MANNITANE. (Mitxxive.] MAN(EUVItES, or MILITARY EVOLUTIONS, are the move ments made by any body of troops, either acting by itself or in conjunction with other bodies, fur the purpose of arriving at or of retiring from a field of battle, or of placing itself in a position to act offensively or defensively against an enemy.
The circumstances attending the great movements of armies along their lines of communication, and the dispositions of the troops on the field of battle, are developed under the words STIIATEOT and Tames. The present article will therefore comprehend merely a description of the manner in which the principal evolutions of a battalion of infantry, a regiment of cavalry, and an entire army. are performed, and will conclude with a short account of the movement, of light troops in the field.
Evolutions of a Battalion.—When a battalion formed in line has to march in that order towards the front or rear, in order to ensure exact ness in the movement, the centre serjeant, who is between the two colours, selects two points to march on under the superintendence of mounted officer. When the line of direction is determined on, he gives the word " steady ;" and on the word " quick march" being given, the battalion moves off, dressing by this serjavat, who moves straight to his front in this direction. To see that the centre serjeant preserves his direction correctly, the serjeant-major and a mounted officer remain halted until the line has advanced 20 or 30 paces; they then follow in rear. In the mane way, when retiring, on the battalion facing about, the aerjeant.major and a mounted officer pass through the r mks and place themselves behind the centre to superintend the movement, While the battalion is thus moving in line, the two flanked companies may be wheeled backwards, and made to march in files perpendicularly to the line of the battalion, in order to cover it ; and on a halt being ordered, they would face towards the enemy.
This order of march can of course only take place where the country is open; when partial obstacles occur, the troops near them necessarily form in file till they have passed them, and afterwards they move up into the line. or the companies may advance by files or fours from the right or left; but when the obstacles are of great extent, and occur frequently, it is evident that the march of the battalion should be in column.
Columns formed for this purpose are designated columns of com panies, of subdivisions, and of sections, according as their breadths, or the extent of their front, is equal to that of a whole, a half, or any portion of a company ; and they are said to be at open order, at half, or at quarter distance, according as the intervals between the companies or their divisions are equal to the whole, to one-half, or to one.quarter
of the breadth of the column. The order is said to be close when the several divisions are at the distance of one pace only from each other in the length of the column. When the company or subdivision whose position is on the right of the lee is in front, the left of that company or subdivision is called the pivot, and the right the reverse flank, and rice vertu ; that is, when the ri l,t is in front the left is Me pivot, when the left is in front Me right is the pivot, because, in reforming line, the wheel, except in wheeling backwards, must evidently be on this flank ; fur if the wheel were made on the other flank, the companies would become inverted.
The wheel from line into column, and the converse, when the battalion is at a halt, must obvipusly be performed by causing the divisions to describe a quarter of a circle on their respective pivots. lint when a battalion in column is on the march, and it is required to change the route, should the divisions be at the full distances front each other,—that is, at intervals equal to the length of a division,—it is necessary that the first division, after having described on its pivot an angle equal to that which the new direction is to make with the former, should march forward as soon as the wheeling pivot of the next division has arrived at the like pivot of the first division ; the second division then wheels and marches' in like manner, and so on. The same rule may be followed when the divisions are at less than full provided the angle which the intended direction of march mikes with the former is auffieiently obtuse to allow the divisions to describe the required angle without interfering with one another, other wise the wheeling is performed in this way : the leading company wheels round at a short pace, to regulated as to give time for the remaining companies to circle round the flank on which the wheel is being made. This is done by the rear companies, when at the halt, making a half-face to the right, or on the march a half-turn to the right (supposing the wheel to be to the left), and each man moving round on the circumference of a circle of which the wheeling-point is the centre. The wheelings may be made upon either extremity of a company or subdivision, and they may take place either forward or backward, according to circumstances ; occasionally, also, a company is required to perform a wheel upon its centre, in which case one-half wheels backward and the other half forward; but in all cases the pivot flanks are to remain dressed, or in one line.