mp many nights on objectionable
ground.

(g) However, sanitary considerations must always be given all the
weight possible consistent with the tactical requirements. Through no
fault of their own, troops occupying an unsanitary site may suffer
greater losses than in the battles of a long campaign.

=1231. Desirable camp sites.= The following conditions are desirable
for camp sites:

(a) Porous soil, covered with stout turf and underlaid by a sandy or
gravelly subsoil.

(b) High banks of rivers, provided no marshes are near.

(c) In cold weather, a southern exposure, with woods to the north to
break the cold winds.

(d) In warm weather, an exposure toward the prevailing winds, with
site moderately shaded by trees.

=1232. Undesirable camp sites.= The following conditions are
undesirable for camp sites:

(a) Clay soil, or where the ground water approaches the surface, such
sites being damp and unhealthful.

(b) Alluvial, marshy ground, and ground near the base of hills, or
near thick woods or dense vegetation are also damp.

(c) Ravines and depressions are likely to be unduly warm and to have
insufficient or undesirable currents.

(d) Proximity to marshes or stagnant water is usually damp, and has
mosquitoes, which transmit malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever.

(e) Old camp sites are dangerous, as they are often permeated by
elements of disease which persist for considerable periods.

(f) Dry beds of streams are subject to sudden freshets.

(g) In the tropics troops should not camp nearer than 500 yards to
native huts or villages because of danger from malarial infection.

=1233. Form and dimensions of camps.= The form and dimensions of camps
depend upon the tactical situation and the amount and nature of ground
available. However, in general, the form and dimensions of a
regimental or battalion camp should conform as nearly as practicable
to the diagram on the opposite page, and camps of all sizes should, as
far as possible, conform to the principles, regarding arrangement,
underlying the diagram given on the opposite page, which gives the
general form, dimensions, and interior arrangements of a camp for a
regiment of Infantry at war strength. In certain cases, particularly
in one-night halts in the presence of the enemy, camps must of
necessity be contracted, while in other cases, where a more extended
halt is contemplated and where tactical reasons will permit, better
camp sanitation may be secur