The English of military communications

by William Addleman Ganoe

(4) The Defense Order

2.—You are Major General Standish. You have just received word that the enemy to which you are opposed has been very heavily reenforced and has now about two divisions in the town of Taneytown. Your main army is not going to leave until the 19th, and then it will get as far as Marshall probably. You are in command of the 21st division of the 8th corps, and you are south of Emmitsburg on the 17th day of May, 1945. You decide that you can’t do anything else but take up a defensive position. You accordingly want to make your division occupy a position extending from McKee Knob to the northeast. You want the second brigade, which is going to be reenforced by the first cavalry and also by the 2d battalion, 1st field artillery to cover this movement, to take up a defensive position. General Calhoun of the second brigade has to put in place of the infantry of his brigade on the southern line of outpost, certain cavalry patrols. These cavalry patrols will come from two corps which have been sent to General Calhoun, or at least have been ordered to report to him at Motters at one o’clock in the morning. General Calhoun should relieve the outpost of the third brigade at two o’clock in the morning, and of the first at three o’clock in the morning. The first brigade, after its outpost is relieved, should immediately take up the march, going up the road which runs through Emmitsburg and Liberty Hall School House. It should halt when it gets northeast of 656. General Calhoun has to be placed in command in order to carry out his part of the situation as to certain other troops—in fact, the 2d battalion of the 1st field artillery, and the 1st cavalry, should now become a part of his command. The 2d battalion of the 1st field artillery is at the northeastern outskirts of the town of Emmitsburg, and the 1st cavalry has its headquarters at Fairplay; he will begin to command these troops at two o’clock in the morning. You write, at 11 o’clock at night, your sixth field order and send copies by Lieut. Fright to Generals Byrd, Carr, Dale, and to Colonel Fink and Captain Hervey. You read the message off to your staff and report by telegraph to army headquarters what you have done. You decide to have your third brigade, after this outpost is relieved, march by way of Emmitsburg from Four Points. Then the brigade is to march by the road just east of McKee Knob to a position half a mile north of 587; there the brigade will halt. General Calhoun should delay the crossing of the river by the enemy. He should do this as much as he is able, but he should not become too closely engaged with the enemy. You decide that you will be at Emmitsburg until after 5 o’clock in the morning; then you are going to be at Liberty Hall School House. The signal company will take up what lines it has laid down after two o’clock in the morning. Then one-half of the company will report to Brigadier General Calhoun, and the remainder of the signal company will proceed to join the 3d brigade. You want your entire command to know that there is to be on no occasion any unnecessary noise and that this noise is to be avoided at all hazards. You do not wish a bugle call to be sounded before the sun rises.

3.—On the 4th of June, 1964, you are Major General Boswell in command of the first division of the fourth army corps. Your division is west of Gettysburg. You hear that the enemy in your front is at Cashtown and has been heavily reenforced. The troops for these reenforcements have come from his main army. This gives you the idea that you had better take up a defensive position; you had better take up this position astride the road which you now are on and you must hold this position throughout the day. Your third brigade should start right away to make preparations for the defense. They should take up a line in their defense preparations extending from somewhere east of Seven Stars, and should continue this line to the southwest for about three-quarters of a mile. The first cavalry should send two platoons to report to the Major who commands the engineer battalion near Moonsburg. These should be sent if the enemy advance in force, and they should be sent with the patrol on your right flank. The main body of this cavalry should patrol the left of your line to cover it. The 2d brigade will prepare for defense a line extending from near Seven Stars northwest. It should extend this line until it reaches the farm road which crosses the ridge. The 1st brigade will be the reserve. They are going to be under your direct orders; they should therefore remain midway between Knoxburg and 597. There is a road fork there where they should stay. The engineer battalion will go at once and prepare the high ground southwest of Moonsburg for defense, and in this defense which they will make at this point, they are to act as a right flank guard. The ambulance companies will be held near the north end of Herr Ridge. You have a second field hospital which you have established at Gettysburg and you want it to stay there. You want your first, third, and fourth field hospitals at the western outskirts of Gettysburg. You want these first, third, and fourth field hospitals to assemble by the road somewhere there. Company A of your signal corps you decide to have lay certain lines. All these lines should go from the position of the reserve to the second field artillery, and on this line there should be a station so that the commander of the second brigade could cut in, and then Company A also should lay a line from the first field artillery to the reserve. On this line also, the commander of the third brigade should have a station where he can go. The signal company also ought to arrange to have receiving stations for flag signals for the engineer battalion, and ought to do the same thing for the cavalry on the left flank. Two wagon companies of small arms ammunition should be held near 585, and another wagon company of artillery ammunition near 587. You are going to be at Division Headquarters at 597. Your second field artillery should set out at once to the road leading southwest about half a mile from Moonsburg; it should move around the Moonsburg road to do this. It should then go by this road, which leads southwest, to an intersection of that road to the next farm road. The Colonel of the second field artillery should prepare a position in this vicinity which would be capable of supporting the entire line of defense when this line was attacked. The first field artillery should go about half a mile south of this camp; it should proceed around by the road parallel to the Chambersburg road, and should go as far as a point one mile south of Seven Stars. When it gets there it should select and prepare a position to support the defense. You want all the other trains which you have not mentioned not to move out from where they are, but want them to be ready to move in any direction at your command. You know that your main army is going to attack the weaker hostile force, which is in its front, on the very morning your order is issued. You also know that if your own army is successful in this attack, it will send you later some reenforcements if you really need them. You write this order at twenty minutes of five in the morning. You send copies of this, your sixth field order, since the beginning of the campaign, to all officers who have been sent under your order to receive them.

(5) Retreat Order

4.—On May the 2d, 1919, at 4 a. m., you wish copies of this your 12th field order since the beginning of the year sent to the commanders of the first brigade, the artillery brigade, and the 10th cavalry by Lieut. Alber; to the commanders of the second brigade, the engineer battalion, the signal company, and the chief surgeon by Captain Cutts; to the commander of the third brigade, and to Major Quincy by Sgt. Donohue. Your name is Major General Slump. You are in command of the second division of the third army corps. Your division is at Platte City, Missouri. There are two divisions of the enemy who are coming down against Platte City from the north. You know this to be reliable information, and you know, also, that one division of the enemy went into camp last night before you found out that the outposts of that division were six miles north of Tracy on the road that runs through Tracy and Severn. The other division, you know, camped six miles further to the north. You give, in your order, the direction that the first brigade is to take up a position on the west end of the farm road which runs west from Nile. You want this brigade to be prepared to make all sorts of resistance—in fact, you want it to delay the enemy’s advance, and to hold this position until you order it to retire further. You decide really that your whole division should go into a position west of the Platte river. Your idea is that it should hold back the enemy there, and should hold it back sufficiently until the trains can be withdrawn. When the trains are all withdrawn, then you ought to be able to make an orderly retreat in the general direction of the Nile. At the crack of dawn the next day, you figure that the cavalry ought to begin going out and looking for the enemy with all possible speed and vigilance. And then, too, you think that the cavalry ought to look out especially for your left flank. Your second brigade should start out at ten minutes to five the next morning. It should go to “E” and should close up off the road near “E,” and should march by the B-D road. This brigade is to be the second line and it should take up such a position and be in such a state as to hold back any movement of the enemy which should come in this direction. If it is going to be necessary, this second brigade ought to cover the troops of the first line who are withdrawing. The engineer battalion should be ready to march out at half past four; it ought to follow immediately behind the artillery brigade until the engineer battalion gets somewhere beyond Tracy. The signal company will be ready to march at twenty-five minutes of five and to follow the battalion of engineers until the signal company gets to the southeast corner of Tracy. The advance should move out in this way: the supply trains, the ammunition columns, the bridge train, and the field hospital will march at a quarter of four and they should march toward Leavenworth. They should go by the road that runs two miles east of Platte City through 56 and 54. The field train of the first brigade will clear “15” at 4 o’clock. The field train of the second brigade, the engineer battalion, the signal company, ambulance companies, and division headquarters, in the order named, will move out toward 56 at half past five in the morning. These trains just enumerated will follow the division trains. The baggage of the third brigade, and the artillery brigade will proceed to Leavenworth and will go by the road which runs through 56 and 54. The baggage will go any prescribed distance as far as 50; during this move it will follow the third brigade. You want Major Quincy to be put in charge of all the division trains—in fact, you want him to be put in charge of all the trains that join his column, and you want him to regulate the march. You want messages sent to you between five o’clock in the morning and the time of the withdrawal of the first line to the small orchard which is between 13 and 15. After that time you want messages sent to you at “12.” One section of your artillery ammunition, and one section of your small arms ammunition are to be at a point between 50 and 52 at six o’clock in the morning. All the other sections of the ammunition column will be on the road between Alexander and “50” after one o’clock in the morning. The ambulance companies will march at 5:30 a. m., and park by the road near “B.” The road fork at “14” will be the collecting station for the slightly wounded. The artillery brigade will get into position as follows: one regiment about one mile north of “15,” the other somewhere near a mile north on the road 1,100 yards northwest of 13. The artillery command should open fire as soon as the enemy is seen anywhere, or, in any strength, at any time.

(6) Pursuit Order

5.—You are Major General Jervey in command of the 12th division 6th corps. You have just defeated the enemy, and you have defeated him so badly that he is retreating in great disorder in the direction of Gettysburg. You are near Cashtown when you issue your 12th field order of the campaign. It is twenty minutes to four in the afternoon, June 12, 1925, when you issue to your brigade commanders, and to Lt. Col. Miles, Colonel Forse, Major Good, and Captain Harrow copies of your order. You decide to pursue the enemy without any delay. You want your second brigade, which is now without the 6th infantry which ordinarily belongs to that brigade, to reform itself, and you want the second brigade at half past four to follow the third brigade in the general direction of Gettysburg. The third brigade, which is under the command of Brigadier General Dunn, you think ought to advance at once. You are going to reenforce it, however, with the second infantry, the second field artillery, and the first cavalry. The third brigade ought, by all reasonable surmise, to drive the enemy inside of Gettysburg or even beyond Gettysburg. After the third brigade with this reenforcement has done so, it ought to seize the whole of the McPherson Ridge and hold it. Two companies from the second brigade ought to be detailed to report to the division surgeon there. They should assist him in policing all the field. You are going to be at Seven Stars as soon as you can get there and you are going to start at five o’clock. All but one squadron of the first cavalry will move out by the north of Gettysburg. You plan that it shall be the first cavalry’s object to interrupt communication and delay traffic on the railroad there, and then it ought to reconnoiter in the general direction of the east. The first brigade you think ought to follow the first field artillery. The first brigade you figure should select two companies from its organization and detail them to report to the division surgeon. Those two companies should assist in policing all the battle-field. The first field artillery will follow the second brigade: this regiment should detail an officer and thirty men, and this officer and thirty men ought to do the same thing as the two companies from the first brigade were detailed to do. The division will have entire charge of the policing of the field. A field hospital ought to be established at Cashtown. Cars will be available for the division surgeon by five o’clock at Ortanna. The evacuation of the wounded, therefore, should be through Ortanna. The whole of the first battalion of engineers will report to the division surgeon and go under his orders.