Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of Cavalry of the Army Part 40

THE MORNING OF THE MARCH.

Cooks arise when called by the guard and start the preparation of breakfast without noise. The first sergeant and stable sergeant are usually awakened by one of the cooks about half an hour before reveille in order that they may complete their toilets and breakfast early and be able to devote all their time to supervising the details of the morning's work. If the officers desire to be awakened before reveille they will notify the first sergeant accordingly.

At first call the men turn out, perform their toilets, strike their shelter tents (unless it has been directed to await the sounding of the general for this), and make up their packs. The stable detail feeds the horses.

At the sounding of a.s.sembly immediately after reveille each man must be in his proper place in ranks, except the kitchen and stable details who are actually at work. This a.s.sembly is under arms. The first sergeant starts to call the roll or commands "Report" at the last note of a.s.sembly. Arms are stacked before the troop is dismissed.

Breakfast is served to the troop immediately after roll call.

Immediately after breakfast each man will wash his mess kit in the hot water provided for that purpose at the kitchen and will at once pack the mess kit in his saddlebags.

The cooks will provide hot water for was.h.i.+ng mess kits at the same time that breakfast is served.

Immediately after breakfast the troop proceeds to the work of breaking camp and packing in accordance with a prearranged system similar to the following:

One section a.s.sists the cooks in packing the kitchen.

One section strikes and folds the officers' tents and brings them to the kitchen.

One section fills in the sink. The sink should not be filled in earlier than is absolutely necessary.

The stable detail police the picket line and vicinity.

One section polices the camp within the company police limits.

One section is available for possible details from regimental headquarters.

Officers and first sergeant supervise the work.

A permanent a.s.signment of squads to these duties lightens the labor and decreases the time necessary for breaking camp.

=Boots and saddles= should not be sounded before all of the above work has been completed, and without confusion. Don't begin the day by nagging your men, thereby making them "grouchy" during the march.

Always be most careful to groom all parts of your horse that will be touched by the equipment before you begin to saddle up.

Men should not start from camp thirsty, but should drink all the water they want immediately after breakfast. All canteens should be filled before marching.

=Section 2. Marches, camps.=

GENERAL PROVISIONS.

=977.= The successful conduct of a march is one of the surest tests of the ability and good judgment, not only of the commander, but of all subordinate officers as well. Certain general principles and some exact rules are laid down to fit the case of a normal march, but tactical considerations as well as the condition of roads and weather, the necessary forage, water and shelter, sanitation, and other circ.u.mstances render a march of any considerable body of mounted troops one requiring the most unremitting attention to details on the part of the commander and his subordinates. A successful Cavalry march whether in peace or war is one that places the men and horses at the time and place needed in the best possible condition for the service required. Failure of mounted troops to successfully carry out a mission is due as a rule to exhaustion or injuries to the horses rather than to the men.

The training of officers of all grades must be such that solicitude for the condition of horses on the march is second nature; constant effort should be made, however severe the work, to stimulate the pride of the trooper in having and in keeping his mount in fit condition; if such stimulus is ineffective then the remedy, if the trooper is at fault, lies in other directions. Under favorable conditions field service offers the best opportunity for conditioning the horses and hardening the men.

=978.= =Preparation=: Responsibility for the timely ordering of necessary preparations preliminary to leaving a permanent camp or station rests with the commander. All probable needs of the command for the service on which ordered should be antic.i.p.ated, instructions prepared, verified, and issued once in complete form, and no departure therefrom permitted. The =march order= proper for the actual movement of the command conforms to the requirements of Field Service Regulations. =An order or memorandum of service calls= will be issued and distributed in ample time the night before beginning a march stating the hour for reville, stables, and breakfast and such other duties as can reasonably be antic.i.p.ated.

Except on account of imperative military reasons, Cavalry should not leave camp for an hour or more after daylight. If grazing is depended upon, this is especially necessary, since horses as a rule graze more freely in the early morning when rested. Ample time should be allowed after reville for grooming and feeding and thereafter for the men to breakfast. All stable duties should be done quietly and without hurry or confusion under the immediate supervision of troop and squadron commanders. In each troop a man is detailed to walk the picket line while grain is being fed, to look out for the horses generally and to take off the feed or the nose bag of a horse as soon as he has finished feeding.

The signals for striking tents (=the general=), for policing, saddling, and beginning the march should be ordered personally by the commanding officer and only when the duties pertaining to the previous signal are completed.

=979.= =The march, its length and rate=: The average daily march of a Cavalry column of the size of a squadron, or larger, is about 25 miles when horses are in condition; when starting on long-distance marches the rate per day for the first few days should be less than 20 miles and gradually increased. These rules may necessarily be modified, even when horses are not in fit condition, by reason of emergencies, character of roads or weather, proximity of water, grazing, etc., but, with these exceptions, the question of the =length= of the daily march is one of good judgment and experience on the part of the commander.

The =gait= and =pace= of the daily march are influenced by both the time the horse is to carry the load and the distance to be covered.

The quicker a march can be completed without forcing the less the fatigue to both horse and man. Where the footing is good, the road level, and other considerations do not hamper the column, after the first or a subsequent halt, may advance first by leading dismounted, then mount and walk, then trot, a short gallop (exceptional), then the trot, followed by the walk to the next halt. No gait is to be maintained continuously long enough to weary either horse or man, neither must it be changed too frequently in long columns; but whatever pace or gait is taken it should conform to the standards (par. 279). The officer setting the pace should occasionally drop back to observe its effect on the column, and veterinarians, if present, should be habitually utilized for this purpose.

The walk, if the footing is good, should be at the rate of 4 miles per hour, exclusive of halts; the trot at 8 miles per hour, so as to facilitate posting; the gallop, a very exceptional gait even for small commands, should be not faster than the maneuvering gallop (par. 236), and its practicability will depend upon the training and condition of the horses, since on long marches, unless accustomed to this gait with packed saddles, the horses will soon break down.

Very rarely, however, will the conditions allow the regular arrangement of gaits indicated above. Rolling country, with ascents and descents, stretches of hard or stony road or of mud, dust, or sand, crossings of streams, etc., will ordinarily impose corresponding changes of gait or pace on each of the small elements of the column as it reaches them. To provide for this the troops in route column, when so directed, take greater distances than prescribed in order to allow for closing up at checks.

The commander must give this matter unremitting attention, since normal route-order distances in column frequently entail discomfort to the men and sometimes injuries to the horses which might have been avoided.

Unless under exceptional circ.u.mstances, the commander of a marching column will authorize each troop commander to so regulate the gait and pace of his troop as to conform to that next in front, the gait and pace of the leading troop being regulated by the commander himself.

This results in each troop changing to the trot, walk, leading dismounted, etc., at the same place at which the leading troop did, and although regulation distances, are frequently exceeded, the tendency on all stretches of good road is to close on the leading troop of the column. With care this method of marching should result in enabling each troop in the column to move with almost the same regularity and freedom from checks as though it were in the lead.

The fast rate of march that can be expected of small detachments and of single riders can not be demanded of a long Cavalry column, and as the command increases in size the rate of march will decrease. The regulation gaits being, at the walk, 4 miles, the trot, 8 miles, Cavalry should be able to make, including halts, 5 miles per hour or better. This rate can be maintained for daily marches of 25 miles under ordinary conditions for a week at a time, after which a day of rest should be allowed before continuing the march.

=980.= =Formations=: The habitual formation for marches is route order in column of fours (par. 754). When the roads are unsuitable or the command is small, column of twos or troopers is permissible. To economize road s.p.a.ce in large commands =double column= or parallel columns should be used if practicable. Squadrons in regiment and troops in squadrons alternate in leading, the rule being that the one in front one day automatically follows in rear the next day.

=981.= =Halts=: The first half hour of a march should be made at a walk and the first halt of 10 or 15 minutes toward the end of the first hour after starting; it should, if possible, be preceded by a short trot in order to make apparent any faulty adjustment of equipment. This halt gives an opportunity for the horses to stale and for the troopers to attend to the calls of nature, to tighten girths, and to adjust saddles, equipment, and clothing.

Other halts of 5 to 10 minutes should be made at hourly intervals, and, if the march is to be prolonged into the afternoon, a longer halt should be made at noon, when girths are loosened, bridles removed, horses fed, and the men eat their lunches.

=An invariable rule on the march and in camp is to have all troopers dismount promptly on halting; in other words, never to permit a man to sit a moment in the saddle while his horse is standing still, and under no circ.u.mstances to lounge in the saddle.=

=982.= =Watering=: On the march horses should be watered whenever opportunity occurs, conforming as far as practicable to the rule of watering before feeding and of removing the bit when by so doing the horse can drink more freely, as when the stream or watering place is shallow. Public watering troughs should ordinarily be avoided on account of danger from infection. The use of buckets or of portable, collapsible canvas watering troughs (articles of issue) will often make watering places otherwise insufficient thoroughly satisfactory.

On the march and in camp watering is always done under supervision of an officer.

=983.= =Feeding=: In time of peace when a regular supply of grain and long forage can be counted on, effort should be made to follow, as far as practicable, the routine to which horses have been accustomed in garrison. In time of war regularity of supply of forage, and especially of the long forage, can not be expected, and officers must neglect no opportunity of antic.i.p.ating the needs of their animals when pa.s.sing grain fields, pastures, or stacks of hay and other fodder. A supply for the night can often be gathered and carried along on the wagons or it may be tied up compactly with the lariat and carried on the horse.

The trooper with habitual solicitude for his mount will, if permitted, be prompt to remove the bits to let his horse graze (facing the wind in hot weather) at every delay or check, and he will miss no chance to pick up an extra feed of grain.

=984.= =Camps= (_see also_ =Care of Troops=, F. S. R.): The ground being suitable, a troop encamps in line, with first sergeant's cook and officers' tents on one flank, the men's sink on the other, and with picket line 15 yards in front of and parallel to the men's tents, the open ends of the tents toward the picket line. A squadron or regiment encamps in column of troops as above, but with picket lines on the flank of the column on the side opposite the cook and officers'

tents, each in prolongation of its own company street. Intervals and distances should approximate those of the normal semipermanent camps (F. S. R.), if s.p.a.ce is available. For a shelter-tent camp in column of troops with picket lines stretched between the rows of tents the guidons which mark first sergeants' tents should not be less than 15 yards apart. The squadron or regiment may encamp in line similarly to the troop if the ground is more favorable for such form of camp, but ordinarily they encamp in column of troops with picket lines between the rows of tents.

=985.= =On nearing the end of a day's march, the regimental commander will send his adjutant and supply officer ahead to locate the camp and provide for the arrival of the column=: On approaching the camping place, squadron adjutants and the guidon of each troop will be summoned by the colonel's bugler sounding =adjutant's call= followed by guidons (or otherwise according to circ.u.mstances). At these calls each squadron adjutant followed by the guidons of his squadron will move rapidly to the front and will join the regimental adjutant, who indicates to each the ground which his squadron is to occupy. If the available ground is sufficient to encamp the entire regiment as prescribed in the Field Service Regulations, the regimental adjutant causes the guidons to be aligned and planted at the prescribed intervals, thereby marking the first sergeant's tent on the flank of each troop, otherwise each squadron adjutant has the guidons of his squadron so placed on the ground allotted to his squadron as to conform, as nearly as conditions will permit, to the normal camp, having in view the comfort of horses and men and convenience to supplies. The object in marking off the camp as prescribed, by establis.h.i.+ng the guidons before the arrival of the column, is to relieve the horse of his rider and pack as soon as possible. To further minimize delay, commanding officers, =unless under exceptional circ.u.mstances=, will, immediately on reaching the ground, direct majors to dismiss their squadrons and have their troop commanders proceed directly to their guidons, dismount at once, and pitch camp.

The foregoing principles will also, in so far as applicable, be enforced by commanders of all units smaller than the regiment.

The regimental supply officer has the drivers of the baggage section of the regimental train go direct to their proper troops and unhitch.

Ordinarily, for convenience in a one-night camp or bivouac the wagons of the baggage section are left between the cook tents and the troop officers' tents, the supply section being parked outside by itself.

After arrival at the camping place a guard is at once placed over the source of supply of drinking water.

Before pitching tents the rifles are stacked, sabers, rolls, saddle bags, and lariats removed from the saddles, girths loosened (the saddles being left on until backs are cooled), and the horses either linked by section, in circle (par. 428), or coupled head and tail (par. 427), and a man detailed to watch them until tents are pitched.

After pitching tents, stacks are broken, rifles placed in the tents, horses unsaddled, unbridled, and tied on the line or herded, saddles placed in a row in front of the tents and saddle blankets spread on them to dry, fuel secured, sinks dug, and other necessary preparations made for the night. The use of saddle blankets as bedding by the men will be permitted only under very exceptional conditions, and special care must be exercised to keep them free from dirt and burs. During evening stables, troop commanders, accompanied, if practicable, by a veterinarian, inspect the backs and feet of their horses, and in the morning they permit no trooper who is not specially authorized, to saddle his horse before the call =boots and saddles=, or to mount before the command for so doing.

=986.= =Herding=: In a hostile country camps should be selected, if possible, where grazing is good and beyond rifle range of cover for an enemy. Orders are issued as to places of a.s.sembly, and in each troop men are detailed beforehand to go among the horses and quiet them in case of a night alarm. In the event of a stampede, men should mount the fastest animals within reach, ride ahead of the herd, and lead it back to camp. Sometimes the sounding of stable and water call will prevent or check a stampede.

In case it is necessary to graze the horses in an enemy's country, they are sent out to herd under charge of an officer as soon as possible after making camp, they being taken during daylight as far away as is safe so as to keep the gra.s.s nearer camp for the night.