Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

[27thNCdrummer]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

I forgot about doing that Andy.

Also, if you were to get the battalion back into line the way I suggested it would be battalion into line, not company into line, right?

[Boy of '61]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

I forgot about doing that Andy.

Also, if you were to get the battalion back into line the way I suggested it would be battalion into line, not company into line, right?

If you were in column of companies, as that is what I think you are saying, then the command would be Left into line, wheel, March. Now this only works if you are deploying to the left from the column of companies.

[27thNCdrummer]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

Ok I see Andy.

[Norsk]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

To deploy a column of companies Right in front to a halted line of battle to the left the order would be Left into line wheel, March

To deploy into a moving line to the left the order would be by companies left wheel march. as the wheels are near completion the battalion commander commands forward march, guide center.

to deploy forward from a halt the order would be forward into line, by company left half wheel, march. The First company procedes forward to the new line and haults. The rest of the companies do a left half wheel then march forwadrd untill they clear the left flank of the company to their right then the company comander orders right turn march and they move up into line.

To deploy to the right the order is On the right into line, guide right march. The 1st company does a right turn into line and the rest of the companies march forward untill they clear the left flank of the company to their right then do a right turn int line.

Ben Quie
2nd Minnesota

[Boy of '61]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

To deploy a column of companies Right in front to a halted line of battle to the left the order would be Left into line wheel, March

To deploy into a moving line to the left the order would be by companies left wheel march. as the wheels are near completion the battalion commander commands forward march, guide center.

to deploy forward from a halt the order would be forward into line, by company left half wheel, march. The First company procedes forward to the new line and haults. The rest of the companies do a left half wheel then march forwadrd untill they clear the left flank of the company to their right then the company comander orders right turn march and they move up into line.

To deploy to the right the order is On the right into line, guide right march. The 1st company does a right turn into line and the rest of the companies march forward untill they clear the left flank of the company to their right then do a right turn int line.

Ben Quie
2nd Minnesota

Ben,

You are correct on the commands above for when the column is moving and also to the front and right. In my answer, I was assuming that the column was already at the halted. Are you going to spring muster, looks like it will be a bully of a time.

[flattop32355]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

The easiest way to get the battalion back into line facing the original direction after being ordered By the right of company to the rear or moving to the rear is for the Battalion Commander to order By file left, March. Then each company would file in behind each other and by moving as if by the right flank. Then to get back to line you can either halt the line, front and dress on the center or if you want to keep moving you can give the order by the left flank. It would be preferred to use the first method I stated so that you can make sure that everybody is alined and on the same page.

You can also give the order right about, march and then By company into line. Doing this would depend on the knowledge of the men under your command because after the right about march, the companies will be inverted and the by company into line would not be the normal way practice in re-enacting. Normally the men would swing out to the left and fill in the line but with the company inverted they would swing out to the right to fill the line in. This would probably be a hard maneuver to perform so I would use the first one I said.

While I agree that all suggestions will place the men re-facing to the original front in proper order, it seems to me that they still have the problem of reforming the line shifted to the right of the battalion's original footprint in the original battle line. It also seems that if a company's front is wider than that of the one to its immediate right, it would end up overlapping its right with that other company's left, and if shorter than the company to its immediate right, would leave a gap in the line between them.

It do get complicated, do it not?

[Boy of '61]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

While I agree that all suggestions will place the men re-facing to the original front in proper order, it seems to me that they still have the problem of reforming the line shifted to the right of the battalion's original footprint in the original battle line. It also seems that if a company's front is wider than that of the one to its immediate right, it would end up overlapping its right with that other company's left, and if shorter than the company to its immediate right, would leave a gap in the line between them.

It do get complicated, do it not?

Yes it can be complicated. My suggested use of by file left to get into line comes from Dom Dal Bello. I had thought about the same thing with the battalion line shifting.

[27thNCdrummer]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

My brain hurts!

What is the right about march like?

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

My suggested use of by file left to get into line comes from Dom Dal Bello.

Could you clarify this statement a bit? Dom is a reenactor and might not be the best source to cite as the reason for or against a certain practice.

This is not a slam, as you may have a point... but citing a reenactor is what leads to, well... reenactorisms.

Thanks!

[Silas]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

John, the manoeuver is found in Morris' School of the Battalion at pages 49-50. It's an 1865 manual and Morris was a general officer in the Army of the Potomac. Here's the link to the manoeuver : http://books.google.com/books?id=-mo...cover#PPA49,M1 Page 49 is the retreat. Page 50 is how the line can be easily reformed at the rear. My recollection is that Dom cited Morris' 1865 manual as a reference.

I've mentioned Morris' manual and this very manoeuver in a previous thread.

I forgot to mention that I've included this manoeuver in the revised manual of battalion drill for the AoT. As there is no drawing from Morris, I created one by inverting the drawing he made for forming the battalion into line from "By the Right of Companies to the Front" and adding a few arrows to mark the directions troops should be marching. Text of this incredibly easy manoever is as noted in Morris' manual as cited or in the AoT manual at page 25 for the text and page 47 (at the bottom of the page) for the drawing. Here's the link to the revised manual of battalion drill for the AoT which anyone can download for free.

With my battalion, I'm intending to teach and apply some practical, overlooked battalion drill at High Tide. This is one of manoeuvers. My hope is that folks will take some of these forgotten gems back to their usual companies and battalions where they can be further implemented. So, if you're looking for a home at High Tide and you want to do something a little different, space can be found for you and your pards.

[RJSamp]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

John, the manoeuver is found in Morris' School of the Battalion at pages 49-50. It's an 1865 manual and Morris was a general officer in the Army of the Potomac. Here's the link to the manoeuver : http://books.google.com/books?id=-mo...cover#PPA49,M1 Page 49 is the retreat. Page 50 is how the line can be easily reformed at the rear. My recollection is that Dom cited Morris' 1865 manual as a reference.

.

Good stuff Silas. We used exactly that manuever in the G135 Wheatfield scenario.....we did this about 10 times....pulling back 100+ yards each time, passing THROUGH a supporting brigades battle line (they simply opened up a couple of files and let us through), filing left, halt, front.....then we waited until the other brigade passed through our lines and then resumed firing. And yes Bernard, you offset your battalion position by the length of one company each time. we did this a couple of times in '4's'......after sustaining casualties we did it without doubling.

If you want a quote on where this was used....take a look at Graham's and Humphrey's retreats from the Peach Orchard salient on July 2nd 1863. Pfanz Second Day book can point you to the original source material.

Morris' cites doing this when NOT under fire...but expediency and prior drill may have been the better part of valor.

There's another quote in the Pfanz book about how a brigade under fire actually performed this manuever (I think this is Graham's New Yorker's).

1. Put the color guard and colors 50-100 yards to the rear.
2. Have your bugler sound To The Color from the vicinity of the Flag.
3. Have the men double time/run and reform on the new battalion line.
4. About Face, Commence Firing, Load, Load At Will.

It sure isn't pretty like all of these breaking files and 2nd Sergeant's controlling the wheel pivot point and all that.....
but what was done in Actual Battlefield practice had little to do with drill field prettiness......

our reenacting battle lines and evolutions under 'fire' are much too pretty/aligned/by the book


BTW Silas, I know you tested us on "Column of Fours".....Morris' is the manual I use to cite it's contemporary use....it's chalk full of references to it.....start with pages 27 and 28. So the next time someone states that it's marching by the flank, not a column of 4's, you simply say HOOIE (or better yet, Morris).

[27thNCdrummer]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

but what was done in Actual Battlefield practice had little to do with drill field prettiness......

our reenacting battle lines and evolutions under 'fire' are much too pretty/aligned/by the book

I agree completely with RJ here. We are to pretty drilling when we are "under fire".

If you read Shock Troops of the Confederacy the author talks about how by 1864-1865 some Confederate units were not even using an actual battle line in engagements but were actually spreading out into one rank to spare themselves some of the enemy fire. These guys weren't dumb!

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

Silas,
Thanks for the reference!

Anyone,
Let me see if I understand this: So, after the battalion has executed "By the Right of Companies to the Rear into Column", the battalion is in column, right in front, at full wheeling distance.

So, the proposed method of returning to the original line (per Morris, 1865, cited by Andy and Silas) is the face each company to the left and march, by files left. Essentially, performing the "...to the rear into column" maneuver in reverse.

...is this correct?

[DougCooper]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

I think we need to be careful with the notion that drill prettiness is separate from what they really did under fire. Its a matter of training and discipline. EVERYTHING they performed in the school of the battalion on the drill field had some practical application on the battelfield. Until they could do those manuevers, a unit would be hard pressed to do the short cuts as described in the action of July 2 at Gettysburg. CONTROL of troops is a central tenant of the tactics we use - especially for new recruits and new officers. Veterans can perform these manuevers. "Follow the flag" was a very common tenant of close combat, but it does not relieve us from the burden of learning the correct manuevers and doing it right on the drill field.

We are not veterans - we need to walk before we can run. That develops the confidence and the smarts to do the short cuts.

The short cuts are generally an expedient when under fire or when promptness is required.

As for Andrew's comments on Shock Troops of the Confederacy: there is a world of difference between sharpshooters and skirmishers vs battalions and brigades in line as maneuver units. The former does not win battles, the latter does. Remember the point of linear tactics - its to get the maximum firepower on the enemy immediately, not to avoid casualties.

John this is great stuff, keep em coming.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Drill Bits: By the Right of Company to the Rear Into Column

To Doug's point (as well as RJ's)...
I think there is a vast difference between the parade ground and the battalfield of 186X. However, I would imagine there is also a vast difference between the reaction of real soldiers drilled ad infinitum/ad nauseum on the battlefield of 186X as compared to the reaction of reenactors on the (ehem) "battlefield" at a reenactment today.

I think proficiency in drill is another way to imerse ourselves in things that, while second nature to the Civil War soldier, are nearly a lost art in the 21st Century. I really dig drill and I always have!

Thanks, Doug... But, strictly speaking, Mr. Turner gets credit for this one! ;)