the defensive in the face of a highly trained and disciplined Continental Army. Indeed, it is difficult for a soldier to realise how a Volunteer force, trained for fourteen days in the year and unacquainted with military discipline, can hope to meet on equal terms, even if superior by three to one in numbers, the pick of Continental manhood trained under an iron discipline for the minimum of two years.
Be that as it may, it is necessary to realise the difficulties to be faced, not the least of which is the question of training, for, as already pointed out, it is absolutely essential to the successful use of machine guns that the personnel should be very highly trained, and this applies to their use in enclosed country even more than elsewhere.
Although as a general principle enclosed country benefits the attacker and is disadvantageous to the defender, this is not always the case with machine guns, and provided the golden rule of "concealment, cover, and surprise" is intelligently applied, enclosed country is particularly suited for the use of machine guns in the defence.
For this purpose machine guns should be trained to work in pairs in mutual support. They must be so mounted that they can be carried by hand for considerable distances into position, and must be capable of firing from a low siting when they must be inconspicuous. If mounted, as at present, on a wheeled carriage,
