Patrol

“ The patrol was a squad of eight privates under a sergeant or a corporal, often accompanied by an officer in the daytime. This patrol had authority to enter saloons and other places and search them for soldiers and demand their passes; every soldier on the street was halted, and if he had no pass or a poor excuse he was told to fall into the ranks and march with the patrol until it repassed or returned to the main guard, where he was turned over to the sergeant, who recorded his name, company and regiment and then locked him up. ”

“ A cavalry patrol, visible already in its lighter blue uniforms, files past. The men move out to their work on the earthworks. There is the rattle of arms as the rifles are freed from their standing stooks. ”

“ The patrol leader assembles the men detailed for the patrol. He inspects their arms and ammunition and satisfies himself that they are in suitable condition for the duty. He sees that none has any papers, maps, etc., that would be of value to the enemy if captured. He sees that their accouterments do not glisten or rattle when they move. He then repeats his instructions to the patrol and assures himself that every man understands them. He explains the signals to be used and satisfies himself that they are understood. He designates a man to take his place should he be disabled. ”

“ Everywhere beyond these lines of patrol wandered roaming war parties, attacking travellers on the trails, raiding exposed settlements, and occasionally venturing to try open battle with the small squads of armed men. ”

“ For this purpose each man must constantly keep within sight and hearing distance of the leader. A patrol moves cautiously, taking advantage of all available cover, seeking in every way to see without being seen. It halts frequently to listen and make careful observations of its surroundings. Except at night a patrol should not move on roads. Villages and inhabited places should not as a rule be entered. ”

“ 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 work of the expeditionary patrol should be taught in the same manner. The work of the visiting and connecting patrols can be taught during the exercises in advance guard and outposts. They require very little [Pg 93] effort. The company as a whole should be frequently exercised as a strong patrol. There is one form of patrol, often very strong, that is of great importance and yet its proper training is frequently neglected—the combat patrol. These patrols are always thrown out when a command deploys for action and upon their proper conduct much depends. ”

“ Or go out with a piece of chalk and draw the patrol sign on walls, gateposts, pavements, lamp-posts, trees, etc., every here and there, and let the patrol hunt you by these marks. Patrols should wipe out all these marks as they pass them for tidiness, and so as not to mislead them for another day's practice. ”

“ The larger the patrol the greater the probability of the enemy seeing it. On the other hand, if it is too small, it will not have sufficient members to send in important information and continue operations. Captain Waldron in his book, "Scouting and Patrolling," recommends a patrol of a leader and six selected men for ordinary reconnaissance. This number makes it possible for the patrol leader to place a man out on each flank, a man in advance, two to remain with him and one to remain in the rear as the get-away man. The officer who sends out the patrol determines its strength. ”

“ Every member of a patrol should notice for himself the direction taken and all landmarks that are passed, and every man should keep his eyes and ears open all the time. Before leaving an outpost position or other place to which it is to return, the patrol commander should "co-ordinate" himself—he should see where he is with respect to certain mountains, high buildings and other prominent objects, and after the patrol has left, he should frequently turn his head around and see what the starting point looks [Pg 278] like from where he is. ”

“ Patrol duty, for instance, and the isolated tasks that take patrols of three and four men to farmhouses where the milk is good and one is invited—yes, invited!—to pick fruit from the trees—what infantryman knows anything of joys like these? Assuredly it is a good thing that one chose to serve in the cavalry. ”

“ There's a creepy kind of excitement about patrol work which makes it fascinating. If there's any light at all, you never know who's drawing a bead on you. If there's no light, you never know what you're going to bump into at the next step. It's very largely hands-and-knees' work, and our chaps just revel in it. My first, as you know, landed me in the Boche trenches; and that's by no means a very uncommon thing either, though it ought never to happen if you have a good luminous-faced compass and the sense to refer to it often enough. My second patrol was a bit more successful. ”

“ In the following cases a patrol should be employed: When information has to be sent in at intervals; when it is desired to capture prisoners; when concealment is deemed impossible; when the reconnaissance is to be extended over such a period of time that relief of scouts will be necessary; when an urgent mission has been assigned and it is necessary to push through the enemy’s covering troops.
“In some cases it may be advisable to employ a patrol for the first part of the reconnaissance and at a certain point break up into scouting parties of a single scout or pair of scouts. ”

“ The patrol commander as he goes out must fix these rallying places, usually one is enough over the whole of a patrol’s beat, and they should be outside the outpost line. Have the patrols moved so that on their beats they may meet each other once or twice, and use the sign to reply when challenge is made. As a second practice, direct one of the meeting patrols to consider itself hostile, and let the commander of the other patrol excogitate how he would deal with men who did not stand fast on being told to halt and could not give the countersign. ”

“ Troops were sometimes made use of in a half-hearted sort of way to patrol the most infested localities, but the simple remedy of maintaining a properly paid and equipped police was never tried: the only expedient that the wisdom of the age could suggest was the offering of rewards to all and sundry to encourage the apprehending of highwaymen. ”

“ Patrol leaders, usually noncommissioned officers, are selected for their endurance, keen eyesight, ability to think quickly and good military judgment. They should be able to read a map, make a sketch and send messages that are easily understood. Very important patrols are sometimes lead by officers. The leader should have a map, watch, field glass, compass, message blank and pencils. ”

“ Now, a listening patrol, which is what I began [Pg 318] to tell you about, is a patrol generally consisting of four men, under an officer, which creeps out on No Man's Land during the night. By approaching near the enemy trenches, listening with their ears to the ground, the men can hear if there is any one at work under them. The earth—as you ought to know, being a telephonist—is a good conductor of sound, and if there's any tricky business going on, a listening patrol can find it out. ”

“ N. C. O. and men should be assigned to patrol duty by roster or as volunteers. In the former case, if there is [23] reason to think that a patrol has not done its best to secure information, the same men should be sent out again.
32.—Sentinels should know about patrols.
Neighboring companies should be notified of the departure, route and probable time of return of patrols. If several patrols are sent out at the same time they should know one another's itinerary.
33.—Dress and equipment of patrols. ”

“ Corporal James: I want to get my patrol up to that small woods near the Mills' farm, but I hardly expect to be able to get them up to that point without their being seen. In any event, I want them well back from the road where they can lie down and not be seen by the enemy when he passes.
Captain: You succeed in collecting your patrol in the woods without their being seen, and you see four foot soldiers in the road at the entrance to the land. One man starts up the lane, the others remaining on the road. ”

“ Every Company in the Battalion is. (Boche patrols, one gathers, hardly ever include an officer.)
With us, it is decided during the afternoon just what we are going to do that night in the patrol line, and the officer whose turn it is chooses his own men and N.C.O.'s. And within limits, you know, "the Peacemaker" lets us work out our own plans pretty much as we like, providing there's no special thing he wants done. ”

“ Figure 1 gives some examples of various ways of forming patrols. These are merely examples for the purpose of giving a general idea of the arrangement of the men. In practice common sense must dictate to the patrol leader the best formation in each case. ”

“ The patrol which first sees the other wins. This is signified by the patrol leader holding up his patrol flag for the umpire to see, and sounding his whistle. A patrol need not keep together, but that patrol wins which first holds out its flag, so it is well for the scouts to be in touch with their patrol leaders by signal, voice, or message. ”

“ Patrolling can not be learned merely by reading books nor by work indoors. Thoroughness comes only by actually going out in the country and acting as a patrol.
In carrying out this idea the following scheme is recommended:
Let four or more men and a noncommissioned officer act as a patrol. They assemble at a certain time, at a convenient point on some country road. An officer, whom we will call Captain A, acts as the director; the noncommissioned officer, whom we will call Sergeant B, acts as patrol leader; and the others (Privates C, D, E, etc.) act as members of Sergeant B's patrol. ”

“ We must give the enemy’s patrol credit for being on the alert and for having such a knowledge of tactics that he will do the reasonably proper thing. If he sees one member of our patrol, the difficulty of avoiding him will be doubly increased. ”

“ If the patrol is part of the advance guard, it seizes the mayor and postmaster of the place and turns them over to the commander of the vanguard with the papers seized.
(d) While searching a village sentinels are placed at points of departure to prevent any of the inhabitants from leaving. Tall buildings and steeples are ascended and an extensive view of the surrounding country obtained.
(e) At night a village is more cautiously approached by a small party than by day. The patrol glides through back alleys, across gardens, etc., rather than along the main street. ”

“ It is, however, true that the art of sending a few, but good reports, and of sending them at the right time requires, in the leader of the patrol, sound tactical judgment, and a training that is nowadays but seldom obtained. ”

“ Advance guard rencontre
The point is but a patrol with a special mission. The flanking groups are reconnoitering and scouting patrols but they involve some new features. When a rencontre engagement occurs on the march one of the first things the commander wants to know is the strength of the enemy and his location; if deployed, where is his line? Where its flank? If not deployed, what is he doing? As the advance party deploys and pushes on, these flanking groups have the best opportunity to observe and by reconnaissance to gain valuable information. ”

“ There is an objection in capturing them that he will have to send one or two men to take them to camp. The patrol is placed as described above so as to have the two men opposite each of the enemy, except for Sergeant Jones, who is alone. By thus covering each man of the hostile patrol by two of our men, they will at once see the folly of an effort to escape and no shot need be fired. One man is holding the horses. ”

“ If messages are to be sent back, the patrol must be strong enough to furnish the probable number of messengers without reducing the patrol to less than two men. If hostile patrols are likely to be met and must be driven off, the patrol must be strong. ”

“ Describe briefly the formation of your patrol while it is moving in the dark.
Sergeant Allen: One man will lead. A second man will follow about fifteen yards in rear of him. I will follow the second man at the same distance with three more men, and the last man will be about twenty yards in rear of me. All will have bayonets fixed, loaded and pieces locked. One short, low whistle will mean, Halt, two short whistles will mean, Forward, and the word "Sandy" will be the countersign by which we can identify each other. ”

“ As not unfrequently the safety, but also the attainment of the object for which the Patrol was sent out, depends upon its not being seen by the Enemy, before the Patrol has discovered him, it is of the utmost importance to instruct the men at the head very accurately, they must not merely be satisfied with looking before them, but look at the tracks of the cross-roads very minutely, and mount every hill with caution, &c. ”

“ I was once upon this guard, it was in the spring, after the snow had gone off the ground; myself and another young man took for our tour of duty to patrol upon a certain road during the night. About midnight or a little after, our guard being then at the farmer's house, which was the farthest back from the water's side of any of the houses we occupied; this distance caused some of our sentinels to be three miles from the guard. We patroled from the guard to the farthest sentries which, were two, (or in military phrase, a double sentinel,) who were standing upon a bridge. ”