Saturday, November 21, 2009

Rule 5 - Campaign Messages


There has been some cavalry contact today, and it has highlighted how necessary it is to write your emails with care.

You will all be aware that each day is divided into three sections. Each of those sections is a move in the campaign. You will see if you look at the campaign diary that Move 1 is 0800 1 June 1813

When you write a a report or send an order you should always put on it who it is from, the date and time it is sent and the location it is sent from. You should also put who it is addressed to.

I have sent cavalry contact reports to corps commanders and then been asked what time they receive the message. You can assume that all mail is received within the same move that it is sent. However your reply will be at the start of the next move. For example if you receive a report dated 0800 1 June your reply should be 1200 1 June. In other words it is sent in Move 1 and your reply will be sent in Move 2.

If you receive a report from your cavalry commander the reply should be sent to him, and possibly new orders issued to your corps. These should be sent to me as umpire. If you want to notify your cinc, or an adjacent corps commander, these should also be sent to me, as there may be a time delay imposed. Don't forget that I am your corps chief of staff, so in fact you are giving your chief of staff a message addressed to your cinc or adjacent corps commander.

It is very important that you stick to these rules. There are a lot of email going around, and they are all either addressed to me, or copied to me. It is essential that we all understand who they are from and who they are addressed to, plus the time and place they are sent from.

If you have a general query for me then just send a normal email - no need for all of the above.

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