The Battalion in Route Column.
(Par. 316 German F. S. R.).
The companies are formed in route column and follow each other at distances of 8 m. Mounted officers, musicians,[1] led horses and vehicles are to be included in actual depths of columns given and not in the distances. A permanent extension of distances for the purpose of restricting checks of the march to a single organization is as little permissible as the permanent elimination or reduction of distances; distances may be dispensed with temporarily only. The reduction of the depth of a column, obtained by eliminating distances between elements entirely, is so small that the rapidity of deployment gained does not, by any means, compensate for the increased exertion of the troops.[2]
During the march the company commander goes wherever his presence may be necessary for the proper supervision of his company. Neither are platoon commanders tied to a fixed place; one officer is, however, required to march in rear of the company. The company ammunition wagons follow in rear of their respective companies, or, assembled, in rear of the battalion. In marches in campaign the field train marches separately.
The depth of the battalion on the march, without field train, is 400 m., and the depth of the field train is 100 m.
Austria. Column of fours. Depth of a battalion on the march, including
combat train, 670 paces (502 m.). The distance between companies is
nine paces (6.7 m.).
- ↑ A trumpeter marches in rear of the battalion for the purpose of blowing "Give way," when necessary to open one side of the road. At this signal all the troops close in toward the flank of the guide.
- ↑ The depth of a brigade of six battalions on the march is about 2500 m. By eliminating distances between elements a space of only 100 m. is gained, while by marching in a front of six files, approximately 750 m. is gained. The march of the 10th Infantry Division from Weiszenburg to Preuschdorf, on August 5th, 1870, proved exceedingly fatiguing. The distances between organizations had been eliminated pursuant to orders. "Some of the rearmost elements had to double time uphill to keep up whenever the head of the column went down hill. Great fatigue and many cases of overexertion were the result." Geschichte des Regiments Nr. 37, p. 124.
