“At the commencement of the subterranean war the main object of the defence is to force the besieger to take to mining operations as early as possible, as it is a tedious operation and will prolong the siege. Every endeavour must be made to push forward countermines so as to meet and check the attack. On the approach of the opponents to each other careful listening for the enemy must be resorted to. To this end it is necessary atirregularintervals to suspend all work for some minutes at a time, closing doors of communication and employing experienced listeners at the heads of the countermines. This matter is a most important one, as a premature explosion of the defender’s mines is a double loss to the defender, a loss of a mine and an advantage to the enemy in more than one way. As soon as the overcharged mines of the besieger have been fired, a heavy fire should be brought to bear on the craters, and if possible sorties should be made to prevent the enemy occupying them. At the same time every effort should be made underground to surround with galleries, and as it were isolate, the craters so as to prevent the besieger making a new advance from them. The efforts of the attack at this stage will probably be directed to the formation of what are called “Boule shafts” (i.e.shafts partially lined in which charges are hastily fired with little or no tamping), and to meet these in time the defender may resort to the use of boring tools, and so place charges somewhere in advance of the heads of the countermines. His great object must be to prevent as long as possible the besieger from getting underground again; and these occasions, when the power of resistance is temporarily equal to, if not greater than, that of the attack, should be made the most of by the defence.” (Lewis,Text-book on Fortification, &c., 1893.)
“At the commencement of the subterranean war the main object of the defence is to force the besieger to take to mining operations as early as possible, as it is a tedious operation and will prolong the siege. Every endeavour must be made to push forward countermines so as to meet and check the attack. On the approach of the opponents to each other careful listening for the enemy must be resorted to. To this end it is necessary atirregularintervals to suspend all work for some minutes at a time, closing doors of communication and employing experienced listeners at the heads of the countermines. This matter is a most important one, as a premature explosion of the defender’s mines is a double loss to the defender, a loss of a mine and an advantage to the enemy in more than one way. As soon as the overcharged mines of the besieger have been fired, a heavy fire should be brought to bear on the craters, and if possible sorties should be made to prevent the enemy occupying them. At the same time every effort should be made underground to surround with galleries, and as it were isolate, the craters so as to prevent the besieger making a new advance from them. The efforts of the attack at this stage will probably be directed to the formation of what are called “Boule shafts” (i.e.shafts partially lined in which charges are hastily fired with little or no tamping), and to meet these in time the defender may resort to the use of boring tools, and so place charges somewhere in advance of the heads of the countermines. His great object must be to prevent as long as possible the besieger from getting underground again; and these occasions, when the power of resistance is temporarily equal to, if not greater than, that of the attack, should be made the most of by the defence.” (Lewis,Text-book on Fortification, &c., 1893.)
The defence has the advantage, in the case of fortresses, of being able to establish beforehand a system of countermine galleries in masonry. Many systems have been worked out for this purpose. A good typical arrangement is that of General Marescot, published in 1799, shown in fig. 72.
The main galleries (those running out in a straight line from the counterscarp galleryeto three of the pointsa) fall gently to the front to a depth of 30 or 40 ft. below the surface—the deeper they are the less they will suffer from the enemy’s mines. Branch galleries (markedc b+d c) run obliquely upward from them to right and to left, leading to the mines, which are placed at various depths, according to circumstances.
Two main points must be observed in any system of countermines: the branch galleries must run obliquely forward, so as not to present their sides to the action of the enemy’s mines; and the distance between the ends of the branches from adjacent main galleries should be such that the enemy cannot pass between them unheard. This distance will vary with the nature of the soil, but may be taken roughly as 20 yds. A convenient size for main galleries is 6 ft. high by 3 ft. wide: branch galleries may be 5 ft. by 3 ft. When the enemy is approaching, other branch galleries, calledlisteners, will be pushed out from mainand branch galleries. The section to fig. 1 of fig. 72 shows openings left for the purpose.
Another use of mines in defence is in connexion with breaches. A permanent arrangement for this purpose, by General Dufour, is shown in fig. 72. Yet another use, on which much ingenuity was expended in the 18th century, is to extemporize retrenchments.
The charges of mines depend of course upon the effect which is desired. When the charge is strong enough to produce a crater, the radius of the circular opening on the surface of the ground is called theradius of the crater. TheDifferent kinds of mines.line drawn from the centre of the charge to the nearest surface, which is expressed in feet, is called theline of least resistance(L.L.R.). When a mine produces a crater the diameter of which is equal to the line of least resistance, it is called a one-lined crater; when the diameter is double the L.L.R., atwo-lined craterand so on.Common minesare those which produce a two-lined crater.Over-charged minesproduce craters greater than two-lined, andundercharged minesless. Acamoufletdoes not produce a crater; it is used when the object is to destroy an enemy’s gallery without breaking the surface. Fig. 73 shows sections of the different kinds of mines, with their craters and the effect they will produce downwards and horizontally in ordinary earth.
Consideration of this figure will show that it is possible to place a long charge at such a depth below the surface that it will destroy all galleries of the enemy within a considerable radius, without much disturbing the surface of the ground.
Bored mines, which have been alluded to above, are a comparatively recent innovation. When the enemy is heard at work in one of his galleries and his position approximately determined by the sound, it is necessary to drive a branch gallery with all speed in that direction, and when it has advanced as far as appears necessary, to load, tamp and discharge a mine before the enemy can fire his own mine. This is one of the most delicate and dangerous operations of war, and success will fall to those who are at the same time most skilful and most determined. The work can be hastened and made less dangerous as follows: Instead of driving a branch gallery, a hole several inches in diameter is bored in the required direction. With suitable tools there is no difficulty in driving a straight bore hole 20 or 30 ft. long. A small charge of high explosives is then pushed up to the end of the borehole and fired. This forms a small camouflet chamber by compressing the earth around it. Into this chamber the charge for the mine is passed up the bore-hole. No tamping of course is required.
Bored mines, which have been alluded to above, are a comparatively recent innovation. When the enemy is heard at work in one of his galleries and his position approximately determined by the sound, it is necessary to drive a branch gallery with all speed in that direction, and when it has advanced as far as appears necessary, to load, tamp and discharge a mine before the enemy can fire his own mine. This is one of the most delicate and dangerous operations of war, and success will fall to those who are at the same time most skilful and most determined. The work can be hastened and made less dangerous as follows: Instead of driving a branch gallery, a hole several inches in diameter is bored in the required direction. With suitable tools there is no difficulty in driving a straight bore hole 20 or 30 ft. long. A small charge of high explosives is then pushed up to the end of the borehole and fired. This forms a small camouflet chamber by compressing the earth around it. Into this chamber the charge for the mine is passed up the bore-hole. No tamping of course is required.
Mine warfare is slow, dangerous and uncertain in its results. It will certainly delay the besiegers’ advance very much and may do so indefinitely. One point is distinctly in favour of the defence, namely that when ground has been much mined it becomes charged with poisonous gases. Some explosives are less noxious than others in this way, and it will be advantageous for the attack, but not necessarily for the defence, to make use of these.
Calculation of Charges.—The quantity of powder required for a charge is expressed in lbs. in terms of L.L.R.3, and the following formulae are used:l = L.L.R. in feet, r = radius of crater in feet, c = powder charge in pounds, s = a variable dependent on the nature of the soil.For a common mine c = (s/10) l3.For an overcharged mine c = (s/10) {l + .9 (r − l)}3.For an undercharged mine c = (s/10) {l − .9 (l − r)}3.The values to be given to s are:Nature of Soil.Value of s.Very light earth0.80Common earth1.00Hard sand1.25Earth mixed with stones1.40Clay mixed with loam1.55Inferior brickwork1.66Rock or good new brickwork2.25Very good old brickwork2.50
Calculation of Charges.—The quantity of powder required for a charge is expressed in lbs. in terms of L.L.R.3, and the following formulae are used:
l = L.L.R. in feet, r = radius of crater in feet, c = powder charge in pounds, s = a variable dependent on the nature of the soil.
For a common mine c = (s/10) l3.
For an overcharged mine c = (s/10) {l + .9 (r − l)}3.
For an undercharged mine c = (s/10) {l − .9 (l − r)}3.
The values to be given to s are:
Military mining is carried on by means of verticalshaftsand horizontal or inclinedgalleries. When the soil is very stiff, very little or even no lining is required for shafts and galleries; but usually they have to be lined either with cases or frames.
Cases make a complete lining of 2 in. planking. Frames are used at intervals of 4 or 5 ft. to support a partial lining of planks. Cases are of course preferable in other respects; but in ordinary soil they take up more timber.There are two kinds of gallery in ordinary use in the British service, namely thecommon gallerywhose interior dimensions with cases are 5 ft. 6 in. × 2 ft., and thebranch gallerywhich is 4 ft. × 2 ft. Theshafthas about the same dimensions asShafts and galleries.a branch gallery. Formerly it was sometimes necessary in the systematic attack of a fortress to get guns down into the ditch. For this purpose a “great gallery” was used, 6 ft. 6 in. in height and 6 ft. 8 in. wide, internal dimensions.Miners’ Tools.—These are few and simple. The pick and shovel differ from the ordinary types in having rather shorter helves suitable for the confined space in which they are used. There is also apush-pick, an implement with a straight helve and a pointed shovel head 6 in. long and 3½ in. wide. Theminer’s truck, used for drawing the earth from the end of the gallery to the bottom of the shaft, is a small wooden truck holding about 2 cub. ft. of earth. Formerly the noise of the wheels of the truck passing over the uneven wooden floor of the gallery was very liable to be heard by the enemy. To obviate this they now have leather tyres and should run on battens nailed to the floor. Theminer’s bucketis a small canvas bucket with a couple of ropes attached, by which the earth can be drawn up the shaft. Nowadays, however, the truck itself has chains attached to it, by which it is drawn up, with the aid of a windlass, to the surface. By this method more earth can be taken up in one lift, and time and labour are not wasted in transferring the contents of the truck to the bucket.Ventilationis an important point. The breath of the miners and the burning of their candles (when electric light is not available) vitiates the air in the galleries; so that even in clean ground a gallery should not be driven more than 60 ft. without providing some means of renewing the air. This is usually done by forcing fresh air, by means of a pump or bellows, through a flexible hose to the head of the gallery. Where mines have been fired close by, there is great danger from poisonous gases filtering through the soil into the gallery. This difficulty is nowadays met by the use of special apparatus, such as helmets into which fresh air is pumped, so that the wearers need not breathe the air of the gallery at all. Ventilation can also be assisted by boring holes vertically to the surface of the ground.Where a point has been reached at which it is proposed to fire a mine, a chamber just large enough to hold the charge is cut in theside of the gallery. The object of this is to keep the charge out of the direct line of the gallery and thus increase the force of the explosion. The charge may be placed in canvas bags, barrels or boxes, precautions being taken against damp.The operation of loading is of the first importance, for if the mine is not exploded with success, not only is valuable time lost, which may give the enemy his opportunity, but it will probably be necessary to untamp the mine in order to renew theCharging mines.fuze; an operation attended by considerable danger. The loading of the mine should therefore be done by the officer in charge with his own hands. He has to work in a very cramped position and practically in the dark (unless with electric light) as of course no naked lights can be allowed near powder. Everything should therefore be prepared beforehand to facilitate the loading of the mine and placing of the fuze. At Chatham a 1000 ℔ mine, at the end of a gallery 136 ft. long, has been loaded in 30 minutes. The powder was passed up the gallery by hand in sandbags, and emptied into a box of the required size.Whatever method of firing (see below) is employed, the officer who loads the mine must be careful to see that it is so arranged as to make firing certain, and that the leads passing out of the gallery are not liable to damage in the process of tamping.Tamping.—This operation consists in filling up the head of the gallery solidly, for such a distance that there shall be no possibility of the charge wasting its force along the gallery. The distance depends on the charge and on the solidity of the tamping. For a common mine it should extend to about 3/2 L.L.R. from the charge, when the tamping is of earth in sandbags; for a 3-lined crater, to about 2 L.L.R. Tamping can be improved by jamming pieces of timber across the shaft or gallery among the other filling.Firing.—This may be done electrically, or by means ofsafetyorinstantaneous fuzeorpowder hose.Electric firing is the safest and best, and allows of the charge being exploded at any given moment. For this purposeelectric fuzes(for powder) orelectric detonators(for guncotton or other high explosive) are employed. The current that fires them is passed through copper wire leads.The safety fuze used in the British service burns at the rate of about 3 ft. a minute. Instantaneous fuze burns at the rate of a mile a minute. Both can be fired under water. They are often used in conjunction, a considerable length of instantaneous fuze, leading from the charge, being connected to a short length of safety fuze.Powder hose, an old-time expedient, can be extemporized by making a tube of strong linen, say 1 in. in diameter, and filling it with powder. It burns at the rate of 10 to 20 ft. per second.Explosives.—The old-fashioned gunpowder of the grained black variety is still the best for most kinds of military mines. Pebble and prism powders do not give as good results, presumably because their action is so slow that some of the gases of explosion can escape through the pores of the earth. High explosives, with their quick shattering and rending effect, are little more effective than gunpowder in actually moving large quantities of earth. Most of them give off much more poisonous fumes than gunpowder. Some recent high explosives, however, have been specially designed to be comparatively innocuous in this respect.
Cases make a complete lining of 2 in. planking. Frames are used at intervals of 4 or 5 ft. to support a partial lining of planks. Cases are of course preferable in other respects; but in ordinary soil they take up more timber.
There are two kinds of gallery in ordinary use in the British service, namely thecommon gallerywhose interior dimensions with cases are 5 ft. 6 in. × 2 ft., and thebranch gallerywhich is 4 ft. × 2 ft. Theshafthas about the same dimensions asShafts and galleries.a branch gallery. Formerly it was sometimes necessary in the systematic attack of a fortress to get guns down into the ditch. For this purpose a “great gallery” was used, 6 ft. 6 in. in height and 6 ft. 8 in. wide, internal dimensions.
Miners’ Tools.—These are few and simple. The pick and shovel differ from the ordinary types in having rather shorter helves suitable for the confined space in which they are used. There is also apush-pick, an implement with a straight helve and a pointed shovel head 6 in. long and 3½ in. wide. Theminer’s truck, used for drawing the earth from the end of the gallery to the bottom of the shaft, is a small wooden truck holding about 2 cub. ft. of earth. Formerly the noise of the wheels of the truck passing over the uneven wooden floor of the gallery was very liable to be heard by the enemy. To obviate this they now have leather tyres and should run on battens nailed to the floor. Theminer’s bucketis a small canvas bucket with a couple of ropes attached, by which the earth can be drawn up the shaft. Nowadays, however, the truck itself has chains attached to it, by which it is drawn up, with the aid of a windlass, to the surface. By this method more earth can be taken up in one lift, and time and labour are not wasted in transferring the contents of the truck to the bucket.
Ventilationis an important point. The breath of the miners and the burning of their candles (when electric light is not available) vitiates the air in the galleries; so that even in clean ground a gallery should not be driven more than 60 ft. without providing some means of renewing the air. This is usually done by forcing fresh air, by means of a pump or bellows, through a flexible hose to the head of the gallery. Where mines have been fired close by, there is great danger from poisonous gases filtering through the soil into the gallery. This difficulty is nowadays met by the use of special apparatus, such as helmets into which fresh air is pumped, so that the wearers need not breathe the air of the gallery at all. Ventilation can also be assisted by boring holes vertically to the surface of the ground.
Where a point has been reached at which it is proposed to fire a mine, a chamber just large enough to hold the charge is cut in theside of the gallery. The object of this is to keep the charge out of the direct line of the gallery and thus increase the force of the explosion. The charge may be placed in canvas bags, barrels or boxes, precautions being taken against damp.
The operation of loading is of the first importance, for if the mine is not exploded with success, not only is valuable time lost, which may give the enemy his opportunity, but it will probably be necessary to untamp the mine in order to renew theCharging mines.fuze; an operation attended by considerable danger. The loading of the mine should therefore be done by the officer in charge with his own hands. He has to work in a very cramped position and practically in the dark (unless with electric light) as of course no naked lights can be allowed near powder. Everything should therefore be prepared beforehand to facilitate the loading of the mine and placing of the fuze. At Chatham a 1000 ℔ mine, at the end of a gallery 136 ft. long, has been loaded in 30 minutes. The powder was passed up the gallery by hand in sandbags, and emptied into a box of the required size.
Whatever method of firing (see below) is employed, the officer who loads the mine must be careful to see that it is so arranged as to make firing certain, and that the leads passing out of the gallery are not liable to damage in the process of tamping.
Tamping.—This operation consists in filling up the head of the gallery solidly, for such a distance that there shall be no possibility of the charge wasting its force along the gallery. The distance depends on the charge and on the solidity of the tamping. For a common mine it should extend to about 3/2 L.L.R. from the charge, when the tamping is of earth in sandbags; for a 3-lined crater, to about 2 L.L.R. Tamping can be improved by jamming pieces of timber across the shaft or gallery among the other filling.
Firing.—This may be done electrically, or by means ofsafetyorinstantaneous fuzeorpowder hose.
Electric firing is the safest and best, and allows of the charge being exploded at any given moment. For this purposeelectric fuzes(for powder) orelectric detonators(for guncotton or other high explosive) are employed. The current that fires them is passed through copper wire leads.
The safety fuze used in the British service burns at the rate of about 3 ft. a minute. Instantaneous fuze burns at the rate of a mile a minute. Both can be fired under water. They are often used in conjunction, a considerable length of instantaneous fuze, leading from the charge, being connected to a short length of safety fuze.
Powder hose, an old-time expedient, can be extemporized by making a tube of strong linen, say 1 in. in diameter, and filling it with powder. It burns at the rate of 10 to 20 ft. per second.
Explosives.—The old-fashioned gunpowder of the grained black variety is still the best for most kinds of military mines. Pebble and prism powders do not give as good results, presumably because their action is so slow that some of the gases of explosion can escape through the pores of the earth. High explosives, with their quick shattering and rending effect, are little more effective than gunpowder in actually moving large quantities of earth. Most of them give off much more poisonous fumes than gunpowder. Some recent high explosives, however, have been specially designed to be comparatively innocuous in this respect.
Some formulae have been given above for the calculation of charges. It will, however, simplify matters for theEffects of mines.reader to record some actual instances of charges fired both in peace and war.
In the matter of scientific experiment we find Vauban as usual leading the way, and the following results among others were obtained by him at Tournay in 1686 and 1689: A charge of 162 ℔ placed 13 ft. below the surface produced a crater of 13 ft. radius (a two-lined crater, or “common mine”). Galleries were destroyed at distances equal to the L.L.R. in both horizontal and vertical directions. Double the charge, placed at double the depth,i.e.324 ℔ with an L.L.R. of 27 ft. made no crater, but like the first destroyed galleries below it and on each side at distances equal to the L.L.R. A charge of 3828 ℔ with L.L.R. of 37 ft. made a two-lined crater and destroyed a gallery distant 61 ft. horizontally.Bernard Forest de Belidor, a French engineer, made many experiments at La Fère about 1732, and 20 years later, as a general officer and inspector of miners, continued them on a larger scale. His experiments were directed towards destroying an enemy’s galleries at greater distances than had hitherto been supposed possible, by means of very large charges (in proportion to the L.L.R.) which he called “globes of compression.” In one of them a charge of 4320 ℔ of powder placed only 15 ft. 9 in. below the surface damaged or “compressed” a gallery distant 65 ft. horizontally. The radius of the crater was 34 ft. 8 in.At Frederick the Great’s siege of Schweidnitz in 1762 some very large charges were exploded. One of them, of 5400 ℔ with an L.L.R. of 16 ft. 3 in., made a crater of 42 ft. 3 in. radius. Readers of Carlyle’sFrederick the Greatmay recall his description of the contest of the rival engineers on this occasion.At Graudenz in 1862 (experiments) a charge of 1031 ℔ of powder placed 10 ft. deep, untamped, in a vertical shaft, made a crater of 15 ft. 6 in. radius. A charge of 412 ℔ of guncotton, calculated as being equivalent to the above charge of powder and placed under the same conditions, made a crater of 14 ft. radius. The absence of tamping in both cases of course placed the gunpowder at a disadvantage.Perhaps the most interesting mine ever fired was that at the siege of Petersburg in the American Civil War, in June 1864. The circumstances were all abnormal, and the untechnical account of it inBattles and Leaders of the Civil War(vol.The Petersburg Mine, 1864.iv.) is well worth perusal. No mining tools or materials and no military miners were available; and no one had any confidence in the success of the attempt except its originator, Lieut.-Colonel Pleasants, a mining engineer by profession, his regiment which was recruited from a mining population, and General Burnside the corps commander. The opposing entrenchments were 130 yds. apart. The mine gallery was started behind the Federal lines and driven a distance of 510 ft. till it came under a field redoubt in the Confederate lines. There two branches were made right and left, each about 38 ft. long, and in them eight mines aggregating 8000 ℔ of powder were placed. The first attempt to fire them failed, and an officer and a sergeant volunteered to enter the gallery to seek the cause of the failure. A defective splice in two lengths of fuze was thus discovered and repaired. At the second attempt all the mines were fired simultaneously with success, and made a gigantic crater 170 ft. long by 60 ft. wide and 30 ft. deep. The occupants of the redoubt, at least several hundred men (they have been stated at 1000), were blown up and mostly killed. The assault which followed, however, failed completely, for want of organization. The infantry was drawn up in readiness to advance, but no outlets had been provided from the parallel, and this and other causes delayed the occupation of the crater and gave the defending artillery a moment’s respite. Thus the assailants gained the crater but could not advance beyond it in face of the defenders’ fire, nor could they establish themselves within it, on its steep clay sides, for want of entrenching tools. A good many troops were sent forwards in support, but being in many cases of inferior quality, they could not be induced to go forward, and huddled in disorder in the already overcrowded crater. Over 1000 of these were captured when the Confederates retook the crater by a counter-attack and the total loss of the Federals in the attack was nearly 4000.
In the matter of scientific experiment we find Vauban as usual leading the way, and the following results among others were obtained by him at Tournay in 1686 and 1689: A charge of 162 ℔ placed 13 ft. below the surface produced a crater of 13 ft. radius (a two-lined crater, or “common mine”). Galleries were destroyed at distances equal to the L.L.R. in both horizontal and vertical directions. Double the charge, placed at double the depth,i.e.324 ℔ with an L.L.R. of 27 ft. made no crater, but like the first destroyed galleries below it and on each side at distances equal to the L.L.R. A charge of 3828 ℔ with L.L.R. of 37 ft. made a two-lined crater and destroyed a gallery distant 61 ft. horizontally.
Bernard Forest de Belidor, a French engineer, made many experiments at La Fère about 1732, and 20 years later, as a general officer and inspector of miners, continued them on a larger scale. His experiments were directed towards destroying an enemy’s galleries at greater distances than had hitherto been supposed possible, by means of very large charges (in proportion to the L.L.R.) which he called “globes of compression.” In one of them a charge of 4320 ℔ of powder placed only 15 ft. 9 in. below the surface damaged or “compressed” a gallery distant 65 ft. horizontally. The radius of the crater was 34 ft. 8 in.
At Frederick the Great’s siege of Schweidnitz in 1762 some very large charges were exploded. One of them, of 5400 ℔ with an L.L.R. of 16 ft. 3 in., made a crater of 42 ft. 3 in. radius. Readers of Carlyle’sFrederick the Greatmay recall his description of the contest of the rival engineers on this occasion.
At Graudenz in 1862 (experiments) a charge of 1031 ℔ of powder placed 10 ft. deep, untamped, in a vertical shaft, made a crater of 15 ft. 6 in. radius. A charge of 412 ℔ of guncotton, calculated as being equivalent to the above charge of powder and placed under the same conditions, made a crater of 14 ft. radius. The absence of tamping in both cases of course placed the gunpowder at a disadvantage.
Perhaps the most interesting mine ever fired was that at the siege of Petersburg in the American Civil War, in June 1864. The circumstances were all abnormal, and the untechnical account of it inBattles and Leaders of the Civil War(vol.The Petersburg Mine, 1864.iv.) is well worth perusal. No mining tools or materials and no military miners were available; and no one had any confidence in the success of the attempt except its originator, Lieut.-Colonel Pleasants, a mining engineer by profession, his regiment which was recruited from a mining population, and General Burnside the corps commander. The opposing entrenchments were 130 yds. apart. The mine gallery was started behind the Federal lines and driven a distance of 510 ft. till it came under a field redoubt in the Confederate lines. There two branches were made right and left, each about 38 ft. long, and in them eight mines aggregating 8000 ℔ of powder were placed. The first attempt to fire them failed, and an officer and a sergeant volunteered to enter the gallery to seek the cause of the failure. A defective splice in two lengths of fuze was thus discovered and repaired. At the second attempt all the mines were fired simultaneously with success, and made a gigantic crater 170 ft. long by 60 ft. wide and 30 ft. deep. The occupants of the redoubt, at least several hundred men (they have been stated at 1000), were blown up and mostly killed. The assault which followed, however, failed completely, for want of organization. The infantry was drawn up in readiness to advance, but no outlets had been provided from the parallel, and this and other causes delayed the occupation of the crater and gave the defending artillery a moment’s respite. Thus the assailants gained the crater but could not advance beyond it in face of the defenders’ fire, nor could they establish themselves within it, on its steep clay sides, for want of entrenching tools. A good many troops were sent forwards in support, but being in many cases of inferior quality, they could not be induced to go forward, and huddled in disorder in the already overcrowded crater. Over 1000 of these were captured when the Confederates retook the crater by a counter-attack and the total loss of the Federals in the attack was nearly 4000.
The wars of the last generation have done little or nothing to advance the science of military mining, but a good deal has been done in peace to improve the means. Electric lighting and electric firing of mines will be a great help; modern drilling machines may be used to go through rock; ventilating arrangements are much improved; and the use of bored mines is sure to have great developments. The Russo-Japanese War taught nothing new in mine-warfare, or as to the effects of mines, but the siege of Port Arthur had this moral among others; just as in future, in the frontal attack of positions, trench must oppose trench, so in fortress warfare mines will be more necessary than ever. It appears that they will be essential to destroy both the ditch-flanking arrangements of forts and the escarp or other permanent obstacle beyond the ditch.
V. Field Fortification
Field Fortifications, now more often spoken of as field defences, are those which are constructed at short notice, with the means locally available, usually when the enemy is near at hand. Subject to the question of time, a very high degree of strength can be given to them, if the military situation makes it worth while to expend sufficient labour. A century or more ago, the dividing line between permanent and field fortification was very rigidly drawn, since in those days a high masonry escarp surmounted by a rampart was essential to a permanent fortress, and these could naturally not be extemporized. Works without masonry, in other ways made as strong as possible with deep ditches and heavy timbers,—such as would require about six weeks for their construction—were known assemi-permanent, and were used for the defence of places which acquired strategic importance in the course of a war, but were not immediately threatened. The termfieldfortification was reserved for works constructed of lighter materials, with parapets and ditches of only moderate development. Redoubts of this class required a fortnight at most for their construction.
In modern fortification if cupolas and deep revetted ditches were essential to permanent defences, the dividing line would be equally clear. But as has been shown, this is not universally admitted, and where the resources exist, the use of our presentmeans of construction, such as steel joists, railway rails, reinforced concrete and wire, in conjunction with the defensive power of modern firearms, makes it possible to extemporize in a very short time works having much of the resisting power of a permanent fortress. Further, such works can be expanded from the smallest beginnings; and, if the site is not too exposed, in the presence of the enemy.
Field fortification offers, as regards the actual constructions, a very limited scope to the engineer; and a little consideration will show that its defensive possibilities were not greatly affected by the change from machine-thrown projectiles to those fired by rude smooth-bore guns. There is therefore nothing in the history of this branch of the subject that is worth tracing, from the earliest ages to about the end of the 18th century. One or two points may be noticed. The use of obstacles is probably one of the earliest measures of defence. Long before missile weapons had acquired such an importance as to make it worth while to seek shelter from them, it would obviously have been found desirable to have some means of checking the onrush of an enemy physically or numerically superior. Hence the use by savage tribes, to this day, of pits, pointed stakes hidden in the grass, entanglements and similar obstacles. In this direction the ages have made no change, and the most highly civilized nations still use the same obstacles on occasion.
Another use of field defences common to all ages is the protection of camps at night, where small forces are operating against an enemy more numerous but inferior in arms and discipline. In daylight such an enemy is not feared, but at night his numbers might be dangerous. Hence the Roman practice of making each foot-soldier carry a couple of stakes for palisades; and the simple defence of a thorn zariba used by the British for their camps in the Sudan.
Palisades and trenches, abatis and sharpened stakes have always been used. Except wire, there is practically no new material. As to methods, the laagers of the Boers are preceded by the wagon-forts of the Hussites, and those no doubt by similar arrangements of British or Assyrian war chariots; and so in almost every direction it will be found that the expedient of to-day has had its forerunners in those of the countless yesterdays. The only really marked change in the arrangements of field defences has been caused not by gunpowder but by quick-firing rifled weapons. For that reason it is worth while to consider briefly what were the principles of field fortification at the end of the 18th century. That period has been chosen because it gives us the result of a couple of centuries of constant fighting between disciplined troops with fairly effective firearms. The field defences of the 19th century are transitional in character. Based mainly on the old methods, they show only faint attempts at adaptation to new conditions, and it was not till quite the end of the century that the methods now accepted began to take shape.
The essential elements of fieldworks up to the time of the Peninsular War werecommandandobstacle; now they areprotectionandconcealment.
The command and obstacle were as necessary in the days of smooth-bore muskets and guns as in those of javelins and arrows. When the enemy could get close up to a work without serious loss, and attack in close order,Old type of field defences.the defenders needed a really good obstacle in front of them. Moreover, since they could not rely on their fire alone to repulse the attack, they needed a two-deep line, with reserves close at hand, to meet it with the “arme blanche.” For this purpose a parapet 7 or 8 ft. high, with a steep slope, perhaps palisaded, up which the attackers must climb after passing the obstacle, was excellent. The defenders after firing their last volley could use their bayonets from the top of the parapet with the advantage of position. The high parapet had also the advantage that the attackers could not tell what was going on inside the redoubt, and the defenders were sheltered from their fire as well from view until the last moment.
The strength of a fortified line in the 18th century depended principally on its redoubts. Lines of shelter trenches had little power of defence at the time, unless they held practically as many men as would have sufficed to fight in the open. Obstacles on the other hand had a greater value, against the inelastic tactics of the time, than they have now. A good position therefore was one which offered good fire-positions for redoubts and plenty of facilities for creating obstacles. Strong redoubts which could resist determined assaults; good obstacles in the intervals, guns in the redoubts to sweep the intervals, and troops in formed bodies kept in reserve for counter-strokes—these were the essentials in the days of the smooth-bore.
The redoubts were liable to a heavy cannonade by field-guns before the attack. To withstand this, the parapets had to be made of a suitable thickness—from 4 or 5 ft. upwards—according to the time available, the resisting nature of the soil, and the severity of the bombardment expected.
The whole of the earth for the parapet was as a rule obtained from the ditch, in order to make as much as possible of this obstacle. The garrison in all parts of the interior of the redoubt were to be sheltered, if possible, from the enemy’s fire, and with this object great pains were bestowed on the principle of “defilade.” The object of defilade, which was a great fetish in theoretical works, was so to arrange the height of the parapet with reference to the terreplein of a work that a straight line (not, be it observed, the trajectory of the projectiles) passing from the muzzle of a musket or gun on the most commanding point of the enemy’s position, over the crest of the parapet, should just clear the head of a defender standing in any part of the work. This problem of defilade became quite out of date after the development of time shrapnel, but was nevertheless taught with great rigour till within the last twenty years.
The sectional area of the ditch was calculated so that with an addition of about 10% for expansion it would equal that of the parapet. If a wider and deeper ditch was considered necessary, the surplus earth could be used to form a glacis.
The interior of the redoubt had to afford sufficient space to allow the garrison to sleep in it, which was sometimes a matter of some difficulty if a small irregularly shaped work had to contain a strong garrison. Consideration of the plan and sections of these works will show that the banquette for infantry with its slopes, and the gun platforms, took off a good deal from the interior space within the crest-line. Guns were usually placed at the salients, where they could get the widest field of fire. They were sometimes placed on the ground level, firing through embrasures in the parapet, and sometimes on platforms so as to fire over the parapet (en barbette).
As in permanent fortification, immense pains were taken to elaborate theoretically the traces of works. A distinction was made between forts and redoubts, the former being those which were arranged to flank their own ditches, while the redoubts did not. Redoubts again were classed as “closed,” those which had an equally strong defence all round; and “half-closed,” those which had only a slight parapet or timber stockade for the gorge or rear faces. Open works (those which had no gorge defence) were named according to their trace, asredansandlunettes. A redan is a work with two faces making a salient angle. It was frequently used in connexion with straight lines of trench or breastwork. A lunette is a work with two faces, usually forming an obtuse angle, and two flanks.
The forts described in the text-books, as might be expected, were designed with great ingenuity, with bastioned or demi-bastioned fronts, star traces, and so forth, and in the same books intricate calculations were entered into to balance theremblaianddéblai, that is, the amount of earth in the parapets with that excavated from the ditches. In practice such niceties of course disappeared, though occasionally when the ground allowed of it star forts and bastioned fronts were employed.
On irregular ground the first necessity was to fit the redoubt to the ground on which it stood, so as to sweep the whole of the foreground, and this was generally a sufficiently difficult matter without adding the complications of flanking defences. Sir John Jones, speaking of the traces of the several works in the Torres Vedras lines, says:—
“The redoubts were made of every capacity, from that of fig. 74 a, limited by want of space on the ground it occupied to 50 men and two pieces of artillery, to that of fig. 74 b, for 500 men and six pieces of artillery, the importance of the object to beTorres Vedras.attained being the only guide in forming the dimensions. Many of the redoubts first thrown up, even some of the smallest, were shaped like stars, under the idea of procuring a flank defence for the ditches; but this construction was latterly rejected, it being found to cut up the interior space, and to be almost fallacious with respect to flank defence, the breadth of the exterior slopes being in some cases equal to the whole length of the flanks so obtained. Even when, from the greater size of the work, some flanking fire was thus gained, the angle formed by the faces was generally so obtuse that it demanded more coolness in the defenders than ought reasonably to be expected to aim along the ditch of the opposite face: and further, this construction prevented the fire of the work being more powerful in front than in rear.Fig. 74.—Torres Vedras Works.In order to decide on the proper trace of a work, it is necessary to consider whether its object be to prevent an enemy establishing himself on the ground on which it is to be placed, or whether it be to insure a heavy fire of artillery on some other point in its vicinity. In the first case every consideration should be sacrificed to that of adding to its powers of self-defence by flanks or other expedients. In the second, its powers of resistance are secondary to the establishment of a powerful offensive fire and its trace cannot be too simple. Latterly, the shape of the redoubts was invariably that most fitted to the ground, or such as best parried the enfilade fire or musketry plunge of neighbouring heights, care being taken to present the front of fire deemed necessary towards the pass, or other object to be guarded; and such will generally be found the best rule of proceeding.This recommendation, however, is not intended to apply to isolated works of large dimensions, and more particularly to those considered the key of any position. No labour or expense should be spared to render such works capable of resisting the most furious assaults, either by breaking the parapet into flanks, or forming a flank defence in the ditch; for the experience gained in the Peninsula shows that an unflanked work of even more than an ordinary field profile, if skilfully and determinedly assaulted, will generally be carried.... Nor does the serious evil of curtailing the interior space, which renders breaks in the outline so objectionable in small works, apply to works of large dimensions.... Under this view the great work on Monte Agraça (fig. 75) must be considered as very defective, the flank defence being confined to an occasional break of a few feet in the trace, caused by a change of direction in the contour of the height, whilst the interior space is more than doubly sufficient for the number of its allotted garrison to encamp.Fig. 75.—Monte Agraça, Torres Vedras.Interior and other Defences.—This work, however, had some of its salient points ... cut off by earthen lines of parapet, steeply revetted externally, and so traced as to serve for traverses to the interior. It had also three or four small enclosed posts formed within it; and the work at Torres Vedras (fig. 76) had each of its salient points formed into an independent post. These interior defences and retrenchments were intended to guard against a general panic amongst the garrison, which would necessarily be composed in part of indifferent troops, and also to prevent the loss of the work by the entry of the assailants at any weak or ill-defended point. Such interior lines to rally on are absolutely essential to the security of a large field-work. They serve as substitutes for a blockhouse or tower, placed in the interior of all well-constructed permanent earthen works, and merit far more attention than they generally receive.Fig. 76.—Torres Vedras Works.The small circular windmills of stone, which were frequently found occupying salient knolls ... readily converted into admirable interior posts of that nature. The profile of the several works varied on every face and flank, according to its liability to be attacked or cannonaded; the only general rule enforced being that all ditches should be at least 15 ft. wide at top and 10 ft. in depth, and the crest of the parapet have at least 5 ft. command over the crest of the counterscarp. No parapet exceeded 10 ft. in thickness, unless exposed to be severely cannonaded, and few more than 6 or 8 ft.; and some, on high knolls, where artillery could not by any possibility be brought against them, were made of stone or rubble less than 2 ft. in thickness, to gain more interior space, and allow full liberty for the use of the defenders’ bayonets.”Fig. 77 gives two typical sections of these works.
“The redoubts were made of every capacity, from that of fig. 74 a, limited by want of space on the ground it occupied to 50 men and two pieces of artillery, to that of fig. 74 b, for 500 men and six pieces of artillery, the importance of the object to beTorres Vedras.attained being the only guide in forming the dimensions. Many of the redoubts first thrown up, even some of the smallest, were shaped like stars, under the idea of procuring a flank defence for the ditches; but this construction was latterly rejected, it being found to cut up the interior space, and to be almost fallacious with respect to flank defence, the breadth of the exterior slopes being in some cases equal to the whole length of the flanks so obtained. Even when, from the greater size of the work, some flanking fire was thus gained, the angle formed by the faces was generally so obtuse that it demanded more coolness in the defenders than ought reasonably to be expected to aim along the ditch of the opposite face: and further, this construction prevented the fire of the work being more powerful in front than in rear.
In order to decide on the proper trace of a work, it is necessary to consider whether its object be to prevent an enemy establishing himself on the ground on which it is to be placed, or whether it be to insure a heavy fire of artillery on some other point in its vicinity. In the first case every consideration should be sacrificed to that of adding to its powers of self-defence by flanks or other expedients. In the second, its powers of resistance are secondary to the establishment of a powerful offensive fire and its trace cannot be too simple. Latterly, the shape of the redoubts was invariably that most fitted to the ground, or such as best parried the enfilade fire or musketry plunge of neighbouring heights, care being taken to present the front of fire deemed necessary towards the pass, or other object to be guarded; and such will generally be found the best rule of proceeding.
This recommendation, however, is not intended to apply to isolated works of large dimensions, and more particularly to those considered the key of any position. No labour or expense should be spared to render such works capable of resisting the most furious assaults, either by breaking the parapet into flanks, or forming a flank defence in the ditch; for the experience gained in the Peninsula shows that an unflanked work of even more than an ordinary field profile, if skilfully and determinedly assaulted, will generally be carried.... Nor does the serious evil of curtailing the interior space, which renders breaks in the outline so objectionable in small works, apply to works of large dimensions.... Under this view the great work on Monte Agraça (fig. 75) must be considered as very defective, the flank defence being confined to an occasional break of a few feet in the trace, caused by a change of direction in the contour of the height, whilst the interior space is more than doubly sufficient for the number of its allotted garrison to encamp.
Interior and other Defences.—This work, however, had some of its salient points ... cut off by earthen lines of parapet, steeply revetted externally, and so traced as to serve for traverses to the interior. It had also three or four small enclosed posts formed within it; and the work at Torres Vedras (fig. 76) had each of its salient points formed into an independent post. These interior defences and retrenchments were intended to guard against a general panic amongst the garrison, which would necessarily be composed in part of indifferent troops, and also to prevent the loss of the work by the entry of the assailants at any weak or ill-defended point. Such interior lines to rally on are absolutely essential to the security of a large field-work. They serve as substitutes for a blockhouse or tower, placed in the interior of all well-constructed permanent earthen works, and merit far more attention than they generally receive.
The small circular windmills of stone, which were frequently found occupying salient knolls ... readily converted into admirable interior posts of that nature. The profile of the several works varied on every face and flank, according to its liability to be attacked or cannonaded; the only general rule enforced being that all ditches should be at least 15 ft. wide at top and 10 ft. in depth, and the crest of the parapet have at least 5 ft. command over the crest of the counterscarp. No parapet exceeded 10 ft. in thickness, unless exposed to be severely cannonaded, and few more than 6 or 8 ft.; and some, on high knolls, where artillery could not by any possibility be brought against them, were made of stone or rubble less than 2 ft. in thickness, to gain more interior space, and allow full liberty for the use of the defenders’ bayonets.”
Fig. 77 gives two typical sections of these works.
The works of Torres Vedras have been chosen for illustration because they offer very good historical examples, and also because of the value of the critical remarks of Sir John Jones, who as a captain was the engineer in charge of their construction. At the same time it must be remembered that they differ from ordinary field-works in having an unusual degree of strength, plenty of time and civilian labour having been available for their construction. In this respect they approximate more to semi-permanent works, the main reason why they did not receive under the circumstances a greater development of ditch and parapet being that in addition to the large number of works required, much labour was expended in abatis, inundations, scarping hill-sides and constructing roads.
Some further remarks of Sir John on thesituations of the worksare very instructive:—
“Many of the redoubts were placed on very elevated situations on the summit of steep hills, which gave them a most imposingappearance; but it was in reality a defect ... for the fire of their artillery on the object to be guarded became so plunging as to lose half its powers; the musketry could not be made to scour the face of the hill sufficiently; and during the night both arms became of most uncertain effect.“The domineering situation of the redoubts, however, gave confidence to the young troops which composed their garrisons, protected them from a cannonade, and screened their interior from musketry, unless fired at a high angle, and consequently at random. These considerations perhaps justify the unusually elevated sites selected for most of the redoubts on the lines, though they cannot induce an approval of them as a general measure.”
“Many of the redoubts were placed on very elevated situations on the summit of steep hills, which gave them a most imposingappearance; but it was in reality a defect ... for the fire of their artillery on the object to be guarded became so plunging as to lose half its powers; the musketry could not be made to scour the face of the hill sufficiently; and during the night both arms became of most uncertain effect.
“The domineering situation of the redoubts, however, gave confidence to the young troops which composed their garrisons, protected them from a cannonade, and screened their interior from musketry, unless fired at a high angle, and consequently at random. These considerations perhaps justify the unusually elevated sites selected for most of the redoubts on the lines, though they cannot induce an approval of them as a general measure.”
The chief principle of the period was thus that the redoubts were the most important features of lines of defence, and that they combined physical obstacle and protection with good musketry and artillery positions. The value of concealment was not ignored, but it was as a rule subordinated to other considerations.
The principles of this time remained unaltered until after the Crimean War. In the American Civil War the power of the rifle began to assert itself, and it was found that a simple breastwork defended by a double rank of men could19th century.protect itself by its fire against an ordinary assault. This power of the rifle gave greatly enhanced importance to any defences that could be hastily extemporized behind walls, hedges or any natural cover. About the period of the Franco-German War other considerations came in. The increased velocity of artillery projectiles reduced in some ways their destructive effects against earth parapets, because the shell had an increasing tendency to deflect upwards on striking a bank of loose earth. Also the use of shrapnel made it impossible for troops to find cover on the terreplein of a work some distance behind the parapet.
These considerations, however, were not fully realized at that time. The reason was partly a want of touch between the engineers and the non-technical branches of most armies, and partly that original writers from the Napoleonic wars to the present day have been more occupied with the primary question of the value of field defences as a matter of tactics than with their details considered from the standpoint of fortification.
There was always an influential school of writers who declaimed against all defences, as being injurious to the offensive spirit so essential to success. Those writers who treated of the arrangements of defences devoted themselves to theoretical details of trace quite after the old style; discussing the size and shape of typical redoubts, their distance apart and relation to lines of trenches, &c. The profiles—the thick parapet with command of 7 ft. or more, the deep ditch, and the inadequate cover behind the parapet—remained as they had been for a century.
The American Civil War showed the power of rifles behind slight defences. Plevna in 1877 taught a further lesson. It proved the great resisting power of extemporized lines; but more than that, we begin to find new arrangements for protection against shell fire (see plans and sections in Greene’sThe Russian Army and its Campaign in Turkey). The trace of the works and the sections of parapet and ditch suggest Torres Vedras; but a multiplication of interior traverses and splinter-proof shelters show the necessity for a different class of protection. The parapet was designed according to the old type, for want of a better; the traverses and shelters were added later, to meet the necessities of the case. The Turks also used two or three tiers of musketry fire, as for instance one from the crest of the glacis, one from the parapet, and one from a traverse in rear of it. This, however, is a development which will not be necessary in future, thanks to magazine rifles.
From 1877 to 1899 the efficiency of rifles and guns rapidly increased, and certain new principles, causing the field defences of the present day to differ radically from those of the 18th century, remained to be developed. ThesePrinciples of modern field defences.may be considered under the following heads: the nature of protection required, the diminished need of obstacle, and the adaptation of works to ground.
The principle thatthicknessof parapet is no longer required, to resist artillery fire, was first laid down at Chatham in 1896. The distance at which guns now engage makes direct hits on parapets comparatively rare. Further, a shell striking near the crest of a parapet may perhaps kill one man if he is in the way, and displace a bushel of earth. That is nothing. It is the contents of the shell, whether shrapnel or explosive, that is the source of danger and not the shell itself. Thus the enemy’s object is to burst his common shell immediately behind the parapet, or his shrapnel a short distance in front of it, in order to get searching effect. It follows that a parapet is thick enough if it suffices to stop rifle bullets, since the same thickness willa fortiorikeep out shrapnel bullets or splinters of shell. For this purpose 3 ft. is enough.
Real protection is gained by a trench close in rear of the parapet, deep enough to give shelter from high angle shrapnel, and narrow enough to minimize the chance of a common shell dropping into it. This protection is increased by frequent traverses across the trench.
The most essential point of all isconcealment. In gaining this we say good-bye finally to the old type of work. Protection is now given by the trench rather than the parapet; command and the ditch-obstacle (which furnished the earth for the high parapet) are alike unnecessary. Concealment can therefore be studied by keeping the parapet down to the lowest level above the surface from which the foreground can be seen. This may be 18 in. or less.
The need of obstacle, in daylight and when the defenders are not abnormally few, has practically disappeared. For night work, or when the assailant is so strong as to be able to force home his attack in face of protected rifle fire, what is needed is not a deep ditch immediately in front of the parapet, difficult to climb, but also difficult to flank, but an obstacle that will detain him under fire at short range. It may be an entanglement, an abatis, an inundation: anything that will check the rush and make him move slowly.
In theadaptation of works to ground, the governing factor is the power of the rifle in frontal defence. We have seen that in Peninsular times great reliance was placed on the flanking defence of lines by guns in redoubts. Infantry extended behind a simple line of trench could not resist a strong attack without such support. Now, however, infantry behind a slight trench, with a good field of fire should be able to defend themselves against any infantry attack.
This being so, the enemy’s artillery seeks to locate the trenches and to cover them with a steady hail of shells, so as to force the defenders to keep down under cover. If they can succeed in doing this, it is possible for the attacking infantry to advance, and the artillery fire is kept up until the last moment, so that the attack may have the narrowest possible space to cover after the defenders have manned their parapets and opened fire. Fig. 78 shows the action of various natures of projectiles.
We need not here discuss the rôle of the defenders’ artillery in replying to that of the enemy and playing on the attack; nor for the moment consider how far the defence of the trenches while under artillery fire can be made easier by overhead cover. The main question is—what is, in view of the nature of the attack,the best disposition of lines of trench; and do they require the addition of redoubts?
The most important point, with the object of protection, is that the trenches must not be conspicuous; this is the best defence against artillery. With the object of resistance by their own fire they must have a good view, or, as it is generally described, nodead groundin front of them. For this purpose 300 or 400 yds. may be enough if the ground is even and affords no cover.
This necessity for invisibility, together with the shallowness of the zone that suffices for producing a decisive fire effect, has of late years very much affected the choice of ground for a line of trenches.
For a defensive position on high ground, it was usually laid down until the South African War that a line of trenches should be on the “military crest” (Fr.crête militaire),i.e.the highest point on the hill from which the whole of the slopes inSiting of trenches.front can be seen. Thus in the three sections of ground shown in fig. 79 it would be at a, b and c respectively. The simplicity of this prescription made it attractive and it came to be rather abused in the text-books. There were, even before the improvements in artillery, objections to it, because on most slopes the military crest would be found at very different elevations on different parts of the line, so that by a strict adherence to the rule some of the trenches would be placed near the top of the hill, and some in dangerous isolation near the bottom. Moreover a rounded hill has no military crest.Fig.79.Further, we have to consider nowadays not only the position of the fire-trenches, but those of supports, reserves and artillery, and the whole question is extremely difficult.For instance, considering the sections alone, as if they did not vary along the line, the positions ataandb, fig. 79, are bad because they are on the sky-line and therefore a good mark for artillery. That atbis especially bad because the slope in front is so steep that the defenders would have to expose themselves very much to fire down it, and the artillery fire against them can be kept up until the very last moment. The positionchas the advantage of not being on the sky-line, but the position of the supports in rear is exposed.Fig.80.Fig.81.Fig.82.Fig.83.Such a position as that atd, fig. 80, is good, but protected or concealed communications must be made for the supports coming fromeover the brow of the hill.Another possible position for the infantry line is atf, fig. 81, with the guns on the high ground behind. They might easily be quite concealed from the enemy’s artillery. The drawback is that no retirement up the exposed slope would be possible for them, except at night. The fire fromfwill begrazing, which will be a great advantage as compared with theplungingfire that would be obtained from a position up the hill.It is idle, however, to give more than the most cursory consideration to sections of imaginary positions. It is only by actual practice on the ground that skill can be attained in laying out positions, and only a trained soldier with a good eye can succeed in it. Briefly, the advantages of view and position given by high ground must be paid for in some degree by exposure to the enemy’s artillery; and at least as much consideration—possibly as much labour—must be given to communications with the fire-trenches as to the trenches themselves. Irregular ground simplifies the question of concealment but also gives cover to the enemy’s approach. The lie of the ground will itself dictate the position of the trenches, subject to the predispositions of the responsible officer. On flat featureless ground the general trace of the trenches should be irregular. This makes a more difficult target for artillery, and affords a certain amount of cross and flanking fire, which is a very great advantage. Great care should, however, be taken not to expose the trenches to oblique or enfilade fire; or at least to protect them, if so exposed, by traversing.Concealment of trenches is generally attempted by covering the freshly turned earth of the small parapet with sods, leafy branches or grass. In this connexion it should be remembered that after a day or two cut leaves and grass wither andTrenches.may become conspicuous against a green surface. Where the ground is so even that a good view of the foreground is possible from the surface level, the trench may be made without a parapet; but this entails great labour in removing and disposing of the excavated earth. A common device is to conceal the parapet as well as possible and to make a dummy trench some distance away to draw fire.Besides the direct concealment of trenches, care must be taken that the site is not conspicuous. Thus a trench should not be placed along the meeting line of two different kinds of cultivation, or along the edge of a belt of heather on a hill-side, or where a difference of gradient is sharply defined; or where any conspicuous landmark would help the enemy’s artillery to get the range.Trenches are broadly distinguished as “fire trenches” and “cover trenches,” according as they are for the firing line or supporting troops. The following simple types are taken from the 1908 edition ofMilitary Engineering(part 1): “Field Defences.”Fig. 82 is the most common form of fire trench, in which labour is saved by equalizing trench and parapet. This would take 1½ to 2 hours in ordinary soil. Fig. 83 shows the same trench improved by 2 or 3 hours’ more work. Fig. 84 shows a fire trench without parapet, with cover trench and communication.FromMil. Engineering: Field Defences(1908), by permission of the Controller H. M. Stationery Office.Fig.84.The addition of a loophole of sandbags on the top for concealment (calledhead-cover), gives increased protection, but at the cost of greater prominence for the parapet (fig. 85). Overhead cover can only be provided in fire trenches by giving the parapet still greater height and it is not usually done. Portions of the trench not used for firing can, however, be given splinter-proof protection by putting over them branches or bundles, covered with a few inches of earth: or by boards, or sheets of corrugated iron if they can be had. A better plan when time permits is to provide cover trenches immediately behind and communicating with the fire trench.FromMil. Engineering: Field Defences, by permission of the Controller H. M. Stationery Office.Fig.85.The question of redoubts has been a vexed one for years; partly they were thought to be unnecessary in view of the resisting power of a line of trenches, but chiefly because the redoubt was always imagined as one of the older type, with a highRedoubts.conspicuous parapet. Of course a redoubt of such a nature would be readily identified and made untenable. But the idea of a redoubt does not necessarily imply command. Its object is that it shall be capable of all-round defence. There can be no doubt that as there is always a possibility of lines being pierced somewhere, it is desirable, unless the whole line is to be thrown into confusion and forced back, to have some point at which the defenders can maintain themselves. This is not possible unless at such points there is provision for defence towards both flanks and rear, that is to say, when there are redoubts, which can hold on after certain portions of the line have been lost and thereby can localize the enemy’s success and simplifythe action of supporting troops. In order that redoubts may exercise this function, all that is necessary is that their defenders should be able to see the ground for a furlong in front of them in every direction. Their parapets, therefore, need be in no way more conspicuous than those of the neighbouring fire trenches, and in that case there is no fear of their drawing special attention from the enemy’s artillery. Whatever theories may have been put forward en the subject, in practice they are constantly used, and in the Russo-Japanese War, where the experience of South Africa was already available, we find them in the fighting lines on both sides.Fig.86.The modern type of field redoubt is a fire trench, no more conspicuous than the others, in any simple form adapted to the ground that will give effective all-round fire, such as a square with blunted angles. Enhanced strength may be given by deepening the trenches and improving the overhead cover; and special use may here be made of obstacles.Fig.87.Within the redoubt cover may be provided for men in excess of those required to man the parapet, by means of cover trenches and field casemates. Fig. 86 gives the general idea of such a redoubt, and figs. 87, 88 the plan and section of the interior shelters. Such a work can easily be made quite invisible from a distance. It gives excellent cover against shrapnel, but would not be tenable against howitzer common shell, if the enemy did manage to bring an accurate fire to bear on it.Fig.88.Fig. 89 shows the section of a parapet with two shelters behind it for a work with a high command of 5 or 6 ft. This work would require a concealed position, which can often be found a little in rear of the firing line.FromMil. Engineering: Field Defences(1908), by permission of the Controller H.M. Stationery Office.Fig.89.In the South African War a good deal of interest was excited by a type of trench used by the Boers. It was very narrow at the surface, giving only just room for a man to stand; but undercut or hollowed out below, so that he could sit down with very goodBoer, Russian and Japanese types.cover. Such a section is only possible in very firm soil. Apart from this, the type is really only suited to rifle pits, as a trench proper should have room for officers and N.C.O’s to move along within it. The Boers showed great skill in concealing their trenches. One good point was that there was generally something making a background immediately behind the men’s heads, so that they did not stand out in relief when raised above the parapet.FromRusso-Japanese War: British Officers’ Reports, vol. ii., by permission of the Controller H.M. Stationery Office.Figs.90 and 91.In the Russo-Japanese War the Russian trenches at the outset were of old-fashioned type and very conspicuous. Later on better types were evolved. Figs. 90 and 91 are a couple of sections from Port Arthur; the first borrowed from the Boers but wider at the top. The Japanese appear to have taken their type mainly from the latest British official books, but applied them with great skill to the ground studying especially invisibility. In their prepared positions they used large redoubts manned by several companies.FromMil. Engineering: Field Defences, by permission of the Controller H. M. Stationery Office.Fig.92.—Gun-pit.Cover for Guns.—Some degree of cover for guns, in addition to the shield, is always desirable. If the gun stands on the natural surface of the ground, the cover is called an epaulment. In that case a bank is thrown up in front of the gun, about 1 ft. high in the centre, and 3 ft. 6 in. high at the ends. On either side of the gun and close up to the bank is a small pit for the gunners. The rest of the earth for the epaulment is got from a trench in front. If the gun is sunk, the shelter is called a gun-pit.In this case there is no bank immediately in front of the gun. Shelter can be got more quickly with a pit than an epaulment, but it is generally undesirable to break the surface of the ground.The commonest forms ofobstaclenow used areabatisandObstacles.wire entanglements. Fig. 93 shows a well-finished type of abatis. The branches are stripped and pointed, and the butts are buried and pegged firmly down. Wire entanglement may be added to this with advantage. An abatis should be protected from artillery fire, which is sometimes done by placing it in a shallow excavation with the earth thrown up in front of it.FromMil. Engineering: Field Defences, by permission of the Controller H.M. Stationery Office.Fig.93.—Abatis.Wire may be used as ahighorlow entanglementor as a fence or trip wire or concealed obstacle. The usual form of high wire entanglement consists of several rows of stout stakes 4 or 5 ft. long, driven firmly into the ground about 6 ft. apart, and connected horizontally and diagonally with barbed wire.Fig.94.—Crows’ Feet.Fig.95.—Plan and section of Trous-de-loup.Palisadesare still used, and need no description. They were formerly often made bullet-proof, but this is no longer possible.Fraisesare seldom heard of now, though they may appear occasionally in a modified form. They were much used in connexion with deep ditches, and are palisades placed so as to project horizontally from the escarp, or sloping forward in the bottom of the ditch.Military pitsbothdeepandshallow(the latter, shown in fig. 95, calledtrous de loup) are not so much used as formerly, because the obstacle is hardly worth the labour expended on it. Both, however, were employed in the Russo-Japanese War.Crows’ feet, formerly much used as a defence against cavalry, are practically obsolete. They consisted of four iron spikes joined together at their bases in such a manner that however they were thrown down one point would always be pointing upwards (fig. 94).Chevaux-de-frise(q.v.) were formerly a much-used type of obstacle.The best obstacle is that which can be made to fulfil a given object with the least expenditure of time and labour. From this point of view barbed wire is far the best. One of its greatest advantages is that it gives no cover whatever to the enemy.Fougasseshave always for convenience been classed as obstacles. A fougasse is a charge of powder buried at the bottom of a sloping pit. Over the powder is a wooden shield, 3 or 4 in. thick, and over the shield a quantity of stones are piled. The illustration, fig. 96, gives a clear idea of the arrangement. A fougasse of this form, charged with 80 ℔ of powder, will throw 5 tons of stones over a surface 160 yds. long by 120 wide. They may be fired by powder hose, fuze or electricity. Their actual effect is very often a matter of chance, but the moral effect is usually considerable.Damsare most effective obstacles, when circumstances allow of their use. They are constructed by military engineers as small temporary dams would be in civil works.A most important question, especially in connexion with obstacles, is that of lighting up the foreground at night. Portable electric searchlights are most valuable, especially for detecting the enemy’s movements at some distance; but their useIllumination.will naturally always be restricted. Star shells and parachute lights fired from guns are not of much use for the immediate foreground, and do not burn very long. They were formerly chiefly of use in siege works, to light up an enemy’s working parties. Germany has introduced lightballs fired from pistols, which will probably have a considerable future.Various civilian forms offlare-lightwould be very useful to illuminate obstacles, but cannot well be carried in the field.Bonfiresare very useful when material is available. They require careful treatment,e.g.they must be so arranged that they can be lighted instantaneously (they may be lighted automatically, by means of a trip wire and a fuze); they must give a bright light at once (this can be ensured with shavings or straw sprinkled with petroleum); they must be firmly built so that the enemy cannot destroy them easily; and if possible there should be a screen arranged behind them so that they may not light up the defence as well as the attack.Blockhouses are familiar to the public from the part they playedBlockhouses.in the South African War of 1899-1902. In the old-fashioned permanent fortification they were used as keeps in such positions as re-entering places of arms and built of masonry. Stone blockhouses have long been used in the Balkans for frontier outposts; they are sometimes built cruciform, so as to get some flanking defence. In the form of bullet-proof log-cabins they have played a great part in warfare between pioneer settlers and savages.FromMil. Engineering, by permission of the Controller H.M. Stationery Office.Fig. 96.—Fougasse.In the 19th century blockhouses were usually designed to give partial protection against field artillery; the walls being built of two thicknesses of logs with earth between them, the roof flat and covered with 2 or 3 ft. of earth, and earth being piled against the walls up to the loopholes. Nowadays they are employed only in positions where it is not likely that artillery will be brought against them: but they may be made tenable for a while even under artillery fire if they are surrounded by a trench and parapet.Blockhouses are especially useful for small posts protecting such points as railway bridges, which the enemy may attempt to destroy by cavalry raids. The essential feature is a bullet-proof loopholed wall, arranged for all-round fire, with enough interior space for the garrison to sleep in. The roof may be simply weatherproof. Some arrangement for storing water must be provided. Circular blockhouses were very popular in South Africa. They were made of sheets of corrugated iron fastened 6 in. apart on a wooden framework, the space between the sheets being filled with small stones. The loopholes were made of sheet-iron frames inserted in the walls. Fig. 97 shows a section of one of these blockhouses.By permission of the Controller H.M. Stationery Office.Fig. 97.—Blockhouse, South Africa, 1900-1902.The defence of woods was formerly an important branch of field defences. Abatis and entanglements could readily be extemporized, trunks of trees made strong breastworks, and the wood concealed the numbers of the defenders. A wood wasWoods.therefore generally considered a useful addition to a line of defence. It was customary to hold the front edge of the wood, the irregularities of the outline being utilized for frontal and flanking fire, while obstacles were disposed some 50 yds. in front. In a carefully prepared position, clearings would be made parallel to the front and some distance back from it, for support positions, and great attention was paid (in theory at least) to clearing communications, erections, signposts, &c., so that the defending troops might move freely in any desired direction.Woods, however, had their inherent drawbacks. The ground is hard to dig, clearing involves great labour; and communication, at the best, is cramped. Nowadays a wood can hardly be considered a strong defensive element in a line. The front of it is an excellent ranging mark for artillery, and positions within the wood are not easily made, because of the difficulty of trenching, and the fact that no reasonable amount of timber will make a breastwork proof against the modern bullet. Once an enemy gets a footing within a wood, the position is more favourable to offensive than to defensive action. If a wood has to be occupied in a line of defence, it is probable that in most cases the rear edge or a line slightly behind it would be the best to fortify, though the front edge would no doubt be held by the fighting line at the outset.The defence of villages is another question which has been much affected by recent improvements in artillery. Formerly villages were very important adjuncts to a line of defence, and strong points for a detached force to hold. There wereVillages.indeed always drawbacks. The preparations for defence entaileda good deal of labour, and the defending force was scattered in houses and enclosures, so that control and united action were difficult. But the value of the ready-made protection afforded by walls was so great—and sometimes even decisive—that villages were occupied as a matter of course. This is certainly now changed, but precisely to what extent it will be impossible to say, until after the next European war. A village under fire is not now an ideal defensive position. A single shrapnel penetrating the outer wall may kill all the occupants of a room; a single field-howitzer shell may practically ruin a house. At the same time, a house or line of houses may (without any preliminary labour at all) give very good protection against shell fire to troopsbehindthem. Further, the value to the defence of the slightest cover, once the infantry attack has developed, is so great that the ruins of walls and houses occupied at the right moment may prove an impregnable stronghold. This class of fighting, however, does not properly come under the present heading. For the details of the defence of walls, houses, &c., see the officialMil. Engineering(1908).Entrenching under Fire.—Progress in this direction has been delayed by the reluctance of military authorities to add a portable entrenching tool to the heavy burden already carried by the infantry soldier. Further delay has resulted from the attempts of enthusiastic inventors to produce a tool that shall weigh nothing, go easily in the pocket, and be available as a pick, shovel, saw, hand-axe or corkscrew. A tool that will serve more than one use is seldom satisfactory for any.The object of entrenching under fire is to enable attacking infantry, when their advance is checked by the enemy’s fire, to maintain the ground they have won by extemporizing cover where none exists. The need of this was first felt in the AmericanExtemporized cover.Civil War, and towards the close of it a small entrenching spade 22 in. long and weighing only 1½ ℔ was introduced by Brigadier-General H.W. Benham into the Army of the Potomac. Since that time a great number of patterns have been tried, including shovel, trowel and adze types. The most popular of these has been the Linnemann spade, which is used by most continental armies and by the Japanese. The Austrian form of this tool is a rectangular spade with straight handle. The length over all is a little less than 20 in. The blade is 8 in. long by 6 wide. One side of it has a saw edge, and the other a cutting edge. For carriage, the blade is enclosed in a leather case, which is strapped to the pack or the waist-belt. In the British army the Wallace combined pick and shovel was used for some time, but was eventually dropped. There was always great doubt whether the utility of a portable entrenching tool was such as to justify the inconvenience caused to the soldier in carrying it. But the experience of the Russo-Japanese War seems to have finally established the necessity of it, and also the fact that it must generally be used lying down. For this purpose and for convenience in carrying it on the person, a very light short-handled tool is required.The soldier lying down cannot attempt to dig a trench, but can make a little hole by his side as he lies, and put the earth in front of his head. A method introduced by the Japanese is that at each check in the advance the front line should do this, and, as they go forward, the supporting lines in succession should improve the cover thus commenced.There are few things that soldiers dislike more, in the way of training, than trenchwork. For men unused to it, it is tiring and tedious work, and it is difficult for them to realize its importance. At the same time it is a commonplace ofGeneral remarks.recent history that men who have been in action a few times develop a great affection for the shovel. The need of trenches grows with the growth of firearms, and the latest feature of modern tactics is the use of them in attack as well as in defence. The observation has often been made—with what truth as a general proposition we cannot here discuss—that modern battles tend more and more to resemble a siege. The weaker side, it is said, entrenches itself; the other bombards and attacks. After gaining as much ground as they can, the attacking troops wait for nightfall and entrench; perhaps making a further advance and entrenchment before dawn. In the last stage the attack might even be reduced to gaining ground by sapping. In open and featureless ground, where the rifle and gun have full play, the trench is to the modern soldier very much what the breast-plate was to the man-at-arms, an absolute essential.The most important point in connexion with modern field fortification is the effect on both strategy and tactics of the increased resisting power of the defence. A small force well entrenched can check the frontal attack of a very much larger force, and while holding its position can make itself felt over a wider radius than ever before. This must needs have a marked effect on strategy, and it is quite possible to foresee such an ultimate triumph of field fortification as that one force should succeed in surrounding another stronger than itself, and by entrenching prevent the latter from breaking out and compel its surrender.
For a defensive position on high ground, it was usually laid down until the South African War that a line of trenches should be on the “military crest” (Fr.crête militaire),i.e.the highest point on the hill from which the whole of the slopes inSiting of trenches.front can be seen. Thus in the three sections of ground shown in fig. 79 it would be at a, b and c respectively. The simplicity of this prescription made it attractive and it came to be rather abused in the text-books. There were, even before the improvements in artillery, objections to it, because on most slopes the military crest would be found at very different elevations on different parts of the line, so that by a strict adherence to the rule some of the trenches would be placed near the top of the hill, and some in dangerous isolation near the bottom. Moreover a rounded hill has no military crest.
Further, we have to consider nowadays not only the position of the fire-trenches, but those of supports, reserves and artillery, and the whole question is extremely difficult.
For instance, considering the sections alone, as if they did not vary along the line, the positions ataandb, fig. 79, are bad because they are on the sky-line and therefore a good mark for artillery. That atbis especially bad because the slope in front is so steep that the defenders would have to expose themselves very much to fire down it, and the artillery fire against them can be kept up until the very last moment. The positionchas the advantage of not being on the sky-line, but the position of the supports in rear is exposed.
Such a position as that atd, fig. 80, is good, but protected or concealed communications must be made for the supports coming fromeover the brow of the hill.
Another possible position for the infantry line is atf, fig. 81, with the guns on the high ground behind. They might easily be quite concealed from the enemy’s artillery. The drawback is that no retirement up the exposed slope would be possible for them, except at night. The fire fromfwill begrazing, which will be a great advantage as compared with theplungingfire that would be obtained from a position up the hill.
It is idle, however, to give more than the most cursory consideration to sections of imaginary positions. It is only by actual practice on the ground that skill can be attained in laying out positions, and only a trained soldier with a good eye can succeed in it. Briefly, the advantages of view and position given by high ground must be paid for in some degree by exposure to the enemy’s artillery; and at least as much consideration—possibly as much labour—must be given to communications with the fire-trenches as to the trenches themselves. Irregular ground simplifies the question of concealment but also gives cover to the enemy’s approach. The lie of the ground will itself dictate the position of the trenches, subject to the predispositions of the responsible officer. On flat featureless ground the general trace of the trenches should be irregular. This makes a more difficult target for artillery, and affords a certain amount of cross and flanking fire, which is a very great advantage. Great care should, however, be taken not to expose the trenches to oblique or enfilade fire; or at least to protect them, if so exposed, by traversing.
Concealment of trenches is generally attempted by covering the freshly turned earth of the small parapet with sods, leafy branches or grass. In this connexion it should be remembered that after a day or two cut leaves and grass wither andTrenches.may become conspicuous against a green surface. Where the ground is so even that a good view of the foreground is possible from the surface level, the trench may be made without a parapet; but this entails great labour in removing and disposing of the excavated earth. A common device is to conceal the parapet as well as possible and to make a dummy trench some distance away to draw fire.
Besides the direct concealment of trenches, care must be taken that the site is not conspicuous. Thus a trench should not be placed along the meeting line of two different kinds of cultivation, or along the edge of a belt of heather on a hill-side, or where a difference of gradient is sharply defined; or where any conspicuous landmark would help the enemy’s artillery to get the range.
Trenches are broadly distinguished as “fire trenches” and “cover trenches,” according as they are for the firing line or supporting troops. The following simple types are taken from the 1908 edition ofMilitary Engineering(part 1): “Field Defences.”
Fig. 82 is the most common form of fire trench, in which labour is saved by equalizing trench and parapet. This would take 1½ to 2 hours in ordinary soil. Fig. 83 shows the same trench improved by 2 or 3 hours’ more work. Fig. 84 shows a fire trench without parapet, with cover trench and communication.
The addition of a loophole of sandbags on the top for concealment (calledhead-cover), gives increased protection, but at the cost of greater prominence for the parapet (fig. 85). Overhead cover can only be provided in fire trenches by giving the parapet still greater height and it is not usually done. Portions of the trench not used for firing can, however, be given splinter-proof protection by putting over them branches or bundles, covered with a few inches of earth: or by boards, or sheets of corrugated iron if they can be had. A better plan when time permits is to provide cover trenches immediately behind and communicating with the fire trench.
The question of redoubts has been a vexed one for years; partly they were thought to be unnecessary in view of the resisting power of a line of trenches, but chiefly because the redoubt was always imagined as one of the older type, with a highRedoubts.conspicuous parapet. Of course a redoubt of such a nature would be readily identified and made untenable. But the idea of a redoubt does not necessarily imply command. Its object is that it shall be capable of all-round defence. There can be no doubt that as there is always a possibility of lines being pierced somewhere, it is desirable, unless the whole line is to be thrown into confusion and forced back, to have some point at which the defenders can maintain themselves. This is not possible unless at such points there is provision for defence towards both flanks and rear, that is to say, when there are redoubts, which can hold on after certain portions of the line have been lost and thereby can localize the enemy’s success and simplifythe action of supporting troops. In order that redoubts may exercise this function, all that is necessary is that their defenders should be able to see the ground for a furlong in front of them in every direction. Their parapets, therefore, need be in no way more conspicuous than those of the neighbouring fire trenches, and in that case there is no fear of their drawing special attention from the enemy’s artillery. Whatever theories may have been put forward en the subject, in practice they are constantly used, and in the Russo-Japanese War, where the experience of South Africa was already available, we find them in the fighting lines on both sides.
The modern type of field redoubt is a fire trench, no more conspicuous than the others, in any simple form adapted to the ground that will give effective all-round fire, such as a square with blunted angles. Enhanced strength may be given by deepening the trenches and improving the overhead cover; and special use may here be made of obstacles.
Within the redoubt cover may be provided for men in excess of those required to man the parapet, by means of cover trenches and field casemates. Fig. 86 gives the general idea of such a redoubt, and figs. 87, 88 the plan and section of the interior shelters. Such a work can easily be made quite invisible from a distance. It gives excellent cover against shrapnel, but would not be tenable against howitzer common shell, if the enemy did manage to bring an accurate fire to bear on it.
Fig. 89 shows the section of a parapet with two shelters behind it for a work with a high command of 5 or 6 ft. This work would require a concealed position, which can often be found a little in rear of the firing line.
In the South African War a good deal of interest was excited by a type of trench used by the Boers. It was very narrow at the surface, giving only just room for a man to stand; but undercut or hollowed out below, so that he could sit down with very goodBoer, Russian and Japanese types.cover. Such a section is only possible in very firm soil. Apart from this, the type is really only suited to rifle pits, as a trench proper should have room for officers and N.C.O’s to move along within it. The Boers showed great skill in concealing their trenches. One good point was that there was generally something making a background immediately behind the men’s heads, so that they did not stand out in relief when raised above the parapet.
In the Russo-Japanese War the Russian trenches at the outset were of old-fashioned type and very conspicuous. Later on better types were evolved. Figs. 90 and 91 are a couple of sections from Port Arthur; the first borrowed from the Boers but wider at the top. The Japanese appear to have taken their type mainly from the latest British official books, but applied them with great skill to the ground studying especially invisibility. In their prepared positions they used large redoubts manned by several companies.
Cover for Guns.—Some degree of cover for guns, in addition to the shield, is always desirable. If the gun stands on the natural surface of the ground, the cover is called an epaulment. In that case a bank is thrown up in front of the gun, about 1 ft. high in the centre, and 3 ft. 6 in. high at the ends. On either side of the gun and close up to the bank is a small pit for the gunners. The rest of the earth for the epaulment is got from a trench in front. If the gun is sunk, the shelter is called a gun-pit.
In this case there is no bank immediately in front of the gun. Shelter can be got more quickly with a pit than an epaulment, but it is generally undesirable to break the surface of the ground.
The commonest forms ofobstaclenow used areabatisandObstacles.wire entanglements. Fig. 93 shows a well-finished type of abatis. The branches are stripped and pointed, and the butts are buried and pegged firmly down. Wire entanglement may be added to this with advantage. An abatis should be protected from artillery fire, which is sometimes done by placing it in a shallow excavation with the earth thrown up in front of it.
Wire may be used as ahighorlow entanglementor as a fence or trip wire or concealed obstacle. The usual form of high wire entanglement consists of several rows of stout stakes 4 or 5 ft. long, driven firmly into the ground about 6 ft. apart, and connected horizontally and diagonally with barbed wire.
Palisadesare still used, and need no description. They were formerly often made bullet-proof, but this is no longer possible.Fraisesare seldom heard of now, though they may appear occasionally in a modified form. They were much used in connexion with deep ditches, and are palisades placed so as to project horizontally from the escarp, or sloping forward in the bottom of the ditch.Military pitsbothdeepandshallow(the latter, shown in fig. 95, calledtrous de loup) are not so much used as formerly, because the obstacle is hardly worth the labour expended on it. Both, however, were employed in the Russo-Japanese War.Crows’ feet, formerly much used as a defence against cavalry, are practically obsolete. They consisted of four iron spikes joined together at their bases in such a manner that however they were thrown down one point would always be pointing upwards (fig. 94).Chevaux-de-frise(q.v.) were formerly a much-used type of obstacle.
The best obstacle is that which can be made to fulfil a given object with the least expenditure of time and labour. From this point of view barbed wire is far the best. One of its greatest advantages is that it gives no cover whatever to the enemy.
Fougasseshave always for convenience been classed as obstacles. A fougasse is a charge of powder buried at the bottom of a sloping pit. Over the powder is a wooden shield, 3 or 4 in. thick, and over the shield a quantity of stones are piled. The illustration, fig. 96, gives a clear idea of the arrangement. A fougasse of this form, charged with 80 ℔ of powder, will throw 5 tons of stones over a surface 160 yds. long by 120 wide. They may be fired by powder hose, fuze or electricity. Their actual effect is very often a matter of chance, but the moral effect is usually considerable.
Damsare most effective obstacles, when circumstances allow of their use. They are constructed by military engineers as small temporary dams would be in civil works.
A most important question, especially in connexion with obstacles, is that of lighting up the foreground at night. Portable electric searchlights are most valuable, especially for detecting the enemy’s movements at some distance; but their useIllumination.will naturally always be restricted. Star shells and parachute lights fired from guns are not of much use for the immediate foreground, and do not burn very long. They were formerly chiefly of use in siege works, to light up an enemy’s working parties. Germany has introduced lightballs fired from pistols, which will probably have a considerable future.
Various civilian forms offlare-lightwould be very useful to illuminate obstacles, but cannot well be carried in the field.Bonfiresare very useful when material is available. They require careful treatment,e.g.they must be so arranged that they can be lighted instantaneously (they may be lighted automatically, by means of a trip wire and a fuze); they must give a bright light at once (this can be ensured with shavings or straw sprinkled with petroleum); they must be firmly built so that the enemy cannot destroy them easily; and if possible there should be a screen arranged behind them so that they may not light up the defence as well as the attack.
Blockhouses are familiar to the public from the part they playedBlockhouses.in the South African War of 1899-1902. In the old-fashioned permanent fortification they were used as keeps in such positions as re-entering places of arms and built of masonry. Stone blockhouses have long been used in the Balkans for frontier outposts; they are sometimes built cruciform, so as to get some flanking defence. In the form of bullet-proof log-cabins they have played a great part in warfare between pioneer settlers and savages.
In the 19th century blockhouses were usually designed to give partial protection against field artillery; the walls being built of two thicknesses of logs with earth between them, the roof flat and covered with 2 or 3 ft. of earth, and earth being piled against the walls up to the loopholes. Nowadays they are employed only in positions where it is not likely that artillery will be brought against them: but they may be made tenable for a while even under artillery fire if they are surrounded by a trench and parapet.
Blockhouses are especially useful for small posts protecting such points as railway bridges, which the enemy may attempt to destroy by cavalry raids. The essential feature is a bullet-proof loopholed wall, arranged for all-round fire, with enough interior space for the garrison to sleep in. The roof may be simply weatherproof. Some arrangement for storing water must be provided. Circular blockhouses were very popular in South Africa. They were made of sheets of corrugated iron fastened 6 in. apart on a wooden framework, the space between the sheets being filled with small stones. The loopholes were made of sheet-iron frames inserted in the walls. Fig. 97 shows a section of one of these blockhouses.
The defence of woods was formerly an important branch of field defences. Abatis and entanglements could readily be extemporized, trunks of trees made strong breastworks, and the wood concealed the numbers of the defenders. A wood wasWoods.therefore generally considered a useful addition to a line of defence. It was customary to hold the front edge of the wood, the irregularities of the outline being utilized for frontal and flanking fire, while obstacles were disposed some 50 yds. in front. In a carefully prepared position, clearings would be made parallel to the front and some distance back from it, for support positions, and great attention was paid (in theory at least) to clearing communications, erections, signposts, &c., so that the defending troops might move freely in any desired direction.
Woods, however, had their inherent drawbacks. The ground is hard to dig, clearing involves great labour; and communication, at the best, is cramped. Nowadays a wood can hardly be considered a strong defensive element in a line. The front of it is an excellent ranging mark for artillery, and positions within the wood are not easily made, because of the difficulty of trenching, and the fact that no reasonable amount of timber will make a breastwork proof against the modern bullet. Once an enemy gets a footing within a wood, the position is more favourable to offensive than to defensive action. If a wood has to be occupied in a line of defence, it is probable that in most cases the rear edge or a line slightly behind it would be the best to fortify, though the front edge would no doubt be held by the fighting line at the outset.
The defence of villages is another question which has been much affected by recent improvements in artillery. Formerly villages were very important adjuncts to a line of defence, and strong points for a detached force to hold. There wereVillages.indeed always drawbacks. The preparations for defence entaileda good deal of labour, and the defending force was scattered in houses and enclosures, so that control and united action were difficult. But the value of the ready-made protection afforded by walls was so great—and sometimes even decisive—that villages were occupied as a matter of course. This is certainly now changed, but precisely to what extent it will be impossible to say, until after the next European war. A village under fire is not now an ideal defensive position. A single shrapnel penetrating the outer wall may kill all the occupants of a room; a single field-howitzer shell may practically ruin a house. At the same time, a house or line of houses may (without any preliminary labour at all) give very good protection against shell fire to troopsbehindthem. Further, the value to the defence of the slightest cover, once the infantry attack has developed, is so great that the ruins of walls and houses occupied at the right moment may prove an impregnable stronghold. This class of fighting, however, does not properly come under the present heading. For the details of the defence of walls, houses, &c., see the officialMil. Engineering(1908).
Entrenching under Fire.—Progress in this direction has been delayed by the reluctance of military authorities to add a portable entrenching tool to the heavy burden already carried by the infantry soldier. Further delay has resulted from the attempts of enthusiastic inventors to produce a tool that shall weigh nothing, go easily in the pocket, and be available as a pick, shovel, saw, hand-axe or corkscrew. A tool that will serve more than one use is seldom satisfactory for any.
The object of entrenching under fire is to enable attacking infantry, when their advance is checked by the enemy’s fire, to maintain the ground they have won by extemporizing cover where none exists. The need of this was first felt in the AmericanExtemporized cover.Civil War, and towards the close of it a small entrenching spade 22 in. long and weighing only 1½ ℔ was introduced by Brigadier-General H.W. Benham into the Army of the Potomac. Since that time a great number of patterns have been tried, including shovel, trowel and adze types. The most popular of these has been the Linnemann spade, which is used by most continental armies and by the Japanese. The Austrian form of this tool is a rectangular spade with straight handle. The length over all is a little less than 20 in. The blade is 8 in. long by 6 wide. One side of it has a saw edge, and the other a cutting edge. For carriage, the blade is enclosed in a leather case, which is strapped to the pack or the waist-belt. In the British army the Wallace combined pick and shovel was used for some time, but was eventually dropped. There was always great doubt whether the utility of a portable entrenching tool was such as to justify the inconvenience caused to the soldier in carrying it. But the experience of the Russo-Japanese War seems to have finally established the necessity of it, and also the fact that it must generally be used lying down. For this purpose and for convenience in carrying it on the person, a very light short-handled tool is required.
The soldier lying down cannot attempt to dig a trench, but can make a little hole by his side as he lies, and put the earth in front of his head. A method introduced by the Japanese is that at each check in the advance the front line should do this, and, as they go forward, the supporting lines in succession should improve the cover thus commenced.
There are few things that soldiers dislike more, in the way of training, than trenchwork. For men unused to it, it is tiring and tedious work, and it is difficult for them to realize its importance. At the same time it is a commonplace ofGeneral remarks.recent history that men who have been in action a few times develop a great affection for the shovel. The need of trenches grows with the growth of firearms, and the latest feature of modern tactics is the use of them in attack as well as in defence. The observation has often been made—with what truth as a general proposition we cannot here discuss—that modern battles tend more and more to resemble a siege. The weaker side, it is said, entrenches itself; the other bombards and attacks. After gaining as much ground as they can, the attacking troops wait for nightfall and entrench; perhaps making a further advance and entrenchment before dawn. In the last stage the attack might even be reduced to gaining ground by sapping. In open and featureless ground, where the rifle and gun have full play, the trench is to the modern soldier very much what the breast-plate was to the man-at-arms, an absolute essential.
The most important point in connexion with modern field fortification is the effect on both strategy and tactics of the increased resisting power of the defence. A small force well entrenched can check the frontal attack of a very much larger force, and while holding its position can make itself felt over a wider radius than ever before. This must needs have a marked effect on strategy, and it is quite possible to foresee such an ultimate triumph of field fortification as that one force should succeed in surrounding another stronger than itself, and by entrenching prevent the latter from breaking out and compel its surrender.
VI. Conclusion
In tracing the history of the science of fortification and in outlining the practice of our own time it has been necessary to dwell chiefly on the material means of defence and attack. The human element has had to be almost ignored. But here comes in the paradox, that the material means are after all the least important element of defence. Certainly it is inconceivable that the designer of a fortress should not try to make it as strong as is consistent with the object in view and the means at his disposal. And yet while engineers in all ages have sought eagerly for strength and refinements of strength, the fact remains that the best defences recorded in history owed little to the builder’s art. The splendid defence in 1667 of Candia, whose enceinte, of early Italian design, was already obsolete but whose capture cost the Turks 100,000 men; the three years defence of Ostend in 1601; the holding of Arcot by Clive, are instances that present themselves to the memory at once. The very weight of the odds against them sometimes calls out the best qualities of the defenders; and themanwhen at his best is worth many times more than therampartbehind which he fights. But it would be a poor dependence deliberately to make a place weak in order to evoke these qualities. One cannot be sure that the garrison will rise to the occasion, and the weakness of the place has very often been found an excuse for giving it up with little or no resistance.