity ne’er saw a cannon ball, Or knew the force of powder to slay their foes withal. But our brave boys do know it, and banish all their fears, Sing tow, row, row, row, row, row, for the British Grenadiers.\* or from Wales: \*Tongues of fire on Idris flaring, news of foe-men near declaring, to heroic deeds of daring, call You Harlech men! 2.) Groans of wounded peasants dying, wails of wives and children flying, for the distant succour crying, call You Harlech men.\* [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/UYxeWnX8CN0/hqdefault.jpg "Men of Harlech") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYxeWnX8CN0) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-source-of-these-military-quotations/810719/5 "2018-03-17T10:31:49Z")
I’ve never been in the military but I have seen _Full Metal Jacket_, so the only military cadence I think of is the one speculating on the temperature of Inuit genitalia, but I assume that that there are lots of them. (Of course, mainly when I think of the word “cadence” I think of _Cadence_ with chain gang Charlie Sheen.) ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-source-of-these-military-quotations/810719/6 "2018-03-17T13:07:21Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I’ve never been in the military but I have seen _Full Metal Jacket_, so the only military cadence I think of is the one speculating on the temperature of Inuit genitalia, but I assume that that there are lots of them. (Of course, mainly when I think of the word “cadence” I think of _Cadence_ with chain gang Charlie Sheen.) I went through Marine Corps boot camp (San Diego) in 1969. The Full Metal Jacket depiction of MCBC is pretty accurate save for two things. The first is marching cadences. They were never used. The second has to do with the recruit killing his DI and then himself. It would have been next to impossible for a recruit to leave a range with live ammunition. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-source-of-these-military-quotations/810719/7 "2018-03-17T13:21:35Z")
> [@Steven\_Estes](#): > > Does anyone know the source of these two military quotations? > > 1. “The generals are always prepared for the last war”. > > This appeared in a book by Barbara Tucman, but I suspect it is much older. > > 1. The marching drill: > > I left my wife and forty-eight children > A red-headed baby in starving condition. > Left > Left > Left right left > Etc. > I’ve been looking for the sources of two quotations for years–having gone as far as writing the research units at West Point and Annapolis, but they were unable to locate the sources. Nonetheless, it’s worth a shot here. The marching drill isn’t a marching drill - it’s from a story called “Nothing but Gingerbread Left” by Henry Kuttner in 1943; the gimmick of the story is that the heroes invent an earworm designed to infect the minds of German-speakers, making them less capable of fighting. The correct text is “LEFT! LEFT! LEFT a wife and SEVenteen children in STARVing condition with NOTHing but gingerbread LEFT LEFT! LEFT a wife and SEVenteen children—” See [http://tenser.typepad.com/tenser\_said\_the\_tensor/2004/05/nothing\_but\_gin.html](http://tenser.typepad.com/tenser_said_the_tensor/2004/05/nothing_but_gin.html) and [Nothing but Gingerbread Left - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_but_Gingerbread_Left) Of course, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone used the bit from the story (in English) as a marching cadence ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-source-of-these-military-quotations/810719/8 "2018-03-17T16:45:24Z")
The fictional earworm in Kuttner’s story became a real earworm for me, even though I’d only read the words and never heard it. I’ve often wondered if Monty Python’s “funniest joke in the world” skit was inspired by the Kuttner story. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-source-of-these-military-quotations/810719/9 "2018-03-17T16:54:26Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I thought I would look and see if there is a British military equivalent; it seems that our troops are a lot more literate…🙂 Well, to be pedantic, _British Grenadiers_ and _Men of Harlech_ are more “art” songs, rather than the kind of thing you’d expect soldiers to be singing as they march along (they don’t usually do American-style chanting). The songs usually attributed to British soldiers might also not have been sung while marching along in the earshot of sergeants and officers, as they tend to be somewhat less full of fighting spirit, as for example in WW1 (to the tune of the hymn _The Church’s One Foundation_): _We are Fred Karno’s Army, What bloody use are we? We cannot fight, we cannot shoot, So we joined the infantry._ or _I don’t want to join the army I don’t want to go to war I’d rather hang around Piccadilly Underground Living of the earnings of a high class lady_ (and then it gets ruder) or from WW2 the famous words to \*Colonel Bogey \*about the physical deficiencies of assorted Nazi leaders. And though it may not be military in origin, but also to a hymn tune I can’t offhand put a name to, there’s a fair few NCOs and senior officers might have had this sung about them: _Why was he born so beautiful Why was he born at all He’s no \*\*\*\*\* use to anyone He’s no \*\*\*\* use at all_ ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-the-source-of-these-military-quotations/810719/10 "2018-03-17T17:55:02Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > The fictional earworm in Kuttner’s story became a real earworm for me, even though I’d only read the words and never heard it. > > I’ve often wondered if Monty Python’s “funniest joke in the world” skit was inspired by the Kuttner story. Me, too.