Drumming out
Drumming out is the historical act of being dishonorably dismissed from military service to the sound of a drum. In modern figurative use it refers to any act of expulsion or dismissal in disgrace.[1]
Origin
The earliest recorded reference to drumming out comes in a figurative use of the phrase, in Thomas Amory's The life of John Buncle, in 1766: "They ought to be drummed out of society."[2]
During the U.S. Civil War
U.S. Civil War officers drummed out of service might have their heads shaved and their uniforms stripped of insignia and be paraded in front of their comrades. Fellow officers were forbidden to touch the person being dishonorably discharged, but in more than one case after the war had ended, a drummed-out man was found dead after receiving a beating from his former comrades.[3] When someone was being drummed out, the tune "Rogue's March" would be played.[4]
Modern Uses
At the Virginia Military Institute, cadets that are convicted of Honor Code violations are removed from the school and a drumming out ceremony is held. The Corps is woken traditionally at 3:33 in the morning to the sounds of drums to witness the drumout.
In Fiction
The opening to the 1965 NBC series Branded used the ceremony as the plot to series.
References
- ^ "Drum". thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
- ^ "Drummed out of the army". phrases.org.uk. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ^ Robert Niepert. "Crimes And Punishments In The Civil War". floridareenactorsonline.cm. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ^ "Civil War Harper's Weekly, June 1, 1861". Harper's Weekly. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
Drumming out Albany volunteers who refused to take the oath.
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