military terminology Military terminology refers to the terminology, terms and language of military organizations, military personnel, personnel, and military doctrine. Much like other forms of corporate jargon, military terminology is distinguishable from colloquia ...

, a column is a

tactical formation In military operation , military-style operations, a tactical formation (or tactical order) is the arrangement or deployment of movable military or policing forces such as Infantry tactics, infantry, cavalry tactics, cavalry, armoured fighting ...

of fighters moving together in one or more files in which the file is significantly longer than the width of

ranks A rank is a position in a hierarchy. It can be formally recognized—for example, cardinal, chief executive officer, general, professor—or unofficial. People Formal ranks * Academic rank * Corporate title * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy ...

in the formation. The column formation allows the unit rapid movement and a very effective charge (due to weight of numbers), and it can quickly form square to resist cavalry attacks, but by its nature only a fraction of its muskets are able to open fire. The line formation offers a substantially larger musket frontage than the column, allowing for greater shooting capability, but requires extensive training to allow the unit to move over ground as one while retaining the line. It is also applied by modern armies to vehicles, troops and naval vessels.

Napoleonic Wars

During the early stages of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

, the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

often attacked in column formation in an attempt to drive through enemy lines by sheer weight of numbers. Against enemy units already weakened by the fire from

skirmishers Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They may be deployed in a skirmish line, an irreg ...

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

, this was often successful. Later, during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, French units would approach in column formation and deploy into line when close to the enemy. However, against the British they frequently failed to deploy into line before being engaged.Arnold, James R. "
A Reappraisal of Column Versus Line in the Peninsular War
'", The Napoleon Series, August 2004. See the section "Why the French Failed". During the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, after the

Battle of Sabugal The Battle of Sabugal was an engagement of the Peninsular War which took place on 3 April 1811 between Anglo-Portuguese forces under Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) and French troops under the command of Marshal André Ma ...

(3 April 1811), the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

wrote, "our loss is much less than one would have supposed possible, scarcely 200 men... really these attacks against our lines with columns of men are contemptible." These failings were still evident at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

in 1815,Arnold, James R. "
A Reappraisal of Column Versus Line in the Peninsular War
'" , The Napoleon Series, August 2004. See the section "A Row of Columns of the Heaviest Sort". prompting Wellington to comment, "They came on in the same old way and we defeated them in the same old way." The military historian James R. Arnold argues that all armies of the period used column formations at times on the battlefield; the military historian Sir

Charles Oman Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman, (12 January 1860 – 23 June 1946) was a British Military history, military historian. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering. ...

is credited with developing the theory that the French practically always attacked in heavy columns, and it is only now that this theory has been questioned by more recent experts.

Column of companies

During the

, British riflemen of

Craufurd's Light Division The Light Division is a light infantry division of the British Army. It was reformed in 2022, as part of Future Soldier reforms. Its origins lay in "Light Companies" formed during the late 18th century, to move at speed over inhospitable te ...

marching to engage the enemy but uncertain of the presence of enemy cavalrymen in the area could adopt a formation called "column of companies." Each

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

would form into two files of about thirty ranks and march close to the company in front. If attacked by cavalry, they could quickly form

square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

to repel the attack.Urban, p.105.

Korean War

The column formation was extensively used by Chinese infantry during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

.. When attacking, the Chinese would form their assault units into deep columns of

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

s or

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

s, and drove such formations into the weak points of the enemy's defenses. The rationale for such a tactic was that repeated assaults conducted by squad- or platoon-sized skirmish parties would eventually penetrate enemy lines through sheer attrition. This utilization of column formation also give birth to the term

human wave attack A human wave attack, also known as a human sea attack, is an offensive infantry tactic in which an attacker conducts an unprotected frontal assault with densely concentrated infantry formations against the enemy line, intended to overrun and ...

Notes

References

* * * Arnold, James R. "
A Reappraisal of Column Versus Line in the Peninsular War Oman and Historiography
'", The Napoleon Series, August 2004. *Arnold, James R. "A Reappraisal of Column Versus Line in the Napoleonic Wars"

Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research The Society for Army Historical Research is a learned society, founded in 1921 to foster "interest in the history and traditions of British and Commonwealth armies, and to encourage research in these fields." It is one of the oldest societies of its ...

LX no. 244 (Winter 1982): pp. 196-208. *

Lord Montagu of Beaulieu Baron Montagu of Beaulieu (, Engl. pronunciation: "bewley", from French ''beau'', "beautiful" and ''lieu'', "place"), in the County of Hampshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for the Conservative polit ...

The Parliament of United Kingdom, The House of Lords, Hansard: 24 Apr 1996
Column 1172
* Urban, Mark; ''Rifles: Six years with Wellington's legendary sharpshooters''; Faber and Faber (2004)

Napoleonic Wars

Column of companies

Korean War

See also

Notes

References

Further reading