Old Color Guard Article

[zouave114]

Anyone know how or where I can track down the old Camp Chase Gazette article describing the composition of the Color Guard and it's duties, which cross-referenced the major period manuals including Casey's, Hardee's and Scotts?

[Silas]

Re: Old Color Guard Article

You might consider doing some of the research yourself by comparing the various manuals yourself. You'll learn more by comparing original text than reviewing an article. You might even come to some different conclusions than those stated in the old article. (I remember reading it, but don't recall much of it because the info has been replaced with other minutae. I don't recall anything earth shattering about the article.)

You don't have to own any of the manuals to do your own research because one of the cranky, know-it-all moderators has an extensive links page containing just more manuals than you've likely heard of. Perform a search using the words : drill and the name of that moderator. You'll find the page.

Now if I could just remember than name of that old crank ...

[JohnTaylorCW]

Re: Old Color Guard Article

Do read the cranky moderator's pages, because he has really great stuff in there, including a decent selection of the manuals cited below....

meanwhile, this may be what you're looking for.

http://www.47thva.org/pages/articles/colorguard.html

[VetUSMC08]

Re: Old Color Guard Article

Where can I find Color Guard manuals? Are they available on-line anywhere by any chance?

Aaron Rowland

[Silas]

Re: Old Color Guard Article

There isn't any manual I've seen which is devoted specifically to color guard. The advice from the 47th Va looks pretty good to me.

A further suggestion is that you review LeGal's School of the Guides. The link I just provided is to a text version I put online. Here's a link to a scanned copy of LeGal. Using the text version, you can use your search function and pop down to every time the word, color, is used. It pops up many times. When you compare sections in LeGal to sections of the Big Three manuals, you'll find that sometimes LeGal is the only one who detailed info about what the guard should be doing.

LeGal is a great manual nco's and line officers as it contains solid tips and suggestions. Unfortunately, it is very much overlooked by the bulk of reenactors who tend to focus only upon the one manual used by their company/battalion for drill.

[Tom Ezell]

Re: Old Color Guard Article

If we're thinking of the same old CCG article, it was written by one of their former "intrepid correspondents" and mostly bogus. So you won't miss anything.

As Cousin Silas said, there's no drill manual for the Color Guard. The Guard is typically taken under the wing of the sergeant major of adjutant, but is supposed to be made up of experienced, tried-and-true sergeants and corporals... not just any old Joe Snuffy.

As for manuevering, the Guard works in concert with the left and right general guides to mark the Line when the battalion is in line of battle, but in most maneuvers and when marching by the flank, the color guard falls in on the left flank of the right center, or color company, and maneuvers, wheels, doubles, etc just like it was the leftmost squad of that company. The left guide of the color company falls in and covers to the left of the guard, again just like they're the leftmost squad of his company.

Many reenactors get confused and try to use the modern practice set forth in the U.S. Army's FM 22-5, Drill and Ceremonies, but these instructions are many wars and more than half a century away from the War of the Rebellion.

[VetUSMC08]

Re: Old Color Guard Article

So am I correct in assuming that the color guard would function differently from unit to unit then?

[Tom Ezell]

Re: Old Color Guard Article

So am I correct in assuming that the color guard would function differently from unit to unit then?

Lord god, no....

Even way back then there was the Army Way. Battalions didn't exist in a vacuum by themselves, they were parts of brigades, brigades were parts of divisions, divisions were parts of corps, corps were parts of field armies.

And at every level there was somebody appointed to make sure everybody adhered to the Army Way of doing things. It is not a culture that cultivates a hell of a whole lot of individualism.

[cprljohnivey]

Re: Old Color Guard Article

When forming company, the colory gurard forms with the rest of the color company and counts off with them. The third rank of the color guard (if there is one) falls in the line of file closers. They are a part of that company in all form and function except thier job is to guard the flag and act as a center guide (working with the left and right general guides) when marching to the front.

[VetUSMC08]

Re: Old Color Guard Article

Good point Tom, thanks. Its pretty apparent that I did not think that response through very clearly, seeing as how I just got out of the Marines a couple years ago.

Aaron Rowland