By Austin Williams, 5th Virginia

Note: This study compares the 1862 printing of Hardee’s Revised Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics to the 1860 printing of Gilham’s Manual of Instruction of Volunteers and Militia. Gilham’s offers portions for use of the musket as well as the rifle. The rifle portion closely resembles Hardee’s manual, which was not written for use with a musket. Therefore, when discussing differences between the manuals, we are really discussing differences between light infantry/rifle tactics and tactics for infantry-of-the-line.