With my interest in the protohistoric and Contact periods in eastern North America I often consult primary documents whose authors use “a day’s travel” as the primary unit of measure. As far as I can tell scholars have no agreed upon benchmark for a typical day’s pedestrian travel. Replies to individual inquiries I have made tend to be in the range of fifteen to thirty miles (fifteen seems overly modest to me and thirty seems brisk but realistic). Just curious as to whether any formal—as in “written down somewhere”—expectation exists of what sort of distance a day’s worth of foot-borne travel for a contemporary light infantryman on a training exercise would entail, as well as what sort of load he would be expected to bear? (I realize there are a number of other variables that could be factored in, but I am thinking of movement undertaken over fairly flat terrain in non-inclement weather.) Even if no formal expectations exist I am also of course interested in learning whatever anyone cares to share regarding the de facto standard.

My thanks in advance,
MTB