united we conquer

Dear Friends,
what's the origin of the motto UNITED WE CONQUER?
regards

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 10/04/2008 10:52:59

Hello jcb

The phrase has been attributed to Matthew Walker, both directly in his fable The Four Oxen and the Lion[1] and indirectly from The Bundle of Sticks[2].

The first attributed use in modern times is to John Dickinson in his revolutionary war song The Liberty Song. In the song, first published in the Boston Gazette in July 1768, he wrote: ?Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall!?

Patrick Henry used the phrase in his last public speech, given in March 1799, in which he denounced The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. Clasping his hands and waving his body back and forth, Henry declaimed, ?Let us trust God, and our better judgment to set us right hereafter. United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.? At the end of his oration, Henry fell into the arms of bystanders and was carried almost lifeless into a nearby tavern. Two months afterward he was dead.

The motto is a repost to the phrase 'Divide and Conquer' which, as a military tactic ,can be traced back to the Roman armies.

Hope that is useful

regards
John M

thank you very very much!
jcb

Although 'United We Conquer' is a term generally related to the Commandos, it was in fact the motto first adopted by the whole of the Combined Operations Command in the early 1940s.