Commando

“ We prided ourselves on our fierce hatred of the enemy, and considered it a mark of patriotism, and we rejoiced when he fell beneath our bullets or when the plague broke out. We even wished that a great European war might begin, if only we might keep our country, and as a consequence of our righteous patriotism an inclination to cruelty became one of the predominant traits in the character of the burghers.
The commando life tended to make many of us melancholy. Wherever we came the thought was forced upon us that our beloved country was deeply injured, morally and materially. ”

“ With Elliott at their heels, their only chance of escape was to break through the attenuated line of Rawlinson's columns. De Wet's good fortune did not fail him, and with Steyn and a few hundred burghers he severed it at Langverwacht at midnight on February 23 and was again at large. The remnant of the commandos was left behind within the pale with their women, children, cattle, and stuff; and these, augmented by the Harrismith commando, were the prisoners of Elliott and Rawlinson when the drive, in which 30,000 British troops were directly or indirectly engaged, completed its task. ”

“ When the company is acting in concert with the remainder of the battalion, its frontage, as a rule, will be assigned by the battalion commander.
7. The company commander must always be guided by circumstances in deciding on the strength of his firing-line, and on the formation of the remainder. The general procedure will be to gradually reinforce the scouts, when they are checked by the enemy’s fire, and thus build up a firing line, which, at decisive range, shall be strong enough to gain superiority over the enemy’s fire. ”

“ The degree of control which a commander retains over the course of the combat depends upon the promptness with which he gains a general idea of the situation. For this, if for no other reason, he should be as near the head of the column as possible while on the march. The troops sent first into action, supported by the artillery, must put every available man into the fight, in order to repulse attacks made by the enemy and to enable the commander to launch the main body as an entity. ”

“ Commanding officers learn the amount of strain which they can impose on their men; the conditions under which transport can and must be brought up for the use of the troops can be studied with almost as much accuracy as in warfare; the cavalry commander learns the value, from a war point of view, of his men as scouts and on detached duties, while the artillery officer finds out, as he never could without manœuvre experience, the possibilities of gun transport, and the business of ranging positions with a view to rendering them untenable by shellfire. ”

“ While, therefore, the Forward Body, Supports, and Local Reserves must be adequate in numbers for the task allotted to them, a commander will generally retain about half his available force for the delivery of the Decisive Attack, and when this decisive blow has been delivered the Reserve will carry on the pursuit of the beaten enemy until such time as other Infantry, or Cavalry, or Tanks, have caught up and passed them. ”

“ The art of maintaining himself and his command in the outpost line is a question of vigilance, imagination, and forethought on the part of the commander, and cunning on the part of his men. Let us place ourselves in the position of an officer commanding a hundred to two hundred men, and detached some ten miles out to the flank and front of a force. ”

“ On account of the fact that extended order fighting predominates, leaders of all grades must be particularly careful to maintain connection between the several parts of their command, with each other, and with adjoining units, and to preserve their influence over their firing lines. Superior commanders should, in addition, see that their troops do not get out of hand, and all subordinate leaders, after carrying out a task assigned them, should endeavor promptly to rejoin their proper commands, or place themselves at the disposal of the commander of troops still engaged with the enemy. ”

“ Every now and then, from out this shadow, a piercing ray of light is shot, reflected from the helm or sword-case of the commanding officer, who is gallantly riding up and down before his men, and probably haranguing them in preparation for the expected conflict. ”

“ CHOOSING A POSITION.—The framework of the modern defence consists of artillery and machine guns; into this framework are fitted the defence posts or defended localities garrisoned by infantry, who are responsible for holding their ground at all costs and for inflicting the greatest possible loss on the enemy. A commander will require a position which affords elasticity for increasing the resistance as the attackers penetrate the defences, and depth will thus be essential. ”

“ As the troops march up the valley, the advanced guard commander should decide what localities are to be held, and in what strength. He should issue his orders to the battalion or company commander, as the case may be, when the picquets should move direct to their positions. Meanwhile, the staff officer should make, in sections, a rough sketch of the positions occupied by the various picquets, which should be numbered consecutively as they move out, the sections of the sketch being sent, as completed, to the officer commanding the rear-guard. ”

“ At another message from the Forward Officer the Battery Commander called for Section Commanders. The Sergeant-Major clapped megaphone to mouth and shouted, and two young subalterns and a sergeant jumped from their places, and raced for the dug-out. The Major spoke rapidly and tersely. 'We are putting down a belt of shrapnel in front of our own infantry—very close to them. You know what that means—the most careful and exact laying and fusing, and fire as hot and heavy as you can make it. The infantry can't hold 'em. They're depending on us; the line depends on us. Tell your men so. ”

“ The aim of every commander who possesses the power of manoeuvre is to seek out the enemy and destroy his organised forces. The Attack is the culminating point of all manoeuvres to this end, and every commander will endeavour to achieve his aim by a sudden and unexpected assault on a part of the enemy's defences.
The achievement of this aim is only possible when a commander has assembled a sufficient force for his purpose, and has obtained, by reconnaissance and by fighting, information as to the vulnerability of the hostile position. ”

“ Generals, field officers, ought to tell officers the same thing. This alone can make an instructed army like the Roman army. But to-day, who of us can explain page for page, the use of anything ordered by our tactical regulations except the school of the skirmisher? "Forward," "retreat," and "by the flank," are the only practical movements under fire. But the others should be explained. Explain the position of "carry arms" with the left hand. Explain the ordinary step. Explain firing at command in the school of the battalion. ”

“ He will communicate freely by means of orderlies with the commander of the advance-guard, who will at once transmit all messages to the commanding general. Three mounted orderlies, to be furnished by the troop, will march with the advance-guard.
2. Two companies of infantry, one platoon of artillery, and two Gatling guns will constitute the advance-guard. A pioneer detachment, consisting of one non-commissioned officer and eight men, to be carefully selected from the advance-guard, will march with the reserve, and will be under the direction of the engineer officer of the brigade. ”

“ Furthermore, in attack and defence, in order to prevent the inspection becoming a repetition of operations already rehearsed, the officer will direct where the targets are to be placed, or give instructions to the men representing the enemy; and in all exercises—attack, reconnaissance, retirement, or defence—he will set the task for the squad to carry out. ”

“ HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, CHANCELLORSVILLE, VA., May 2, 1863, 9.30 A.M.
MAJOR-GEN. SLOCUM AND MAJOR-GEN. HOWARD.
I am directed by the major-general commanding to say that the disposition you have made of your corps has been with a view to a front attack by the enemy. If he should throw himself upon your flank, he wishes you to examine the ground, and determine upon the positions you will take in that event, in order that you may be prepared for him in whatever direction he advances. He suggests that you have heavy reserves well in hand to meet this contingency. ”

“ The character of the terrain and the preparation the enemy is known to have made, determine whether the commander ought to attack at once, whether he ought to utilize the cover of darkness for the advance of the attacking troops, or whether he ought to attempt to maneuver the defender out of his position. ”

“ Do not forget to make use of the map when estimating a range.
13. Although the secret of success in an engagement is the proper co-operation of the different arms of the service, the platoon commander must not cry out for artillery assistance when he has the means of carrying out his task in his own platoon, which, with its riflemen, its Lewis gunners, its bombers, and its rifle bombers, is, in itself, a miniature division. In an action where telephonic communication has broken down this rule applies with special force. ”

“ The commandant of artillery was to be seen every where. His activity and knowledge gave him a decided influence over the rest of the army. Whenever the enemy attempted to make a sortie, or compelled the besiegers to have recourse to rapid and unexpected movements, the heads of columns and detachments were always sure to exclaim, “Run to the commandant of artillery, and ask him what we are to do; he understands the localities better than any one.” ”

“ For the division, as for the corps, the framework of the tactical deployment depends upon the commander's tactical plan, as too does the allotment of duties in the fight to the various units, divisions, brigades, and regiments, or to the tactical groups, advanced guard, main body, reserve, etc., and any attempt at retaining the command in one hand is obviously out of the question. ”

“ The corps de reserve will be seen advancing gaily, but cautiously, their eyebrows directed forwards, shading their eyes with their hands to observe the motions of the enemy, amidst clouds of dust and smoke, and seeming attentive to the orders of their chief. You may also make their commander holding up his staff, pushing forwards, and pointing towards the place where they are wanted. A river may likewise be introduced, with horses fording it, dashing the water about between their legs, and in the air, covering all the adjacent ground with water and foam. ”

“ Those gunners, with here and there an officer, who stand bravely to their field-pieces to the last, are only like so many chopping-blocks for the rear squadrons, who dash forward in rapid succession and keep the front ranks intact. ”

“ A fight against a superior enemy is only to be avoided, for the time being, in case the latter has gained a start in deployment.
Attack on a position prepared for defense. The commander frames his plan of attack according to the results of the reconnaissance, and leads his troops forward provisionally into a preparatory position, where he assigns deployment spaces and, if practicable, combat sections to the different units. In order that they may utilize the covering features of the ground to the best advantage, the different units are to avoid advancing abreast. ”

“ Always distribute the target and let the men understand what you are trying to do. All combat exercises should be conducted as nearly as possible as though the enemy were real. Allow nothing to be done that would not be attempted were it real war, otherwise you do not give instruction but misinformation. After the mechanism is taught, the captain and platoon commanders must conduct themselves in combat exercises [Pg 49] as they would under hostile fire, keep close to the ground, use signals only. ”

“ Whenever a guard of honour forms up the commander will be three paces in front of the second file from the right, or, in a confined space, from the flank by which the personage for whom the guard is mounted will approach, the officer carrying the Colour three paces in front of the centre; if there is a third officer he will be three paces in front of the second file from the other flank. When the guard is inspected, the commander will invariably accompany the personage for whom it is mounted, walking next to him round the ranks. ”

“ Almost every officer that obtained a command showed himself an able commander. Every crew was heroic; every cruise daring: every combat a victory, where proximate equality rendered it possible. Never did any service, in any age or country, exhibit so large a proportion of skilful, daring, victorious commanders, mainly developed by the system of warfare which gave so many a chance to show what they were. ”

“ THE COMMANDER'S POSITION.—The position of the commander who issues the orders for the Attack must be fixed, and must be made known to subordinate commanders, as it will be the place to which reports will be sent. In the case of a small force the commander will generally stay with the General Reserve; if the force is fairly large, and composed of all arms, he will probably be on the main artillery position; but in the case of a large force he should be well out of reach of the distraction of local incidents. ”

“ While subordinate leaders, up to and including company [401] commanders, are mainly occupied with fire control and fire direction, and should influence the men by their personal example, superior commanders have other tasks, which they must not neglect for the purpose of interfering in the sphere of action of their subordinates. They can influence the fire action only by sending the necessary forces to those portions of the firing line whose fire they wish to augment. ”