drumming out
File:Bodleian Libraries, Drumming out of the French army (cropped).jpg
Drumming out is the historical act of being dishonorably dismissed from military service to the sound of the Rogue's March or a drum. In modern figurative usage, it may refer to any act of expulsion or dismissal in disgrace.{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/drummed+out|title=Drum|publisher=thefreedictionary.com|accessdate=2008-09-13}}
Origin
One of the earliest recorded references to drumming out occurs in Alexander Pope's Moral Essays, 3rd epistle, 1731–1733: "Chartres was a man infamous for all manner of vices. When he was an ensign in the army, he was drummed out of the regiment for a cheat; he was next banished Brussels, and drummed out of Ghent, on the same account."{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/worksalexanderp30warbgoog|publisher=Printed for J. and P. Knapton, H. Lintot, J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper, and C. Bathurst.|title=The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq: Moral essays|year=1752|via=Internet Archive|accessdate=2012-02-16}}
It also occurs in a figurative sense in Thomas Amory's 1766 Life of John Buncle: "They ought to be drummed out of society."{{cite web|url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/124700.html|publisher=phrases.org.uk|title=Drummed out of the army|accessdate=2008-09-10}}
American Revolutionary War
The earliest known discharge of an American soldier by drumming out involved the drumming out of Moses Pickett for “Disobedience of orders, and damning his Officers,” {{cite web |last1=Washington |first1=George |title=General Orders, 15 Sept 1775 |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-01-02-0360 |website=Founders Online, National Archives |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=20 January 2024}} Washington reviewed the sentence and approved its enforcement. He instructed that it be carried out in General Orders for 15 September 1775.
American Civil War
File:Drumming a thief out of camp in Morris Island.tif
File:A Bitter Lesson' by Edwin Forbes.png
American 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.floridareenactorsonline.com/crimespunishments2.htm|publisher=floridareenactorsonline.cm|accessdate=2008-09-10|title=Crimes And Punishments In The Civil War|author=Robert Niepert|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813114136/http://www.floridareenactorsonline.com/crimespunishments2.htm|archivedate=2009-08-13}} When someone was being drummed out, the tune "Rogue's March" would be played.{{cite web|url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1861/june/albany-new-york.htm|accessdate=2008-09-11|title=Civil War Harper's Weekly, June 1, 1861|work=Harper's Weekly|quote=Drumming out Albany volunteers who refused to take the oath.}}
References
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