I first found mention of it in the Esposito/Elting Atlas on Map 64. It is also mentioned, along with Lannes, Augereau, and Massena being expert drillmasters, in John Elting's Swords Around A Throne on page 531 as well as in a footnote on page 724. The drill itself can be found in the 1791 Reglement.

It is also mentioned in Bressonet's tactical study of Jena. In the English version translated by Scott Bowden in is on page 133. Suchet wrote to Lannes at Weimar on 15 October 1807 that 'This passage of lines was executed perfectly by battalion.' The two units who executed the passage of lines was the 17th Legere and the 34th Ligne.