Military march

“ Even with a well-organised commissariat it is a most difficult business to keep a marching column supplied with food and forage; and the problem of transport, unless a railway or a river be available, taxes the ability of the most experienced leader. A march of eighty or one hundred miles into an enemy’s country sounds a simple feat, but unless every detail has been most carefully thought out, it will not improbably be more disastrous than a lost battle. A march of two or three hundred miles is a great military operation; a march of six hundred an enterprise of which there are few examples. ”

“ Forming on the shore we began our march at about eight o’clock in good military order, the Rangers in front, the seamen in the centre, and the 80th in the rear, with advanced and flanking parties from the Rangers. I felt that we were in an enemy’s country, that any moment we might be attacked, and that such precautions as we were taking were in no way derogatory to those who would desire to be considered brave men. ”

“ The roar lifts, swells, grows louder and louder; the military bands on either side of the piazza break with one accord into the triumphant ringing rhythm of the royal march. They have seen the troops defile before them with scarcely a sign of interest, but now, at sight of that little isolated group of riders with the plumed and glittering helmets, there comes one mad instant of frantic acclamation, when every man in that crowd feels that he too has some part and possession in all the compelling, alluring splendour and success of life. ”

“ One must needs have been a witness of the rapid march of this army on the day of the 17th,—a march which resembled a steeplechase rather than the pursuit of an enemy in retreat,—to get an idea of the activity which Napoleon knew how to impress upon his troops when placed under his immediate command. Six pieces of the horse-artillery of the Guard, supported by the headquarters squadrons, marched in the first line, and vomited forth grape upon the masses of the enemy’s cavalry, as often as, profiting by some accident of ground, they endeavored to halt, to take position, and retard our pursuit. ”

“ After all is agreed upon, the army commences its march to the sound of drums, and is always preceded by several advanced parties, to guard against surprise. During the march, the infantry as well as the cavalry are on horseback; but on coming to action, the infantry dismounts and is regularly marshalled in companies and battalions. All the soldiers have to provide their own horses arms and provisions; and as all are liable to military service, no one has to contribute towards the supply of the army. ”

“ The ordered or cadenced March.—The prescribed movements in military tactics. All military movements are intended to be made with the greatest quickness consistent with order, regularity, and without hurry or fatigue to the troops. The uniformity of position, and the cadence and length of step, produce that equality and freedom of march, on which every thing depends, and to which the soldier must be carefully trained, nor suffered to join the battalion, until he be thoroughly perfected in this most essential duty. Many different times of march must not be required of the soldier. ”

“ A successful march, whether in peace or war, is one that places the troops at their destination at the proper time and in the best possible physical condition. Therefore, every possible effort, by exercising care and judgment, and by enforcing march discipline, must be made by all officers and noncommissioned officers to have the troops reach their destination in good physical condition,—"ready for business." ”

“ From the moment the music struck up on the parade ground, and the detachments for the guard from the different companies began to file out and march into place, there was always a large concourse of the men in gray making a most interested body of spectators. The smart appearance of the men, the rapid inspection of arms, of haversacks and knapsacks, the march in review, the assignment to posts, the final marching off the field, all seemed to give them great enjoyment. ”

“ Marches and movements constitute so essential a branch in military tactics, that on them almost wholly depends the issue of a campaign. It is consequently expected, that every officer belonging to the senior department, should be able to calculate the march of a column under all the various and desultory circumstances which are attendant on the movements of troops. ”

“ Marches made parallel to the front of the enemy will generally be performed by the lines on which the army is encamped, each marching by its flank, and occupying when in march the same extent of ground as when formed in line. Marches made perpendicular to the front of the enemy, either advancing or retiring, will be covered by strong van or rearguards. The columns will be formed of considerable divisions of the army, each generally composed both of cavalry and infantry: they will move at half or quarter distance, and the nature of the country will determine which kind of force precedes. ”

“ Besides, we vary the march with little operations scarcely to be called military: touching, or trying to touch, the floor with the tips of our fingers without bending our knees, making our elbows meet behind our backs, &c. ”

“ At no time whatever ought a column of manœuvre, or of route, to occupy a greater extent of ground in marching than what is equal to its front when in order of battle; no situation can require it as an advantage. Therefore, the marching of great bodies in file, where improper extension is unavoidable, must be looked upon as an unmilitary practice, and ought only to be had recourse to when unavoidably necessary. Where woods, inclosures, and bad or narrow routes absolutely require a march in file, there is no remedy for the delay in forming, and man may be obliged to come up after man ”

“ Troops that are seldom assembled for the manœuvres of war, can hardly feel the necessity of the modes in which a considerable body of infantry must march and move.
The distance of columns from each other, during a march, depends on the circumstances of ground, and the object of that march, with regard to future formations. The more columns in which a considerable corps marches, the less extent in depth will it take up, the less frequent will be its halts, and the more speedily can it form in order of battle to the front. ”

“ If your march should be through a country full of defiles, some cavalry and other light troops must march at the head of the columns, followed by a detachment of grenadiers and a brigade of artillery; cannon being absolutely necessary to obstruct the enemy’s forming into order of battle. ”

“ Aux champs, ou le premier, is beat when any particular corps of infantry is ordered to march; but if the order should extend to a whole army, it is then called La générale, the general. They do not make this distinction in the British service, but omit the premier or first beat when one regiment, detachment, or company, marches out of a camp or garrison where there are other troops.
Le second, ou l’assemblée, is to give notice that the colors are to be sent for.
La marche is beat when troops march off their parade.
Battre la charge, ou battre la guerre. To beat the charge, or the point of war. ”

“ In determining the exact direction of our march, it was considered, as a matter of strategy, that instead of moving straight up the mountain, towards the enemy's stronghold, we should enter the country by the Umbeylah Pass, a narrow gorge to the west of the Mahabun, and proceed through the Chumla Valley on its north side (see map) ; and thus by a flank march, as it were, attack the fanatics in rear and cut off their line of retreat. ”

“ The second order of march among the Turks is that which they call alay; when the troops arrive, under the command of their several bachas, at the camp or given spot of rendezvous, for the purpose of being reviewed by the serasquier, the grand vizier or the sultan. This order is observed likewise by the janizaries when they repair to a similar place.
The third order of march must be considered as a real military movement. It is that which is performed by the army that first takes up its ground in a regular manner, and encamps. ”

“ The marches of the artillery are, of all the operations of war, the most delicate; because they must not only be directed on the object you have in view, but according to the movements the enemy make. Armies generally march in 3 columns, the centre column of which is the artillery: should the army march in more columns, the artillery and heavy baggage march nevertheless in one or more of the centre columns ”

“ When the movements of an army are to be concealed, the march must be undertaken at night through woods, vallies, and concealed ways; all frequented and inhabited places must be carefully avoided; no loud instruments must on any account be played; and if fires are made, they must only be lighted on the eve of breaking up camp; in which case they must be left burning, for the purpose of deluding the enemy into a supposition, that the troops have not moved. ”

“ When they march through a country in which there is no cause to apprehend surprise or hostility, the infantry generally takes the lead, two or three days march, in front of the main army. The troops march in the loosest manner, being neither confined to particular companies, nor formed in columns. They chuse what roads they like best, halt where they please, and reach the camp in detached parties ”

“ Nothing is more essential in all deployments into line, and in the internal movements of the divisions of the battalion, than the accuracy of the march in file. After facing, and at the word march, the whole are directed to step off at the same instant, each man replacing, or rather overstepping the foot of his preceding comrade: that is the right foot of the second man comes within the left foot of the first, and thus of every one, more or less overlapping, according to the closeness, or openness of the files and the length of step. ”

“ Secret Marches, are made with a design to reconnoitre an enemy, surprize his camp, secure a post, or seize a place. They are likewise undertaken to succour troops that may be precariously situated, to relieve a besieged town, &c. It is in this service that a commander has occasion for his utmost sagacity and penetration, to prevent his being discovered or betrayed. In order to ensure success, the person who conducts the march, should have previously obtained good information relative to the different roads through which he is to pass, the disposition of the inhabitants, &c. ”

“ Nothing so much fatigues troops in a considerable column, and is more to be avoided than an inequality of march. One great reason is, that the rear of the column frequently and unnecessarily deviates from the line which its head traces out; and in endeavouring to regain that line, and their first distances, the divisions must of course run or stop, and again take up their march. It is unnecessary to attempt the same scrupulous observances in common route marching, as when going to enter into the alignement ”

“ Keep closed up, and during the last mile of your march have your company sing some real snappy song, and they will come in in jubilant spirits. Keep the muzzles of your rifles always elevated on the march so that men marching in rear wont be bothered.
On the march the first halt is for 15 minutes taken after 45 minutes of marching. The men should be taught to use this time to adjust their clothing and equipment, and answer the calls of nature. Do not halt where there are houses, etc., on this first halt, as a great many men want to relieve themselves. ”

“ During a march of this nature, the troops must be provided with subsistence, stores, and ammunition, to last out until the object is attained. No scout or vedette is sent forward, when an army, or any part of it, advances to take possession of a post or place, to succour a town, to surprize an enemy, in a close or woody country, by favor of the night, or in hazy weather, or on any occasion when orders have been given to oppose and fight every thing it meets. ”

“ He has to deploy instantly and press the enemy hard until the hostile opposition disappears or the advance party comes up and its commander takes charge. The point will lose men in this way, but it is necessary, for otherwise one small combat patrol could delay the march time after time. ”

“ The movement of a body of men from one place to another. In marching it cannot be too strongly inculcated that every just movement and manœuvre depends upon the correct equality of march established and practiced by all the troops of the same army, and that when this is not attended to confusion must follow on the junction of several battalions. ”

“ Lines of march, are bodies of armed men marching on given points to arrive at any straight alignement on which they are to form. The general direction of such alignement is always determined before the troops enter it, and the point in that line at which their head is to arrive, must next be ascertained. ”

“ In order to avoid being discovered in the object of the march, a different road must be taken from the one which you really propose to march through; and a fit opportunity must afterwards be embraced to get into the real track. Before you march out of a town or fortified place, the utmost care must be observed to prevent your intended [391] route from being conveyed to the enemy. On this account the troops must be first marched out, and the gates immediately shut upon the rear, so that no stranger, &c. may be able to slip out with the men. ”

“ No doubt, the occupation of any point or points on the line by which two allied armies communicate with each other tends to embarrass them, to hinder any combined movements, and to delay their union; but to direct the march of an invading army 15merely to compass this end, when it is possible to defeat one of these opposing armies by engaging it where it cannot be supported by its ally, is to miss the opportunity of the campaign. ”