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Infantry marching in step (history)
Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 1:33 am
by amrcg
One admirable feature of infantry maneuvre in the 18th century was marching in step with the characteristic slow cadence (approximately 90 steps per minute, if I'm not in error) marked by the sound of musical instruments. Was this significantly changed during the Napoleonic period? How/When did this evolve between the SYW and the ACW?
Cheers,
Antonio
RE: Infantry marching in step (history)
Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 4:27 am
by Suvoroff
As far as I know, the only real change between the Seven Years War and the Civil War was a tendency for the rate of speed to increase. Most troop used about 75 paces per minute (which looks paralyzingly slow to us today) around the SYW, later a faster (around 100 ppm) light infantry pace was introduced, and finally many nations moved their whole infantry to the light infantry pace. I *think* that's where the American troops were in the Civil War era, at around 100 ppm.
Yours,
James D. Gray