be turned against his artillery. At all times the horses must be kept under cover and concealed as much as practicable, for by them alone the pieces can be moved expeditiously in advancing or to the rear.

IV. Field and company officers are specially enjoined to instruct their men under all circumstances to fire with deliberation at the feet of the enemy; they will thus avoid overshooting, and, besides, wounded men give more trouble to our adversary and disable him more than his dead, as they have to be taken from the field.

V. Officers in command must be cool and collected in action, hold their men in hand, and caution them against useless, aimless firing. The men must be instructed and required each one to single out his mark. It was the deliberate sharpshooting of our forefathers in the Revolution of 1776 and at New Orleans in 1815 which made them so formidable against the odds with which they were engaged.

VI. In the beginning of a battle, except by troops deployed as skirmishers, the fire by file will be avoided; it excites the men and renders their subsequent control difficult. Fire by wing or company should be resorted to instead. During the battle the officers and non-commissioned officers must keep the men in the ranks, enforce obedience, and encourage and stimulate them if necessary.

VII. Soldiers must not be permitted to quit the ranks to strip or rob the dead, nor even to assist in removing our own dead, unless by special permission, which shall only be given when the action has been decided. The surest way to protect our wounded is to drive the enemy from the field; the most pressing, highest duty is to win the victory.

VIII. Before and immediately after battle the roll of each company will be called, and absentees must strictly account for their absence from the ranks. To quit their standard on the battle-field under fire under the pretense of removing or aiding the wounded will not be permitted; any one persisting in it will be shot on the spot, and whosoever shall be found to have quit the field or his regiment or company without authority will be regarded and proclaimed a coward and dealt with accordingly.

IX. Commanders in action when in doubt or without orders must rapidly advance in the direction of the heaviest firing, for the art of war consists in the concentration and handling of masses, and the more rapid the attack the weaker habitually the resistance.

By command of General Beauregard:

THOMAS JORDAN,

Chief of Staff.

SPECIAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. DEPT. OF EAST AND MID. FLA., Numbers 1489.
Tallahassee, December 4, 1862.

Colonel Caraway Smith, Second Florida Cavalry, is hereby assigned to the command of the coast defenses from Deadman's Bay west to include Dickinson Bay; his headquarters to be near Camp Leon. All company officers included within the limits here indicated will report through Colonel Smith.

By order of Brigadier-General Finegan:

R. B. THOMAS,

Major and Inspector General, Actg. Asst. Adjt. General