Rules for Rogers' Rangers
by Robert Rogers [excerpted from A Plan of Discipline
(1769)]
1.
All Rangers are to be subject to the rules and articles of war;
to appear at roll- call every evening, on their own parade,
equipped, each with a firelock, sixty rounds of powder and ball,
and a hatchet, at which time an officer from each company is to
inspect the same, to see they are in order, so as to be ready on
any emergency to march at a minute's warning; and before they are
dismissed, the necessary guards are to be draughted and scouts
for the next day appointed.
2.
Whenever you are ordered out to the enemies forts or frontiers
for discoveries, if your number be small, march in a single file,
keeping at such distance from each other as to prevent one shot
from killing two men, sending one man, or more, forward, and the
like on each side, at the distance of twenty yards from the main
body, if the ground you march over will admit of it, to give the
signal to the officer of the approach of an enemy, and of their
number, et cetera.
3.
If you march over marshes or soft ground, change your position,
and march abreast of each other to prevent the enemy from
tracking you (as they would do if you marched in a single file)
till you get over such ground, and then resume your former order
and march till it is quite dark before you encamp, which do, if
possible, on a piece of ground which that may afford your
sentries the advantage of seeing or hearing the enemy some
considerable distance, keeping one half of your whole party awake
alternately through the night.
4.
Some time before you come to the place you would reconnoitre,
make a stand, and send one or two men in whom you can confide, to
look out the best ground for making your observations.
5.
If you have the good fortune to take any prisoners, keep them
separate, till they are examined, and in your return take a
different route from that in which you went out, that you may the
better discover any party in your rear, and have an opportunity,
if their strength be superior to yours, to alter your course, or
disperse, as circumstances may require.
6.
If you march in a large body of three or four hundred, with a
design to attack the enemy, divide your party into three columns,
each headed by a proper officer, and let those columns march in
single files, the columns to the right and left keeping at twenty
yards distance or more from that of the center, if the ground
will admit, and let proper guards be kept in the front and rear,
and suitable flanking parties at a due distance as before
directed, with orders to halt on all eminences, to take a view of
the surrounding ground, to prevent your being ambuscaded, and to
notify the approach or retreat of the enemy, that proper
dispositions may be made for attacking, defending, et cetera. And
if the enemy approach in your front on level ground, form a front
of your three columns or main body with the advanced guard,
keeping out your flanking parties, as if you were marching under
the command of trusty officers, to prevent the enemy from
pressing hard on either of your wings, or surrounding you, which
is the usual method of the savages, if their number will admit of
it, and be careful likewise to support and strengthen your
rear-guard.
7.
If you are obliged to receive the enemy's fire, fall, or squat
down, till it is over; then rise and discharge at them. If their
main body is equal to yours, extend yourselves occasionally; but
if superior, be careful to support and strengthen your flanking
parties, to make them equal to theirs, that if possible you may
repulse them to their main body, in which case push upon them
with the greatest resolution with equal force in each flank and
in the center, observing to keep at a due distance from each
other, and advance from tree to tree, with one half of the party
before the other ten or twelve yards. If the enemy push upon you,
let your front fire and fall down, and then let your rear advance
thro' them and do the like, by which time those who before were
in front will be ready to discharge again, and repeat the same
alternatively, as occasion shall require; by this means you will
keep up such a constant fire, that the enemy will not be able
easily to break your order, or gain your ground.
8.
If you oblige the enemy to retreat, be careful, in your pursuit
of them to keep out your flanking parties, and prevent them from
gaining eminences, or rising grounds, in which case they would
perhaps be able to rally and repulse you in their turn.
9.
If you are obliged to retreat, let the front of your whole party
fire and fall back, till the rear hath done the same, making for
the best ground you can; by this means you will oblige the enemy
to pursue you, if they do it at all, in the face of a constant
fire.
10.
If the enemy is so superior that you are in danger of being
surrounded by them, let the whole body disperse, and every one
take a different road to the place of rendezvous appointed for
that evening, which must every morning be altered and fixed for
the evening ensuing, in order to bring the whole party, or as
many of them as possible, together, after any separation that may
happen in the day; but if you should happen to be actually
surrounded, form yourselves into a square, or if in the woods, a
circle is best, and, if possible, make a stand till the darkness
of the night favours your escape.
11.
If your rear is attacked, the main body and flankers must face
about to the right or left, as occasion shall require, and form
themselves to oppose the enemy, as before directed; and the same
method must be observed, if attacked in either of your flanks, by
which means you will always make a rear of one of your
flank-guards.
12.
If you determine to rally after a retreat, in order to make a
fresh stand against the enemy, by all means endeavour to do it on
the most rising ground you come at, which will give you greatly
the advantage in point of situation, and enable you to repulse
superior numbers.
13.
In general, when pushed upon by the enemy, reserve your fire till
they approach very near, which will then put them into the
greatest surprise and consternation, and give you an opportunity
of rushing upon them with your hatchets and cutlasses to the
better advantage.
14.
When you encamp at night, fix your sentries in such a manner as
not to be relieved from the main body till morning, profound
secrecy and silence being often of the last importance in these
cases. Each sentry therefore should consist of six men, two of
whom must be constantly alert, and when relieved by their
fellows, it should be done without noise; and in case those on
duty see or hear any thing, which alarms them, they are not to
speak, but one of them is silently to retreat, that proper
dispositions may be made; and all occasional sentries should be
fixed in like manner.
15.
At the first dawn of day, awake your whole detachment; that being
the time when the savages choose to fall upon their enemies, you
should by all means be in readiness to receive them.
16.
If the enemy should be discovered by your detachments in the
morning, and their numbers are superior to yours, and a victory
doubtful, you should not attack them till the evening, as then
they will not know your numbers, and if you are repulsed, your
retreat will be favoured by the darkness of the night.
17.
Before you leave your encampment, send out small parties to scout
round it, to see if there be any appearance or track of an enemy
that might have been near you during the night.
18.
When you stop for refreshment, choose some spring or rivulet if
you can, and dispose your party so as not to be surprised,
posting proper guards and sentries at a due distance, and let a
small party waylay the path came in, lest the enemy should be
pursuing.
19.
If, in your return, you have to cross rivers, avoid the usual
fords as much as possible, lest the enemy should have discovered,
and be there expecting you.
20.
If you have to pass by lakes, keep at some distance from the edge
of the water, lest, in case of an ambuscade or an attack from the
enemy, when in that situation, your retreat should be cut
off.
21.
If the enemy pursue your rear, take a circle till you come to
your own tracks, and there form an ambush to receive them, and
give them the first fire.
22.
When you return from a scout, and come near our forts, avoid the
usual roads, and avenues thereto, lest the enemy should have
headed you, and lay in ambush to receive you, when almost
exhausted with fatigues.
23.
When you pursue any party that has been near our forts or
encampments, follow not directly in their tracks, lest they
should be discovered by their rear-guards, who, at such a time,
would be most alert; but endeavour, by a different route, to head
and meet them in some narrow pass, or lay in ambush to receive
them when and where they least expect it.
24.
If you are to embark in canoes, battoes, or otherwise, by water,
choose the evening for the time of your embarkation, as you will
then have the whole night before you, to pass undiscovered by any
parties of the enemy, on hills, or other places, which command a
prospect of the lake or river you are upon.
25.
In paddling or rowing, give orders that the boat or canoe next
the sternmost, wait for her, and the third for the second, and
the fourth for the third, and so on, to prevent separation, and
that you may be ready to assist each other on any
emergency.
26.
Appoint one man in each boat to look out for fires, on the
adjacent shores, from the number and size of which you may form
some judgment of the number that kindled them, and whether you
are able to attack them or not.
27.
If you find the enemy encamped near the banks of a river or lake,
which you imagine they will attempt to cross for their security
upon being attacked, leave a detachment of your party on the
opposite shore to receive them, while, with the remainder, you
surprise them, having them between you and the lake or
river.
28.
If you cannot satisfy yourself as to the enemy's number and
strength, from their fires, et cetera. conceal your boats at some
distance, and ascertain their number by a reconnoitering party,
when they embark, or march, in the morning, marking the course
they steer, et cetera. when you may pursue, ambush, and attack
them, or let them pass, as prudence shall direct you. In general,
however, that you may not be discovered by the enemy upon the
lakes and rivers at a great distance, it is safest to lay by,
with your boats and party concealed all day, without noise or
shew; and to pursue your intended route by night; and whether you
go by land or water, give out parole and countersigns, in order
to know one another in the dark, and likewise appoint a station
for every man to repair to, in case of any accident that may
separate you.
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