Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-10
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
General 0rderin Referenceto|
Pay Of Troops.
OFFICERSrUNIFORMS|
ASSEMBLY OF COMMISSIONED
FORCE FOR INSTRUCTION.
Difficult Movements in the Revised In
fantry Drill Regulations Explained
by Capt. Muir.
OFFICERSrUNIFORMS

Always VI IHleIGSt " tilC oiAAN~N ~
listed men of the National Guard OF the
District of Columbia are announcements
from headquarters in reference to pay OF
troops" A general order has just been is
sued setting forth that under authority or
act of Congress approved July /, l9o2, max
ing appropriation for pay of troops, other
than government employees, for services IN
the National Guard of the District OF Co
lumbia, pay rolls will be prepared by Or
ganizations, other than the Naval Battal-
ion for the periods from July to July 81
and from August IA to December 81, 1904,
inclusive.
Pay-rolls for the Naval Battalion will be
prepared for the periods from July 1 to Sep
TENDER g and from September 13 to Decem-
Der 81, 1904, inclusive.
In the preparation Of these rolls organiza-
ton commanders will be governed by the
provisions of general orders No of April
4, 1903. making the necessary changes IN
dates.
Duplicate pay-rolls must be forwarded to
headquarters not later than January 10,
1905.
General Harries is authority for the state
ment that general order in regard to new
uniforms for the officers will be issued with
In day or two after the receipt at District
militia headquarters of the War Depart
ment's new order.o the subject. The ex-
pectation is that The War Departments or
der will be promulgated the 18th instant.
Instructing the Officers.
The assembly of commissioned officers
of the brigade in the drill hall OF the Cen
ter Market Armory last Monday evening
proved a most instructive occasion. Prac-
t1cally the entire commissioned personnel
Of the guard, both of the staff and the
line, was in attendance. Captain Muir of
the war Department general staff, took
command of provisional company and
made clear several intricate movements
embraced in the revised infantry drill reg
ulatlons. Later other companies We're
formed and commanded by Adjutant Cen
eral Britt and Major Harvey. The former
gave instructions in the setting-up exer-
clSes and in the manual of the saber
Another similar assembly will be held
next Tuesday evening.
Captain Muir is the author of the follow
ing explanation of the revised drill regu-
lations, which explanation is said to be a
key to the new drill book
In the new infantry drill regulations the
hrst innovation is that in arrangement, by
which extended order is now divided nm
and appears in the different schools of the
solder, squad, company and battalion
placing IN each as far as practicable the
sup]ect-matter belonging to that school.
and which should be taught at that period
of the recruits instruction
The amount of space devoted to extended
order has been leSSened by the use of Re
marks on Troops in Battle,'' in which there
is a resume of some of the more important
principles to be followed by all command
erS, no matter whether of a company bat
talon, regiment. brigade or higher unit.
This avoids the repetition that necessarily
follows in treating the subject in each
school. The number of setting-up exer-
ciseS has been reduced to six, one of which
is lung exercise.
In the facings it is to be noted that the
about and right face are executed on the
right heel; that the left face is executed
on the left heel.
An Important Change
An important change appears in marking
time: Bring up the foot in rear, and con-
tinue the cadence by alternately raising
and planting each foot on line with the
other. The feet are raised about four
inches from the ground and planted with
the same energy as when advancing" This
avoids the constant gain and loss of ground
by pivots that took place under the old
method of advancing and drawing back the
foot and should result in the formation of
straighter lines from column than was for
merly the case. Raising the foot about
four inches gives a decided cadence that is
favorable to uniformity. The method also
renders it easier for the pivot to turn to
the right or left, keep step in cadence and
step off with the other men at the concIu-
sion of the turn on fixed pivot.
In the manual of arms there are several
minor changes brought about by the adop-
ton of the new rifle. Among the more i'm
habitually used as magazine rifle: the
cutoff is kept turned off" except when
actually using cartridges and the piece is
habitually carried locked
The position of left shoulder is included i
in the parade portion of the manual of
arms thus increasing the number of move
ments that can be used at parades.
IF at the order the piece is brought to
the right shoulder at the commaDd march,
the three motions corresponding with the
first three steps,
the right shoulder, avoids the extra COM
mands frequently used to obtain a clean
mo cement by bringing pieces to the right
shoulder prior to each movement from a
halt. and also avoids the unauthorized ac-
centing of some syllable of the prepara-
tory command frequently resorted to under
the old method.
Short movements such as side step, back
STEP etc, may be executed at the trail by
prefacing the preparatory command with
the words at TRAIL as, /. AT trail, right
when the facings, alignments, open and
close ranks taking intervals or distances,
and assembling, are executed from the or
der, raise the piece to the trail while in
motion and resume the order on halting."
Should Be Thoroughly Drilled.
Coming to changes in formation. it is to
be noted that the front, including the in
terval, occupied by man is taken at twen-
ty-six inches, and the rear rank is forty
inches from the front rank in both line and
column This constant distance, which |
should be thoroughly drilled into the men,
avoids the unnecessary strain that was
formerly thrown upon the rear rank in en-
deavoring to march at facing distance 1t |
also takes from the rear-rank man the |
idea that the only thing required of him is !
to follow his front-Tank man, thus requir-
ing him to think more for himself, to pay
strfcter attention to the drill, and conse- |
quently to progress more rapidly.
This constant distance between ranks |
compelled a changezin the method by which |
the squads turn in forming column of |
squads from line or the reverse. ct is to |
be noted in passing that the term four |
is discarded, and that the term squad" is |
used in both close and extended order) |
One solution was for the rear rank to close |
to facing distance at the preparatory COM
mand then for the squad to wheel as in |
the old drill regulations, the rear rank
gaining it's distance VIXEN the wheel was |
Completed by shortening the step or by |
falling back to forty zfnches in hating. |
This method worked satisfactorily where |
the march was continued, but in forming |
line and hating 1t proved very unsatisfac- |
tory. Each rear-rank man had to judge his |
distance Of forty inches with no guiding
points; the rear rank thus presented |
very ragged appearance, which could only
be corrected by dressing each time after
forming line The method adopted avoids
this evil.