Marching Commands Used by Gaffneyis Regiment
by Eric Ferguson
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written by Robert Monro in
Monro, His Expedition with the Worthy Scots Regiment Called Mac-Keys. A
second source has been The Military Garden by James Achesone.
There has also been some extrapolation from other drills where holes
had to be filled, since we can’t just stand still for the lack of the
period command, but there is an ongoing process replacing
extrapolations and best guesses with period practices as we discover
them.Commands consist of preparatory and execution commands. We’re borrowed the custom changing intonations to distinguish between them, that is, the preparatory is drawn out while the execution is quick.
Commands that entail moving have the execution “march” or “march on”.
A full string is six deep. All strings are the same length, with odd numbers added to the right.
The manuals of arms are done as closely to the manual as possible during demonstrations, even where we can make reasonable guesses at shortcuts.
Orders or distances: There are three orders, or distances between soldiers. “Close Order” is light shoulder contact for musketeers, and six inches distance for pikes. “Battle Order” is one arm’s length apart. “Open Order” is two arms’ lengths apart. Strings spread from the middle. Ranks spread from the front. Orders can be changed still or moving.
Close order is used by pikes for pushing against other units and by muskets when firing in ranks. Pikes are at battle order for presenting a smaller target for enemy fire and for allowing muskets to move through their strings, and muskets are at battle order for countermarching while firing or moving through strings of pikes. Open order is used to present the smallest target to enemy fire and for moving over broken ground.
Doubling or halving strings: Strings can be doubled or halved. Doubling must be done from open or battle order. The command is “double your strings, to your right/left hand, march”. The second rank step into the front rank, the fourth rank steps into the third, and so on. The effect is there are half the ranks and twice the strings. The command to halve the strings and double the rank is “string, to your right/left hand, march”. If to the right, the rightmost man keeps his place, the second man steps behind him. The fourth man steps behind the third.
Facings/Abouts: The commands to change facings are 90° “left about” and “right about”. 180° commands are “left round about” and “right round about”. While marching, these are preparatory commands followed by “march”.
Wheels/turns: We formerly used the term “wheels” for turning a rank like the spoke of a wheel. This appears to be a term after our period. Monro called the wheel-like maneuvers "turns". There are three types of turns: quarter, half, and full. Quarter is 45°, half is 90°, and full is 180°. The command is "quarter/half/full turn, by the right/left hand, march." Borrowing from later British drills, the pivot man makes the complete turn immediately thereby serving as a guide. The outside man takes full steps and everyone in between takes smaller steps in order to keep the line straight. When the line is even with the pivot, they resume marching forward.
Countermarching: Countermarching differs from the full turn. In the countermarch, each man in the front rank does his own full turn. Each subsequent rank does likewise as it reaches the point where the front rank turned. The effect is the order of the men in the rank is reversed, that is, the left end of the line is now the right and the right is now the left. The command is “countermarch, by the right/left hand, march”.
Countermarching is used by pikes only for reversing direction, but is the normal means of firing for muskets. We don’t have the specific commands for setting musketeers to countermarching and firing, so these commands are our best guesses and what seem to work in practice.
Countermarch and fire: The command is “musketeers, countermarch and fire, at will/by salve.” Countermarching is always done to the left for safety. The marker of the front rank is the officer in command. The officer might add the command “in place/retire/advance”. The officer is the marker for the front rank regardless. As the front rank countermarches, the next rank advances to the front. “At will” means each man fires when he reaches the front rank without waiting for further command, and immediately countermarches to the rear and reloads. Firing at will should be done only when firing in place, which means the front neither advances nor retires. “By salve” means the front rank fires on command. Upon firing, they immediately countermarch to the left and reload. When advancing, the officer steps ahead of the font rank while the front rank countermarches, the second rank advances to the officer and becomes the front, and all other ranks advance to maintain their spacing. When retiring, the front rank countermarches but other ranks do not move. The next rank becomes the front. The officer moves to the new front rank. While advancing can be at any distance, retiring can only be at the distance between the ranks.
Swedish Volley: the term “Swedish Volley” is commonly used in 17th century reenacting, and the tactic is credited to Gustavus. However, Monro always used the term “salve”. This is the technique that became standard late into the 19th century, though Monro seems to have preferred countermarching. The musketeers are formed into three ranks. The front rank kneels. The second rank closes to the front’s left. The third rank closes to the front’s right. Muzzles must reach past the heads of the front rank. Ranks can fire individually or all three at once. The purpose is to allow every man to fire every salve, and avoid having men ready to fire and waiting to reach the front of the countermarch. This is usually done at close order to prevent the line being broken.
Slavonian Countermarch: This is mentioned by Monro. This is done while standing. Our command is “Slavonian countermarch, march”. The front rank countermarches to the rear and falls in behind the rear rank, facing forward. The subsequent ranks do not advance, but turn immediately when they become the front rank. The idea is to make a controlled retreat while always facing the enemy. This is exactly like the musketeers countermarching and retiring, except the ranks don’t fire before countermarching. This can be done with pikemen as well as musketeers.
Marching pace: No known source has specified a marching pace. That soldiers marched in step has been derived from other sources mentioning it, from the need to be in step while in close order, from Monro’s references to marching in good order at certain times, and from the Scots’ reputation for marching slow. The pace is suggested by “The Scots March” and “When Cannons are Roaring”, which have a slow pace. The length of the step in later drills is commonly 17-18 inches. It appears to be a comfortable step for average size men at the time and it seems likely it would have been a similar length if it was specified.