CHAPTER IV CAMPS (Part 1)

CHAPTER IV CAMPS The selection of a camp site, as stated by Lord Wolsey, should be determined by sanitary conditions if contact with the enemy is not expected within 48 hours. In the presence of the enemy or before or after a battle, or while marching or maneuvering for position, sani- tary considerations must be utterly subordinated. Troops may have to camp many nights on objectionable sites. "Nevertheless sanitary considerations are given all weight possible, consistent with tactical requirements.^^ (Field Service Regulations, U. S. A.) When no tactical requirments need be considered and the camp is to be occupied several days or weeks, great care should be exer- cised in selecting its site. Occupancy of an insalubrious location may cause greater losses than the battles of the campaign. An ex- perienced medical officer should assist in the location of a camp. In this matter, his responsibility is very grave. The camp should be located on ground high enough to secure a dry soil and good drainage, but this should not pollute the groimds of a camp which might be established below it. A large ditch below the camp may overcome this difficulty. Favorable sites are low ridges with gentle slopes, a gently sloping plateau, or the high bank of a river. In cold weather a slope to the south with woods or hills to the north to break the force of winds is advantageous. In hot weather the camp should be on high ground free from underbrush but shaded with trees. Trees and shrubs protect from the sun and modify extremes of temperature. The soil should be dry, porous, and drain easily. Healthy camp grounds are gravel, sand, loam and volcanic rocks such as granite, trap and gneiss, except when fissured or too level to afford good drainage. A rocky soil, however, often presents difficulties in driving tent pegs. 30 CAMPS 3 1 Undesirable sites aje the following: (i) Vicinity of marshes, or stagnant pools for they render the soil damp, exhale noxious gases, and breed annoying insects. (2) Old camp grounds, which have not been disinfected by sun, wind and rain. The time for this varies widely but as a rule in dry weather, two or three months will remove danger of soil infection. (3) The vicinity of cemeteries is liable to be polluted by the action of earth worms in bringing disease causing germs to the surface. (4) Thick forests, the base of hills, dense vegetation, made grounds, clay or alluvial soil, punch bowl depres- sions, enclosed ravines. In all of these the soil is damp, or in the three last mentioned sites becomes so after scant rainfall. Mois- ture in the soil renders it cold and predisposes to neuralgia, diarrhea, rheumatism, etc. The ground water as a rule shotdd be at least 10 or 12 feet from the surface but in porous soils 6 or 8 feet may be sufficient. Clay and marl sites are especially imdesirable. White sand does not absorb much heat dxuring the day, loses little at night, and usually contains but little organic matter. If nearly pure, however, it is soft to the foot and its glare is troublesome unless colored glasses are worn. The water supply should be adequate, accessible and suitable for drinking purposes without purification. All proper economy in the use of water should be exercised, especially in bath houses, in order to prevent waste and to avoid insanitary puddles. Drainage ditches should be dug when necessary. Except in very dry climates or over porous soils the disposal of waste water is the most difficult problem in camp sanitation. Wood, grass, forage and supplies should be at hand or readily ob- tainable. Grass should be preserved and protected as it mitigates the heating of the soil by day and its chilling by night, prevents mud and dust, and does not reflect light and heat. Since vegeta- tion affords insects shelter in their flight, camps in malarial coimtries especially should be cleared of underbrush. In this circumstance high grass and other vegetations should be cut. A screen of trees between mosquito breeding waters and a camp will prevent many of these insects reaching it, but a line of trees, high grass or bushes, extending between the two will facilitate their travel and should be destroyed. 32 FIELD HYGIENE AND SANITATION In enemy territory information should be obtained from the in- habitants concerning any prevalent disease of man or animals in the proximity of the camp grounds. The site should accommodate the command with as little crowding as possible. The concentration of large numbers of men under primitive hygenic conditions favors the spread among them of in- fectious diseases. This is limited by giving each man as much space as possible. Not more than 5000 men should be placed in one camp if avoidable and its organizations should be scattered as far as tactical considerations, topographical conditions and facilities for internal administration permit. There should be good roads to the camp and good interior communications. Mounted men should keep to the roads. The form of the camp should be such as to facilitate the prompt location of troops after a march and their prompt departxire when camp is broken. The form assumed in any given instance will depend upon tactical conditions and the area and configuration of the site. In the presence of the enemy camp sites are contracted but when tactical considerations need not be considered expanded areas are utilized. Forms and dimensions of camps are given in the appended data from the Field Service Regulations. When camp is to be established the point where each organization is to locate is designated. Places where water is to be obtained for drinking and cooking purposes, where animals are to be watered, and where clothing may be washed, are defined. Such places are located in the order mentioned from upstream down. Guards should be posted at once to insure proper use of the water supply. When several commands are encamped along the same stream, the senior officer present exercises control in designating sites where water is obtained for the purposes mentioned. If the water supply is of doubtful purity, it is treated in the manner indicated in the chapter on water. Men should not lie on the damp ground. In temporary camps they should make beds of grass, leaves or boughs, or use ponchos or slickers. In cold weather, if fuel be plentiful the ground may be warmed by fire and beds made after ashes are raked away. In camp troops are usually under canvas. It gives shelter against sun and rain, to some c^itent against cold and wind, but chills or heats up rapidly and does not afford protection such as that given byeven the most primitive buildings. In the United States at least, lentage is more expensive than structures built of lumber if occu- pancy lasts more than six months. Comfort in tents is promoted by flys which should fit more closely in winter than in summer. In sunlight ihe temperature is higher in a tent than in ihe shady open i Fir., 5-— Screened t. ■re insects abound tents may be screened. In cold weather tents ate made more comfortable by lining the wall with flannel or paper. Comfort is promoted in protracted camps by erecting leols on walls 2 to 6 feet high made of wood or of adobe bricks, These walls conform to the dimensions of the tents. In sandy soil where teni pegs will not hold these may be replaced by bundles of brush which are tied to the tent ropes and buried in the ' sand. In fixed camps, lenls or roofs are sometimes erected over excavations lo promote warmth but this advantage is offset by FIKLn HYGIENE AND KAN1T,\TI0N Fig. 7.— Shelter Fig. 8. — Pyramicia! and hos en adobe wallE. CAMPS . 35 dampness and the practice should be discouraged. Tents may be heated by Sibley stoves, by adobe brick fireplaces with chimneys made of mud or tin, or by galvanized iron cans or tins closed at the top except where the stovepipe emerges. Spark arresters should be provided, preferably at the top of the chimney where their condition is readily noted. They soon clog in this situation but if inserted in the stove pipe where it leaves the stove they burn out quickly and theii condition is not so easily determined. Tents may be heated also by grouping four tents around a central fireplace; by a crescent shaped wall against which an open fire is built in front of a tent and which reflects the heat into it; by making a fire pit in front of the tent and leading the heat and smoke in a zigzag course across the tent floor to an out^de chimney ; or by erecting three tents against three sides of a hut which is heated by a stove and which communicates with the tents by doorways. Board flooring increases comfort and available space. If this is not obtainabSe, the floor may be made of three inchesof fine gravel or of alayerof stone of thesame depth filled in and covered with well tamped earth. Tents should be ditched in permanent camps or if the weather is unsettled. In summer, tent walls should be raised or tents furled daily, weather permitting, in order to air bedding and clothing. In cold weather, ventilation should be insisted upon. Lewis and Miller secured this in the pyramidal tent by replacing the hood with a metal cap which had a hole to accommodate the stovepipe. The cap was supported at a height of four inches above the canvas by two small pieces of 36 FIELD HYGIENE AND SANITATION timber. This device promoted ventilation and protected the tent from rain, but to secure adequate results, it was supplemented by leaving tent doors partly open. Where timber is obtainable and the camp is of some duration, log huts with well plastered joints, canvas roof and fly, afTord excellent protection and are preferable to tents. Smart's hut, built of log walls with a canvas roof, measures 13 X 7 feel and is 6 feet to the eaves. It can accommodate 4 men on two double bunks, one 'rf MilUr.) on each side ot the doorway. Light and ventilation are provided by roof, door and chimney. Woodhull recommends two huts, 8 feet by 11 standing ecd to end 6 feet apart, with doors opening upon a connecting porch. Each hut accommodates four men. In a cold climate one fireplace and chimney between the huts is sufficient. Cantonments. — When lumber is available cantonments may be erected. Huts may be made to accommodate from 100 to 150 men. They should be built of shiplap and in cold climates should be cased inside by hoards nailed to the scanlling uprights. In warm climates this inner boarding ina.y lie replaced by heavy paper or dispensed with. At Fort MtPhcrson, Ga„ barracks were erected in 1898 with tar paper exteriors and heavy paper lining the scantlings. Similar construction of hospital buildings on the line of a been employed by Austria during the present war. Warmth is due lo the air blanket created more than to the materials employed. Buildings in cantonments, in warm climates especially, should be ventilated by monitors extending the entire length of the building. These ate screened with mosquito netting. Panels are provided in the ceiling whereby in cold weather ventilators may beclosedinpart, and heat retained. Panels are also provided in the sides of a hut. 30 FIELD HYGIENE AND SANITATIUM 'I'hese may be raised to allow air to enter through screened aper- tures. Doors and windows should be screened in all habitations. Cantonments should be heated by stoves large enough to receive a length of cordwood. The quantity of metal in them should be — Screened kitchen ami dinini large so that they will maintain a relatively steady heat. The out- put of heat may be made more available by sheet iron drums placed, upon their stoves. Combination kitchen and dining room ' Fee. I.I.— Portable hospital hui. (_Aiiilri,iH unilf ) screened sides which may be closed by panels should be provided for all organizations. A very important type of shelter which is steadily coming into greater use is the portable hut. It is constructed in sections thai I CAMPS 39 may readily be deated ialo position. Its walls and roof are usually made of varnisbed canvas. Varnished papier machfe is also em- ployed. This type of structure, because of its great solidity, is especially valuable in the hospital service at or near the head of the line of communication. The huts usually accommodate from lo to 20 men. One accommodating the latter number, can be erected in about four hours. Their use appears to be restricted to permanent and semi- permanent lamps. The writer has inspected several in i Galida and in Servia which had passed through much hard service but which were yet habilable, and more suitable for hospital usage than tentage. Drawbacks to their employment further afield than the line of communication are their weight, bulk, and ihetime required for their erection and demolition. In the earlier fixed camps of ihe Punitive Expedition, after the n'eather became warm, the troops erected sliclters made of brush or brush and mud, about the size and shape of shelter tents. Officers built brush shelters around their tents as a protection against wind and dust. Arbors with tops and three sides made of boughs and 40 FIELD HYGIENE AND SANITATION covered with boughs or canvas, or both, were quite the most com- fortable habitations available at this time, especially if their floors and walls were dashed with water at intervals. Later more ; mancnt structures were erected. The enlisted men constructed adobe brick walb 3 feet high and on these erected theix shelter tents. Doors were added to some of these shacks, and, when the weather became colder, extemporized stoves were installed. In some camps log huts were erected, the interstices chinked with mud. In these a space for ventilation the Lhickncss of the rafters was left betwi the roof and ihe walls. Many officers constructed huts of adobe Fio. [fi.— Windb :kErounil. brick. A common type housing three officers was 13 X 18 feel 7H feet high in front and 6 feet high in the rear, interior measure- ments. The roof was supported by beams cslending from front , to rear and consisted either of wattled boughs covered with mud and ' silt from the river bed or well tamped adobe on a board base. Usu- ally three windows made of boxes with lops and bottoms removed were provided and shelf room was afforded by boxes built into the 1 walls. Doors and windows were screened but as the cold weather 1 approached the latter were closed wilh glass or sheets of celluloid. Fireplaces were also installed. A good type provided a place above the fire where an oil can with a faucet could be set into the front wall of. the chimney, for heating water, .\Dolher device was to ta^ 42 FIELD HYGIENE AND SANITATION insert a cylinder of sheet iron K ol its length into the front wall of the chimney, so that it might assist in radiating heat. The use of brasiers was forbidden, two men having been suffocated by the gases which these developed. Another type of building was an elongated adobe structure accommodating 20 men. This type was inadvisable because of the difficulty of ridding it of vermin which were propor- tionately more easily introduced. The best buildings for barracks were elongated structures divided into four non-communicating rooms, each lodging four men. Habitations in trenches should be drained to the outside rather than under- drained. Water which accumulates in drains Fig. 19. — Field hospital ward should be removed periodically ■ by pumps. Walls should be made double and the interspace filled with sand or brushwood. Iron sheathing is incorporated in the earth covering of the gun emplacements. KITCHENS Kitchens in the Punitive Expedition \vere at first protected from the sun by arbors, or tent flics. Coolness under the latter was promoted, if two flys were used by pitching them parallel 6 in. apart. Later, more permanent structures were built of adobe, usu- ally with the kitchen at one end, the mess hall at ihe other. The combined adobe kitchen store room and mess hall prescribed in the i6th Infantry for each company, measured about 32 feet CAMPS 43 square by 7 feet high at the eaves and 11 feet high at the ridge. It was built of adobe and roofed n-ith canvas, and was divided from floor to ridge by a wall. One half constituted the mess hall, the other the store room and kitchen. The wall between the kitchen and mess hall was pierced by two large openings or windows through which the men were served as they filed by. Plans of these kitchens and dining rooms are shown in the diagrams. The proper preparation of food in the field, the care of food and kitchens are matters of prime imporlance. The welfare of the command is determined largely by its receipt of adequate nourishment. The Army Field Range No. i complele weighs approximately 264 lbs. with utensils. With tbe Alamo attachment it is designed to cook for 152 men. On the march the range is ordinarily set up by simply leveling the ground, and by placing the oven and boiling plate side by side so that their doors will be at the same end. The oven should not be banked but sufficient earth should he lamped along the sides and closed ends to prevent the passage of gases beneath. When used for one day only a few shovelfuls of earth are removed from the place lo be covered by the boiling plate. If the range is lo rem 'n ' [.1 e fo eve al dtys a trench should be pre- pared us shown n the d ag am