Marching

[Parault]

I was reading out of my 1863 Infantry Tactics and came across this;


Time- The regular cadence in marching. Common time is 90 steps to the minute;quick time, 110; double quick,165.


My question is this. To my knowledge I have not ever heard this command of quick time. It is " Foward March! ",my favorite,"Route step!!" " At the double quick!!" Is this just a reenactorism just to only use one of these three?

[BrianHicks]

Re: Marching

See School of the Soldier Part I, Lesson III, para. 101 in Hardee's, or Lesson III, para. 108 in Casey's. This paragraph details when the use of Common Time will be utilized.

Para. 103 in Hardee's, and para. 110 in Casey's will indicate which verbal command is to be given when you desire the men to move at 'Quick' time.

To have the men move at the 'Double Quick' see para110 in Hardee's and para. 117 in Casey's for the proper verbal command.

[BrianHicks]

Re: Marching

Concerning the Route Step, see the School of the Company, Lesson VI, Article III, paras 311-317 in Casey's.

[1stMaine]

Re: Marching

Comrade,

As opposed to the "Georgia Quickstep", which you should see the Doctor about.....

Or the "Bull Run Route Step", wherein interested parties should make their enquiries directly to General McDowell...

Respects,

[Silas]

Re: Marching

"At the double quick!!" Is this just a reenactorism just to only use one of these three?

It's use it perpetuated by reenactors who have learned their drill from movies like Gettysburg and Glory instead of cracking a manual.

[Bob 125th NYSVI]

Re: Marching

for me a much more basic question is how many officers actually march their unit at a pace of exactly 90 steps per minute?

And then of course for the fellows in the rank how long is each of those 90 steps supposed to be?

I don't know who many times the midgets in the back have yelled for us long strided types up front to slow down (we have a tall officer so it works for us tall guys).

I have seen one leader (a band leader) actually try to measure the length of his stride. He looks like he's walking with a duck up his .......

There is no way an combat unit would copy his stride on parade.

[john duffer]

Re: Marching

"And then of course for the fellows in the rank how long is each of those 90 steps supposed to be?"


28"

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Marching

If you drilled four hours a day for a few weeks on end, you might very well learn to maintain a rythm of 110 paces a minute, especially if you had decent drummers.

Some friends of mine and I tried the same experiment with the length of the pace. We found out that if you just stand with your feet apart at the regulation distance you do feel and look a bit like Groucho.

However, if you try it walking, matching your stride to several paces marked on the ground beforehand, it comes off quite naturally and everything begins to make sense. In the same way, the manual of arms, which at first seems stylized and ceremonial, quickly shows itself to be the most practical way to kill people with the available technology.

Being a good infantryman of the time was something of a craft skill, and reflected the practical lessons of three and a half centuries of combat with firearms. The manuals were written for men who would study that craft and be, literally, deadly serious about their work. Most of us may find the texts difficult, even incomprehensible, but it's important to remember that we're not the audience they were written for.

[Charles Heath]

Re: Marching

Lime and chalk are your friends. As an aside, I remember when metronomes were a bit pricey, but with the advent of digital metronomes folks are dumping the old ones on eBay, and the prices are quite reasonable.

[nrandolph]

Re: Marching

Yeah, metronomes. I've had a close association with one for about 35 years, since I'm a musician and a band director (the two don't necessarily always go together!). One thing about marching tempos, without a musical beat of some sort, that constantly bothers me, is the movement of the men to "forward march' at about 120 - 126. Maybe that has something to do with our modern life's pace, or modern military training, etc. But, if you listen to tempos between European marches and American marches, there's generally a difference of anywhere from 16 -24 beats per minute between the styles.

Neil Randolph
1st WV

[Parault]

Re: Marching

"Being a good infantryman of the time was something of a craft skill, and reflected the practical lessons of three and a half centuries of combat with firearms. The manuals were written for men who would study that craft and be, literally, deadly serious about their work. Most of us may find the texts difficult, even incomprehensible, but it's important to remember that we're not the audience they were written for."


Good point Mr. Schaffner

[Bob 125th NYSVI]

Re: Marching

"And then of course for the fellows in the rank how long is each of those 90 steps supposed to be?"


28"

So being a tall galoot my 'natural stride' is about 6-8" too long.

However as a private my job is to maintain formation not decide if the officer is maintaining the right length of stride and pace.

Heck even though we're leaving the midgets in the dust it might actually be a 28" stride he's setting since unless we're in "route step" I find I have to shorten my stride otherwise I'm going to be parrellel with the first sargent in just a few moments.

[Bob 125th NYSVI]

True

Being a good infantryman of the time was something of a craft skill, and reflected the practical lessons of three and a half centuries of combat with firearms. The manuals were written for men who would study that craft and be, literally, deadly serious about their work. Most of us may find the texts difficult, even incomprehensible, but it's important to remember that we're not the audience they were written for.

But then I do remember reading (not related to the Civil War) about how there was quite a bit of discussion in the French Army about the proper tempo, even to the point they were arguing over 1 step per minute.

The manual reflects the 'opinions' of the army they were written for as to the proper way to do things. The CSA used a different manual of arms than the Union and they both used different ones from the Europeans to reflect differences in equipment and philosophy.

The manual was not written in stone nor unchangeable nor always correct.

BUT it is the manual and we have to perform the 'correct' one for our impression.

[john duffer]

Re: Marching

Just for reference, the 1845 ORDONNANCE DU ROI that HARDEE'S 1855 is taken from has:

le pas ordinaire (pas d'ecole) 76 paces @ 65 cm (25.6")

le pas accelere 110 paces @ 65 cm

le pas gymnastique 165 paces @ 83 cm (32.7")

Like Hardee, the French only use the slow pace for training.

[ephraim_zook]

Re: Marching

The Pacestick: Something that never caught on in the American military

Ron Myzie