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

[Silas]

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

John, the battalion is just moving to the rear by the right of companies. The battalion is not in column. It's more like each individual company is marching to the rear by the right flank; only there are several companies going to the rear at the same time. To reform the battalion into line, each company - at the battalion commander's instruction - performs a "by file left" and halts after completing the manoeuver. In theory, there's your battle line. I suspect there would be a little chaos, but a command of posting the colors forward and commanding, "Guides on the Line," would impose sufficient order out of the chaos.

Morris' method of performing "Forward into Line" is an amazingly simple manoeuver. Look it up in his manual, or you could view it in the revised AoT manual.

[27thNCdrummer]

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

Doug,
The author is talking about regular Confederate battalions in that section, not sharpshooter battalions. On pages 204-205 of the book the author talks about this and also provides an illustration of Confederates in line line of battle.

[LibertyHallVols]

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

Silas,

OK... NOW I understand! Thanks!

[flattop32355]

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

John, the battalion is just moving to the rear by the right of companies. The battalion is not in column. It's more like each individual company is marching to the rear by the right flank; only there are several companies going to the rear at the same time. To reform the battalion into line, each company - at the battalion commander's instruction - performs a "by file left" and halts after completing the manoeuver. In theory, there's your battle line. I suspect there would be a little chaos, but a command of posting the colors forward and commanding, "Guides on the Line," would impose sufficient order out of the chaos.

Take a piece of paper and draw a "battle line" of five companies, one next to the other. Make them of different length, some shorter than the company to the right, some longer.

Now, have them do the manoeuver "By right of companies to the rear". Draw perpendicular lines at each company's right, the same length and longer than the longest company. Now draw the "By File Left" movement, remembering to have each company move the full length of its original part of the line. You'll see overlaps by larger companies onto the one to its right, and gaps in the line when the company is shorter than the one to its right. That line is going to have to be jockyed around a good bit to get it back in a proper line, unless men have been moved from company to company to even out the sizes within the battalion, something that may well have been done.

It seems this is a whole lot easier to do to the front than to the rear.

If after the movement to the rear, the colonel orders "Front, Left Dress, Front", then you would, indeed, have placed the battalion into column, right in front. Then a "Left Backward (Backward Left?) Wheel" would drop the companies back into their original footprint, but to the rear of the original line.

It seems a great deal easier and faster to post the colors to the rear where you want the new line and order "Disperse" followed by "To the Color", or just "To the Color"