Overall, The Troop refers to the major daily duty of Mounting the Guard.
However, there are four different aspects of Mounting the Guard that are referred to as The Troop or use overlapping terminology that has created some confusion for both soldiers and musicians.
The major takeaways from this discussion are as follows:
The Assembly, or to form by regiment, is the Singlings of the Troop on drums and the High Troop on fife, the first troop typically listed in English Tutors.
Singlings of The Troop appears to be a 3/8 beating that signals to march in close order, at the advance.
Doublings of The Troop appears to be 2/4 or 6/8, and may indicate marching in open order or even at the quickstep.
“A Short Troop” is most likely a 3/8, or at least a Singlings.
For a breakdown of the sequence to perform this duty call, and possibly how to march to it, see “The Troop – Forming the Guards”.
Major areas of curiosity for further research:
Use of the Signal Strokes. Do you have any evidence or observations about whether the English used them or how they were performed?
Use of the Three Rolls / Cheers / Chords. Do you have any evidence or observations about whether the English used them? For more information, see my conversation “The Three Cheers”.
Ending the Troop. Do you have any thoughts on an interpretation for YDA’s “Doublings with the Rolls” or Drum Beating’s “Doublings”? Do you have any observations about how the Americans end with Three Cheers + The Doublings, while Potter ends with The Cheers + Drag & A Stroke?
Time Signatures. Do you have any evidence or observations on the use of Time Signatures and their relationship to tempo in Singlings or Doublings?
Marching and Performing the Troop. Do you have any evidence or observations about how the musicians marched – in closed or open order?
If you have any evidence, resources, or observations that might illuminate some of these questions, please contact me or comment below.
If any part of my conversation on this duty call was unclear or unconvincing, please contact me. I welcome constructive criticism, especially as this aspect of military history is still largely unclear.
If you found learning about this Major Duty Call interesting, check out my discussions on the other major duty calls: