Advance guard

“ A strong rear-guard composed of picked troops, commanded by the bravest General, and supported by the whole Army at critical moments, a careful utilisation of ground, strong ambuscades wherever the boldness of the enemy’s advance-guard, and the ground, afford opportunity ”

“ Having discussed in broad terms the security of troops in camp, we are prepared to consider their security while either advancing upon or retreating from the enemy. In either case groups are placed between our main body and the actual or supposed position of the hostile troops. When we are advancing upon an enemy our advanced groups constitute what we term the "advance guard." If we are retreating from the enemy, our rear groups compose the "rear guard." ”

“ Could the remainder carry all that stuff if he told off a strong advance-guard and rear-guard? And, if so, what could a strong advance-guard or rear-guard do in single file if the column were attacked in front or rear? How could he avoid an ambush on either flank by discovering it in time—in country which rendered the use of flank guards utterly impossible? A man could only make his way through that jungle of thorn, scrub, trees, creepers p. 100and undergrowth by the patient and strenuous use of a broad axe and a saw. A strong, determined man might do a mile of it in a day. ”

“ When thus considered, we see that it consists of an extremely small advance guard in front, formed of persons with a limited freedom of moral action and able to act as patrols in various directions, of a larger body in the rear, in ancient military language called the blackguard and not without its uses, and in the main of a great compact majority with which we must always be chiefly concerned since they really are the army; they are the community. ”

“ On the other hand, a division of 20,000 men would ordinarily have an advance guard of about 4,500 men, all told, as it would require several hours for a division to deploy and the advance guard must be strong enough to make a stubborn fight. ”

“ The obligations and duties of the Guard in time of war should be carefully defined, and a system established by law under which the method of procedure of raising volunteer forces should be prescribed in advance. ”

“ About the time that the brigade commander caused the deployment of two companies to re-enforce the advance-guard, — Major Gilbraith in
Upper End of the Calle Mendez-Vigo, Mayaguez. command, — the enemy, from his position in the hills to the right front, fired volleys at the main body through the interval separating the infantry advance-guard from the cavalry, wounding a number of men, also an officer and several horses of the brigade staff. Meanwhile the artillery battalion, under the authority of the brigade commander, had taken up a position to the left of the road. ”

“ IN RETREATS.—While it is clear that a force advancing towards the enemy must always be preceded by an Advanced Guard it must not be forgotten that a force withdrawing from the enemy must also be so protected, even when it is moving in or towards friendly territory. ”

“ When we hurried home, and took the general to task for making us face the solemn orderly, he only replied by asking if we had intended to stay forever, pointing to his open watch, and speaking of the terrors of solitary confinement!
It was the custom at guard mount every morning to select the cleanest, most soldierly-looking man for duty as orderly for the post-commander. ”

“ ‘You consider war to be inevitable? Very good. Let everyone who advocates war be enrolled in a special regiment of advance-guards, for the front of every storm, of every attack, to lead them all!’”
“A nice lot the editors would make!” ”

“ Never off his guard, he knew when and where to strike, and when to reserve the blow that opportunity only served to encourage; for it is hard for the brave in battle to retain the gauntlet of defiance, and so armed, "out of the nettle danger pluck the flower safety." ”

“ They make a fellow do guard duty on a frosty night, to catch guard-runners, and then some one kicks when he does it. No, I'm in earnest, and if some of the other fellows who do sentry-go would be the same, they'd stop this. I don't care enough about war tactics to be a sentry, but as long as I am here no one can run the guard on me. ”

“ The guard to protect this communication must be strong enough at every point to repel any attempt to destroy the line; and to maintain this guard means the constant use of thousands of troops who may never hear a shot fired, but who are more essential to the success of the campaign than the soldiers who are doing the actual fighting. ”

“ It would oblige us to keep a Guard Duty at least as Severe as when we expected a daily Invasion: And if that was the Case, how miserable would it be to us, and our Wives and Families, to have one Enemy without, and a more dangerous one in our Bosoms! ”

“ If the old politic and military ideas had governed, the advanced guard would have been formed of those who best knew the country and had some interest in it, supported by some of the best light troops and light artillery, whilst the grand solid body of an army disciplined to perfection proceeded leisurely, and in close connection with all its stores, provisions, and heavy cannon, to support the expedite body in case of misadventure, or to improve and complete its success. ”

“ When the king goes to war, I understand that every man capable of bearing arms must [150] follow his chief; for which purpose they are all trained from their youth to the use of arms. I saw nothing like a regular armed force, except a guard of about fifty men, who constantly did duty at the king’s residence. There were about twenty of them on guard daily, but the only sentry which they posted was at the powder magazine. ”

“ The keeping up troops sufficient to guard exposed frontier posts, may be proper; but to have an army continually stationed in the midst of a people, in time of peace, is a precarious and dangerous method of security.
A safer way, and which has always been esteemed the wisest and best, by impartial men, is to have the power of defence in the body of the people, to have a well-regulated and well-disciplined militia. ”

“ If, under similar circumstances, the intention not to be drawn into a decisive engagement is known by the Advanced Guard commander he would limit his activities to reconnaissance of the enemy's position and numbers, and while hampering the enemy and preventing him from finding out particulars concerning the Main Body, he must take care not to become involved in a general engagement. ”

“ As soon as the enemy approaches, the whole body must be halted, and the proper dispositions be made for battle. The guard that is entrusted with the care of the prisoners, must instantly strip them of their swords, bayonets, and of every offensive weapon, (supposing them to have had permission to wear them) and must order them to sit down, threatening to shoot or cut down the first man that should presume to stir. ”

“ We shall thus have a nation built of stone and mortar, capable of resisting the attacks both of time and men. I will moreover raise the national guard to a level with the regiments of the line: the old retired officers shall be the chiefs and the fathers of the corps. ”

“ The system of sentinels on fixed posts is of value in discipline and training because of the direct individual responsibility which is imposed and required to be discharged in a definite and precise manner. In order, however, that guard duty may not be needlessly irksome and interfere with tactical instruction, the number of men detailed for guard will be the smallest possible. ”

“ At a time when the art of war had not reached the perfection it has now attained, and when large bodies of troops were not kept continually assembled and exercised, the system of stationing this peculiar guard along the frontiers was of admirable effect. ”

“ It is a bad affair if the officer is under the necessity of using his weapons and wounding or killing the recruit.
Care must be taken, also, that the recruit be not an over match for his guard. Every stout, well-built, bold-faced recruit must be closely watched, and it may even become necessary to double the guard. ”

“ For flank-guards and rear-guards, one or more companies should be detached under their own officers, instead of making up the guard by detailing men from the several companies.
For regimental or camp guards, the details should be made according to existing army regulations; and all the guards should be posted early in the evening, so as to afford each sentinel or vedette a chance to study his ground before it becomes too dark.
In like manner as to the staff. The more intimately it comes into contact with the troops, the more useful and valuable it becomes. ”

“ We are a sort of rear-guard, that’s what we are, and it’s our job to keep some miles behind the main army, to prevent the enemy from closing in and harassing our troops, besides seeing that they carry out the general’s orders and bring up the food and forage they as a conquered people are ordered to supply. ”

“ Our enemies displayed a wonderful degree of caution in the manner of guarding us. Even when we were below, where a man, if left alone, could scarcely have gotten out without assistance, they never raised the trap-door unprotected by a strong guard. ”

“ Simply because there stands as a guard a file of United States soldiers—not themselves sufficient in numbers to be formidable, but representing the National Government, and to touch them is to touch it. ”

“ In truth, since 1814, the continued vigilance of the national guard has powerfully contributed to such results. Never was the watchfulness of a national guard more requisite, and more efficient: but still it must be allowed that, at the period when the compulsory enlistment of our troops, and the desertion of foreign soldiers poured out upon our metropolis, a crowd of bad characters, adventurers, and needy persons of all nations, in spite of the presence of the national guard, much work was still to be performed by the brigade of safety and their chief. ”

“ The only method in which their relative merits can be tested, is by asking whether the rearguard detained the advanced guard as long as might have been expected, inflicted disproportionate losses upon it, and got away with the minimum of loss to itself, or whether, on the other hand, the advanced guard evicted its opponents from their position at a rapid rate, with small sacrifices, and with considerable punishment inflicted on the enemy. ”

“ I happened to be Corporal of the Guard the other evening—a delightful position. For the first time I had a little authority. True I sometimes give the man next to me a prod in the wind and whisper, "Form fours, idiot," but it is an unofficial prod, designed to save him from the official fury. Now for the first time I was in power, with the whole strength of military law behind me. So of course I got busy. As soon as the first guard had been set, and the rest of them, with their distinguished corporal and commonplace sergeant, were in the guard tent, I let meself go. ”

“ It is well to remember that one of the most effective returns which can be made from any guard is a point, and that a point can be made certainly from every hanging guard by merely straightening the arm from the guard, lunging, and coming in under your opponent’s weapon. ”

“ The guards of whom I have written are of this type; they are men who have been in the guard for years, and are standing by it because they are full of grit and courage.
The men whom the service needs are to be had. ”

“ It is the National Guard to whom these great duties are particularly confided; and as no foreign influence can prevail against the French nation, proud as she is of her retrospections, of her strength, and of the great and virtuous example she has just presented to the world, holding in her hands the sacred arms of liberty ”

“ I have learned to strike down an enemy; to be vigilant at my post; to fear nothing but dishonor; to bear cold and heat with equal endurance; to sleep on the ground; and to sustain at the same time hunger and fatigue. And with such rules of conduct I shall stimulate my soldiers, not treating them with rigor and myself with indulgence, nor making their toils my glory. Such a mode of commanding is at once useful to the State, and becoming to a citizen. For to coerce your troops with severity, while you yourself live at ease, is to be a tyrant, not a general. ”

“ By Guard, is meant such a Situation of all the Parts of the Body as enables them to give their mutual Assistance to defend or attack. A Guard cannot be perfect without a good and graceful Disposition, proceeding from a natural Proportion of the Parts of the Body, and an easy and vigorous Motion, which is to be acquired by Practice, and the Instruction of a good Master. ”