close in rear of the crest, and would say to him, "Take this
message to the captain, straight across to the road the troop is on,
and turn south towards Salem if you do not see them at first. Take
Lacey with you. Tell him what you have seen. He knows where the troop
is." I would have Carter hold my horse, and watch the remainder of the
patrol for signals, while I observed the enemy.

=Captain:= At the end of five minutes the hostile troop trots north on
the Valley Pike, the patrol on your road rides across to the Valley
Pike and follows the troop.

=Sergeant Allen:= I would wait until the troops had crossed the creek
north of York and would then face my patrol east and trot to the cross
roads at Smith's, turn south and continue to Salem, sending one man to
ride up on Sandy Ridge, keeping the patrol in sight.

=Captain:= We have carried out the problem far enough. It furnishes a
good example of the varying situations a patrol leader has to meet.
Good judgment or common sense must be used in deciding on the proper
course to follow. You must always think of what your chief is trying
to do and then act in the way you think will best help him to
accomplish his object. If you have carefully decided just what mission
you have been given to accomplish, you cannot easily go wrong. In
handling a mounted patrol you must remember that if the men become
widely separated in strange country, or even in country they are
fairly familiar with, they are most apt to lose all contact with each
other or become lost themselves.

Problem No. 2. (Infantry)

=1019. Captain (to one platoon of his company):= We will suppose it is
about half an hour before dawn. One platoon of the company is deployed
as skirmishers, facing north, in the cut where the County Road crosses
Sandy Ridge. It is the extreme right of a line of battle extending
west along the line of the County Road. The fight was not commenced.
This platoon is resting in a wheat field between the railroad and the
foot of the slope of Sandy Ridge, 200 yards south of the County Road.
Sergeant Allen, I call you up and give you these instructions: "The
enemy's line is off in that direction (pointing northwest). Take six
men and work north along the railroad until it is light enough to see;
then locate the hostile line and keep me informed of their movements.
I will be in this vicinity. You have a compass. Start at once."
Describe briefly the formation of your patrol while it is moving i