my seen here. They appear hostile
and unreliable. No telegraph operator or records remain here.
Roads good macadam. Water and haystacks plentiful. Will move
rapidly on towards CHESTER.

Lewis,
Sergeant.

Patrol from Support No. 3,
On Ry. 3/4 mi. N. of County Road,
2 Aug. 12, 9-15 P. M., No. 1.

C. O.,
Support No. 2,
Near Maxey House.

R. R. crosses creek here on 80-foot steel trestle. Hostile
detachment is posted at N. end. Strength unknown. Creek 5 ft. deep
by 60 ft. wide, with steep banks, 5 ft. high. Flows through meadow
land. Scattered trees along banks. R. R. approaches each end of
trestle on 10-foot fill. R. R. switch to N. E. 700 yds. S. of
bridge. (See sketch on back.) I will cross creek to N. of bridge.

Brown,
Corporal.

=981.= A message should be sent as soon as the enemy is first seen or
reported. Of course, if the enemy is actually known to be in the
vicinity and his patrols have been seen, etc., you must by all means
avoid wasting your men by sending them back with information about
small hostile patrols or other things you know your chief is already
aware of and did not specifically tell you to hunt for.

If you have properly determined in your own mind what your mission is
then you will have no trouble in deciding when to send messages. For
example, suppose your orders are "To reconnoiter along that ridge and
determine if the enemy is present in strength," and you sight a patrol
of eight men. You would waste no time or men sending back any message
about the patrol, for your mission is to find out if strong bodies of
the enemy are about. But suppose that while working under the above
orders you located a hostile battalion of infantry--a large body of
troops. In this case you would surely send a detailed message, as your
mission is to determine if the enemy was present in strength.

Again, suppose that while moving towards the ridge indicated by your
chief in his orders, you saw his force suddenly and heavily fired on
from a new and apparently unexpected quarter, not a great distance
from