DEFENCE AGAINST BOMBARDMENT.
8. The defence against bombardment is frequently, from necessity, strictly passive, and consists in so disposing the troops and materials as to protect them under bomb- and splinter-proofs, repairing damages to the latter and to magazines and parapets as occasion offers; saving the ammunition of the place by firing only such shots as promise to pay for themselves by the effect produced; and reserving all the strength of the place to meet the subsequent attack, if made.
When circumstances admit, a more active defence may be made, by a strong garrison, by well-conducted sorties which may capture and destroy the hostile guns and batteries and defeat and drive off their supports.
Sorties of this kind may sometimes be profitably made against the flanks of the attacking force, or against isolated batteries, even when a general attack cannot be made. Opportunities for their use should not be neglected.