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PART
THIRD.
310.
When the recruits are well established in the principles and
mechanism of the step, the position of the body, and the manual of
arms, the instructor will unite eight men, at least, and twelve men,
at most, in order to teach them the principles of alignment, the
principles of the touch of elbows in marching to the front, the
principles of the march by the flank, wheeling from a halt, wheeling
in marching, and the change of direction to the side of the guide..
He will place the squad in one rank elbow to elbow, and number the
men from right to left.
LESSON
I.-ALIGNMENTS.
311.
The instructor will at first teach the recruits to align themselves
man by mail, in order the better to make them comprehend the
principles of alignment; to this end, he will command the two men on
the right fink to march two paces to the front, and having aligned
them, he will caution the remainder of the squad to move up, as they
may be successively called, each by his number, and align themselves
successively on the line of the first two men.
312. Each recruit, as designated by his number, will turn the head
and eyes to the right as proscribed in the first lesson of the first
part, and will march in quick
time two paces forward,
shortening the last, so as to find himself about six inches behind
the new alignment, which he ought never to pass; he will next move
up steadily by steps of two or three inches, the hams extended, to
the side of the man next to him on the alignment, so that, without
deranging the head, the line of the eyes, or that of the shoulders,
he may find himself in the exact line of his neighbor, whose elbow
he will lightly touch without opening his own.
313. The instructor seeing the rank well aligned, will command:
FRONT.
314. At this, the recruits will turn eyes to the front, and remain
firm.
315. Alignments to the left will be executed on the same principles.
316. When the recruit,; shall have thus learned to align themselves
man by man, correctly, and without groping or jostling, the
instructor will cause the entire rank to align itself at once by the
command:
Right
(or left)-
DRESS.
317. At this, the rank, except the two men placed in
advance as, a basis of alignment, will move up in quick time, and
place themselves on the new line, according to the principles
prescribed No. 312.
318. The instructor, placed five or six paces in front, and facing
the rank, will carefully observe that the principles are followed,
and then pass to the flank that has served as the basis, to verify
the, alignment.
319.. The, instructor seeing the greater number of the rank aligned,
will command:
FRONT.
320. The instructor may afterwards order this or
that file forward or back, designating each by its number. The file
or files designated, only, will slightly turn the head towards the
basis, to judge how much they ought to move. up or back, steadily
place themselves on the line, and then turn eyes to the front,
without a particular command to that effect.
321. Alignments to the rear will be executed on the same principles,
the recruits stopping back a little beyond the line, and then
dressing up according to the principles prescribed No. 312, the
instructor commanding:
Right
(or left
) backward-
DRESS.
322. After each alignment, the instructor will
examine the position of the men, and cause the rank to come to
ordered arms, to prevent too much fatigue, and also the danger of
negligence at shouldered arms.
LESSON
II
323.
The men having learned, in the first and second parts, to march with
steadiness in common time, and to take Steps equal in length and
swiftness, will be exercised in the third part only in quick time,
double quick time, and the run; the instructor will cause them to
execute Successively, at these different gaits, the march to the
front, the facing about in marching, the march by the flank, the
wheels at a halt and in marching, and the changes of direction to
the side of the guides.
324. The instructor will inform the recruits that at the command
march, they will always move off in quick time, unless this command
should be preceded by that of do double quick.
To march
to the front.
325. The rank being correctly aligned, when the
instructor shall wish to cause it to march by the front, he will
place a well instructed man on the right or the left, according to
the side on which he may wish the guide to be, and command:
1. Squad,
forward. 2. Guide
right (or left.)
3. MARCH.
326. At the command march, the rank will step off
smartly with the left foot; the guide will take care to march
straight to the front, keeping the shoulders always in a square with
that line.
327. The instructor will observe, in marching to the front, that the
men touch lightly the elbow towards the side of the guide; that they
do not open out the left elbow, nor the right arm ; that they yield
to pressure coming from the side of the aide, and resist that coming
from the opposite side ; that they recover by in. sensible degrees
the slight touch of the elbow, if lost; that they maintain the head
direct to the front, no matter on which side the guide may be; and
if found before or behind the alignment, that the mail in fault
corrects himself by shortening or lengthening the step, by degrees.
almost insensible.
328. The instructor will labor to cause recruits to comprehend that
the alignment can only be preserved, in marching, by the regularity
of the step, the touch of. the elbow, and the maintenance of the
shoulders in a square with the line -of direction ; that if, for
example, the stop of some be longer than that of others, or if some
march faster than others, a separation of elbows, and a loss of the
e alignment, would be inevitable; that if (it being required that
the head should be direct to the front) they do not strictly observe
the touch of elbows, it would be impossible for an individual to
judge whether he marches abreast with his neighbor, or not, and
whether there be not an interval between them.
329. The impulsion of the quick step having a tendency to make men
too easy and free in their movements, the instructor will be careful
to regulate the cadence of this step, and to habituate them to
preserve always the erectness of the body, and the due length of the
pace.
330. The men being well established in the principles of the direct
march, the instructor will exercise them in marching obliquely. The
rank being in march, the instructor will command
1. Right
(or left).
oblique. 2.
-MARCH.
331. At the second command, each man will make a
half face to the right (or left), and will then march straight
forward in the new direction. As the men no longer touch elbows,
they will glance along the shoulders of the nearest files. towards
the side to which they are obliquing, and will regulate their steps
so that the shoulders shall always be behind that of their next
neighbor on that side, and that his head shall conceal the heads of
the other men in the rank. Besides this, the men should preserve the
same length of pace, and the same degree of obliquity.
332. The instructor, wishing to resume the primitive direction, will
command:
1. Forward.
2. MARCH.
333. At the second command, each man will make a
half face to the left (or right), and all will then march straight
to the front, conforming to the principles of the direct march.
To
march to the front in double quick time.
334. When the several principles, heretofore
explained, have become familiar to the recruits, and they shall be
well established in the position of the body, the bearing of arms,
and the mechanism, length, and swiftness of the step, the instructor
will pass them from quick to double quick time, and the reverse,
observing not to make them march obliquely in double quick time.
till they are well established in the cadence of this step.
335. The squad being at a march in quick time, the, instructor will
command:
1. Double
quick. 2.
MARCH.
336. At the command march, which will be given when
either foot is coming to the ground, the squad will step off in
double quick time. The men will endeavor to follow the principles
laid down in the first part of this book, and to preserve the
alignment.
337. When the instructor wishes the squad to resume the step in
quick time, he will command:
1. Quick
time. 2.
MARCH.
338. At the command march, which will be given when
either foot is coming to the ground, the squad will retake the step
in quick time.
339. The squad being in march, the instructor will halt it by the
commands and means prescribed Nos. 98 and 99. The command halt, will
be given an instant before the foot is ready to be placed on the
ground.
340. The squad being in march in double quick time, the instructor
will occasionally cause it I to mark time by the commands prescribed
No. 240. The men will then mark double quick time, without altering
the cadence of the step. He will also cause them to pass from the
direct to the oblique step, and reciprocally, conforming to what has
been prescribed No. 330, and following.
341. The squad being at a halt, the instructor will cause it to
march in double quick time, by preceding the command march, by
double quick.
342. The instructor will endeavor to regulate well the cadence of
this step.
To
face about in marching.
343. If the squad be marching in quick, or double
quick time, and the instructor should wish to march it in retreat,
he will command:
1. Squad
right about.
2. MARCH.
344. At the command march, which will be given at
the instant the left foot is coming to the ground, the recruit will
bring this foot to the ground, and turning on it, will face to the
rear; he will then place the right foot in the new direction, and
step off with the left foot.
To march
backwards.
345. The squad being at a halt, if the instructor
should wish to march it in the back step, he will command:
1. Squad
backward. 2. Guide
left (or right).
3. MARCH.
346. The back step will be executed by the means
prescribed No. 247.
347. The instructor, in this step, will be watchful that the men do
not lean on each other.
348. As the march to the front in quick time should only be executed
at shouldered arms, the instructor, in order not to fatigue the men
too much, and also to prevent negligence in gait and position, will
halt the squad from time to time, and cause arms to be ordered.
349. In marching at double quick time, the men will always carry
their pieces on the right shoulder or at a trail. This
rule is general.
350. If the instructor shall wish the pieces carried at a trail, he
will give the command trail arms, before the command double quick.
If, on the Contrary, this command be not given, the men will shift
their pieces to the right shoulder at the command double quick. In
either case, at the command halt, the men will bring their pieces to
the position of shoulder arms. This
rule is general.
LESSON
III.-THE MARCH BY THE FLANK.
351.
The rank being at a halt, and correctly aligned, the instructor will
command:
1. Squad,
right-FACE. 2.
Forward.
3. MARCH.
352. At the last part of the first command, the rank
will face to the right; the even numbered men, after facing to the
right, will step quickly to the right side of the odd numbered men,
the latter standing fast, so that when the movement is executed, the
men will be formed into files of two men abreast.
353. At the third command, the squad will step off smartly with the
left foot; the files keeping aligned, and preserving their
intervals.
354. The march by the left flank will be executed by the same
commands, substituting the word left for right, and by inverse
Means; in this case, the even numbered men, after facing to the
left, will stand fast, and the odd numbered will place themselves on
their left.
355. The instructor will place a well-instructed soldier by the side
of the recruit who is at the head of the rank, to regulate the step,
and to conduct him; and it will be enjoined on this recruit to march
always elbow to elbow with the soldier.
356. The instructor will cause to be observed in the march, by the
flank, the following rules:
That
the step be executed according to the principles prescribed for the
direct
step ;
Because these principles, without which men, placed
elbow to elbow, in the same rank, cannot preserve unity and harmony
of movement, are of a more necessary observance in marching in file.
That
the head of the man who immediately precedes, covers the heads
of all
who are in front;
Because it is the most certain rule by which each
man may maintain himself in the exact line of the file.
357. The instructor will place himself habitually five or six paces
on the flank of the rank marching in file, to watch over the
execution of the principles prescribed above. He will also place
himself sometimes in its rear, halt, and suffer it to pass fifteen
or twenty paces, the better to see whether the men cover each other
accurately.
358. When he shall wish to halt the rank, marching by the flank, and
to cause it to face to the front, he will command:
1. Squad.
2. HALT. 3. FRONT.
359. At the second command, the rank will halt, and
afterwards no man will stir, although he may have lost his distance.
This' prohibition is necessary, to habituate the men to a constant
preservation of their distances.
360. At the third command, each man will front by facing to the
left, if marching by the right flank, and by a face to the right, if
marching by the left flank. The rear rank men will at the same time
move quickly into their places, so as to form the squad again into
one rank.
361. When the men have become accustomed to marching by the
flank, the instructor will cause them to change direction by file
for this purpose, he will command:
1. By
file left (or right).
2. MARCH.
362. At the command march, the first file will
change direction to the left (or right) in describing a small are of
a circle, and will then march straight forward; the two men of this
file, in wheeling, will keep up the touch of the elbows, and the man
on the side to which the wheel is made, will shorten the first three
or four steps. Each file will come successively to wheel on the same
spot where that which preceded it wheeled.
363. The instructor will also cause the squad to face by the right
or left flank in marching, and for this purpose will command:
1. Squad
by the right
(or left)
flank.
2. MARCH.
364. At the second command, which will be given a
little before either foot comes to the ground, the recruits will
turn the body, plant the foot that is raised in the new direction,
and step off with the other foot without altering the cadence of the
step; the men will double or undouble rapidly.
365. If, in facing by the right or left flank, the squad should face
to the rear, the men will, come into one rank, agreeably to the
principles indicated No. 360. It is to be remarked that it is
the men who are in rear who always move up to form into single rank
and in such manner as never to invert the order of the numbers in
the rank.
366. If, when the squad has been faced to the rear, the instructor
should cause, it to face by the left flank, it is the even numbers
who will double by moving to the left of the odd numbers; but if by
the right flank, it is the odd numbers who will double to the right
of the even numbers.
.367. This lesson, like the preceding one, will be practiced with
pieces at a shoulder; but the instructor may, to give relief by
,Change, occasionally order support arms, and he will require of the
recruits marching in this position, as much regularity as in the
former.
The
march by the flank in double quick time.
368. The principles of the march by the flank in
double quick time, are the same as in quick time. The instructor
will give the commands prescribed No. 351, taking care always to
give the command double quick before that of march.
369. He will pay the greatest attention to the cadence of the step.
370. The
instructor will cause the change of direction, and the march by the
flank, to be executed in double quick time, by the same commands,
and according to the same principles as in quick time.
371. The instructor will cause the pieces to be carried either on
the right shoulder or at a trail.
372. The instructor will sometimes march the squad by the flank,
without doubling the files.
373. The principles of this march are the same as in two ranks, and
it will always be executed in quick time.
374. The instructor will give the commands prescribed No. 351, but
he will be careful to caution the squad not to double files.
375. The instructor will be watchful that the men do not bend their
knees unequally, which would cause them to tread on the heels of the
men in front, and also to lose the cadence of the step and their
distance-,.
376. The various movements in this lesson will be executed in single
rank. In the changes of direction, the leading man will change
direction without altering the length or the cadence of the step.
The instructor will recall to the attention of the men, that in
facing by the right or left flank in marching, they will not double,
but march in one rank. |
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