Author: Dr. Jerry Sanson, LMMM Staff
“Quartermaster” from Old French “quartier”, and Latin “quartarius” literally means “master of the quarters”, the chambers occupied by a monarch. The military position of Quartermaster General was created with the establishment of standing armies during the 16th century and was assigned the job of providing troops with the goods they needed.
Americans learned about the importance of logistics and supply during their collaboration with British troops during the days of the colonies. The United States Army Quartermaster Corps is therefore only two days younger than the United States Army itself. Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, 1775 and authorized a Quartermaster General and a deputy on June 16. Congress abolished the Department after the Revolution ended with the rationale that it was not needed during peacetime but re-authorized it shortly before the War of 1812. It functioned as a department until 1912 when Congress consolidated the former Subsistence, Pay, and Quartermaster Departments to create the Quartermaster Corps.
The Quartermaster Corps learned valuable lessons on how to meet the needs of soldiers in a large, modern army in the field and across a continent during World War I and put those lessons to good use during World War II operating in North Africa, Europe, the Pacific Theater, and Asia, essentially everywhere American troops went.
As the Quartermaster Corps maintains in its song (lyrics and tune approved by the Quartermaster General Edmund B. Gregory in October 1941):
When there is trouble brewing at the front,
And trucks are rumbling up the road,
The men who bear the stormy battle’s brunt
Know who is there to share the load;
They know who’ll go through fiery shot and shell
To bring supplies for men and gun as well;
You can be sure the Q.M.’s coming out
For you can hear the soldiers shout:
CHORUS We’re the gang that keeps things moving,
At the front and post to post,
When a soldier has tough going,
We’re the guys he needs the most.
From the day he joins the Army
‘Til the time he’s home once more,
If he should have to shoot or ride
The buddies fighting by his side
Will be from the QUARTERMASTER CORPS.
The Quartermaster Corps supplied dinnerware along with other equipment for troops, and the Louisiana Maneuvers and Military Museum includes an example from World War II in its collection. The chipped, cracked pottery plate was salvaged from a Camp Livingston garbage dump by Luther Sanson, father of LMMM staff member Dr. Jerry Sanson, during his work helping dismantle the post after the war ended.
