mall
parties amongst the houses of a town or village, they are said to be in
cantonments, which are also called quarters or billets. Formerly this
method of providing soldiers with shelter was rarely employed on active
service, though the normal method in "winter quarters," or at seasons
when active military operations were not in progress. In the field,
armies lived as a rule in camp (q.v.), and when the provision of canvas
shelter was impossible in bivouac. At the present time, however, it is
unusual, in Europe at any rate, for troops on active service to hamper
themselves with the enormous trains of tent wagons that would be
required, and cantonments or bivouacs, or a combination of the two have
therefore taken the place, in modern warfare, of the old long
rectilinear lines of tents that marked the resting-place and generally,
too, the order of battle of an 18th-century army. The greater part of an
army operating in Europe at the present day is accommodated in
widespread cantonments, an army corps occupying the villages and farms
found within an area of 4 m. by 5 or 6. This allowance of space has been
ascertained by experience to be sufficient, not only for comfort, but
also for subsistence for one day, provided that the density of the
ordinary civil population is not less than 200 persons to the square
mile. Under modern conditions there is little danger from such a
dissemination of the forces, as each fraction of each army corps is
within less than two hours' march of its concentration post. If the
troops halt for several days, of course they require either a more
densely populated country from which to requisition supplies, or a wider
area of cantonments. The difficulty of controlling the troops, when
scattered in private houses in parties of six or seven, is the principal
objection to this system of cantonments. But since Napoleon introduced
the "war of masses" the only alternative to cantoning the troops is
bivouacking, which if prolonged for several nights is more injurious to
the well-being of the troops than the slight relaxation of discipline
necessitated by the cantonment system, when the latter is well arranged
and policed. The troops nearest the enemy, however, which have to be
maintained in a state of constant readiness for battle, cannot as a rule
afford the time either for dispersing into quarters or for rallying on
an alarm, and in western Europe at any rate they are required to
bivouac. In India, the