In each rank, count...

[79th N.Y.S.M.]

Re: In each rank, count...

I would think not, because "Right Dress" and "Front" is the same command.
"Right Dress" means the company is doing something. "Front" calls the back to attention. (not that they were not before)

[markj]

Re: In each rank, count...

Hi,

Here's an extract from a letter I posted elsewhere that may be of some interest to you. This was written by a company officer of the 19th Illinois in early 1862:

"Before leaving Company matters, I will mention some other little matters that may interest you. When the Companies are wanted to turn out on drill or parade the Assembly is played by the Band. Upon hearing this the Orderly Sergeant goes to the Company quarters and calls on the men to fall in. After waiting a sufficient length of time he calls the roll...those not present are marked as such, and are concidered good subjects for extra duty...he next causes them to right & count off in twos & whole numbers from right to left...divides them into Plattoons & sections. Placing corporals on the right & left of each, he then sends for me...as I approach the company he commands Present Arms...at the same time he raises his left hand as his right shoulder touching the musket held there, and informs me that the company is ready. I return the salute and then give the command, Shoulder Arms, cause them to right face & take them wherever they are wanted...."

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[sauguszouave]

Re: In each rank, count...

Two things that drive me nuts in counting are, men who scream their numbers, and men who rush the count. There is no prize for being the loudest company or the fastest company. In drill, the prize goes to the most precise company.

“The Orderly, as soon as he has posted his Corporals and faced his sections and platoons, as above, will command:

In each rank, Count- TWOS.

At this order, the First Corporal and the man behind him will each count ‘One,’ the men of the next file will each count ‘Two,’ the next file ‘One,’ the next ‘Two,’ and so on, down the line.

[illustration of a numbered line in two ranks omitted]

Pronounce the numbers distinctly, as nearly as possible in the same tone with the rest, without turning the head, and in time; that is, the counting should be regular, like the falling of the feet in marching at quick time.

At first there may be mistakes made in counting, although there need be none, if all give strict attention. It should be understood that it is a disgrace [emphasis in original] to a man to miss his number. To miss indicates carelessness or dullness. If a mistake is made, the Orderly will command, Cease Counting, and cause the count to be begun again.”

-- Taylor, N. W. Root, Infantry Tactics for Schools. New York and Chicago: A. S. Barnes & Company, 1862. pp. 58-59.

In other words, counting twos should sound just like a pair of drill instructors counting cadence for a quick march. If you don’t rush, everyone has time to think what their number is without having to glance to the right, and the front rank and rear rank man sound off at the same time. If you don’t shout, everyone can concentrate on their number instead of their volume, and the count sound uniform as it goes down the line. The result is military precision. To paraphrase the French, “Cadence, tojour cadence!”

Regards,

Paul Kenworthy

[dusty27]

Re: In each rank, count...

I would think not, because "Right Dress" and "Front" is the same command.
"Right Dress" means the company is doing something. "Front" calls the back to attention. (not that they were not before)

Richard, what are you referring to here? The two commands are not "the same command". "Right Dress" aligns the company and during the that alignment, the men face slightly in the direction of the alignment, in this case right.

"Front" instructs them to face forward after dressing.

I don't understand your statements above....

[Greg Renault]

Re: In each rank, count...

Jim,

"They all say where the placement of the corporals should be when its finished and then explain how to form in two ranks and count.

Where does it state how/when the platoon break corporals are placed/moved?Most units I've seen move individuals around after the company is formed in two ranks and then they count."

You're right. All the major manuals mention to divide the company into platoons after they've already told you to number the files. As you imply, inserting the corporals at the ends of the platoons would shift some men around, so the files would have to be renumbered. We've all experienced this.

The obvious sequence is for the company to fall in in one rank, then form in two ranks on the left per Gilham or Scott, insert the corporals, then number the files.

Cooper is the only one to explicitly provide us with this sequence:

Formation of the Company.

The company being assembled on its ground, the sergeants, by the command fall in, cause the rank and file (corporals and privates) to form in one rank, faced to the right, and in the order of height from right to left, the tallest man on the right, (now head of the rank), the next tallest immediately covering the first, and so on to the left, or rear of the rank.

The first sergeant then gives the words:

FRONT-FACE.-At the word FACE, the company faces to the front, and the second sergeant places himself on the left of the rank.

IN TWO RANKS, FORM COMPANY.

BY THE LEFT FLANK. LEFT-FACE.

At the word FACE, the company faces to the left, except the sergeant and the man on the left, who stand fast.

MARCH.-At the word MARCH, the men who have faced to the left, step off together; the second man counting from the left, places himself behind the man next to the sergeant, and faces to the front; the two following men, in like manner, on closing up, form the next file, and all the other men come successively to form files two deep, to the right of those already formed. The distance between the ranks is thirteen inches, measured from the breasts of the rear-rank men to the backs or knapsacks, (if they be on) of the front-rank men.

The captain now divides the company into two equal platoons, and each platoon into two equal sections. The platoon on the right is called the first platoon, and that on the left the second platoon. The sections are numbered from right to left, first, second, third fourth. The corporals (four in number) are then placed on the left and right of each platoon, in the front rank according to height, and the files are numbered from right to left.

A couple of speculations:

(1) In the major ACW manuals we are directed to "number the files" and to "form platoons/place corporals", but not necessarily in that order. The major manuals do not explicitly state that you are to "number files then form platoons". Common sense would dictate otherwise. Just as Hardee and Casey assume you know how to form a company in two ranks (but Scott, Cooper & Gilham tell you how to do so), maybe they assume officers will be bright enough to number the files in the company after they're done shifting the men about.

(2) This is more a reenactor concern than anything else. Remember, these military units routinely assembled in their formations several times a day, every day of the year. You know your place in the formation, and your file number. This is why Gilham says, in a footnote to his directions on forming the company:

(When the company is in good discipline, the files may be formed in two ranks at once, each man having his proper number in the company depending upon his height, and being able to take his appropriate place without creating confusion.)

Reenacting units are more like militia--you never know who will show up, so you have more of a need for an explicit method for forming the company. Note that two of the three manuals that explain how to size and form the company were intended for militia and volunteers. The regulars already know how do do it. And if they need instructions, there is Scott (whose manual was still in effect at the outset of the ACW).

Fred: The section you quote from Casey does not address the initial process of forming the company. Rather, it is concerned with changing the company formation from double to single rank, and back again. The same language can be found in the respective sections of the School of the Company in all major ACW manuals. Casey, like Hardee, just assumes you know how to form up. The very first lesson in Casey's School of the Company states:

4. The company will always be formed in two ranks. The men will take their places in ranks as prescribed in No. 15 Title I., and without any preliminary formation [my emphasis]. The instructor will then cause the files to be numbered....

So there's no way that the passage you quote could be addressing the topic of this thread.

By the way, I also HATE it when guys around me yell when counting off.