6. Skirmishers should be accustomed to lie down at a given signal; as it is sometimes very important that both our artillery and infantry should be able to fire over them.
7. In retreat, skirmishers occupy every favorable point for holding the enemy in check.
D. Rules for Individual Skirmishers.
1. In advancing, in retreat, or at a halt, use every cover that presents itself.
2. Preserve the alignment and the intervals, so far as possible. On open ground, this may be done perfectly. In woods, skirmishers should never, for a moment, lose sight of each other.
3. The security of the flanks should be looked out for by the men near them.
4. Run over exposed ground as quickly as possible.
5. Approach the crest of a hill with great caution.
6. If threatened by artillery alone, advance and kill off the men and horses before they get into battery. When the pieces have got into battery, lie down, if on exposed ground, till they limber up again, and then recommence the fire.
7. A skirmisher, with the new rifled arms, ought, at five hundred yards, to be more than a match for a gun; for, in men and horses, he has a much larger target than the gun has in him.