Lieutenant Wallace: “The point must have a formation that renders it the least vulnerable to hostile fire. This means dispersion. On the other hand, the dispersion should not be so great that the commander is not able to control its operations. I should say that a patrol formation, where the men march in pairs on opposite sides of the road, would be suitable.”
The Director: “What should be the distances between the men?”
Lieutenant Wallace: “Twenty to 25 yards. That distance would provide the necessary dispersion, and at the same time there would be sufficient compactness to insure control.”
The Director: “Where will the point commander march, Lieutenant Ralston?”
Lieutenant Ralston: “He should march at the head of the point.”
The Director: “Do you agree with that statement, Captain Harvey?”
Captain Harvey: “No, sir; I do not. It seems to me that the commander should be free to go wherever he is needed. He should not be tied down to any one place.”
The Director: “I agree with you. There are other reasons why he should not habitually march at the head of the point. In the first place, the man at the head of the point must always be on the lookout for the enemy, and if the point commander is the man his whole attention will be devoted to that task and there will be very little leadership exercised in the point. Again, we do not want to take a chance on our point commander becoming a casualty unnecessarily. He has been placed in command, presumably because he is the best man fitted for the job. He knows the plans for the day’s work better than any of the other men. If he becomes a casualty on the first few shots, there may be no one to take his place without some confusion and delay. If the point commander marches a little distance back, say in the second or even third pair, he will be sufficiently close to the front to perform his duty. I prefer to have him in the second pair. Before leaving this subject of the formation of the point I would like your opinion, Captain Hughes, on the question of deploying the men in a line of skirmishers at extended intervals.”
Captain Hughes: “That might be all right after the enemy is encountered, but I would not do it on an ordinary march. In the first place, it would be rough going for the men off on the flanks of the road, and they could not keep up. If the rate of march is held down to keep abreast of them, the progress of the main body will be delayed. In the next place, if the intervals are too much extended, the point commander will not be able to control the operations and will not have his men where he wants them at the critical moment.”
The Director: “Your reasons seem to be logical and possess merit. Before going further I want to say a few words about the operations of a point.”