f
food and shelter in open country, as opposed to ordinary housing (see
CAMPING-OUT). The shelter of troops in the field has always been of the
greatest importance to their well-being, and from the earliest times
tents and other temporary shelters have been employed as much as
possible when it is not feasible or advisable to quarter the troops in
barracks or in houses. The applied sense of the word "camp" as a
military post of any kind comes from the practice which prevailed in the
Roman army of fortifying every encampment. In modern warfare the word is
used in two ways. In the wider sense, "camp" is opposed to "billets,"
"cantonments" or "quarters," in which the troops are scattered amongst
the houses of towns or villages for food and shelter. In a purely
military camp the soldiers live and sleep in an area of open ground
allotted for their sole use. They are thus kept in a state of
concentration and readiness for immediate action, and are under better
disciplinary control than when in quarters, but they suffer more from
the weather and from the want of comfort and warmth. In the restricted
sense "camp" implies tents for all ranks, and is thus opposed to
"bivouac," in which the only shelter is that afforded by improvised
screens, &c., or at most small _tentes d'abri_ carried in sections by
the men themselves. The weight of large regulation tents and the
consequent increase in the number of horses and vehicles in the
transport service are, however, disadvantages so grave that the
employment of canvas camps in European warfare is almost a thing of the
past. If the military situation permits, all troops are put into
quarters, only the outpost troops bivouacking. This course was pursued
by the German field armies in 1870-1871, even during the winter
campaign.

Circumstances may of course require occasionally a whole army to
bivouac, but in theatres of war in which quarters are not to be depended
upon, tents must be provided, for no troops can endure many successive
nights in bivouac, except in summer, without serious detriment to their
efficiency. In a war on the Russo-German frontier, for instance,
especially if operations were carried out in the autumn and winter,
tents would be absolutely essential at whatever cost of transport. In
this connexion it may be said that a good railway system obviates many
of the disadvantages attending the use of tents. For training purposes
in peace time, _standing camps_ are formed. Thes