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THE
PLATTSBURG MANUAL
A HANDBOOK FOR MILITARY TRAINING
BY
O. O. ELLIS MAJOR, UNITED STATES INFANTRY
AND
E. B. GAREY MAJOR, UNITED STATES INFANTRY
(INSTRUCTORS, PLATTSBURG TRAINING CAMP, 1916) (INSTRUCTORS, OFFICERS'
TRAINING CAMP, FT. MCPHERSON, GA., 1917) (INSTRUCTORS, OFFICERS'
TRAINING CAMP, FT. OGLETHORPE, GA., 1917)
WITH MORE THAN 220 ILLUSTRATIONS
NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. 1918
Copyright, 1917, by
The Century Co.
Published, March, 1917
Second Edition, March, 1917
Third Edition, April, 1917
Fourth Edition, April, 1917
Fifth Edition, May, 1917
Sixth Edition, May, 1917
Seventh Edition, August, 1917
Eighth Edition. September, 1917
Ninth Edition, January, 1918
Tenth Edition, May, 1918
TO
THOSE FAR-SEEING MEN
WHO INAUGURATED AND ATTENDED THE
FIRST FEDERAL TRAINING CAMP
THIS TEXT IS RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATED
FOREWORD
The Plattsburg Manual, written by Majors Ellis and Garey, will prove
very useful to men who are contemplating military training. It will also
be of great value to those who are undergoing training.
It is full of practical information presented in a simple and direct
manner and gives in detail much data not easily found elsewhere. It is a
useful book, easily understandable by those who have had little or no
military experience.
It will be useful not only at training camps but it will be of very
great value at schools and colleges where military instruction is being
given.
The authors of this book have performed a valuable service, one which
will tend to facilitate and aid very much the development of military
training in this country. In addition to the purely mechanical details
of training the book presents in a very effective and simple manner the
tactical use of troops under various conditions.
In a word it is a useful and sound work and one which can be commended
to those who contemplate a course in military training.
(Signed) Leonard Wood,
Major General U. S. A.
February 27, 1917.
PREFACE
This book is intended to serve as a foundation upon which the military
beginner may build so that he may in time be able to study the technical
service manuals intelligently. It has been written as an elementary
textbook for those who desire to become Reserve Officers, for schools
and colleges, and for those who may be called to the colors.
The authors have commanded companies at Plattsburg, New York, and,
noting the need of such a text, compiled their observations while there.
The average man undergoing military training wants to know as much as
possible about the art and science of war. He wants to acquire a good
knowledge of the principles involved. He is interested in the technique
of movements. He is willing to work for these things, but he often
becomes lost in confusion when he attempts to study the technical
service manuals. He does not know how to select the most important and
omit the less important. The authors have selected from the standard
texts some of the vitally important subjects and principles and have
presented them to the civilian in a simple and plain way.
The first part of the text is for the beginner. It tells him how to
prepare physically for strenuous military work. After assisting him
through the elementary part of his instruction, it presents for his
consideration and study the Officers' Reserve Corps.
The second part, or supplement, is a more technical discussion of those
subjects introduced in the first. It is intended principally for those
who have made excellent progress.
CONTENTS
I General Advice 3
II Physical Exercise 21
III School of the Soldier 28
IV School of the Squad 63
V School of the Company 86
VI Fire Superiority 130
VII The Service of Security 136
VIII Attack and Defense 144
IX General Principles of Target Practice 153
X Practice March or "Hike" 159
XI Officers' Reserve Corps 169
SUPPLEMENT
I The Theory of Security 221
II Attack and Defense 242
III Patrolling 254
IV Target Practice 260
V Tent Pitching 292
VI Signals and Codes 297
VII First Aid to the Injured 309
Appendixes 321
Index 331
THE PLATTSBURG MANUAL
CHAPTER I
GENERAL ADVICE
The United States is divided geographically into military departments
with a general officer commanding each department. The departments and
their headquarters are as follows:
(1) The Northeastern Department, with headquarters at Boston,
Massachusetts.
(2) The Eastern Department, with headquarters at Governors Island,
New York.
(3) The Southeastern Department, with Headquarters at Charleston,
South Carolina.
(4) The Central Department, with Headquarters at Chicago, Illinois.
(5) The Southern Department, with Headquarters at Fort Sam Houston,
Texas.
(6) The Western Department, with Headquarters at San Francisco,
California.
Overseas { (7) The Philippine Department, with Headquarters at
Departments { Manila.
{
{ (8) The Hawaiian Department, Departments with
{ Headquarters at Honolulu, Hawaii.
(For States comprising each department, see Appendix)
If you are a civilian and desire any information in regard to the army,
any training camps, the officers' reserve corps, or any military
legislation or orders affecting you, write to the "Commanding General"
of the Department in which you live. Address your letter to him at his
headquarters.
Mail is most often delayed because there is not sufficient information
for the Postmaster on the envelope. The delivery of your mail will be
delayed unless your letters are sent to the company and the regiment to
which you belong. Therefore, prepare, before you reach camp, several
stamped postal cards, addressed to your family and business associates,
containing directions to address all communications to you care of
Company----, Regiment----. As soon as you are assigned to a company and
regiment, fill in these data and mail these postal cards at once. This
should be done by wire in case important mail is expected during the
first week of camp. Mail is delivered to each company as soon as a
complete roll of the organizations can be made out and sent to the
post-office.
INOCULATIONS AND VACCINATION
As soon as you become a member of the army, whether as a private or as
an officer, you will receive the typhoid prophylaxis inoculation and be
vaccinated against smallpox.
WHAT TO BRING
1. Travel light. Bring only the bare necessities of life with you.
Don't bring a trunk. Enlisted men (not officers) will be supplied
with all necessary uniforms and underwear. This includes shoes.
2. Bring a pair of sneakers, or slippers. They will add greatly to
your comfort after a long march or hard day's work. A complete
bathing suit often comes in handy.
3. Report in uniform if you have one.
4. The Government will provide you with the necessary shoes.
However, if you can afford it, buy before you report for duty, a
pair of regulation tan shoes, larger than you ordinarily wear, and
break them in well before arrival. Rubber heels are recommended.
5. Bring your toilet articles (comb, brush, mirror shaving
equipment, etc.), and a good supply of handkerchiefs, and towels.
WHAT TO DO ON YOUR ARRIVAL
There is a general rule of procedure to follow in reporting for duty at
any post or training camp.
1. If you receive an order directing you to report for duty at a
camp or post at a certain specified time, read it carefully, put it
in a secure place, and, on the day that you are to report for duty
at the camp or post, present yourself in uniform, if you have one,
with your order. Be careful not to lose your order or leave it at
home. Have it in your pocket book.
2. Upon being assigned to a company, unless you receive orders to
the contrary, report at once with your baggage to your company
commander (captain), whom you can easily find when you reach your
barracks or company street. If you cannot locate your company
commander, report to the first sergeant.
3. It is a custom of the service to have an experienced soldier
explain to a new man exactly where he is to go and what he is to do.
Feel no embarrassment at being ignorant of your new duties and
surroundings. The Government does not expect anything of you except
eagerness to learn and willingness to obey.
4. After reporting to your company commander or first sergeant, you
will have a bed assigned to you and you will be issued the property
and uniforms necessary to your comfort and duties. Check your
property carefully as it is issued to you. You will have to sign for
all of it. Look after your property at all times.
5. After checking your property, make up your bed and arrange neatly
your personal and issued property on or under your bed or cot.
6. Spend all your spare time cleaning your rifle and bayonet until
they satisfy your company commander. Then keep them clean.
7. Don't leave the company street or barracks on the first day,
except with the permission of your company commander. Don't ask for
this permission unless you have a valid reason.
RULES OF CONDUCT FOR CAMP LIFE
The first few days will be easy and profitable if you will read
carefully and adhere to the following plan of procedure:
1. Get up at the first note of reveille and get quickly into proper
uniform.
2. Get within two or three feet of your place in ranks and await the
sounding of assembly for reveille and then step into ranks.
3. Stand at attention after the first sergeant commands "Fall In."
Remember that this command is equivalent to "Company, Attention."
4. After reveille, make up your bed, arrange neatly your equipment,
and clean up the ground under and around your cot. The company
commander will require the beds made up and the equipment arranged
in a prescribed way.
5. Wash for breakfast.
6. Upon returning from breakfast, go at once to the toilet. Next,
prepare the equipment prescribed to be worn to drill. This is
especially important when the full pack is prescribed. Assist your
tent mates in policing the ground in and around your tent.
7. If you need medical attention give your name to the first
sergeant at reveille and report to him at his tent upon your return
from breakfast. Don't wait until you are sick to report to the
hospital, but go as soon as you feel in the least unwell.
8. When the first call for drill is blown, put on your equipment,
inspect your bed and property to see that everything is in order,
and then go to your place in ranks.
9. After the morning drill, get ready for dinner. Get a little rest
at this time if possible.
10. After dinner a short rest is usually allowed before the
afternoon drill. Take advantage of this opportunity; get off your
feet and rest. Be quiet so that your tent mates may rest.
11. Following the afternoon drill there is a short intermission
before the ceremony of retreat. During this time take a quick bath,
shave, get into the proper uniform for retreat, shine your shoes and
brush your clothes and hat. Be the neatest man in the company.
12. Supper usually follows retreat.
13. After supper, you usually have some spare time until taps. The
Y. M. C. A. generally provides a place supplied with Bibles,
newspapers, good magazines, and writing material. Don't be ashamed
to read the Bible. Don't forget to write to the folks back home.
14. Be in bed with lights out at taps. After taps and before
reveille, remain silent, thus showing consideration for those who
are sleeping or trying to sleep.
15. Consult the company bulletin board at least twice daily. On this
bulletin board is usually found the following information:
(a) A list of calls.
(b) The proper uniform for each formation.
(c) Schedule of drills.
(d) Special orders and instructions.
16. Get all your orders from (a) the bulletin board, (b) the first
sergeant, (c) the acting noncommissioned officers, (d) the company
commander. Don't put much faith in rumors.
ADVICE REGARDING HABITS
Your life in camp in regard to food, exercise, hours of sleep,
surroundings, and comforts, will differ greatly from that you lead as a
civilian. You will submit your body to a sudden, severe, physical test.
In order to prepare your body for this change in manner of living and
work, we recommend that for a short time prior to your arrival in camp,
and thereafter, you observe the following suggestions:
1. Use no alcohol of any kind.
2. Stop smoking, or at least be temperate in the use of tobacco.
3. Eat and drink moderately. Chew your food well. It is advisable,
however, to drink a great deal of cool (not cold) water between
meals.
4. Don't eat between meals.
5. Accustom yourself to regular hours as to sleeping, eating, and
the morning functions.
6. Keep away from all soda fountains and soft drink stands.
7. For at least two weeks prior to your arrival at camp, take
regularly the exercises described in this book.
Most men are troubled with their feet during the first week of each
camp, usually because they do not observe the following precautions:
1. If you have ever had trouble with the arches of your feet, wear
braces for them.
2. Lace your shoe as tightly as comfort will permit.
3. Wash the feet daily.
4. Every morning shake a little talcum powder or "Foot Ease" in
each shoe.
5. Each morning put on a fresh pair of socks. Your socks should fit
the feet so neatly that no wrinkles remain in them and yet not be
so tight that they bind the foot. Do not wear a sock with a hole in
it or one that has been darned.
6. Some men cannot wear light wool socks with comfort. Do not wear
silk or cotton socks until you have given light wool socks a fair
trial.
7. In case of a blister, treat it as directed in Chapter X.
8. Most of the foot troubles are caused by wearing shoes that do
not fit properly. If the shoe is too large it rubs blisters, if too
small it cramps the foot and causes severe pain. Marching several
hours while carrying about thirty pounds of equipment causes each
foot to expand at least one half a size in length and
correspondingly in breadth; hence the size of the shoe you wear in
the office will be too small for training camp use. If you have
been living a sedentary life, ask for a pair of shoes larger than
you ordinarily wear.
9. In case the tendon in your heel becomes tender, report at once
to the hospital tent and get it strapped.
A DISCIPLINED SOLDIER
You will be expected to become quickly amenable both mentally and
physically to discipline. A clear conception on your part of what drills
are disciplinary in character and what discipline really is, will help
you to become a disciplined soldier. Drills executed at attention are
disciplinary exercises and are designed to teach precise and soldierly
movements and to inculcate that prompt and subconscious obedience which
is essential to proper military control. Hence, all corrections should
be given and received in an impersonal manner. Never forget that you
lose your identity as an individual when you step into ranks; you then
become merely a unit of a mass. As soon as you obey properly, promptly,
and, at times, unconsciously, the commands of your officers, as soon as
you can cheerfully give up pleasures and personal privileges that
conflict with the new order of life to which you have submitted, you
will then have become a disciplined man.
DRESS
The uniform you will wear stands for Duty, Honor, and Country. You
should not disgrace it by the way you wear it or by your conduct any
more than you would trample the flag of the United States of America
under foot. You must constantly bear in mind that in our country a
military organization is too often judged by the acts of a few of its
members. When one or two soldiers in uniform conduct themselves in an
ungentlemanly or unmilitary manner to the disgrace of the uniform, the
layman shakes his head and condemns all men wearing that uniform. Hence,
show by the way in which you wear your uniform that you are proud of it;
this can be best accomplished by observing the following rules:
1. Carry yourself at all times as though you were proud of
yourself, your uniform, and your country.
2. Wear your hat so that the brim is parallel to the ground.
3. Have all buttons fastened.
4. Never have sleeves rolled up.
5. Never wear sleeve holders.
6. Never leave shirt or coat unbuttoned at the throat.
7. Have leggins and trousers properly laced.
8. Keep shoes shined.
9. Always be clean shaved.
10. Keep head up and shoulders square.
11. Camp life has a tendency to make one careless as to personal
cleanliness. Bear this in mind.
SALUTING
The military salute is universal. It is at foundation but a courteous
recognition between two individuals of their common fellowship in the
same honorable profession, the profession of arms. Regulations require
that it be rendered by both the senior and the junior, as bare courtesy
requires between gentlemen in civil life. It is the military equivalent
of the laymen's expressions "Good Morning," or "How do you do?"
Therefore be punctilious about saluting; be proud of the manner in which
you execute your salute, and make it indicative of discipline and good
breeding. Always look at the officer you are saluting. The junior
salutes first. It is very unmilitary to salute with the left hand in a
pocket, or with a cigarette, cigar, or pipe in the mouth. Observe the
following general rules:
1. Never salute an officer when you are in ranks.
2. Indoors (in your tent) unarmed, do not salute but stand at
attention, uncovered, on the entrance of an officer. If he speaks
to you, then salute.
3. Indoors, armed, render the prescribed salute, i.e., the rifle
salute at order arms or at trail.
4. Outdoors, armed, render the prescribed salute, i.e., the rifle
salute at right shoulder arms.
5. Outdoors, unarmed, or armed with side arms, salute with the
right hand.
ARMY SLANG
The following army slang is universally employed:
"Bunkie"--the soldier who shares the shelter half or tent of a
comrade in the field. A bunkie looks after his comrade's property
in the event the latter is absent.
"Doughboy"--the infantryman.
"French leave"--unauthorized absence.
"Holy Joe"--the chaplain.
"K.O."--the commanding officer.
"On the carpet"--a call before the commanding officer for
admonition.
"Q.M."--quartermaster.
"Rookie"--a new recruit.
"Sand rat"--a soldier on duty in the rifle pit during target
practice.
"Top sergeant"--the first sergeant.
"Come and get it"--the meal is ready to be served.
HOW TO CLEAN A RIFLE AND BAYONET
Get a rag and rub the heavy grease off; then get a soft pine stick,
pointed at one end, and with this point remove the grease from the
cracks, crevices and corners. Clean the bore from the breech. When the
heavy grease has been removed, the metal part of the gun, bore included,
should be covered with a light coating of "3-in-1" oil. Heavy grease can
be removed from the rifle by rubbing it with a rag which has been
saturated with gasoline or coal oil.
FRIENDS
There are a few men in all companies who play, loaf, and who are
constantly in trouble. As the good men in each company will not become
friendly with them, they seek their acquaintances among the new men on
whom they have a baneful influence. We wish to warn you about making
friends too quickly.
FINAL SUGGESTIONS
Don't be profane or tell questionable stories to your bunkies or around
the company. There is a much greater number of silent and unprotesting
men in camp than is generally supposed, to whom this is offensive. Keep
everything on a high plane.