CAMP (from Lat. campus, field)

This article appears in Volume V05, Page 121 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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CAMP (from Lat. campus, field) , a

term

TERM

used more particularly in a military sense, but also generally for a temporarily organized place of food'and shelter in open country, as opposed to

ordinary

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

housing (see CAMPING-OUT). The shelter of troops in the field has always been of the greatest importance to their wellbeu'ig,l and from the earliest times tents and other temporary shelters 'have been employed as much as possible when it is not feasible or advisable tee

quarter

QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

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' artily of fortifying every encampment. In modern warfare the word is `lined in two ways. In the wider sense, '' `etYmp '' 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,anarea of open ground allotted for their sole use. They are thtls kept in a state of concentration and readiness for immediate action, and are under better disciplinary

control

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

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, Sze., or at most small tentes d'abri carried in sections by the men themselves. The

weight

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 depbnded'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 *ere carried dut 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

SYSTEM

obviates many of the disadvantages attending the use of tents. For trainin'g' purposes in peace time,

standing

STANDING

camps are formed. These 'enay be considered simply as temporary barracks. An entrenched camp' is an area, of ground occupied by, or suitable for, the camps of large bodies of troops, and protected by fortifications:
Ancient Camps.English writers use "camp" as a generic

term

TERM

for any remains of ancient military posts, irrespective of
their

special

SPECIAL

age, size, purpose, &t. Thus they include under it various dissimilar things. We may distinguish (r) Roman %`camps" (castra) of three kinds, large permanent fortresses, small permanent forts (both usually built of stone) and temporary earthen encampments (see ROMAN ARMY); (2) Pre-Roman; and (3) Post-Roman camps, such as occur on: many English hilltops. We know far too little to be able to assign these to their

special

SPECIAL

periods. Often we can say no more than that the "camp" is not Roman. But we know that enclosures fortified with earthen walls were thrown up as early as thei Bronze Age and probably earlier still, and that they continued to be built down to Norman times. These consisted of hilltops or cliff* proniontories or other suitable positions fortified with one or more lines of earthen ramparts with ditches; often attaining huge size. But the idea, of an artificial

elevation

ELEVATION

seems to have come in first with the Normans.. Their moues or earthen mbunds crowned with wooden palisades or atone towers and surrounded by an enclosure on the flat constituted a new

element

ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

in fortification and greatly aided the conquest of England. (See

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