Standing Orders
of Rogers' Rangers
Ordenes de los Comandos
de Rogers
(Major Robert
Rogers, 1759)
Don't forget nothing.
Have your musket
clean as a whistle, hatchet scoured, sixty rounds powder and ball, and
be ready to march at a minute's warning.
When you're on
the march, act the way you would if you was sneaking up on a deer. See
the enemy first.
Tell the truth
about what you see and do. There is an army depending on us for correct
information. You can lie all you please when you tell other folks about
the Rangers, but don't never lie to a Ranger or officer.
Don't never take
a chance you don't have to.
When we're on
the march we march single file, far enough apart so one shot can't go through
two men.
If we strike swamps,
or soft ground, we spread out abreast, so it's hard to track us.
When we march,
we keep moving til dark, so as to give the enemy the least possible chance
at us.
When we camp,
half the party stays awake while the other half sleeps.
If we take prisoners,
we keep 'em separate til we have had time to examine them, so they can't
cook up a story between 'em.
Don't ever march
home the same way. Take a different route so you won't be ambushed.
No matter whether
we travel in big parties or little ones, each party has to keep a scout
20 yards ahead, twenty yards on each flank and twenty yards in the rear,
so the main body can't be surprised and wiped out.
Every night you'll
be told where to meet if surrounded by a superior force.
Don't sit down
to eat without posting sentries.
Don't sleep beyond
dawn. Dawn's when the French and Indians attack.
Don't cross a
river by a regular ford.
If somebody's
trailing you, make a circle, come back onto your own tracks, and ambush
the folks that aim to ambush you.
Don't stand up
when the enemy's coming against you. Kneel down. Hide behind a tree.
Let the enemy
come till he's almost close enough to touch. Then let him have it and jump
out and finish him up with your hatchet.
RANGER
MANUAL PAGE 4
MANUAL DE
LOS COMANDOS PAGINA 4
