Chapter D: Caldwell, (39)

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.

When the battalion which has marched in perfect order, arrives on its ground, it keeps the _marked time_ until it is dressed, and receives the word _halt_, the step which is then taking is finished, and the whole halt. Eyes are cast to the centre, and the commanding officer places himself close to the rear rank, in order to see whether the battalion be sufficiently dressed, and in a direction perfectly parallel to the one it quitted.

When the battalion is advancing in line for any considerable distance, or moving up in parade, the music may be allowed at intervals, to play for a few seconds only, and the drums in two divisions to roll, but the wind instruments are alone permitted to play. When the line is retiring, the music are never to play.

_To march by any one face, the square or oblong having previously been formed by the 4th, 5th, and 6th, companies of a regular battalion standing fast._ Under these circumstances, the side which is to lead is announced; the colors move up behind its centre; the opposite side faces about: and the two flank-sides wheel up by sub-divisions, so as to stand each in open column, The square marches, two sides in line, and by their centre; and two sides in open column, which cover, and dress to their inward flanks on which they wheeled up carefully preserving their distances. The square halts, and when ordered to front square, the sub-divisions in column immediately wheel back, and form their sides, and the side which faced about again faces outwards.

_To_ MARCH _by the right front angle._ When the perfect square is to march by one of its angles, in the direction of its diagonal, a caution is given by which angle the movement is to be made, and the two sides that form it stand fast, while the other two sides face about. The whole then by sub-divisions, wheel up one-eighth of a circle, two sides to the right, and two sides to the left, and are thus parallel to each other, and perpendicular to the direction in which they are to move, the pivot-flanks being in this manner placed on the sides of the square, each side being thus in echellon, and the colors behind the leading angle, the whole are out in march, carefully preserving the distances they wheeled at, and from the flanks to which they wheeled.

When the oblong marches by one of its angles, its sub-divisions perform the same operation of wheeling up, each the eighth of the circle; but its direction of march will not be in the diagonal of the oblong, but in that of a square, viz. of the line which equally bisects the right angle.

It will be remembered, that the angular march of the square or oblong, may be made in any other direction, to the right or left of the above one; but in such case the sub-divisions of the two opposite sides, will have to wheel up more than the eighth of the circle, in order to stand as before, perpendicular to the new direction. The sum of these two wheels will always amount to that of a quarter circle, and their difference will vary as the new line departs, more or less, from the equal bisecting line; this will be known by the first wheeling up the two angular divisions, till they stand perpendicular with the new direction, and then ordering all the others to conform accordingly. This movement is very beautiful in the execution, but cannot be made with any degree of accuracy, unless the perpendicular situation of the division is correctly attained, and carefully preserved.

_To_ MARCH _in open ground, so as to be prepared against the attack of cavalry_. In order to execute this movement, with some degree of security, one or more battalions may move in column of companies at quarter distances, one named company in the centre of each being ordered to keep an additional distance of 2 files; in which shape a battalion is easily managed, or directed upon any point. When the column _halts_, and is ordered to _form the square_, the first company falls back to the second, the last company closes up to the one before it: the whole companies make an interval of 2 paces in their centre, by their sub-divisions taking each one pace to the flanks; 2 officers with their serjeants, place themselves in each of their front and rear intervals; two officers with their serjeants, also take post in rear of each flank of the company, from which the additional interval has been kept; and a Serjeant takes the place of each flank front rank man of the first division, and of each flank rear rank man of the last division; all other officers, serjeants, the 4 displaced men, &c. assemble in the centre of the companies, which are to form the flank faces. Those last named companies having been told off, each in 4 sections, wheel up by sections, 2 to the right, and 2 to the left; (the 2 rear companies at the same time closing up, and facing outwards,) the inner sections then close forward to their front ones, which dress up with the extremities of the front and rear companies, and 4 on each flank of the second companies, from the front and from the rear; _Face outwards!_--The whole thus stand faced outwards and formed 6 deep, with two officers and their serjeants in the middle of each face, to command it; all the other officers, as well as serjeants, &c. are in the void space in the centre, and the files of the officers in the faces, may be completed from serjeants, &c. in the interior, in such manner as the commandant may direct. The mounted field officers, must pass into the centre of the column, by the rear face, if necessary, opening from its centre 2 paces and again closing in.

When ordered only, the 2 first ranks all round the column, will kneel and the front rank slope their bayonets, the 2 next ranks will fire standing, and all the others will remain in reserve; the file coverers behind each officer of the sides will give back, and enable him to stand in the third rank.

MARCH _resumed under the same circumstances_. On receiving the cautionary word of command, the several sections that had closed up, fall to their distances; the sections then wheel back into column; the officers, serjeants, &c. take their places on the flanks; and when the column is again put in motion, the companies that closed up, successively take their proper distances.

It will be remembered that unless the companies are above 16 file, they cannot be divided into 4 sections; so that in this case, a section may consist of 4 file or eight men, if therefore, they are under 16 file, and told off in sections of 5 or 3, the column will march at the distance of a section; and in forming the square, the 2 outward sections will wheel up, but the 3d one will stand fast, and afterwards, by dividing itself to right and left, will form a 4th rank to the others; in resuming column the outward sections wheel back, and the rear of the centre sections easily recover their places: as to all other circumstances, they remain the same.

_The_ MARCH, when applied to the movement of an army, consists in its arrangement with respect to the number and composition of columns, the precautions to be taken, the posts to be seized upon to cover it, &c. which arrangement must depend upon circumstances. The following are general rules:

The routes must be constantly opened to the width of 60 feet.

If the march be through an open country, without defiles, the cavalry march by divisions of squadrons, and the infantry by platoons or half companies.

In an inclosed country, or such as is intersected by hollow ways, or other defiles, the march must be by sections of 6 (by the heads of the section after facing to left, being wheeled to the right) or more files in the infantry, and ranks by threes or by twos in the cavalry, and the artillery must move in a single file, because the frequent breaking off and forming up again, may retard the march, and fatigue the troops.

In marches made parallel to, or with a view of gaining the enemy’s flank, divisions must preserve their wheeling distances, and the column must cover the same length of ground which it would occupy in line of battle; in marches directly perpendicular to the enemy’s position, the column must be closed up to half or quarter distance, in order to move in as compact a body as possible.

The pivot files must attend to preserve their distances exactly, each following precisely the path pointed out by the one before him; and keeping the regular marching step, by which means, upon a signal being given, the division is in a moment in order. The leader or _guide_ of the pivot file may be occasionally changed.

At the head of every column, whether composed of infantry or cavalry, a well instructed non-commissioned officer must march as _guide_. He must carefully keep the regular step of the march, to which the troops are drilled, and upon this man the regular pace of the column will depend; by this method two essential points are ensured; one, that every column moves in exactly the same time, and of course enables the officer commanding to calculate the march with certainty; another that it ensures the troops not being over hurried, which they are more especially liable to be when cavalry leads the column; two non-commissioned officers should be appointed for this purpose, who must relieve each other.

At the head of every column of march, there must be a considerable number of pioneers to clear the rout.

Guns or carriages breaking down and disabled, are immediately to be removed out of the line of march, so as not to interrupt its progress.

Officers are most positively enjoined at all times to remain with their divisions, whether marching or halted.

The commanding officers of regiments must pay the greatest attention to their corps whilst passing a defile, and proper officers should be left to assist in this most essential part of the conduct of marches.

It is a standing rule in column, that every regiment should march with the same front, that the regiment does which precedes it, right or left.

No alteration should be made in any circumstance of the march, which is to be taken up from the regiment in front, until arrived exactly upon the same ground upon which that regiment made the alteration.

No officer should ride between the divisions on a march, except general and staff officers, the execution of whose duty renders it necessary for them to pass in all directions.

When a battalion passes a defile, and there is no room for the officers to ride on the flanks of their divisions, half of those who are mounted pass at the head of the battalion, and half in the rear.

All breakings off to enter a defile, and all formations again when passed through it, must be done extremely quick, by the parts that double, or that form up.

A sufficient number of faithful and intelligent guides must always be ready to march at the head of the battalions and columns.

MARCH _of the line_, in a collective sense of the word, is a military movement, executed upon established principles, governed by local circumstances, and influenced by the nature of the service for which it is performed. After a general has obtained an accurate knowlege of the country through which his army is to move, his next care must be the arrangement of all its different component parts, with which he will form his column of route.

MARCH _of the Column of Route_. The order in which a battalion should at all times move; that the columns of an army should perform their marches; that an enemy should be approached; and that safety can be ensured to the troops in their transitions from one point to another is in columns of divisions, and never on a less front than 6 files where the formation is 3 deep, or 4 files where it is 2 deep, nor does any advantage arise from such column, if it is an open column, exceeding 16 or 24 files in front, where a considerable space is to be gone over.

At no time whatever ought a column of manœuvre, or of route, to occupy a greater extent of ground in marching than what is equal to its front when in order of battle; no situation can require it as an advantage. Therefore, the marching of great bodies in file, where improper extension is unavoidable, must be looked upon as an unmilitary practice, and ought only to be had recourse to when unavoidably necessary. Where woods, inclosures, and bad or narrow routes absolutely require a march in file, there is no remedy for the delay in forming, and man may be obliged to come up after man; and if circumstances admit, and there are openings for their passage, the divisions or platoons may be faced to the left and wheeled to the right, and severally marched to the same front; but these circumstances, which should be regarded as exceptions from the primary and desired order of march on a greater front, should tend the more to enforce the great principle of preventing improper distances, and of getting out of so weak a situation as soon as the nature of the ground will allow of the front of the march being increased.

In common route marching, the battalion or more considerable column may be carried on at a natural pace of about 75 steps in a minute, or near two miles and an half in an hour: the attention of the soldier is allowed to be relaxed, he moves without the restraint of cadence of step, or carried arms; rear ranks are opened to one or two paces; files are loosened but never confounded; in no situation is the ordered distance between divisions ever to be increased, and the proper flank officers and under officers remain answerable for them.

If the column is halted, the whole must be put in march at the same time. The movement of the head division must be steady and equal; the descending of heights must not be hurried, that the part of the column ascending may properly keep up. Alterations occasioned by the windings of the route are executed without losing distance. Soldiers are not to break to avoid mud or small spots of water. The guides and pivots must trace out such a path for themselves as will best avoid small obstructions, and the men of the division will open from, and not press upon their pivots. When platoon officers are permitted to be mounted, each will remain on the flank of his division watching over its exactness, and that the proper distance of march is kept by the flank pivot and guide under the officer appointed to preserve it.

Where the arrival of a column at a given point is to be perfectly punctual, in that case the distance being known, the head, must move at an equal cadenced step, and the rear must conform; and a guide, expressly appointed, will, at the head of the column, take such step as the nature of the route shall permit the column to comply with.

Nothing so much fatigues troops in a considerable column, and is more to be avoided than an inequality of march. One great reason is, that the rear of the column frequently and unnecessarily deviates from the line which its head traces out; and in endeavouring to regain that line, and their first distances, the divisions must of course run or stop, and again take up their march. It is unnecessary to attempt the same scrupulous observances in common route marching, as when going to enter into the alignement; but even a general attention to this circumstance will in that case prevent unnecessary winding in the march, which tends to prolong it, and to harass the soldier.

When the probable required formation of the line will be to a flank, then the column of march is an open one, and except the cannon, no impediment or circumstance whatever must be allowed betwixt the divisions or in the intervals of battalions. When cannon can possibly move on the flank of the battalion, they ought, and mounted officers or bat horses must not be permitted between the divisions. If the probable formation may be to the front, then distances are more closed up, and bat horses, &c. may be allowed between the brigades of a column, but not between the battalions of a brigade.

It is always time well employed to halt the head of a considerable column, and enlarge an opening, or repair a bad step in the road, rather than to diminish the front, or lengthen out the line of march. No individual is to presume to march on a less front than what the leader of the column directs, and all doublings must therefore come from the head only. The preservation of the original front of march, on all occasions, is a point of the highest consequence, and it is a most meritorious service in any officer to prevent all unnecessary doublings, or to correct them as soon as made; no advantage can arrive from them, and therefore each commanding officer, when he arrives near the cause, should be assured that it is necessary before he permits his battalion so to double: on all occasions he should continue his march on the greatest front, that, without crowding, the road or openings will allow, although the regiment or divisions before him may be marching on a narrower front.

All openings made for the march of a column should be sufficient for the greatest front on which it is to march, they should be all of the same width, otherwise each smaller one becomes a defile.

At all points of increasing or diminishing the front of the march, an intelligent officer, per battalion or brigade, should be stationed to see that it is performed with celerity; and the commandant of a considerable column should have constant reports and inspections made that the column is moving with proper regularity; he should have officers in advance to apprize him of difficulties to be avoided, or obstacles to be passed, and should himself apply every proper means to obviate such as may occur in the march. (And at no time are such helps more necessary than when regiments are acting in line on broken ground, and when their movements are combined with those of others.) When the column arrives near its object of formation or manœuvre, the strictest attention of officers and men is to be required, and each individual is to be at his post.

The great principle on all occasions of diminishing or increasing the front of the column in march is, that such part as doubles or forms up shall slacken or quicken its pace, as is necessary to conform to the part which has no such operation to perform, but which continues its uniform march, without the least alteration, as if no such process was going on; and if this is observed, distances can never be lost, or the column lengthened out. Unless the unremitting attention and intelligence of officers commanding battalions and their divisions are given to this object, disorder and constant stops and runs take place in the column; the soldier is improperly and unnecessarily harassed; disease soon gains ground in a corps thus ill conducted, which is not to be depended on in any combined arrangement, is unequal to any effort when its exertion may be required, and is soon ruined from a neglect of the first and most important of military duties.

The most important exercise that troops can attend to is the march in column of route. No calculation can be made on columns which do not move with an ascertained regularity, and great fatigue arises to the soldier. A general cannot depend on execution, and therefore can make no combination of time or distance in the arrival of columns at their several points. In many situations an improperly extended column will be liable to be beat in detail, and before it can be formed. Troops that are seldom assembled for the manœuvres of war, can hardly feel the necessity of the modes in which a considerable body of infantry must march and move.

The distance of columns from each other, during a march, depends on the circumstances of ground, and the object of that march, with regard to future formations. The more columns in which a considerable corps marches, the less extent in depth will it take up, the less frequent will be its halts, and the more speedily can it form in order of battle to the front.

On the combinations of march, and on their execution by the component parts of the body, does the success of every military operation or enterprize depend. To fulfil the intentions of the chief every concurrent exertion of the subordinate officer is _required_, and the best calculated dispositions, founded on local knowlege, must fail, if there is a want of that punctuality of execution which every general must trust to, and has a right to expect from the leaders of his columns.

The composition of the columns of an army must always depend on the nature of the country and the objects of the movement. Marches made _parallel_ to the front of the enemy will generally be performed by the lines on which the army is encamped, each marching by its flank, and occupying when in march the same extent of ground as when formed in line. Marches made _perpendicular_ to the front of the enemy, either advancing or retiring, will be covered by strong van or rearguards. The columns will be formed of considerable divisions of the army, each generally composed both of cavalry and infantry: they will move at half or quarter distance, and the nature of the country will determine which kind of force precedes.

During a march to the _front_, the separation of the heads of the columns must unavoidably be considerable; but, when they approach the enemy, they must be so regulated and directed as to be able to occupy the intermediate spaces, if required to form in line. Some one column must determine the relative situation of the others, and divisions must be more closed up than in a march to a flank, and in proportion as they draw near to the enemy must exactness and attention increase. The general, in consequence of the observations he has made, will determine on his disposition: the columns which are now probably halted and collected will be subdivided and multiplied; each body will be directed on its point of formation, and the component parts of each will in due time disengage from the general column, and form in line.

The safety of marches to the _rear_ must depend on particular dispositions, on strong covering or rear guards, and on the judicious choice of such posts as will check the pursuit of the enemy. In these marches to front or rear, the divisions of the second line generally follow or lead those of the first, and all their formations are relative thereto. The heavy artillery and carriages of an army form a particular object of every march, and must be directed according to circumstances of the day. The safety of the march, by the arrangement of detachments and posts to cover the front, rear, or flanks of the columns, depends also on many local and temporary reasons, but form an essential part of the general disposition.

MARCH _in line_, must be uniformly steady, without floating, opening, or closing.

MARCH _in file_, must be close, firm, and without lengthening out.

_To_ MARCH _past_, is to advance in open or close column, in ordinary or slow time, with a firm and steady step, erect person, the eye glanced towards the reviewing general.

_The ordered or cadenced_ MARCH.--The prescribed movements in military tactics. All military movements are intended to be made with the greatest quickness consistent with order, regularity, and without hurry or fatigue to the troops. The uniformity of position, and the cadence and length of step, produce that equality and freedom of march, on which every thing depends, and to which the soldier must be carefully trained, nor suffered to join the battalion, until he be thoroughly perfected in this most essential duty. Many different times of march must not be required of the soldier. These two must suffice.

_Ordinary_ or _quick time_, and _slow_ or _parade time_. The first 75 steps of 24 inches in a minute; the second of 60 steps of 24 inches in a minute.

In order to accustom soldiers to accurate movements, plummets, which vibrate the required times or march in a minute, have been recommended: musquet balls suspended by a string which is not subject to stretch, and on which are marked the different required lengths, will answer the above purpose. The length of the plummet is to be measured from the point of suspension, to the centre of the ball.

The several lengths are:--

_steps_ _in._ _hun._
Ordinary or quick time in a minute 75 -- 24 96
Accelerated time 108 -- 12 3

MARCHING _by files_, is to march with the narrowest front, except that of rank entire or Indian file, which bodies of men are susceptible of.

The strictest observance of all the rules for marching, is particularly necessary in marching by files, which is first to be taught at the ordinary time, or 75 steps in the minute, and afterwards in accelerated time, or 108 steps in the minute.

In file marching, particularly at the drill, the whole of a company or squad, having been previously faced, are immediately to step off together, gaining at the very first step 24 inches.

The first adoption of file marching has been attributed to the Prussians, and the advocates for what is called the _Ordre mince des Prussiens_, the _thin_ or _narrow_ order, have in contradistinction named the _ordre profond_, the deep order, or column, the French order. According to a very ingenious and lively writer, who has had frequent occasions to see the practice of both orders, the _ordre mince_ or file marching, may be very useful during a march, but the deep order or column ought only to be depended upon in manœuvring before an enemy.

_To_ MARCH _according to time and measure_, (_marcher en cadence_, _Fr._) Marshal Saxe, in page 23, art. 6. of the folio edition of his _Reveries_ or _Memoires sur l’Art de la Guerre_, is of opinion, that marching to time and measure constitutes one of the essential requisites in war; he calls it indeed the principal one to be observed by troops who are going into action. By marching according to time and measure, we understand, that regular movement of a large body of men whose steps are cadenced and uniformly the same, and which are kept so by the artificial aid of music.

The marshal observes, that although military men will enter into much desultory conversation respecting the tactic, (_la tactique_) of the ancients, they seldom or ever understand the real definition of the word. It is, in fact, so much corrupted in modern times, that what really conveyed no more than a regular principle in marching, has since been made to signify the exercise and evolutions of troops. All the world know how to beat a march, without comprehending the real object, and half the world imagine, that the noise of a drum or fife is nothing more than military parade.

It is ridiculous to suppose, that martial sounds and military music, were first invented for the sole purpose of confounding each other on the day of battle. Let us indulge a better opinion of the good understanding of the ancients, particularly of the Romans, and endeavor to prove, that regularity in marching, (which depends wholly upon the cadenced step,) is the ground-work of military operations, and that nothing is more simple because it corresponds with nature. This was, in fact, the military step which the Romans brought to so great a perfection, and which has since been so closely followed by the Prussians. It was upon this principle, that marches were first devised, and that the drum was adopted to second the purposes. This is literally nothing more than a certain beat or _tact_, as the marshal expresses it, and which is evidently derived from the Roman word _tactum_, touch, and by means of which men may be taught to move in quick or slow time. As long as this principle can be followed up, the rear will never lag behind, soldiers will preserve the same step and march with the same foot; the wheelings will be made uniformly together, without confusion or delay; and the men will be less fatigued than if they were suffered to march or wheel at random. Every person of the least reflection or observation, will be convinced of the truth of this last remark. Let one man, for instance, be ordered to dance two hours, without the assistance of any sort of musical instrument, and let another, with the same bodily powers and activity, go through the same operation, during double the time accompanied by music, and let it then be determined which of the two has been most fatigued. It will evidently appear that the former has: for it is an unquestionable fact, that sounds of concord and harmony have a wonderful secret influence over the human frame, and that they render the exercises and functions of the body extremely easy. It is well known, that when the camel drivers wish to make their camels get on, they never flog or strike them with sticks, but sing, whistle, or repeat some humorous song.

Should it be asked what sort of music is best adapted to the human organs in military movements? It may safely be replied all those simple tunes which can be played by the fife and drum; I shall perhaps be told, (observes the marshal) that many men have no ear for music; this I deny, as far as the observation regards marching, which is a movement so easy to the human frame, that it comes, as it were, naturally to man. I have often remarked, that when the long roll has beat, the men in repairing to their several parades, have insensibly preserved the regular step, without knowing that they did so: nature, in fact, and instinct go together. If marching according to time and measure be considered in a mere superficial manner, the cadence step will undoubtedly appear of little importance; but if it be considered as an essential requisite to quicken or slacken the movement of troops who are going into action, it must be found an important object. No evolution, in fact, can be well done at close order without its assistance. The military step of the Romans, was the cadence or measured movement, and they were thereby enabled to march with ease upwards of 24 miles in five hours. This, however, would be looked upon as great exertion, if not fatigue, among some modern troops, although it constituted a principal part of the Roman exercise. Hence some opinion may be formed of the attention which they paid to that species of training, by which men were habituated to long marches; and this they accomplished by means of the _tact_ or cadenced movement.

In order to prove the validity of our observations, let us, for a moment, imagine a thing which is scarcely possible to be accomplished by troops that do not march according to time and measure. Let us suppose, that two battalions, advancing to attack one another, should march up without floating, overlapping, or breaking in the least; under these circumstances, which would obtain the superiority? the one that should imprudently have commenced firing, or that which should have reserved its fire? Every intelligent and able officer will instantly determine in favor of the latter; and his decision would unquestionably be correct; for the former, besides being disheartened by seeing men advance against them with a reserved fire, would necessarily be retarded in their march in order to prime and load; and it must be evident to every man, that their antagonists would completely overthrow them by advancing with a rapid and cadenced step.

This was the plain and effectual method of the Romans. It may, perhaps, be said, that their ignorance of the use of gunpowder alters the case with respect to our manner of fighting. Let it, however, be recollected, that they fought with missile weapons, which did full as much mischief as our fire arms can produce. Gunpowder, in fact, is not so destructive as most people are apt to imagine. Few men are killed in regular fought actions, by the two armies engaging with musquetry only. Marshal Saxe does not scruple to assert, that it is impossible for a battalion of armed men to charge its enemy with vigor and effect, unless it preserve the cadenced step. For the ranks must unavoidably open during the march in line; and when the troops get within 50 or 60 paces of their opponents, the commanding officers see chasms, cry out _serre_, or close into the centre: and in the hurry of so doing, one rank overlaps another, and the centre itself becomes insensibly broken, standing eight or ten deep, while the wings are at two, three, or four. To remedy this defect, the whole line is halted, and if the enemy be wise enough to advance in regular order, during this operation, it is ten to one that he turns the flank of his opponent, and completely routs him. With regard to the musquetry firing, it may be laid down as a certain fact, that the mischief it does in pitched battles is more imaginary than real. It has been acknowleged by the most experienced officers, it is, indeed, positively asserted by marshal Saxe, (page 29 of the folio edition) that the closest vollies have produced little or no effect against a line of determined steady troops. I have seen, observes the marshal, a whole volley of cool directed musquetry, occasion the loss of no more than four men; while the troops against which it has been poured, have calmly marched up, reserved their fire till they got in contact with the enemy, and then amply revenged the deaths of their comrades by discharging their pieces and following up with the bayonet.

It is at this stage of the battle, that a real carnage commences, and its execution rests wholly with the victorious party; and we need scarcely add, that its success must be attributed to that composed, steady movement, or cadenced step, which enabled the troops to act together, when they came to close action. The military reader will be gratified by a perusal of two or three interesting anecdotes in pages 29, 30, 31, of the Reveries, fol. edit.

MARCH _in prolongation of the line_.--This operation is gone through when a battalion standing in open column, with the pivot flanks of its divisions on the line, and advanced points being ascertained, moves forward at the word _march_, which is given by the commanding officer. Whenever the battalion wheels into open column, in order to prolong the line on which it was formed, and that no distant point in that prolongation is previously given, the serjeant guide of the leading company will advance 15 or 20 paces, and place himself in the line of the pivot flanks, and the leading officer will thereby (taking a line over his head) be enabled to ascertain the direction in which he is to move.

MARCH _by the inversion of files, or countermarch_. A compound word signifying retrocession, backward movement, change of measures or conduct, any alteration, in fact, of an original conception or undertaking. Thus the countermarch of ideas in the mind is the precursor of the different changes made by the body. In a military sense it is variously applicable; and as every countermarch or backward movement necessarily implies a previous march, or forward movement, we shall extract under this article the most material instructions that have been published in good authors relative to the countermarch of the component parts of a battalion, &c. observing generally that the word countermarch may be applied to the most extensive scale of military operations. Thus a whole army which has advanced into an enemy’s country, is said to countermarch when it not only ceases to make progress in a forward direction, but changes its whole plan of manœuvre, and treads back the ground over which it had advanced. To countermarch in a more desultory manner, means to quit different positions by the countermarching of detached bodies, by changing their relative fronts, without abandoning the field, or scene of general operation. In order to execute such evolutions and inversions with accuracy, every battalion should be well instructed in the prescribed methods of changing front by the inversion of its files to right or left, in front or in rear of a leading division, from and on its centre.

_The_ COUNTERMARCH _by files_.--According to the last printed regulations, this movement is of two kinds. Either _successive_ (the body being halted) by each file successively turning on its own ground, the moment it is disengaged by the departure of its preceding file: or _progressive_ (the body being in motion) by each file turning when it arrives at the point from which the leading or head file first wheeled. In the first case the body must shift its ground to a flank a space at least equal to its front: in the second it will perform this operation of the countermarch on its original ground, exchanging flanks and fronts; so that what before stood as the leading or head division will become the rear of the column; or, if in line, what was the right flank fronting one way, will still remain the right flank fronting another. In both cases the pivots are in a small degree moveable, but they must be so as little as possible, since a solid and compact inversion of the files is as requisite to a true and close formation in line or column, as the lock-step is indispensible in every other movement by files.

COUNTERMARCH _by files in front of the battalion, &c._ In this case the front men become the pivots, on which every successive file turns, till the rear file gets upon the identical space of ground from whence the front file first wheeled.

COUNTERMARCH _by files in rear of the Battalion_. In this case the rear rank men become the pivots upon similar principles of movement. All countermarches of a battalion or greater body, must be made in ordinary time; of smaller divisions in general in quick time. The observations which have already been made, under the head _files_, with respect to a solidity and quickness of movement in each wheeling, and to an unity of step, (allowing for an increased length of it in the wheeling men) are especially applicable to the countermarch by files.

_The_ COUNTERMARCH _of a battalion from both flanks on its centre, by files_. In order to effect this movement and change of formation, the wings _face_ outwards from the colors, which stand fast, and a serjeant remains at the point of each wing in order to mark the ground. At the word _march_, the right wing files successively close behind the rear rank, and the left wing before the front rank of the battalion, till they arrive at the points where each other stood. They then halt, cover, and front by word of command, looking to the colors which take their places. The commanding officer dresses the line if necessary.

_The_ COUNTERMARCH _of the battalion, from its centre, and on its centre, by files_. The wings face inwards to the colors, which stand fast, and a serjeant remains to mark each flank. The whole then take three side steps to the right, by word of command, in order to disengage the centre. At the second word of command, the whole move on, and each file successively wheels into the centre as it arrives at and beyond the colors. As soon as each company is in the line from the colors to the flank serjeant, its leading officer _fronts_ it. When the whole is formed, the colors countermarch, and every company dresses to the colors till otherwise ordered. It must be remembered, as a general rule, that in the countermarch from both flanks, no part of the battalion is fronted till the whole is on its ground. In the countermarch from the centre, the battalion begins instantly and successively to front by companies, as each is ready and on its ground.

_The_ COUNTERMARCH _by companies or subdivisions, on the centre of a battalion or line_. Although this maybe done by files, it has been allowed, that on account of the unavoidable openings which always occur in file marching, a battalion, or larger body, will be best enabled to execute that movement with quickness and rapidity, by the march of columns of companies or subdivisions in front. To effect this object, the battalion is cautioned to countermarch from its centre by subdivisions; one or two central subdivisions having wheeled the half circle upon their centre point, or countermarched into the new line, so that the front rank stands precisely where the rear rank did: one of the wings then faces to the right about, and both wheel inwards by subdivisions: they march along the rear and front of the formed division, and successively _wheel_ up into their respective places on each side of those already arranged in the line. The subdivisions which wheel up to the rear, successively _mark time_, when they reach their ground. The officers who lead them must be particularly attentive to their wheeling points, by being at their proper front rank when they _halt_ their subdivisions. They would otherwise pass the rear, and disfigure the formation.