Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-22
FAREWELL TO UPTON.
The Local Soldiery Have Lots of
Trouble Over the New Tactics.
SOME PRETTY MOVEMENTS GONE,
Radical Changes in the Manual Of Arms
and the Various Schools.
THE DAY OF THE WHEEL HAS PASSED


the government of the National Guard
of Pennsylvania is. still causing lots OF
gossip in military circles For the past
month the new tactics has been thoroughly
discussed by the officers, and one put it,
"Why, 1 have been sleeping on mine"
The general public has no idea what
change in the tactics means to the average
soldier Upton's tactics was adopted Au-
gust l, 1867, and the new regulations Octo-
Der 3, 1891. To the officers of the army and
National Guard service who have been close
students of Upton for that length of time,
or to those who have serced five or ten
years, the command to forget Upton en-
tirely and study and teach the new one is
rather trying.
| The board of officers that formed the new
regulations evidently had the idea of form
ing lines as quickly as possible, regardless
of the manner in which they are formed
| In the general instructions under the head
of signals commandant may attract the
attention of his men by wEistling. In
changing direction a commandant may
point his sword the way he wishes to go, he
himself stepping off in the new direction
| without further command, the men follow
ing. The movements of the sword are SIM
liar to those of the baton in the hands of a
drum major
The Position of the Hands.
The position of soldier has not been
changed except as to the hands. little finger
| opposite seam of trousers, back of the hand
out-instead of palm to the front. The
rests are "fall out, rest" or sat ease"
"At ease"is similar to the old "place rest"
except the men preserve silence. Crest"
is the old "place rest" Quite a change has
been made in dressing. In the squad it is
"eyes right" Cor lett) and in the company
fright Cor left) dress" At the command
fright dress" the men close the left hand
and place it against the hip, the men dress
ing against the elbow. AT the command
"front" the hand is dropped to the
side. This interval is preserved
throughout all the movements In
the tacings quite a change is made.
The right or left face is made on the left
heel assisted by slight pressure on the
ball of the right foot. The ''about face" is
made by raising the right toe and left heel
turning to the right on the right heel and
are awkwardly performed at first, and give
the men the appearance of being raw re-
cruits.
The salute is made in two motions:
Raise the head smartly to the visor of the
cap above the right eye, forearm at an angle
of As degrees; drop the hand quietly. The
old sergeant's salute with the rifle is now
termed rifle salute, and is executed in two
movements.
The new "exercises" consist of arm, hand,
trunk, leg and foot, with a total of II move
ments to four in Upton. The side step is
executed at the command "right" or cleft
he 1apofh ie iporaoead 70
The manual of arms has been changed to
some extent, but the manner of execution
does not materially differ from Upton.
Freedom In Handling tho Riffs.
The piece can be shifted to any position
which is executed from "carry"
as before The Support arms is
left out entirely and the left shoulder"
added. How to get the piece on
the left shoulder is puzzle, as the instruc-
tions are rather meager. Paragraph 10S
saws: 1.-THE piece rests on the shoulder, bar
rel up, muzzle elevated, so as not to inter-
fere with the men in the rear, trigger guard
in front of and near the shoulder left hand
embracing the butt, heel between the first
and second fingers, elbow down."
The old farms port" is reversed, and is
now sport arms, and can be executed from
anv position. One new feature is the Gin
spectiou arms" AS the officer steps in
front of him the soldier comes to the sport
arms" and opens the breech. The piece is
then taken and returned by the inspector to
the same position.
In the school of the company the men fall
in at right face, order arms. The company
is formed in two ranks, as before; it is then
divided into squads consisting of seven men
and corporal. Two squads form section
e
platoon. The second sergeant is right
guide of the company, and the third ser
geant left guide. In column of platoons
the fourth sergeant is left guide of the
first platoon, and the fifth sergeant right
guide of the second. The first sergeant
marches in the line of file-closers in the rear
of the second file.
The Pretty Wheels Are No More.
All company movements in column of |
fours are executed similar to Upton's |
methods, but in column of companies the |
wheel is left out entirely. To change di-
rection to the right Cor left) and halt. the
command is company right Cor left) |
march" At the command 'tmarch" the |
right file halts, the men execute the fright |
turn and place themselves SUCCESSFULLY
on the line established by the right file and
dress without command. To continue the
march the command is "right turn" the
right guide marches by the right flank talk
ing the short step without changing the
cadence, and when ali have arrived on the
line the full step is resumed.
The regiment is divided into three bat
talions of four companies each, commanded
by a major In forming the reg iment the
battalions are first formed by the ad djutants
and sergeant majors of the respective bat
talions The right and left guides precede
the company on the line and face toward
each other at an "order arms" The men
are dressed against the guides Each cap
tain preserves q distance at three spaces
from the flank of the company towards
W hich he dresses After completing the
dress each captain takes his post in front of
his company. The guides take post at the
command ''guides posts.
The Battalion School Not Greatly Changed.
In the school of the battalion there are
very few changes The most noticeable is
forming front from column of COM
panies. Under Upton it was done
by wheeling. Now tine first CON-
pany marches straight to, the front,
the second executes "right forward, fouEs
right" the others 'fours right" 'column
halt left," and when near the line "column
right" and when opposite its place ''fours
left" Another change is fright of COM
panies, rear into columns" Each captain
commands "fours right, column right" in
stead of 'frst four right about. .
A new and very pretty movement is the
street column. At the command "street
column" the first company stands fast, the
second executes "ripht forward fours right"