To arrange or form into a column or columns, especially troops in military formation.
From 'en-' + 'column' (from Latin 'columna'). Military terminology developed this usage in the 17th-18th centuries to describe troop movement.
Military writers used 'encolumn' to make soldier movements sound precise and organized—it's the bureaucratic way of saying 'line them up in a column,' used in strategy manuals and battle reports.
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