Former Commander-in-Chief's Guard member here, having served in 1st Platoon, A Company, 4th Battalion 3d United States Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) (NOTE: 3d is not a typo) from 2014-2016. During that time, I marched somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-200 ceremonies and shows, most in the Colonial uniform seen in the video. If I may, I will provide some insight from an insider. Firstly, let us go over some history. While the 3d US Infantry Regiment is the oldest active unit in the United States Army, it does not actually go back to the Revolutionary War, instead drawing its lineage from around the War of 1812. The nickname of the regiment was earned at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War, when during the victory march into Mexico City, it was equated to Napoleon's Old Guard (The one that may die, but does not retreat), and shortly after gained the distinction of being the only unit in the United States military to march in review with bayonets affixed. The regiment became a ceremonial unit in 1948, and has remained in that capacity since. CINC Guard (pronounced "sink"), while drawing lineage from General Washington's personal guard, was in fact created during the Vietnam War era, and Company A was assigned the role. The two names are interchangeable within the regiment, although during ceremonies and shows, it is always introduced as "The Commander-in-Chief's Guard", with "A Company, 4th Battalion 3d United States Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard)" often included if it is the only unit marching in that event. The musicians that march with CINC Guard are members of the Fife and Drum Corps, another element of The Old Guard, alongside the US Army Band (Pershing's Own), and are not actually members of CINC Guard. Getting into the video itself, the show you saw is what we refer to as a "firing drill". Shocking, I know. It is CINC Guard's go to "away" show: if they are going somewhere for an event, this is usually what they will do. Moving onto the point of the wigs, as I was told, the members of General Washington's personal guard actually grew natural ponytails and colored them white with the use of grease and flour. The Old Guard briefly considered reviving this, but it was rejected for concerns of the mess it would make, the possibility of attracting flies, and the conflict with US Army dress codes when wearing the standard duty uniform (specifically, no hair below the tip of the ears or base of the skull.) As for the use of the Brown Bess Musket, I will freely admit that the statement of the speaker ("Voice of the Old Guard" is the proper term) is lying through his teeth. The reason for the selection of the Brown Bess to be the weapon of CINC Guard was, as you suspected, simply because at the time of the unit's creation, it was the only period musket that was being reproduced en masse. Continuing on to the reloading, this is actually a logistical/saftey concern. For the comfort of the audience, only a half measure of powder is loaded per shot, which when also not rammed reduces the volume of the shot. My first team leader was notorious for disregarding this rule, often scrounging leftover powder from other soldiers to load into his own weapon, sometimes along with the paper cartridge, and sending fireballs flying into the crowd. Also, on the notion of trusting soldiers with ammunition... yeah, that doesn't happen in a garrison (not deployed) environment. Ammunition is controlled, weapons are controlled, they take absolutely no chances that could result in something stupid happening. Oh, boy, somebody noticed the footing. The standard CINC Guard is trained to is to have the feet parallel and placed such that the length of the musket butt can fit snugly between the heels. As you can see, this is not adhered to that well. As for the count man, well, first off, he's usually not actually an NCO, though he is dressed as one. These are usually senior enlisted in their last year of service, and while we are trained to internalize the count of motions, I propose three theories as to why the count is made. 1: The misinterpretation you theorized. 2: Ensuring synchronicity of motion ("close enough" is not good enough for The Old Guard). 3: Rule of Cool. But yes, these are very, very rehearsed. Let's move on to dressing and the "and snap" command. I believe that this is a carryover from ceremonial use. CINC Guard often marches ceremonies in formations that also contain soldiers in the current dress uniform, and some of the details of marching had to be modified to fit within those confines. One of these is to dress on the flag, rather than on one's NCO, which is the cause for the turning of the head, and for a reason I never learned, CINC Guard's process of dressing is done in a slightly delayed manner, with the command of "and snap" serving as that buffer. Presumably this then filtered down into the firing drill. And to completely diverge on a personal peeve of every soldier, "Oorah" is the battle cry of the United States Marine Corps, and no soldier would ever let it pass from his lips. "Hooah" is the closest equivalent within the US Army. Coming back to the actual firing, I am certain that the "and snap" in this case is meant for synchronized motion, stressing again that this is a very important thing for The Old Guard as a whole. I offer no excuse on where the musket is moved to, or the position of charge bayonets. As for the position of shoulder firelocks, CINC Guard goes to this position on two occasions, to fix bayonets, and to present arms. There is no situation in the entire repertoire of ceremonies and shows where CINC Guard marches at the shoulder. Perhaps your theory is correct, such things can be hard to keep track of when your primary source of unit history is oral tradition with a new speaker every 3 years. Whew, got through it. A good breakdown, all told, and I hope I managed to keep my ego in check. If you want this video to get to someone who can do something about it, you can find contact info at www.oldguard.mdw.army.mil The chance that they will do anything is small, mind you, but it can't hurt. Except for that part about the footing, that might result in some... interesting consequences. EDIT: One final note. CINC Guard does not exclusively perform Revolutionary War shows. While it is our go-to, we keep the uniforms and weapons of every major war in US history, including the War of 1812 and Civil War, and perhaps this played a role in the... meshing of musket drills, as we are taught one form for all three periods.

When reading 'old guard' I was thinking of Napoleon's Old Guard ..but this was interesting too :)

Oof when I saw the title, I thought of the Napoleonic French Old Guard.

I was part of Honor Guard Company. A lot of what you’re seeing is from our modern ceremonies. The “and snap” is actually from a count man who is charged with keeping the formation synchronized. It’s just one of many things that are taken from the modern ceremonies and incorporated into re-enactments like Twilight Tattoo. They are not allowed to put anything down the barrel of their guns because it would technically be loaded. Laws, safety, and expedience keep them from using their ram rod. The step count is just to keep them on their marks and in position for the ceremony. A lot of what they do is specifically modified from the original manual because of the constraints of the ceremonies and the re-enactment fields.

If you would like to learn more about the Old Guard, watch the original event footage from this video, or read the Von Steuben manual yourself, you can find links to all of these things in the description!

I have some personal insight into this history. When I was stationed at Fort Myer (home of the Old Guard) in the mid-70's, a friend of mine was 1LT Steve St Clair. Steve was a member of the Old Guard. I think, in anticipation of the upcoming 1976 celebrations of American independence, he was given responsibility to research an historically authentic drill for the Old Guard. His primary (but not only) reference was the von Steuben drill manual. He developed the Old Guard drill subsequently used at that time (circa 1976). 1) I have no doubt about the quality of Steve's research. He is an astute historian and war gamer. He also became an avid Revolutionary War reenactor (1st Maryland, I think). Was a career officer (retired as LTC). He is also known as the "Godfather of Miniatures Painting". 2) Some practical accommodations may have been made at the time for various reasons. (Safety, liability, other limitations). 3) Many years have passed, I there is no telling what is left of Steve's original work on this. Bottom line is, at one time a serious effort was made to authentically recreate the von Steuben drill in the Old Guard. Things have a way of changing over 40+ years, but at the time Steve made it as close as was possible and practical.

Finally, a reenactor group that actually matches the uniform!

I am so early I think they are still putting their bayonets in the bores.

In the UK we do it properly. We prime the musket first then we put the powder down the barrel then the paper then we use the ramrod.

You say that standard military men should be able to be entrusted to return their rammers... you don't know the US military like I know it apparently ;-). Plus, I'm sure there is some bureaucratic "safety first" non-sense going on here as well. On top of that, exact Historical accuracy is not the mission of the 3rd Infantry Regiment.

On the subject of not ramming the paper cartridges: it's pretty easy to imagine some officer or NCO hearing stories of ramrods turned into missiles and deciding it's not worth the PR nightmare when something inevitably goes wrong. Nothing on this earth is soldier proofed. It's like the joke goes: If you lock a soldier in a room with two bowling balls for an hour, one will be broken and the other will be missing.

I love your channel keep up the great stuff

always great information and presentation

I found your insights very interesting. I watched the video you posted in April and had many questions you addressed here. For example the counting of paces, which made no sense to me at all. I did pick up on the charge bayonets though, recognizing this thrust forward, upheld position from military police drills and regular bayonet training. The resemblance between their bayonets up and MP training from the 1960s is striking because you'd they would stick to the way you demonstrated in this video.

Learning two styles of drill is difficult enough, almost like two different languages props to these soldiers

I could very well be wrong but I believe to know of one guard regiment that actually wore wigs on the battlefield, namely Frederick the Great's Garde du Corps: a cuirassier regiment that, as far as I know, consisted only of hand picked nobles, so I don't think any of them would have trouble affording a wig and wearing it in battle. Only my uneducated guess though.

Excellent video. A note on the "attention" stance you mentioned on 5:57. A modern day description of the command "attention," at least for the Marine Corps, is that the heels should be touching each other with the feet spread 45 degrees apart from each other. The only time we're standing with our feet spread apart, just like in the video, is when you're given the command "parade rest" or "rest."

As a veteran, I can assert with esteemed confidence that while this organization bears the appearances of discipline and conditioning, there's always gonna be one of em that'll forget that ram rod. It's how it works. That's the US Army for ya.

9:21 would an ensign ever use the colours as a weapon? Would that make the colours vulnerable? wouldn't the ensign carry a sword?

Great review. WRT the ramrod/loading; basic safety principle. US military exercises pretty strict ORM, especially during public displays involving civilian populace.

Yay, you told me you were going to upload a video on this very topic and so you did. Another excellent video, as one has come to expect of you. If I may be allowed to make a somewhat daring video request: would you ever consider doing a video on the kind of hairstyles soldiers would have had during the Seven Year's War (like you see in Barry Lyndon) and during the American Revolution? I'd really love to learn more about that topic, 18th century men's fashion was actually what inspired me to grow my hair out years ago. lol Might get you some more use out of that wig of yours (provided you still have it). ;D

When you stated "we should be able to trust them" 4:41 it reminded me of a story I heared where some experienced United States marines were participating in a training mission but were only given blanks instead of live ammunition for safety reasons. However it did not take long for sed marines to figure out that they could in fact shoot the spare cleaning rods provided to them out with the blanks like crossbow bolts. Afterward these soldiers proceeded to teach all the new privates this new and wonderful trick they had discovered. There's really no particular point with this story, just wanted to share it. Also they probably load the muskets that particular way just to avoid potential lawsuits and accidentally harming or killing one of the spectators.

Brandon, can you make a video of firing by rank? When did it start happening and when did it end?

Nice thumbnail for the video!

You have mentioned the white powdered wigs in another video i think. If you look at the painting "The death of Major Pierson ( 1781), at first glance they are pretty much all wearing powdered wigs but a closer look suggests they have long natural hair powdered. The painting was produced by an artist (John Copley) who actually saw the battle and then invited the soldiers into his studio to reproduce the battle in a pose.

The main reason they are probably not using the ramrod as you said is for safety. The military follows ORM or Operations Risk Management, and part of that procedure is a risk to the self, unit, or others; so in that case, they have probably come to the decision to better be safe than sorry with the ramrods.

Brandon, you produce absolutely fantastic videos, thank you so much for your work teaching history! As an Army veteran let me comment about the negative implications of not using the correct drill for loading and firing their weapons. Over the past 20-30 years, the Army had become so risk-averse, so "Safety First", that it's become something of a joke among the troops. Just Google "PT Belt Meme" and you'll understand our attitude towards the matter. Keep up the awesome work!

The fifes they use are quite modern too

Quality video as always. Just one thing; "Oo-rah," is what Marines say, sometimes shortened to just, "Rah." Army soldiers say "Hoo-ah."

With the loading thing, there's still the safety aspect of having a wad of burning paper firing out of a musket near a crowd of civilian onlookers. Since these exhibitions are being done to show the masses, a few concessions have to be made in lieu of safety.

They don't load authentically for one reason ----------- Lawyers!

New vid nice

Could you make a video about how these times are represented in video games and what are your favorites games like hold fast nations or maybe Blackwake

15:20 interesting point. Perhaps this is for having fired a volley into an advancing enemy and the muskets are bought to this position to receive a charge? Just a thought.

@Brandon F please make one on the Fort Henry Guard!

Hi Brandon! I really enjoy your videos since im susbcribed a year ago! And since you started playing AC III Pedantically i really like to know your opinion on assassin´s creed unity. At least in my opinion captured better than his predecessors in the autenticity, in this case of a France shattered by the revolution, also the uniforms (at least most of them). It would be a dream come true if in the near future you would start a series of this. Thanks. PD: English is not my native language, sorry if i made a error.

Those volleys are so perfect

Hello- I loved your video! I have some questions to ask- may I react out and contact you? How might I do that?

now that you mention left and right, what about lefties in this period? they would break cohesion in ceremonial companies, thus (even today) they don't get recruited into such units. but they are OK in every other unit. was righthandedness forced on everybody in the fighting units of the 18th century? if yes, was it only a design element so that the unit looks better, or did it have a more practical reason? thanx

In the fashion of giving orders, was the waving about of an officers spadroon or sabre or what have you ever instrumental in the giving of orders and commands, or is this an invention of movies, although I do see it in artwork, maybe as a way of helping deliver orders to men who became deafened by the calamity and noise of a battlefield?

According to a few sources that I found, the Brown Bess was far more common than the Charleville, which makes sense considering the Americans used the greatly previously in the 7 Years War/French and Indian War and were buying large amounts of weapons prior to the war. Also, in many colonies it was required by law for every man to own a musket in order to readily form a militia, so it would only make sense that prior to the Franco-American alliance the colonists would import from their mother country (as was the case with mercantilism).

It always looks better when only a single command is given. As far as keeping step it is so easy with the drummer keeping the beat, that why their there. I also have a feeling it was glance to the side to 'cover off'. Why would you look away from the front line & it lokks better.

Question for Brandon when they're in square formation shouldn't the front row be on one knee with their musket at a 45ﾟ angle ?

In my high school we have this class called academy and in it we talk about the Ohio frontier in the 18th century and we have to sew our outfits for our character and make a historically accurate character and at the end we do some re-enactments of white and Indian conflicts at trading posts and we do these days where we have to be our characters and people come see. I know this is a bit off topic and stuff buts it’s really cool (but also hard because it’s a college level class)

Please do a video on war of rights (Highly authentic American Civil War video game)

0:25 whats the lime green thing on the one guy's shoulder?

We do still have to remember that this is a performance from a ceremonial unit, gotta impress the audience

You’re absolutely right that “and snap” is modern. Drill sergeants/instructors/etc use it as a way to keep the cadence of drill movements. On a different note, i was wondering if you could make a video about the spontoon bearers and company officers? I’ve always been curious about where the officers were positioned in the line of battle, Which officers/sergeants bore spontoons, which didn’t, etc. I’d really appreciate your insight.

Can you do a video on Frederick II?

0:28 So ironic that the 2nd guy from the back stumbles a little just as Brandon says "they're quite good at what they do". It's just a really funny thing I saw, but I bet they actually are.

Wouldn’t it depend on what point in the war. I always thought that at Bunker Hill and the Early New York campaigns they would be equipped with more Land Patterns. Then at the later campaigns, Yorktown Guillgords Courthouse they would use more of the French Pattern. With that being said what do you think about Percussion Cap conversions of the old Muskets.

I accually have a copy of the drill manual myself at home. It is a cool book.

The Commander in Chief's Guard's primary purpose is ceremonial and a reminder to the Army of its history and lineage. It is not a re-enactment group and it is not a live history presentation. So some liberties are taken, though for the most part, the unit represents a unit of the Continental Army, though a unit that usually was better uniformed than their contemporaries in the line units.

My guess is that the count is for the benefit of the audience as it does sound quite good and martial.

Great video! By the way have you ever heard of Mount and Blade Warband on Steam? Because there’s a terrific mod titled “1776-The American Revolution” that I think you might be interested in.

Tough training but fun to execute. Those shows are enjoyable to perform. OLD GUARD!!

For a more historically accurate portrayal of Continental troops, watch "Von Steuben's Continentals" by Lionhart Filmworks

Looked at the old guard colour guard and the have the guardsmen one not have bayonet for some reason but they carry the Charleville musket

Thought the muskets were carried on the left on march like all armies of the 18c

In the French Ecole de Peloton (1791), the counting thing was stated as a training mechanism. The instructors would break each move into it's component parts and count through them. This would both train the men to work in a synchronised fashion and create a pause between each move to give the instructor the opportunity to correct errors. I don't know if this technique was used a little earlier and by other armies, but it makes sense. In which case, is there any evidence that the Continental army extended this to field use, at least until the troops had gained more experience ?

bravo good sir

Some of the other issues with the drill you point out I think are "Honor Guard" isms... they're meant to make for a good show... specifically the priming position. The extreme angle of the musket looks "cool". "Honor Guards" will make subtle changes\take liberties even in modern drill to make for a good show.

Do more stuff on American military and culture from 18th + 19th century there's not enough videos on the subject

Could you tell about Command in Chief Guard (CiCG)?

Not sure if what they were doing was a public show. It may be that they were just in practice. And the practice may be at some interim stage in training where a count is utilized.

FARB would describe the 3rd US Infantry Old Guard musically as well. After the bicentennial in 1981, the NCOs cast off 18th century drumming and fifing Drum Major George Carroll had originally researched and put into practice in 1960 as ordered for this unit while he was a percussionist in Pershing's Own, the regimental band. Rudimentally speaking, the drummers now include 20th and 21st century collegiate drum line playing, heavily influenced by DCI. The fifers play a 12 hole keyless piccolo versus a 6 hole traditional bore fife. Buglers too were ordered (by the 2 Star in charge in 1960) against historically accurate infantry impression. The drum major has no cane or baton and carries instead an espontoon also in grave error. While these drum and fife NCO specialist bandsmen (and now women!) are TOPS in their field of expertise, perform to a higher standard of perfection, it is my sincere belief that General Washington's Superintendent and Inspector of Music, John Hiwell would strip them of rank and make them carry a log around Fort Myer. Huzzah!

"We ought be able to trust them...." that is a quote from someone who has never dealt with a group of lower enlisted personnel

“Making it harder on themselves” is the motto of the Old Guard.

what is the song in the intro

That's funny I worked for the Stewart museum in Montreal as a French colonial marine from the 1700s. We use to shoot our Charleville muskets for the tourists and we always did it by ramming the rod in the barrel. We were all like 15-17 years old and they trusted us with no forgetting the rod in the barrel... Was a cool summer job. You can find some footage of them by typing "Compagnie franche de la marine". Apparently Covid had its skin, the museum is shutting down for good.

I'm not sure if this is more of a modern military thing but isn't a platoon around the size of the "company" they're showing here? That is ~40 men or so

Do these guys partake in battle reenactments as well, or only parades and formal ceremonies? I'd wager having a 'fight' with these guys would be quite an amazing experience.

The serving militia troopers like Washington would have been issued Brown Bess muskets it makes sense that the more senior regiments formed from those units would have had more Brown Bess muskets than the French supplied musket (just like with the uniforms)

I hope they fix these issues.

Whats the deal with the wig anyway was it a power symbol or simply because "it was cool"? Also i noticed a officer walked behind i thaught they walked with or in front when leading? And is reinacting dangerous?

Re Advancing-I was in the australian army(British Military Drill). One piece of drill they taught was "Advance in Review Order" Which was marching 10 paces forward to the Beat of a Drum. The entire line was kept Level by Dressing to the right.. Everyone was Assumed to be able to count to 10... Is this a Coincidence that at 830 the Line Advances to the count of 10?

"It works on the parade ground and on demonstrations and that's just fine! But it's not what you see on the battlefield and that's a very important distinction you can make" You just answered your own question, man.

This is a question of semiotics. Reenactments etc look to recreate the supposed glory of accepted symbolism instead of historical reality. Great video with that said

Where could I get a seven years war Prussian uniform

"Charlesville" is a more modern term. It would be more appropriate to indicate French musket and then the year manufactured. Ugh - you use the Domenic D'Andrea painting of the Delaware Continentals at Long Island! Take note that there are multiple errors in that painting - cartridge boxes on wrong side, bayonet on wrong side, hats cocked up on wrong side, etc. - would not use that painting at all! That is an awful painting to use when doing something about accuracy. And yes - I am well acquainted with its awfulness as I am part of the 1st Delaware Regiment living history group. Other than this you are pretty spot on with your critique of the Old Guard here. I am glad you pointed out what you did and hopefully others will appreciate that too. Still love the Old Guard but they do do some quirky/odd things...for no reason it seems. Thanks for the presentation!

You need to send those Old Guard an email and set them straight on how it should be done.

Also you are right that enlisted men would not normally wear wigs, even in peacetime and for ceremonial duties, at least in the line regiments. Battalion Nr.1, Infantrie Regiment Nr. 15 "Garde" of the Prussian Army of King Frederich the Great's days was stationed at Berlin and performed ceremonial duties at the King's palaces. When required their hair would be prepared in the required "military" style and "powdered", often with white flour or chalk. Those with insufficient hair would wear a wig. Discipline was so tight and the demand for perfection in the execution of drill and duties so great, that the battalion had the largest number of desertions in peacetime of any Prussian regiment. And it was a combat unit, performing well at Rossbach, Leuthen and Torgau. The Commander in Chief's Guard as formed in 1777 at Valley Forge was company-sized, with fit for duty enlisted strengths varying from the 50s to over one hundred. Had the Guard seen actual combat, it would have been converged with other company sized units, such as the elite light companies of the line infantry to form a battalion of no less than 180 rank and file and no more than 360, as dictated by the "Blue Book". The converged battalion would be formed into eight tactical fire and maneuver elements of as equal size as possible in order to execute the battalion drill in the manual. By 1780, it probable that the Guard was armed with a variation of the French .69 Model of 1763, as those muskets became more common in the Main Army due to the arrival of large shipments of arms from France. Also sergeants rarely carried halberds in the Continental Army after 1776, as by that time they had become clumsy ceremonial weapons, most NCOs re-arming themselves with a fusil (a light musket) or musket, or some-times, but not often, a half-pike.

This is so weird, most of the points you make are still taught in Army drill today (former JROTC brat). Everything from position of attention to moving through the manual of arms as you described is still modern military aparently

At least one of the tunes the fifer plays is Irish, "Old John's Tune". I don't know for sure, but I would guess that the Continental Army marched to English tunes, or perhaps German (there were many Germans in the army). "Roslyn Chapel", a slow air, was played at George Washington's funeral. It was the "Amazing Grace" of its day, and the chapel itself is important to Free Masons.

During the bicentennial these guys would aim,fire and bring the weapon down to the prime position so fast it discharged on their hip really silly looking. Played a lot with them since, had them in our armory.

Another reason they do not ram the paper cartridge into the barrel is because a lot of times the paper will come out smoldering and can burn anyone close by

Where do the Old Guard perform?

I served with the 3d (US) Infantry (The Old Guard) in 2004 in the Horn of Africa. Good Infantry who served with distinction.

Just my thoughts on the wigs, perhaps to also add some immersion? As most of the men would have short cuts, contrary to cuts of the day?

It’s great to see the Europe banner

Perhaps I should do this for Turkey's version of the Old Guard

Why are they carrying Spears and halberds?

The Brown Bess was considered "standard" of the Continental army because it was considered the optimal arm at the time, just like in WWI the US expeditionary force's standard arm was the 1903 Springfield but most US troopers were issued British or French weapons due to shortages.

I'm a historic weapons supervisor for the US National Park Service. We are trained to ram our charges, and in muskets we use full service charges (we do not use full charges in cannon which we are also trained). Drill wise we are also trained right out of the period manuals. Out of 1000s of musket demos, by by Park Rangers and volunteers/reenactors supervised by Park Rangers I'm not aware of any incidents of ballistic rammers. (Doesn't mean it hasn't happened, I just haven't heard of it) That said the Old Guard is undoubtedly better drilled than we are, most of use don't have as much time to practice drill as some of us would prefer. At least not on the job anyway.

On the loading process, the Army often takes safety in consideration as it does in EVERYTHING it does in peacetime.

Why are they also doing everything from the 'ADVANCE" -- when normally it's from the 'SHOULDER' ?

There are plenty of safety issues firing those muskets as is. First off to much powder in the flash pan can set to smoldering your neighbor's polyester wig. Second..those muskets see alot of wear and tear. Separations can occur between the barrel and stock creating a dangerous viod for gunpowder to collect. So if your flashpan does not ignite SOP is to clear the barrel by manually dumping out the powder and reloading

Is it true that at these re-enactments that the redcoats get booed at?

I believe the old guard was issued with Brown Bess muskets in much the same way that all Marines in the World War One AEF were issued with Springfields although the US military as a whole had more 1917 enfields.

In reenactment, do you use foil bayonets, swords, etc in the same vain as HEMA?