In the article Neal referenced it said:
Quote:
Twelve Union regiments, some 5,000 men whom Upton declared the best in the army, stood in four ranks, three regiments to a line, with bayonets fixed atop their muskets.
Probably you confusion is over the "four ranks" statement. Ranks refers to the depth of the line. A normal CW line is two rank (a shoulder to shoulder line of men in the front with another shoulder to shoulder line behind them about 1-2 paces back). Based on the statement above which I haven't researched Upton changed to the much older formation of four ranks which means the front of a regiment had a four man depth. If we assume a typical strength of the regiment at that time being 400 men this would give each regiment a 100 man wide frontage with depth of 4 men. This would give each regiments a frontage of 200 feet and a depth of about 4-8 feet depending on how close the ranks are.
In the article it states the they were arrayed three regiments to a line with a total of 12 regiments. This means the formed a 3 by 4 box. With a three regiment frontage the formation would have presented a total frontage of over 600 feet (the additional would be for any space used to separate each regiment). We don't know the overall formations depth since they for certain would leave a good spacing between each regiment in the lines that were behind the lead regiments. A typical old style attack would have allowed over 300 yards between the regimental lines but I think Upton used something much closer but I don't know what it was.
The interesting thing from this article is that it is saying that Upton used a line formation not column. His line is denser but still a line. Each company in the regiment would still be deployed as a ten company front. The only difference being the companies would be in four rank instead of two rank line which about halves their normal frontage.
A true column of attack would use one company frontage for Column of Companies or a two company frontage for Column of Division. These would have give frontages of either 40 feet or 80+ feet. A Column of Companies would have a depth of 60 yards if using quarter distance for spacing between companies.
Column of Route which is the only formation that should be able to use roads has a four man frontage which made the length of a typical regiment over 100 yards. For example the III Corps 1st Division at Gettysburg march column extended for over 1.5 miles plus an additional 2/3 mile for its wagons.