Garryowen (air)

It has become well known as a marching tune in Commonwealth and American military units, most famously George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry Regiment.

Sung to the tune "Auld Bessie", it obtained immediate popularity in the British Army through the 5th (or Royal Irish) Regiment of Dragoons.

A very early reference to the tune appears in the publication The Life of the Duke of Wellington by Jocquim Hayward Stocqueler, published in 1853.

General Hugh Gough, commanding officer of the 87th Regiment (later the Royal Irish Fusiliers), under attack by French grenadiers, drew his sword, tossed his scabbard and called on his men to stand with him until the enemy should walk over their bodies.

[6] The song is heard several times throughout the Warner Bros. movie The Fighting 69th (1940), starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, and Alan Hale, Sr., which chronicles the World War I exploits of the regiment.

The tune was brought to the 7th Cavalry by Brevet Colonel Myles Keogh and other officers with relations to the 5th Royal Irish Lancers and the Papal Guard.

As the story goes, it was the last song played for Custer's men as they left General Terry's column at the Powder River.

[10] FOB Garryowen was established in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 8–10 in June 2008 by the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment.