Part 73

To the staff officers 10 14

Open up the streets next the main street.

To the first row of batmen’s tents 10} The batmen’s tents front their horses. } To the first row of pickets for bat horses 2} 15 To the second row of ditto 10} To the second row of batmen 2} To the front of the grand sutler’s tent 10}

The grand sutler is in the rear of the colonel.

To the centre of the kitchens 15 20

The kitchens are 16 feet in diameter.

To the front of the petty sutlers 15 15

Directly in the rear of the kitchens: there are allowed 6 yards in front by 8 deep.

To the rear guard 15 15

Opens to the rear. --- --- Total depth required--Yards 253 220

If the ground on which the camp is to be formed will not, from a swamp in the rear, or any other circumstance, admit of each troop or company being formed in one row perpendicular to the front, the distribution of the front of a battalion or squadron must be more contracted than the above, and laid out as follows: Find how many perpendicular rows will be required, by dividing the number of men in the battalion or squadron by the number the ground will admit of in one row; then the number of rows being multiplied by the breadth of one in front, will give that part of the front to be occupied by the rows: and the difference between it and the whole front allowed for the battalion or squadron, will be left for the streets; which, if the streets are to be equal, must be divided by their number, to find a breadth of each; or is otherwise easily divided into streets of unequal breadths. When two guns are attached to a battalion, they are posted on the right in the following order: from the right of battalion to the centre of the first gun, four yards--from this to the second gun, 6 yards.--The muzzles of the guns in a line with the serjeants’ tents.

The subaltern of artillery, if any, in a line with the subalterns of infantry. The rear of the gunner’s tents in a line with the rear of the battalion tents.

For the proper positions for camps, see the word RECONNOITRING; and for the encampment of a park of artillery, see the word PARK.

CAMP, in military affairs, is the whole extent of ground, in general, occupied by an army pitching its tents when in the field, and upon which all its baggage and apparatus are lodged. It is marked out by the quarter-master-general, who allots every regiment its ground. The extent of the front of a regiment of infantry is 200 yards, including the two battalion guns, and depth 520, when the regiment, contains 9 companies, each of 100 private men, and the companies tents in two rows; but when the companies tents stand in one row, and but 70 private men to each row, the front is then but 155 yards. A squadron of horse has 120 yards in front, and 100 for an interval between each regiment.

The nature of the ground must also be consulted, both for defence against the enemy, and for supplies to the army. It should have a communication with that army’s garrisons, and have plenty of water, forage, fuel, and either rivers, marshes, hills, or woods to cover it. An army always encamps fronting the enemy, and generally in two parallel lines, besides a corps de reserve, about 500 yards distant from each other; the horse and dragoons on the wings, and the foot in the centre. Where, and how the train of artillery is encamped, see Park of artillery, and Encampment of a regiment of artillery, under the word ARTILLERY. Each regiment posts a subaltern’s guard at 80 yards from the colors to the officers tent, called the quarter guard, besides a corporal’s guard in the rear: and each regiment of horse or dragoons, a small guard on foot, called the standard-guard, at the same distance. The grand guard of the army consists of horse, and is posted about a mile distant towards the enemy.

In a siege, the camp is placed all along the line of circumvallation, or rather in the rear of the approaches, out of cannon-shot: the army faces the circumvallation, if there be any; that is, the soldiers have the town in their rear.

One thing very essential in the establishing a camp, and which should be particularly attended to, if the enemy is near; is, that there should not only be a commodious spot of ground at the head of the camp, where the army, in case of surprise, may in a moment be under arms, and in condition to repulse the enemy: but also a convenient field of battle at a small distance, and of a sufficient extent for them to form advantageously, and to move with facility.

The arrangement of the tents in camp, is nearly the same all over Europe, which is, to dispose them in such a manner, that the troops may form with safety and expedition.

To answer this end, the troops are encamped in the same order as that in which they are to engage, which is by battalions and squadrons; hence, the post of each battalion and squadron in the line of battle, must necessarily be at the head of its own encampment. Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, was the first who formed encampments according to the order of battle.

By this disposition, the extent of the camp from right to left, of each battalion and squadron, will be equal to the front of each in line of battle; and consequently, the extent from right to left of the whole camp, should be equal to the front of the whole army when drawn up in line of battle, with the same intervals between the several encampments of the battalions and squadrons, as are in the line.

There is no fixed rule for the intervals: some will have no intervals, some small ones, and others are for intervals equal to the front of the battalion or squadron. The most general method is, an interval of 60 feet between each battalion, and of 36 feet between each squadron.

Hence it follows, 1st, That the front line of the camp must be in a direction to face the enemy; 2dly, That at the head of the encampment of each battalion and squadron, there must be a clear space of ground, on which they may form in line of battle; and 3dly, That when the space taken up by the army is embarrassed with woods, ditches, and other obstructions, a communication must be opened for the troops to move with ease to the assistance of each other.

The camps of the Greeks and Romans were either round, square, or oval, or rather of an oblong square figure, with the sharp corners taken off; and to secure them against surprises, it was the prevailing custom to surround them with intrenchments. The camps of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes were generally round, as likewise those of the Anglo-Normans. The camps of the ancient Britons were of an oval form, composed of stakes, earth, and stones, rudely heaped together: but the practice of the present times is quite different; for the security of our camps, whose form is a rectangle, consists in being able to draw out the troops with ease and expedition at the head of their respective encampments.

CAMP of a battalion of infantry, is the ground on which they pitch their tents, &c.

The principal object in the arrangement of a camp is, that both officers and men may repair with facility and expedition to the head of the line; for which reason the tents are placed in rows perpendicular to the front of the camp, with spaces between them, called streets. The general method is, to form as many rows of tents as there are companies in the battalion; those for the private men in the front, and those for the officers in the rear. In the British service the several companies of a battalion are posted in camp, in the same manner as in the line of battle; that is, the company of grenadiers on the right, and that of light-infantry on the left; the colonel’s company on the left of the grenadiers, the lieutenant-colonel’s on the right of the light-infantry, the major’s on the left of the colonel’s, the eldest captain’s on the right of the lieutenant-colonel’s; and so on from right to left, ’till the two youngest companies come into the centre.

The battalion companies are posted two by two: that is, the tents of every two of these companies are ranged close together, to obtain, though they be fewer in number, larger and more commodious streets: the entrances of all the companies tents face the streets, except the first tent of each row belonging to the serjeants, which faces the front of the camp.

The number of tents in each perpendicular row, is regulated by the strength of the companies, and the number of men allowed to each tent, which is 5 men to 7 men: thence it follows, that a company of 60 men will require 9 to 12 tents, a company of 75 men 11 to 15 tents, and a company of 100 men 15 to 20 tents; but as it always happens, that some are on duty, fewer tents may serve in time of necessity.

When the battalion is in the first line of encampment, the privies are opened in the front, and at least 150 feet beyond the quarter-guard; and when in the second line, they are opened in the rear of that line.