Talk:Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

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[edit] Origin of phrase?

Hi there,

Thou hast no right but to do thy will.

The page attributes the title's origin to a WWII chaplain, apparently following the statement on teh Smithsonian site :

http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object.cfm?key=35&objkey=81

However, book descriptions of a reprint of the 1870 book "Army Life in a Black Regiment" by Thomas Wentworth Higginson ("a Union colonel from New England, in charge of black troops training off the coast of the Carolinas") quote "historian Henry Steele Commager" as saying that "Higginson's picture of the battle ... was the origin of 'praise the Lord and pass the ammunition' ...".

See eg:

http://www.powells.com/biblio/0486424820?&PID=30732

I haven't been able to confirm this statement outside of these book descriptions -- but you're the historians ;) Could somene with more expertise please look into this, anc correct if appropriate (and refute the myth if not)?

Thanks!

Mikalra 19:03, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

The exact phrase does not appear in Higginson's writings in that book. Henry Steele Commager makes the claim that Higginson's vivid writings inspired the phrase, but it's not clear what Commager bases this claim on. The published song appears to be the first instance in print based on a quick online search, but there could certainly be other instances. Jokestress 00:58, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
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