all times and not remove their equipments. After
dark I put two men on post at the same time. To do this I arrange
three reliefs of two men each. They are posted in pairs for two hours
at a time.

If no patrol from the support appeared within a half hour after I
first took position I would send a messenger back to you to see if
everything was all right and tell you what I had done.

=Lieutenant:= I think the two men sent to the crossroads should have
been started out before sending anyone to the Mills house as this was
a more important point. The Field Service Regulations state that
outguards do not patrol to the front, but what you did was entirely
correct. You were securing yourself in your position and should be
familiar with your immediate surroundings. You should have told the
crossroads patrol to determine how much of an obstacle Sandy Creek
was. I suppose you assumed the swamp was impassable.

The sentinel in this case is, I suppose, across the lane from the
outguard about ten or fifteen yards in advance. After dark the double
sentinel post should be posted on the pike about thirty yards in
advance of the outguard.

Very frequently it would not be wise to put up your shelter tents on
outguard. But here, considering the rain and the protection the trees
and wall furnish, it was wise to do so.

The noncommissioned officer in charge of an outguard should be very
precise in giving his orders and in making his arrangements, details,
etc. The discipline must be strict; that is, the men must be kept
under absolute control, so that in case of sudden attack there will be
no chance of confusion and the outguard commander will have his men
absolutely in hand and not permit any independent action on their
part. This is often not the case, owing to the familiar relations that
usually exist in our army between a corporal and the members of his
squad.

We will not have time to go into the arrangements for Outguard No. 2
other than to say that the conditions there are somewhat different
from those Corporal Baker has had to deal with. The outguard should be
posted on the west bank of Sandy Creek and the sentinel at the
southeastern end of the trestle. A skirmish trench should be dug down
the western slope of the fill west of the creek, and extended across
the track by throwing up a parapet about two and one-half feet high,
slightly bent back towards the northeast so as to furnish cover from
fire from the east bank of the