One phase of the military work is significant and should cause reflection. The punishment for errors in war is very severe. A leader who makes mistakes may not only pay for them with his own blood but others too may suffer with him. In war we must obey our leaders whether they are right or wrong. How great, do you suppose, are those hordes that have been sacrificed on history's battlefields to the goddess of ignorance? Napoleon says in one of his maxims, "Read and reread the campaigns of Alexander, Cæsar, Gustavus Adolphus, Turrenne, Eugene, and Frederick; take them for your model; that is the only way of becoming a great captain, to obtain the secrets of the art of war." To read more intelligently such history we should know something about solving problems in minor tactics. We must know how to solve such problems if we are to master our duties as officers. Whether, as general or corporal, you are solving a problem on a map or on the ground, your methods will be, in principle, the same. In the former case your soldiers understand thoroughly all orders and do exactly as directed. In the latter case your soldiers are human. They get tired and sick. They go in the wrong directions and get lost sometimes. One forgets, another is late, and the third misinterprets an order, etc. Here is the common-sense way in which an all-American quarterback performs his duties. He studies carefully the opposing team (enemy) by reports beforehand and on the field of the contest, to determine his weak and strong points. The latter he wishes to avoid in directing his attack. He considers his position on the field, the wind and weather, if raining, etc., and then his different plays to hit the weaker parts of the opposing line with the advantages and disadvantages of each. To his well-trained mind all this is done in a flash, but the logic and causes and effects of action are none the less present. This quarterback has analyzed the conditions of his problems, he has figured out what he is up against; that is to say, he has estimated the situation. He is now ready for a decision. He determines where he is going to strike and with what kind of a play he will do it. He gives a signal, 44--11--17--5. That is to say, he issues his orders. That is exactly the way a military man, whether he be a corporal or a general, goes about handling a problem, whether on paper or on the ground. When he goes into battle he finds the only difference is that the problem is complicated by bullets and excitement. Don't think that you are going to learn to solve problems from books alone, any more than you can learn to play tennis or build bridges on paper. You have got to get out into the country and work with actual troops. But first study map problems. Come to a decision slowly until you have had considerable practice, then write out your order with no guides or references. Then check yourself up. Common sense and simple plans are the safest guides.