mation of fresh bodies of armed defenders, or on the defensive,
to secure our own communications or districts against undertakings by
flying columns of the enemy.

Such undertakings, particularly when they lead in rear of the enemy's
Armies, will frequently assume the character of 'raids' in which the
essential purpose is to cover great distances rapidly, often with the
sacrifice of all communications with one's own forces, to appear
suddenly at previously selected positions, and after completion of
one's immediate object to disappear suddenly, before the enemy can
bring overwhelming numbers against the assailant.

The success of such undertakings will depend, on the one hand, on the
rapidity with which the opportunities secured by such surprise are
utilized, and, on the other, on the available fighting power, which
must suffice to break down all opposition with certainty and speed.

Their execution, however, will always encounter many difficulties,
particularly when a hostile population has to be dealt with; but to
consider them on this account as impracticable seems to me all the
more impossible, because to my mind they embody an absolutely
indispensable element of future operations.

If it is feasible to enter upon them with fresh horses, and to make
adequate provision for supply without delaying the rapidity of
movement, either by utilizing the resources of the country, by taking
suitably organized columns with one, or by living on stores captured
from the enemy himself, then such 'raids' will succeed and exercise
most far-reaching consequences.

In my opinion all these conditions can be satisfied. We can preserve
our horses by exercising greater moderation in the pursuit of
non-essentials; difficulties of supply can be solved by suitable
preparations even in an enemy's country, and when working in our own,
the sympathetic and persistent support of our own population will
level all obstacles; but in all cases we must never leave out of sight
the cardinal point that only the concentration of sufficient force at
the right time and place can guarantee the final result.

Our conduct, however, will be different when our purpose is solely
defensive, or when we have to occupy districts which the enemy does
not seek to defend. In such cases, as also when our object is only the
concealment of our own designs, a dispersion of force may be
necessary, if only in order to occupy important defiles and defensive
sections of