Marching order

“ I don't believe there will be any more such fighting; it's more than human beings can stand without one side or the other collapsing. As I look back upon it, I marvel.
Sunday, Aug. 28, 1864.
Received marching orders for to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock last evening. We were up at 3 o'clock [141] a. m. and ready to march at daylight, but did not until near 8 o'clock. The Nineteenth Corps marched on our left in three different columns and the Sixth Corps moved on the right in the same order. We took dinner about two miles from Charlestown, and marched again about 1 o'clock p. m. ”

“ Left face! Forward march! By the right flank, march! Left oblique! Double quick!" and we had joined the brigade. "Charge bayonets!" across the field, and into the woods; and the first line of the enemy's rifle-pits was occupied. Here the men stopped, and commenced firing; but a lull in the fire of the enemy enforced the order to move forward, and in little more time than it takes to write it we had captured and occupied a section of the main line of Confederate works, and had more prisoners marching to the rear than the whole number present in the regiment. ”

“ The first adoption of file marching has been attributed to the Prussians, and the advocates for what is called the Ordre mince des Prussiens, the thin or narrow order, have in contradistinction named the ordre profond, the deep order, or column, the French order. According to a very ingenious and lively writer, who has had frequent occasions to see the practice of both orders, the ordre mince or file marching, may be very useful during a march, but the deep order or column ought only to be depended upon in manœuvring before an enemy. ”

“ Another day's march under a sun which seems to have increased in intensity even since yesterday. Jubécourt, Ville-sur-Cousances. These are full of gendarmes and "forestiers"; staff cars and supply lorries. All that spells retreat.... (Censored) ... Nevertheless, this has not the appearance of being a rout and I seek in vain to understand the meaning of these forced marches, of this breathless rush to Bar-le-Duc.
The most amazing and absurd rumours are flying round. Perhaps the pick of the bunch is the news that we are marching to Paris to maintain order! ”

“ The Enemy Surprised.—One sultry morning marching orders were received and the Fourteenth in column with other portions of the command, for hours marched at quicktime, and sometimes double-quicking. Men overcome with heat fainted by the wayside, but positive orders to continue the march were rigidly enforced. Late in the evening the enemy was surprised and attacked in the rear and a fight ensued beginning the Chancellorsville engagements. ”

“ A common and natural result of an undue respect for law is, that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain, corporal, privates, powder-monkeys, and all, marching in admirable order over hill and dale to the wars, against their wills, ay, against their common sense and consciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed, and produces a palpitation of the heart. ”

“ At the top of it we are allowed to draw out, and motor slowly past long lines of troops on the march; first, R.E.'s with their store waggons, large and small; then a cyclist detachment; a machine-gun detachment; field kitchens, a white goat lying lazily on the top of one of them; mules, heavily laden; and Lewis guns in little carts. Then infantry marching briskly in the keen air, while along other roads, visible to east and west, we see other columns converging. A division, apparently, on the march. The physique of the men, their alert and cheerful looks, strike me particularly. ”

“ Rank by rank, company by company, regiment by regiment, the sun glinting on their field equipment, the sun burning the frames already wearied by the march from garrisons in Germany, the sun waiting to turn the slain bodies of those marching men to sights of which a soldier even fears to dream, years after the war is over. ”

“ We started at daylight on the 5th, and marched all day, reaching Nottoway courthouse about sunset. Here we camped, and pickets were sent out, but were recalled at midnight, and we again took up our line of march, arriving early in the morning at a stream called Hatcher’s run, at a point where it crossed the Vaughn road, and where the Second corps had fought the rebels the day before, while we were marching to re-enforce them. ”

“ At the head of every column of march, there must be a considerable number of pioneers to clear the rout.
Guns or carriages breaking down and disabled, are immediately to be removed out of the line of march, so as not to interrupt its progress.
Officers are most positively enjoined at all times to remain with their divisions, whether marching or halted.
The commanding officers of regiments must pay the greatest attention to their corps whilst passing a defile, and proper officers should be left to assist in this most essential part of the conduct of marches. ”

“ An army of more than sixty thousand freemen, every man a soldier in the true sense of the word, brave, resolute, fearless, the heroes and victors of many fields, marching unobstructed and thus far unopposed through an enemy's country, whose people had scarcely known that war was in progress; living in quiet and plenty. The march was continued with steady tread to Hagerstown, where a halt was made to allow Hill's corps, which had crossed the river below, to pass. ”

“ They were marching in columns of fours, but the road was wide; another sharp command and the men with slow yet beautiful precision deployed into a close column of companies at half distance—the very formation for a charge in mass! The brass drums were rolling a famous march, "La Grenadière," the grenadier's march. The hearts of the Fifth-of-the-Line were keeping time to the beating of those drums.
Ah, they were splendid soldiers, that regiment of infantry. Even the youths got something from the veterans. ”

“ The revolution was picturesque and full of color. Nearly [203] every morning one could see regiment after regiment, soldiers, Cossacks, and sailors, with their regimental colors, and bands, and revolutionary flags, marching to the Duma to take the new oath of allegiance. They were cheered; they were blessed; handkerchiefs were waved; hats were raised, as marks of appreciation and gratitude to these men, without whose help there would have been no revolution. ”

“ The most aggravating thing to the soldiers on a march is the unevenness of the marching. First you are rushed along so that the short legged ones are compelled to double-quick to keep up, and then there will be a halt of perhaps fifteen to thirty minutes when you are kept standing in the broiling sun ”

“ The foot soldiers, marching down the lane that runs by Aristotle's Well, there joined them; and so, about nine of the clock, when it was now beginning to grow dark, we set off, the horse, whereof my father's regiment was the foremost, being in front, and the footmen following after with as much haste as they might. And, indeed, besides that all were picked men, 'twas not a march in which any would desire to linger, so great was the danger lest the enemy's forces, being much more numerous, should close upon us. ”

“ Marching under the same leader, toward the same goal, do they not also belong to the active armed force? I will go further. I will say that in America, where the entire armed forces are made ​​up of volunteers during peacetime, the militia is the sole and true raised by conscription, and therefore the true regular army. ”

“ No one but a soldier can tell how mean it makes one feel to be in an enemy’s country without ammunition to defend oneself with should an attack be made; but we neither saw nor heard any rebels on the homeward march. On this march Company A was three days without food. Toward evening of the third day, the writer, leaving the marching column, marched straight for a sweet potato mound, and, taking all he could carry, hastened to his company. ”

“ When brought into the field, the men were as ignorant of the art of marching as babes, and required for their instruction the same patient, unwearied attention. On this and subsequent marches frequent halts were made, to enable stragglers to close up; and I set the example to mounted officers of riding to the rear of the column, to encourage the weary by relieving them of their arms, and occasionally giving a footsore fellow a cast on my horse. ”

“ And the seasons follow one another with the precision of marching regiments. They do not step on each other's heels, nor do they leave a vacancy between them for the imps of chaos. No, they neither borrow nor steal from each other in these climes. ”

“ They speak with pity of us—Labour—their father.
“And now we will show them their father in his might. The little machines they have in their factories are toys we have given them and that for the time we leave in their hands. We do not think of the toys nor the soft-bodied women. We make of ourselves a mighty army, a marching army going along shoulder to shoulder. ”

“ Or orders might require the troops to be hurried forward, and the march, too hastily begun, would be impeded by crowding or by the necessity of cavalry, artillery, or ammunition being sent forward.
To sketch a march is an exceedingly difficult thing because there is presented to the observer such a multitude of features, none of which can be slighted or left out; and these features are so varied, and present themselves in such endless succession and constantly changing interest, that the mind becomes confused. ”

“ Some one has characterised the march as a helter-skelter one, every man "going on his own hook," without regard to regimental formation, let alone so compact a matter as a company; each man camped down where he could do so most comfortably; "there was no roll-call that night." ”

“ Although the word marching is insensibly confounded with those of line and regulars, it was originally meant to convey something more than a mere liability to be ordered upon any service; [394] for by marching the regular troops from one town to another, the inhabitants, who from time immemorial have been jealous of a standing army, lost their antipathy to real soldiers, by the occasional absence of regular troops. At present, the English guards, militia, and fencibles, may be considered more or less as marching regiments.—The marines and volunteer corps have stationary quarters. ”

“ The Sixty-fifth thought of other marches. Before McDowell—Elk Run Valley—that was bad. Elk Run Valley was bad. Before Mechanicsville—coming down from Beaver Dam Station—that was bad. Bath to Romney—that was worst.... We’ve had plenty of bad marches—plenty of marches—plenty of heroic marches. We are used to marching—used to marching.... Marching and fighting—marching and fighting....
Tall and lean and tanned, the Thunder Run men opposed the wind from the mountains. Allan Gold and Sergeant Billy Maydew exchanged observations. ”

“ Our minimum, when marching quietly out of barracks and back, without a halt is forty kilometres under our present Colonel, who is known in the Legion as The Marching Pig, and we do it three or four times a week. On forced marches we do anything that is to be done, inasmuch as it is the unalterable law of the Legion that all forced marches must be done in one march. ”

“ The sweet strains of music and the heavy tramp of the soldiers alone broke the silence. There was nothing but this martial bearing, which marked the carriage of the members of the regiment, to distinguish them from the multitude which was hastening in the same direction; for there were no arms and no uniforms. Each member was dressed in his citizen's garb, and there was no attempt at military evolutions. It was a simple march of determined men to the defence of their country. ”

“ It takes a hard march to test the morale of soldiers. When the feet are road-sore, when the legs ache from the endless pounding of hobnails on hard macadam, when the pack straps cut and burn to the shoulder blades, and the tin hat weighs down like a crown of thorns, then keep your ear open for a jest and if your hearing is rewarded, you will know that you march with men. ”

“ Upon your march you were assailed, day after day, with desperate fury, by men of the same race and nation, skilfully massed and led. Under every disadvantage of number, and necessarily of position also, you have, in every conflict, beaten back your foes with enormous slaughter. Your conduct ranks you among the celebrated armies of history. No one will now question that each of you may always with pride say, “I belong to the Army of the Potomac.”
You have reached the new base, complete in organization and unimpaired in spirit. The enemy may, at any time, attack you. ”

“ It is therefore necessary that the question of marching should be studied, not only by generals and staff officers, but by regimental officers and men. It is on the latter that the hardships and exertions fall, and their cheerful endurance can best be ensured by teaching them the great results attainable by an army which can move faster and further than its adversary, as well as the dangers incurred by an army which allows itself to be out-marched. ”

“ We heard indications of battle all day from the direction of Aldie, and I suppose this forced march was thought necessary, but I can truly say that I much preferred all the horrors of the battlefield to these terrible long marches, when it seemed impossible to keep up. To drop out was to lose sight of your regiment, and perhaps die uncared for, or be gobbled up by guerrillas, who were plentiful all through that God forsaken country.
To be captured by guerrillas was sure death or imprisonment, which to me seemed [35] worse than death on the field. ”

“ As rapidly as possible Union volunteer regiments were disbanded, and soon the mighty host of 1,000,000 men was reduced to a peace footing of only 25,000. Before the great army melted away into the greater body of citizens its soldiers enjoyed one final triumph—a march through the capital of the nation, undisturbed by death or danger, under the eyes of their highest commanders and the representatives of the people whose country they had saved. ”