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Dundas’ Principles served as the basis of Britain’s new Rules and Regulations, in 1792, which went on to further amplifying the workings of the concept:
The movements of all great bodies are
made either in line or column.— In line they
are in general regulated by a battalion of that
flank which is nearest to, and is to preserve the
appui, or which is to make the attack : in
column they are directed by its head, and the
commander of the whole is with the regulating
body. There are very few cases in which the
centre ought to regulate, although the direct
march of the line in front appears to be the
easiest conducted by a battalion of the centre.
If an enemy is to be turned, or an attack made,
it is by that flank that such movements are led
: it is the flank that must preserve the line of
appui in all movements in front : if the line is
thrown backward or forward, it is generally
on a flank point : if the line breaks into column,
it is the head or leading flank of the
column which conducts, and whose writhes
and turnings are followed by every other part
of the body, and such head becomes a flank
when formed into line : it is seldom that an
attack is formed from the centre, and a movement
seldomer need be. — The commander
will therefore be on whichever flank directs
the operations of the line, and by which he
proposes to make the attack, or to counteract
the attempts of the enemy. --British Regulations, pp.284-5.
Here we learn not only what the role of a Regulating Battalion was, but what part the general officer played and some sense of where he was expected “generally” to be on the battlefield. Specifically:
Commanding Officers of regiments, brigades,
or larger bodies, are moveable according
to circumstances, and should by no means consider
the centre of such bodies as their general
post in exercise or in movements, or expect by the
exertion of one voice, from one fixed situation, to
command and direct the whole: their presence is
more frequently required near one or the other
flank; in general, they should be at the beginning
and conducting point of the movement or formation,
and to that address their orders by voice or
message; for if that point is led or placed in the
direction it should take, there is little danger of the
other parts of the body not properly or successively
conforming to it.
John Macdonald, in a footnote to his 1803 translation of the French Regulations (p.430), observed that:
“In the British service, the regulating battalion is generally on the right ; all the others march by it, and by their own respective centres.”
It is interesting to compare the British expectations of the Regulating Battalion and general officer’s position with that of the French:
The commander in chief can, always,
assume as the battalion of regulation, that
which he judges the best calculated for directing
the line; but when particular reasons do
not operate in favour of selecting a battalion
on, or near the flank, a central battalion may
have preference.
Macdonald further notes (p.341) that; “A Prussian regulating battalion is, generally, a central one.”
The Brigade Commander would position
himself near the Regulating Battalion during
the manoeuvre in order to steer the Brigade on
the right course by use of the Battalion. Near
the enemy no doubt he might reposition himself
to lead by example as is often recorded, presumably
waiting until the Brigade was close
enough for it not to be able to miss its destination.
He normally communicated directly with the officer commanding the directing unit:
If several regiments exercise or manoeuvre
together, the Commanding Officer of the
line or column gives, when necessary, his
short orders of caution or execution to the
Commander of the regulating battalion of the
line, or of the head of the column, where he
himself generally is, and sometimes to the
Commander of the battalion, to which he is
then nearest; and each battalion Commander
repeats them aloud without delay.--Both British Regulations (pp. 283 & Observations)
Even when a Battalion Commander could
not, or did not, understand or receive specific
verbal orders, he took his cue for action from
the Regulating Battalion, or those “up-stream”
of him who were, in turn, following the regulating unit:
When the general order is not heard or
understood by part of a line, each battalion
Commander (where the intention is obvious)
will conform, as quickly as possible, to the
movements which he sees executed to his right
or left, according to the point from whence the
movement begins. But platoon Officers execute
only on the orders of their battalion Commander.
--Both British Regulations (pp. 283) & Observations (the French Regulations, 1791, impose a similar requirement; see p. 274).
Audible signals could also be used to assist with the brigade’s management; of particular importance, signals provided a way for the Brigade Commander to change which unit performed the role of regulating battalion:
When a line halted is to be put in motion,
and before the word march, a drum may beat
a march, or give a roll from whatever battalion
is to direct: such a signal will be considered
as announcing the directing battalion,
and such battalion, during the march, will
occasionally repeat. If necessary, during the
march, from obstacles to change the directing
battalion, the drum from the new battalion
will announce such change”
Thus, a Brigade Commander could direct
his brigade’s movement, both with respect to
its axis of advance and its speed.
In turn, if the Division were to move as a
whole, the Divisional Commander would designate
a Regulating Brigade, which in purpose
and relationship, would be a scaled-up
version of the Regulating Battalion concept.
The Divisional Commander would frequently be found in proximity to his Regulating Brigade, particularly if at the head of a column.
Thus the elements of an entire Corps could be
directed on the orders of its one commander,
well beyond vocal range and far more rapidly
than the use of messengers would permit. It
should be noted that while we have used the
infantry as an example, both the cavalry and
artillery (when the latter was moving independently
and in more than one unit) had their
own equivalents of this process to assist in the
control of the whole army.
Regulating Your Battalions Tactical Processes and Simulation
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