LETTERS OF INSTRUCTION—Written under stress, but with more or less leisure. WAR DIARIES—Written under stress, but at any time, during twenty-four hours. REPORTS—Written during campaign or peace at comparative leisure. GENERAL ORDERS } SPECIAL ORDERS } CIRCULARS } Written during campaign or peace BULLETINS } concerning subjects of a routine MEMORANDA } nature. CORRESPONDENCE } EXPLANATIONS } LECTURES } It is evident that we are going to have to write messages, field orders, and operation orders when the enemy is upon us, and when every second is vital. If we must stop in that crisis and putter over the forms and methods of drafting our thoughts, how useless we shall be! When that time comes, one thing alone should occupy our conscious thought—our military idea. That will be sufficient to keep busy the most brilliant intellect. In order that we shall have, then, perfect freedom to grapple with tactical, strategical, or logistical difficulties on the field of battle, let us learn the forms and methods of messages, field orders, and operation orders as soon as possible. In so doing we shall discover two things,— (1) That messages, field orders, and operation orders have a bearing upon each other in the sequence given, and (2) That the work of framing them will give us the greatest possible practice in writing all other types of communication. THE MESSAGE.—The general term _message_ may refer to (1) any informal or short communication, (2) any directions or orders too abbreviated to be known as field orders, or (3) any piece of information transmitted in the presence of the enemy. Number 1 is too broad for treatment here. Moreover, the ready skill in composing anything of its nature should follow easily from what we are about to practice. Number 2 is to be considered in connection with field orders. Number 3, then, is the important one for us to take up now. From its definition it is already familiar to us as THE FIELD MESSAGE Since it deals entirely with the communication of information, it might be well to inquire from what sources this information is to be derived, in order that we may know something about the kind of material with which we are going to deal. Just as a stenographer acquaints herself with some of the workings of her employer’s business in order to attain the greatest amount of usefulness, so we should now look over the vast amount of territory which the contents of field messages cover in order to gain the maximum efficiency in composing these communications. Accordingly, we find that higher commanders, adjoining troops, inhabitants of the country, newspapers, letters, telegraph files, prisoners, deserters, spies, maps, and reconnaissances, are all sources of valuable military information. It is from these that we shall obtain our data.