MARCHING #1 Contents Evolution of Marching......................p.2 The Goosestep..............................p.4 Marching Miscellany........................p.6 US Army Transcontinental Marching..........p.7 .......p.9 See also: march2 USAMHI Marching RefBranch dv Oct 82 NOTE: EVOLUTION OF MARCHING An apparent evolution has occurred in marching steps and rates. The ancient Romans marched at a pace of 30 inches, with normally 100 steps per minute. Many centuries later, at the time of the American Revolution, the British Army marched at 60 steps per minute. Baron von Steuben, drillmaster of the Continental Army, then raised the cadence to "about seventy-five," steps of 24 inches. Quick step was 120 per minute. By 1813, the number of steps prescribed was 76 or 90. The pace was then increased to 28 inches by 1825 and cadence was set at 90 steps per minute for common time. In 1867, Upton's new manual described double time, with 33 inch steps, at 165-180 per minute. The modern step is 30 inches, with a normal cadence of 106 steps per minute. Double time is 36-inch steps, at 180 per minute. An explanation for this general acceleration of foot marching prob- ably lies chiefly in the evolution of weapons and tactics. Other factors undoubtedly exerted some influence, such as improved diets, advances in music technology, and maybe even sunspots. Further research may begin with the following sources: Camus, Raoul F. Military Music of the American Revolution. Chapel Hill: UP of NC, 1976. pp. 7-8 & 87-90. ML1311C35. Duane, William. A Handbook for Infantry, Containing the First Principles of Military Discipline... Phila: the Author, 1813. p. 21. UD160D8, RareBk. Judson, Harry P. Caesar's Army: A Study of the Military Art of the Romans in the Last Days of the Republic. Boston: Ginn, 1894. p. 63. U35J93. Scott, Winfield. Infantry Tactics; or, the Rules for the Exercise and Manoeuvres of the United States Infantry. Vol I. NY: Dearborn, 1835. pp. 29 & 82. UD160A3, RareBk. Steuben, Frederick von. Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States. Phila: Styner and Cist, 1779. p. 13. UB501.1779.A21, RareBk. Upton, Emory. A New System of Infantry Tactics, Double and Single Rank, Adapted to American Topography and Improved Fire-Arms. NY: Appleton, 1867. pp. 16 & 20. UD160U8, RareBk. Evolution of Marching p.2 U.S. Dept of Army. Drill and Ceremonies. Field Manual 22-5, Aug 1968. p. 11. FM. ________. Foot Marches. Field Manual 21-18, Jan 1971. p. 11. FM. U.S. War Dept. Board of Officers. Infantry Tactics; or, Rules for the Exercises and Manoeuvres of the Infantry of the U.S. Army. Wash, DC: Davis and Force, 1825. pp. 24 & 58. UD160A3, RareBk. USAMHI Marching Ref@anch la/js 1972 NOTE: THE GOOSESTEP "Goosestep" has two basic meanings. The definition in the Oxford English Dictionary applies only to the in-place English drill and not the Prussian march step. Additional definitions of the term, known in German as exerziermarsch, stechschritt, parademarsch or festschritt, appear in these sources: Breul, Karl. Cassell's New German & English Dictionary, p. 245. Farrow, Edward S. A Dictionary of Military Terms, p. 266. Garber, Max B. A Modern Military Dictionary, p. 148. Two brief histories of the German method of marching appear in the 1942 and 1967 eds of Walter Transfeldt's Wort und Brauch im deutschen Heer (UA712T67), pages 52, 64-65, and 146 of edition and pages 109- 110 or the latter. Translations of pertinent portions into English are as follows: ...The regulations for the royal Prussian infantry in 1726 specify that: "The left and right foot shall be partially lifted with stiff knees and the foot will not be stamped." ...This Exerziermarsch in the new tempo of 114 steps per minute came to be the characteristic parademarsch of the German Army. [1967ed, p. 110] ...But the march in step, that is, the special march, slow and with sharp, audible steps, the exercise march with stiff knees, was first brought to Germany in the eighteenth century by the troops of the militarily-inclined Landgrafen Karl von Hessen-Hassel (1730). The Hessen-Kassel Regiment of Prince Maximilian found itself in 1720 in the service of the Holy Roman Emperor in Italy and Sicily. There, they learned to march in step from the Italian troop units. They practiced it and brought it home with them, where it was introduced throughout the Hessian infantry. This innovation must have created quite a stir, because in Berlin the story was hardly believed and it was thought unlikely "that every rascal (enlisted man) had the same step as all other rascals." In Prusia, the step was explained after the immigration of a Herr von Kalckstein (die The Goosestep p.2 1759 as a Prussian field marshal and well-known military educator of Frederick the Great), who was earlier an officer in Hessian service. He wished to prove that marching in step was possible, if he could obtain some men to use for the experiment. These demonstrations were conducted in the Potsdam recreational park, which the soldier-King Frederick William I, immediately after ascension to the throne, had converted into a drill field. To the amazement of several observers the demonstrations were a success. The king, who had sharp eyes for any innovations in European armies, was delighted by the exercises and ordered the immediate adoption of this step for his Riesengarde (special unit made up of extremely tall men) and also its establishment for his entire Prussian army (1730). [1942 ed, pp. 64- 5] These two accounts are not necessarily contradictory. The 1942 ed credits the Prussian use of the goosestep to von Kalckstein sometime between 1720 and 1730, while the 1967 edition cites the 1726 Prussian infantry regulations. In a reforming the Russian Army, Catherine the Great, a German princess by birth and an admirer of Frederick the Great, adopted Prussian military manners and methods, including uniforms and staff structure. See pp. 12-13 from Drygalski and Batsch's Russland: Das Heer, Die Flotte (UA770D79). See also pp. 202-204 of J.D. Hittle's The Military Staff. Although lacking hard evidence that the Russian Army first used the goosestep during the reign of Catherine, such a supposition seems reasonable. One alternative is that the step was introduced into the Russian military school sometime between the date of its establishment in 1730 and the ascension to the throne of Catherine in 1762. See also the following photos of goosestepping German soldiers and sailors of the Third Reich: - 7x4 3/4 sepia photo, "Hildschau vom Tage; Stojadinowitsch nimmt einen vorbeinmarsch ab." WWII file. - 9 1/2x7 black and white glossy, "Admiral Raeder reviewing parade in Wilhelmshaven." Black loose-leaf notebook Austria- Hungary, Germany, WWII file. - Friedenstagebuch des IX Armeekorps. 14x17 1/2 large brown photo album dated 1935-1936. Included are: - 10 1/2 x 11, "Die Fahne flattert siegweisend..." - 6 1/2x4, "Vorbeimarsch der Ehrenkompanie." - 6 1/2x4 3/4, "Erster 'Tag der Luftwaffe.'" - 6 1/2x3 3/4, "Regiment auf Regiment." - 9 1/2x7, "Einmarsch der Fahnen der alten Armee." USAMHI Marching RefBranch dv Mar 1990 MARCHING MISCELLANY A Working Bibliography Camus, Raoul F. Military Music of the American Revolution. Chapel Hill: UP of North Carolina, 1976. pp. 7-8 & 87-89. ML1311C35. Cadence marching. Farrow, Edward S. Farrow's Military Encyclopedia. 2d ed. Vol II. NY: Military-Naval Pub, 1895. pp. 269-272. U24F221v2. Furse, George Armand. The Art of Marching. London: Clowes, 1901. 584 p. U176F99 & UD310F8. Treatise on foot and mounted marches. Halleck, H. Wager. Elements of Military Art and Science.... NY: Appleton, 1862. 499 p. U102H18. See pp. 97-103. Huston, James A. "Hitchhiking to Battle: The Lost Art of Marching." Army 39 (May 1989): pp. 46-50. Per. Selectively surveys history of 20th-cent tactical marching. Johnson, Sardee S., ed. Cadences: The Jody Call Book, No. 2. Canton, OH: Daring Books, 1986. 153 p. ML1628C32. And No 1. Regnault, M. Felix. Comment on Marche. Paris: Charles-Lavauzelle, n.d. 188 p. UD310R4. Reno, William W. A Ready Means of Increasing the Marching Radius of the Soldier. Reprint from Military Surgeon. Wash, DC: Assoc of Mil Surgeons, 1910. 11 p. UC490R29. Podiatrics of subject. Richard, A. La Marche du Fantassin. Paris: Baudoin, 1897. 100 p. UD310R5. Scholtz, Gerhard. Marsch-Schule. Berlin: Bernard & Graefe, 1935. 131 p. UD315G3S36. Scott, H.L. Military Dictionary.... NY: Van Nostrand, 1864. pp. 401-407. RefColl. Wheeler, J.B. A Course of Instruction in the Elements of the Art and Science of War for the Use of the Cadets of the United States Military Academy. NY: Van Nostrand, 1879. Chap V. U102W559. USAMHI Marching RefBranch dv Oct 80 NOTE: US ARMY TRANSCONTINENTAL MARCHING 4TH ARTILLERY, 1846 Battery B, 4th Arty (Later D, 6th Field Arty) traveled from Carlisle, PA, to San Antonio, TX, 5 Jun 1846 - 4 Sep 1846. It marched from Carlisle to Wheeling (300 miles), then boated down Ohio & Mississippi Rivers and up Red River (1,300 miles), and finally marched from Nachitoches to San Antonio (400 miles). See: Spaulding, Oliver L. The United States Army in War and Peace. NY: Putnam's, 1937. pp. 189-90. Ref. MORMON BATTALION, 1946-47 The Mormon Battalion (infantry unit raised among Mormons) marched nearly 2,000 miles, from Iowa to Calif, Jul 1846 - Jan 1947. See: Bancroft, Hubert H. History of Utah. San Francisco: History Co, 1890. pp. 240-246. F826B36. Golder, Frank A. The March of the Mormon Battalion, From Bluffs to California: Taken From the Diary of Henry Standage. NY: Century, 1928. 295 p. E409.5I72G6. Oliva, Leo E. Soldiers on the Santa Fe Trail. Norman: UP of Oklahoma, 1967. pp. 76-78. F786O55. Tyler, Daniel. A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion in the Mexican War, 1846-1847. Glorieta, NM: Rio Grande, 1969; orig pub 1881. 388 p. E409.5I72T93. Transcontinental Marching p.2 MOUNTED RIFLES, 1849 Marched from Ft Leavenworth, May 1949, over 2,000 miles, to reach Oregon by Oct 1949. See: Settle, Raymond W., ed. The March of the Mounted Riflemen.... Glendale, CA: Clark, 1940. 380 p. F593C76. See esp pp. 345-50. Spaulding, The U.S. Army in War and Peace, cited above, p. 230. See also: - Annual Rpt War Dept, 1850. 6TH INFANTRY, 1858 The 6th US Inf Rgt marched from Ft Bridger, WY, to Benicia Barracks, CA, a distance of 1,017 miles. The trek took 8 months, Mar-Nov 1858, and was not a sustained journey. See: Babcock, Elkanah. A War History of the Sixth U.S. Infantry.... Kansas City, MO: Hudson-Kimberly, 1903. 192 p. F593B36. See p. 24. Bandel, Eugene. Frontier Life in the Army, 1854-1861. In the Southwest Historical Series. Vol II. Ed by Ralph F. Bieber. Glendale, CA: Clark, 1932. 330 p. F786S75no2. See pp. 55-57 for a brief account of the march and pp. 228-243 for the letters written enroute by a member of the regiment. Byrne, Charles. The Sixth United States Infantry: An Histor- ical Sketch. Ft thomas, KY: Regimental Press, 1893. pp. 36-38. #603-6-1893. U.S. War Dept. Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1858. Vol I. pp. 133-134 & 137-141. UA24A1. Official letters and documents on preparations.