Send a Rider!

[JOHN42768]

To force the shorter soldiers (presumably with shorter legs) to keep up. Even in my prime I could never walk at 4 mph. Best I've ever managed was 3.75 mph and it took me years to figure out that longer legs folks have an advantage in stride length.

Since they are at a standstill I'm thinking like viewing a parade or show

 

[gary]

Generally taller soldiers are placed in the front of the column and the shorter soldiers in the rear; so that on the march the taller soldiers will set the pace and the shorter soldiers will have to keep up so as not to break the formation.

 

[Cornpone and Molasses]

He should go to Dirty Billy's on Baltimore St.

 

[R. Porter]

But if the taller guys are always in front and moving faster, maybe being a short guy isn't so bad in a charge…

 

[Rhea Cole]

Height was both an aesthetic & a practical consideration.

Section of 1841 Model 6 pounders. Stones River Living History Demo.

In the artillery the tallest person on the crew is #1. Handling the sponge rammer & firmly seating the round is greatly facilitated with some height & bulk.

It also means that more often than not, as in this section firing from the left, my 6'4" self is only seen from the back.

By the same token, on right gun the least of us is #2. My wife Anne loved being at arms length of the muzzle blast.

Having the line arranged by height is a practical as well as visual matter. A line or column looks tidier with the soldiers in order of height.

In a double line of battle formation, having me in the front line & in file behind me my wife would have been akward. On one notable occasion she was third from the right end of the line & on the left flank a 6'7" corporal. She could have used his cartridge box for a rest.

There is nothing quite like the laying on of hands in living history & experimental archeology to give you, "Oh…that's why they did that!" moments.

Note: in the age of smoothbore muskets, they did not have the order "Aim" in the drill. Instead the muskets were leveled. A sergeant carried a spontoon / half pike that he could use to reach out & tap an errant musket barrel to level. Obviously, having the ordered height facilitated that.

The spontoon was held up where the shiny tip was a flank marker. Behind the line, as in the illustration, the sponson was used to straighten the line .

Link

Sergeant's Spontoon - Age of Revolution

ageofrevolution.waterlooassociation.org.uk

 

[Old Soldier]

Generally taller soldiers are placed in the front of the column and the shorter soldiers in the rear; so that on the march the taller soldiers will set the pace and the shorter soldiers will have to keep up so as not to break the formation.

The British way was always shortest in the middle and tallest soldiers on the outside wings - a formation historically known as the "hollow square" or "flankers". This provides a visual frame, allowing commanders in the center to clearly see the entire rank Still do it today.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

Height was both an aesthetic & a practical consideration.

View attachment 584525
Section of 1841 Model 6 pounders. Stones River Living History Demo.

In the artillery the tallest person on the crew is #1. Handling the sponge rammer & firmly seating the round is greatly facilitated with some height & bulk.

It also means that more often than not, as in this section firing from the left, my 6'4" self is only seen from the back.

By the same token, on right gun the least of us is #2. My wife Anne loved being at arms length of the muzzle blast.

View attachment 584528
Having the line arranged by height is a practical as well as visual matter. A line or column looks tidier with the soldiers in order of height.

View attachment 584532
In a double line of battle formation, having me in the front line & in file behind me my wife would have been akward. On one notable occasion she was third from the right end of the line & on the left flank a 6'7" corporal. She could have used his cartridge box for a rest.

There is nothing quite like the laying on of hands in living history & experimental archeology to give you, "Oh…that's why they did that!" moments.

View attachment 584540

Note: in the age of smoothbore muskets, they did not have the order "Aim" in the drill. Instead the muskets were leveled. A sergeant carried a spontoon / half pike that he could use to reach out & tap an errant musket barrel to level. Obviously, having the ordered height facilitated that.

View attachment 584537

The spontoon was held up where the shiny tip was a flank marker. Behind the line, as in the illustration, the sponson was used to straighten the line .

Link

Sergeant's Spontoon - Age of Revolution

ageofrevolution.waterlooassociation.org.uk

Height was both an aesthetic & a practical consideration.

View attachment 584525
Section of 1841 Model 6 pounders. Stones River Living History Demo.

In the artillery the tallest person on the crew is #1. Handling the sponge rammer & firmly seating the round is greatly facilitated with some height & bulk.

It also means that more often than not, as in this section firing from the left, my 6'4" self is only seen from the back.

By the same token, on right gun the least of us is #2. My wife Anne loved being at arms length of the muzzle blast.

View attachment 584528
Having the line arranged by height is a practical as well as visual matter. A line or column looks tidier with the soldiers in order of height.

View attachment 584532
In a double line of battle formation, having me in the front line & in file behind me my wife would have been akward. On one notable occasion she was third from the right end of the line & on the left flank a 6'7" corporal. She could have used his cartridge box for a rest.

There is nothing quite like the laying on of hands in living history & experimental archeology to give you, "Oh…that's why they did that!" moments.

View attachment 584540

Note: in the age of smoothbore muskets, they did not have the order "Aim" in the drill. Instead the muskets were leveled. A sergeant carried a spontoon / half pike that he could use to reach out & tap an errant musket barrel to level. Obviously, having the ordered height facilitated that.

View attachment 584537

The spontoon was held up where the shiny tip was a flank marker. Behind the line, as in the illustration, the sponson was used to straighten the line .

Link

Sergeant's Spontoon - Age of Revolution

ageofrevolution.waterlooassociation.org.uk

You are a big target. Good luck!

 

[Rhea Cole]

You are a big target. Good luck!

I Agee entirely. However, an immensely tall member of the 9th Michigan somehow came home unscathed. Go figure.

 

[Mint Julep]

I read that during the American Revolution, the British formations positioned their tallest soldiers at the front to appear more intimidating. They also had their uniform sleeves shortened to make their bodies look larger. Intimidation was apparently a crucial factor in achieving victory.

 

[Old Soldier]

I read that during the American Revolution, the British formations positioned their tallest soldiers at the front to appear more intimidating. They also had their uniform sleeves shortened to make their bodies look larger. Intimidation was apparently a crucial factor in achieving victory.

1) This is NOT the Revolutionary War
2) In that war the uniforms were heavy wool and made large.. The shortening was to lose weight and reduce chance of catching and clutter.
3) In every infantry regiment, the tallest men were GRENADIERS and they also wore a tall hat to make them look bigger. By this time, the grenades were gone, but they were a separate company of assault troops.

Size - The issue (Short Land) musket was 5' long and the bayonet blade some 16"

 

[gary]

Pikes were carried by officers/sergeants to align the men.

Grenadier companies originally got the biggest/tallest men whose task was to hurl grenades "about our enemies' ears." There was no such thing as a 5'6" grenadier (like we see among today's reenactors). Like fusilers, over time the title grenadier became more honorific than descriptive of their battlefield function. Still, they carried the brass slow match case on their shoulder strap which was emblematic of their title. Grenadier companies and the later light infantry companies were considered the elite of their regiment and were often detached from it to form an ad-hoc grenadier or light infantry battalion. Light infantry were generally younger, more agile men prized for their mobility. Their attire can be modified (during the F&I war the hat brims were trimmed down to a more derby like appearance, uniform coats shortened like Old Solider mentioned) to facilitate ease of moment. The remaining eight companies (during the F&I, Am Rev and Napoleonic Era there were ten infantry companies in the battalion) were called "hat men" who constituted the bulk of an infantry regiment.

By WW II, there were only four companies in a battalion. Three were regular infantry and the fourth was a heavy weapons company. Funny but the British (& Commonwealth), American Army and the German Wehrmacht all followed that general pattern.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Pikes were carried by officers/sergeants to align the men.

As depicted in the illustration up thread.

One of the oddest relics in the collection of Stones River VC Museum is a Georgia pike. It has a retractable blade. I can see where that was a good idea… albeit in service of a bonkers idea.

Pikes of the non-ceremonial variety, Paris

 

[Old Soldier]

Shortening jackets is nothing old and forgotten. Even in issue combats, we often rolled up the cuffs inside or out and the skirt of the combat jacket (lower corded edge) up to waist level UNDER the jacket, Why? More room for movement - especially in warm weather.

 

[Gettmore]

What about Downhill!

 

[bayouace]

"Hope that tall-legged sucker ain't behind me going down."

 

[JOHN42768]

You would have thought with all the funding they would have leveled the playing field

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

View attachment 584643

"Well, it won't be long before they see us. We'll march a lot faster then."

 

[Gettmore]

Veterans Corp

 

[bayouace]

The way it was, young 'uns.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

View attachment 584870

We may be grandpas and little boys, but the Yankees are coming and we're going to protect our town.