Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of Cavalry of the Army Part 10

INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION WITHOUT ARMS.

=56.= For this instruction a few recruits, usually not exceeding 3 or 4, are placed (as a squad) in single rank, facing to the front.

=57.= To teach the recruits how to form in ranks the instructor will first place them in single rank, arranged according to height, the tallest man on the right, with intervals of about 4 inches between men, and will explain that the object of these intervals is to give freedom of movement in marching and in the use of the rifle in ranks.

He will then direct each man singly to place the palm of the left hand on the hip, fingers pointing downward, and draw attention to the fact that the indicated interval of about 4 inches may be verified by each man so placing himself that his right arm, when hanging naturally at his side, touches the elbow of the man on his right. When this is understood, he will cause the recruits to fall out and successively to place themselves as before, each man verifying his interval by causing his right arm to touch the left elbow of the man on his right, the latter's hand being on his hip, as already explained. He will then explain that at the command =FALL IN= the men will, beginning with the right trooper, successively and quickly take their places in rank, each man placing the left hand at the hip as above and dropping his hand to his side as soon as the man on his left has the proper interval.

=58.= The recruits having had sufficient instruction to understand how to form by command, the instructor commands: =FALL IN=.

The men a.s.semble as prescribed in par. 57, each taking the position of =attention= as described below.

As soon as the recruits have had sufficient preliminary instruction they will habitually be formed as regularly prescribed for a squad.

POSITION OF THE TROOPER, OR ATTENTION (DISMOUNTED).

=59.= Heels on the same line and as near each other as the conformation of the man permits.

Feet turned out equally and forming an angle of about 45.

Knees straight without stiffness.

Hips level and drawn back slightly; body erect and resting equally on hips; chest lifted and arched; shoulders square and falling equally.

Arms and hands hanging naturally, thumb along the seam of the breeches.

Head erect and squarely to the front, chin drawn in so that the axis of the head and neck is vertical; eyes to the front.

Weight of the body resting equally upon the heels and b.a.l.l.s of the feet.

THE RESTS.

=60.= Being at a halt, the commands are: =FALL OUT=; =REST=; =AT EASE=; and 1. =Parade=, 2. =REST=.

At the command =fall out=, the men may leave the ranks, but are required to remain in the immediate vicinity. They resume their former places, at attention, at the command =fall in=.

At the command =rest=, each man keeps one foot in place, but is not required to preserve silence or immobility.

At the command =at ease=, each man keeps one foot in place and is required to preserve silence, but not immobility.

1. =Parade=, 2. =REST=. Carry the right foot 6 inches straight to the rear, left knee slightly bent; clasp the hands, without constraint, in front of the center of the body, fingers joined, left hand uppermost, left thumb clasped by the thumb and forefinger of the right hand; preserve silence and steadiness of position.

=61.= Being in march, at the command: 1. =Route order=, 2. =MARCH=; or 1. =At ease=, 2. =MARCH=, the men keep their places in ranks, but are not required to keep the step; at =route order=, they are not required to preserve silence. If halted from =route order=, the men stand at =rest=; if halted from =at ease=, they remain at ease.

Marching at =route order= or =at ease=, rifles are carried at will, the muzzles elevated.

=62.= To resume the attention: 1. =Squad=, 2. =ATTENTION=.

If at a halt, the men take the position of the trooper, dismounted (par. 59). If marching, the cadenced step in quick time is resumed, and rifles, if carried, are brought to the right shoulder.

=63.= To dismiss the squad: =DISMISSED=.

EYES RIGHT OR LEFT.

=64.= 1. =Eyes=, 2. =RIGHT=, 3. =FRONT=.

At the command =right=, turn the head to the right oblique, eyes fixed on the line of eyes of the man in, or supposed to be in, the same rank. At the command =front=, turn the head and eyes to the front.

FACINGS.

=65.= To the flank: 1. =Right=, 2. =FACE=.

Raise slightly the left heel and right toe; face to the right, turning on the right heel, a.s.sisted by a slight pressure on the ball of the left foot; place the left foot by the side of the right. Left face is executed on the left heel in the corresponding manner.

=66.= To the rear: 1. =About=, 2. =FACE=.

Carry the toe of the right foot about a half foot length to the rear and slightly to the left of the left heel without changing the position of the left foot; face to the rear, turning to the right on the left heel and right toe; place the right heel by the side of the left.

=67.= 1. =Hand=, 2. =SALUTE=.

Raise the right hand smartly till the tip of the forefinger touches the lower part of the headdress above the right eye, thumb and fingers extended and joined, palm to the left, forearm inclined at about 45, hand and wrist straight; at the same time look toward the person saluted.

(=TWO=), Drop the arm smartly by the side. The salute for officers is the same (Fig. 1).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 1, par. 67.]

STEPS AND MARCHES.

=68.= All steps and marchings executed from a halt, except right step, begin with the left foot.

=69.= The length of the full step in =quick time= is 30 inches, measured from heel to heel, and the cadence is at the rate of 120 steps per minute.

The length of the full step in =double time= is 36 inches; the cadence is at the rate of 180 steps per minute.

The instructor, when necessary, indicates the cadence of the step by calling =one=, =two=, =three=, =four=, or =left=, =right=, the instant the left and right foot, respectively, should be planted.

=70.= All steps and marchings and movements involving march are executed in quick time unless the squad be marching in double time, or double time be added to the command; in the latter case double time is added to the preparatory command.

Example: 1. =Forward, double time=, 2. =MARCH=.

=71.= It should be explained to the recruits that in collective drills and exercises one of the troopers, termed the =guide=, habitually has to follow a leader or direct himself upon some designated objective, the other troopers regulating their march so as, in line, to march abreast of the guide, maintaining their approximate intervals. The necessity, in this connection, for learning to march steadily in a given direction without wavering from side to side should further be pointed out. Each recruit should then be practiced individually in marching upon a designated objective, selecting for that purpose two points of direction on the straight line that pa.s.ses through the trooper and the objective and keeping constantly in the prolongation of that line. When the objective is sufficiently distinct it should be taken as one of the points of direction and another point in line with the trooper and the objective, and either nearer or more distant than the latter be selected as a second point to fix the direction of march.

QUICK TIME AND DOUBLE TIME.

=72.= Being at a halt, to march forward in quick time: 1. =Forward=, 2. =MARCH=.