Moving 17th Century Soldiers
 

Examples of Commands
with Illustrated Responses

When an officer commands his soldiers to change their distances, there must also be taken into account the direction.  A command consisting of only "Files to your Open Order" leaves unanswered who moves from where.  So, the command must specify in what direction the soldiers are to change their distances, e.g., "Files open to the right to your Open Order!"

Dissecting such a command shows its three parts:

 Who How What
Files open to the right to your Open Order!
For an elucidation of the parts of a command,
refer to the page: "Orders: Give and Take"

Below are some examples of commands with sufficient instruction for all to do as their superiors desire.  Click on a few (or all in sequence) to get a feel for the execution of any command.  These examples involve only Order < > Open Order, but you're clever enough to extend those to commands for Close Order, Double Open Order, etc. These are quoted from William Barriffe's "The Young Artillery-Man...," chapter 6.

Files open to the right to your Open Order! Ranks open forward to your Open Order!
Files open to the left to your Open Order! Ranks open backward to your Open Order!
Files open right and left to your Open Order! Ranks open to the front and reer to your Open Order!
Files close to the right to your Order! Ranks close forward to your Order!
Files close to the left to your Order! Ranks close backward to your Order!
Files close right and left to your Order! Ranks close to the middle to your Order!

Colonel Barriffe has "divers words of command, and direction, for the several openings and closings of ranks and files." (italics his) They number nearly 50.

Distances

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