The Young Dragoon: Every Day Life of a SoldierDrayson, Alfred W. (Alfred Wilks)
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The Young Dragoon: Every Day Life of a Soldier
Drayson, Alfred W. (Alfred Wilks)
Soldiers -- Juvenile fiction
the body the left being locked in the right, but the shoulders must be
kept back, the head square to the front, and the whole attitude without
constraint or stiffness. On the word "attention," the hands are to fall
smartly down the outside of the thighs, the right heel must be brought
up in a line with the left, and the proper, easy, unconstrained position
of a soldier and a gentleman immediately resumed.
The above instructions may, by a slight alteration, be applicable to
boys or adults, who, having no taste for a military life or the
inseparable drill connected with a soldier's duty, may, nevertheless,
wish to attain that ease and grace of movement which ever distinguish
the soldier from the undrilled civilian. For instance, the majority of
civilians, whether gentlemen or rustics, both stand and walk on their
heels; very many, from habit alone, turn their toes in while walking,
and, when either standing or walking in their best position, they push
out the belly in place of drawing it in and advancing the chest. When a
boy is told to hold his head up, he simply throws it back by raising his
chin and jerking his neck, in place of throwing back his shoulders,
pushing forward his chest, and drawing back his chin, which three
movements, all combined in one, at once has the desired effect of
improving the figure, raising the head, and imparting dignity to the
whole upper part of the body. In the instruction of boys or adults, not
intended to become soldiers, it is not necessary that the heels should
be placed close together, or the hands to touch the trousers when
standing at attention as above directed, but a similarity of position
should be adopted, if the rule is not strictly adhered to. In obeying
the command "eyes right" or "eyes left," the soldier is required to look
to either side with the slightest possible turn of the head. These
motions are used in the dressing or keeping in line in the wheeling of
divisions, and particular attention is necessary to be paid in the
several turnings of the eyes to prevent the soldier from moving his
body, which should be preserved in a position perfectly square to the
front. If a civilian, ignorant of military drill, were told to look to
his right or left, he would either give his neck a sharp twist, or turn
his whole body in the direction indicated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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