1st. To change direction in marching.
345. A column by division, closed in mass, being in march, will change direction by the front of subdivisions.
346. Whether the change be made to the reverse, or to the pivot flank, it will always be executed on the principle of wheeling in marching; to this end, the colonel will first cause the battalion to take the guide on the flank opposite to the intended change of direction, if it be not already on that flank.
347. A column by division, closed in mass, right in front, having to change direction to the right, the colonel, after having caused a marker to be placed at the point where the change ought to commence, will command:
1. Battalion, right wheel. 2. MARCH.
348. At the command march, the leading division will wheel as if it were part of a column at half distance.
349. The instant that this division commences the wheel, all the others will, at once, conform themselves to its movement; to this end the left guide of each, advancing slightly the left shoulder; and lengthening a little the step, will incline to the left, and will observe, at the same time, to gain so much ground to the front that there may constantly be an interval of four paces between his division and that which precedes it; and as soon as he shall cover the preceding guide, he will cease to incline and then march exactly in his trace.
350. Each division will conform itself to the movement of its guide; the men will feel lightly the elbow toward him and advance a little the left shoulder the instant the movement commences; each file, in inclining, will gain so much the less ground to the front as the file shall be nearer to the pivot, and the right guide will gain only so much as may be necessary to maintain between his own and the preceding division the same distance which separates their marching flanks.
351. Each chief of division, turning to it, win regulate its march, and see that it remains constantly included between its guides, that its alignment continues nearly parallel to that of the preceding division, and that the centre bends only a little to the rear.
352. The colonel will superintend the movement, and cause the pivot of the leading division to lengthen or to shorten the step, conforming to the principle established in the S. C., No. 232 – if either be necessary to facilitate the movement of the other divisions.
353. The lieutenant-colonel, placed near the left guide of the leading division, will regulate his march, and take care, above all, that he does not throw himself within the arc he ought to describe.
354. The senior major, placed in the rear of the guides, will see that the last three conform themselves, each by slight degrees, to the movement of the guide immediately preceding, and that neither inclines too much in the endeavor to cover too promptly the guide in his front; he will rectify any serious fault that may be committed in either of those particulars.
355. The colonel, seeing the wheel nearly ended, will command:
1. Forward. 2. MARCH.
356. At the second command, which will be given at the instant the leading division completes its wheel, it will resume the direct march; the other divisions will conform themselves to this movement; and if any guide find himself not covering his immediate leader, he will, by slight degrees, bring himself on the trace of that guide by advancing the right shoulder.
357. If the column, right in front, has to change direction to the left, the colonel will first cause it to take the guide to the right, and then command:
1. Battalion, left wheel. 2. MARCH.
358. At the command march, the battalion will change direction to the left according to the principles just prescribed, and by inverse means.
359. When the battalion shall have resumed the direct march, the colonel will change the guide to the left, on seeing the last three guides nearly in the direction of the one in front.
360. The foregoing changes of direction will be executed according to the same principles in a column, left in front.
361. A column by company, closed in mass, will change direction in marching, by the commands and means indicated for a column by division.
362. The guide who is the pivot of the particular wheel, ought to maintain himself at his usual distance of six paces from the guide who precedes him; if this distance be not exactly preserved, the divisions would necessarily become confounded, which must be carefully avoided.
0-363. The platoon columns of the companies of skirmishers will change direction as prescribed for the battalion column, the leading platoons preserving their alignment with the first and last divisions respectively.
REMARKS.
0-364. When one or more platoons of the companies of skirmishers are deployed to cover a battalion closed in mass, either by company, or division, and the colonel desires their recall, it will be executed as prescribed No. 342. [Editor’s Note: See Changes.]
2nd. To change direction from a halt.
365. A column by company, or by division, closed in mass, being at a halt, when the colonel shall wish to give it a new direction, and in which it is to remain, he will cause it to execute this movement by the flanks of subdivisions, in the following manner:
366. The battalion having the right in front, when the colonel shall wish to cause it to change direction by the right flank, he will indicate to the lieutenant-colonel the point of direction to the right; this officer will immediately establish, on the new direction, two markers, distant from each other a little less than the front of the first subdivision, the first marker in front of the right file of this subdivision; which being executed, he will command:
1. Change direction by the right flank. 2. Battalion, right—FACE. 3. MARCH (or double quick—MARCH).
367. At the second command, the column will face to the right, and each chief of subdivision will place himself by the side of his right guide.
0-368. At the same command the platoon columns of the companies of skirmishers will face to the right, the guides will place themselves on the right of their platoons respectively, and each chief of platoon will place himself by the side of his guide.
369. At the command march, all the subdivisions will step off together; the right guide of the leading one will direct himself from the first step, parallelly to the markers placed in advance on the new direction; the chief of the sub division will not follow the movement, but see it file past, and as soon as the left guide shall have passed he will command:
1. First company (or first division). 2. HALT. 3. FRONT. 4. Left—DRESS.
370. At the fourth command, the subdivision, will place itself against the two markers, and be promptly aligned by its chief.
371. The right guide of each of the following subdivisions will conform himself to the direction of the right guide of the subdivision preceding his own in the column, so as to enter on the new direction parallelly to that subdivision, and at the distance of four paces from its rear rank.
372. Each chief of subdivision will halt in his own person, on arriving opposite to the left guides already placed on the new direction, see his subdivision file past, and conform himself, in halting and aligning it, to what is prescribed No. 369.
0-373. At the command march, by the colonel, the platoon columns will step off together, each chief of platoon placed by the side of his guide will conduct it to its new position, which will be executed according to the principles prescribed for the battalion column. When the movement is completed, the relative positions of platoons and the battalion column, will be the same as before the change of direction.
374. If the change of direction be by the left flank, the colonel will cause markers to be established as before, the first in front of the left file of the leading subdivision, and then give the same commands, substituting the indication left for right.
375. At the second command, all the subdivisions will face to the left, and each chief will place himself by the side of the left guide.
0-376. At the same command, the platoon columns will face to the left, and each chief of platoon will place himself by the side of his guide.
377. At the command march, all the subdivisions will step off together, each conducted by its chief.
378. The guide of the leading subdivision will direct himself, from the first step, parallelly to the markers; the subdivision will be conducted by its chief; and as soon as its left guide shall have passed the second marker, it will be halted and aligned as prescribed above; and so of each of the following subdivisions.
0-379. At the command march, the platoon columns will step off together, and each platoon, conducted by its chief, will conform to the principles prescribed No. 373, the chiefs of platoon taking care so to conduct them, that when they file to the right, to march on the prolongation of the subdivisions of the battalion column, they will have sufficient distance to march over, so as to enter on the new direction in their full length before halting.
380. The colonel will hold himself on the designated flank, to see that each subdivision enters the new direction parallelly to the leading one, and at the prescribed distance from that which precedes.
381. The lieutenant-colonel will place himself in front of, and facing, to, the guide of the leading subdivision, and will assure the positions of the following guides, as they successively arrive on the new direction.
382. The senior major will follow the movement abreast with the last subdivision; the junior major will occupy the position prescribed No. 336.
383. In order that this movement may be executed with facility and precision, it is necessary that the leading subdivision should entirely unmask the column; for example, the movement being made by the right flank, it is necessary, before halting the leading subdivision, that its left guide shall, at least, have arrived at the place previously occupied by its right guide, in order that each following subdivision which has to pass over a space at least equal to its front, to put itself in the new direction, and whose left ought to pass the point at which the right had rested, may, at the command halt, find itself, in its whole front, parallel to the leading subdivision.
384. By this method there is no direction that may not be given to a column in mass.