n
the dark.

=Sergeant Allen:= One man will lead. A second man will follow about
fifteen yards in rear of him. I will follow the second man at the same
distance with three more men, and the last man will be about twenty
yards in rear of me. All will have bayonets fixed, loaded and pieces
locked. One short, low whistle will mean, =Halt=, two short whistles
will mean, =Forward=, and the word "Sandy" will be the countersign by
which we can identify each other.

=Captain:= Very well. We will suppose that you reach the steel trestle
over Sandy Creek just at dawn and have met no opposition and heard
nothing of the enemy. On either side of Sandy Creek are fields of
standing corn about six feet tall. In the present dim light you can
only see a few hundred yards off.

=Sergeant Allen:= The patrol being halted I would walk forward to the
leading man (Brown) and say, "Brown, take Carter and form the point
for the patrol, continuing along this railroad. We will follow about
150 yards in rear." I would then rejoin the main body of the patrol
and order the man in rear to follow about 75 yards in rear of us. When
the point had gained its distance I would move forward with the main
body, ordering one man to move along the creek bank (west bank),
keeping abreast of us until I signaled to him to come in.

=Captain:= Just as you reach the northern end of the railroad fill
your point halts and you detect some movement in the road to the west
of you. It is rapidly growing lighter.

=Sergeant Allen:= I would move the main body by the left flank into
the corn, signaling to the man following the creek to rejoin, and for
the rear guard to move off the track also. I would expect Brown to do
the same, even before he saw what we had done. I would then close up
on the point until I could see it and, halting all the patrol, I would
order Foster to take Lacey and work over towards the road to see what
is there and to report back to me immediately.

=Captain:= In a few minutes Foster returns and reports, "The enemy is
moving south in the road and in the field beyond, in line of squads or
sections. A hostile patrol is moving southeast across the field behind
us. We were not seen."

(Note: This situation could well have been led up to by requiring
Private Foster to explain how he conducted his reconnaissance and
having him formulate his report on the situation as given.)

=Sergeant Allen:= I would then work my patrol closer to the road,
keepi