Marching camp construction

[Stug50]

From my experience, based on light infantry tactics, an 8 man section could be tasked with probing or scouting out an area, if you think back to the troubled times in Northern Ireland it was quite common for a platoon divided into sections to be tasked with patrolling a specific area, manning check points and setting up observation posts and more importantly supporting local law enforcement. Again these patrols were launched from a fortified position. Same thing during the Vietnam war. In fact the Vietnam war is a classic example of how patrols would be sent out from a fortified position to an LZ for either a search and destroy mission or reconnaissance, the U.S marines for example could spend weeks out in the field and it wasn’t unusual for the yanks to dig in and fortify an area strike camp and then move onto the next location. The American civil war also has quite a few examples of regiments and battalions marching from camp to camp and again reconnaissance patrols and scouting units being employed in advance of the main force. I’m reminded of the tactics of the Missouri guerrilla units (Quantrills raiders) no defensive camp so to speak of but they used their knowledge of the area to their advantage, occasionally they would stay in a friendly areas but when they were close to an enemy target they would choose an area that provided the best defensive position, in some respects those guerrilla units were doing the same thing as the Roman army, move, camp, strike and move. I’ve read that the Roman army would use the same marching camp repeatedly, it’s all about knowing the terrain.
Another good example can be found in 1879, think Isandlwana, a massive British camp with a small force a Natal troops, they set up a large camp and sent out patrols, unfortunately Lord Chelmsford underestimated the Zulu and his mistake resulted in a massacre. isandlwana is an extremely good example of why strong defences are needed.
Hope that helps.

The evidence we have is in the form of camps - usually large ones. But I've never been able to work out how an army could get from one to the next. I'm now beginning to think that the actual camp move was a relatively unimportant part of the activity and that the vast bulk of activity was various forms of reconnaissance and combat patrols. This means going back to the original question, I would suggest the army would gain control of the ground before they start surveying. This is very different from what I had been thinking so I'm trying to work out the implications.

It would be unusual for any large military force to move through territory, occupied or hostile without sending out advanced reconnaissance. Varus for example allegedly made the mistake of detouring through unfamiliar territory without using reconnaissance, I suppose he decided that he had good enough intelligence based on information from Arminius the result of which ended in a massacre. 
I’ve read various reports that state that some of the Romans’ managed to set up a camp at night with hastily built defences which they were able to use with some limited success but they ran into trouble when they tried moving on from the camp. 
Of course this is all conjecture on my part but I would think that various contingency plans would have been the norm for moving such a large body of men and equipment. I’ll leave it to those with far better knowledge than myself to debate how the Legions were organised when moving from camp to camp.
I appreciate that Varus may not be a text book example of how such a large force would move through hostile territory but it does provide us with a good example of what happens when the legions are unable to move without any real semblance of order. 
I think common sense tells us that an army will never advance without knowing what they are advancing into. From my own point of view, I would suggest that reconnaissance was an extremely vital part of moving from one camp to another, also, I’d agree that prior to moving camp, every man would have been well versed in what was required of them, so in some respects it wasn’t that packing up camp wasn’t an important activity, it was probably just that it was well rehearsed and uneventful. As you have stated yourself, reconnaissance and combat patrols was the bulk of the work, especially if you think of just how long a column of legions and hangers on would be when moving, reports are that Varus led a column 12 miles long, talk about being vulnerable when moving. Anyone tasked with the logistical headache of moving men and equipment from point A to point B would have would want to do it as quickly and safely as possible.

---

From my experience, based on light infantry tactics, an 8 man section could be tasked with probing or scouting out an area, if you think back to the troubled times in Northern Ireland it was quite common for a platoon divided into sections to be tasked with patrolling a specific area, manning check points and setting up observation posts and more importantly supporting local law enforcement. Again these patrols were launched from a fortified position. Same thing during the Vietnam war. In fact the Vietnam war is a classic example of how patrols would be sent out from a fortified position to an LZ for either a search and destroy mission or reconnaissance, the U.S marines for example could spend weeks out in the field and it wasn’t unusual for the yanks to dig in and fortify an area strike camp and then move onto the next location. The American civil war also has quite a few examples of regiments and battalions marching from camp to camp and again reconnaissance patrols and scouting units being employed in advance of the main force. I’m reminded of the tactics of the Missouri guerrilla units (Quantrills raiders) no defensive camp so to speak of but they used their knowledge of the area to their advantage, occasionally they would stay in a friendly areas but when they were close to an enemy target they would choose an area that provided the best defensive position, in some respects those guerrilla units were doing the same thing as the Roman army, move, camp, strike and move. I’ve read that the Roman army would use the same marching camp repeatedly, it’s all about knowing the terrain.
Another good example can be found in 1879, think Isandlwana, a massive British camp with a small force a Natal troops, they set up a large camp and sent out patrols, unfortunately Lord Chelmsford underestimated the Zulu and his mistake resulted in a massacre. isandlwana is an extremely good example of why strong defences are needed.
Hope that helps.

The evidence we have is in the form of camps - usually large ones. But I've never been able to work out how an army could get from one to the next. I'm now beginning to think that the actual camp move was a relatively unimportant part of the activity and that the vast bulk of activity was various forms of reconnaissance and combat patrols. This means going back to the original question, I would suggest the army would gain control of the ground before they start surveying. This is very different from what I had been thinking so I'm trying to work out the implications.

It would be unusual for any large military force to move through territory, occupied or hostile without sending out advanced reconnaissance. Varus for example allegedly made the mistake of detouring through unfamiliar territory without using reconnaissance, I suppose he decided that he had good enough intelligence based on information from Arminius the result of which ended in a massacre. 
I’ve read various reports that state that some of the Romans’ managed to set up a camp at night with hastily built defences which they were able to use with some limited success but they ran into trouble when they tried moving on from the camp. 
Of course this is all conjecture on my part but I would think that various contingency plans would have been the norm for moving such a large body of men and equipment. I’ll leave it to those with far better knowledge than myself to debate how the Legions were organised when moving from camp to camp.
I appreciate that Varus may not be a text book example of how such a large force would move through hostile territory but it does provide us with a good example of what happens when the legions are unable to move without any real semblance of order. 
I think common sense tells us that an army will never advance without knowing what they are advancing into. From my own point of view, I would suggest that reconnaissance was an extremely vital part of moving from one camp to another, also, I’d agree that prior to moving camp, every man would have been well versed in what was required of them, so in some respects it wasn’t that packing up camp wasn’t an important activity, it was probably just that it was well rehearsed and uneventful. As you have stated yourself, reconnaissance and combat patrols was the bulk of the work, especially if you think of just how long a column of legions and hangers on would be when moving, reports are that Varus led a column 12 miles long, talk about being vulnerable when moving. Anyone tasked with the logistical headache of moving men and equipment from point A to point B would have would want to do it as quickly and safely as possible.