Then there were his tin water-bottle, or bidon (filled with wine at the beginning of the war), his cartridge belt, rifle, military overcoat strapped about his shoulders, and various other impedimenta.

All the soldiers always have a bidon with something in it to drink, and almost invariably they have a bite or so in their sacks.

No officer ever has anything on him, and none of them carries a bidon except on a march.