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
 

A text book for Federal Army training camps. The first book for a citizen soldier to read. A bestseller for 1918.

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
General Advice 3
Physical Exercise 21
School of the Soldier 28
School of the Squad 63
School of the Company 86
Fire Superiority 130
The Service of Security 136
Attack and Defense 144
General Principles of Target Practice 153
Practice March or "Hike" 159
Officers' Reserve Corps 169
SUPPLEMENT
The Theory of Security 221
Attack and Defense 242
Patrolling 254
Target Practice 260
Tent Pitching 292
Signals and Codes 297
First Aid to the Injured 309

Appendixes 321

Index 331

--o--

and

2. MILITARY INSTRUCTORS MANUAL

BY

CAPTAIN JAMES P. COLE, 59th INFANTRY
Instructor 3rd Battalion, 17th Provisional Training Regiment, Plattsburg, N.Y.

AND

MAJOR OLIVER SCHOONMAKER, 76th DIVISION
Assistant Instructor 3rd Battalion, 17th Provisional Training Regiment, Plattsburg, N.Y.

--o--

To
Colonel Wolf

Under whose careful supervision so many have received their Military Training in order that they may show the world in battle the true spirit of American manhood.

--o--

Introduction.


The officer of to-day has big problems to face at short notice. His training has necessarily been so intensive that he cannot absorb a large amount of it. He has little time to make out schedules or even to look over the hasty notes he may have made during his training period, yet he finds himself facing problems which force him to immediate action.

This book so condenses and systematizes general military instruction and the work done at Plattsburg so that it may be easily utilized in training other troops. No broad claim for originality is made except in the arrangement of all available material; the bibliography makes acknowledgment to all texts so utilized. Besides bringing helpful reminders to new officers regarding the elements of modern warfare, much of the material will be found of radical importance, as it is practically new and never before condensed. Since under the new army organization the platoon leader virtually has assumed the roll of a captain of a company, it is not enough for him to know simply his own part; he must be ready with all the information that his non-commissioned officers and men should know, and more important still, he must know how to teach them. Having little or no time to work over and digest for himself this mass of new material pouring in upon him, the officer may find in this book, material condensed and already arranged.

It is hoped that this work will serve to recall to many officers, valuable points of military training which would otherwise be lost, to them in the mass of notes never looked at since the day they were made. More than this, every reader will find help in planning his work, saving thereby precious hours already too full of necessary duties, and will find fresh material for progress in the game of war.

It is the purpose of this book to help men who are in the service of the United States, and through them to share in bringing victory.

Table of Contents.

Chapter 1. Schedules
Chapter 2. Infantry Drill Regulations
Chapter 3. Physical Training
Voice Culture
Chapter 4. Use of Modern Arms 1. S.A.F.M.
2. Range Practice.
3. Pistol.
4. Bayonet.
5. Machine Guns.
6. Grenade Instruction.
Chapter 5. Map Sketching
Chapter 6. Articles Of War. (Courts-Martial.)
Chapter 7. Army Regulations
Chapter 8. Practice Marches
Field Work
Chapter 9. Feeding Men
Camping And Camp Sanitation.
Chapter 10. Personal Hygiene
Chapter 11. Signaling
Chapter 12. Guard Duty
Chapter 13. Company Administration
Chapter 14. Conferences Study.
Small Problems in Infantry.
Examinations.
Chapter 15. Trench Warfare 1. General Principles.
2. Siting Trenches.
3. Construction.
4. Occupation.

Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter Index

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