216. When the colonel shall wish to put the column in march, he will indicate to the leading guide two distinct objects in front, on the line which the guide ought to follow. This guide will immediately put his shoulders in a square with that line, take the more distant object as the point of direction, and the nearer one as the intermediate point.
217. If only a single prominent object present itself in the direction the guide has to follow, he will face to it as before, and immediately endeavor to catch on the ground some intermediate point, by which to give steadiness to his march on the point of direction.
218. There being no prominent object to serve as the point of direction, the colonel will dispatch the lieutenant-colonel or adjutant to place himself forty paces in advance, facing the column, and by a sign of the sword establish him on the direction he may wish to give to the leading guide; that officer being thus placed, this guide will take him as the point of direction, conforming himself to what is prescribed in the S. C., No. 87.
219. These dispositions being made, the colonel will command:
1. Column forward. 2. Guide left (or right). 3. MARCH (or double quick—MARCH).
220. At the command march, briskly repeated by the chiefs of subdivision, and the chiefs of platoon of the companies of skirmishers, the column will put itself in march, conforming to what is prescribed in the S. C., No. 205 and following.
221. The leading guide may always maintain himself correctly on the direction by keeping steadily in view the two points indicated to him, or chosen by himself; if these points have a certain elevation, he may be assured he is on the true direction, when the nearer masks the more distant point.
222. The following guides will preserve with exactness both step and distance; each will march in the trace of the guide who immediately precedes him, without occupying himself with the general direction.
223. The lieutenant-colonel will hold himself, habitually, abreast with the leading guide, to see that he does not deviate from the direction, and will observe, also, that the next guide marches exactly in the trace of the first.
224. The senior major will generally be abreast with the last subdivision; he will see that each guide marches exactly in the trace of the one immediately preceding; if either deviate from the direction, the senior major will promptly rectify the error, and prevent its being propagated; but he need not interfere, in this way, unless the deviation has become sensible, or material. The junior major will take part as indicated No. 94.
225. The column being in march, the colonel may cause the about to be executed while marching; to this effect, he will command:
1. Battalion, right about. 2. MARCH. 3. Guide right.
226. At the second command, the companies will face to the right about, and the column will then march forward in an opposite direction; the chiefs of subdivision will remain behind the front rank, the file closers in front of the rear rank, and the guides will place themselves in the rear rank, now in front. The second platoons of the platoon columns will march abreast with the first and last battalion companies respectively. The lieutenant-colonel will remain abreast of the first division, now in the rear; the senior major will give a point of direction to the leading guide, and march abreast of him.
227. The colonel will hold himself habitually on the directing flank; he will look to the step and to the distances, and see that all the principles prescribed for the march in column, school of the company, are observed.
MANNER OF PROLONGING A LINE OF BATTLE BY MARKERS.
228. When a column prolongs itself on the line of battle, it being all-important that the guides march correctly on that line, it becomes necessary that colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and senior majors, whose duty it is to maintain the true direction, should be able to see, as far as practicable, the two objects, on which the march of the guides ought to be directed; consequently, when no prominent objects present themselves in the desired direction, the chief of the column will supply the want of them in advance by aids-de-camp, or other mounted officers, and in such number as may be necessary.
229. Three such officers may prolong a line as far as may be desired in the following manner: they will place themselves in advance on the line of battle, the first at the point where the head of the column ought to enter; the second, three or four hundred paces behind the first; and the third, a like distance behind the second. The first of these officers will remain in position till the leading guide shall have entered on the line of battle, and then, at a gallop, place himself at a convenient distance behind the third. The second will do the like in respect to the first, when the head of the column shall be near him, and so on in continuation. These officers, without dismounting, will face to the column, and cover each other accurately. It will be on them that the guides will steadily direct their march, and it will be so much the more easy for the latter to maintain themselves on the direction, as they will always be able to see the mounted officers over the heads of the preceding guides; thus the deviation from the direction, by one or more guides, need not mislead those who follow.
230. A single mounted officer may suffice to assure the direction of a column, when the point of direction toward which it marches is very distinct. In this case, that officer will place himself on the line of battle within that point, and beyond the one at which the head of the column will halt, and remain in position till the column halts; serving thus as the intermediate point for giving steadiness to the march of the guides.
231. For a column of one or two battalions, markers on foot will suffice to indicate the line to be followed by the general guides.
REMARKS ON THE MARCH IN COLUMN.
232. The subdivisions of a column will not maintain the full distance, for any considerable length of time, unless in the route step, or upon reviews or other movements of ceremony. In presence of the enemy, the column will habitually be either at half distance or closed in mass.
233. Although the uncadenced step be that of columns in route marches, and also that which ought to be habitually employed in the Evolutions of a Brigade, when not in the immediate presence of the enemy, and when the difficulty of the road, heat, or dust, should render it expedient, nevertheless, as it is of paramount importance to confirm soldiers in the measure and the movement of the cadenced pace, the route step will be but little practiced in the exercises by battalion, except in going to, and returning from, the ground of instruction, and for teaching the mechanism and movements of columns in route.
234. It is highly essential to the regularity of the march in column that each guide follow exactly in the trace of the one immediately preceding, without occupying his attention with the general direction of the guides. If this principle be steadily observed, the guides will find themselves aligned, provided that the leading one march exactly in the direction indicated to him; and even should obstacles in his way force him into a momentary deviation, the direction of the column would not necessarily be changed; whereas, if the following guides endeavor to conform themselves at once to all the movements of the leading one, in order to cover him in file, such endeavors would necessarily cause corresponding fluctuations in the column, from right to left, and from left to right, and render the preservation of distances extremely difficult.
235. As a consequence of the principle, that each guide shall exactly follow in the trace of the one who immediately precedes, if, pending the march of the column, the colonel shall give a new point of direction, too near to the first to require a formal change of direction, the leading guide, advancing the one or other shoulder, will immediately direct himself on this point; the other guides will only conform themselves to this movement as each arrives at the point at which the first had executed it. Each subdivision will conform itself to the movement of its guide, the men insensibly lengthening or shortening the step, and advancing or refusing (throwing back) the shoulder opposite to the guide, but without losing the touch of the elbow toward his side.
236. The column, at full distance, by company, being in march, the colonel will cause it to diminish front by platoon, from front to rear, at once, and to increase front by platoon in like manner, which movements will be commanded and executed as prescribed in the S. C., Nos. 287 and 278 and following, changing the command form company to form companies. So may he increase and diminish, or diminish and increase front, according to the same principles and at once, by company, changing the command form companies to form divisions, and the command break into platoons, to break into companies. In this case, the companies and divisions will execute what is prescribed for platoons and companies respectively.
237. The column being at a halt, if the colonel should wish to march it to the rear, and the distance to be gained be so inconsiderable as to render a countermarch a disproportionate loss of time, he will cause the column to face about, and then put it in march by the commands prescribed No. 219; the chiefs of the subdivisions will remain behind the front rank, the file closers before the rear rank, and the guides will step into the rear rank, now in front. In a column, by division, the junior captains, in the intervals between companies, will replace their covering sergeants in the rear rank) and these sergeants will step into the line of file closers in front of their intervals.
0-238. In the different movements of the column, the companies of skirmishers, if present, will preserve their relative positions thereto; the platoon guides will always be on the side of the column.