Written with the cavalry in mind, this manual governed how cavalrymen performed vidette duty down to little details such as how many horses needed to be bridled at a given time.  Everybody trooper should read it before the Picket Post.
 
One of several manuals issued to every company in the Army, Instructions for Officers on Outpost and Patrol Duty was published by the War Department beginning in 1861.  Printed in the tens of thousands, original booklets can be found with a variety of colored wrappers ranging from white to yellow to pink to brown.  This facsimile reproduction includes digitally cleaned text formatted into folded signatures and hand stitched together as per the original, with paper wrappers glued on.
 
These will be mailed to you so make sure to include your address!  Ignore the automatic "Event Delivery" reference at checkout.