Lock-Step

This step was first introduced into the British service by the Elliot Lord Heath field, when he commanded the garrison at Gibraltar; and is the same that general Saldern (from whose works all the British regulations have been almost literally selected) calls the deploy step. This step consists in the heel of one man being brought nearly in contact with the joint of the great toe of another, so that when men step off together they constantly preserve the same distance. The lock or deploy step was always practised when a battalion marched in file or close column; and the great advantage to be derived from it was, that the last file gained ground at the same time that the front advanced. It is now exploded, and very properly, as an exce ive absurdity. To Lock , is to fasten one or more of the wheels of a carriage from going round, in going down a hill, . To Lock up , to take the closest po ible order inline or in file. The expre ion is derived from the lock-step.