Elements of Military Art and Science - Henry Wager Halleck (best free ebook reader .TXT) 📗

guards are fatigued with the labors of the night. While the besiegers are establishing their enfilading batteries, a strong fire of solid shot and shells will be concentrated on the points selected for their construction. The garrison will also labor during this period to put the work into a complete state of defence: constructing all necessary palisadings, traverses, blindages, barriers; and strengthening, if necessary, the covering of the magazines.

Third period.—After the completion of the third parallel, the crowning of the covered way may be effected by storm, by regular approaches, or (if the work is secured by defensive mines) by a subterranean warfare.

In the first case stone mortar-batteries are established in front of the third parallel, which, on a given signal, will open their fire in concert with all the enfilading and mortar batteries. When this fire has produced its effect in clearing the outworks, picked troops will sally forth and carry the covered way with the bayonet, sheltering themselves behind the traverses until the sappers throw up a trench some four or five yards from the crest of the glacis, high enough to protect the troops from the fire of the besieged. It may afterwards be connected with the third parallel by boyaux.

When the covered way is to be crowned by regular approaches, a double sap is pushed forward from the third parallel to within thirty yards of the salient of the covered way; the trench is then extended some fifteen or twenty yards to the right or left, and the earth thrown up high enough to enable the besiegers to obtain a plunging fire into the covered way, and thus prevent the enemy from occupying it. This mound of earth is termed a trench cavalier, (O). Boyaux are now pushed forward to the crowning of the covered way and the establishing of breach batteries, (J). Descents are then constructed into the ditches, and as soon as these batteries have made a breach into the walls of the bastions and outworks, the boyaux are pushed across the ditches and lodgments effected in the breaches. The demi-lune is first carried; next the demi-lune redoubt and bastion; and lastly, the interior retrenchments and citadel. In some cases the breaches are carried by assault, but the same objection is applicable here as in the storming of the covered way; time is gained, but at an immense expense of human life.

If the place is defended by mines it will be necessary for the besiegers to counteract the effects of these works by resorting to the slow and tedious operations of a subterranean warfare. In this case a fourth trench is formed in front of the third parallel; shafts are sunk in this, about six yards apart, for establishing overcharged mines; as soon as the galleries of the besieged are destroyed by the explosion of these mines, the covered way is attacked by storm; other mines are established on the terre-plain of the covered way to destroy the entrance to the galleries, and thus deprive the besieged of the use of their entire system of mines.

The measures of defence during this period must embrace every thing calculated to retard the works of the besiegers. This may be most effectually accomplished by maintaining a constant fire of grape and musketry on the heads of the sap, and throwing grenades, shells, &c., into the trenches, to harass and destroy the workmen. As the musketry fire of the besiegers now becomes very destructive to the artillerists at the guns, strong musket-proof blinds are arranged to mask the mouths of the embrasures when the guns are not in battery, and also sloping blindages to cover the men when serving at the pieces. The possession of the outworks should be disputed inch by inch, and when the besiegers have reached the ditch of the body of the place, sorties, and every species of projectile, should be employed to drive off the sappers, and to retard the construction of their works. In fine, all the resources of the engineer's art should be put in requisition for the defence of the breach, and the final assault should be vigorously resisted by the bayonet, and by a well-sustained fire from all the collateral works.

With respect to the relative strength of the opposing forces it may be well to remark, that if the fortress is properly constructed the garrison will be able to resist a besieging army six times as numerous as itself. Such is the estimate of the best engineers.[48]

[48]

A good knowledge of the several subjects discussed in this chapter may be derived from the writings of Vauban, Cormontaigne, and Noizet de St. Paul, on the attack and defence of places and field fortification ; the several manuels used in the French service on sapping, mining, and pontoniering; Col. Pasley's experiments on the operations of a siege, sapping, mining, &c.; Douglas's work on military bridges; Macauley's work on field fortification; and Professor Mahan's Treatise on Field Fortification. This last is undoubtedly the very best work that has ever been written on field fortification, and every officer going into the field should supply himself with a copy.

The following are recommended as books of reference on subjects discussed in the three preceding chapters.

Mémorial pour la fortification permanente et passagère. Cormontaigne.

Défense des places. Cormontaigne.

Attaque des places. Cormontaigne.

Attaque des places. Vauban.

Traité des mines. Vauban.

Mémorial pour la castrametation et la fortification passagère. Lafitte-Clavé.

Exercice sur les fortifications. Davigneau.

Mémorial de l'officier du genie. A periodical of rare merit, containing most valuable military and scientific matter. It is conducted by officers of the French corps of engineers. It has already reached its fourteenth number, each number forming a volume.

Traité complet de fortification. Noizet de St. Paul.

Traité d'art militaire et de la fortification. Gay de Vernon.

Art de la guerre. Rogniat.

Essai général de fortification, &c. Bousmard.

Aide-mémoire portatif à l'usage des officiers du génie. Laisné. A very valuable and useful book.

Aide-mémoire de l'ingénieur militaire. Grivet.

Cours d'art militaire. Laurillard Fallot.

Cours de fortification, &c. Lavart.

Le livre de la guerre. Perrot.

Journaux des siéges dans la péninsule. Belmas.

Journal of Sieges in Spain. John Jones.

Both of the above are works of great value.

Cours d'art militaire et de fortification militaire. François.

Architettura militare. Marchi.

Essai sur la fortification. Baltard.

La fortification. Bar-le-Duc.

Elémens de fortification. Bellaire.

La science des ingénieurs. Bélidor.

L'art universel des fortifications. Bitainvieu.

Nouvelle manière de fortifier les places. Blondel.

Les sept siéges de Lille. Brun Lavaine.

Défense des places fortes. Carnot.

Mémoire sur la fortification. Carnot.

Défense de Saragosse. Cavallero.

Mémoires sur la fortification. Choumara.

Nouvelle fortification. Coehorn.

Théorie de la fortification. Cugnot.

Des fortifications, &c. &c. Darçon.

Rélation de la défense de Dantzik. D'Artois.

Les fortifications. Deville.

Péribologie. Dilich.

De la fortification permanente. Dufour. A work of merit.

Essai sur la défense des états par les fortifications. Duviviet.

Attaque et défense des places du camp de St. Omer.

L'école de la fortification. Fallois.

Introduction à la fortification. De Fer.

Précis de la défense de Valenciennes. Ferrand.

Traité théorique, &c. Foissac-Latour.

Examen detaillé, &c. Foissac-Latour.

Les ouvrages militaires de Fosse.

Instruction sur la fortification, &c. Gaillard.

Mémoires pour l'attaque et défense d'une place. Goulon.

Siége of Peschiera. Henin.

Journal du siége de Philisbourg.

Précis du siége de Dantzick. Kirgener.

Deuxième défense de Badajos. Lamare.

Fortification, et l'attaque et défense des places. Lebloud.

Œuvres de Lefebvre.

L'architecture des forteresses. Mandar.

Traité sur l'art des siéges. Mazeroy.

La sûreté des états par le moyen des forteresses. Maigret.

Défense d'Ancone. Mangourit.

Fortification. Marolois.

Siege de Turin. Mengin.

Recherches sur l'art défensif, &c. Michaloz.

La fortification de campagne, &c. Miller.

L'art défensif, &c. Montalembert.

Journaux des siéges de Flandre.

Relations des siéges en Europe, &c. Musset-Fathay. A very valuable and interesting work.

Relation du siége de Metz.

Relation du siége d'Anvers.

Les siéges de Jaffa et de St. Jean d'Acre.

Les siéges de Saragosse et de Tortose. Rogniat.

Siége de Dantzick. Sainte-Susanne.

Mémoire sur la fortification permanente.—Séa.

Le siége de Constantine.

Elémens de fortification. Trincano.

Des places fortes. Valazé.

Essay on Military Bridges.Douglas. A valuable work.

Guide du pontonier. Drieu.

Mémoire sur la guerre souterraine. Contèle.

Traité des mines. Etienne.

Traité de l'art du mineur. Geuss.

Traité de fortification souterraine. Gillot.

Traité pratique et théorique des mines. Lebrun.

Nouveau traité des mines, &c. Prudhomme.

Manuel du sapeur. Used in the French service.

Manuel du mineur. " ""

Manuel du pontonier. " ""

Essay on Field Fortifications. Pleydell.

Elements of Field Fortifications. Lochee.

Rélation du siége de Grave et Mayence.

Siéges de Génes. Thiébault.

Traité de fortification souterraine. Mouze.

Militairische Mittheilungen. Xilander.

Die Befestigung der Statten. Hauser.

Abhandlung über die Befestigungskunst,&c. Hauser

Versuch über die Verschanzungskunst. Muller.

Course of Elementary Fortification. Pasley. This is a work of much detail—useful, no doubt, to an uneducated engineer soldier, but to an officer at all acquainted with his profession, it must seem ridiculously minute.

To the above list might be added a long list of books on that branch of the engineer's art called constructions; but as this part of the profession is, in some degree, common both to the civil and military engineer, it is not deemed necessary to include works of this character in a list of books strictly military.

CHAPTER XV

MILITARY EDUCATION APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION.

With the Romans, six years' instruction was required to make a soldier; and so great importance did these ancient conquerors of the world attach to military education and discipline, that the very name of their army was derived from the verb to practise.

Modern nations, learning from experience that military success depends more upon skill and discipline than upon numbers, have generally adopted the same rule as the Romans; and nearly all of the European powers have established military schools for the education of their officers and the instruction of their soldiers.

France, which has long taken the lead in military science, has six military schools for the instruction of officers, containing in all more than one thousand pupils, and numerous division and regimental schools for the sub-officers and soldiers.

Prussia maintains some twelve general schools for military education, which contain about three thousand pupils, and also numerous division, brigade, garrison, and company schools for practical instruction.

Austria has some fifty military schools, which contain in all about four thousand pupils.

Russia has thirty-five engineer and artillery technical schools, with about two thousand pupils; twenty-five military schools for the noblesse, containing eight thousand seven hundred pupils; corps d'armeeschools, with several thousand pupils; regimental schools, with eleven thousand pupils; and brigade-schools, with upwards of one hundred and fifty-six thousand scholars;—making in all about two hundred thousand pupils in her military schools!

England has five military schools of instruction for officers, number of pupils not known; a military orphan school, with about twelve thousand pupils; and numerous dépôt and regimental schools of practice.

The smaller European powers—Belgium, Sardinia, Naples, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Wurtemberg, Bavaria, Baden, have each several military schools, with a large number of pupils.

It is seen from these statistics, that the European powers are not so negligent in educating their officers, and in instructing and disciplining their soldiers, as some in this country would have us believe.

Washington, Hamilton, Knox, Pickering, and others, learning, by their own experience in the war of the American revolution, the great necessity of military education, urged upon our government, as early as 1783, the importance of establishing a military academy in this country, but the subject continued to be postponed from year to year till 1802. In 1794, the subaltern grade of cadet was created by an act of Congress, the officers of this grade being attached to their regiments, and "furnished at the public expense with the necessary books, instruments, and apparatus" for their instruction. But this plan of educating young officers at their posts was found impracticable, and in his last annual message, Dec. 7th, 1796, Washington urged again, in strong language, the establishment of a military academy, where a regular course of military instruction could be given. "Whatever argument," said he, "may be drawn from particular examples, superficially viewed, a thorough examination of the subject will evince that the art of war is both comprehensive and complicated; that it demands much previous study; and that the possession of it in its most improved and perfect state is always of great moment to the security of a nation."

The subject was however postponed from time to time, till March, 1802, when a bill was passed establishing the Military Academy. It was at first