"two hundred"

[Joel S. Berson]

There's more than a little context missing, but if Wilson is
referring to the size of a company in the Army, 200 was the nominal
number for the colonial militias.  Although in my reading I generally
see lower numbers actually mustered.

Joel

At 4/4/2013 01:10 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:

>Hmm. Oddly reminiscent of the iconic
>
>"two hundred head of EM"
>
>under the command of a mere corporal that was I-once-saw by any number of
>barracks-mates, back in the day of the old black-boot Army. Kinda makes you
>wonder whether the number was ever actually "two hundred," even back in the
>day of the United States Colored Troops.
>
>Youneverknow.
>--
>-Wilson
>-----
>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
>come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>-Mark Twain
>
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org