A Treatise on Drill and Man Uvres of Cavalry Combined with Horse Artillery (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. BREAKING INTO COLUMN FROM LINE: PRESENT SYSTEMS. Columns Columns commencing at the lowest or smallest frontage of Route. are as iollows: Single files, or a column with a frontage of one file, in which each rear rank man follows his file leader of the front rank. Files, or two in front, In our service the rear rank man is in line with and beside his front rank man. In the French service two front rank files are in line, with their rear rank men behind them. Threes (called by us sections of threes). A column of three in front, each three of the front rank being followed by their respective rear rank men. Fours (colonne par quatre). Used in the French and other services, but not in ours. In this formation four men are in front, each four of the front rank followed by their respective rear rank men. Sixes (called by us threes), being three of the front rank in line with the corresponding three of the rear rank, making a front of six men abreast. Eights (or mouvement par quatre). This column is used in the French service, but not in ours; and, aswith our threes, the rear rank fours are abreast of the front rank fours. Up to this point the columns are generally denominated Columns of Eoute, and here ends the mixing up of the rear rank with the front rank, and the complications and difficulties resulting therefrom, as well as the different arrangements for passing from one of these column formations to another. The relative merits of the formation by threes and by fours is a subject which was at one time much roiumns of discussed and disputed. Decker, in his ' Tactique des s and Trois Armes, ' has given an outline of the discussion in his time, stating what was brought forward on either hand. He says: ' La chose ne peut etre tres-impor...