Infantry officer

“ 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. ”

“ In order to act as riflemen and light infantry conjointly with regular troops, volunteers will require the highest possible training as soldiers. Ordinary infantry are put together and kept together, and—unlike those who must act more independently and with greater skill—are always under the eye and hand of the officer who directs the movement. ”

“ The brigade major having called the guards to attention, will order them to fix bayonets, slope arms. He will then hand the detail of duties over to the field officer of the day, who will take the command of the parade, and proceed as follows:—
The field officer will take post fifteen paces in front of the centre of the line, give the command ORDER—ARMS, and signal to the band. ”

“ Marching as fully equipped infantry in the ranks is a very different proposition from walking along the road independently, and for the private in ranks with his load it is different from what it is for the officer with his. ”

“ The Infantry brigade signal officer will exercise general supervision over all lines in the brigade area, and will notify the orderly officer of the Artillery brigade when any Artillery lines require attention or relaying. ”

“ In mixed commands infantry usually forms the greater part of the troops detailed to the service of security. Cavalry is assigned to that duty whenever advantage can be taken of its superior mobility. The kind and amount of artillery are determined by circumstances.
The field trains of troops on this duty generally remain with the field train of the command, but if conditions permit they may join their organizations.
Troops on the service of security pay no compliments; individuals salute when they address, or are addressed by, a superior officer. ”

“ Duty of Officer Commanding a Battalion.—It is the duty of the commanding officer to see that all ranks are thoroughly trained in field duties, that co-operation in action is ensured, and that the self-reliance and good-will of officers and non-commissioned officers is so carefully cultivated as to render them zealous and intelligent assistants, in peace as well as on service, and not mere passive executants of definite orders. This can only be accomplished by giving the company commanders a free hand, and ample opportunities of exercising their men. ”

“ The battalion which is the point of formation stands fast. The remaining battalions will be moved by their commanding officers by the shortest line to the spot where their inner flank will rest, this spot being marked by the second in command.
If the deployment is in an oblique direction, the battalion of formation will be formed on the required alignment by its commanding officer, in accordance with the instructions of the brigadier. ”

“ When a brigade is required to march in line, each battalion will march by its centre. A mounted officer of each battalion, not directing, will ride on the inner flank to ensure that the correct interval is maintained. ”

“ Nowadays an officer excludes all sightseers during the lesson.
The instruction of the plebe in infantry drill continues uninterruptedly, for it is essential that he should not spoil the appearance of the rest of the battalion. Together with swimming, dancing, and infantry drill, his morning is completely occupied. After the midday dinner, he is assembled in squad for instruction in hygiene and guard duty, or he may be required to spend his time working upon his equipment, his brasses, his bayonet, and rifle. ”

“ That shows the difference between the [ 55] lives we lead. Of course they have been in the trenches and have had some very bad times there, but they only go in in emergencies and at long intervals....
"Another difference between us is that they keep their buttons as bright as possible and themselves as spick and span as can be. The infantry officer gets his buttons as dull as possible, and if they are green so much the better, as it shows he has been through gas. He likes his clothes and especially his puttees to be rather torn, and his hat to be any old sloppy shape. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The course in Field Artillery has been vastly improved in recent years. All of the instruction is given by Field Artillery officers, and non-commissioned officers who are specialists along certain lines, instead of as in former days by a stray Infantry, Cavalry, or Coast Artillery Tactical officer. ”

“ The patrol preceding the advance party on the line of march is called the point, and is commanded by an officer or an experienced noncommissioned officer.
With the advance cavalry in front but little reconnoitering by infantry is necessary, and the advance party is relatively small--one eighth to one third of the support. If there is no advance cavalry, the advance party is made stronger (about one half of the support) and the flanks are guarded, if necessary, by additional patrols sent out from the support and even from the reserve. ”

“ For, in the first place, it convinced the soldiers that they were opposed to troops against whom they would require to use all the physical, as well as moral courage which they possessed; and the officers that something besides powder and shot would have to be employed before the French infantry could be forced from their stronghold. ”

“ Reconnoissance should be continuous. Though scouts and detachments of cavalry remain in contact with the enemy, or at least push forward to a considerable distance, more detailed reconnoissance by infantry patrols in the foreground must not be neglected. Reconnoitering patrols are composed of at least two men and a skillful leader, who, in important cases, would be an officer. ”

“ The column will change ranks, order arms, and on the command LEFT DRESS, the directing section commanders will step back two paces, aligning themselves with the rear rank, and the company commanders will take post on the left of the front rank, and the companies will dress by the left.
The battalion will then be ordered to slope arms and march past in quarter column. The commanding officer will give the word EYES—LEFT when at ten paces from the saluting point, and EYES—FRONT when the rear company has passed the inspecting officer. Company commanders will not look to the left. ”

“ Operation orders of a complicated nature are unlikely to be required from the pen of infantry officers in the junior ranks, and the rules for drafting orders are stated in detail in the official text-books, for the use of officers of the ranks that will be required to issue them. ”

“ The official head of the post is the commanding officer, he has under him eight “companies,” if they are infantry, or “troops” if they are cavalry, each commanded in turn by a captain, who has under him a first and second lieutenant, who rule in their turn numerous sergeants and corporals. There is also a major or two, two or three surgeons, who rank with the captains, and a quartermaster and an adjutant, who are selected from among the captains or lieutenants of the post, and who perform, in consequence, double duty. The majority of the officers are married ”

“ With good officers, and a certain amount of previous training, there is no reason why bodies of infantry, artillery or mounted infantry, composed entirely of unprofessional soldiers, should not do excellent service in the field. ”

“ The general staff of each army is composed of a commander-in-chief, two lieutenant-generals, three brigadiers of infantry, one of whom commands the reserve, two brigadiers of cavalry, and one brigadier of artillery. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Lieutenants and subalterns are given charge of a troop in the cavalry, a gun or section—according to the number of young officers available—in a battery and of a section of men in an infantry51 company. Nominally in command of their men, they are in practice largely dependent on their senior non-commissioned officers for the efficiency of the men under their command. An officer’s real efficiency, in peace service, does not begin until he “gets his company” or squadron: in other words, until he is promoted to the rank of captain. ”

“ Intelligent non-commissioned officers should be sent to reconnoitre a road or ground that artillery is to pass over, and, when necessary, to report the state of it. When the march is connected with military operations, an officer should always be employed for this duty. ”

“ Unless such exercises are carried out in a practical manner, young officers and inexperienced N.C.O.'s will get the impression that an Advanced Guard consists merely of a procession of small bodies of infantry, strung out at fixed intervals on a single road. ”

“ One serjeant, one corporal, and twelve privates, from each regiment, to parade every morning at six o'clock, and evening at five, and to be instructed in the exercise of the artillery; and when perfected, the commanding officer of artillery will report to the general or commanding officer on the spot, that they may be relieved by an equal number, to be taught in the same manner, that there may be no want of artillerymen to man and fight the guns on the batteries, in case of an attack. ”

“ Volunteer infantrymen, when associated with the compulsory militia, took the posts of honor and their units were consequently often referred to as flank or light companies. Sometimes they had special weapons and actually trained as light infantry. When war came they sometimes volunteered to go as units or they became a relatively trained cadre around which some provisional regiment was built. ”

“ The army service corps looks after the rations, supplies, etc., working in conjunction with the ammunition columns and other branches of the service. We have, therefore, a true coöperative spirit, each branch doing its share of duty in its own particular way.
The infantry is the queen arm of the service and the most important one. All other arms of the service are aids to assist it. In this great war, good artillery support is essen [Pg 15] tial. ”

“ 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 Staff [9] is the brain of the Army, and its function is to supply everything—from bombs to operation orders. It consists of two distinct branches: the A. and Q. branch, which is responsible for discipline, procuring supplies, and making arrangements for the comfort of the troops in such matters as billets and baths; and the G. branch, [23] which is concerned with training and operations. For success, the best devised plan depends greatly upon the care with which details are worked out. The actual attack is made by the infantry. ”

“ It scarcely requires an officer to be detached from his regiment for two months, so that he may learn how to do position drill, hold his rifle straight, strike the bull's-eye, or do skirmishing, volley, or independent firing. ”

“ These remarks apply more particularly to the infantry. In the cavalry and artillery the numbers, though less than the establishment, were generally sufficient to carry on with. This was due to the fewer casualties in those arms. There is no doubt that the question of providing officers for an army in the field is a very serious one, which is complicated by many extraneous circumstances. ”

“ The state of our infantry on Jan. 15 was very satisfactory and much superior to that of the German infantry. On an average each of our regiments has forty-eight officers, including eighteen regular officers, fifteen reserve officers, and fifteen non-commissioned officers. In each regiment six of the twelve companies are commanded by Captains who are regular officers, three by Captains of the reserve and three by Lieutenants. Each company has at least three officers. The state of the army as regards the commissioned ranks from the highest to the lowest is declared to be exceptionally brilliant. ”