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ARTICLE
IV.
The
Fire by Rank.
58. The
instructor wishing the fire by rank to be executed, will command:
1.
Fire by rank. 2. Company. 3. READY.
4. Rear rank-AIM. 5. FIRE. 6. LOAD.
59. The fifth and sixth commands will be executed
as is prescribed in the S. S., No. 294 and following.
60. When the instructor sees one or two pieces in the rear rank at a
ready, he will command:
1.
Front rank. 2. Aim. 3.
FIRE. 4. LOAD.
61. The
firing will be continued thus by alternate ranks, until the signal
is given to cease firing.
62, The instructor will sometimes cause aim to be-taken to the right
and left, conforming to what is prescribed No. 54.
63. The instructor will cause the firing to cease, whether by
company, by file, or by rank, by sounding the signal to
cease firing, and
at the instant this sound commences, the men will cease to fire,
conforming to what is prescribed in the S. S., No. 291.
64. The signal to cease firing will be always followed by a bugle
note or tap; at which sound, the captain and covering sergeant will
promptly resume their places in line, and will rectify, if
necessary, the alignment of the ranks.
65, In this school, except when powder is used, the signal to cease
firing will be indicated by the command, cease
firing, which will
be pronounced by the instructor when he wishes the semblance of
firing to cease.
66. The command posts
will be likewise
substituted, under similar circumstances, for the bugle note or tap
employed as the signal for the return of the captain and covering
sergeant to their places in line, which command will be given when
the instructor sees the men have brought their pieces to a shoulder.
67. The fire by file being that which is most frequently used
against an enemy, it is highly important that it be rendered
perfectly familiar to the troops. The instructor will, therefore,
give it almost exclusive preference, and labor to cause the men to
aim with care, and always, if possible, at some particular object.
As it is of the utmost importance that the men should aim with
precision in battle, this principle will be rigidly enforced in the
exercises for purposes of instruction.
ARTICLE
V.
To
Fire by the Rear Rank.
68. The
instructor will cause the several fires to be executed to the rear,
that
is, by the rear rank. To effect this, he will command:
1
- Face by the rear rank. 2. Company.
3. About-FACE.
69. At the first command, the captain will step
out, and place himself sixteen inches from, and facing the right
file of his company; the covering sergeant, and file closers, will
pass quickly through the captain's interval, and place them-selves
faced to the rear, the covering sergeant a pace behind the captain,
and the file closers two paces from the front rank opposite to their
places in line, each passing behind the covering sergeant.
70. At the third command, which will be
given at the
instant the last file closer shall have passed through the interval,
the company will face about; the captain will place himself in his
interval in the rear-rank, now become the front, and the covering
sergeant will cover him in the front rank, now become the rear.
71. The company having faced by the rearrank, the instructor will
cause it to execute the fire by company, both direct and oblique,
the fire by file, and the fire by rank, by the commands and means
prescribed in the three preceding articles; the captain, covering
sergeant, and the men, will conform themselves, in like manner, to
what is therein prescribed.
72. The fire by file will commence on the left of the company, now
become the right. In the fire by rank, the firing will commence with
the front rank, now become the rear.
73. To resume the proper front, the instructor will command:
1.
Face by the front rank. 2. Company. 3.
About-FACE.
74. At the first command, the captain, covering
sergeant and file-closers will conform to what is prescribed Nos. 69
and 70.
75. At the third command, the company having faced about, the
captain and covering sergeant will resume their places in line.
76. In this lesson, the instructor will impress on the men the
importance of aiming always at some particular object, and of
holding the pieces as prescribed in the S. S., No. 185.
77. The instructor will recommend to the captain to make a short
pause between the commands aim and fire, to give the men time to aim
with accuracy.
78. The instructor will place himself in position to see the two
ranks, in order to detect faults; lie will charge the captain and
file closers to be equally watchful, and to report to him when the
ranks are at rest. He will remand, for individual instruction, the
men who may be observed to load badly.
79. The instructor will recommend to the soldiers, in the firings,
the highest degree of composure or presence of mind; he will neglect
nothing that may contribute to this end.
80. He will give to the men, as a general
principle, to
maintain, in the direct fire, the left heel in its place, in order
that the alignment of the ranks and files may not be deranged; and
he will verify, by examination, after each exercise in firing, the
observance of this principle.
81. The instructor will observe, in addition to these remarks, all
those which follow.
82. When the firing is executed with cartridges, it is particularly
recommended that the men observe, in uncocking, whether smoke
escapes from the tube, which is a certain indication that the piece
has been discharged; but if, on the contrary, no smoke escapes, the
soldier, in such case, instead of reloading, will pick and prime
again. If, believing the load to be discharged, the soldier should
put a second cartridge in his piece, he ought, at least, to perceive
it in ramming, by the height of the load; and he would be very
culpable should lie put in a third. The instructor will always cause
arms to be inspected after firing with cartridges, in order to
observe if the fault has been committed, of putting three cartridges
without a discharge, in the same piece, in which case the ball screw
will be applied.
83. It sometimes happens, when a cap has missed fire, that the tube
is found stopped tip with a bard, white, and compact powder; in this
case, picking will be dispensed with, and a new cap substituted for
the old one.
LESSON THIRD.
ARTICLE I.
To
Advance in Line of Battle.
84. The
company being in line of battle and correctly aligned, when the
instructor shall wish to exercise it in marching by the front, he
will assure himself that the shoulders of the captain and covering
sergeant are perfectly in the direction of their respective ranks,
and that the sergeant accurately covers the captain; the instructor
will then place himself twenty-five or thirty paces in front of
them, face to the rear, and place himself exactly on the
prolongation of the line passing between their heels.
85. The instructor, being aligned on the directing file, will
command:
1.
Company, forward.
86. At
this, a sergeant, previously designated, will move six paces in
advance of the captain: the instructor, from the position
prescribed, will. correctly align this sergeant on the prolongation
of the directing file.
87. This advanced sergeant, who is to be charged with the direction,
will, the moment his position is assured, take two points on the
ground in the straight line, which would pass between his own and
the heels of the instructor.
88. These dispositions being made, the instructor will step aside,
and command:
2.
MARCH.
89. At
this, the company will step off with life. The directing sergeant
will observe, with the greatest precision, the length and cadence of
the step, marching on the two points he has chosen; he will take, in
succession, and always a little before arriving at the point nearest
to him, new points in advance, exactly in the same line with the
first two, and at the distance of some fifteen or twenty paces from
each other. The captain will march steadily in the trace of the
directing sergeant, keeping always six paces from him; the men will
each maintain the head direct to the front, feel lightly the elbow
of his neighbor on the side of direction, and conform himself to the
principles prescribed in the S. S., for the march by the front.
90. The man next to the captain will take special care not to pass
him; to this end, he will keep the line of his shoulders a little in
the rear, but in the same direction with those of the captain.
91. The file closers will march at the habitual distance of two
paces behind the rear rank.
92. If the men lose the step, the instructor will command:
To
the-- STEP.
93, At this
command the men will glance toward the directing sergeant, retake
the step from him, and again direct their eyes to the front.
94. The instructor will cause the captain and covering sergeant to
be posted sometimes on the right, and sometimes on the left of the
company.
95. The directing sergeant, in advance, having the greatest
influence on the march of the company, he will be selected for the
precision of his step, his habit of maintaining his shoulders in a
square with a given line of direction, and of prolonging that line
without variation.
96. If this sergeant should fail to observe these principles,
undulations in the front of the company must necessarily follow; the
men will be unable to contract the habit of taking steps equal in
length and swiftness, and of maintaining their shoulders in a square
with the line of direction - the only means of attaining perfection
in the march in line.
97. The instructor, with a view the better to establish the men in
the length and cadence of the step, and in the principles of the
march in line, will cause the company to advance three or four
hundred paces, at once, without halting, if the ground will permit.
In the first exercises, he will march the company with open ranks,
the better to observe the two ranks.
98. The instructor will see, with care, that all the principles of
the march in line are strictly observed; he will generally be on the
directing flank, in a position to observe the two ranks, and the
faults they may commit; he will sometimes halt behind the directing
file during some thirty successive steps, in order to judge whether
the directing sergeant, or the directing file, deviate from the
perpendicular.
ARTICLE
II.
To
Halt the Company, Marching in Line of Battle, and to Align it.
99.
The instructor, wishing to halt the company, will command:
1.
Company. 2.
HALT.
100. At the
second command, the company will halt; the directing sergeant will
remain in advance, unless ordered to return to the line of file
closers. The company being at a halt, the instructor may advance the
-first three or four files on the side of direction, and align the
company on that basis, or he may confine himself to causing the
alignment to be rectified. In this last case, he will command: Captain,
rectify the alignment. The
captain will direct the covering sergeant to attend to the rear
rank, when each, glancing his eyes along his rank , will promptly
rectify it, conforming to what is prescribed in the S. S., No. 329.
ARTICLE
III.
Oblique
March in Line of Battle.
101. The
company being in the direct march, when the instructor shall wish to
cause it to march obliquely, he will command:
1.
Right (or left) oblique. 2. MARCH.
102, At the
command march, the
company will take the oblique step. The men will accurately observe
the principles prescribed in the S. S., No. 340. The rear rank men
will preserve their distances, and march in rear of the man next on
the right (or left) of their habitual file leaders.
103. When the instructor wishes the direct march to be resumed, he
will command:
1.
Forward. 2. MARCH.
104. At the
command march, the
company will resume the direct march. The instructor will move
briskly twenty paces in front of the captain, and facing the
company-, will place himself exactly in the prolongation of the
captain and covering sergeant; and then, by a sign, will move the
directing sergeant on the same line, if he be not already on it; the
latter will immediately take two points on the ground between
himself and the instruct-or, and as he advances, will take new
points of direction, as is explained No. 89.
105. In the oblique march, the men not having the touch of elbows,
the guide will always be on the side toward which the oblique is
made, without any indication to that effect being given; and when
the direct march is resumed, the guide will be, equally without
indication, on the side where it was previous to the oblique.
106. The instructor will, at first, cause the oblique to be made
toward the side of the guide. He will also direct the captain to
have an eye on die directing sergeant, in order to keep on the same
perpendicular line to the front with him, while following a parallel
direction.
107. During the continuance of the march, the instructor will be
watchful that the men follow parallel directions, in conforming to
the principles prescribed in the school of the soldier, for
preserving the general alignment; whenever the men lose the
alignment, he will be careful that they regain it by lengthening or
shortening the step, without altering the cadence, or changing the
direction.
108, The instructor will place himself in front of the company and
face to it, in order to regulate the march of the directing
sergeant, or the man who is on the flank toward which the oblique is
made, and to see that the principles of the march are properly
observed, and that the files do not crowd. |
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