School Of The Platoon
"PlatoonForm on my left/right"
To form the platoon, the officer will take position and call for the platoon to fall in and the platoon will fall in on his left or right in files of two. The end files of the line should be made by men the rank of Cpl or above. After the NCO (Cpl, Sgt etc) fall in the rest of the line will fall in one at a time, with 3/4th's of a man spacing in-between each file of two men. Once all men have formed in this fashion, the line is ready to move out.
"Platoon, By Files Right Prepare to Move Out. Forward March"
When the platoon has formed, and moves out in line, the officer will give the command, "By files right forward march". This means that the most right hand file will begins marching forward as soon as the officer gives the march command. Once The rear ranking man of rightmost file has moved out and pass the shoulder of the man to his left , the file to the left of them will begin to move, once they have moved out the file to their left will move out, so on and so forth.
"Platoon, Prepare to Hold. Platoon Hold"
When advancing by files right and the officer wants to bring the line to a hold he will give the command "Prepare to Hold" notifying the men that they will be stopping, continued by, "Hold". When the command "Hold" is given, the files fall in one at a time to the officers left. Each file making sure to be 3/4th's of a man to the left of the file to their right.
"Platoon, Right Wheel, March"
If the needs arises to change the angle in which the line is facing, the officer will order a wheel. When the officers calls, "Right wheel" the man on the extreme right of the line will move forward and hold his musket in the air to signify the angle of the wheel (the angle will be a 90º unless there is an obvious target such as a line, in which the man will align the wheel to face the line directly). On "March" his file partner will march to meet the lead man. Once he has gone the file to his left will take up position on the rightmost file's left. Once the man in the second rank of a file has passed the shoulder of the front rank man to his left, that file will then go. This process will continue until the entire line is facing right instead of center.
"Platoon, Right Wheel, March"
When moving out by files right, the line can be ordered to do a right wheel while marching, allowing line to change from marching forward to marching to the right. When the order is given, the line will swing around to be on the officers left, who has pivoted a 90º to his right. The line will continue to move and function as it did during a normal by files right movement.
"Platoon, Right Face, Prepare to Move Out, Forward March"
Instead of moving out by files right, a formed up line can choose to move out in a column of files. To do so the officer will simply give the order, "Right Face" and the line will face right. At "Prepare to move out, forward march" the column of files will all begin marching forward, one file after another.
"Platoon, Left Wheel, March"
Moving out in a column of files, the platoon can maneuver by wheels. On the order "Left wheel, march" the officer will make a 90º turn to his left, as will each set of files that comes into column behind him. No file should cut corners, and all should be making a sharp 90º turn exactly where the officer does his.
"Platoon, Counter Wheel, March"
When the line is forced to turn around abruptly, the command "Counter wheel, march" will be used to turn the line completely around. The officer will also signify which direction the counter wheel will be turning. For example, a counter wheel left will be to the left side of the line, and vice-versa. Like a regular wheel on the move, the men will not cut in line, but wait to wheel where the officer has.
"Platoon, Deploy Line on My Left, March"
When the line needs to deploy from a column of files into line, the officer will give the command, "deploy line on my left, march" and the platoon will switch from a column to a line. The left hand column will form the front rank of the line, and the right column will form the rear rank. The movement is a front to back movement, with the file directly behind the officer moving to form on his left first, and then continuing on after that. Once the movement is complete, the platoon will be positioned on the officers left in a double rank line.
