Part 278

The same observations hold good in all movements to front or rear, or from either flank; and the only way to execute them with accuracy, is for the leader to look out for small intermediate points of march.

MARCH of a battalion in file, is to advance from the right, left, or centre of any given number of men, for the purposes of countermarching, or of closing, or opening an interval in line. On these occasions the whole step off together at the word march, and dress at the word mark time, the whole front, and the officers and serjeants, resume their several posts in line and then receive the word halt. Whenever more than one company march in file, the officers are out of the ranks during the march, on the left of the leading file when the right is in front, and on the right when the left is in front. They are of use in preserving the line and step, as the rear officer necessarily keeps the pace, and marches on the exact perpendicular line of his coverer. When a company is marched off singly, or files into or out of column, the officer is invariably to be in front. It sometimes happens, that a battalion standing in narrow ground, may be obliged to form open column from its leading flank, either before or behind that flank, before or behind its other flank; or before or behind any central part of the line.

To MARCH in file before the right flank. When the right platoon or company has moved on, the rest of the battalion face to the right, and march in file: the divisions then successively front, following each other, and taking the leading one for their regulating company.

To MARCH in file behind the right flank.

The whole face to the right, and march by word of command; at which instant the right division countermarches to the rear, fronts, and moves forward; whilst every other division successively moves on in the same manner (having previously countermarched) and continues till the whole is in column.

To MARCH before any central point or the left flank. The battalion makes a successive countermarch from the right flank towards the left, and when the right division is arrived at the point from whence it is to advance in column, it again countermarches to its right, a space equal to its front, then faces, moves on, and is thus successively followed by part of the battalion. The other part of the battalion, beyond the point of advancing, faces inwards, when necessary makes a progressive march in file, and then fronts. Each division belonging to this part of the battalion follows successively till the whole stand in column.

To MARCH by files behind the centre or left flank. The right proportion of the battalion countermarches from the right by files successively by the rear, and the other proportion of the battalion, according to circumstances, makes a progressive march by files from its right to the central point, and there begins to countermarch; at that point the leading or head division fronts into column, and moves on, each successive division doing the same. When the left of a battalion is to be in front, the same operations take place by an inverse march of the several divisions.

This method, however, of marching by files into open column, should be resorted to as little as possible, and never when it can be conveniently avoided. The formation of open column from battalion and line is better done by the wheelings of companies, subdivisions, or sections.

To MARCH up in charging order, is to advance towards the enemy’s line with a quick but firm and steady pace, till you get within a few paces of the opposing body, when an increased rapidity must be given to the whole, but not to run so as to lose breath, the officers on this occasion must be particularly attentive to the several divisions in their charge, keeping them well dressed to their centre, and thereby preventing dangerous openings and consequent confusion. The French call this the pas de Charge.--Which see under PAS. See Am. Mil. Lib.

Points of MARCH, one or more objects which ought always to be prepared for the direction of any considerable body, every leader of which who moves directly forward in front, must take care to conduct it in a line perpendicular to that front. But should a leader, either in file or front, have only one marked point of march, ascertained to him, he will himself instantly look out for small intermediate points.

To MARCH in file to a flank, is to reduce a line by marching out from its several divisions towards a given flank, there to remain in close or open column, of brigades, regiments, grand divisions, companies, &c. Nothing is more essential in all deployments into line, and in the internal movements of the divisions of the battalion, than the accuracy of the march in file. After facing, and at the word march, the whole are directed to step off at the same instant, each man replacing, or rather overstepping the foot of his preceding comrade: that is the right foot of the second man comes within the left foot of the first, and thus of every one, more or less overlapping, according to the closeness, or openness of the files and the length of step. The front rank will march straight along the given line, each soldier of that rank must look along the necks of those before him, and never to right or left. The centre and rear ranks must look to, and regulate themselves by their leaders of the front rank, and always dress in their file. File marching is always made in quick time.

MARCH of a battalion in line, is a regular continuity of files advancing forward in two or three ranks, each rear file preserving a perpendicular direction to its leader, and the ranks being kept parallel to each other at given distances; so that the whole line shall continue straight without being deformed by a concavity or convexity of figure. The march of the battalion in line, either to front or rear, being the most important and most difficult of all movements, every exertion of the commanding officer, and every attention of officers and men, become peculiarly necessary to attain this end. The great and indispensible requisites of this operation are, that the direction of the march be perpendicular to the front of the battalion as then standing; that the shoulders and body of each individual be perfectly square, that the files touch lightly at the elbow only, and finally, that an accurate equality of cadence and length of step be given by the advanced guides or serjeants, whom the battalion in every respect must cover, and which equality of cadence and length of step every individual must follow and comply with. If these essential rules are not observed, its direction will be lost, the different parts will open and attempt to close, and by so doing, a floating of the whole will ensue, and disorder will arise at a time when the remedy is so difficult, and perfect order so imperiously wanted.

In order to ensure these essential requisites, and to produce perfect correctness, the serjeants must be trained to this peculiar object, on whose exactness of cadence, regularity of step, squareness of body, and precision of movement, the greatest dependance can be placed, these are the proper guides of manoeuvre. The habitual post of the two principal directing serjeants, is to be in the centre of the battalion, betwixt the colors. One of them is posted in the front rank, and one in the rear, that they thereby may be ready to move out when the battalion is to march; another also covers them in the supernumerary rank.

Whenever the battalion is formed in line and halted, the front directing serjeant or guide, after having placed himself perfectly and squarely in the rank, must instantly cast his eyes down the centre of his body, from the junction of his two heels, and by repeated trials endeavor to, take up and prolong a line perpendicular to himself, and to the battalion; for this purpose he is by no means to begin with looking out for a distant object, but if such by chance should present itself in the prolongation of the line, extending from his own person, he may remark it. He is therefore rather to observe and take up any accidental small point on the ground within 100 or 150 paces. Intermediate ones cannot be wanting, nor the renewal of such as he afterwards successively approaches to in his march. In this manner he is prepared, subject to the future correction of the commanding officer, to conduct the march.

To MARCH forward or advance in line, when the battalion has been halted and correctly dressed--Is to step off, according to any given word of command, in quick or ordinary time, and to march over a perpendicular line of direction, without deviating to the right or left, or unnecessarily opening or closing during the movement; the commanding officer having previously placed himself 10 or 12 paces behind the exact line of the directing serjeant, will, if such file could be depended on, as standing truly perpendicular to the battalion, (and great care must be taken to place it so) remark the line of its prolongation, and thereby ascertain the direction in which it should march; but, as such precision cannot be relied on, he will from his own eye and from having the square of the battalion before him, with promptitude make such correction, and observe such object to the right or left, as may appear to him the true one; and in doing this, he will not at once look out for a distant object, but will hit on it, by prolonging the line from the person of the directing serjeant to the front; or he will order the covering serjeant to run out 20 paces, and will place him in the line in which he thinks the battalion ought to advance. The directing serjeant then takes his direction along the line which passes from himself, betwixt the heels of the advanced serjeant, and preserves such line in advancing, by constantly keeping his object in view.

When the commanding officer gives the caution, (the battalion will advance) the front directing serjeant moves out 6 accurate and exact paces in ordinary time, halts; the two other guides who were behind him, move up on each side of him, and an officer from the rear, replaces in the front rank, the leading serjeant. The centre serjeant, in moving out marches and halts on his own observed points, and the two other serjeants dress and square themselves exactly by him. If the commanding officer is satisfied, that the centre serjeant has moved out in the true direction, he will intimate as much; if he thinks he has swerved to right or left, he will direct him to incline to that side, the smallest degree possible, in order thereby to change his direction, and to take new points on the ground, towards the opposite hand.

The line of direction being thus ascertained, at the word march, the whole battalion instantly step off, and without turning the head, eyes are glanced towards the colors in the front rank; the replacing officer betwixt the colors, preserves, during the movement, his exact distance of 6 paces from the advanced serjeant, and is the guide of the battalion. The centre advanced serjeant is answerable for the direction, and the equal cadence and length of step; to these objects he alone attends, while the other two, scrupulously conforming to his position, maintain their parallelism to the front of the battalion, and thereby present an object, to which it ought to move square: they are not to suffer any other considerations to distract their attention. They must notice and conform to the direction of the commander only, and if any small alteration in their position be ordered, the alteration must be gradually and cooly made.

These are the essential points, which the guiding serjeants must be rendered perfect in, and to which every commanding officer will pay the most minute attention. With respect to the officers in the ranks, they can only be observant of their own personal exactness of march, and must consider themselves, as forming part with the aggregate of the men, subject to the same principles of movement, and in no shape or sense independent of them. They may attend to dress their companies by looking along the front, or by calling to the individuals who compose it. By so doing they must not destroy the exact parallelism of the rank they stand in, nor derange the march: the care of correcting any errors in the front line, belongs to the officers in the rear.

Well-trained soldiers, indeed, know the remedy that is required, and will gradually apply it.

The colors, as far as their natural weight and casualties of the weather will admit, must be carried uniformly and upright, thereby to facilitate the moving and dressing of the line. But it frequently happens in windy weather, and in movements over rough ground, that very little dependence can be placed on the officer who carries them, for a true direction, or an equal and cadence step. On these occasions, and indeed on all others, the men must on no account turn their heads to the colors. They must, on the contrary, keep their shoulders square to the front, and depend principally on the light touch of the elbow, together with an occasional glance of the eye, and the accuracy of step, for their dressing. On the light touch of the elbow, and a regular cadenced step, the chief dependence must be placed: for if the men be often permitted to glance at the centre, they will, by so doing, insensibly contract that habit, abandon the touch of the elbow, shorten or perhaps lose the cadence step, and in proportion, as the files which are removed from the centre, adopt that method, the line itself will gradually assume a concave form, by the flanks bending inwards.

When any waving, or fluctuation in the march, is produced by an inequality of step, the major and adjutant, who from their situation are particularly calculated to correct the irregularity, will immediately apprize the companies in fault, and cooly caution the others that are well in their true line, not to participate of the error.

When a company has lost the step, (a circumstance which frequently happens) the supernumerary officer of that company must watch a seasonable moment to suggest a change of step, in which operation, he will be assisted by the supernumerary serjeants. For it must be an invariable rule among officers in the ranks, never to deviate from their own perpendicular line of march, to correct the errors of their several companies. That business belongs entirely to the major and adjutant, who are occasionally assisted by the supernumeraries, in the manner just mentioned.

It very often happens, that a central division by bulging out, may make a flank of a battalion appear to have lost ground, when the fault in reality arises from that division, either stepping out too far, or from it being warped towards the colors, and thereby preventing the flank from being seen.

All changes and corrections that are judged necessary to be made, in any part of a battalion, during its march in line, must be effected gradually. Any abrupt alteration would unavoidably produce a waving, which must be felt in every part. The mounted officers only, with the imperceptible aid of the supernumeraries, can alone point out and correct such faults.

The flanks are not, on any account, to be kept back; much less are they to be advanced before the centre, since in either case, the distance of files must be lost, and the battalion will not be covering its true ground. The commanding officer of every battalion, will easily perceive this defect, by casting his eye along the line, which must soon acquire a concave or convex shape, unless the beginning of each inaccuracy be studiously attended to, by the necessary officers.--The two officers who are on the two flanks of the battalion, being unconfined by the rank, and not liable to be influenced by any floating that may arise, by preserving an accurate step, and having a general attention to the colors, and to the proper line which the battalion should be in, with respect to the advanced directors, will very much contribute towards preserving the flanks in their due position. When either of them observes that a line, drawn from himself, through the centre of the battalion, passes considerably before the other flank, he may conclude, that he is himself too much retired; when such line passes behind that flank, he may be certain that he is too much advanced; he will, therefore, regulate himself accordingly. When the battalion in march is convex, the wings must gain the straight line of the centre, by bringing up the outward shoulder; and it must be strongly impressed upon the soldier’s mind, that in all situations of movement, by advancing or keeping back the shoulder as ordered, the most defective dressing will be gradually and smoothly remedied; whereas sudden jerks and quick alterations break the line, and eventually produce disorder.

It must be generally remarked, that the rear ranks which were closed up before the march began, are to move at the lock step, and not be allowed to open during the march. The correct movement of the battalion depends much on their close order.

In the march in line, arms are always to be carried shouldered. Supported arms are only allowed when the battalion is halted, or advanced in column; but if this indulgence were allowed in line, when the most perfect precision is required, the distance of files would not be preserved, and slovenliness, inaccuracy, and disorder, must inevitably take place.

To change direction on the centre in MARCH, is to correct any floating of the line, occasioned by the opening or closing of the flanks, by ordering a section or central platoon to quarter wheel to right or left. At this command the guiding Serjeant making an almost imperceptible change of his position, and of his points, and the colors in the battalion, when they have advanced 6 paces to his ground, conforming to it, the whole will, by degrees, gain a new direction. Every change of direction made in this manner, must produce a kind of wheel of the battalion, on its centre, one wing gradually giving back, and the other as gradually advancing, an attention which the commander must be careful to see observed.