ment were
planted in the ground in rows side by side; behind in parallel lines
lay the encampment of the company, always fifty men in a row; near the
colours was the Ensign, in the middle the Lieutenant, at the rear the
Captain, and behind all the tents of the superior officers and
officials; the surgeon next to the Ensign, and the chaplain near the
Captain. The officers lived in tents, often in conical forms fastened
with cords to the ground. The soldiers built themselves little huts of
planks and straw. The pikemen planted their pikes in the ground near
the huts; the pikes, short spears, halberds, partisans, and standards
showed from afar the rank and weapons of the inhabitant of the tent.
Two or four soldiers were generally housed in a hut, with their wives,
children, and dogs. Thus they lay encamped, company by company,
regiment by regiment, in great squares or circles, the whole camp
surrounded by a large space which served as an alarm post. Before the
Thirty years' war it was customary to set up a barricade round the
camp; then the train or baggage-waggons were pushed together in double
or more rows, and bound by chains or fastenings to the great square or
circle, leaving free the necessary openings. Then also the cavalry had
their camp next the inner side of the waggons; the necessary partitions
were erected for the horses near the huts and tents of the horsemen.
This custom had become obsolete, and it was only occasionally that the
waggons surrounded the camp, but it was protected by trenches, mounds,
and field-pieces. At the openings sentinels were posted, outside the
camp, troops of horse and a chain of outposts of musketeers or
arquebussiers were stationed. Each Ensign planted the colours before
his tent; near it was the drummer of the company, and a musketeer kept
watch with a burning match in his hand and his musket supported
horizontally on its rest.

In such a camp it was that the wild soldiery dwelt in unbridled
licence, insupportable to the neighbourhood even in a friendly country.
The provinces, cities, and villages were obliged to supply wood, straw,
fodder, and provisions, the waggons rolled along every road, and droves
of fat cattle were collected. The neighbouring villages quickly
disappeared; as all the wood-work and thatching was torn away by the
soldiers and employed in building their huts, only the shattered clay
walls remained. The soldiers and their boys roved about the
neighbourhood, plunde