An inspection by the strict Major General Bartford Hamilton Steele puts the 4077th on edge. The final straw comes when he orders the unit to move the camp closer to the front, to be more economical and to show that a M*A*S*H unit should be mobile. On an inspection tour of the new site, Steele orders Blake to follow general military protocol in saluting him, contradicting the specific protocol not to do so when in sight of the enemy. They are promptly shot at by snipers. Steele gives Blake and Burns a choice-either fight or have lunch! {Blake and Burns choose lunch} When Hawkeye sends a chopper off with a patient instead of letting the general use it to scout the new site, Steele calls for a court martial for Pierce and Blake. When Steele asks the African-American chopper pilot for a musical number, and then demonstrates by dancing around singing Mississippi Mud, the Army hurriedly closes the court-martial, and Steele gets sent back to the United States, where he is placed in charge of Northeast Asia. The title is a spoof of the movie The General Died at Dawn while Steele is a spoof of George S. Patton (Strict spit and polish discipline and white handled pistols). Ironically, Harry Morgan had a bit part in the movie Patton as a senator who criticizes G. S. Patton.}