"The intelligence officers of the column, for some time under Colonel Wools Sampson, did their work in a most efficient manner. By various clever tactics they would locate bodies of the enemy, perhaps twenty and sometimes even fifty miles away from the camp. On their information a sudden swoop would be planned, and carried out, as a rule, successfully. On occasion the whole column would march several miles in the opposite direction to that of the object of attack. Then after the camp was formed, the horses fed, and the men about to turn in for the night, sudden orders would be given for the mounted men to march. The plans were not known generally, even by the officers, till within an hour of marching. Then the camp would be left in charge of the infantry, and the mounted men would proceed as silently as possible on their night march of from twenty to fifty miles. If guns were taken the wheels would be muffled, and every possible precaution would be taken to keep the movement secret. Through the intelligence officers knowing the roads thoroughly very few mishaps have occurred. The march was usually done in column of fours until the point was reached whence the attack was to be made. Even on the darkest nights, when it was difficult for a trooper to see his horse's head, only very rarely has a man got off the road and lost the column. After a couple of months' practice the men became adepts at the work.