F Troop - Historical Inaccuracies

Historical Inaccuracies

The series is a broad, lighthearted military farce which usually played fast and loose with historical accuracy. However, writers Austin and Irma Kalish, interviewed for the 2007 DVD release of the series, revealed that some scripts had their origins in actual events or authentic 19th century army protocol. One episode, titled "The Sergeant and the Kid", tells the story of 10-year old Joey Walker (Peter Robbins), who tried to join F Troop. This episode is loosely based on the true story of John Lincoln Clem, a 10-year old from Newark, Ohio who tried to enlist in the United States Army at the outbreak of the Civil War. Clem would end up serving in the army for 54 years, and be promoted to major general upon his retirement in 1916. Likewise, "The Day They Shot Agarn" had its roots in historically accurate regulations obtained from a period cavalry manual, according to Austin Kalish.

• The official surrender of General Robert E. Lee to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, VA on April 9, 1865 did not, in fact, end the Civil War. The war did not come to a final end until June 23, 1865. So it's possible that when Captain Parmenter arrived at Fort Courage, the Civil War may have still been ongoing.
• One episode, titled "Old Ironpants", features General George Armstrong Custer. Given the time period (mid-1865 to 1867) in which F Troop is supposedly set, Custer should no longer have been a general. His commission as a general of volunteers expired on January 31, 1866. Afterwards, he was reduced in rank to captain and would eventually rise to lieutenant colonel, (although as a courtesy, he could be addressed as "General".)
• Little Bighorn is mentioned from time to time throughout the run of the series. However, the Battle of Little Bighorn would not take place for another ten years.
• Captain Parmenter is shown receiving the Silver Star, an award that would not be created until 1918, (as the Citation Star). It did not become a medal until 1932. In actuality, it's stated that the medal is "the Medal of Honor", which DOES feature a star and could be confused with a Silver Star/Citation Star. The Medal of Honor WAS first awarded during the American Civil War. However, Captain Parmenter ALSO receives a Purple Heart...a medal which did not exist until 1932 and was retroactively awarded to persons serving on or after April 5, 1917.
• One episode, "Marriage, Fort Courage Style", shows Agarn in a dream sequence watching stereopticon slides of "a new game this fellow named Doubleday invented called baseball". When his dream wife pesters him to do the chores, he retorts by saying, "Not now, I'm watching the game!" It's been proven that Abner Doubleday never invented baseball, never claimed to, and probably never even saw a professional game. Doubleday's connection to the game also occurred decades after the show takes place.
• In "How to be F Troop Without Really Trying", Lt. Mark Harrison (Les Brown, Jr.) quotes a line from the song "Jeepers Creepers" to Wrangler Jane. "Jeepers Creepers" wasn't composed by Johnny Mercer until 1938.
• One episode features a "Singing Mountie" (Paul Lynde), but if the series is set in the mid-1865 to 1867 time period, then the "mounties" would not exist yet. The formative organization that would eventually become the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the "North-West Mounted Police", was not founded until 1873.
• In "That's Show Biz", the gang performs the songs "Mr. Tambourine Man" (which was written by Bob Dylan in 1964) and "Lemon Tree" (which was a folk song written by Will Holt in the 1960s and recorded by such popular singing artists as Peter, Paul and Mary and Trini Lopez).
• There's no way that Duffy could have been wounded at the Alamo in 1836, as no white adult males are known to have survived the battle. It's also impossible that Captain Parmenter would have been able to discover through army records that Duffy had been "killed in action". In 1836, Texas was not yet part of the United States, and only became an independent nation after the battle. So, Duffy would have been listed as a member of the army of the Republic of Texas. (Of course, it's possible that Duffy may only be indulging in spinning some "tall tales".)