Some will criticise the book in that the author is not conforming to the principles which he is enunciating. They will say, “He tells us to boil our communications to the clearest minimum while he himself deals in reiteration and illumination.” Although this objection appears just, it is nevertheless cursory. A closer view will reveal the fact that the _purpose_ and _readers_ of communications are quite different from the _purpose_ and _readers_ of a text book. One of the first principles we learn in rhetoric is to suit our treatment and diction to our _purpose_ and _readers_. Commanders await with interest and expectancy the words of a field message or order. Students await with skepticism or inertia the chapters of their lessons. Although we rightly can prescribe the severest clearness for something which is bound to be absorbed, we cannot be satisfied with one precise, colorless statement of that which is likely to be ignored. The student must be cudgeled and enticed. As a proof of the correctness of this position, this course has been tried with unexpected success upon the Cadets of the United States Military Academy. The very items which have been repeated and highly colored have proven themselves to the instructors to be the very ones which have more easily driven the points home. Grateful acknowledgment is made by the author to Lieut. Colonel L. H. Holt, Professor of English and History, who made the book possible; to Captain G. Hoisington, Infantry, for drawing a plate; to Captains J. R. N. Weaver, Infantry, R. H. Lee, Coast Artillery Corps, L. E. Moreton, Coast Artillery Corps, C. C. Benson, Cavalry, and J. H. Grant, 24th Infantry, for their valuable criticism; and to Major A. W. Chilton, Infantry, for the revision of the book in order to make it conform to the practical work passed over—by his disinterested correction the whole becomes more valuable as a text. W. A. G. CHAPTER I OUR APPROACH TO A CRITICAL MATTER All military language should be of the utmost brevity and clarity. Death and disaster are the direct results of ambiguity. Throughout all history mistaken directions and information have been the ruin of whole campaigns. Careless wording, like careless shooting, is not only ineffective but often suicidal. The object of these few lessons is to give practice in putting the language of military communication into form. It is hoped that by means of certain technical and rhetorical principles the student may gain proficiency in expressing his thoughts as he intends them and as military efficiency demands them.