during that reloading process the second ban is going to be at full ready to shoot but he will not do so until the first man is done reloading this is called firing by files and it ensures two absolutely vital things for any light infantry formation one is that you're able to keep up a steady and continuous fire as every individual file is acting independently and firing in their own time that's an advantage that it would have over something like firing by ranks which is dramatically overrated and two is that at any given time at least half of your formation will be loaded and ready to fire if you need to lose a full volley say for example the enemy leaves our cover and charges you or a troop of cavalry comes into play you want to make sure that you are not faced with a situation where some of your files are entirely unloaded and easy prey always have a round ready to go it is to be particularly observed that each file has an entire dependence upon itself and that the fire locks of the front and rear men are never to be unloaded at the same time when the front rank man fires the rear rank man is to make ready and step up riskly before his comrade but is by no means to discharge his firelock until the other has loaded this mutual defense and confidence is one of the most essential principles of light infantry and of course this isn't the only way the light infantryman would ever fight either if the situation ever demanded it they could be doing things like firing by platoons or street firing that's a very common one or even in traditional volleys just like any other infantry formation but if we'd like i can talk about all that as well in a future video the different kinds of firings and whatnot but the point is they can do anything that a regular soldier can do a battalion man can do because that's where they're starting they have probably a year of experience doing all that they are masters of their regular soldiers art and then all of this additional training is being put on top of it again these are elite units and when the light infantry are fighting in tandem with other units they would often be specifically employed as screening forces as skirmishers and flankers as a screening force say if an army is marching along a road the light infantryman would get the tougher job of marching through the countryside or the woods or whatever on either side of that road to act as the first line of defense against any possible ambushes and the like as a skirmishing force they could also be positioned at the very front of an army as its vanguard or the very rear of the army as its rear guard ensuring that whatever foe may come to range in their sights they will be the first to meet them in battle and either hold them back long enough for the main formations to escape or hold them in place long enough to let the rest of the army come up for the general engagement and as flanking forces during battle while an enemy is tied down by the regular infantry the lights could be sent on these wide flanking maneuvers to get around the side of the enemy and attack them from the rear or to gain access to some otherwise difficult access point of advantage the battle of long island is a spectacular example of this where the british troops marched overnight around the rebel army only to come up at them from both sides the next day whether a minor skirmish or a general action
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