CONVOY, in military affairs, a detachment of troops employed to guard any supply of men, money, ammunition, provisions, stores, &c. conveyed in time of war, by land or sea, to a town, or army. A body of men that marches to secure any thing from falling into the enemy’s hand, is also called a _convoy_. An officer having the command of a convoy, must take all possible precautions for its security; and endeavor, before its march, to procure some good intelligence concerning the enemy’s out-parties. And as the commanding officer of the place from which the convoy is to march, and those of such other places as he is to pass by, are the most proper persons to apply to for assistance; he must therefore take such measures as will enable him to keep up a constant intercourse with them. The conducting a convoy is one of the most important and most difficult of all military operations. CONVOYS. A waggon with four horses occupies about sixteen paces; a mile will therefore hold about 117 waggons: but allowing a short distance between each waggon in travelling, a mile may be said to contain 100 waggons. Waggons in convoy may travel from one to two miles per hour, according to the roads and other circumstances. A great object in convoys is to preserve the horses as much as possible from fatigue. For this purpose, if the convoy amounts to many hundred waggons, they must be divided into divisions of not more than 500 each. Should it consist of thousands, it will be adviseable to divide them into _grand_ divisions, and then again into subdivisions of 500 each: by this means, and the time of departure being calculated by the following rules, each division may remain at rest, till just before its time of movement; and which will prevent the necessity of the latter part of a large convoy being harrassed for a considerable time before its turn to move. Rule 1. _To find the time in which any number of waggons may be driven off_: Divide the number of waggons by 100, and multiply by the time of travelling one mile. Rule 2. _To find the time in which any number of waggons will drive over any number of miles_: To the time they take in driving off, add the time any one of the waggons takes to travel the distance. The different divisions of the convoy should be numbered, and obliged each day to change the order of their marching. Whenever the progress of a train of waggons is arrested by the breaking down of any one of them, or other delay, all the waggons in the rear of the stoppage, should immediately drive up into the first open space, to as great a number as the open space will hold; this keeps the convoy together and better under the care of the escort.