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28th New York Infantry Regiment
HARDEES SCHOOL OF THE COMPANY
LESSON SECOND & LESSON THIRD
LESSON SECOND.
42.The instructor, wishing to pass to the second lesson, will cause the company to take arms, if stacks have been formed, and command:
1. Attention. 2. Company. 3. Shoulder-ARMS
43.The instructor will then cause loadings and firings to be executed in the following order:
ARTICLE FIRST
To load at four times and at will.
44.Loading in four times will be commanded and executed as prescribed in the school of the soldier, No. 251, and following. The instructor will cause this exercise to be often repeated, in succession, before passing to load at will.
45.Loading at will will be commanded and executed as prescribed in the school of the soldier, No 256. In priming when loading in four times, and also at will, the captain and covering sergeant will half face to the right with the men, and face to the front when the man next to them, respectively brings his piece to the shoulder.
46.The instructor will labor to the utmost to cause the men, in the different loadings, to execute what has been prescribed in the school of the soldier Nos. 257 and 258.
47.Loading at will, being that of battle, and consequently the one with which it is most important to render the men familiar, it will claim preference in the exercises the moment the men be well established in the principles. To these they will be brought by degrees, so that every man may be able to load with cartridges, and to fire at least three rounds in a minute with ease and regularity.
ARTICLE SECOND
To fire by company.
48.The instructor, wishing to cause the live by company to be executed, will command:
1. Fire by Company. 2. Commence firing.
49.At the first command, the captain will promptly place himself opposite the centre of his company, and four paces in rear of the line of file closers: the covering sergeant will retire to that line, and place himself opposite to his interval. This rule is general for both the captain; and covering sergeant in all the different firings.
50.At the second command the captain will add:
1. Company; 2. READY 3. AIM 4. FIRE 5. LOAD
51.At the command load, the men will load their pieces and then take the position of ready, as prescribed in the school of the soldier.
52.The captain will immediately recommence the firing by the commands:
1. Company; 2. AIM 3. FIRE 4. LOAD
53.The firing will be thus continued until the signal to cease firing is sounded.
54.The captain will sometimes cause aim to be taken to the right and left, simply observing to pronounce right (or left) oblique, before the command aim.
ARTICLE THIRD
The fire by file.
55.The instructor wishing to cause the fire by file to be executed, will command:
1. Fire by file. 2. Company; 3. READY 4. Commence Firing.
56.The third and fourth commands will be executed as prescribed in the school of the soldier, No. 275 and following.
57.The fire will be commenced by the right file of the company; the next file will take aim at the instant the first brings down pieces to re-load, and so on to the left; but this progression will only be observed in the first discharge, after which each man will re-load and fire without regulating himself by others, conforming himself to what is prescribed in the school of the soldier, No. 280.
ARTICLE FOURTH
The fire by rank.
58.The instructor wishing the fire by rank to be executed, will command:
1. Fire by rank. 2. Company; 3. READY. 4. Rear rank- AIM. 5. FIRE. 6. LOAD.
59.The fifth and sixth commands will be executed as is prescribed in the school of the soldier, No. 285 and following.
60.When the instructor sees one or two pieces in the rear rank at a ready, he will command:
1. Front rank. 2. AIM. 3. FIRE. 4. LOAD.
61.The firing will be continued thus by alternate ranks, until the signal is given to cease firing.
62.The instructor will sometimes cause aim to be taken to the right and left, conforming to what is prescribed No. 54.
63.The instructor will cause the firing to cease, whether by company, by file, or by rank, by sounding the signal to cease firing and at the instant this sound commences, the men will cease to fire, conforming to what is prescribed in the school of the soldier, No. 282.
64.The signal to cease firing will always be followed by a bugle note; at which sound, the captain and covering sergeant will promptly resume their places in line, and will rectify, if necessary, the alignment of the ranks.
65.In this school, except when powder is used, the signal, to cease firing will be indicated by the command cease firing, which, will be pronounced by the instructor when he wishes the semblance of firing to cease.
66.The command posts will be likewise substituted, under similar circumstances, for the bugle note employed as the signal for the return of the captain and covering sergeant to their places in line which command will be given when the instructor sees the men have brought their pieces to a shoulder.
67.The fire by file being that which is most frequently used against an enemy, it is highly important that it be rendered perfectly familiar to the troops. The instructor will, therefore, give it almost exclusive preference, and labor to cause the men to aim with care, and always, if possible, at some particular object. As it is of the utmost importance that the men should aim with precision in battle, this principle will be rigidly enforced in the exercises for the purposes of instruction.
ARTICLE FIFTH
To fire by the rear rank.
68.The instructor will cause the several fires to be executed to the rear, that is, by the rear rank. To effect this, he will command:
1. Face by the rear rank. 2. Company. 3. About-FACE.
69.At the first command, the captain will step out and place himself near to, and facing the right file of his company; the covering sergeant, and file closers, will pass quickly through the captain's interval, and place themselves faced to the rear, the covering sergeant a pace behind the captain, and the file closers two paces from the front rank opposite to their places in line, each passing behind the covering sergeant.
70.It the third command, which will be given at the instant the last file closer shall have passed through the interval, the company will face about; the captain will place himself in his interval in the rear rank, now become the front, and the covering sergeant will cover him in the front rank, now become the rear.
71.The company having faced by the rear rank, the instructor Will cause it to execute the fire by company, both direct and oblique, the fire by file, and the fire by rank, by the commands and means prescribed in the three preceding articles; the captain, covering sergeant, and the men will conform themselves, in like manner, to what is therein prescribed.
72.The fire by file will commence on the left of the company, now become the right. In the fire by rank, the firing will commence with the front rank, now become the rear.
73.To resume the proper front, the instructor will command:
1. Face by the front rank. 2. Company. 3. About-FACE.
74.At the first command, the captain covering sergeant and file closers will conform to what is prescribed Nos. 60 and 70.
75.At the third command, the company having faced about, the captain and covering sergeant will resume their places in line.
76.In this lesson, the instructor will impress on the men the importance of aiming always at some particular object, and of holding the piece as prescribed in the school of the soldier, No. 178.
77.The instructor will recommend to the captain to make a short pause between the commands aim and fire, to give the men time to aim with accuracy.
78.The instructor will place himself in position to see the two ranks, in order to detect faults; he will charge the captain and file closers to be equally watchful, and to report to him when the ranks are at rest. He will remand, for individual instruction, the man who may be observed to load badly.
79.The instructor will recommend to the soldiers, in the firings, the highest degree of composure or presence of mind; he will neglect nothing that may contribute to this end.
80.He will give to the men, as a general principle, to maintain, in the direct fire, the left heel in its place, in order that the alignment of the ranks and files may not be deranged; and he will verify, by examination, after each exercise in firing, the observance of this principle.
81.The instructor will observe, in addition to these remarks, all those which follow:
82.When the firing is executed with cartridges, it is particularly recommended that the men observe, in uncocking, whether smoke escapes from the tube, which is a certain indication that the piece has been discharged; but if, on the contrary, no smoke escapes, the soldier, in such case, instead of reloading, will pick and prime again. If, believing the load to be discharged, the soldier should put a second cartridge in his piece, he ought, at least, to perceive it in ramming, by the height of the load; and he would be very culpable should he put in a third. The instructor will always cause arms to be inspected after firing with cartridges, in order to observe if the fault has been committed, of putting three cartridges, without a discharge, in the same piece, in which case the ball screw will be applied.
83.It sometimes happens when a cap has missed fire that the tube is found stopped up with a hard, white, and compact powder; in this case, picking will be dispensed with, and a new cap substituted for the old one.
LESSON THIRD.
ARTICLE FIRST
To advance in line of battle.
84.The company being in line of battle and correctly aligned, when the instructor shall wish to exercise it in marching by the front, he will assure himself that the shoulders of the captain and covering sergeant are perfectly in the direction of their respective ranks, and that the sergeant accurately covers the captain; the instructor will then place himself twenty-five or thirty paces in front of them, face to the rear, and place himself exactly on the prolongation of the line passing between their heels.
85.The instructor, being aligned on the directing file, will command:
1. Company, forward.
86.At this, a sergeant, previously designated, will move six paces in advance of the captain: the instructor, from the position prescribed, will correctly align this sergeant on the prolongation of the directing file.
87.This advanced sergeant, who is to be charged with the direction, will, the moment his position is assured, take two points on the ground in the straight line which would pass between his own and the heels of the instructor.
88.These dispositions being made, the instructor will step aside, and command:
2. MARCH.
89.At this, the company will step off with life. The directing sergeant will observe with the greatest precision, the, length and cadence of the step, marching on the two points he has chosen; he will take in succession, and always a little before arriving at the point nearest to him, new points in advance, exactly in the same line with the first two, and at the distance of some, fifteen or twenty paces from each other. The captain will march steadily in the trace of the directing sergeant, keeping always six paces from him; the men will each maintain the head direct to the front, feel lightly the elbow of his neighbor on the side of direction, and conform himself to the principles prescribed, school of the soldier, for the march by front.
90.The man next to the captain will take special care not to pass him; to this end, he will keep the line of his shoulders a little in the rear, but in the, same direction with those of the captain.
91.The file closers will march at the habitual distance of two paces behind the rear rank.
92.If the men lose the step, the instructor will command:
To the-STEP
93.At this command, the men will glance towards the directing sergeant, retake the step from him, and again direct their eyes to the front.
94.The instructor will cause the captain and covering sergeant to be posted sometimes on the right, and sometimes on the left of the company.
95.The directing sergeant, in advance, having the greatest influence on the march of the company, he will be selected for the precision of his step, his habit of maintaining his shoulders in a square with a given line of direction, and of prolonging that line without variation.
96.If this sergeant should fail to observe these principles, undulations in the front of the company must necessarily follow; the men will be unable to contract the habit of taking steps equal in length and swiftness, and of maintaining their shoulders in a square with the line of direction-the only means of attaining perfection in the march in line.
97.The instructor, with a view the better to establish the men in the length and cadence of the step, and in the principles of the march in line, will cause the company to advance three or four hundred paces, at once, without halting if the ground will permit. In the first exercises, he will march the company with open ranks, the better to observe the two ranks.
98.The instructor will see, with care that all the principles of the march in line are strictly observed; he will generally be on the directing flank, in a position to observe the two ranks and the faults they may commit; he will sometimes halt, behind the directing file during some thirty successive steps, in order to judge whether the directing sergeant or the directing file, deviate from the perpendicular.
ARTICLE SECOND
To halt the company marching in line of battle, and to align it.
99.The instructor, wishing to halt the company will command:
1. Company. 2. HALT
100.At the second command, the company will halt; the directing sergeant will remain in advance unless ordered to return to the line of file closers. The company being at a halt the instructor may advance the first three or four files on the side of direction and align the company on that basis, or he any confine himself to causing the alignment to be rectified. In this last case, he will command: Captain, rectify the alignment. The captain will direct the covering sergeant to attend to the rear rank, when each, glancing his eyes along his rank, will promptly rectify it, conforming to what is prescribed in the school of the soldier No. 320.
ARTICLE THIRD
Oblique march in line of battle.
101.The company being in the direct march, when the instructor shall wish to cause it to march obliquely, he will command:
1. Right (or left) oblique. 2. MARCH
102.At the command march, the company will take the oblique step. The men will accurately observe the principles prescribed in the school of the soldier, No. 331. The rear rank men will preserve their distances, and march in rear of the man next on the right (or left) of their habitual file leaders.
103.When the instructor wishes the direct march to he resumed he will command:
1. Forward. 2. MARCH
104.At the command march, the company will resume the direct march. The instructor will move briskly twenty paces in front of the captain, and facing the company, will place himself exactly in the prolongation of the captain and covering sergeant; and then by a sign, will move the directing sergeant on the same line, if he be not already on it; the latter will immediately take two points on the ground between himself and the instructor, and as he advances, will take new points of direction, as is explained No. 89.
105.In the oblique march, the men not having the touch of elbows, the guide will always be on the side toward which the oblique is made, without any indication to that effect being given ; and when the direct match is resumed, the guide will be, equally without indication, on the side where it was previous to the oblique.
106.The instructor will, at first, cause the oblique to be made toward the side of the guide. He will also direct the captain to have an eye on the directing sergeant, in order to keep on the same perpendicular line to the front with him, while following a parallel direction.
107.During the continuance of the march, the instructor will be watchful that the men follow parallel directions, in conforming to the principles prescribed in the school of the soldier, for preserving the general alignment; whenever the men lose the alignment, he will be careful that they regain it by lengthening or shortening the step, without altering the cadence, or changing the direction.
108.The instructor will place himself in front of the company and face to it, in order to regulate the march of the directing sergeant or the man who is on the flank toward which the oblique is made, and to see that the principles of the march are properly observed, and that the files do not crowd.
ARTICLE FOURTH
To mark time, to march in double quick time, and the back step.
109.The company being in the direct march, and in quick time, the instructor, to cause it to mark time, will command:
1. Mark time. 2. MARCH
110.To resume the march, he will command:
1. Forward. 2. MARCH
111.To cause the march in double quick time, the instructor will command:
1. Double quick. 2. MARCH
112.The command march will be pronounced at the instant either foot is coming to the ground.
113.To resume quick time, the instructor will command:
1. Quick time. 2. MARCH
114.The command march will be pronounced at the instant either foot is coming to the ground.
115.The company being at a halt, the instructor may cause it to march in the back step; to this effect, he will command:
1. Company backwards. 2. MARCH
116.The back step will be executed according to the principles prescribed in the school of the soldier, No. 247, but the use of it being rare, the instructor will not cause more than fifteen or twenty steps to be taken in succession, and to that extent but seldom.
117.The instructor ought not to exercise the company in marching in double quick time till the men are well established in the length and swiftness of the pace in quick time; he will then endeavor to render the march of one hundred and sixty-five steps in the minute equally easy and familiar, and also cause them to observe the same erectness of body and composure of mind, as if marching in quick time.
118.When marching in double quick time, if a subdivision (in a column) has to change direction by turning, or has to form into line, the men will quicken the pace to one hundred and eighty steps in a minute. The same swiftness of step will be observed under all circumstances where great rapidity of movement is required. But, as ranks of men cannot march any length of time at so swift a rate, without breaking or confusion, this acceleration will not be considered a prescribed exercise, and accordingly companies or battalions will only be habitually exercised in the double quick time of one hundred and sixty-five steps in the minute.
ARTICLE FIFTH
To march in retreat.
119.The company being halted and correctly aligned, when the instructor shall wish to cause it to march in retreat, he will command:
1. Company. 2. About-MARCH
120.The company having faced to the rear, the instructor will place himself in front of the directing file, conforming to what is prescribed, No. 84.
121.The instructor, being correctly established on the prolongation of the directing file, will command:
3. Company, forward.
122.At this, the directing sergeant will conform himself to what is prescribed Nos. 86 and 87, with this difference-he will place himself six paces in front of the line of file closers, now leading.
123.The covering sergeant will step into the line of file closers, opposite to his interval, and the captain will place himself in the rear rank, now become the front.
124.This disposition being promptly made, the instructor will command:
4. MARCH
125.At this, the directing sergeant, the captain, and the men, will conform themselves to what is prescribed No. 89, and following.
126.The instructor will cause to be executed, marching in retreat, all that is prescribed for marching in advance; the commands and the means of execution will be the same.
127.The instructor having halted the company, will, when he may wish, cause it to face to the front by the commands prescribed No. 119. The captain, the covering sergeant, and the directing sergeant, will resume their habitual places in line, the moment they shall have faced about.
128.The company being in march by the front rank, if the instructor should wish it to march in retreat, he will cause the right about to be executed while marching, and to this effect will command:
1. Company. 2. Right about. 3. MARCH
129.At the third command, the company will promptly face about, and recommence the march arch by the rear rank.
130.The directing sergeant will face about with the company, and will move rapidly six paces in front of the file closers, and upon the prolongation of the guide. The instructor will place him in the proper direction by the means prescribed No. 104. The captain, the covering sergeant, and the men, will conform to the principles prescribed for the march in retreat.
131.When the instructor wishes the company to match by the front rank, he will give the same commands, and will regulate the direction of the march by the same means.
132.The instructor will cause to be executed in double quick time, all the movements prescribed in the 3d, 4th, 5th and 6th lessons of this school, with the exception of the march backwards, which will be executed only in quick time. He will give the same commands, observing to add double quick before the command march.
133.When the pieces are carried on the right shoulder, in quick time, the distance between the ranks will be sixteen inches. Whenever, therefore, the instructor brings the company from a shoulder to this position, the rear rank must shorten a little the first steps in order to gain the prescribed distance, and will lengthen the steps, on the contrary, in order to close up when the pieces are again brought to a shoulder. In marching in double quick time the distance between the ranks will be twenty-six inches, and the pieces will be carried habitually on the right shoulder.
134.Whenever a company is halted, the man wilt bring their pieces at once to a shoulder at the command halt. The rear rank will close to its proper distance. These rules are general.
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