A night march, being slow and fatiguing to horses and men, is seldom undertaken unless as a forced march to seize a position or to surprise an enemy by attacking him at dawn. In a forced march frequently the gait, if the footing is favorable, and always the number of hours in the saddle, are increased. Under favorable conditions a rate of 50 miles in 24 hours for three or four days can be maintained. During such a march, in addition to the usual hourly halts, a halt of 2 hours is made toward the end of the first half of each day's march, during which bits are removed, horses unsaddled, watered, fed, and their legs hand rubbed; the rate should be about 5 miles an hour, exclusive of halts. Under very favorable conditions a single march of 100 miles can be made in from 24 to 30 hours. During a march of this character, in addition to the usual hourly halts, halts of 2 hours are made toward the end of the first and second thirds of the march, during which bits are removed, the horses unsaddled, watered, fed, and their legs hand rubbed; the rate of march should be from 5 to 6 miles an hour, exclusive of halts. CHAPTER VIII. TARGET PRACTICE. =Section 1. Preliminary training in marksmanship.= Effective rifle fire is generally what counts most in battle. To have effective rifle fire, the men on the firing line must be able to HIT what they are ordered to shoot at. There is no man who can not be taught how to shoot. It is not necessary or even desirable to begin instruction by firing on a rifle range. A perfectly green recruit who has never fired a rifle may be made into a good shot by a little instruction and some preliminary drills and exercises. Before a man goes on the range to fire it is absolutely necessary that he should know-- 1. How to set the rear sight. 2. How to sight or aim. 3. How to squeeze the trigger. 4. How to hold the rifle in all positions. If he does not know these things it is worse than useless for him to fire. He will not improve; the more he shoots the worse he will shoot, and it will become more difficult to teach him. =Section 2. Sight adjustment.= Men must be able to adjust their sights correctly and quickly. An error in adjustment so small that one can scarcely see it on the sight leaf is sufficient to cause a miss at an enemy at 500 yards and over.