Cantonments are the villages, farms, or other buildings in which troops are temporarily lodged while taking part in manoeuvres or active operations. In the latter case, a careful arrangement of guards and sentries is necessary to prevent the men being surprised before they can turn out of the houses; and places of assembly, called alarm posts, are selected at which they can collect.
In India, however, cantonments have become permanent military towns, distinct and at some little distance from the principal cities. A large cantonment contains barracks for European troops, bungalows or houses, in gardens, for the officers; huts for the native soldiery; magazines and parade grounds; public offices and buildings of various kinds; and a bazaar for the accommodation of the Camp Followers (q.v.) and other natives. See BILLETING, BIVOUAC, and CAMP.