(1) March Orders
1.—On June 12, 1925, you are Major General Abercrombie in command of the 16th Division of the 12th Army Corps. You wish your division, which is in the vicinity of Bruceville, to march over to Littlestown the next day. You want it to cover the base and line of supply for your troops. You want it to do all this because one of your flying corps lieutenants saw from a captive balloon about a division of the enemy pass through Chambersburg early in the morning. The enemy was marching east and according to the lieutenant was composed of infantry, cavalry, field artillery—in fact, all branches of the service. You finish with this your twenty-second order since January 1st at a quarter after ten at night. But just before you finish with your order a Colonel of Cavalry on your staff tells you that he personally saw cavalry in Gettysburg during the evening. You want your advance guard, which consists of the 1st Brigade, 1st Battalion of the 1st Field Artillery, Company A, First Battalion of Engineers, one section of a Signal Company, and the first ambulance company, to get past the bridge over Pipe Creek at precisely six o’clock and to go along the main road to Littlestown in its route. The advance guard is to be commanded by Brigadier General Black. Now the main body, you figure, will go along in column from front to rear,—one section of the Signal Company, the fourth regiment of Infantry, the Field Artillery Brigade without its combat train, the 2d Brigade without the 4th Infantry, the third Brigade, the Signal Company (Company A) without its detachments, the first Battalion of Engineers without Company A, the Field Artillery Combat Train, and then the second, third, and fourth Ambulance companies.
You want this main body to start across the Pipe Creek bridge at half past six and you want it to go along keeping a distance of a mile behind the tail of the advance guard. You want to tell your troops, too, that you will be with the tail of the reserve of the advance guard. You intend to sign your order yourself and you want copies sent to Lieutenants Kingsley and Lawrence, and to Brigade Generals Black, Dare, Evans, Colonel File, Major Glad, Captain Hume and your staff. You want your trains to follow your main body in order from front to rear: field trains, ammunition columns, supply columns, field hospitals, medical reserve, and pack train. You feel that the man in command of your signal corps should arrange to have radio connection between your independent cavalry and the advance guard. That idea brings up another matter. Your independent cavalry, which will be commanded by Colonel File and which will consist of the 1st Cavalry and one section of the Signal Company, will have to reconnoiter all the roads which lead out of Gettysburg and which are between the York Pike and the Emmitsburg road. You want the cavalry to reconnoiter the York Pike and the Emmitsburg road, too. You want this cavalry to maneuver so that they will come in contact with the enemy as soon as practicable. Now you want the independent cavalry to do all this because you want it to cover the whole movement of your troops and you think it ought to start out promptly at five o’clock in the morning in order to accomplish its purpose best.
2.—On the tenth of August, 1928, you are Colonel Bruce commanding the 129th regiment of Infantry which is acting as advance guard to the 5th Division. On the tenth of August at half past five in the morning at the Penitentiary of Leavenworth, Kansas, you sign your 27th field order. You have in reality dictated it to your officers, but you sign it as soon as you have finished. You have told them in substance that all but one squad of Troop A, under command of Captain Briggs, 21st Cavalry, would comprise the Advance Cavalry; that the first battalion of the 1st Infantry, one squad of Troop A, 21st Cavalry, and a detachment of Company A of the Engineers under Major Chittombly, would constitute the support; and that the Reserve would be Headquarters and 2d Battalion of the 129th Infantry, Battery B of the 5th Field Artillery, the third Battalion of the 129th Infantry, and a Detachment of Ambulance Company, Number 1. You assembled all the officers of your command when you dictated your order and you told them that the troops of the command would march in order as stated above. You told them that you would stay with the reserve and would march near its head. You stated that the field train would assemble at the first cross-roads to the south and there wait under command of Captain Phillips, the Quartermaster of the 1st Infantry, for the field train of the main body and would join that field train as it passed. The main body was to come along so that the head of it would be just a half mile behind the tail of the Reserve of the Advance Guard. The whole of the Advance Guard you want to march on Kickapoo, because the enemy which someone had reported to have camped near Atchison the night before, and is composed of all branches of the service, has cavalry patrols out which were seen in the vicinity of Kickapoo yesterday. You wish the point of the support to begin the march at a quarter to six in the morning. It is to go by the general route which marks the turning points Atchison Cross, Frenchman, Kickapoo, along a continuous stretch of road. So that the Advance Cavalry will have time to get ahead, you want it to leave camp at once and march by way of Atchison Cross to Kickapoo. This proceeding is necessary because you want all the country west of the line of march to the extent of three miles very carefully observed. You want Sheridan’s Drive to be observed carefully also. You want the reserve to follow the support so that there will be 800 yards distance between it and the tail of the support. You send a copy of the order to your Division Commander.
3.—On the thirty-first of May, 1931, you are Major General Perkins in command of the 16th Division, 22d Corps. War has just broken out and not any of your army has crossed the frontier as yet. However, it is going to do so on the next day, and the 22d Corps is going to march on Thurmont and Frederick. Your division has been ordered to cover the left of the whole army. Your independent cavalry in command of Colonel Frank and composed of the 11th Cavalry and the first radio section of the Signal Corps, is to be followed by the Advance Guard under command of Brigadier General Blood. The advance guard is composed of the first Brigade, the first battalion of the first field artillery, a company of the first Battalion of Engineers, the first Ambulance Company, and one radio section of the Signal Company. You sign your order at eight in the evening and send copies to Brigadier Generals Blood, Cook, Dean, Enfield, Colonel Frank, Major Good, Captain Harry, by officers. You also furnish copies to your staff. You decide to have your division march on Gettysburg in order to carry out your mission. Your main body is going to start at seven in the morning and will march in the following order: one section of the Signal Company, the first battalion of the 4th Infantry, all but one battalion of the first brigade of Field Artillery, all of the second Brigade but the first battalion of the 4th Infantry, the entire third Brigade, all but one company of the first battalion of engineers, Signal Company A without certain detachments mentioned before, the field artillery combat trains, and three ambulance companies. You want the advance guard to be up and out of camp at half past six in the morning. It is to march by the Chambersburg Pike on Gettysburg and to be followed by the main body with a mile between the two units. The independent cavalry is to be up and out of camp by six o’clock in the morning. You want your trains to follow your main body five miles behind it and you want them to follow in this order: field trains, first section of the supply trains, ammunition column, the remainder of the supply trains, field hospitals, medical reserve, pack train. You want your independent cavalry to advance on Gettysburg. You want your independent cavalry to reconnoiter all the roads which run out of Gettysburg to the south and east and you want them to get in touch with the cavalry of the corps as soon as possible. You are going to march at the forward end of the reserve of the advance guard. When you have signed your order at Chambersburg where your troops are located, you have it telegraphed to Corps headquarters.
4.—On May the eleventh, 1940, you are in command of the 8th Division of the 19th Corps. You are at Frederick, Maryland, and you want your division to advance toward Gettysburg and to be a protection to your main army which is going to come through the passes of the mountains in that vicinity. You are going to remain in Frederick until half past eight the next morning, and then you are going to go and be with the advance guard at its head. You want your main body to begin to move out when the head is at the first railroad crossing north of the town, and at ten minutes to seven to follow a mile behind the advance guard which you are going to have march along the Emmitsburg Turnpike. The end of the column ought to be across the first railroad crossing north of the town at half past six in the morning. The enemy’s main army is near Baltimore and Washington. You have heard from pretty good sources that a part of his army is in such a condition that any immediate movement is rendered out of the question, though you have reliable word that one of his divisions and possibly more are in fit condition to move toward the frontier. Indeed they may have done so, for already your frontier is being observed by all sorts and kinds of small detachments of the enemy. You want your field trains to come along and get together north of the town as soon as all of the troops have got out. You want them to be divided into two sections and you want the first section to be about two miles in rear of the troops and the second section to come along after the first section with a two mile distance. Your main body in order of march will be, one section of the signal company, the first battalion of the fourth regiment of infantry, the first brigade of Field Artillery without its first battalion, all but the first battalion of the second brigade, all but one company of the first battalion of Engineers, Signal Company A without its detachment, the field artillery combat train, and three ambulance companies. You want the river crossings of the Monocacy and the roads, railroads, and in fact all approaches to them from the east to be especially observed by the Advance Guard. That body will consist of the first brigade, the first battalion of the first field artillery, Company A of the Engineers, the first Ambulance Company and the first section of the Signal Company, all under command of Brigadier General Bates. The first section of the field train will have the following order: field trains; one section of the supply column; one wagon company of artillery ammunition; and one wagon company of small arms ammunition. The second section: field hospitals, all but two wagon companies of the ammunition column; all but one section of the supply column; medical reserve; and pack trains. You are going to begin this whole march on the next day. Your independent cavalry, commanded by Colonel Fine, and consisting of the first regiment of Cavalry and one section of the Signal Company is to start out at half past five in the morning and cover your whole movement. You want this cavalry to scout around Taneytown and see what it can find on the roads which go off from the southeast from there. The whole army of which you are a part aims to take up an advance movement and it plans to get to Gettysburg on the eighteenth of May. This is the second field order you have issued in this campaign. You send copies of it by your aide Lieut. Kill to Generals Bates, Cutts, Dent, and Eaton; by Lieut. Link to Colonel Fine, Major Good, Captain Hall, and to the commander of the trains. You read the order to your staff, send a copy by mail to Corps Headquarters and telegraph a synopsis to the same place. You sign your order at a quarter after nine.
5.—On June 10, 1925, you are Brigadier General Stewart in command of a Detachment from the ninth division. You are lost. You can find out nothing about the enemy. Indeed you can get no wind of where your own troops are. You assemble all your officers and read at ten minutes after five in the morning an order which you have written at Bonnyville where you are located. You want your whole command to go by way of Whitehall and move toward Levere. You want your field train and ammunition wagon companies, on account of your ignorance of the enemy to park near the western end of the town where the road runs out. They are to make this maneuver after half past six and are to be in readiness to move to the west or to the east. The advance guard under command of Colonel Dent, and composed of all of the second infantry but the third battalion, is to march on the road past St. Luke’s Church and then on the same road toward Whitehall. It is to get past the road fork where the main road goes out of the town at the southeastern edge at twenty minutes to six. You are going to be with the advance guard. You will be up front with the reserve. Your independent cavalry is to march at half past four. It consists of the first squadron of the fifth cavalry under command of Major Curt. It is going to try to get in touch with the enemy. The main body is to come along after the advance guard so that it will be eight hundred yards from the tail of it. Your main body will march in the following order: third battalion of the second infantry, first battalion without the reserve, the third regiment of infantry, the first regiment of infantry, the artillery reserve, the first ambulance company and Signal Company A. Part of your main body is doing outpost duty, and you have told your officer when you issued your order that when the support of the advance guard reached St. Luke’s Church the next morning the outpost would stand relieved, and that it would take its place in column after it had closed in to the road, when the troops came along.