ENCAMMENT (Lat. campus, a plain) is a lodgment or home for soldiers in the field. There are intrenched camps, where an army is intended to be kept some time, protected against the enemy; flying camps, for brief occupation; camps of position, bearing rela tion to the strategy of the commander; and camps of instruction, to habituate the troops to the duties and fatigues of war.
Under CAMP has been given an account of the manner in which Roman camps were constructed. It is probable that the same general plan was adhered to until the inven tion of gunpowder. When cannon came to be used, however, a new arrangement of camp became necessary, to shield the army from long-range projectiles. Everything, indeed, relating to attack and defense, especially to the latter, is taken into account in chosing the locality of a camp. A healthy site, good water, security from floods, and plenty of fuel and forage, are the chief requisites in a good encampment.
The British army, when in the field, usually encamps by brigades or divisions, roads and paths being arranged before the troops arrive. The infantry, cavalry, and artillery are so placed as to defend each other in the event of a sudden attack. There is a chain of guards all round the spot; and the park of artillery is placed behind the troops. The sutlers and servants are in the rear of the camp, but not beyond the limits of the rear guard. The tents of the infantry are ranged in rows perpendicular to the front, each row containing the tents (q.v.) for one company. The circular tents, now much used, accommodate 15 men each. The cavalry are in like manner encamped in rows; but each circular tent accommodates only twelve men. There are streets or roads between the rows of tents, of regulated width; and the officers' tents are at a given distance behind those of the men: the subalterns' tents being nearest to those of the companies to which they respectively belong. As a general rule, the line of the whole E. is made to correspond as nearly as practicable with that in which the troops are intended to engage the enemy when fighting is renewed; to which end the tents of each battal ion are not allowed to occupy a greater space in front than the battalion itself would cover when in order of battle.
Under most circumstances, in modern warfare, an E. is not defended by artificial constructions; the commander seeks security for his troops in streams, marshes, diffi cult surface of country, and numerous advanced posts. Sometimes, however, more extensive defensc.4orks are necessary;. and then we have an example of an intrenched camp, which becomes a fortified inclosure. The chief uses of such a camp arc—to secure an army while covering a siege, or in winter quarters, to accommodate a corps of observation while the active army is engaged elsewhere; or to defend a position near a fortified place. Care is taken that the site is not commanded by neighboring hills. All villages are occupied, and all obstacles removed, within a distance of half a mile or a mile. The area of ground selected is large enough to contain the necessary store of arms, ammunition, food, fuel, forage, and water, and to enable the troops to maneuver. The junction of two rivers is often selected as a favorable spot. Various defense-works are constructed around or near the spot, such as continuous earth-works, redoubts, ileches, etc. The position held by the allies outside Sebastopol, during the long inter vals when the cannonading was suspended, had many of the characteristics of an intrenched camp.
Camps of instruction may be either temporary or permanent. Of the former kind was the camp formed at Chobham in Surrey in 1853, merely for the summer months, to exercise certain regiments in evolutions. Another was formed at Shorncliffe in Kent in 1855, at first to receive troops of the foreign legion; but it has since been improved to the condition of a permanent camp. The great establishment at Aldershott is described under ALDERSHOTT CAMP. Since that article was originally written, this remarkably popular camp has been, by an ungrudging outlay of public funds, improved in all particulars, and the small agricultural village of Aldershott has grown into an important commercial town, with railway stations, hotels, market-house, handsome shops, etc. A large permanent camp has also been established in Ireland, on a plain called the Curragh of Kildare, and there is a smaller one at Colchester.