Well ain't this a fine basket of history neatly wrapped in a bow? I keep looking through it to make sure I don't miss anything. Thank you to Gibb and cnd. As Gibb says all the military references to this song "The Wild Miz-zou-rye" describe it as a march or 4/4 time. I have seen Col Tompkins before and remember those remarkable whiskers but cannot recall where. It never occurred to me that he could be the subject of the song but by the time the Illinois National Guard was singing it, it is possible. But as Lighter says, anyone named Tompkins could get the handle "Tommy".