FIELD FORTIFICATIONS.
In field fortification an enormous quantity of work was done during our last war. Washington, Richmond, Nashville, Petersburg, Norfolk, New Berne, Plymouth, Vicksburg, and many other cities were elaborately fortified by field works which involved the handling of vast quantities of earth, and, where the opposing lines were near together, ditches, abbatis, ground torpedoes, and wire entanglements were freely used. In some cases the same ground was fortified in succession by both armies, so that the total amount of work expended, in this way, would have built several hundred miles of railway. Around Richmond and Petersburg alone the development of field works was far greater than Wellington's celebrated lines at Torres Vedras. In all future wars, when large armies are opposed to each other, it is probable that field works will play even a more important part than in the past. The great advantage of such works, since the introduction of the deadly breech loading rifles and machine guns, was shown at Plevna, where the Russians were almost annihilated in attempting to capture the Turkish intrenchments.