How to Maneuver Large Battalions

By Kurt Holman

(Originally Published in the Camp Chase Gazette; October, 1994)

     The more I study the various Civil War and prewar tactical manuals, the more convinced I am that every sentence, paragraph, and page appears in them for a reason. Ever since I started reenacting, it seems that everyone takes as many shortcuts with drill as is humanly possible. This is done, so I am told, because we cannot simulate the TIME spent on drill that our original counterparts did.  Practical experience shows that, if you take shortcuts, you are only cutting yourself short.

     When officers neglect the basics in the interest of “saving time”, even company-sized battalions become unmanageable. This phenomenon is responsible, in part, for presenting to the public tiny battalions of 100 men or less. If “battalions” of this size ever went into combat in the Civil War, it would be as rare as Captain Richardson's leopard skin trousers.  At Perryville for example, the largest battalion was the 98^th Ohio with 814 men, and the smallest was Garrard's Detachment with 194 men. The Union Regiments averaged over 500 and the Confederates were around 400.  Later in the war when regiments were reduced to under 200, they were consolidated with other units; some permanently, others on an ad-hoc basis. The Army of the Cumberland at Chattanooga, for example, had brigades containing ten small regiments.  Before they went into combat, these regiments were temporarily consolidated into five fighting battalions. The excuse of favoring small battalions because their size makes them "easier" to handle is, to me, just like preferring polyester to wool because it is more "comfortable."

     For the answer of how to make large (authentic-sized) battalions really functional, you must look at the manuals. Any manual on Battalion Drill will do, since they all say basically the same thing.

     Battalions were aligned by the first and second sergeants.  In all the manuals, they are called “guides”. The “Right Guide” of a company is the first sergeant. The “Left Guide” of every company is the second sergeant. A “Marker” is an individual the Colonel places to mark the line of battle on which the battalion is to be formed.  Hardee's, Coppeé's and Casey's make no suggestion as to who these Markers may be.  Scott's mentions that they may be field musicians.  I prefer the suggestion of Major Gilham that the markers are taken from non-commissioned file closers (other than the second sergeants) who have little to do anyway.

     On every example of a line of battle formed from a column or any change of front, the formation ends with two or three “Markers” and the right OR left guide of every company (except one) standing in a perfectly straight line, faced to the right (or left) in front of the line of battle with the appropriate elbow in contact with the battalion.  If this sounds radical, please stop reading this now, go to your manual on Civil War battalion infantry drill (it does not matter which one) right now and skim through it.  At the end of every formation into a line of battle, you will notice the command “Guides – POST”!  This is the command for these “Guides” and “Markers” to return to their places in line of battle.

To Form a Line of Battle Successively from the Right (see plate 1)

     The Colonel picks his line of battle and places two Markers on that line, faced to the right. The first Marker is placed two feet to the left of where the Colonel wants the right flank of the Battalion to rest. The second marker is placed a little less than company-distance behind the first on that same line.  The second marker should be looking at the back of the first marker's head. When the Colonel is happy with this placement, he will give whatever command necessary to execute the movement, based on the situation. The first company is maneuvered and halted three paces from the markers. The Captain then places himself so that the breast of the man next on his left, after alignment, will touch the right elbow of the first marker. This captain will then command “Right - DRESS”! His company will then dress forward so that it touches both of the markers. The Captain then Commands “FRONT”! Meanwhile, the second company maneuvers into position and is halted three paces from the line of battle.  At the command “halt”, the second sergeant (called “Left guide”) springs out on the line and faces to the right so that he is looking at the back of the second marker's head.  He makes it a point to place himself so he cannot see the head of the first marker, (in the manuals, this is called “covering”).  It is the job of the Lt. Colonel, with assistance from the adjutant, to make sure these “guides” correctly “cover” the Markers.  As this is taking place, the second captain moves up and touches his right elbow to the left elbow of the left front rank man of the first company. This captain then dresses his company to the right. This brings the breast of the left front rank man of the second company in contact with the right elbow of his second sergeant. Satisfied, the second captain commands, “FRONT”!  Upon hearing this command, the FIRST captain brings his men to support arms.

     Thus each company is halted three paces from its place in line, its second sergeant springs out, faces right, “covers” the guides, its captain moves up to the front rank man of the company next on his right, and dresses his company to the right. As he commands “FRONT”, the captain who just preceded him will bring his company to support arms.

When the formation is finished, you have a battalion standing at support arms and a single musket ball could remove the noses of every man in the front rank with one shot.

To Form from the Left (Plate 2)

     The same basic concepts apply. This one was harder to research because almost all of the examples are from the right and most of the manuals wimp-out by saying something to the effect of: “This movement, left in front, will be executed according to the same principles and by inverse commands”.

     The Colonel will place Markers, faced to the left, marking the line of battle where the left company is to rest The Captains will move to the left of their companies and dress them to the left.  The FIRST SERGEANTS (or “Right Guides”) will each spring out on the line, face to the left, and cover the guides on the line of battle.  The Captains will return to their proper places at the “Guides – POST” command.  It should be noted that, except for the far left captain, each captain is standing where the captain on his left normally stands.

To Form from the Centre (Plate 3)

     This assumes the deployment of a column doubled on the centre, deployment from any interior subdivision, or any situation where the Battalion is built outwards from the Color Company.  The Right Wing of the battalion will form as has been described for deployments “from the left” with the captains dressing their companies to the left and the right guides springing out and facing left.  The Left Wing will form as has been described for deployments “from the right” with the captains dressing their companies to the right and the LEFT guides springing out on the line, faced to the right.  The captain of the color company will retire to the rear rank and the captain next on his right will stand in front of him, both of these captains in the same file. Normally, the Lt. Colonel, with the assistance of the adjutant, will supervise the guides in the right wing and the Major, with the assistance of the Sergeant Major, will look after the left wing of the Battalion.  The "Support Arms" rule is general for all such formations.

     The end result of the last example (before “Guides – Post”) is a battalion at Support Arms, the first sergeants of the right wing facing the second sergeants of the left wing, and the captains of the right wing (except the color captain) on the left of their companies.

     Using this method, every battalion whether it has 200 or a thousand men can be formed in line with ease.  If you ever marveled on how some of those original units were photographed with their lines so perfectly straight, well now you know.

Behind the byline: Kurt is a frequent contributor to Camp Chase Gazette, where he routinely displays his knowledge and skill with the drill manual. He manages the Perryville State Battlefield Park in Perryville, Kentucky in his spare time.