Casey's Infantry Tactics - School of the Battalion

3d. Column, at full distance, forward into line of battle.

440. A column being by company, at full distance, right in front, and at a halt, when the colonel shall wish to form it forward into line, he will conform to what is prescribed Nos. 414 and 415, and then command:

1. Forward into line. 2. By company, left half wheel. 3. MARCH (or double quick-MARCH).

441. At the first command, the captain of the leading company will add-guide right, put the company in march, halt it three paces from the markers, and align it against the latter by the right.   442. At the command march, all the other companies will wheel to the left on fixed pivots; and, at the instant the colonel shall judge, according to the direction of the line of battle, that the companies have sufficiently wheeled, he will command: 4. Forward. 5. MARCH. 6. Guide right.

443. At the fifth command, the companies, ceasing to wheel, will march straight forward; and at the sixth, the men will touch elbows towards the right. The right guide of the second company, who is nearest to the line of battle, will march straight forward; each succeeding right guide will follow the file immediately before him at the cessation of the wheel.

444. The second company having arrived opposite to the left file of the first, its captain will cause it to turn to the right, in order to approach the line of battle; and when its right guide shall be at three paces from that line, the captain will command:

1. Second company. 2. HALT.

445. At the second command, the company will halt; the files not yet in line with the guide will come into it promptly, the left guide will place himself on the line of battle, so as to be opposite to one of the three files on the left of the company; and, as soon as he is assured on the direction by the lieutenant colonel, the captain, having placed himself accurately on the line of battle, will command:

3. Right-DRESS.

446. At the instant that the guide of the second company begins to turn to the right, the guide of the third, ceasing to follow the file immediately before him, will march straight forward; and, when he shall arrive opposite to the left of the second, his captain will cause the company to turn to the right, in order to approach the line of battle, halt it at three paces from that line, and align it by the right, as prescribed for the second company.

447. Each following company will execute what has just been prescribed for the third, as the pre ceding company shall turn to the right, in order to approach the line of battle.

448. The formation ended, the colonel will command: Guides-POSTS.

449. The colonel and lieutenant colonel will observe, in this formation, what is prescribed for them on the right into line.

450. A column left in front will form itself forward into line of battle according to the same principles and by inverse means.

451. When a Column by company at full distance, right in front, and in march, shall arrive behind the right of the lie on which it is to form into battle, the colonel and lieutenant colonel will conform themselves to what is prescribed Nos. 414 and 415.

452. The head of the column having arrived at company distance from the two markers established on the line, the colonel will command:

1. Forward into line. 2. By company, left half wheel. 3. MARCH (or double quick-MARCH).

453. At the first command, the captain of the first company will command, Guide right, and caution it to march directly to the front; the captains of the other companies will caution them to wheel to the left.

454. At the command march, briskly repeated by the captains, the first company will continue to march to the front, taking the touch of elbows to the right. Its chief will halt it at three paces from the markers, and align it by the right. The other companies will wheel to the left on fixed pivots, and at the instant the colonel shall judge that they have wheeled sufficiently, he will command:

4. Forward. 5. MARCH. 6. Guide right.

455. At the fifth command, the companies will cease to wheel, and move forward. At the sixth, they will take the touch of elbows to the right. The movement will be executed as previously explained.

456. If the colonel should wish to form the column forward into line, and to continue to march in this order, he will not cause markers to be established; the movement will be executed in double quick time, by the same commands and means, but with the following modifications.

457. At the first command, the captain of the first company will add quick time after the command guide right. At the second command, the first company will continue to march in quick time, and will take the touch of elbows to the right; its chief will immediately place himself on its right, and, to assure the march, will take points of direction to the front. The captain of the second company will cause his company to take the same gait as soon as it shall arrive on a line with the first, and will also move to the right of his company; the captains of the third and fourth companies will execute successively what has just been prescribed for the second. The companies will preserve the touch of elbows to the right until the command, guide centre.

458. When the color-company shall have entered the line, the colonel will command, guide centre. At this command, the color-bearer and the right general guide will move rapidly six paces in advance of the line. The colonel will assure the direction of the color-bearer. The lieutenant colonel and the right companies will immediately conform themselves to the principles of the march in line of battle. The left companies and the left general guide, as they arrive on the line, will also conform to the same principles. If the column be marching in double quick time, when the last company shall have arrived on the line, the colonel will cause the double quick to be resumed.

459. It is not necessary that the movement be entirely completed before halting the battalion. As soon as the part of the battalion already formed shall have arrived on the line of battle, the colonel will halt the battalion; the companies not in line will each complete the movement. Remarks on the formation forward, into line of battle

460. The precision of this movement depends on the direction the companies have at the moment the colonel commands, Forward-MARCH. The colonel will judge nicely the point of time for giving this command, observing that, if the direction of the line of battle form with that of the column a right or nearly a right angle, the companies ought to wheel about the eighth of the circle, and that the more acute the angle formed by the two directions, so much the more the companies ought to wheel before marching straight forward.

461. It is important that each company in marching towards the line of battle should turn exactly opposite the point where its captain ought to place himself on that line; if a company turn too soon, it will find itself masked, in part, by that which preceded it on the line of battle, and be obliged to unmask itself by the oblique step; if it turn too late, it will leave an interval between itself and the preceding company to be regained in like manner. In either case, the next company will be led into error, and the fault propagated to the opposite flank of the battalion.

462. The guide of each company ought so to regulate himself in turning, as to bring his company to the halting point parallelly with the line of battle.

463. If the angle formed by the line of battle and the primitive direction of the column be so acute, that the companies, on arriving opposite to their respective places on the line of battle, find themselves nearly parallel to it, the captains will not give the command, right (or left) turn, but each halt his company, place himself on the line, and command: Right (or left)-DRESS.

464. If, on the contrary, the angle formed by the line of battle and the primitive direction of the column be much greater than a right angle, the formation should be executed, not by the movement forward into line of battle, but by that of on the right (or left) into line of battle, and according to the principles prescribed for this formation.

465 If a company encounter an obstacle sufficient to prevent it from marching by the front, it will right (or left) face in marching, by the commands and means indicated in the school of the company, Nos. 314 and 315. The guide will continue to follow the same file behind which he was marching, and will maintain exactly the same distance from the company immediately preceding his own. The obstacle being passed, the company will be formed into line by the command of its captain.

4th. Column at full distance, faced to the rear, into line of battle.

466. A column being by company, at full distance, right in front, and at a halt, when the colonel shall wish to form it into line faced to the rear, he and the lieutenant colonel will conform themselves to what is prescribed Nos. 414 and 415, and the colonel will then command: 1. Into line, faced to the rear. 2. Battalion, right — FACE. 3. MARCH (or double quick-MARCH).  

467. At the first command, the captain of the leading company will cause it to face to the right, and put it in march, causing it to wheel by file to the left, and direct its march towards the line of battle, which it will pass in rear of the left marker; the first file having passed three paces beyond the line, the company will wheel again by file to the left, in order to place itself in rear of the two markers; being in this position, its captain will halt it, face it to the front, and align it by the right against the markers.

468. At the second command, all the other companies will face to the right, each captain placing himself by the side of his right guide.

469. At the command march, the companies will put themselves in movement; the left guide of the second, who is nearest to the line of battle, will hasten in advance to mark that line; he will place himself on it as prescribed above for successive formations, and thus indicate to his captain the point at which he ought to pass the line of battle, by three paces, in order to wheel by file to the left, and then to direct his company parallelly to that line.

470. As soon as the first file of this company shall have arrived near the left file of the preceding one already on the line of battle, its captain will command:

1. Second company. 2. HALT. 3. FRONT. 4. Right-DRESS.

471. The first command will be given when the company shall yet have four paces to take to reach the halting point.

472. At the second command, the company will halt.

473. At the third, the company will face to the front, and, if there be openings between the files, the latter will promptly close to the right; the captain will immediately place himself by the side of the man on the left of the preceding company, and align himself on its front rank.

474. The fourth command will be executed as prescribed No. 426.

475. The following companies will be conducted and established on the line of battle as just prescribed for the second, each regulating itself by the one that precedes it; the left guides will detach themselves in time to precede their respective companies on the line by twelve or fifteen paces, and each place himself so as to be opposite to one of the three left files of his company, when in line. If the movement be executed in double quick time, the moment it is commenced, all the left guides will detach themselves at the same time from the column, and will move at a run to establish themselves on4he line of battle.

476. The formation ended, the colonel will command:  Guides-POSTS.

477. The colonel and lieutenant-colonel, in this formation, will each observe what is prescribed for him in that of on the right, into line of battle.

478. A column, left in front, will form itself faced to the rear into line of battle according to the same principles and by inverse means.

479. If the column be in march, and should arrive in front of the right of the line on which it is to form into battle, the colonel and lieutenant colonel will conform to what is prescribed Nos. 414 and 415.

480. When the head of the column shall be nearly at company distance from the two markers established on the line, the colonel will command:

1. Into line, faced to the rear. 2. Battalion, by the right flank. 3. MARCH (or double quick-MARCH).

481. At the first command, the captains will caution their companies to face by the right flank.

482. At the command march, briskly repeated by the captains of companies, all the companies will face to the right; the first company will then wheel by file to the left, and be directed by its captain a little to the rear of the left marker; then pass three paces beyond the line, and wheel again by file to the left; having arrived on the line, the captain will halt the company, and align it by the right. The remaining part of the movement will be executed as heretofore explained.

483. The foregoing principles are applicable to a column, left in front.

484. As the companies approach the line of battle, it is necessary that their captains should so direct the march as to cross that line a little in rear of their respective guides, who are faced to the basis of the formation; hence each guide ought to detach himself in time to find himself correctly established on the direction before his company shall come up with him.