I am not trying to force anything [except my brain], other than try to understand what was being said. From several sources, I found that:

1. Lapene says that Girard used 'colonnes serrees par bataillons', I think for both divisions.

2. Maransin corrects Lapene in his later writings by saying that Girard was in 'attack columns' and Gazan was in 'attack columns by battalion'.

What is obvious is that:

A. Maransin saw an important enough addition or difference to Lapene's description to correct him.

B. Maransin saw some meaningful difference between 'attack columns' and 'attack columns by battalion' to write them out differently, as well as both being different from Lapene's description in some way.

I simply wanted to know what those perceived differences or additions might be.

Best Regards,

Bill H.