|
1.
Every colonel will labor to habituate his battalion to form line of
battle, by night as well as by day, with the greatest possible
promptitude.
2.
The color-company will generally be designated as the directing
company. That, as soon as formed, will be placed on the direction
the colonel may have determined for the line of battle. The other
companies will form on it, to the right and left, on the principles
of successive formations which will be herein prescribed.
3.
The color-bearer may have received the color from the hands of the
colonel; but if there be daylight, and time, the color will be
produced with due solemnity. Composition and march of the
color-escort.
4.
When the battalion turns out under arms and the color is wanted, a
company, other than that of the color, will be put in march to
receive and escort it.
5.
The march will be in the following order, in quick time, and without
music: the field music, followed by the band; the escort in column
by platoon, right in front, with arms on the right shoulder, and the
color-bearer between the platoons.
6.
Arrived in front of the tent or quarters of the colonel, the escort
will form line, the field music and band on the right, and arms will
be brought to a shoulder.
7.
The moment the escort is in line, the color bearer, preceded by the
first lieutenant, and followed by a sergeant of the escort, will go
to receive the color.
8.
When the color-bearer shall come out, followed by the lieutenant and
sergeant, he will halt before the entrance; the escort
will present arms, and the field music will sound to the
color.
9.
After some twenty seconds, the captain will cause the sound to
cease, arms to be shouldered, and then break by platoon into column;
the color-bearer will place himself between the platoons, and the
lieutenant and sergeant will resume their posts.
10.
The escort will march back to the battalion to the sound of music in
quick time, and in the same order as above, the guide on the right.
The march will be so conducted that when the escort arrives at one
hundred and fifty paces in front of the right of the battalion, the
direction of the march will be parallel to its front, and when the
color arrives nearly opposite its place in line, the column will
change direction to the left, and the right guide will direct
himself on the centre of the battalion. Honors paid to the color.
11.
Arrived at the distance of twenty paces from the battalion, the
escort will halt, and the music cease; the colonel will place
himself six paces before the centre of the battalion, the
color-bearer will approach the colonel, by the front, in quick time;
when at the distance of ten paces, he will halt: the colonel will
cause arms to be presented, and to the color to be sounded, which
being executed, the color-bearer will take his place in the front
rank of the color-guard, and the battalion, by command, shoulder
arms.
12.
The escort, field music, and band, will return in quick time to
their several places in line of battle, marching by the rear of the
battalion.
13.
The color will be escorted back to the colonel's tent or quarters in
the above order. General Rules and Division of the School of the
Battalion.
14.
This school has for its object the instruction of battalions singly,
and thus to prepare them for manoeuvres in line. The harmony so
indispensable in the movements of many battalions can only be
attained by the use of the same commands, the same principles, and
the same means of execution. Hence, all colonels and actual
commanders of battalions will conform themselves, without addition
or curtailment, to what will herein be prescribed.
15.
When a battalion instructed in this drill shall manceuvre in line,
the colonel will regulate its movements, as prescribed in the third
volume of the Tactics for Heavy Infantry.
16.
The sch3ool of the battalion will be divided into five parts.
17.
The first will comprehend opening and closing ranks, and the
execution of the different fires.
18.
The second, the different modes of passing from the order in battle,
to the order in column.
19.
The third, the march in column, and the other movements incident
thereto.
20.
The fourth, the different modes of passing from the order in column
to the order in battle.
21.
The fifth will comprehend the march in line of battle, in advance
and in retreat; the passage of defiles in retreat; the march by the
flank; the formation by file into line of battle; the change of
front; the column doubled on the centre; dispositions against
cavalry; the rally, and rules for manoeuvring by the rear rank.
22.
The colonel, wishing the ranks to be opened, will command:
1.
Prepare to open ranks.
23.
At this command, the lieutenant colonel and major will place
themselves on the right of the battalion, the first on the flank of
the file closers, and the second four paces from the front rank of
the battalion.
24.
These dispositions being made, the colonel will command:
2.
To the rear, open order. 3. MARCH.
25.
At the second command, the covering sergeants, and the sergeant on
the left of the battalion, will place themselves four paces in rear
of the front rank, and opposite their places in line of battle, in
order to mark the new alignment of the rear rank; they will be
aligned by the major on the left sergeant of the battalion, who will
be careful to place himself exactly four paces in rear of the front
rank, and to hold his piece between the eyes, erect and inverted,
the better to indicate to the major the direction to be given to the
covering sergeants.
26.
At the command march, the rear rank and the file closers will step
to the rear without counting steps; the men will pass a little in
rear of the line traced for this rank, halt, and dress forward on
the covering sergeants, who will align correctly the me of their
respective companies.
27.
The file closers will fall back and preserve the distance of two
paces from the rear rank, glancing eyes to the right; the lieutenant
colonel will, from the right, align them on the file closer of the
left, who, having placed himself accurately two paces from the rear
rank, will invert his piece, and hold it up erect between his eyes,
the better to be seen by the lieutenant colonel.
28.
The colonel, seeing the ranks aligned, will command:
4.
FRONT.
At
this command, the lieutenant colonel, major, and the left sergeant,
will retake their places in line of battle.
29.
The colonel will cause the ranks to be closed by the commands
prescribed for the instructor in the school of the company, No. 28.
30.
The ranks being closed, the colonel will cause the following times
and pauses to be executed:
Present
arms. Shoulder arms. Order arms. Shoulder arms. Support arms.
Shoulder arms. Fix bayonet. Shoulder arms. Charge bayonet. Shoulder
arms. Unfix bayonet. Shoulder arms.
81.
The colonel will next cause to be executed loading at will, by the
commands prescribed in the school of the company, No. 45; the
officers and sergeants in the ranks will half face to the right with
the men at the eighth time of loading, and will face to the front
when the men next to them come to a shoulder.
32.
The colonel will cause to be executed the fire by company, the fire
by wing, the fire by battalion, the fire by file, and the fire by
rank, by the commands to be herein indicated.
33.
The fire by company and the fire by file will always be direct; the
fire by battalion, the fire by wing, and the fire by rank, may be
either direct or oblique.
34.
When the fire ought to be oblique, the colonel will give, at every
round, the caution right (or left) oblique, between the commands
ready and aim.
35.
The fire by company will be executed alternately by the right and
left companies of each division, as if the division were alone. The
right company will fire first; the captain of the left will not give
his first command till he shall see one or two pieces at a ready in
the right company; the captain of the latter, after the first
discharge, will observe the same rule in respect to the left
company; and the fire will thus be continued alternately.
36.
The colonel will observe the same rule in the firing by wing.
37.
The fire by file will commence in all the companies at once, and
will be executed as has been prescribed in the school of the
company, No. 55 and following. The fire by rank will be executed by
each rank alternately, as has been prescribed in the school of the
company, No. 58 and following.
38.
The color-guard will not fire, but reserve itself for the defence of
the color.
39.
The colonel, wishing the fire by company i) be executed, will
command:
1.
Fire by company. 2. Commence firing.
40.
At the first command, the captains and covering sergeants will take
the positions indicated in the school of the company No. 49.
41.
The color and its guard will step back at th4 same time, so as to
bring the front rank of the guard in a line with the rear rank of
the battalion. This rule is general for all the different firings.
42.
At the second command, the odd numbered companies will commence to
fire; their captains will each give the commands prescribed in the
school of the company No. 50, observing to precede the command
company by that of fir8st, third, fifth, or seventh, according to
the number of each.
43.
The captains of the even numbered companies will give, in their
turn, the same commands, observing to precede them by the number of
their respective companies.
44.
In order that the odd numbered companies rnay not all fire at once,
their captains will observe, but only for the first discharge, to
give the command fire one after another: thus, the captain of the
third company will not give the command fire until he has heard the
fire of the first company; the captain of the fifth will observe the
same rule with respect to the third, and the captain of the seventh
the same rule with respect to the fifth.
45.
The colonel will cause the fire to cease by the sound to
ceasefiring; at this sound, the men will execute what is prescribed
in the school of the company No. 63; at the sound for officers to
take their places after firing, the captains, covering sergeants,
and color-guard, will promptly resume their places in line of
battle. This rule is general for all the firings.
46.
When the colonel shall wish this fire to be executed, he will
command:
1.
Fire by wing. 2. Right wing. 8. READY. 4. AIM. 5. FIRE. 6. LOAD.
47.
The colonel will cause the wings to fire alternately, and he will
recommence the fire by the commands:
1.
Right wing; 2. AIM; 3. FIRE; 4. LOAD.
1.
Left wing; 2. AIM; 3. FIRE; 4. LOAD;
in
conforming to what is prescribed No. 35.
48.
The colonel will cause this fire to be executed by the commands last
prescribed, substituting for the first two, 1. Fire by battalion; 2.
Battalion
49.
To cause this to be executed, the colonel will command:
1.
Fire by file. 2. Battalion. 3. READY. 4. Commence firing.
50.
At the fourth command, the fire will commence on the right of each
company, as prescribed in the school of the company No. 57. The
colonel may, if he thinks proper, cause the fire to commence on the
right of each platoon.
51.
To cause this fire to be executed, the colonel will command: - - 1.
Fire by rank. 2. Battalion. 8. RE.ADY. 4. Rear rank. 5. AIM. 6.
FIRE. 7. LOAD.
52.
This fire-will be executed as has been explained in the school of
the company No. 59, in following the progression prescribed for the
two ranks which should fire alternately.
53.
When the colonel shall wish the battalion to fire to the rear, he
will command: 1. Face by the rear rank. 2. Battalion. 3. About-FACE.
54.
At the first command, the captains, covering sergeants, and file
closers will execute what has been prescribed in the school of the
company No. 69; the color-bearer will pass into the rear rank, and,
for this purpose, the corporal of his file will step before the
corporal next on his right to let the color-bearer pass, and will
then take his place in the front rank; the lieutenant colonel,
adjutant, major, sergeant major, and the music will place themselves
before the front rank, and face to the rear, each opposite his place
in the line of battle-the first two passing around the right, and
the others around the left, of the battalion.
55.
At the third command, the battalion will face about; the captains
and covering sergeants observing what is prescribed in the school of
the company No. 70.
56.
The battalion facing thus by the rear rank, the colonel will cause
it to execute the different fires by the same commands as if it were
faced by the front rank.
57.
The right and left wings will retain the same designations, although
faced about; the companies also will preserve their former
designations, as first, second, third, &c.
58.
The fire by file will commence on the left of each company, now
become the right.
59.
The fire by rank will commence by the front rank, now become the
rear rank. This rank will preserve its denomination.
60.
The captains, covering sergeants, and color
guard will, at
the first command given by the colonel, take the places prescribed
for them in the fires, with the front rank leading.
61.
The colonel, after firing to the rear, wishing to face the battalion
to its proper front, will command:
1.
Face by the front rank. 2. Battalion. 3. About FACE.
62.
At these commands, the battalion will return to its proper front by
the means prescribed Nos. 54 and 55.
63.
The fire by file being that most used in war, the colonel will give
it the preference in the preparatory exercises, in order that the
battalion may be brought to execute it with the greatest possible
regularity.
64.
When the colonel may wish to give some relaxation to the battalion,
without breaking the ranks, he will execute what has been prescribed
in the school of the company Nos. 37 and 38 or Nos. 39 and 40.
65.
When the colonel shall wish to cause arms to be stacked, he will
bring the battalion to ordered arms, and then command:
1.
Stack-ARMS. 2. Break ranks. 3. MARCH.
66.
The colonel wishing the men to return to the ranks, will cause
attention to be sounded, at which the battalion will re-form behind
the stacks of arms. The sound being finished, the colonel, after
causing the stacks to be broken, will command: Battalion.
67.
At this command, the men will fix their attention, and remain
immovable.
|
