Beating Retreat

Beating Retreat is a military ceremony dating back to 16th century England and was first used in order to recall nearby patrolling units to their castle.

Read more about Beating Retreat:  History, Modern British Ceremony, Australia, India

Famous quotes containing the words beating and/or retreat:

    “The Angel of Death has been abroad throughout the land, you may almost hear the beating of his wings.”
    —John Bright (1811–1889)

    “Men seem anxious to accomplish an orderly retreat through the centuries, earnestly rebuilding the works behind them, as they are battered down by the encroachments of time; but while they loiter, they and their works both fall prey to the arch enemy.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)