_The Director_: “Lieutenant Williams, what is your estimate of the
enemy?”
_Lieutenant Williams_: “I should say he forms a reconnoitering patrol
sent out to secure information about our movements. He has not yet
gained the information he desires or he would have given us a fight.
Again, had he been the advance element of a larger body he would have
engaged our point and by now we would begin to see evidences of the
troops following him.”
_The Director_: “Is there any member of the class who does not agree
with the views just expressed?”
_Captain Hastings_: “I agree with them in the main, but it seems to me
that the enemy would have opened fire if for no other purpose than to
make trouble for us and cause delay to our troops.”
_The Director_: “We must always give the enemy credit for being up to
his job. The moment we opened fire the leader of that patrol knew that
he had encountered a fighting element of our forces. If he stops to
engage in a fight, he knows that every minute that passes makes it just
that much more difficult for him to make his get-away. He knows that we
are going to close on him right away and he will not get the information
he has been sent out to secure. You must always remember that a
reconnoitering patrol does not fight except when it is forced to do so
in self-defense, or when it has secured all the information it wants,
has sent it back, and then turns itself into a fighting patrol to delay
the advance of the enemy. Are there any other points to bring up about
the mission of the enemy?
“Lieutenant Wallace, you are assumed to be Sergeant Roberts. What do you
do now?”
_Lieutenant Wallace_: “I would form up my point in the original order of
march and move out along the road. We would take up the double-time
until we get our proper distance.”
_The Director_: “Would you do anything else?”
_Lieutenant Wallace_: “I would send two members of the point out to the
place where the enemy was to see if we could get an identification.”
_The Director_: “Do you agree with that procedure, Lieutenant Ralston?”
_Lieutenant Ralston_: “Our battalion commander would want an
identification if it is possible to get one, and it seems to me that
something should be done at once to secure it.”
_The Director_: “I agree with you entirely that an identification is
desirable, but it is not the job of the point to get it. Members of the
point do not go off on excursions to the flank. They keep plugging along
on the line of march. If flank patrols are to be sent out, they must
come from the advance party or the support. I cannot conceive of any
circumstances that would warrant sending two members of the point off on
patrol duty. Now, Lieutenant Ralston, assuming that it is desirable to
get an identification, what would you, as point commander, do?”
_Lieutenant Ralston_: “I would send a message back to Lieutenant
Wallace, who is with the advance party.”
_The Director_: “By whom would you send this message?”
_Lieutenant Ralston_: “By Private Bailey, the rear man of the point.”
_The Director_: “Now state the exact message that you would send back.”
_Lieutenant Ralston_: “I would fall back to where Bailey is marching. I
would say to him:
“‘Bailey, you go back to Lieutenant Wallace. Tell him that we fired
on an enemy reconnoitering patrol of about one squad. Show him where
they were. Tell him that they did not return the fire. That when we
opened fire they withdrew. That there are probably two dead or
wounded men in the woods. Rejoin the point when you can.’
“I would then double-time up to the point. As I pass Corporal Smith I
would say: ‘Watch for signals from the advance party.’”
_Captain Harvey_: “That solution seems to be all right, but don’t you
think Lieutenant Wallace would come forward to the point when it halted?
In that case he would know all about the situation, and it would not be
necessary to send the message back to him.”
_The Director_: “I am very glad you brought up that point, Captain
Harvey. No; I do not think Lieutenant Wallace would leave his advance
party at such a critical moment. In my opinion it would be absolutely
wrong if he did. In the first place, he has no business up with the
point. Sergeant Roberts is either capable of handling it or he is not
so. If he is, he should be let alone to solve his own problem; if he is
not capable, he should be relieved. On advance guard duty the commander
of each element will have plenty to do if he sticks to his own job and
does not go molesting that of someone else.”