Printed instructions were given to the officer, or non-commissioned officer, who commanded a detached post, or patrole;--regular monthly returns were ordered to be made to the commanding officers of the regiment, by the officers commanding squadrons;-- to the commanding general, by the officers commanding regiments;-- and by the commanding general, to the council of war, and to the Sovereign. To prevent disputes between the military and the civil authorities, and, as far as possible, to remove all grounds of jealousy and ill-will between them; as also to preserve peace and harmony between the soldiery and the inhabitants, these troops were strictly ordered and enjoined to behave on all occasions to magistrates and other persons in civil authority with the utmost respect and deference;--to conduct themselves towards the peasants and other inhabitants in the most peaceable and friendly manner;-- to retire to their quarters very early in the evening;-- and above all, cautiously to avoid disputes and quarrels with the people of the country. They were also ordered to be very diligent and alert in making their daily patroles from one station to another;-- to apprehend all thieves and other vagabonds that infested the country, and deliver them over to the civil magistrates;-- to apprehend deserters, and conduct them from station to station to their regiments;--to conduct all prisoners from one part of the country to another;--to assist the civil magistrate in the execution of the laws, and in preserving peace and order in the country, in all cases where they should be legally called upon for that purpose;--to perform the duty of messengers in carrying government dispatches and orders, civil as well as military, in cases of emergency;-- and to bring accounts to the capital, by express, of every extraordinary event of importance that happens in the country;--to guard the frontiers, and assist the officers of the revenue in preventing smuggling;--to have a watchful eye over all soldiers on furlough in the country, and when guilty of excesses, to apprehend them and transport them to their regiments;--to assist the inhabitants in case of fire, and particularly to guard their effects, and prevent their being lost of stolen, in the confusion which commonly takes place on those occasions;--to pursue and apprehend all thieves, robbers, murderers, and other malefactors;--and in general, to lend their assistance on all occasions where they could be useful in maintaining peace, order, and tranquillity in the country.