| United States Volunteers |
| 3d Battalion |
| Antietam 140th Anniversary Reenactment |
| portraying |
| The Eighth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers |
|
| DRILL PREPARATION MATERIAL |
| DRESS PARADE |
| Casey's Formation In Order of Battle p.9 |
| 14. The color, with a guard to be hereinafter designated, will be posted on the left of the right centre battalion company. That company, and all on its right, will be denominated the right wing of the battalion; the remaining companies the left wing. |
| Color-guard. p.15 |
| 43. In each battalion the color-guard will be composed of eight corporals, and posted on the left of the right centre company, of which company, for the time being, the guard will make a part. |
| 44. The front rank will be composed of a sergeant, to be selected by the colonel, who will be called, for the time, color-bearer, with the two ranking corporals, respectively, on his right and left; the rear rank will be composed of the three corporals next in rank; and the three remaining corporals will be posted in their rear, and on the line of file closers. The left guide of the color-company, when these three last named corporals are in the rank of file closers, will be immediately on their left. |
| 45. In battalions with less than five companies present, there will be no color-guard, and no display of colors, except it may be at reviews. |
| 46. The corporals for the color-guard will be selected from those most distinguished for regularity and precision, as well in their positions under arms as in their marching. The latter advantage, and a just carriage of the person, are to be more particularly sought for in the selection of the color-bearer. |
| Casey's School of the Battalion Part I p.5 |
| 2. The color-company will generally be designated as the directing company. That, as soon as formed, will be placed on the direction the colonel may have determined for the line of battle. The other companies will form on it, to the right and left, on the principles of successive formations which will be herein prescribed. |
| 4. The color-bearer may have received the color from the hands of the colonel; but if there be daylight, and time, the color will be produced with due solemnity. |
| Composition and march of the color-escort. p.6 |
| 5. When the battalion turns out under arms and the color is wanted, a company, other than that of the color, will be put in march to receive and escort it. |
| 6. The march will be in the following order, in quick time, and without music: the field music, followed by the band; the escort in column by platoon, right in front, with arms on the right shoulder, and the color-bearer between the platoons. |
| 7. Arrived in front of the tent or quarters of the colonel, the escort will form line, the field music and band on the right, and arms will be brought to a shoulder. |
| 8. The moment the escort is in line, the color bearer, preceded by the first lieutenant, and followed by a sergeant of the escort, will go to receive the color. |
| 9. When the color-bearer shall come out, followed by the lieutenant and sergeant, he will halt before the entrance; the escort will present arms, and the field music will sound to the color. |
| 10. After some twenty seconds, the captain will cause the sound to cease, arms to be shouldered, and then break by platoon into column; the color-bearer will place himself between the platoons, and the lieutenant and sergeant will resume their posts. |
| 11. The escort will march back to the battalion to the sound of music in quick time, and in the same order as above, the guide on the right. The march will be so conducted that when the escort arrives at one hundred and fifty paces in front of the right of the battalion, the direction of the march will be parallel to its front, and when the color arrives nearly opposite its place in line, the column will change direction to the left, and the right guide will direct himself on the centre of the battalion. |
| Honors paid to the color. p.7 |
| 12. Arrived at the distance of twenty paces from the battalion, the escort will halt, and the music cease; the colonel will place himself six paces before the centre of the battalion, the color-bearer will approach the colonel, by the front, in quick time; when at the distance of ten paces, he will halt: the colonel will cause arms to be presented, and to the color to be sounded, which being executed, the color-bearer will take his place in the front rank of the color-guard, and the battalion, by command, shoulder arms. |
| 13. The escort, field music, and band, will return in quick time to their several places in line of battle, marching by the rear of the battalion. |
| 14. The color will be escorted back to the colonel's tent or quarters, by the color-company, for which purpose the captain of that company, on an intimation from the colonel, will march his company six paces to the front, and wheel it by platoon to the right. The color-bearer will take his place between the platoons. |
| 15. The escort will be marched parallel to the battalion, and at six paces from the line, the guide right, the music playing, and in the order prescribed in No. 6. The colonel will cause the battalion to present arms when the escort commences its march, and when it arrives opposite the right flank of the battalion he will cause arms to be shouldered. |
| 16. As soon as the color-bearer has passed the right flank of the battalion, the escort will be directed to the place of deposit for the color, and in the same order as above. |
| SUCCESSIVE FORMATIONS |
| Casey's School of the Battalion Part IV p.112 |
| 490. Under the denomination of successive formations are included all those formations where the several subdivisions of a column arrive one after another on the line of battle; such are formationson the right, or left, forward and faced to the rear into line of battle, as well as deployments of columns in mass. |
| 491. The successive formations which may be ordered when the column is marching, and is to continue marching, will be executed by a combination of the two gaits, quick and double quick time. |
| 508. At the command right - DRESS, the company will align itself; the two men who find themselves opposite to the two markers, will lightly rest his breats against the right arm of his merker; the captain, passing to the right of the front rank, will direct alignment on those two men. These rules are general for all successive formations. |
| 520. The lieutenant colonel will, with the greatest care, assure the direction of the guides; to this end, the instant that the markers are established for the leading company, he will move a little beyond the point at which the left of the next company will rest, establish himself correctly on the prolongation of the two markers, and assure the guide of the second company on this direction; this guide being assured, the lieutenant colonel will place himself farther to the rear, in order to assure, in like manner, the guide of the third company, and so on, successively, to the left of the battalion. In assuring the guides in their positions on the line of battle, he will take care to let them first place themselves, and confine himself to rectifying their positions if they do not cover accurately, and at the proper distance, the preceding guides or markers. This rule is general, for all successive formations. |
| 526. Every captain will always observe, in placing himself on that line, not to give the command dress, until after the guide of his company shall have been assured on the direction by the lieutenant colonel. This rule is general for all successive formations. |
| 527. Each captain will cause his company to support arms, the instant that the captain, who follows him, shall have commanded front. This rule is general for all successive formations. |
| FORWARD INTO LINE |
| (This is NOT in Casey's, it is from US Tactics) |
| 414. A column by company, at full distance and right in front, having to form itself on the right into line of battle, the colonel will indicate to the lieutenant colonel, a little in advance, the point of apui, or rest, for the right, as well as the point of direction to the left; the lieutenant colonel will hasten with two markers, and establish them in the following manner on the direction indicated. |
| 415. The first marker will be placed at the point of appui for the right front rank man of the leading company; the second will indicate the point where one of the three left files of the same company will rest when in line; they will be placed so as to present the right shoulder to the battalion when formed. |
| 451. When a column by company at full distance, right in front, and in march, shall arrive behind the right of the line on which it is to form into battle, the colonel and lieutenant colonel will conform themselves to what is prescribed Nos. 414 and 415. |
| 452. The head of the column having arrived at company distance from the two markers established on the line, the colonel will command: 1. Forward into line. 2. By company, left half wheel. 3. MARCH (or double quick-MARCH). |
| 453. At the first command, the captain of the first company will command, Guide right, and caution it to march directly to the front; the captains of the other companies will caution them to wheel to the left. |
| 454. At the command march, briskly repeated by the captains, the first company will continue to march to the front, taking the touch of elbows to the right. Its chief will halt it at three paces from the markers, and align it by the right. The other companies will wheel to the left on fixed pivots, and at the instant the colonel shall judge that they have wheeled sufficiently, he will command: 4. Forward. 5. MARCH. 6. Guide right. |
| 455. At the fifth command, the companies will cease to wheel, and move forward. At the sixth, they will take the touch of elbows to the right. The movement will be executed as previously explained. |
| 456. If the colonel should wish to form the column forward into line, and to continue to march in this order, he will not cause markers to be established; the movement will be executed in double quick time, by the same commands and means, but with the following modifications. |
| 457. At the first command, the captain of the first company will add quick time after the command guide right. At the second command, the first company will continue to march in quick time, and will take the touch of elbows to the right; its chief will immediately place himself on its right, and, to assure the march, will take points of direction to the front. The captain of the second company will cause his company to take the same gait as soon as it shall arrive on a line with the first, and will also move to the right of his company; the captains of the third and fourth companies will execute successively what has just been prescribed for the second. The companies will preserve the touch of elbows to the right until the command, guide-CENTRE. |
| 458. When the color-company shall have entered the line, the colonel will command, guide centre. At this command, the color-bearer and the right general guide will move rapidly six paces in advance of the line. The colonel will assure the direction of the color-bearer. The lieutenant colonel and the right companies will immediately conform themselves to the principles of the march in line of battle. The left companies and the left general guide, as they arrive on the line, will also conform to the same principles. If the column be marching in double quick time, when the last company shall have arrived on the line, the colonel will cause the double quick to be resumed. |
| To advance in line of battle. |
| Casey's School of the Battalion Part 5 Article First p.148 |
| 648. The battalion being correctly aligned, and supposed to be the directing one, when the colonel shall wish to mach in line of battle, he will give the lieutenant colonel an intimation of his purpose, place himself about forty paces in rear of the color-file, and face to the front. |
| 649. The lieutenant colonel will place himself a like distance in front of the same file, and face to the colonel, who will establish him as correctly as possible, by signal of the sword, perpendicularly to the line of battle opposite to the color-bearer. The colonel will next, above the heads of the lieutenant colonel and color-bearer, take a point of direction in the field beyond, if a distinct one present itself, exactly in the prolongation of those first two points. |
| 650. The colonel will then move twenty paces farther to the rear, and establish two markers on the prolongation of the straight line passing through the color-bearer and the lieutenant colonel; these markers will face to the rear, the first placed about twenty five paces behind the rear rank of the battalion, and the second at the same distance from the first. |
| 651. The color-bearer will be instructed to take, the moment the lieutenant colonel shall be established on the perpendicular, two points on the ground in the straight line which, drawn from himself, would pass between the heels of that officer; the first of these points will be taken at fifteen or twenty paces from the color-bearer. |
| 652. These dispositions being made, the colonel will command: 1. Battalion, forward. |
| 653. At this, the front rank of the color-guard will advance six paces to the front; the corporals in the real rank will place themselves in the front rank, and these will be replaced by those in the rank of file closers; at the same time the two general guides will move in advance, abreast with the color-bearer, the one on the right, opposite to the captain of the right company, the-other opposite to the sergeant who closes the left of the battalion. |
| 655. The captains of the left wing will shift, passing before the front rank, to the left of their respective companies; the sergeant on the left of the battalion will step back into the rear rank. The covering sergeant of the company next on the left of the color-company will step into the front rank. |
| 656. The lieutenant colonel having assured the color-bearer on the line between himself and the corporal of the color-file, now in the front rank, will go to the position which will be hereinafter indicated, No. 602. |
| 657. The major will place himself six or eight paces on either flank of the color-rank. |
| 658. The colonel will then command: 2. MARCH (or double quick-MARCH) |
| 659. At this command, the battalion will step off with life; the color-bearer, charged with the step and direction, will scrupulously observe the length and cadence of the pace, marching on the prolongation of the two points previously taken, and successively taking others in advance by the means indicated in the school of the company; the corporal on his right, and the one on his left, will march in the same step, taking care not to turn the head or shoulders, the color-bearer supporting the color-lance against the hip. |
| 661. The two general guides will march in the same step with the color-rank, each maintaining himself abreast, or nearly so, with that rank, and neither occupying himself with the movement of the other. |
| 662. The three corporals of the color-guard, now in the front rank of the battalion, will march well aligned, elbow to elbow, heads direct to the front, and without deranging the line of their shoulders; the centre one will follow exactly in the trace of the color-bearer, and maintain the same step, without lengthening or shortening it, except on an intimation fron the colonel or lieutenant colonel, although he should find himself more or less than six pace from the color-rank. |
| 663. The covering sergeant in the front rank between the color-company and the next on the left will march elbow to elbow, and on the same line. with the three corporals in the centre, his head well to the front. |
| 664. The captains of the color-company, and the company next to the left, will constitute, with the three corporals in the centre of the front rank, the basis of alignment for both wings of the battalion; they will march in the same step with the colorbearer, and exert themselves to maintain their shoulders exactly in the square with the direction. To this end, they will keep their heads direct to the front, only occasionally casting an eye on the three centre corporals, with the slightest possible turn of the neck, and, if they perceive themselves in advance or in rear of these corporals, the captain, or two captains, will almost insensibly shorten or lengthen the step, so as, at the end of several paces, to regain the true alignment, without giving sudden checks or impulsions to the wings beyond them respectively. |
| 665. The lieutenant colonel, placed twelve or fifteen paces on the right of the captain of the color-company, will maintain this captain and the next one beyond, abreast with the three centre corporals; to this end, he will caution either to lengthen or to shorten the step, as may be necessary, which the captain, or two captains, will execute as has just been explained. |
| 666. All the other captains will maintain themselves on the prolongation of this basis; and, to this end, they will cast their eyes towards the centre, taking care to turn the neck but slightly, and not to derange the direction of their shoulders. |
| 667. The captains will observe the march of their companies, and prevent the men from getting in advance of the line of captains; they will not lengthen or shorten step except when evidently necessary; because, to correct, with too scrupulous attention, small faults, is apt to cause the production of greater-loss of calmness, silence, and quality of step, each of which it is so important to maintain. |
| 668. The men will constantly keep their heads well directed to the front, feel lightly the elbow towards the centre, resist pressure coming from the flank, give the greatest attention to the squareness of shoulders, and hold themselves always very slightly behind the line of the captains, in order never to shut out from the view of the latter the basis of alignment; they will, from time to time, cast an eye on the color-rank, or on the general guide of the wing, in order to march constantly in the same step with those advanced persons. |
| 669. Pending the march, the line determined by the two markers (h and d) will be prolonged by placing, in proportion as the battalion advances, a third marker (i) in the rear of the first (h), then the marker (d) will quit his place and go a like distance in rear of (i); the marker (h) will, in is turn, do the like in respect to (d), and so on, in succession. as long as the battalion continues to advance; each marker, on shifting position, taking care to face to the rear, and to cover accurately the two markers already established on the direction. A staff officer, or the quartermaster sergeant, designated for the purpose, and who will hold himself constantly fifteen or twenty paces facing the marker farthest from the battalion, will caution each marker when to shift place, and assure him on the direction behind the other two. |
| To halt the battalion, marching in line of battle, and to align it. |
| 699. The battalion marching in the line of battle, when the colonel shall wish to halt it, he will command: 1. Battalion. 2. HALT. |
| 700. At the second command, the battalion will halt; the color-rank and the general guides will remain in front; but if the colonel should not wish immediately to resume the advance in line, nor to give a general alignment, he will command: Color and general guides-POSTS. |
| 701. At this command, the color-rank and general guides will retake their places in line of battle, the captains in the left wing will shift to the right of their companies. |
| BATTALION FIRINGS |
| Casey's School of the Battalion Part I Article III p.13 |
| 44. The color-guard will not fire, but reserve itself for the defence of the color. |
| 47. The color and its guard will step back at the same time, so as to bring the front rank of the guard in a line with the rear rank of the battalion. This rule is general for all the different firings. |
| 51. The colonel will cause the fire to cease by the sound to cease firing; at this sound, the men will execute what is prescribed in the school of the company No. 63; at the sound for officers to take their places after firing, the captains, covering sergeants, and color-guard, will promptly resume their places in line of battle. This rule is general for all the firings. |
| CHANGES OF FRONT |
| Casey's School of the Battalion Part V Article XII Change of front perpendicularly forward. p.187 |
| 830. The battalion being in line of battle, it is supposed to be the wish of the colonel to cause a change of front forward on the right company, and that the angle formed by the old and new positions be a right angle, or a few degrees more or less than one; he will cause two markers to be placed on the new direction, before the position to be occupied by that company, and order its captain to establish it against the markers. |
| 831. The captain of the right company will immediately direct it upon the markers by a wheel to the right on the fixed pivot; and, after having halted it, he will align it by the right. |
| 832. These dispositions being made, the colonel will command: 1. Change front forward on first company. 2. By company, right half wheel. 3. MARCH (or double quick-MARCH). |
| 833. At the second command, each captain will place himself before the centre of his company. |
| 835. At the third, each company will wheel to the right on the fixed pivot; the left guide of each will place himself on its left as soon as he shall be able to pass; and when the colonel shall judge that the companies have sufficiently wheeled, he will command: 4. Forward. 5. MARCH. 6. Guide right. |
| 836. At the fifth command, the companies ceasing to wheel will march straight forward; at the sixth, the men will touch elbows towards the right. |
| 837. The right guide of the second company will march straight forward until this company shall arrive at the point where it should turn to the right; each succeeding right guide will follow the file immediately before him at the cessation of the wheel, and will march in the trace of this file until this company shall turn to the right to move upon the line; this guide will then march straight forward. |
| 838. The second company having arrived opposite to the left file of the first, its captain will cause it to turn to the right; the right guide will direct himself so as to arrive squarely upon the line of battle, and, when he shall be at three paces from that line, the captain will command: 1. Second company. 2. HALT. |
| 839. At the second command, the company will halt; the files not yet in line with the guide will adjust the line front forward to come into it promptly, the left guide will place himself on the line of battle, and as soon as he is assured in the direction by the lieutenant colonel, the captain will align the company by the right. |
| 840. Each following company will conform to what has just been prescribed for the second. |
| 842. The formation ended, the colonel will command: Guides-POSTs. |
| Change of front perpendicularly to the rear. p.191 |
| 852. The colonel, wishing to change front to the rear on the right company, will impart his purpose to the captain of this company. The latter will immediately face his company about, wheel it to the left on the fixed pivot, and halt it - when it shall be in the direction indicated to him by the colonel; the captain will then face his company to the front, and align it by the right against the two markers, whom the colonel will cause to be established before the right and left files. |
| 854. These dispositions being made, the colonel will command: 1. Change front to the rear, on first company. 2. Battalion, about-FACE. 3. By company, left half wheel 4. MARCH (or double quick-MARCH). |
| 855. At the second command, all the companies, except the right, will face about. |
| 857. At the third, the captains, whose companies have faced about, will each place himself behind the centre of his company, two paces from the front rank, now the rear. |
| 859. At the fourth, these companies will wheel to the left on the fixed pivot by the rear rank; the left guide of each will, as soon as he is able to pass, place himself on the left of the rear rank of his company, now become the right; and when the colonel shall judge that the companies have sufficiently wheeled, he will command: 6. Forward. 6. MARCH. 7. Guide left. |
| 860. At the sixth command, the companies will cease to wheel, march straight forward towards the new line of battle, and, at the seventh, take the touch of the elbow towards the left. |
| 861. The guide of each company on its right flank, become left, will conform himself to the principles prescribed No. 748. |
| 862. The second company, from the right, having arrived opposite to the left of the first, will turn to the left; the guide will so direct himself as to arrive parallelly with the line of battle, cross that line, and when the front rank, now in the rear, shall be three paces beyond it, the captain will command: 1. Second company; 2. HALT. |
| 863. At the second command, the company will halt; the files which may not yet be in line with the guide will promptly come into it; the captain will cause the company to face about, and then align it by the right. |
| 864. All the other companies will execute what has just been prescribed for the second, each as it successively arrives opposite to the left of the company that precedes it on the new line of battle. |
| 866. The formation being ended, the colonel will command: Guides-POSTs. |
| 869. In changes of front, the colonel will give general superintendence to the movement. |
| 870. The lieutenant colonel will assure the direction of the guides as they successively move out on the line of battle, conforming himself to what has been prescribed in the successive formations. |
| MARCHING IN RETREAT |
| Casey's School of the Battlion Part II Article V To march in retreat, in line of battle. p.166 |
| 730. The battalion being halted, if it be the wish of the colonel to cause it to march in retreat, he will command: 1. Face to the rear. 2. Battalion, about-FACE. |
| 731. At the first command, the color-rank and the general guides, if in advance, will take their places in line. At the second command, the battalion will face about; the color-rank, and the general guides, if in advance, will take their places in line; the colorbearer will pass into the rear rank, now leading; the corporal of his file will step behind the corporal next on his own right, to let the color-bearer pass, and then step into the front rank, now rear, to re-form the color-file; the colonel will place himself behind the front rank,-become the rear; the lieutenant colonel and major will place themselves before the rear rank, now leading. |
| 733. The colonel will take post forty paces behind the color-file, in order to assure the lieutenant colonel on the pependicular, who will place himself at a like distance in front, as prescribed for the advance in line of battle. |
| 734. If the battalion be the one charged with the direction, the colonel will establish markers in the manner indicated No. 650, except that they will face to the battalion, and that the first will be placed twenty-five paces from the lieutenant colonel. If the markers be already established, the officer charged with replacing them in succession will cause them to face about, the moment that the battalion executes this movement, and then the marker nearest to the battalion will hasten to the rear of the two others. |
| 735. These dispositions being made, the colonel will command: 3. Battalion, Forward. |
| 736. At this command, the color-bearer will advance six paces beyond the rank of file closers, accompanied by the two corporals of his guard of that rank, the centre corporal stepping back to let the color-bearer pass; the two file closers nearest this centre corporal will unite on him behind the colorguard to serve as a basis of alignment for the line of file closers: the two general guides will place themselves abreast with the color-rank, the covering sergeants will place themselves in the line of file closers, and the captains in the rear rank, now leading; the captains in the left wing, now right, will, if not already there, shift to the left of their companies, now become the right. |
| 737. The colonel will then command: 4. MARCH (Or double quick-MARCH). |
| 738. The battalion will march in retreat on the same prinqiples which govern the advance in line: the centre corporal behind the color-bearer will march exactly in his trace. |
| 742. The colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major will each discharge the same functions as in the advance in line. |
| 743. The lieutenant colonel, placed on the outside of the file closers of the color-company, will also maintain the three file closers of the basis of alignment in a square with the line of direction: the other file closers will keep themselves aligned on this basis. |
| Casey's School of the Battlion Part II Article VI To halt the battalion marching in retreat, and to face it to the front. p.168 |
| 744. The colonel having halted the battalion, and wishing to face it to the front, will command: 1. Face to the front. 2. Battalion, about-FACE. |
| 745. At the second command, the color-rank, general guides, captains, and covering sergeants, will all retake their habitual places in line of battle, and the color-bearer will repass into the front rank. |
| 747. The battalion marching in line of battle by the front rank,.when the colonel shall wish to mnarch it in retreat, he will command: 1. Battalion, right about, 2. MARCH. |
| 748. At the command march, the battalion will face to the rear and move off at the same gait by the real rank. The principles prescribed Nos. 736 and following will be carefully observed. |
| 749. If the colonel should wish the battalion to march again by the front, he will give the same commands. |
| BY THE RIGHT OF COMPANIES TO THE REAR INTO COLUMN |
| Casey's School of the Battalion Part II Article II p.27 |
| 108. When the colonel shall wish to cause the battalion to break to the rear, by the right, into column by company, he will command: 1. By the right of companies to the rear into column. 2. Battalion right-FACE. 3. MARCH (or double quick-MARCH). |
| 109. At the first command, each captain will place himself before the centre of his company, and caution it to face to the right; the covering sergeants will step into the front rank. |
| 111. At the second command, the battalion will face to the right; each captain will hasten to the right of his company, and break two files to the rear; the first file will break te whole depth of the two ranks; the second file less; which being executed, the capiain will place himself so that his breast may touch lightly the left arm of the front rank man of the last file in the company next on the right of his own. The captain of the right company will place himself as if there were a company on his right, and will align himself on the other captains. The covering sergeant of each company will break to the rear with the right files, and place himself before the front rank of the first file, to conduct him. The guides, who in similar movements place themselves in front of the leading front-rank men to conduct them, will face toward those points on which it is intended the subdivision shall march. This rule is general. |
| 112. At the command march, the first file of each company will wheel to the right; the covering sergeant, placed before this file, will conduct it perpendicularly to th rear. The other files will come successively to wheel on the same spot. The captains will stand fast, see their companies file past, and at the instant the last file shall have wheeled, each captain will command: 1. Such company. 2. HALT. 3. FRONT. 4. Left-DRESS. |
| 113. At the instant the company faces to the front, its left guide will place himself so that his left arm may touch lightly the breast of his captain. |
| 114. At the fourth command, the company will align itself on its left guide, the captain so directing it that the new alignment may be perpendicular to that which the company had occupied in line of battle; and, the better to judge this, he will step back two paces from the flank. |
| 115. The company being aligned, the captain will command: FRONT, and take his place before its centre. |