O. O. Ellis

“ Since success in battle is the thing at which we are driving in all military training, it is common sense to prepare a machine that will do the business. Every officer and noncommissioned officer has got to know how to play the game. A good private makes a good corporal, a good corporal makes a good sergeant, a good sergeant makes a good lieutenant--a good colonel makes a good brigadier general--all exactly as in civil life.
Prussia has had her greatest military success when she devoted her energies to manœuvers and to the solution of tactical problems. ”

“ Learn to keep your piece at your shoulder while you pull the bolt back and push it home. Learn to make the fewest possible motions of your body in working it. To pull a bolt back and push it forward seems to be a simple thing to do. It is simple. But when you are actually firing at the target, experience tells you that you will have more trouble and a greater collection of hard luck stories to amuse your friends with than you ever imagined possible, unless you have had plenty of practice.
To squeeze a trigger seems to be a simple thing to do. ”

“ A soldier has little business attacking or defending anything in this day unless he is an athlete, unless he is skilled in the technique of manœuver, unless he is a good shot, unless he knows the value of many features of the terrain (which means the nature of the country--its hills, rivers, mountains, depressions, etc.--considered from a military point of view) , unless he is disciplined to a splendid degree, and unless his training has imbued him with an irresistible desire to push forward, to get at his opponent. ”

“ When your side has fire superiority, it not only can advance upon such a position but it can do so without ruinous losses, and with hope of success.
To obtain this fire superiority it is necessary to produce a heavier volume of accurate fire than your opponent can produce. We can get a proper conception of the ideas involved by imagining two firemen in a fight armed with hose. One has a larger hose and a greater water pressure than the other. All else being equal, we can foresee clearly who will be the victor and who will be defeated. ”

“ A company that cannot start firing or stop firing, that cannot fire faster or slower, that cannot distribute equally its fire over an opposing target, that cannot switch its fire from one place to another and make bull's-eyes, would be as unsuccessful in battle to-day as Harvard's football team would be, without practice, in its final game with Yale. The team work in no department of athletics is as necessary or vital as that of a military force, the teamwork of a military machine. ”

“ When we go from gallery practice to the target range, where we fire the service rifle with the service charge, we find a great difference in the recoil of the rifle and in the sound. The good Lord has made our muscles and nervous system to react automatically at danger or anything connected with it. That is probably why we shudder and close our eyes when a door is slammed very near to us. But sound, unless we get too close, does not hurt any one, and we should steel our nerves to remember that fact when we are firing. ”

“ You have opportunities for collecting ammunition, arranging wires for communication, establishing stations for the wounded. Troops in motion are easier to see. You are not called upon for as much physical strain as the attacking troops. You are less fatigued. Your machine guns are better concealed and the gunners know the ranges better than those of the attack.
But it is most distressing to a man on the defense to see the enemy, regardless of everything he can do, advance step by step. He begins to question within himself the efficacy of his fire, which is to doubt his own ability. ”

“ You have no business commanding unless you have first learned how to obey. The finer the training and caliber of an officer, the more sensitive is he to the wishes of his commanding officer, however, informally they may be expressed.
The ideal officer is a Christian gentleman who has no task too small to faithfully perform, whose country's welfare is above his own, ready for any sacrifice great or small; whose thoughtfulness and efficiency last twenty-four hours a day, whose relations with his superiors are based on modesty, cheerfulness, and loyalty. ”

“ Don't let your force be divided up into detachments and roam all over the country. This is a very common error with beginners. Avoid dispersion. Keep your troops together.
You cannot fire on the battlefield with the same accuracy as you do on the target range. Fear dilates the pupil of the eye. Men cannot shoot well when they are under great excitement. Don't count on killing too many of the enemy with a carload of ammunition. ”

“ That gives you opportunities to fool him that he does not so fully enjoy. Your commander can elect to attack any point of the defensive line. Your dead and wounded--always a demoralizing element--are left behind. Your target is stationary. Your side is closing in. The enemy is straining every nerve to fire faster and more effectively, and still your side is closing in. There is the thrill of motion.
To attack, you will usually require a greater number of troops than the defense. ”

“ The enemy is on the defense. He is in a number-one, first-class trench. It is constructed with steel, concrete, and sandbags. It has all the improvements that science can devise. Your business is to attack and crush the enemy. How can you advance over exposed ground against such a position? The man behind all those modern improvements has got to stick his head up more or less when he fires. If the volume and rate and accuracy of your fire is greater than his, he will grow timid about the matter. ”

“ It is impossible to lay down any hard-and-fast rule governing the formation and conduct of the operations of a patrol. Each situation will have to be worked out by itself. The patrol should assume the general formation of a column of troops on the march; that is, it will have an advance guard, a main body, flankers and a rear guard. These several elements may each be represented by only one man. ”

“ The most thrilling experience you will have at a training camp will probably come when you step up to the firing line on the target range to fire your first shot. The great majority of new men grow pale, become nervous, lose their calm and poise, while they are on the firing line. ”

“ A husband and father provides for the protection of his family whether at home or abroad. So does the military commander for his command, whether it is an army or a squad; whether it is in camp, on the march, in battle, advancing upon or retreating from the enemy. The end desired is the same in all cases. A study of all the measures adopted by the successful generals in history shows that the means are not very different.
A body of troops in camp is protected (made secure) by the use of groups placed between the enemy and the camp. ”

“ A guide is a noncommissioned officer or a private upon whom the company regulates its march.
It is not difficult for an inexperienced man learn, with a little practice, the duties and the correct positions of a guide. Remember the rule of thumb, The guide and the file closers are on the opposite flanks when the company is in column of squads. In squads right about it would be ridiculous for the file closers to move from one flank to another. Guides are permitted and supposed look around to see if they are in their proper places; most new men are timid about this. ”

“ A clear conception on your part of what drills are disciplinary in character and what discipline really is, will help you to become a disciplined soldier. Drills executed at attention are disciplinary exercises and are designed to teach precise and soldierly movements and to inculcate that prompt and subconscious obedience which is essential to proper military control. Hence, all corrections should be given and received in an impersonal manner. Never forget that you lose your identity as an individual when you step into ranks; you then become merely a unit of a mass. ”

“ The active defense seeks to attack the other side at some stage of the engagement. It seeks to win and only the offensive wins. It is often necessary for a commander to assume the defensive (active) either voluntarily, in order to gain time, or to secure some advantage over the enemy; or involuntarily, as in a meeting engagement where the enemy gets a start in deployment for action or where the enemy's attack is impetuous and without sufficient preparation. ”

“ If there is any one that may harm his family it is his duty to find out and dispose of him.
In the advance guard we have exactly the same general scheme as with outposts. Far advanced to the front (and often to the sides or flanks) we have small groups (called, when considered collectively, the "advance party") whose business it is to inform us of the presence of the enemy. Next we have a large group ("support") to assist these small and rather helpless ones in advance in case of difficulty. And last we have a still larger group ("reserve") that may be called upon in great emergencies. ”

“ Having issued the order, let us now observe the progress of the attack. You are probably three or four thousand yards from the enemy. His position is invisible. His artillery has opened fire. Your artillery is replying. The troops must advance cautiously over exposed ground. They are not firing. They are not deployed for action (in battle line) . They are waiting to get within as short a distance of the enemy's line as possible, for their ammunition is limited; and after troops are actually launched in the attack, control over them, for ordinary purposes, is practically lost. ”

“ The main object in placing obstacles in front of a defensive position is to delay the enemy while he is under the defenders' fire, and thus make his advance as difficult as possible. To accomplish this result they must be so placed that the enemy must cross them. They must not interfere with the defenders' view or fire; they must not be easily destroyed by artillery fire; they must not afford concealment to the enemy; and they must be so made that they will not obstruct a counter attack on the part of the defenders. ”

“ It is your business not to let him get fire superiority, and if he does do so to take it away from him when he withdraws parts of his rifles to advance by rushing. Fight each rush. If your defense is active and you permanently stop the enemy's advance by gaining fire superiority, and he cannot regain it, even though he uses up his supports, his firing line will become confused and demoralized and it will be the psychological time for the proper commander to launch his counter attack. ”

“ If you are on the battle-field and propose to crush the other side (defeat the enemy) , you have got to do one thing: you have got to make your rifle fire better than his, and you have got to keep it better. ”

“ An error of one one-hundredth of an inch in the amount of front sight seen, at the instant the gun is fired, will cause you to completely miss a man 500 yards away. Hence, the eye must be trained unless the firer has at all times a mental picture of how the sights and the bull's-eye look when properly aligned. You should acquire this mental picture during your aiming exercises and by the time you go on the range you should have the eye so trained that you will focus it properly on your sights and target without mental effort. ”

“ In large commands troops from all arms are generally detailed, the proportion from each being determined by the tactical situation; but commanders detail no more troops than the situation actually requires, as an excessive amount of such duty rapidly impairs the efficiency of a command. As a general rule troops detailed on the service of security vary in strength from one twentieth to one third of the entire command, but seldom exceed the latter. ”