Column (military)
The column (from French colonne , or Latin columna = "column") in the military sense is a formation of the army that has more depth than width. It was and is usually taken for marches , since it is less important to be able to use many weapons at the same time in the front than to be able to walk through spaces or cover distances as quickly as possible. Because of this simple connection, the armies formed columns for marches - also known as march pillars - in the most ancient times . The transition from the column to the battle formation, which is usually more breadth than depth, is called a deployment . If the column is formed from the battle line-up, one speaks of marching off . Depending on whether a unit ranked for battle leaves the order of battle to the right or left, the column formed in this way is referred to as marching off to the right or left , as different units or soldiers stand at the head of the column formed in this way.
It was not until the end of the 18th century that people began to seriously consider the possibilities of using columns in combat. Jean-Charles de Folard pioneered these considerations . The result was the column tactics , which from the Revolutionary Wars onwards replaced the linear tactics that had been common up until then .
In the "old Army" , the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht who were called Train- and replenishment - units also column .
literature
- Hans Delbrück: History of the art of war in the context of political history, Part 2, The modern age. 4 volumes, Berlin 1900–1920; new edition Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-11-016886-3 .
- Hein: The little book of the German Army. Lipsius & Tischer, Kiel and Leipzig 1901.
- Reprint: Weltbild, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-8289-0271-5 .