University of Virginia Library

THE MILITIA COMPANY DRILL.[1]

I happened, not long since, to be present at the muster
of a captain's company, in a remote part of one of the
counties; and as no general description could convey
an accurate idea of the achievements of that day, I must
be permitted to go a little into detail, as well as my recollection
will serve me.

The men had been notified to meet at nine o'clock,
“armed and equipped as the law directs;” that is to say,
with a gun and cartridge box at least, but, as directed by
the law of the United States, “with a good firelock, a

sufficient bayonet and belt, and a pouch with a box to
contain no less than twenty-four sufficient cartridges
of powder and ball.”

At twelve, about one third, perhaps one half, of the
men had collected, and an inspector's return of the number
present, and of their arms, would have stood nearly
thus: I captain, 1 lieutenant, ensign, none; fifers, none;
privates, present 24; ditto, absent 40; guns, 14; gun-locks,
12; ramrods, 10; rifle pouches, 3; bayonets,
none; belts, none; spare flints, none; cartridges, none;
horsewhips, walking canes and umbrellas, 10. A
little before one, the captain, whom I shall distinguish
by the name of Clodpole, gave directions for forming
the line of parade. In obedience to this order, one
of the sergeants, whose lungs had long supplied the
place of a drum and fife, placed himself in front of
the house, and began to ball with great vehemence,
“All Captain Clodpole's company parade here! Come
Gentlemen, parade here!” says he—“all you that has
n't got guns fall into the lower eend.” He might have
bawled till this time, with as little success as the syrens
sung to Ulysses, had he not changed his post to a neighboring
shade. There he was immediately joined by all
who were then at leisure; the others were at that time
engaged as parties or spectators at a game of fives, and
could not just then attend. However, in less than half
an hour the game was finished, and the captain enabled
to form his company, and proceed in the duties of the day.

Look to the right and dress!

They were soon, by the help of the non-commissioned
officers, placed in a straight line; but, as every man
was anxious to see how the rest stood, those on the
wings pressed forward for that purpose, till the whole
line assumed nearly the form of a crescent.

“Why, look at 'em,” says the captain; “why, gentlemen,
you are all a crooking in at both eends, so that you
will get on to me bye and bye! Come, gentlemen,
dress, dress!”

This was accordingly done; but, impelled by the
same motives as before, they soon resumed their former
figure, and so they were permitted to remain.

“Now, gentlemen,” says the captain, “I am going to
carry you through the revolutions of the manuel exercise,
and I want you, gentlemen, if you please, to pay
particular attention to the word of command, just exactly
as I give it out to you. I hope you will have a little
patience, gentlemen, if you please, and if I should be
agoing wrong, I will be much obliged to any of you,
gentlemen, to put me right again, for I mean all for the
best, and I hope you will excuse me if you please. And
one thing, gentlemen, I caution you against, in particular—and
that is this—not to make any mistakes if you
can possibly help it; and the best way to do this, will
be to do all the motions right at first; and that will help
us to get along so much the faster; and I will try to
have it over as soon as possible.—Come boys, come to
a shoulder.”

Poise, foolk![2]

Cock, foolk! Very handsomely done.

Take aim!

Ram down catridge! No! No! Fire! I recollect
now that firing comes next after taking aim, according
to Steuben; but, with your permission, gentlemen, I'll
read the words of command just exactly as they are
printed in the book, and then I shall be sure to be right.
“Oh yes! read it Captain, read it!” (exclaimed twenty
voices at once;) “that will save time.”

“'Tention the whole! Please to observe, gentlemen,
that at the word “fire!” you must fire; that is, if any
of your guns are loaden'd, you must not shoot in yearnest,
but only make pretence like; and you, gentlemen
fellow soldiers, who's armed with nothing but sticks,
riding switches and corn stalks, need n't go through the
firings, but stand as you are, and keep yourselves to
yourselves.

Half cock, foolk! Very well done.

S, h, e, t, (spelling) Shet pan! That too would have
been handsomely done, if you had'nt handled cartridge
instead of shetting pan; but I suppose you was n't noticing.—Now
'tention one and all, gentlemen, and do that
motion again.

Shet pan! Very good, very well indeed; you did
that motion equal to any old soldier—you improve astonishingly.

Handle cartridge! Pretty well, considering you done
it wrong end foremost, as if you took the cartridge out
of your mouth, and bit off the twist with the cartridge
box.

Draw rammer! Those who have no rammers to
their guns need not draw, but only make the motion; it
will do just as well, and save a great deal of time.

Return rammer! Very well again—But that would
have been done, I think, with greater expertness, if you
had performed the motion with a little more dexterity.

S, h, o, u, l—Shoulder foolk! Very handsomely done
indeed! Put your guns on the other shoulder, gentlemen.

Order foolk! Not quite so well, gentlemen—not
quite altogether; but perhaps I did not speak loud enough
for you to hear me all at once. Try once more, if you
please. I hope you will be patient, gentlemen; we will
soon be through.

Order foolk! Handsomely done, gentlemen!—Very
handsome done! and altogether too, except that one half
of you were a leetle too soon, and the other half a leetle
too late.

In laying down your guns, gentlemen, take care to
lay the locks up and the other side down.

'Tention the whole! Ground foolk! Very well.

Charge bayonet! (Some of the men)—“That can't
be, Captain—pray look again; for how can we charge
bayonet without our guns?”

(Captain.) I don't know as to that, but I know I'm
right, for here 'tis printed in the book; c, h, a, r—yes,
charge bayonet, that's right, that's the word, if I know
how to read. Come, gentlemen, do pray charge bayonet!
Charge, I say!—Why don't you charge? Do you
think it aint so? Do you think I have lived to this time
o' day, and don't know what charge bayonet is? Here,
come here, you may see for yourselves; it's plain as the
nose on your fa—Stop—stay—no—halt! no! Faith
I'm wrong! I turned over two leaves at once. I beg
your pardon, we will not stay out long; and we'll have
something to drink as soon as we have done. Come,
boys, get up off the stumps and logs and take up your
guns, we'll soon be done: excuse me if you please.

Fix Bayonet!

Advance arms! Very well done; turn the stocks of
your guns in front, gentlemen, and that will bring the
barrels behind; hold them strait up and down if you
please; let go with your left, and take hold with your
right hand below the guard. Steuben says the gun
should be held p, e, r, pertic'lar—yes, you must always
mind and hold your guns very pertic'lar. Now boys,
'tention the whole!

Present arms! Very handsomely done! only hold
your gun over t'other knee—t'other hand up—turn your

bands round a little and raise them up higher—draw
t'other foot back—now you are nearly right—very well
done.

“Gentlemen, we come now to the revolutions. Men,
you have all got into a sort of snarl, as I may say; how
did you get all into such a higglet pigglety?

The fact was, the shade had moved considerably to
the eastward, and had exposed the right wing of these
hardy veterans to a galling fire of the sun. Being poorly
provided with umbrellas at this end of the line, they
found it convenient to follow the shade, and in huddling
to the left for this purpose, they changed the figure of
their line from that of a crescent to one which more
nearly resembled a pair of pothooks.

“Come, gentlemen,” (says the captain,) “spread yourselves
out again in a straight line; and let us get into
the wheelings and other matters as soon as possible.”

But this was strenuously opposed by the soldiers.—
They objected going into the revolutions at all, inasmuch
as the weather was extremely hot, and they had already
been kept in the field upwards of three quarters of an
hour. They reminded the captain of his repeated promise
to be as short as he possibly could, and it was clear
he could dispense with all this same wheeling and flourishing,
if he chose. They were already very thirsty,
and if he would not dismiss them, they declared they
would go off without dismission, and get something to
drink, and he might fine them if that would do him any
good; they were able to pay their fine, but would not
go without drink to please any body; and they swore
they would never vote for another captain who wished
to be so unreasonably strict.

The captain behaved with great spirit upon the occasion,
and a smart colloquy ensued; when at length becoming
exasperated to the last degree, he roundly asserted

that no soldier ought ever to think hard of the orders
of his officer; and, finally, he went so far as to say that
he did not think any gentleman on that ground had any
just cause to be offended with him. The dispute was
finally settled by the captain sending for some grog for
their present accommodation, and agreeing to omit reading
the military law, and the performance of all the manœuvres,
except two or three such easy and simple ones
as could be performed within the compass of the shade.
After they had drank their grog, and had “spread
themselves,” they were divided into platoons.

'Tention the whole!—To the right wheel! Each
man faced to the right about.

“Why, gentlemen, I did not mean for every man to
stand still and turn himself na'trally right round; but
when I told you to wheel to the right, I intended you to
wheel round to the right as it were. Please to try again,
gentlemen; every right hand man must stand fast, and
only the others turn round.”

In the previous part of the exercise, it had, for the
purpose of sizing, been necessary to denominate every
second person a “right hand man.” A very natural
consequence was, that on the present occasion those right
hand men maintained their position, all the intermediate
ones facing about as before.

“Why, look at 'em now!” exclaimed the captain, in
extreme vexation—“I'll be d—d if you understand a
word I say. Excuse me, gentlemen, it rayly seems as
if you could not come at it exactly. In wheeling to the
right, the right hand eend of the platoon stands fast, and
the other eend comes round like a swingletree. Those
on the outside must march faster than those on the inside.
You certainly must understand me now, gentlemen; and
please to try it once more.”

In this they were a little more successful.

'Tention the whole! To the left—left, no—right—
that is, the left—I mean the right—left wheel, march!

In this, he was strictly obeyed; some wheeling to the
right, some to the left, and some to the right-left, or both
ways.

Stop! halt! “Let us try it again! I could not just
then tell my right hand from left! You must excuse me,
if you please—experience makes perfect, as the saying
is. Long as I have served, I find something new to learn
every day; but all's one for that. Now, gentlemen, do
that motion once more.”

By the help of a non-commissioned officer in front of
each platoon, they wheeled this time with considerable
regularity.

“Now, boys, you must try to wheel by divisions; and
there is one thing in particular which I have to request
of you, gentlemen, and that is, not to make any blunder
in your wheeling. You must mind and keep at a wheeling
distance, and not talk in the ranks, nor get out of fix
again; for I want you to do this motion well, and not to
make any blunder now.”

'Tention the whole! By divisions, to the right wheel,
march!

In doing this, it seemed as if Bedlam had broke loose:
every man took the command. Not so fast on the
right!—Slow now?—Haul down those umbrellas!—
Faster on the left!—Keep back a little there!—Don't
scrouge so!—Hold up your gun Sam!—Go faster
there!—faster! Who trod on my —? d—n your
huffs!—Keep back! Stop us, Captain—do stop us!
Go faster there! I've lost my shoe! Get up again,
Ned! Halt! halt! halt!—Stop, gentlemen! stop! stop!

By this time they had got into utter and inextricable
confusion and so I left them.

TIMOTHY CRABSHAW.