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| Extracts from Cooper's Manual for the Militia & Volunteers (1849) | ||||
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ENTERED according to an act of Congress, in the year 1845, by ALEXANDER MACOMB & S. COOPER, in the clerk's office of the district court of the District of Columbia.
In this country, the Militia, from the nature of the government, must be depended on principally for repelling sudden invasions, and suppressing domestic insurrections: it ought, therefore, to be properly organized and instructed in order to be effectual for those purposes. The great difficulty in the way of its becoming properly instructed, has thus far been the want of a simple and uniform system of instruction-one easily to be comprehended and readily applied. The books published for the regular army are too voluminous and diffuse to supply this want; and the various works compiled as a substitute, are all more or less objectionable.
The present volume is intended to remove the difficulty as far as practicable. It embraces the substance of all our systems of tactics, whether for the Infantry of the Line, the Light Infantry, the Riflemen, the Artillery, or the Cavalry, together with such parts of the regulations relative to camp and garrison duties, parades, reviews, and inspections, as may be necessary to the Militia
As the same general principles regulate the tactics applicable to the different arms of service, those for the Infantry which constitute the main body of an army, are alone laid down at large.
Artillery and Cavalry should be instructed as Infantry, in order to act, when separated from their guns and horses.
The Artillery instruction in this work, embraces the service of the piece, and in the maneuvres in the field and in the batteries; that for the Cavalry, from "the mounting horse" to the maneuvres in squadron.
The words of command given by the instructor who represents the commanding officer, are printed in capitals; those of the subordinate officers in italics.
PART I.
INFANTRY TACTICS.
The words of command given by the instructor, (who represents the commander,) are printed in CAPITAL letters.
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Position of the soldier Facings The direct step The oblique step Manual of arms Firings The direct fire The oblique fire The fire by file Alignments To march to the front The quick step To march the back step To march by the flank To halt and face to the front Marching by a flank, to change directions Marching by the front, to march by a flank Wheelings Turning To stack arms To resume arms
Formation of the company To pass from two ranks into one rank Posts of officers and others in column To open ranks Alignments in open ranks To close ranks To fire by company To fire by file To fire by the rear rank To advance in line To halt and align the company The oblique march in line To retire in line To halt and face to the front To march by the flank To change direction by file To halt and face to the front To form by file on right or left To form by company or by platoon into line Marching by the front, to march by the flank Marching in column by platoons, to march by the flank in the same direction To break from line into column by platoon To march in column To change direction To halt the column and wheel it into line To diminish and increase front of column in marching To diminish and increase front of column by files To march in column of route Countermarch Marching in column of platoons, to form on right or left into line Manual of arms for sergeants and corporals Manual of the sword for officers Colour-salute Instructions for the drum-major
Formation of a regiment or battalion in order of battle To open ranks To close ranks Manual of Arms Loadings and firings To stack and resume arms Manner of determining a line Movements
No. 1. To break to the right into column
2. To break to the right to march to the left
3. To break to the rear into column
4. To ploy into close column or mass
5. To ploy into column doubled on the centre
9. To halt the battalion and to align it
11. To halt the battalion and face it to the front
13. To pass a defile in retreat
2. To change direction in marching
4. To form to the left into line
5. To form line to the right, by inversion
7. To form to the front into line
8. To form into line faced to the rear
9, 10. To form into line by two movements
No. 1. To form open column by the head
2. To form open column on the rear
3. To form open column on the head
4. To change direction in marching
5. To change direction from a halt
7. To form division from company
8. To deploy on first division
9. To deploy on fourth division
10. To deploy on an intermediate division
Movements from column doubled on centr
No. 1. To form line to the front
Rules for maneuvring by the rear rank
To deploy a battalion as skirmishers
To rally the battalion deployed as skirmishers
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