A military dictionary, or, Explanation of the several systems of discipline of different kinds of troops, infantry, artillery, and cavalry : the principles of fortification, and all the modern improvements in the science of tactics : comprising the pocket gunner, or little bombadier ; the military regulations of the United States ; the weights, measures, and monies of all nations ; the technical terms and phrases of the art of war in the French language ; particularly adapted to the use of the military institutions of the United States / by William Duane, late lieutenant colonel in the Army of the United States, and author of the American military library.

  • Duane, William, 1760-1835.
Date:
1810
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A military dictionary, or, Explanation of the several systems of discipline of different kinds of troops, infantry, artillery, and cavalry : the principles of fortification, and all the modern improvements in the science of tactics : comprising the pocket gunner, or little bombadier ; the military regulations of the United States ; the weights, measures, and monies of all nations ; the technical terms and phrases of the art of war in the French language ; particularly adapted to the use of the military institutions of the United States / by William Duane, late lieutenant colonel in the Army of the United States, and author of the American military library. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    or body j and proceeds by familiarizing the eario equal time by the action of the feet of the whole squad or company ; after which they are all taught to fac* to either hand or about, indifferently, and never in one routine; the mode ot moving the limbs and the time of movement is ever the same; and the words of command lew, simple, and plain; where they in any case differ from the usual words of common life the teacher's duty is to explain them often, until the cars of all are familiar with their practical meaning. The next process is advancing, at a given length of pace in equal times ;■ and this is combined with facings, and at last with wheelings, in whole ranks, or in sections of any given numbers, always varying, diminishing, and augment- ing at discretion the numbers of the sections, by drawing from the right of each successive section in the rear of the first, to the left of the leading section, a number sufficient to augment the first to the number required, and so of every section from front to rear; the drill is thus carried on always with moving feet at the time of gay dancing music, and when marching always at a pace of 24 inches. After the squad of 20 or 100 is found complete in these minute branches of marking time, advancing at time, facing and wheeling, augmenting and dimin- ishing sections, they are taught the oblique wheelings and facings, or as the mo- dem words are half or quarter facing, or half or quarter wheeling„• and to march dressed in these several orders, so as to form exactly in the same relative posi- tion to each other when wheeled or faced to their primitive position. Thus much may be well taught, and comprehended, and practised in two or three weeks, employing only two or three hours at each drill, and twice each day. The instruction of the pivots or flank men of ranks and sections, go along with the first wheelings; and as soon as the uses of the pivots are generally understood, then the whole are formed into double ranks; and the men are prepared to ex- ecute any of the modern evolutions or manoeuvres ; it being always calculated that the officers are equally diligent and as well drilled as the men, and compe- tent not only to comprehend but to correct an error when it occurs. At this stage, and not before, arms should be put into their hands; and a manual exerci se of some kind taught, for it is not material what the motions are so that the firing and loading motions are taught to be performed with dexterity and ease. The drill is then manoeuvred once a day with arms, and the officer who feels a proper sense of the importance of the habit of command, and the ad- vantage of giving troops the practice of movement, will diversify his own plea- sures and gratify his men, by moving them into all the various positions of co- lumn, line, echellons, movements by heads of sections, changing flanks and fronts, taking new alignements, countermarching in the various modes of which modern military works furnish such useful and abundant examples. The elements of the first drills with minute instructions might be comprised in a hand book of one half the compass of Steuben's tract; and this elementary work placed in the hands of all descriptions of troops, infantry, artillery, and ca- valry, should be the first rule of practice for them all in common. This introduced, the government could at leisure prepare instructions for a more comprehensive course oi manoeuvres, and particularly hand books upon the same simple principles of drills for artillery, riflemen, and cavalry, in their particular branches of duty. It being to be understood as a fundamental principle, that as the movements and action of all kinds of troops are regulated by the movements of infantry; or in other words, as infantry compose the main body, line, or column ; the riflemen, artillery, and cavalry must be governed in their movements by the main body, to which they are appendages or auxiliaries ; and it is therefore required that the}- should know themselves how to execute the infantry manoeuvres, in order that thc}r should not, like the French at Rosbach, be confounded by movements of which they arc ignorant. The profound mathematician may look down from the elevation of abstract science upon the cold common place of syllabic combination and Arabic numeri- cal notation ; but he owes his first knowlege to the alphabet of language and arith- metic ; here he must have begun, and here the military man of whatever grade must also begin. He must learn the alphabet of military knowlege at the drill, he must take his lessons and learn them ; he must study and practice what he has learned there, in order to teach ; and the officer must learn both to com- mand others ami to obey. There is no science which may not be attained by