You are to camp for the night on a very open
piece of ground. You do not know where the enemy is, but you believe
that he is somewhere south of you. The troops are tired. They have had a
long, hard march. Let us suppose it is your duty to provide the security
of the main body for the night. General Sherman has given you a certain
number of men for this purpose. Just how would you go about it?
Regardless of other considerations, it is imperative that your own main
force be not surprised or caught off guard by any contingency, however
exceptional. To secure this immunity, it is necessary to send men or
groups of men in the direction of the probable advance of the enemy,
anti to arrange these men or groups of men so that they can be of
assistance to each other. This we call forming an outpost.
It may be possible to have a line of protection extending around the
entire camp. It must be extended and arranged so as to keep the enemy so
far away from our main body that he cannot observe our numbers or our
position.
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