While watching Ken Burns' documentary "Civil War", I learned that Confederate General John Bankhead Magruder deceived Union Gen. George McClellan by marching his men past the same position numerous times, giving the impression that Magruder's army was larger than his.
It affected McClellan so much that he asked for reinforcements, not knowing that he actually outnumbered them.
According to the Ken Burns docu, Magruder used to stage amateur theatre productions to pass the time when on tedious garrison duty.
Sometimes illusions can also create favorable results. :)
