Blue then pounds Red’s right with his gun to the right of the farm and kills three men.  He extends his other gun to the left of the farm, right out among the trees, so as to get an effective fire next time upon the tail of Red’s gun.  He also moves up sufficient men to take possession of Red’s lost gun.  On the right Blue’s gun engages Red’s and kills one man.  All this the reader will see clearly in figure 9, and he will also note a second batch of Red prisoners—­this time they are infantry, going rearward.  Figure 9 is the last picture that is needed to tell the story of the battle.  Red’s position is altogether hopeless.  He has four men left alive by his rightmost gun, and their only chance is to attempt to save that by retreating with it.  If they fire it, one or other will certainly be killed at its tail in Blue’s subsequent move, and then the gun will be neither movable nor fireable.  Red’s left gun, with four men only, is also in extreme peril, and will be immovable and helpless if it loses another man.

Very properly Red decided upon retreat.  His second gun had to be abandoned after one move, but two of the men with it escaped over his back line.  Five of the infantry behind the church escaped, and his third gun and its four cavalry got away on the extreme left-hand corner of Red’s position.  Blue remained on the field, completely victorious, with two captured guns and six prisoners.

There you have a scientific record of the worthy general’s little affair.

V

EXTENSIONS AND AMPLIFICATIONS OF LITTLE WAR

Now that battle of Hook’s Farm is, as I have explained, a simplification of the game, set out entirely to illustrate the method of playing; there is scarcely a battle that will not prove more elaborate (and eventful) than this little encounter.  If a number of players and a sufficiently large room can be got, there is no reason why armies of many hundreds of soldiers should not fight over many square yards of model country.  So long as each player has about a hundred men and three guns there is no need to lengthen the duration of a game on that account.  But it is too laborious and confusing for a single player to handle more than that number of men.

Moreover, on a big floor with an extensive country it is possible to begin moving with moves double or treble the length here specified, and to come down to moves of the ordinary lengths when the troops are within fifteen or twelve or ten feet of each other.  To players with the time and space available I would suggest using a quite large country, beginning with treble moves, and, with the exception of a select number of cavalry scouts, keeping the soldiers in their boxes with the lids on, and moving the boxes as units. (This boxing idea is a new one, and affords a very good substitute for the curtain; I have tried it twice for games in the open air where the curtain was not