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"Loose files and the American scramble"

"Loose ranks and the American mess" - so after years of one of the participants described the tactics of the British infantry in the American War of Independence. In this post I will answer the question - In which the pattern should fight the armies in the war.
the beginning of the conflict are the existing ranks of Europe - the battalion set up in three lines in a dense pattern. British
very quickly went over to the chic dwuszeregowy. February 26, 1776, the new commander of American forces, General Howe ordered a relaxation of ranks to 18 inches (45 cm) between the soldiers. As a soldier in a dense array of lines is 60 cm (including 45 cm of his body, plus 15 cm between the arms), a loose order of General Howe meant 90 cm for a single soldier. Governor of Canada, General Carleton ordered the introduction of an identical pattern of command 29 June 1776 year, ie before Burgoyne's expedition, culminating in the surrender at Saratoga.
But we should not assume that the order was the only loose what the British used in America. Please note that such dilution of soldiers was only possible due to the absence of heavy cavalry, and in the absence of an equivalent enemy in combat. In a later phase of the conflict, to improving the training of Americans, Britons are increasingly required to return to the compact formation, especially during the fighting with bayonets. From this period comes from regulations that Major Ferguson wrote to his regiment, the American Volunteers. It assumes three types of formation: compact, used bayonets during the attack, loose - to fight the fire (literally firing order), assuming 90 cm spacing between the soldiers and tyralierę, in which pairs of soldiers are spaced apart by about 4 yards (360 cm).
This gives us a wide range of ranks used in this war:
Chic closed - 60 cm for a soldier in the line
Chic loose - at least 90 cm but not more than 165 cm
Tyraliera - over the latter's size, not less than 180 cm, and usually more, depending on circumstances.