Each year I hope to start Company E off on the right foot (actually the left foot) by having a thorough drill session before the season starts. Unfortunately this year, like last year, saw the March training session cancelled due to threatening weather. Even more unfortunately, our rustiness at drill showed in our first event of the year at the Oakley Tactical. In this article I will address the most egregious problem, the confusion that reigned when we attempted to operate as skirmishers.

Gents, knowing how to skirmish is vital. The original soldiers were in camp for 50 days for every 1 day that they were in actual battle. "In camp" could mean that they were behind the lines in settled tents or cabins, but for at least 1/3rd of the time the soldiers were out on picket duty. Thus they spent far more time deployed as skirmishers than in battle formation when facing the enemy and so to reenact their lives faithfully we need to be able to do skirmishing properly.

The basic operating kernel for skirmish duty is the file of four. When we count off there are two men who answer "one" and two who answer "two", in the front and rear ranks. These four men constitute a "file" because when we march to the right or left flank all four march in a single line or file. When a skirmish line is ordered the company first stretches out in groups of four and then the four split up into four individuals facing the foe.

I was sadly surprised to see that many had forgotten how to "disassemble" into a proper set of four. It's done like this: The front rank #2 man stands fast. His partner, the rear rank #2 man, steps to the left for 5 paces. The front rank #1 man steps out 10 paces so that his partner, the rear rank #1 man can step out 5 paces and place himself between the two front rank men. People kept forgetting what order in which to fall out--here are some memory aids: (a) The #2 front rank man stays where he is. This is the same fellow who does all the work when stacking arms so doing less during skirmishing is his "reward." (b) The rear rank men are to the left of the front rank men. That means that it's the #1 front rank man who has to move the farthest to establish the correct order on the skirmish line.

The Commands to Deploy: There are 2 commands to deploy as skirmishers. Both start with "Company--as skirmishers," which tells you what we're going to do. The second command tells you how we're going to do it, and the third command is "March!" which tells you to do it now. The second command can be either "On the X file--take intervals" or "By the Y flank--take intervals." If the command is "On the X file" then a particular group of four is named ("right file," "center file," "left file," etc.). The file named marches straight forward. The other files march obliquely (at an angle) away to the left or right away from the designated file. When there's enough space to spread out the groups of four they do so with no further orders. If the command is "By the Y flank" then the file on the Y flank (left or right) stands fast and the other files right or left face and march directly away from the unmoving group. Again, when enough space is available the sets of four spread out. You could actually specify "By the left and right flanks" in this command, which would cause the center file to stand fast while both sides march away. The critical thing to remember is the difference between "On" and "By"--"On" means to march onward towards the enemy while "By" means to spread to the side.

Upon deployment the company commander will tell you to march or halt or do other maneuvers. He will also tell you to fire or not fire. Firing and moving are SEPARATE actions and require separate commands. When moving you can shift left or right to use trees or other obstacles to avoid getting shot and when stopped it is permissible to use any available cover--rocks, trees, holes, bushes, bodies, etc. Just don't cross over the path or place of either man on either side of you.

Firing is done by pair of the front and rear rank men (twosomes, not foursomes). If moving, the closest to the enemy shoots and then loads. The other moves (forwards or backwards) and aims, but doesn't shoot until his partner calls "Ready!" If your partner dies then you operate by yourself, loosely in coordination with others around you.

Since this is a basics article I won't go into all the ways to regroup. To simplify, there are two means of doing so. A "Rally" command tells the soldiers to run to some place and form a circle around their officers. The purpose of the "Rally" command was to gather everyone quickly, independent of order, to form a defense against fast-charging cavalry. An "Assembly" command tells the soldiers to form up in their fours and march (not run) to reassemble the company--usually done out of range of the enemy.

O.K., there's more to skirmishing than this, but for now I'd like everyone to try to commit the above to memory. If we can at least remember these basics adding any details will come easily.

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