drumhead court-martial

American  

noun

1. a court-martial held, usually on a battlefield, for the summary trial of charges of offenses committed during military operations.

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drumhead court-martial British  

noun

1. a military court convened to hear urgent charges of offences committed in action

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Etymology

Origin of drumhead court-martial

First recorded in 1825–35; so called from the use of a drumhead as a table during the court-martial

Example Sentences

The next day Gen. Ward organized a drumhead court-martial and tried those captured who were not wounded.

From Project Gutenberg

So they give Afiola a sort of drumhead court-martial, and bounced him unanimous, and all the pent-up deviltry of the man came out of him at one lick, like touching off a dynamite cartridge.

From Project Gutenberg

The elderly and old-fashioned Anglo-Egyptian militarist, with his doctrine and discipline of the barrack-room and the drumhead court-martial, was never regarded by the workers with a shade of suspicion.

From Project Gutenberg

He was at once made a prisoner and marched as such to Walmer forest, when the commanding officer applied for a drumhead court-martial.

From Project Gutenberg

A drumhead court-martial might have seemed tedious and technical in comparison with the sharp brevity of the trials under the ominous cottonwoods.

From Project Gutenberg