Marcio_Osorio

1. "The general commanding his division was not content to obey orders blindly without knowing what was in his front, even when his command was not on detached service [...]" -- The Civil War Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce, by Ambrose Bierce, Ernest Jerome Hopkins, p. 4.
2. "In surveying the mass with a view to determining that point, his attention was arrested by what seemed to be a ring of shining metal [...]" -- Ibidem, p. 9.

I transcribed both passages from the same book, a book which I have never read BTW. Can you E-Prime them for me?

Karen

A shining piece of metal caught his attention.

Not content to obey orders, the general commanding his division would also order his front men during detached service.

Marcio_Osorio

Thank you very much, Karen. The rendering reads clearlier (a lot better, whatever adjectivation this ESL speaker can produce in English.)

Karen

Glad to have helped.