Book excerpt: Excerpt from Report of the Commanding General, Department of the East: On the Field Exercises Held in Massachusetts, August 14-21, 1909 It was necessary to furnish the Commanding Generals of both sides with copies of the above statement of the general situation as early as, practicable in order that the preliminary matters concerning transportation and organization might be perfected by them well in advance of the time contemplated for the exercises. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts willingly undertook the defense of the Boston-Narragansett district and agreed to conduct all operations without assistance from these headquarters. To simplify the problem and to insure contact in the time available it was agreed that the Red commander should be restricted to a point of landing south of Boston and that up to midnight August 14, he would not advance beyond the line, Westport Mills-Acushnet-Rochester-Ware-hsm-Sagamore. Organization. The problem contemplated a hostile army afloat, properly organized and equipped for a prompt landing and a rapid advance from a temporary base. It was necessary therefore to organize the Red command in order that confusion might be avoided at the point of debarkation and that troops in proper tactical formations might march at once to camping sites. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.