Queen of Battle

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated  Tue, 27 Apr 2004 19:30:57 -0700,  Dave Wilton
<dave at WILTON.NET> writes

>  > Interesting! I'm familiar with "cannoncocker," and my wife is named
>  > after St. Barbara, the patron saint of the Artillery. (Her father was
>  > an artilleryman in WWII.) But both the existence of the song and the
>  > existence of the phrase, "king of battle," are new to me.
>  > At the gates of Fort Dix stands - or, perhaps, stood - a billboard
>  > reading,
>  >
>  >         Fort Dix
>  >         Home of The Infantry
>  >         Queen of Battle
>  >
>  > I wonder whether there is/was a similar sign at Fort Sill.
>  >
>
>  As an old cannoncocker myself (sort of, I was really a chemical officer,
but
>  assigned to a Field Artillery unit), "King of Battle" is a common term in
>  artillery circles. Both the "king" and "queen" of battle are allusions to
>  chess. 19th C. battles were typically won when you captured the enemy's
>  artillery (the "king") and infantry is the most powerful "piece" on the
>  field (the "queen").
>
>  The song, however, is a new one on me. I've never heard it, despite having
>  attended numerous St. Barbara's Day celebrations.

The song has not caught on - exactly ONE hit on Google, which is a good trick.

I used to have a copy of the sheet music for this song, which is where I got
the information that it is the official song of Field Artillery.
Unfortunately I have not been able to find that sheet music.

            - Jim Landau