British Napoleonic Infantry Tactics 1792–1815

Dundas’ Principles of Military Movement

The son of a prosperous Edinburgh merchant, Dundas was born in 1735 and entered the military academy at Woolwich in 1750; he trained and worked as a surveyor, was commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1754, then served in the Royal Engineers, infantry and cavalry, and in staff positions during the Seven Years’ War. Subsequently he attended Prussian, Austrian and French military exercises, and became an expert in drill and manoeuvre. In 1788 he published Principles of Military Movements, a manual intended to produce a practical system; and in June 1792 the Adjutant General, William Fawcett, on behalf of the King, ordered that an amended version should be issued officially, Rules and Regulations for the Movements of His Majesty's Infantry. This stated that it was ‘highly expedient and necessary, for the benefit of the service at large, that one uniform system of Field-Exercise and Movement, founded on just and true principles, should be established, and invariably practised, throughout His [Majesty’s] whole Army [and] strictly adhered to, without any deviation whatsoever therefrom’.

The adoption of Dundas’ system must have been patchy, however, for when the Duke of York became commander-in-chief in 1795 he found it necessary to repeat the 1792 order that made the manual mandatory; in May 1798 he went further, stating that ‘every Officer of Infantry shall be provided with a copy of these Regulations’. (The duke’s support for Dundas was stated subsequently to have been ‘one of the most distinguished services which could be rendered to a national army‘.)

Dundas received some criticism, notably for concentrating the most necessary movements into a series of ‘Eighteen Manoeuvres’, and for the advocacy of a line three ranks deep. Despite the absence of a unified system, the British army in the American War of Independence had evolved practical tactics, including much of what would come to be regarded as light infantry service, and a two-deep line; but in Dundas’ defence, it was remarked that some of the practical aspects of American service had fallen out of use in the 1780s, and that tactics suitable for North American conditions were not necessarily ideal for European warfare. Dundas was also criticized for copying Prussian practice – in 1784 the Prussian tactician Gen Friedrich Christoph von Saldern had published his memoradum Taktik der Infanterie, which was said to have had some influence on Dundas. However, Dundas stated that his theory was based upon personal, practical experience, and that his presence at the Prussian manoeuvres in 1785 only caused him to revise what he had already written. Sir John Moore remarked that Dundas’ manual would have been even better but for ‘those damned eighteen manoeuvres; ‘“Why-ay”, says Sir David, slowly, “ay, people don’t understand what was meant. Blockheads don’t understand”’.

In addition to the official manual in its various editions, a number of other publications appeared during the period, generally based upon Dundas but sometimes with additions. For example, Williamson’s Elements... , already mentioned, made reference to Dundas’ work but covered a wider field, including the duties of each rank. The increase in the auxiliary forces at this time created a demand for abbreviated guides or elucidations of the official manual. For example, Capt Henry Dickinson of the 1st Royal East India Volunteers produced Instructions for Forming a Regiment of Infantry for Parade of Exercise, together with the Eighteen Manoeuvres... (London, 1798), which had remarkably clear diagrams. Some publications included additional features – The Volunteer and Intelligent Soldier’s Companion (1803) covered not only the Eighteen Manoeuvres and the Manual Exercise, but also such details as the conduct of a military funeral. Others were more basic, such as Rules and Regulations for the Drill issued by LtCol Sir John Riddell to his 2nd Battalion Roxburghshire Volunteers in 1805, which concerned the Manual Exercise and firing (still, at this date, using the three-rank line, except for light infantry, in two ranks).

Despite its imperfections, Dundas’ manual was of the highest significance. Although the 1824 regulations discarded a number of his methods, in 1833 they were revived, with modifications. A writer styling himself ‘A Field Officer’ was able to remark in 1845 that ‘The system laid down by Sir David Dundas, after the lapse of half a century, still remains in use almost unchanged’.