40 Years of Wandering and the Exodus Population

• Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]

 > Farrell Till:
 > Let's suppose that these 3 million traveled, say, 200 abreast, taking with
 > them their tents, herds, and other possessions as they marched along.  How
 > long would this line of humanity have been?  If they traveled this way, 
there
 > would have been 15,000 columns, and if they had only 3 feet between the
 > columns, they would have been strung out over a distance of almost 9 miles.
 > ===============
 > Joe Alward:
 > On another matter of less importance:  I think that Till must mean that 
there
 > were 15,000 "rows", not columns.
 
 BAKKE
 Since I am a US Army soldier in real-life, I can confirm that Till is
 correct.  In military parlance, the 200 people standing abreast in a
 marching formation would constitute a "column".  Each of the 200 people
 would be leading a "file" that would be 15,000 people in length. 
 Therefore, the formation would consists of 200 "files" and 15,000
 "columns".
==================
Joe Alward:
  
I believe the 200 men you refer to above are said to be in a "rank", or 
perhaps a "line", but not in a "column".  

The 15,000 men are in a "file", as you said, but they are also in a "column"; 
the two words are synonymous.

Consider also the definition of "column":

4. (Naut.) A number of ships so arranged as to follow one another in 
SINGLE . . .FILE. . ."

http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?db=web1913&term=Column&config=define


Thus, a column of troops is a collection of soldiers marching single file.

One final comment about the 200 men, which I assert represents a "rank", or 
"line", not a "column".  Being in the U.S. Army, perhaps you'll remember 
seeing films of grunts in Vietnam "going on line"  (walking dozens abreast) 
across a paddy into a village, firing weapons as they went.  The expression 
was "on line", not "on column", right? GI's walked "in columns" down jungle 
trails, didn't they?

• Previous message: 40 Years of Wandering and the Exodus Population
• Next message: 40 Years of Wandering and the Exodus Population
• Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]