TACTICS. 
make way for a more extended practice 
with ball ; the propriety of enforcing a cor- 
rectness of aim must be self-evident ; and is 
considerably enhanced by the little execu- 
tion done by musketry, as has already been 
shown. 
Troops are drawn up in tw’O or three 
ranks, according to the nature of the ser- 
vice on vvhich they are to be employed, or 
the enemy to which they are to be opposed. 
To resist the charge of cavalry, it is found 
that three ranks are preferable; as is also 
the case where an enemy advances en 
masse, or bears down in column ; in this ar- 
rangement, the front being diminished one 
third, many objections may be urged under 
local circnmstances, especially when acting 
behind entrenchments, when covered by mo- 
rasses, or when the enemy cannot advance 
with rapidity in compact heavy bodies. The 
mode of drawing up in two ranks is pecu- 
liarly adapted to the foregoing, and on some 
occasions must be adopted, in spite of every 
adverse argument, tor the purpose of ex- 
tending a front; add to this, that both the 
round and the grape shots, from the ene- 
my’s artillery, do less execution among two, 
than when three ranks are opposed to them. 
When a battalion is drawn up in two ranks, 
they both fire standing ; but when in three 
ranks, only the two rear ranks fire, whilst 
the front kneels, and presents a formidable 
impediment to the charge of an enemy, 
both by its reserved fire, and by its line of 
sloped bayonets. 
According to our improved system of dis- 
cipline, one officer and one covering ser- 
jeant perform all the evolutionary duties 
of each company, when formed in line ; the 
rest being disposed of in the rear, for the 
purposes of keeping the men to their duly, 
and of being in readiness to take command 
of those lesser portions into which the com- 
panies occasionally break. By this arrange- 
ment the utmost precision is secured; espe- 
cially as select men are placed on the flanks 
of all the companies, also of their sub-divi- 
sions and sections, whose dutv it is to regu- 
late their wheelings, or changes of locality, 
by constantly preserving the distances and 
alignements of their respective portions. 
Perhaps among the greatest improve- 
ments of the day, we may count the mo- 
dern method of marching by files; formerly 
this was effected in a kind of open order 
the leaders giadually gaining distance, so as 
to give a greater space between the files, 
under the appreliension of treading on each 
other’s heels ; bpt it is now the practice to 
make every soldier retain the same dis- 
tance on all occasions from his neighbours ; 
hy which means, the right leg of one crosses 
at tiie side of tlie left leg of the other, and 
vice versa. It is obvious, that while the 
leaders were allowed to gain ground, so as 
to open the distances between the several 
files, some time was required for the rear 
files to close up after the front had halted ; 
and, that if the battalion were to be or- 
dered to front, while in the act of marching 
by files, under the old system, it would ap- 
pear of double its due extent : for they 
would be so distant as to allow space for an 
additional file between every man in the 
ranks. Onr readers cannot fail to perceive 
the high importance of keeping troops al- 
ways to the same extent of front as when 
Termed in line ; for if allowed to vary, from 
any inattention fo regularity, it would be 
utterly impossible for the commander to 
perform his evolutions upon a given scale; 
or for any dependance to be placed on the 
' exertions of a line, (particularly in resisting 
a charge), of which the solidity, that is, the 
compactness, could not be ascertained. 
The extreme difficulty which prevails in 
the ordinary course of actual service, in 
keeping the due distances between march- 
ing files, has in a great measure rendered 
that mode obsolete; besides, the facility 
with which troops move in small divisions, 
or even by whole companies, in column, 
&c. whereby intervals are left between 
them, tending greatly to the convenience 
and ease ot the men, certainly gives the lat- 
ter mode every claim lApreference, except 
under particular local circnmstances. But 
even in proceeding by files, it is best to 
march by fours, causing the files to be 
doubled previous to stepping oflT. By this 
means, the whole corps is broken into ranks 
of four men each, with one space interval 
between the several ranks. A battalion, 
thus arranged, is formed in an instant, by 
tlie files resuming their places. Yet it can- 
not be said that this method is so eligible as 
that of marching by divisions, especially 
when consisting of only two ranks : in such 
case the front rank moves on with perfect 
freedom, each man seeing the obstacles he 
is to surmount many paces before he arrives 
at them; and tlie rear rank, keeping a well 
opened distance, is considerably liberated, 
in consequence of the great interval behind 
it. Add to this, the promptness with which 
the line can be formed either to the right 
or left, by the several divisions wheeling up 
accordingly. 
