the purpose of cavalry

[Dave Wilton]

I know of at least variant that is commonly found on military posters, mugs,
etc. that reads "Artillery lends dignity to what otherwise would be a vulgar
brawl."

I'm not familiar with the cavalry version, but then I served in an artillery
unit. Undoubtedly, the cavalry version is more popular in cav units.

No clue as to the origin.

--Dave Wilton
  dave at wilton.net

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
James Landau
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 5:02 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: the purpose of cavalry

There's a quote I once read and have never been able to track down again.
Is anybody familiar with it?

It goes something like this:  A cadet at a well-known military academy is
taking an exam and finds the question "What is the purpose of cavalry?"  He
answers "The purpose of cavalry is to add a note of drama to an otherwise
disgusting display of human behavior."

     - James A. Landau

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