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Dec 21, 2009, 1:06pm

Company B,36th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment :: The Haversack :: By the Book :: Skirmish, By those who did it

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Topic: Skirmish, By those who did it (Read 79 times)

Riley Ewen
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Skirmish, By those who did it
« Thread Started on Apr 2, 2006, 5:57pm »

This is by Lt. Charles B. Haydon, Co. I, 2nd Michigan Volunteers:

"The skirmish drill is on of the finest in use. Whether you view them stretched out in a long line, 5 paces between the men, or rallied in their pugnacious little groups of fours, with bayonet at each corner, or in their stronger groups of sections or platoons they are active, self reliant, sharp, mischievous fighters. It is a curious thing to see them when firing... at the command commence firing the odd-numbered men run forward 10 paces very quickly, throw themselves down on their bellies [emphasis added], fire, roll over on their backs & commence loading. While they are loading, the even numbered men run up 10 paces beyond them, throw themselves down [emphasis added], fire, and commence loading. By this time the odd number men are ready again in turn & advance 10 paces beyond these & throw themselves down as before [emphasis added] & so the keep going... You will see nothing but the smoke when they fire or their heads peeping up above the weeds & grass except when they advance. This when near the enemy is always done by an oblique or zig zag movement... They are of course to seek shelter of all the trees, logs, ditches & inequalities of the ground which are at hand [emphasis added]" (Stephen W. Sears, ed., For Country, Cause, and Leader, p. 102).

As Bob Braun has noted, please note that there is NO mention of the word ready or any sort of signal for a firing partner to advance other than loading, and these signals are most likely reenactorisms (based upon this account and many others) that will only add confusion. Remember that Casey does not mention the word "ready" either. Also, when under fire, it would just make sense to hit the dirt, so that's another reason we should learn fire and load while lying.

Casey also states that "skirmishers [firing at a halt] will not remain in the same place whilst reloading, unless protected by accidents in the ground" (p. 202-3). Take what you will from this, it's a nice tidbit of info.

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Re: Skirmish, By those who did it
« Reply #1 on Feb 26, 2009, 1:11am »

This is how to use research. skirmishing was fighting at its roots. kill the enemy without getting killed yourself. i know people have this grand idea that civil war battles consisted mostly of 2 huge forces hamring away at each other from 50 yards away standing upright like a bunch of idiots in a open field but its just not the case. most fights where skirmish lines probing and manuvering around each other until the enemy makes a mistake and the suporting force can exploit the enemys weakness. look at the casualty reports and tell me HOW there are so few casualties in a individual enagagment. the simple answer is that most of the fighting was skirmishing.

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