You understand from reliable sources, in fact from officers’ patrols, that there is a large convoy of the enemy parked somewhere in Farley. You decide that the first infantry ought to take up the main advance against the enemy, and you think it ought to go in a general direction along the road which runs past Square Corners and Eppley. After the 1st Infantry has launched its attack it ought to support the attack of the 2d Infantry. The 3d Infantry is going to send the 2d Infantry a machine gun company, which you think you will have attached to the 2d Infantry. The 2d Infantry, you have figured out, ought to advance, keeping the ravine near Meas between itself and the enemy. After it strikes the ravine, it ought to go along it until the first part of the column approaches and comes up to a point where the ravine starts to bend south. When it has exactly reached that point where the ravine does bend south, it ought to start out on the enemy’s left in an attack. The 2d Infantry ought to push this attack with all its might. The 3d Infantry will be known as a reserve, and it will be under your orders; until further orders it ought to take up a position in some sheltered place to the west of Square Corners. Before it starts out, however, it ought to send its machine gun company, without further delay, so that the company may report to the commander of the 1st Infantry as soon as practicable. You give all this order to your regimental commanders after they have been assembled—in fact, you read it off to them. With the regimental commanders have been assembled also Major Black of the 7th Field Artillery, and the officers in charge of the ambulance company, and the officers of your staff. You are going to send a copy of this order by the aide to your Division Commander. You are going to have a station at the reserve where you will be in touch with any messages that might come in—in fact, all the messages ought to be sent there. You want the cavalry to cover your left flank, and you want a strong patrol sent in the general direction of the west and also of the south. Before you finished writing this order you found out that the bridges over the Platte River were all destroyed. The Platte River runs along the rear of the enemy. All those bridges which are between Platte City and Farley you know are destroyed; you hear also that the enemy is at work repairing them. From all the messages and all sources of information which you can assemble, you estimate that it will require two or three hours to make these bridges safe for troops. You want the 1st Battalion of the 7th Field Artillery to move out straight to the south and to take up a position 500 yards south of where you are writing your message. When the artillery gets there, you want it to open fire just as soon as it can on the enemy’s position wherever that might be. You want your artillery to make the enemy’s artillery a target, and to develop that target as soon as possible.
9.—On the 17th of May, 1919, you are in command of the 1st Division of the 18th Corps. Your division is encamped near Mt. St. Mary’s. You want your division to attack the enemy right away and you want him to go around so he will develop the left of the enemy. Your first ambulance company ought to follow the Field Artillery to where Hampton Valley starts, and it ought to stay there until further orders. Your second ambulance company you want to go along with and follow the 3d Brigade. This ambulance company ought to go as far as the crossing of Beaver Branch, and then it should stay there and not go away until further orders. The third and fourth ambulance companies should not move out at all, but ought to park somewhere near the road near the place called Rodey. The field hospitals will not move out at all, but ought to stay until you send them orders to the contrary. In the place called Thurmont, there ought to be a collecting station for the slightly wounded. Your first artillery ought to move out at once down Hampton Valley and take a position somewhere near the road which runs through Emmitsburg and along past St. Joseph’s Academy. The 2d Field Artillery should find a position and take it up somewhere near Motters. The 3d Brigade, which we found the second ambulance company was to follow, should move out and then go along by Motters and launch an attack on the enemy; the 3d Brigade ought to envelop the enemy’s left. The left of the 3d Brigade ought to rest on the line which runs through the place called Motters, and also runs through Tom’s Creek Church. The Brigade Commander of the 3d Brigade will have the general line of the Monocacy Creek under observation of mounted men. This line ought to be kept in under observation pretty well south—in fact, to the mouth of Hunting Creek. The main attack will be launched, as you figured, all along the front, which is determined by a line running through St. Joseph’s Academy and also running through Long’s.
The brigade commander of this brigade ought to detail a battalion of infantry; the special duty of this battalion will be to form an escort for the 1st Field Artillery which it will accompany. One wagon company of artillery ammunition will go down to the mouth of Hampton Valley. You have heard that there is a great party of the enemy, which has been estimated at say two-thirds of a division, and that this big force is assembling and concentrating in rear of the outlying timber. This fringe of timber extends from Tom’s Creek Church all the way north to near Parkersburg. This hostile force averages about 50 yards south of this timber. The first cavalry you feel ought to cover your left. You feel that the reconnaissance that it ought to take up must be strong, dashing, and vigorous, and that it should reconnoiter east of the Monocacy. You write your order, which is the third one during the year, at 9 o’clock in the morning.
Your Signal Company will lay a line from the 1st Field Artillery to the road-fork, 500 yards west of Round Corners. A second line will be laid from the 2d Brigade to the same road-fork. Your leading wagon company of small arms ammunition should be placed just north of Riley. You want to state to the remainder of your trains that they are not to move out from there until they get orders from you. You send copies of this order to Majors Black, Cord, Darwin, Enfield, Colonel Forse, Major Good, and Captain Harrow. You report by telegraph to your Division Headquarters what you have said in your order. The 2d Brigade is going to be your general reserve; it should take up a position outside near the cross-roads. This cross-roads that you mean is 1,500 yards west of Motters. Any messages and reports which are going to come to you, you want to have reach you at the road-fork, which is about 2,000 yards west of the place called Motters.
10.—You are Brigadier General Aaron in charge of a detachment of the 1st Division. You are about to get out your fourth field order of the campaign, which you issued and signed at ten minutes to seven on the morning of October 6, 1918. Your Chief of Staff is Lieutenant Bean. The main body, of which you are a part, is engaged with the enemy at the present time. The two bodies opposed to each other, fighting strenuously, extend from near the Belmont School House toward the north. You want the 1st Infantry to advance via the 530-618 road, and you want it to deploy whenever it is necessary for it to do so. You want it to deploy with its left flank touching the 548-618 road. After it has done this you want it to attack at the same time that the 2d Infantry does. Your artillery you want to move out by way of the road which runs through 542 and 550, and you want it to go so it will get a position somewhere near the Hill 608; it will be escorted by the 1st Battalion of the 2d Infantry. You want this artillery to support the attack in the best way it can. The 1st Battalion of the 2d Infantry should take up such formation and movement as will best provide protection for the left of your whole line. The whole of the 2d Infantry, of course, excepting the first battalion, will advance by 452. It will then take a cut across country and then by the road which goes by 546 and 548. The 2d Infantry will attack the enemy’s right flank. The cavalry should cover the left of your own troops and make strong reconnaissance of the country to the north and also to the west. A troop of this Cavalry should be sent over to the right flank of our troops. The work of this troop should be to get into communication and keep communication with your main army by telegraph. You want the Signal Detachment to give you wire communications, or in fact, any kind of communications which will best keep you in touch with the 1st Infantry. You are at the cross-roads near Mt. Vernon School House when you write your order. You have learned that there is a body of the enemy, a rather large body in fact, which is going into some position selected near Granite Hill. You gain from reliable patrols all the above information, and also the fact that this detachment of the enemy is about one-half your own strength. You decide that you are going to attack at once this detachment which is just spoken of, which is going into a position near Granite Hill. If it is going into position, and if it is now only one-half your strength, you can see that there are two reasons why you must launch your attack with the utmost vigor and celerity, because the enemy might gain reinforcements, or a good position in the meantime. You state in your order that you are going to be with the reserve all the time, and you send copies to all your officers, especially to Major Good who is commanding the cavalry, and you report what you have done by telegraph to the Chief of Staff. You decide to have the 3d Infantry be the reserve. If the 3d Infantry is the reserve and you are with it, it ought to be under your orders. The 3d Infantry will follow along behind the 2d Infantry until the latter regiment deploys.
11.—You are Major General Plunkitt. On the 3d of September, 1923, you are near the town of Guldens. You are in command of the 4th Division of the 12th Corps. You issue a written order by your Chief of Staff, who is Lt. Col. Miley, at a quarter of eight in the morning of this day. You propose that your division shall make a vigorous attack upon the enemy, and that you will break through his outpost line. Your intention is to go on through with all speed to Gettysburg. You are going to be near the Plank Farm when this is happening. The two troops of cavalry who are now with your advance guard, or really have just been with your advance guard, are going to continue covering your left flank as they have been doing. The 3d Brigade will march from near the I. P. Plank Farm, and it will proceed north on the road which runs north from that farm. Now, it will keep going on that road until it gets to the woods and then it will advance to the northwest of the railroad, and go against the enemy. The 2d Brigade and Engineer Battalion are going to make up the reserve. They are going to be under your orders directly, and they, in order to make this attack successful will take a position somewhere under cover northwest of Granite Hill. Colonel Field of your cavalry will cover your right flank with those of his regiment who are not covering the left. He ought to assemble his main body right now somewhere on the Harrisburg road. You are writing this 7th field order since the first of the year at a quarter to eight in the morning when information from officers’ patrols comes in that there is only one division of the enemy in Gettysburg, and that he has lost heavily by casualties in the fight you have had with it the day before. You learn also at the same time that there is an outpost line of the enemy, which is extending from Body School House to McAllister Hill. This outpost line crosses the road you are on and your troops are on, at Hill 618; you find out also that Wolff Hill is full of the enemy. The artillery of your command you figure ought to take up some position to the west of Granite Hill, and that it should open fire on the enemy as soon as the enemy has been discovered. The Signal Company should connect you and your headquarters with all of the commanders of the first, third, and artillery Brigades. You send copies of all these orders by Lieut. Knight to your four brigade commanders, and also to the officers in charge of the first section of your train; you read it off to your staff, and you send a copy by an orderly to the second section of your train. Your ambulance companies are going to park near the right fork of 617, and you are going to camp east of this fork, which is northeast of Granite Hill. You want the first sections of your trains to go and park at Guldens, and you want the second section not to budge from where it is now stationed. Your first brigade should continue its advance along the road you are on, and when it becomes necessary finally to deploy, they should deploy across this road. After they have deployed they ought to take up the attack at once and go forward with Hill 618 as their objective. There are about a thousand of your troops, you learn, who are wounded in Gettysburg; then, too, there are many wounded who are now held as prisoners of war in Gettysburg where a division of the enemy is stationed, and where it has lost heavily.
CHAPTER VIII
MORE PROBLEMS OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE FIELD ORDER
(3) Order for Position in Readiness
1.—You are Major General Tuttill in command of the 10th Division of the 3d Corps, which is at Taneytown. On June 3, 1952, your division has been designated to keep a certain force of the enemy out of a battle which is going to take place with your whole army. This hostile force is directly in your front. You determine therefore to take up a position in readiness on the south side of Pipe Creek. You have been encamped with the outpost. You want this outpost and the cavalry which is attached to your command, to watch out for the retirement of your whole division to this position in readiness. After that, this whole outpost is to withdraw to Keymar. They are to get to Keymar by going over the road through Bruceville. The commander of the outpost will be notified when he will begin this withdrawal. The enemy, you have learned, is directly in your front and has gone into camp along Piney Creek near the village of Piney Creek toward the north. The third brigade is to start at 4 o’clock in the morning and is to march directly to Keymar, and the artillery brigade, all but one battalion, will start out at the same hour and will go around by Otterdale mill and will go to Montunion Church. The first brigade should march the very same hour with its destination to be near the vicinity of a small amount of woods, which are about 1,000 yards in a southerly direction from Trevanion. Your army on this very day crossed the Monocacy. During the expedition, they don’t meet with very much opposition, so that they intend on the next day to attack the main body of the enemy which is somewhere in the vicinity of Mt. Ary. Your signal company should leave the third brigade. When the signal company gets to Keymar, it should connect up that place with the station of the first brigade; it should put in on this line a station for the artillery brigade. In addition, the signal company ought to keep up a line of communication with the outpost until the outpost is withdrawn. You, as the commanding general of this division want to notify all your troops about a certain fact which applies to every one—namely, that the staff officers should go along with the infantry brigade before mentioned, and should pick out and mark points which are to be entrenched. Your engineer battalion will start to march at the same hour as the other troops mentioned above. They are to strike then across to Middleburg and then they are to go to places which are to be picked out by the chief of staff, and when they get to those places they are to assist in the entrenching. You decide that you are going to go to Taneytown and stay there until the outpost is withdrawn. You want the field trains to start out at three o’clock in the morning, and these should go along and follow in the course which has been already designated for the respective units to which the field trains belong. These field trains are to cross the Pipe Creek and are to assemble at Woodsburg. All the other columns of the trains will start out at the same hour as the troops. The ammunition columns and the two field hospitals are to halt at Ladysburg; all the others halt at Woodsburg. You issue this order at 10 o’clock in the evening and you sign it yourself, and you send copies of this, your 10th field order of the campaign, to all officers who come to your headquarters to receive orders.