Manual of Military Training Part 75

=Captain:= Sergeant, tell me briefly what is your estimate of the situation--that is, what sort of a proposition you have before you and how you have decided to handle it.

=Sergeant Allen:= As the enemy is supposed to be near Salem and we have already seen his patrols, I expect to encounter more patrols and may meet a strong body of the enemy, on my way to Salem. As I have no map, I cannot tell anything about the road, except that it is about four and one-half miles by the direct road the troop will follow, therefore my route will be somewhat longer. I have been given an hour and fifteen minutes in which to make the trip, so, if I move at a trot along the safer portions of the road. I will have time to proceed very slowly and cautiously along the dangerous portions. My patrol will be stretched out about 500 yards on the road, which should make it difficult for the enemy to surprise us and yet should permit my controlling the movements of the men. (Par. 968.)

I consider that my mission is to start out on this road and find my way around to Salem in about an hour and, particularly, to get word across to the Captain on the other road of anything of importance about the enemy that I may learn.

=Captain:= Very well. When you reach the cut in the road across the south nose of Hill 38, your point has almost reached the Morey house.

Do you make any change in your patrol?

=Sergeant Allen:= I order, "=1. Walk, 2. MARCH=," and watch to see if the connecting file observes the change in gait and comes to a walk.

=Captain:= Suppose he does not come to a walk?

=Sergeant Allen:= I would say, "Smith, gallop ahead and tell Carter to walk and to keep more on the alert."

=Captain:= Corporal Burt, you reach the road fork at Morey's. What do you do?

=Corporal Burt:= I say, "Brown, wait here until Carter is close enough to see which way you go and then trot up to me." I would walk on down the road.

=Captain:= Wouldn't you make any inspection of the Morey house?

=Corporal Burt:= Not unless I saw something suspicious from the road.

I would expect the main body of the patrol to do that.

=Captain:= Don't you make any change on account of the woods you are pa.s.sing?

=Corporal Burt:= No, sir. It has very heavy underbrush and we would lose valuable time trying to search through it. A large force of the enemy would hardly hide in such a place.

=Captain:= Sergeant Allen, you reach the road fork. What do you do?

=Sergeant Allen:= I would have two men go into the Morey house to question anyone they found there. I would order one of the other two men to trot up (north) that road 200 yards and wait until I signaled to him to return. With the other man I would await the result of the inspection of the Morey house. Corporal Burt should have gone ahead without orders to the cut in the road across Long Ridge, leaving Brown half way between us. (Pars. 987 to 996.)

=Captain:= You find no one at the Morey house.

=Sergeant Allen:= I would signal the man to the north to come in. I would then order two men to "find a gate in the fence and trot up on that hill (indicating Long Ridge), and look around the country and join me down this road." (Par. 968.) I would then start south at a walk, halting at the cut to await the result of the inspection on the country from the hill.

=Captain:= Foster, you and Lacey are the two men sent up on Long Ridge. When you reach the hilltop you see four hostile cavalrymen trotting north on the Valley Pike, across the railroad track.

=Private Foster:= I signal like this (enemy in sight), and wait to see if they go on north. (Par. 978.) Do I see anything else behind or ahead of them?

=Captain:= You see no other signs of the enemy on any road. Everything looks quiet. The hostile cavalrymen pa.s.s the Baker house and continue north.

=Private Foster:= I would then take Lacey, trot down the ridge to Sergeant Allen, keeping below the crest and report, "Sergeant, We saw four hostile mounted men trotting north on the road about three-quarters of a mile over there (pointing), and they kept on north, across that road (pointing to the Brown-Baker-Oxford road).

There was nothing else in sight." I would then tell him what the country to the south looked like, if he wanted to know.

=Captain:= Sergeant Allen, what do you do now?

=Sergeant Allen:= I would continue toward the Brown house at a trot. I would send no message to you as you already know there are hostile patrols about and therefore this information would be of little or no importance to you. (Par. 981.)

=Captain:= You arrive at Brown's house.

=Sergeant Allen:= I would send two men in to question the people and I would continue on at a walk. I would not send any one up the road towards Oxford as Foster has already seen that road.

=Captain:= You should have sent a man several hundred yards out the Farm Lane. (Par. 989.) If he moved at a trot it would only have taken a very short time. Continue to describe your movements.

=Sergeant Allen:= I would halt at the railroad track until I saw my two men coming on from the Brown house. I would then direct the other two men who were with me to go through the first opening in the fence to the west and ride south along that ridge (62--Lone Hill--Twin Hills' ridge) until I signaled them to rejoin. I would tell them to look out for our troop over to the east. If there were a great many fences I would not send them out until we were opposite the southern edge of that woods ahead of us. There I would send them to the high ground to look over the country, and return at once.

=Captain:= There are a great many fences west of the road and practically none east of the road to Sandy Creek. Just as you arrive opposite the southern edge of those woods and are giving orders for the two men to ride up the hill, you hear firing in the direction of Bald k.n.o.b. In the road at the foot of the south slope of Bald k.n.o.b, where the trail to the quarry starts off, you can see quite a clump of horses. You see nothing to the west of your position or towards Mason's. What do you do?

=Sergeant Allen:= I signal "RALLY" to Carter and Downs. If there is a gate nearby I lead my men through it. If not, I have them cut or break an opening in the fence and ride towards the railroad fill at a fast trot, having one man gallop ahead as point.

When we reach the fill, the point having first looked beyond it, I order, "=DISMOUNT=. Lacey, hold the horses. =1. As skirmishers along that fill, 2. MARCH.=" When Corporal Burt, Brown, Carter and Downs come up Lacey takes their horses and they join the line of skirmishers. Captain, what do I see from the fill?

=Captain:= There appear to be about twenty or thirty horses in the group. The firing seems to come from the cut in the road just north of the horses and from the clump of trees by the Quarry. You can also hear firing from a point further north on the road, apparently your troop replying to the fire from Bald k.n.o.b. You see nothing in the road south of the horses as far as Hill 42, which obstructs your view. What action do you take?

=Sergeant Allen:= I order, "=AT THE FEET OF THOSE HORSES. RANGE, 850.

CLIP FIRE.="

=Captain:= What is your object in doing as you have done?

=Sergeant Allen:= I know the captain intended to go to Salem with the troop. From the fact that he is replying to the hostile fire I judge he still wishes to push south. I was ordered to reconnoiter along this road, but now a situation has arisen where the troop is being prevented or delayed in doing what was desired and I am in what appears to be a very favorable position from which to give a.s.sistance to the troop and enable them to push ahead. I am practically in rear of the enemy and within effective range of their lead horses. I therefore think my mission has at least temporarily changed and I should try and cause the twenty or thirty hostile troopers to draw off (Par. 1011). Besides, I think it is my business to find out what the strength of this enemy is and whether or not he has reinforcements coming up from Salem, and send this information to the captain. From my position I can still watch the Chester Pike.

=Captain:= After you have emptied your clips you see the enemy running down out of the cut and from among the trees mount their horses and gallop south. What do you do?

=Sergeant Allen:= I would send Foster across the creek above the trestle (south of trestle), to ride across to that road (pointing towards the cut on Bald Hill) and tell the captain, who is near there, that about thirty men were on the hill and they have galloped south, and that I am continuing towards Salem. I would have Foster repeat the message that I gave him. I would then trot back to the Chester Pike and south to Mason's, taking up our old formation.

=Captain:= You see nothing unusual at Mason's and continue south until you reach the cross roads by the Smith farm. Corporal Burt and Private Brown are near the stone bridge south of Smith's; Private Carter is half way between you and Corporal Burt; and Private Downs is 100 yards north of Smith's. You have three men with you. What do you do?

=Sergeant Allen:= What time is it now?

=Captain:= It is now 9:45 A. M.

=Sergeant Allen:= I would say, "Lacey, take Jackson and gallop as far as that cut in the road (points east) and see if you can locate the enemy or our troop in the valley beyond. I will wave my hat over my head when I want you to return." I would then say to Private Moore, "Gallop down to Corporal Burt and tell him to fall back in this direction 100 yards, and then you return here bringing the other two men with you." I would then await the result of Private Lacey's reconnaissance, sending Carter to the turn in the road 200 yards west of the cross roads.

=Captain:= Lacey, what do you do?

=Private Lacey:= I order Jackson, "Follow 75 yards behind me and watch for signals from Sergeant Allen," and I then gallop across the steel bridge and half way up the hill. I then move cautiously up to the cut and, if the fences permit, I ride up on the side of the cut, dismounting just before reaching the crest of the ridge, and walk forward until I can see into the valley beyond.

=Captain:= You see no signs of the enemy in the valley, but you see your own troop on the road by the Gibbs farm with a squad in advance in the road on Hill 42.

=Private Lacey:= I look towards Sergeant Allen to see if he is signaling. I make no signals.

=Captain:= What do you do, Sergeant?

=Sergeant Allen:= I wave my hat for Private Lacey to return. I wave to Private Downs to join me and when Private Lacey arrives I signal "a.s.sEMBLE" to Corporal Burt and then say, "Lacey, join Corporal Burt and tell him to follow me as rear guard. Martin, join Carter and tell him to trot west. We will follow. You stay with him." After he got started I would order, "Follow me. =1. Trot; 2. MARCH.="

=Captain:= When Private Carter reaches the crest of the ridge about one-half mile west of Smith's he signals, "Enemy in sight in large numbers," and he remains in the road with Martin fifty yards in rear.

(Par. 978.)