The Thirty Years' War - James Aitken Wylie

method of defense had been abandoned. Armies in
the field now sought to protect themselves by
ditches, walls, and other field fortifications. At the
outlets or portals of the camp were posted
sentinels, who stood grasping in the one hand the
musket, its butt-end resting on the ground, and in
the other holding the burning torch. At a greater
distance were troops of horsemen and pickets of
sharp-shooters, to detain the enemy should he
appear, and give time to those within the
entrenchments to get under arms.
The camp was a city. It was a reproduction of
the ancient Babel, for in it were to be heard all the
tongues of Europe and some of those of Asia. The
German language predominated, but it was almost
lost within the encampment by adulteration from so
many foreign sources, and especially by the ample
addition of oaths and terms of blasphemy. Into the
encampment were gathered all the peculiarities,
prejudices, and hates of the various nationalities of
Europe. These burned all the more fiercely by
reason of the narrow space in which they were
cooped up, and it was no easy matter to maintain
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