Troops are drawn up' in two or three ranks, according to the nature of the service on which they are to be em ployed, or the enemy to which they are to be opposed. To resist the charge of cavalry, it is "found that three ranks are preferable ; as is also the case where an enemy advances en masse, or bears down in column ; in this arrange ment, the front being diminished one third, many objections may be urged under local circumstances, especially w:ken acting behind entrenchments, when covered by morasses, or when the enemy cannot advance with rapidity in compact heavy bodies. The mode of drawing up in two ranks is peculiarly adapted to the foregoing, and on some occasions must be adopted, in spite of .every adverse argument, for the pur pose of extending a front ; add to this, that both the round and the grape shots,. from the enemy's, artillery, do less execution among tee, than When three ranks.are opposed to them. Wfitit a battalion is up in two ranks, they both fire standing ; but when in three ranks, only the, two rear ranks fire, whilst the front kneels, and presents a formidable impediment to the charge of an enemy,. both by its reserver fire, and by its line of sloped bayonets.
According to our improved system of discipline, one officer'and one covering serjeant perform all the evolutionary duties of each company;' when formed in line ;:the rest being disposerof in the rear, for the purposes of keepidg the men to their duty, and of being in rea diness to take command of those lesser portions into which the companies occa-' sionally break. By this 'arrangement the utmost, precision is secured; especially as select men are placed on the flanks of all the companies, also of their subdivi sions and sections, Whose duty it is to re gulate,their wheelingi, or -changes oflo cality,”"by constantly preserving the dis tances and alignements of then%respec tive portions.
Perhaps among the greatest iMprove-0 ments of the day, we may count the mo dern method of !Arching by files; for merly this was effected in a kind of open' order, the leaders gradually gaining diS tance, so as to give a' greater space be tweet, the files, 'under the apprehension of treadiag on each' other's heels ; but it is now the practice to make' every soldier retain the sane distance on all occasions from his neigthours ; by which means, the night leg of one' crosses at the side of the left leg of the other, and vice versa. It is obvious, that \chile ihe leaders were allowed to gain ground, so as to open the distances between the several files, some time was required for the:ear files to close up after the front had and that, if the' battalion were to be ordered to front while in the act of marching by files, under the old system; it would zppear of double its due extent : for they would be so distant'as to alb:Ay-space for an ad ditional file between every man ih the ranks. Our readers cannot fail to per ceive the high importance of keeping troops always to the same extent of front as when formed in line ; for if allowed to vary, from any inattention to regularity, it would be utterly impossible for the com mander to perform his evolutions upon a given scale ; or for any dependance to he placed on the exertions of a line, (par.
ticularly in resisting a charge,) of which the solidity, that is, the compactness, could not be ascertained.
The extreme difficulty which prevails in the ordinary course of actual service, in keeping the due distances between marching files, has in a great measure rendered that mode obsolete : besides, the facility with which troops move in small divisions, or even by whole compa nies, in column, &c. whereby intervals are left between them, tending greatly to the convenience and ease of the men, certainly gives the latter mode every to' preference, except under par ticular local circumstances. But even in proceeding by files, it is best to march by fours, causing the files. to be doubled- previous to off. By this means, the whole corps is broken into ranks of four men each, with one space interval between the several ranks. A battalion, thus arranged, is formed in an instant, by the files resuming their places. Yet it cannot be said that this method is so eligible as that of march ing by divisions, especially when con sisting of only two ranks : in such case the front rank moves on with perfect free,dom, each man Seeing the obstacles he is to surmount many paces before he arrives at them ; and the rear rank, keeping a well opened distance, is con siderably liberated, in consequence of the great interval behind it. Add to this, the promptness with which the line can be formed either to the right or left, by the several divisions wheeling up ac cordingly.
We shall now proceed to show the operations of a body of men according to the existing regulations, illustrating the several movements by means of figures, which will be found in Plate XV. Miscel lanies : they will suffice to give a general idea of the evolutions of. • armies on a large scale, as well as of small parties, the principles of motion being the same in both.
The first matter requiring considera tion is the act of wheeling, which may be performed either to a given point, say to the right ; or on a given.point, say on the left; in either case, the front will be to the right. But when a body of men has wheeled to the right, as A, in fig. 11, changing place to B, and that it be re quired to wheel up into line, i. e. to the Left, such body will have gained both to the right and to the front equally ; the intermediate angle being 90°, and, third position, C, standing at an angle of 45° from the position, A. Consequently a succession of wheeling to the right and left alternately, will occasion the several positions, in succession, to represent an eacalier, or flight of steps. It requires, therefore, but little demonstration to show the utility of wheeling backward on the left, in the first instance, to proceed along an alignement, 0 Q; because the. troops, by wheeling to the left, would al ways come up to the line of their left hand pivots (or files.) Simple as it may seem, this precaution is not yet sufficiently un derstood; or, at least, not invariably at tended to ; whereby many oblique move ments are made to remedy the error thus generated.