F.
FACADE, in military fortification. See [Face].
FACE, in fortification, is an appellation given to several parts of a fortress; as the
Face of a bastion, the two sides, reaching from the flanks to the saliant angle. These in a siege are commonly the first undermined, because they extend most outwards, and are the least flanked; consequently the weakest.
| Face prolonged, | - | |
| Face extended, |
that part of the line of defence razant, which is terminated by the curtain and the angle of the shoulder, that is, it is, strictly taken, the line of defence razant, diminished by the face of the bastion.
Face of a place, is the front comprehended between the flanked angles of two neighboring bastions, composed of a curtain, two flanks, and two faces; and is sometimes called the Tenaille of the place.
Face of a gun, is the superficies of the metal at the extremities of the muzzle of the piece.
Face, (to the right, left, &c.) a word of command on which the soldiers individually turn to the side directed; in performing which, the left heel should never quit the ground, the knees must be kept straight, and the body turned smoothly and gracefully. The moving of the right foot forward or backward, is wholly exploded; all the facings are now made upon the left heel as a pivot. The following are the old methods.
To the right, Face. 2 motions.—1st, Place the hollow of the right foot smartly against the left heel; 2d, Raise the toes, and turn (a quarter of the circle) to the right on both heels.
To the right about, Face, 3 motions.—1st, Place the ball of the right toe against the left heel; 2d, Raise the toes, and turn (half of a circle) to the right about on both heels; 3d, Bring the right foot smartly back in a line with the left.
To the left, Face. 2 motions.—1st, Place the right heel against the hollow of the left foot; 2d, Turn (a quarter of the circle) to the left on both heels.
To the left about, Face. 3 motions.—1st, Place the right heel against the ball of the left foot; 2d, Raise the toes, and turn (half of a circle) to the left about on both heels; 3d, Bring up the right foot smartly in a line with the left.
Quarter Face to the right or left, is now substituted for the old and awkward mode of oblique marching, the quarter facing being referred to the positions of action being all on the face of a semicircle; half of which is facing to the right or left; that is the side of the soldier is thrown to the previous front; in quarter facing the side is thrown diagonally between the front and flanks; marching quarter face is called marching by the line of science.
Great precision must be observed in these facings; otherwise the dressing will be lost in every movement.
Faces of a square. The different sides of a battalion, &c. when formed into a square are all denominated faces, viz. the front face, the right face, the left face, and the rear face. See [Square].
Face ou pan de bastion, Fr. See [Face of a bastion].
Face d’une place, Fr. See [Tenaille].
FACINGS, are the different movements of a battalion, or of any other body of men, to the right, to the left, or right and left about. All facings must be executed with a straight knee; and the body must be kept firm, and turn steadily, without drooping forward or jerking. The plant of the foot, after facing about, must be sharp.
Facings, likewise signify the lappels, cuffs, and collar of a military uniform, and are generally different from the color of the coat or jacket.
FACTION, Fr. the duty done by a private soldier when he patroles, goes the rounds, &c. but most especially when he stands centry. The French usually say, entrer en faction, to come upon duty; être en faction, to be upon duty; sortir de faction, to come off duty.
FACTIONNAIRE, Fr. Soldat factionnaire, a soldier that does every species of detail duty.
The term factionnaire, was likewise applicable to the duty done by officers in the old French service. Premier factionnaire du regiment implied, that the officer, so called, was the fourth captain of a battalion; as the colonel, lieutenant colonel, major, and the captain of grenadiers did not mount the ordinary guards.
FAGOTS, in the military history were men hired to muster by officers whose companies are not complete; by which means they cheated the public of the men’s pay, and deprive the country of its regular establishment. See [False return].
A British general in the East Indies made an immense fortune by bullock fagots. Artillery are all drawn by oxen in Asia, as well as all baggage; upon an inspection of bullocks, the inspector counted 12,000: it appeared there were only 4,000, they were drawn up in front of a wood, and as soon as the bullocks on the right were inspected; they were drawn off successively by the rear, and appeared again in ranks on the left; so that every bullock was three times inspected, and the round number returned.
Fagots. See [Fascines].
FAILER. See [Deserter].
FAILURE, an unsuccessful attempt, as the failure of an expedition.
FAIRE faux feu, Fr. to miss fire; to flash in the pan.
FALAISE, Fr. Any part of the sea-coast is so called by the French, when it is extremely steep, and broken into precipices.
FALAISER, Fr. to break upon. La mer falaise signifies, the sea breaks upon the shore.
FALCHION, a short crooked sword.
FALCON, or Faucon, an ancient name given to a 3-pounder. See [Cannon].
FALCONET, an ancient name given to a 1¹⁄₂-pounder. See [Cannon].
FALL. The fall of a place after it has been besieged. See [Surrender].
To Fall back, to recede from any situation in which you are placed. This phrase is frequently, indeed, always made use of in the drill, or exercise of soldiers; particularly during the formation of a line, when individuals, or whole divisions are apt to overstep their ground and get beyond the dressing point.
FALL in, a word of command for men to form in ranks, as in parade, line, or division &c.
To fall in likewise means the minute arrangement of a battalion, company, guard or squad, by which every man is ordered to take his proper post. The long roll, a peculiar beat of the drum, is the usual signal for soldiers to assemble and fall in.
To Fall into, to become the property of another, as, we fell in with a large convoy of the enemy, which after a short resistance made by the escort, fell into our hands.
To Fall in with. A military technical phrase, signified any sudden or unlooked for rencontre of any enemy. As our light cavalry patroles fell in with a party of foragers belonging to the enemy’s army.
To Fall off, to desert; to fail; to relax in exertion.
To Fall out, to quit the rank or file in which you were first posted. Dirty soldiers on a parade are frequently ordered to fall out, and remain in the rear of their companies. The phrase is applicable in a variety of other instances:
To Fall upon. To attack abruptly, as, we no sooner came in sight of the enemy, but our advanced guard instantly fell upon his out-posts and beat them in. According to the celebrated General Monk it is very fit, that a general should often command his horse and dragoons to fall upon his enemy’s outermost horse quarters; which mode, he says is one of the easiest, readiest, and securest ways to break an enemy’s army.
FALOTS, Fr. small lanthorns fixed upon the end of a stick or pole. Small lamps are likewise used, attached in the same manner, for the purpose of carrying them readily about to light a camp, or besieged towns, as occasion may require.
FALSE alarms, an alarm or apprehension which is either designedly or unintentionally created by noise, report, or signals without being dangerous.
False attack, an approach which is made as a feint for the purpose of diverting your enemy from the real object of attack.
False fires, any fire or light which is made use of for the purpose of deceiving an enemy. False fires or lights are frequently resorted to when an army finds it necessary to retreat from an advanced position. On this occasion large fires are lighted in different parts of the camp and round the lines, previous to the departure of the troops, which generally happens in the night.
False lights, in debarkations under cover of the night, may likewise be used as signals of deception, when it is found expedient to attract the attention of the invaded country towards one part of the coast or territory, whilst a real attack is meditated against another.
False muster, an incorrect statement of the effective number of men or horses, by which government is defrauded. By the articles of war every officer, paymaster, or commissary, found guilty of false mustering, is ordered to be cashiered.
False report. A false report in military matters, may be truly said to be the ground work of a false return and a false muster, and consequently the primary cause of imposition upon the public. The strictest attention should, therefore, be paid to the most trifling report which is made in a troop or company respecting the presence or absence of men or horses, the state of clothing, accoutrements, or necessaries. This can only be done by the commanding officer of such troop or company having constantly the general good of the service at heart in preference to his own convenience, or to that of others. Every serjeant or corporal of a squad should be severely punished when detected in making a false report.
False return, a wilful report of the actual state of a brigade, regiment, troop, or company, by which the commander in chief or the war-office is deceived, as to the effective force of such regiment, troop or company.
FANION, Fr. corrupted from the Italian word gonfanone, a particular standard which was carried in the front of the ordinary baggage belonging to a brigade in the old French service. It was made of serge, and resembled in color the uniform or livery of the brigadier, or of the commandant of any particular corps.
FANTASSIN, Fr. A foot soldier. The term is derived from the Italian fante, a boy, the light troops in the 14th and 15th centuries being formed of boys who followed the armies, that were formed into corps with light arms, hence the origin of the word infantry; the French still use the words mes enfans.
FARAILLON, Fr. a light house.
FARIAL, Fr. a light house; also a watch light.
FARRIER, in a general acceptation of the term, any person who shoes horses, or professes to cure their diseases. In a practical military sense a man appointed to do the duty of farriery in a troop of cavalry. Troop farriers should be under the immediate superintendance and controul of a veterinary surgeon, to whom they ought to apply whenever a horse is ill or lame, that he may report the same to the officer commanding the troop. No farrier should presume to do any thing without having first received directions from his superior.
When the farrier goes round, after riding out, or exercise on horseback, he must carry his hammer, pincers, and some nails to fasten any shoe that may be loose.
When horses at out quarters fall particularly ill, or contract an obstinate lameness, the case must be reported to the head quarters of the regiment; and if the veterinary surgeon cannot prescribe for him at a distance, he must, if time and distance will permit, be personally sent to examine the horse.
No farrier should make up any medicine or any external application contrary to the receipt given him by the veterinary surgeon.
If any farrier, through carelessness or inattention, lames a horse belonging to another troop, he ought to be at all the expence in curing the horse so lamed. In some well regulated cavalry corps this forms one of the standing regimental orders.
Farriers are in every respect liable to be tried according to the articles of war. They may be ordered to inflict punishments; and they must constantly recollect, that the circumstance of being a farrier is no extenuation for dirty appearance, or excuse for drunkenness. The guilt of the latter vice, indeed, is aggravated by the responsibility of their situation.
Farrier-Major, a person who was formerly appointed by the colonel of a dragoon regiment to superintend the farriers of troops, who are named by the several commanding officers of them. He has since been superceded or replaced by a veterinary surgeon, who, as the farrier-major was formerly directed, is to have free access to every stable of the regiment whenever he chuses. It is his duty to go frequently into the cantonments of the different troops, and examine the horses feet; and if he finds a shoe contrary to the regimental pattern, or discovers any thing amiss in the management of the troop horses, he is to report it immediately to the officer commanding the regiment. In all his duty he is to receive the utmost support from every officer and quarter master; and any farrier that dares to act contrary to his instructions, should be punished. There ought, in fact, to be a chain of mutual support and co-operation from the veterinary surgeon, up to the commanding officer of every cavalry regiment, each farrier looking to the veterinary surgeon for correct instructions relative to the preservation of every horse’s health.
FASCINES, in fortification, are a kind of fagots, made of small branches of trees or brush wood, tied in 3, 4, 5, or 6 places, and are of various dimensions, according to the purposes intended. Those that are to be pitched over, for burning lodgments, galleries, or any other works of the enemy, should be 1¹⁄₂ or two feet long. Those that are for making epaulements or chandeliers, or to raise works, or fill up ditches, are 10 feet long, and 1 or 1¹⁄₂ feet in diameter. They are made as follows: six small pickets are struck into the ground, 2 and 2, forming little crosses, well fastened in the middle with willow bindings. On these tressels the branches are laid, and are bound round with withes at the distance of every 2 feet. Six men are employed in making a fascine; 2 cut the boughs, 2 gather them, and the remaining 2 bind them. These six men can make 20 fascines every hour. Each fascine requires five pickets to fasten it.
FASTNESSES, strong places not easily forced.
FATHOM, in fortification, originally denoted that space which a man could reach when both his arms were extended; but it now means a measure of 6 feet or 2 yards, equivalent to the French word toise. See [Toise].
FAUCON. See [Falcon].
Faucon ou Fauconneau, Fr. a small piece of ordnance, carrying from 1 to 1¹⁄₄ pound ball.
FAUCHION. See [Falchion].
FAUCONET. See [Falconet].
FAULX, Fr. an instrument nearly resembling a scythe. It is often used to defend a breach, or to prevent an enemy from scaling the walls of a fortified place. This weapon was first resorted to with some success, when Louis the XIV. besieged Mons. On the surrender of that town, the besiegers found large quantities of faulx, or scythes in the garrison.
FAUSSE-BRAIE. See [Fausse Braye].
FAUSSE-BRAYE, in fortification, is a low rampart encircling the body of the place; its height is about 3 feet above the level ground, and its parapet about three or four toises from that of the body of the place. These works have been entirely rejected by the modern engineers, excepting M. Vauban, who makes them only before the curtains; and then they are called more properly tenailles.
FEATHERS, are ornamental marks worn by officers and soldiers in their caps or hats. The following distinctions are made, and directed by authority to be observed in the British service. In the royal artillery, both officers and men, have white feathers. The cavalry and battalion corps scarlet and white; the grenadiers all white, and the light-infantry all green.
FEDERATE. See [Confederate].
FEES, are sums of money claimed by persons in office, and to the payment of which every British officer is subject. Fees are paid at the British war office for different commissions, and are charged to their respective owners by the army agents.
FEINT, a mock attack, or assault, often made to conceal the true one.
FELLOES, or Fellies, in artillery, are the parts of a wheel which form its circumference. The dimensions of fellies of British wheels are as follow: for a 24-pounder, 5 inches thick, and 6.5 inches broad; for a 12-pounder, 4.5 inches thick, and 6 inches broad; for a 6-pounder, 4 inches thick, and 5.5 inches broad, &c. made of dry elm. There are generally 6 in each wheel. See [Wheel].
FELLOW soldier one who fights under the same commander, a comrade. Dr. Johnson very properly calls this term an endearing appellation used by officers, to their soldiers. The French use an equivalent expression, camarade, or comrade; the officers also call the soldiers mes enfans, my boys or my children. The toils and perils, in fact of a military life, are so many, that an army fighting under the same banners may be truly called one family, and every officer should look upon himself as the father, the guardian, and the protector of his men.
FENCE, a guard, security, outwork, &c.
To Fence, to practice with foils; to fight with swords; to secure any place by pallisades, &c.
FENCIBLE, any thing capable of defence. Such regiments as are raised for limited service, and for a limited time, are called fencible regiments. They rank junior to the line.
FENCING, is the art or science of making a proper use of the sword, as well for attacking an enemy, as for defending one’s self. Fencing is a genteel exercise, of which no military gentleman should be ignorant. It is learned by practising with steel foils. See [Foils].
Fencing is either simple, or compound. Simple is that which is performed nimbly, and off hand, on the same line. In this the principal intention, in respect to the offensive part, should be to attack the enemy in the most unguarded quarter; and in the defensive, to parry or ward off the enemy’s thrusts or blows.
Attitude, in Fencing, the head upright, though the body hath a forward inclination on a longe; and all the weight resting on the left haunch when on guard. The feet, hand, body, arm, and sword, must be to the line.
Appel, in Fencing, is a sudden beat of your blade, on the contrary side to that you join your adversary on, and a quick disengagement to that side again.
Beating, in Fencing, is when you parry with a sudden short beat, to get a quick repost; or when you beat with your foot, to try if you are firm on it, or on both feet.
Battering, in Fencing, is to strike the feeble of your adversary’s blade on the side opposite to that you join, &c.
Back-quarte, is a parade of a late invention, and is a round quarte over the arm.
Cave, in Fencing, is a tierce on a quarte side, also the thrust of a prime, or a seconde, at the low quarte side.
Darting, in Fencing, to defend a blow with some contraction of your arm, and to dart a thrust right forward.
Feint forward, in Fencing, made by advancing your point a little from its line and coming to it again.
Guard, in Fencing, is any of the parades you stand on.
On guard, is being placed properly on your feet, and well covered with your weapon.
Lurching, in Fencing, to make an opening, to invite your adversary to thrust at you, when you, being ready, may find a favorable repost at him.
Locking, in Fencing, is to seize your adversary’s sword arm by twining your left arm round it, after you close your parade, shell to shell, in order to disarm him.
| Guards in | - | carte, | - | ||
| tierce, |
implies the putting of the body and sword in such a state of defence, as to prevent the antagonist from wounding you, by either of the thrusts so denominated. These are the principal positions on which to engage. The others, viz. prime, seconde, quinte, half-circle, &c. are termed parades, when used with the small sword.
Hanging-guard, one of the broad-sword guards. See [Broad-sword].
Thrusts are of various denominations, according to the direction of the point, and position of the wrist.
The thrusts directed at the inside of the body, are called prime, carte, and low-carte; those at the outside, are seconde, tierce, carte over the arm, quinte and flanconade.
In teaching, the thrusts are not arranged according to the above order; it is usual to begin with carte (or quarte) and tierce, the names of which prove them to have been originally the 4th and 3d positions in the art; but which are now justly considered as the chief and most elegant.
Parrying in Fencing, the action of warding off the blows aimed at each other.
Flanconade, in Fencing, is the action of dropping the point of your sword under your adversary’s hilt, in seizing with force the feeble of his blade; which binding, without quitting it, form the parade in octave and then throw in your thrust. See Art of defence with swords by the author of Am. Military Library.
Glissade, in Fencing, is performed by dexterously making your sword slip along your adversary’s blade, and forming at the same time your extension, &c.
FER, Fr. Iron. Figuratively, this word is used for a sword or dagger; as manier le fer, to wear the sword, to follow the profession of arms, Battre le fer, to fence.
Fer à cheval, Fr. In fortification, a [horse-shoe], which see. It further means according to the French acceptation of the term, a work constructed for the purpose of covering a gate, by having within it a guard-house, to prevent the town from being surprised.
FERDWIT, in ancient military history, a term formerly used to denote a freedom from serving upon any military expedition; or according to some, the being quit of manslaughter committed in the army.
FERRIES, water conveyances, made use of to cross rivers, or branches of the sea.
FERTH or FORTH. See [Army].
FEU, Fr. Fire. Faire feu, to discharge any sort of firearms.
Feu, fire, is also understood to mean any light combustible, which is kept up in the front of a camp, and at each post during the night to keep the soldiers alert, and to prevent them from being surprised.
Every species of fire, or light is, however, strictly forbidden on a march, when the object is to surprize an enemy. Soldiers on these occasions are not permitted to smoke. Bundles, and large wisps of lighted straw, which are hung out from the tops of steeples, or from any other elevation, frequently serve to give the alarm when an enemy is discovered in the act of passing a river.
Lights are likewise resorted to on various other occasions. See Lights.
Feu de joie. See [Running-Fire].
Feu rasant, Fr. a grazing fire, or a discharge of ordnance or musquetry so directed that the shot shall run parallel with the ground they fly over, within 3 or 4 feet of the surface.
That is likewise called a feu rasant, or grazing fire, which is sent in parallel directions with the faces of the different works belonging to a fortification.
FICHANT. See [Line of Defence], [Fortification].
FIELD. The ground of battle. A battle, campaign, or the action of an army while it keeps the field.
Field-bed, a folding bed used by officers in their tents.
| Field- | - | Colors, | - | See | - | [Camp colors]. | |||
| Officers, | [Officers]. | ||||||||
| Pieces, | [Cannon]. | ||||||||
| Staff, | [Lintstock]. | ||||||||
| Works, | [Field fortification]. |
Field-Fort. See [Fort].
Field-marshal, a military rank superior to all others, except the captain general.
This rank formerly existed and has been again revived in England. The French in their modern system, have given it an effective character, it being the superior rank of distinguished generals; the number of which have a temporary limitation. Their corps d’armée or legions of 25,000 men, are each commanded by a marshal.
FIFE, a military instrument of the wind kind, generally used as an accompaniment to the drum.
FIFRE, Fr. Fife. In French, this word likewise means fifer.
FIGHT. See [Battle].
FIGHTING-men, such as are effective, and able to bear arms.
Running-Fight, that in which the enemy is continually chased.
FIGURE, in fortification, the plan of any fortified place, or the interior polygon. Of this there are two sorts, regular, and irregular; a regular figure is that where the sides and angles are equal; an irregular one where they are unequal.
FILE, in the art of war, is an unlimited term, comprehending any number of men, drawn up in a direct line behind each other; as a rank on the other hand, includes any number drawn up beside each other; whether in either respect, they be in close or open order. Or rather, by file is meant the line of soldiers standing one behind another, which makes the depth of the battalion; and is thus distinguished from the rank, which is a line of soldiers drawn up side by side, forming the length of the battalion. A file is 2 or 3 deep; hence a battalion or regiment drawn up, consists of 2 or 3 ranks, and of as many files as there are men in a rank.
The files of a battalion of foot were formerly 12 and 6 deep, but now only 3, which is its natural formation. Those of the cavalry are but 2 deep.
A File on horseback, in marching order, occupies in the ranks 3 feet; thus 3 file 9 feet. A file on foot occupies in the ranks 22 inches.
Close Files in cavalry, are at the distance which was taken before dismounting, when each man’s boot-top touches, but does not press that of his neighbor.
Loose Files, in cavalry movements, are 6 inches distant from boot top to boot top being calculated for the gallop as well as the walk of a squadron.
Open Files in cavalry are the full breadth of a horse from boot-top to boot-top. They contain the distance which is left, when from close files the left files rein back to dismount. Recruits and horses must be frequently exercised at this distance. See American Military Library.
Flank File, the extreme file on the right or left of a squadron or troop, battalion or company, &c.
Forming from File, is when the front file halts, and the rest ride up at a very smart gallop, taking care to halt in time, and not to over-run the front. If the formation is by doubling round the front file (for instance, when a formation is made to the rear of the march, or to the right, when marched from the right) the files must double round as close and as expeditious as possible.
In all formings from file, the leaders of ranks instantly cover each other, take the ordered front and halt. See American Military Library.
In the covering of files on horseback, the same directions hold good as on foot. In addition, it must be scrupulously observed that every man’s horse stands exactly straight to the same front as that of the man before him. Both in the horse and foot drill, the men should be often practised in covering. The former are thereby taught to place their horses straight under them.
Close Files of infantry, are soldiers standing in rank, contiguous to one another, upon any given depth of line or column. Whenever a regiment marches in front, every man should feel the arm of his next man which ever way he dresses; but he must not lean on him, nor must he move his arm from the body to feel him. So that close files mean nothing more than that soldiers in the ranks should lightly touch each other, without crowding or pressing.
Open Files, are soldiers standing in rank at given distances without touching one another. The formation at open files is only practised as a preparatory drill for forming at close files, (which is the order for action) so that every man may be taught to stand and move in a proper position, without acquiring a habit of leaning upon his neighbor. On this account every intelligent officer who has the management of recruits, will form them sometimes at open files, and march them in that order. Soldiers that have been regularly drilled, should likewise be occasionally practised in advancing by open tiles.
Double Files are formed by the left files in each rank stepping to the rear of the right files; or the contrary.
Indian Files, a line of men advancing or retreating from either of the flanks, from the centre or from any proportion of a line in succession to one another. They are sometimes called goose files; but the term is only familiarly, or rather vulgarly used among soldiers, and derives its appellation from a flock of geese, generally following a leader, one by one. The Prince de Ligne, says, that men march forward in file, or en ordré mince, par une instinct moutonnier, meaning, that they follow each other like so many sheep, who move by instinct.
File-leader, is the soldier placed in the front of any file, or the man who is to cover all those that stand directly in the rear of him, and by whom they are to be guided in all their movements.
File leaders must be particularly careful to preserve their proper distances from which ever hand they are to dress, and the followers of each file must only be attentive to cover, and be regulated by their proper file leaders. In file the rear rank invariably dresses by, and is regulated by the front rank.
To double the Files, is to put 2 files into one, making the depth of the battalion double to what it was, in number of men. Thus four deep are double files.
File marching on foot, all recruits must be taught first to face, and then to cover each other exactly in file, so that the head of the man immediately in front may conceal the heads of all the others behind him. The principal points to be attended to are, that the men move in equal time an equal pace of 2 feet, that the front rank men cover exactly, and that the rear rank men keep closed and dressed to the front rank.
File marching may be practised to the front, to the rear, and to either flank; in all which cases the men must be taught to cover well. When recruits are at drill, on the word march, the whole are to step off with the left foot together, gaining at the very first step 24 inches, and so continuing each step, without increasing the distance betwixt each recruit, every man placing his advanced foot on the ground, before the spot from whence his preceding man had taken up his. See Amer. Mil. Lib.
Marching in open order to the front, is when any body of men advances by ranks at open order, and dress to some given object without touching one another. The flank man of the flank the soldiers dress to, must be a non-commissioned officer, and he must take especial care not to incline to one hand or the other. His head must be kept quite straight to the front, his body must be erect, and he must advance without deviating in the most trifling manner to the right or left. In order to execute this essential part of the drill with any degree of accuracy, two persons should be present, one in the front, and the other on the flank, to observe the dressing. Young officers should be exercised themselves in the presence of a superior officer; for upon them thereafter will greatly depend the movement of the battalion in line or column.
Marching to the front in close order, is when any number of men advance by ranks at close order, and dress to some given objects each man lightly touching his next man, without crowding or pressing. The march in front by closed files is much easier than that at open files, because every man feels his next man, which ever way the rank dresses, and into whatever direction the line or column moves.
To FILE, is to advance to, or move from any given point by files; as to file to the front, to file to the rear, to file from the right or left flank, or to file from any given company. In some of which cases, the leading files must disengage themselves according to the directions given.
| To File off, | - | |
| To defile, |
to wheel off from marching in a spacious front, and march in length by files. When a regiment is marching in full front, or by divisions or platoons, and comes to a defile or narrow pass, it may file off to the right or left, as the ground requires, &c.
Filings, are movements to the front, rear, or flank by files. These movements must be executed with great quickness. The files must go off at a smart gallop, and continue so till all are in file, the rear rank men dressing well to their front rank; the front rank covering well, and keeping close to the croup. If the filings are to be made from a flank to the front or rear, the whole must keep passaging up to the ground from whence the first file went, before they go off; if to a flank, the horses must be turned as soon as there is room. If the filings are from a flank to march along the front or rear, past the other flank, every file must come off from its own ground as the next gets into file.
General and necessary Filings, are from either, or both flanks of the squadron to front, flank or rear; filing from the centre of the squadron to the front, or to the flank. Filing single men by ranks, or by front or rear rank men alternately from either flank of the squadron.
In the filings of the squadron, the serre-files take their places in the rear of the files unless the ground will allow them to remain on the flanks of the rear rank; but their general and proper position is in the rear of the files.
In cavalry filing, the greatest attention must be paid to keep the squadron as compact together as the nature of the movement will permit. It is a situation in which horses move free, and without confinement, but in which the parts of a squadron are apt to lengthen out, and take up much more ground than what they stand upon in line, and is therefore to be adopted only from necessity, in broken or embarrassed ground. When the word file, has been given, and the heads of the horses have been turned ready to move off without loss of distance, the leaders of files must go off short and quick in their ordered direction. They are followed close by each man as it comes to his turn, so as to leave no unnecessary interval from one to another, and instantly to put off the ground. After being once in file, a distance of a yard from head to tail may be taken so as to trot or gallop the easier if required. Every alteration of pace ought to be made as much as possible by the whole file at once: if this is not observed, a crowding and stop in the rear will always attend such alteration.
FIRE, in the art of war, a word of command to soldiers of all denominations, to discharge their fire arms, grenades, cannon, &c.
Fire, is also used to denote the discharge of all sorts of fire arms against the enemy. The fire of the infantry is by a regular discharge of their fire-locks, in platoons, divisions, &c. that of the cavalry, with their pistols; and that of a place besieged with their artillery.
Fire of the curtain or second flank, is from that part of the curtain comprehended between the face of the bastion prolonged and the angle of the flank; frequently called the line of defence fichant.
Fire rasant, is produced by firing the artillery and small arms in a line parallel with the horizon, or parallel with those parts of the works you are defending.
Fire-arms, are all kinds of arms charged with powder and ball; every one of which is mentioned under its respective head.
Running-Fire, is when a rank or ranks of men, drawn up, fire one after another; or when the lines of an army are drawn out to fire on account of a victory; when each squadron or battalion takes it from that on its right, from the right of the first line to the left, and from the left to the right of the second line; also called feu de joie.
Fire-balls. See [Balls].
Fire-cross, an ancient token in Scotland for the nation to take up arms.
Fire-ship, a ship filled with a variety of combustibles to set fire to the vessels of the enemy.
Fire-ship. Proportion of combustible stores for a fire-ship of 150 tons.
| No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire barrels, filled with composition | 8 | ||||
| Iron chambers, to blow open the ports | 12 | ||||
| Composition for priming barrels | 3 | ¹⁄₂ | |||
| Quick, match do. | 1 | ||||
| Curtains, dipped | 48 | ||||
| Reeds, long, single dipped | 150 | ||||
| Do. short | - | double dipped | 75 | ||
| single dipped | 75 | ||||
| Bavins, single dipped | 250 | ||||
The fire barrels are about 2 feet 4 inches high, and 1 foot 6 inches diameter. Each barrel must have four holes of about 6 inches square cut in its sides; and these holes must have a square piece of canvass nailed over them quite close. They are then filled with the same composition as for carcasses, and 4 plugs of about 1 inch diameter and 3 inches long, and well greased are thrust into the top, and then left to dry. When dry, these plugs are taken out and the holes driven with fuze composition and quick match at the top; which goes from one hole to the other: after this the top is smeared over with mealed powder mixed up with spirits of wine. When dry again a sheet or two of brown paper is laid over the top, and then one of the canvass covers, which is made secure by the upper hoop of the barrel.
Composition for dipping Reeds, Bavins, and Curtains.
| lbs. | |
|---|---|
| Rosin | 120 |
| Coarse Sulphur | 90 |
| Pitch | 60 |
| Tallow | 6 |
| Mealed powder | 12 |
This proportion will dip about 100 reeds and 25 bavins.
Each curtain contains 1 square yard of barras.
Each cover for fire barrels 1 do. of sacking.
Immediately that the curtains, covers, &c. are dipped, they are to be strewed over with fine brimstone, before the composition grows cold.
The iron chambers, for blowing open the ports, hold from 9 to 11 ounces of powder. They are fixed in such a manner as to prevent their recoil, and to ensure the ports being blown open. The vents are generally corked up, and covered with a piece of barras, till required to be primed.
To fit out a fire ship. The whole breadth of the fire room is to be divided into 9 parts, and troughs laid the whole length of the room. Cross troughs of communication are laid between them, about 20 in each row, perpendicular to the long troughs. These troughs are usually 4 inches wide, and 4 deep. There are two fire trunks and two fire scuttles on each side, under which the eight fire barrels are to be placed.
The reeds and bavins are to be tied down in the troughs. The curtains are to be nailed up to the beams, equally through the fire room. The ship is not to be primed when fitted out, but only when intended to be fired.
To Prime.
Composition for priming,
| Saltpetre pulverized | 22 | lbs. | 8 | oz. |
| Rosin | 2 | 11 | ||
| Sulphur | 18 | — | ||
| Mealed powder | 45 | — | ||
| Linseed oil | 1 pint. | |||
All the reeds and bavins are to be taken up, and a little of the above composition sprinkled in the bottom of the troughs; the reeds, &c. to be then gently tied down again. Quick match of 6 or 8 threads doubled must be laid along on the tops of all the reeds, &c. and priming composition strewed over it, and over all the fire room. The covers of all the fire barrels must be cut open, and made to hang down on the sides of the barrels. Leaders of strong quick match must be laid from the reeds to the barrels and to the chambers; and must be tied down to the vents to ensure its not falling off. Strong leaders of quick match, 4 or 5 times doubled, must be laid from the reeds to the sally ports; and the sally ports must be connected by quick match, that the whole may take fire at once.
The following method is now adopted of producing an external fire, in addition to the internal fire, before gained by the fire room.
Fireboxes filled with the carcass composition, are distributed in the following manner, in a ship of three masts:
| 1 | Suspended from each of the catheads and davits, on each side the bow | 4 |
| 8 | Slung across the bowsprit | 8 |
| 4 | Across each of the outriggers abaft | 8 |
| 2 | From the graplins of each of the lower yard-arms | 12 |
| 2 | From the dead-eyes on each side of the three round tops | 6 |
| 2 | From the middle of the inside of the main, fore, and mizzen shrouds | 6 |
| 44 | ||
The boxes are suspended by chains and hooks, and those slung across the bowsprit and outriggers, are fixed by staples. The two inner ones are laid with leaders of quick match, which fire instantly, or with portfires, which burn a given time; they communicate with the outer ones by reeds, which are tied down on the bowsprit and outriggers. The boxes hanging from the dead-eyes and shrouds, are fired by curtains suspended from the shrouds, the lower one of which hangs immediately over one of the large fire barrels. The two boxes on each yard-arm are hung one over the other; the upper one having a leader of quick match carried along the yard from the shrouds; and in burning will no doubt fire the lower one. Besides the boxes, there are fire barrels arranged as follows; 2 half barrels on the forecastle; 2 abaft the main deck, and 4 on the main deck; 2 in each roundtop, placed against the masts; and 4 large fire barrels under fire trunks, to convey fire to the curtains on the shrouds. All these fire barrels and boxes are to be fired by separate leaders of quick match or portfire, in order that any part of the ship may be fired, to cover its approach by the smoke; and the remaining part instantaneously upon quitting the ship. It has been found by experiment, that two men with lighted portfires can set fire to the whole of the leaders on the deck, bowsprit, catheads, outriggers, &c. in less than a minute; therefore the risk of trusting to one main leader to the whole may be avoided.
The leaders are laid in painted canvass hose made for the purpose.
Fire-master, in the artillery, gives the directions and proportions of all ingredients for each composition required in fire-works, whether for the service of war, or for rejoicings and recreations.
Fire-masters-mate. His duty is, to aid and assist the chief fire-master, and he should be skilled in every kind of laboratory works.
Fire-pan of a gun, is the receptacle for the priming powder.
Fire-pot, in the military art, a small earthen pot, into which is put a charged grenade, and over that, powder enough to cover the grenade; the whole covered with a piece of parchment, and two pieces of quick match across lighted: it breaks and fires the powder, as also the powder in the grenade, which has no fuze, that its operations may be quicker: it burns all that is near it.
Fire-works, are particular compositions of different sorts, made with sulphur, salt-petre, and charcoal. They are used in war, and on rejoicing days.
Fire-workers, were formerly subordinate to the fire-master and his mate; had afterwards the rank of youngest lieutenants to the regiment of artillery; but now that rank is abolished, and they are all second lieutenants. They were supposed to be well skilled in every kind of laboratory-work, which knowlege is an essential qualification in every officer of that regiment.
Fire-locks, so called from their producing fire of themselves, by the action of the flint and steel; the arms carried by a foot-soldier: they were formerly 3 feet 8 inches in the barrel, and weighed 14lb.; at present the length of the barrel is from 3 feet 3 inches to 3 feet 6 inches and the weight of the piece from 9 to 12lb. British fire-locks carry a leaden bullet of which 29 make 2lb. Its diameter is .550 of an inch, and that of the barrel ¹⁄₅₀th part of the shot. Fire-locks were first made use of in 1690, when matchlocks were universally disused; but when invented we cannot ascertain. A fire-lock is called, by writers of about the middle of the last century, a snaphaan, which being a low Dutch word, seems to indicate its being a Dutch invention. Formerly, both in the manual and platoon exercises, the term fire-lock was always adopted—as shoulder your fire-lock, present your fire-lock—At present a more simple and brief mode of expression prevails as, shoulder arms, carry arms, &c.
FIRING in line. According to regulations, the following principal heads constitute firing in line.
The object of fire against cavalry is to keep them at a distance, and to deter them from the attack; as their movements are rapid, a reserve is always kept up. But when the fire commences against infantry, it cannot be too heavy, nor too quick while it lasts; and should be continued till the enemy is beaten or repulsed. This may not improperly be called offensive fire.
Defensive fire, belongs principally to infantry, when posted on heights, which are to be defended by musquetry. As soldiers generally aim too high, and as fire is of the greatest consequence to troops that are on the defensive, the habitual mode of firing should therefore be rather at a low level of three or four feet than a high one.
On these occasions the men are generally drawn up 3 deep; in which case the front rank may kneel when it can be safely and usefully done; but this is now generally rejected, and the third rank loads for the centre rank, which fires the guns of both centre and rear rank.
Firing by half battalions, the line advancing. The left wings halt, and the right ones continue to march 15 paces, at which instant the word march being given to the left wings, the right at the same time are ordered to halt, fire, and load; during which the left march on and pass them, till the right wings, being loaded and shouldered, receive the word march, on which the left ones halt, fire, &c. and thus, they alternately proceed.
Firing by half battalions, the line retiring. The right wings come to the right about and march 15 paces, are ordered to halt, front, and when the left wings have gained 15 paces, and have received the word halt, front, the right wings are instantly ordered to fire, load, about, and march 15 paces beyond the left ones, where they receive the word halt, front, on which the left wings fire, &c. and thus alternately proceed.
In manœuvring many battalions there should be a regulating battalion named, by the half battalions of which each line may move, halt, and fire: the commander of each line to be with such half battalion and in giving his several commands, to have an attention to the general readiness of the line, especially after loading, that the whole be prepared to step off together at the word march. The firing of the advanced wing succeeds the march, or the halt, front, of the retired wing instantly; and each half battalion fire independent and quick, so that no unnecessary pauses being made betwixt the firing words, the fire of the line should be that of a volley as much as possible; and the whole being thereby loaded together, to be ready for the next command of movement. In these firings of the line advancing or retiring, the two first ranks fire standing, and the rear rank support their arms, and may change places at the second fire with the centre rank.
In this manner also may the alternate battalions of a line advance or retire, and when the whole are to form, and that the last line moves up to the first, every previous help of advanced guides will be given to ensure its correctness.
Fire in line advancing, is when the infantry marches in line to attack the enemy and in advancing makes use of its fire. On these occasions it is better to fire the two first ranks only standing, reserving the third, than to make the front rank kneel, (as was formerly the practice) and to fire the whole; but when it is necessary to fire a considerable distance, or on a retiring enemy, vollies may be given by the three ranks, the front one kneeling.
Firing by platoons is practised when a line is posted, or arrives at a fixed situation, in this position battalions fire independent of one another, and the fire generally commences from the centre of each. The first fire of each battalion must be regular, and at established pauses and intervals; after which each platoon may continue to fire as soon as it is loaded independent and as quick as possible. The use of this is to acquire the habit of obedience to command; for in close action platoon firing is both absurd and impracticable.
Firing by files, is generally used behind a parapet, hedge, or abbatis. In this situation the two first ranks only can fire, and that must be by the 2 men of the same file always firing together, with coolness and deliberation. When however, the parapet, hedge, or abbatis is but a little raised, platoon firing may be resorted to.
Oblique Firing by battalions, or otherwise, according to the ground, is extremely advantageous when it is found expedient to give an oblique direction to part of a line, or when it is discovered that their fire can in this manner be thrown against the opening of a defile, the flanks of a column, or against cavalry or infantry that direct their attack on some particular battalion or portion of the line. See Am. Mil. Lib.
Oblique firing, is either to the right and left, or from the right and left to the centre, depending entirely on the situation of the object to be fired against. The Prussians have a particular contrivance for this purpose: If they are to level to the right, the rear ranks of every platoon are to make two quick but small paces to the left, and the body of each soldier to quarter face or turn ¹⁄₈th of a circle; and are to take the same distance to the right if they are to level to the left.
When a line halts at its points of firing, no time is to be lost in scrupulous dressing, and the firing is instantly to commence. But when a line halts, and is not to fire, the usual dressings must be attended to; and every thing will depend upon the coolness and attention of the officers and non-commissioned officers.
It should be observed with respect to firings in general, that after the march in front, and halt of the battalion, company, or platoon, firing ought invariably to begin from the centre, and not from the flank. In other cases, and in successive formations, it may begin from whatever division first arrives, and halts on its own ground.
Square Firing, is that method of firing where either a regiment or any body of men are drawn up in a square, each front of which is generally divided into divisions or firings, and the flanks of the square, as being the weakest part, are sometimes covered by platoons of grenadiers who flank the angles. The first fire is from the right division of each face; the second fire from the left division of each face, and so on; the grenadiers making the last fire.
Street Firing, is the method of firing adopted to defend or scour a street, lane, or narrow pass of any kind; in the execution of which the platoon must be formed according to the width of the place, leaving sufficient room on the flanks for the platoons which have fired, successively to file round to the rear of the others.
Street Firing advancing. When the column has arrived at the spot where the firing is to commence, the commanding officer from the rear gives the word halt! and the officer commanding the platoon, orders it to make ready, aim, fire; recover arms, load; he then orders the rear platoon of the column outward face, (by half platoons) quick march.
At the instant the men in the first platoon recover their arms after firing, the rear platoon makes ready, and moves up the flank to the front of the first platoon having filed round the flanks towards the front, when the second from the rear advances, with recovered arms, until it receives the words halt, ready, aim, fire.
The platoon which has fired, primes and loads in its ground immediately, without moving; the rear platoons only advancing.
Street Firing retiring, is conducted on the same principles, except that the platoons fire without advancing, on the front being cleared by the former platoon filing round the flank.
Another method of street firing, advancing, generally esteemed more eligible, is, after firing, to wheel out by subdivisions, (the pivots having taken a side step to right and left outwards) prime and load, and as soon as the last platoon has passed, file inwards and form.
FISSURE, a narrow chasm where a small breach has been made.
FIT. Qualified, proper; adapted to any purpose or undertaking.
Fit for service strong, healthy men, from 18 to 45 years of age, of a certain height, and not subject to fits; are considered fit objects for service, and may be enlisted into the United States regiments. The principal heads under which every recruit should be rejected, consist of rupture, venereal lues, or incurable pox, habitual ulcers, sore legs, scurvy, scald head, and fits.
Fit, a paroxysm. Any violent affection of the body, by which a man is suddenly rendered incapable of going through the necessary functions of life.
Fits, habitual affections of the body to which men and women are subject, and by which they may be frequently attacked without any other immediate consequence, than a temporary suspension of the mental powers, accompanied by a disordered and painful action of the frame.
Fix-Bayonets, a word of command in the manual exercise. See [Manual].
FLAGS in the United States navy, are the colors of the Union, red and white alternate stripes, equal to the number of states; with a square in the upper angle of blue, upon which are wrought white stars equal in number to the states of the Union. A custom has grown up among commanders of ships of appropriating a peculiar flag for each state, but as this is not a settled regulation requires no further notice.
Flags. See [Colors], [Standards], &c.
Flags, in the British navy, are either red, white, blue, or yellow, and they are hoisted either at the heads of the main-mast, fore-mast, or mizen-mast.
Flags, when displayed from the top of the main-mast, are the distinguishing marks of admirals; when from the fore-mast, of vice admirals; and when from the mizen-mast, of rear admirals.
The highest flag in the British navy, is the anchor and cable, which is only displayed when their lord high admiral, or lords commissioners of the admiralty are on board; the next is the union, the distinction peculiar to the second officer, called admiral of the fleet; and the lowest flag is the blue at the mizen-mast.
FLAG-Officer, a naval officer commanding a squadron.
FLAG-STAFF, the staff on which the flag is fixed.
FLAM, a word formerly made use of in the British service, signifying a particular tap or beat upon the drum, according to which each battalion went through its firings or evolutions. The practice is laid aside, as only a matter of mere parade without any practical utility; too often employed by officers to cover their ignorance or incapacity, or to indulge their indolence; therefore it is the usage now wherever discipline is well understood and practised, for every battalion, troop or company to be exercised by specific words of command, delivered in a distinct and audible tone of voice.
FLAMME, or ORIFLAMME, Fr. in the old French marine establishment, was a mark of distinction which exclusively belonged to the French king’s ships.
Flamme, ou pendant, Fr. Bolting cloth or ticking. It is a long streamer which generally hangs either from the topmast head, and serves for ornament, or to give signals.
FLAMBEAU, a torch.
FLANC du bastion, Fr. See [flank of the bastion].
| Flanc | - | bas, | - | See [Retired Flanc]. | ||
| couvert, | ||||||
| retiré, |
FLANKS, in the art of war and in fortification, are of several denominations, according to their uses, viz.
Flanks of an army. Certain proportions of offensive or defensive forces which are extended to the right and left of a main body, and ought to be posted in such a manner, that it would be certain ruin to the enemy were he to attempt any impression between them. In a more confined sense, the troops which are stationed on the right and left of each line of encampment. See [Wings].
Flank-files, are the two first men on the right and the two last men on the left, telling downwards from the right, of a line, battalion, company, division, subdivision or section. When a battalion is drawn up three deep, its flank files consist of three men, or as the French call its file and demi-file. When four deep, the flank files are termed double files; so that a column formed from any of these alignements will have all its relative flank files, be the depth of formation what it will.
Inward Flank in manœuvring. The first file on the left of a division, subdivision, or section when the battalion stands at close or open column with the right in front. Upon this flank, which is called the proper flank, and on which the pivot rests, the division, &c. wheels backward from line into column, or forward from column into line. When the left is in front the right becomes the proper flank and pivot.
Outward Flank, of a line or battalion, the extreme file on the right or left of a division, subdivision, or section, according to the given front, when the battalion is at close or open column, and which is the furthest wheeling point from line into column, or from column into line. It is likewise called the reverse flank. The general rule which directs, that leading officers shall march invariably on the inward flank, where the proper pivot rests, is in one instance dispensed with, when, after marching by the right in front, the wheeling of the column or guard is to the right. On this occasion, the officer who had shifted from the right to his proper flank, instead of being wheeled upon, wheels with the flank, and continues his march. It has been remarked in a late military publication, that the squareness of the division would certainly be preserved with greater ease, were the officer to remain upon the right, though the right be in front, until the wheel in that direction should be completed, when he might shift to his proper flank. Where the column or guard has only a few paces to proceed beyond the passing or saluting point, this certainly is advisable. The regulation of guides, that is, non-commissioned officers on both flanks of every subdivision of a line, renders it of less moment where the officer is posted; but the pivot is the most rational position.
Flank company, a certain number of men drawn up on the right or left of a battalion. Thus where there are grenadiers they compose the right, and the light infantry the left flank company. When these are detached, the two extreme battalion companies become such.
The grenadiers and light infantry are generally called flank companies, whether attached or not to their several battalions; rifle corps are always flankers.
Flanking party, a select body of men on foot or on horseback, whose object is to harrass and perplex the enemy, to get upon his wings, or by any manœuvre to hang upon the flank of an opposing force.
Flank en potence, is any part of the right or left wing formed at a projecting angle with the line. See [Potence].
Leading Flank, when the line breaks into column in order to attack an enemy, it is the flank which must almost always preserve the line of appui in all movements in front. The first battalion, division or company of every column which conducts is called the head or leading flank of that column. All the writhings and turnings to which it must unavoidably be subject, are followed by every other part of the body, and such head becomes a flank, right or left, when formed into line. The commander must therefore be on whichever flank directs the operations of the line, and by which he proposes to attack, or to counteract the attempts of the enemy.
Flank in fortification, in general, is any part of a work that defends another work, along the outside of its parapet.
Flank of a bastion, in fortification, that part which joins the face to the curtain, comprehended between the angle of the curtain and that of the shoulder, and is the principal defence of the place. Its use is, to defend the curtain, the flank, and face of the opposite bastion, as well as the passage of the ditch; and to batter the salient angles of the counter-scarp and glacis, from whence the besieged generally ruin the flanks with their artillery; for the flanks of a fortification are those parts which the besiegers endeavor most to ruin, in order to take away the defence of the face of the opposite bastion.
| Oblique | - | Flank, | - | ||
| Second |
that part of the curtain from whence the face of the opposite bastion may be discovered, and is the distance between the lines rasant and fichant, which are rejected by most engineers, as being liable to be ruined at the beginning of a siege, especially when made of sandy earth. The second parapet, which may be raised behind the former, is of no use; for it neither discovers nor defends the face of the opposite bastion: besides, it shortens the flank, which is the true defence; and the continual fire of the besiegers’ cannon will never suffer the garrison to raise a second parapet. This second flank defends very obliquely the opposite face, and is to be used only in a place attacked by an army without artillery.
| Retired | - | Flank, | - | ||
| Low | |||||
| Covered |
the platform of the casemate, which lies hid in the bastion. These retired flanks are a great defence to the opposite bastion and passage of the ditch; because the besiegers cannot see, nor easily dismount their guns.
Flank prolonged, in fortification, is the extending of the flank from the angle of the epaule to the exterior side, when the angle of the flank is a right one.
Concave Flank, is that which is made in the arc of a semi-circle bending outwards.
Flanks of a frontier. Are the different salient points of a large extent of territory, between each of which it would be impolitic for any invading army to hazard an advanced position. The late celebrated gen. Lloyd (whose accuracy of observation and solidity of conclusion with respect to the iron frontier of old France have been universally acknowleged) has furnished military men with a full and succinct account of the relative positions upon it. This long line he begins at Basle in Switzerland, and runs into various directions from thence to Dunkirk in old French Flanders, he divides it into three parts, and considers each of them separately. The first part goes from Basle to Landau and covers old Alsace, near 130 miles in length. The second from Landau to Sedan on the Moselle, covers ancient Lorrain on the side of Treves, Deux-Ponts, Luxemburgh, and Limburg; 190 miles in length. From Sedan down the Meuse to Charlemont in old Flanders, and thence to Dunkirk, is the third part, and is about 150 miles; so that the whole natural frontier of old France was 470 miles. The greatest part, if not the whole of which, is in the shape of a horse shoe, and presents impregnable flanks. An anonymous writer, after referring the reader to general Lloyd for a specific account of the first and second lines of the French frontier, has made the following observations relative to the third and last which runs from Sedan down the Meuse to Charlemont, from thence to Dunkirk, and is 150 miles in length. His words are—While the duke of Brunswick and the king of Prussia were ruining the most formidable armies in Europe by endeavoring to penetrate a few miles into Lorrain and Champagne through the first and second line, (without having previously secured the two flanks,) the French with redoubled activity operated upon the third, and finally subdued all Flanders. Those very difficulties, in fact, which presented themselves to oppose the progress of the allied army into France, facilitated every excursion on her part, as the direction of the line which goes from Sedan to Landau is concave towards that part of Germany.
The remainder of this line, (within which so many faults were committed, or rather could not be avoided, because the impression itself was founded in error,) runs to Dunkirk. It has been the scene of successive wars for near two centuries, the most expensive, bloody, and durable of any recorded in the annals of mankind. This line, continues general Lloyd, is stronger by art than nature, having a prodigious number of strong fortresses and posts upon it, moreover it projects in many places, so that an enemy can enter no where, without having some of them in front and on his flanks.
The United States are flanked by Canada and Florida.
Flanks, in farriery, a wrench, or any other grief in the back of a horse.
To Flank, in fortification, is to erect a battery which may play upon an enemy’s works on the right or left without being exposed to his line of fire. Any fortification, which has no defence but right forward, is faulty; and to make it complete, one part ought to flank the other.
To Flank, in evolutions, to take such a position in action as either to assist your own troops, or to annoy those of your enemy by attacking either of his flanks, without exposing yourself to all his fire.
To Out-flank. A manœuvre by which an army, battalion, troop, or company outstretches another, and gets upon both or either of its flanks.
To Out-Flank, in an extensive acceptation of the term, when applied to locality, means to possess any range of opposite parts, of territory, whence you might invade your neighbor. Thus France, by her present possessions along the Dutch and Flemish coasts, outflanks all the opposite shores of England, properly so called; resting her left flank at Ushant in Finisterre, and her right at Schelling, in North Holland, in the Province of Friesland. By the conquest of Spain and Portugal, the French have extended their south western flank, and rendered the invasion of Ireland more easy. Ireland again is completely outflanked by Great Britain at Penzance, in Cornwall, and at the Hebrides or Western Isles, independent of the continental part of Scotland.
Flanker, a fortification jutting out so as to command the side or flank of an enemy marching to the assault or attack. Riflemen and all light troops are also called flankers.
Flankers, in cavalry manœuvres, the most active men and horses are selected to do the duty of flankers. The men of course must be perfect masters of their horses. One complete file of each four must be a file of flankers; it does not signify which file, but if it can conveniently be done, the centre file should be taken, as in that case neither the flank men, nor the telling off of the squadron or division will be affected.
When you manœuvre by whole squadrons, six or eight flankers are sufficient in general for the whole squadron.
The word of command, when the flankers come out to the front, is flankers forward.
In flanking, a great deal depends upon the officer or serjeant; he must be extremely active, and not only attend to the movements of the division from which he is detached, but likewise to his flankers.
As horses frequently refuse to quit the ranks and hang back obstinately, the men indiscriminately should be often called out of the ranks one by one, and practised as flankers.
To Flanker, in French flanquer. To fortify the walls of a city with bulwarks or countermines.
Flanking, is the same in fortification as defending.
Flanking party—Any body of men detached from the main army to get upon the flanks of an enemy. See [Flankers].
Flanking angle, in fortification, that composed of the two lines of defence, and pointing towards the curtain. See [Tenaille].
Flanking line of defence. See [line of defence].
Flanking-point. See [Point].
FLASH.—The flame which issues from any piece of ordnance on its being fired.
Flash in the pan, an explosion of gunpowder without any communication beyond the touch hole. When a piece is loaded, and upon the trigger being drawn, nothing but the priming takes fire, that piece is said to flash in the pan.
FLASK, a measure made of horn, used to carry powder in, with the measure of the charge of the piece on the top of it.
Flasques, Fr. in the artillery, are the two cheeks of the carriage of a great gun. See [Affut].
Flasque likewise means a gun-powder flask.
FLAT-bottomed boats, in military affairs, are made to swim in shallow water, and to carry a great number of troops, artillery, ammunition, &c. They are constructed in the following manner: a 12-pounder, bow chase, an 18 ditto, stern chase; 90 to 100 feet keel; 12 to 24 ditto beam; 1 mast, a large square main-sail; a jib-sail: they are rowed by 18 or 20 oars, and can each carry 400 men. The gun takes up one bow, and a bridge the other, over which the troops are to march. Those that carry horses have therefore parts of the boats made to open.
FLAW, any crack or small opening in a gun or its carriage is so called.
FLEAU, Fr. the beam, or balance of a pair of scales.
There are some fleaux or scales among the French, which hold 6000 lb. weight in one scale, and 6000 lb. weight of ammunition in the other, making together 12000 weight.
Fleau de fer, an iron instrument or weapon, that resembles in shape the flails with which corn is thrashed.
FLECHE, in field fortification, a work of two faces, usually raised in the field, to cover the quarter guards of a camp or advanced post.
FLETCHER. See [Bowyer].
FLIGHT, is used figuratively for the swift retreat of an army or any party from a victorious enemy.
To put to Flight, to force your enemy to quit the field of battle.
Flight, is likewise applicable to missile weapons or shot, as a flight of arrows, a flight of bombs, &c.
FLINT, a well known stone, used at present with every sort of fire arms. Every soldier ought to have one or two spare flints when on service.
Flints—are usually packed in half barrels.
| Weight. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| qrs. | lbs. | ||||||
| One half barrel contains | - | Musquet, | 2000 | — | 2 | 14 | |
| Rifle, | 3000 | — | 2 | 10 | |||
| Pistol, | 4000 | — | 2 | 15 | |||
The most transparent and free from veins are esteemed the best flints.
28 kegs of musquet flints take 18 cwt. in tonnage.
10 kegs of pistol flints take 3 cwt. 2 qrs. in tonnage.
To Float, a column is said to float when it loses its perpendicular line in march, and becomes unsteady in its movements.
FLOATING-batteries, vessels used as batteries, to cover troops in landing on an enemy’s coast.
FLOGGING, a barbarous punishment in general use among the British foot soldiers. It is inflicted with a whip having several lashes, and is calculated to degrade and render the man totally unfit for a soldier. It is not practised in any other army in Europe.
FLOOD-GATE, in fortified towns, is composed of 2 or 4 gates, so that the besieged by opening the gates may inundate the environs so as to keep the enemy out of gun shot.
FLOOR. See [Platform].
To FLOURISH, in a general musical acceptation of the term, is to play some prelude or preparatory air without any settled rule.
A Flourish, any vibration of sound that issues from a musical instrument.
The trumpet Flourish in drawing swords, is used regimentally by corps of cavalry on their own ground, and is the sounding used in receiving a general officer.
| FLOWER de Luce, | - | |
| Fleur de Lis, |
The arms of France under the old monarchy. They consisted in three flowers de lis or, or gold, in a field azure, or blue. These arms were superceded by the three colored flag, when the bastile was taken and destroyed by the inhabitants of Paris.
FLUSHED, a term frequently applied when men have been successful, as, flushed with victory, &c.
FLUTE, a wind instrument which is sometimes used in military bands; but never on service.
FLUX, an extraordinary evacuation of the body, to which soldiers are frequently subject on service. Towards the fall of the year this disorder is particularly prevalent, especially in camps. It is of a contagious nature, and the greatest care should be taken to prevent the healthy men in a regiment from frequenting the privies to which those infected by this cruel disorder are permitted to resort. A centry should always be posted in the vicinity of every hospital for that specific purpose.
Flying Artillery. See [Horse Artillery].
FLYING-Camp. See [Camp].
FOCUS, in mining. See [Mine].
FODDER. See [Forage].
FOE. See [Enemy].
FOIL, in fencing, a long piece of steel of an elastic temper, mounted somewhat like a sword, which is used to learn to fence with; it is without a point, or any sharpness, having a button at the extremity, covered with leather.
To Foil, to defeat.
FOLLOWERS of a camp, Officers, servants, sutlers, &c. All followers of a camp are subject to the articles of war equally with the soldiery.
FOND, ground, properly means the surface of the earth which lies above the water.
FONDEMENS, Fr. foundation.
FONDERIE, Fr. forge, ou Fourneaux. See [Foundery].
FONDS destinés pour le payement des troupes. Fr. Monies issued for the service of the army.
FONTE des pieces d’artillerie. The metal used in the casting of cannon which consists of three sorts well mixed together, viz. copper, tin, and brass.
FOOT, in a military sense, signifies all those bodies of men that serve on foot. See [Infantry].
Foot is also a long measure, consisting of 12 inches. Geometricians divide the foot into 10 digits, and the digits into 10 lines; but we after the manner of the English divide the foot into 12 inches, and an inch into 12 lines, and a line into 12 points. The French call the 12th part of a foot, a line.
A square Foot, is the same measure, both in length and breadth, containing 12 × 12 = 144 square or superficial inches.
A cubic Foot, is the same measure in all the three dimensions, length, breadth, and thickness; containing 12 × 12 = 144 × 12 = 1728 cubic inches. The foot is of different length in different countries. The Paris royal foot exceeds the English by 9 lines; the ancient Roman foot of the capitol consisted of 4 palms = 11⁴⁄₁₀ English inches; and the Rhineland or Leyden foot, by which the northern nations go, is to the Roman foot as 950 to 1000. The proportions of the principal feet of several nations are as follow. The English foot divided into 1000 parts, or into 12 inches, the other feet will be as follow:
| Places. | 1000 parts | feet. | inch. | lines. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London foot | 1000 | — | 12 | — |
| Amsterdam | 942 | — | 11 | 3 |
| Antwerp | 946 | — | 11 | 2 |
| Bologna | 1204 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Berlin | 1010 | 1 | — | 2 |
| Bremen | 964 | — | 11 | 6 |
| Cologne | 954 | — | 11 | 4 |
| Copenhagen | 965 | — | 11 | 6 |
| Dantzic | 944 | — | 11 | 3 |
| Dort | 1184 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Frankfort on the Main | 948 | — | 11 | 4 |
| The Greek | 1007 | 1 | — | 1 |
| Mantua | 1569 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| Mechlin | 999 | — | 11 | — |
| Middlebourg | 991 | — | 11 | 9 |
| Paris Royal | 1068 | 1 | — | 9 |
| Prague | 1026 | 1 | — | 3 |
| Rhineland | 1033 | 1 | — | 4 |
| Riga | 1831 | 1 | 9 | 9 |
| Roman | 967 | — | 11 | 6 |
| Old Roman | 970 | — | 11 | 8 |
| Scotch | 1005 | 1 | — | ⁵⁄₇ |
| Strasbourg | 920 | — | 11 | — |
| Madrid | 899 | — | 10 | 7 |
| Lisbon | 1060 | 1 | — | 6 |
| Turin | 1062 | 1 | — | 7 |
| Venice | 1162 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
To be on the SAME FOOTING with another, is to be under the same circumstances in point of service; to have the same number of men, and the same pay, &c.
To gain or lose ground FOOT by FOOT, is to do it regularly and resolutely; defending every thing to the utmost extremity, or forcing it by dint of art or labor.
Foot-bank, in fortification. See [Banquette].
FORAGE, in the art of war, implies hay, straw, and oats, for the subsistence of the army horses. This forage is divided into rations, one of which is a day’s allowance for a horse, and contains 20 lb. of hay, 10 lb. of oats and 5 lb. of straw.
Dry Forage, oats, hay, &c. which are delivered out of magazines to a garrison, or to troops when they take the field, before the green forage is sufficiently grown to be cut or gathered.
Green Forage, oats, hay, &c. that have been recently cut. It likewise means meadow pasture, into which horses are turned.
When the British cavalry are stationed in barracks, the number of rations of forage to be issued to the horses of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers is not to exceed what follows, and is to be confined to those which are actually effective in the barracks.
| Rations. | |
|---|---|
| Field officers, having 4 effective horses | 4 |
| Captains, having 3 ditto | 3 |
| Subalterns and staff officers, having 2 ditto | 2 |
| Quarter masters, each | 1 |
| Non-commissioned officers and private men, each | 1 |
For each of which rations a stoppage is to be made of 8¹⁄₂d. per diem.
On foreign service this article is governed by circumstances.
FORCE, an armament or warlike preparation.
FORCE, in a military sense, any body of troops collected together for warlike enterprize.
Effective Forces. All the efficient parts of an army that may be brought into action are called effective, and generally consist of artillery, cavalry, and infantry, with their necessary appendages such as hospital staff, waggon-train, artificers and pioneers: the latter, though they cannot be considered as effective fighting men, constitute so far a part of effective forces, that no army could maintain the field without them.
Effective Forces of a country. All the disposable strength, vigour and activity of any armed proportion of native or territorial population. The navy of Great Britain must be looked upon as part of the effective force of England, to which is added the body of marines.
Distribution of the effective Forces of a country. Under this head may be considered, not only the effective forces which might engage an enemy, but likewise those included in the several returns that are made from home to foreign stations to the war office, and out of which a grand total is formed to correspond with the estimates that are annually laid before the government.
To Force is to take by storm; also to man the works of a garrison.
To Force an enemy to give battle. To render the situation of an enemy so hazardous, that whether he attempt to quit his position, or endeavor to keep it, his capture or destruction must be equally inevitable. In either of which desperate cases, a bold and determined general will not wait to be attacked, but resolutely advance and give battle; especially if circumstances should combine to deprive him of the means of honorable capitulation. This can only be safely effected, by having previously disposed your own forces so as to defy any impression on his part, and by subsequent able manœuvres to have it in your power to foil his attack.
To Force a passage. To oblige your enemy to retire from his fastnesses, and to open a way into the country which he had occupied. This may be done either by coup de main, or renewal of assaults. In either case, the advancing body should be well supported and its flanks be secured with the most jealous attention.
FORCING an adversary’s guard or blade, a term used in the science of broadsword.
“If at any time your antagonist appears languid and weak on his guard, and barely covers his body on the side he is opposed; by stepping well forward, and striking the fort of your sword smartly on his blade, you may be enabled to deliver a cut without risk, even at the part he intends to secure, taking care to direct your blade in such a manner, that the plate or cross bar of your hilt shall prevent his sword from coming forward.” Art of defence on foot.
FORCEPS, an instrument used in chirurgery, to extract any thing out of wounds or to take hold of dead or corrupt flesh, to amputate. It is made somewhat in the shape of a pair of tongs or pincers, with grappling ends. Every regimental surgeon, or assistant surgeon, should have a pair among his set of instruments.
FORD. The shallow part of a river where soldiers may pass over without injuring their arms.
FORE-RANK, first rank, front.
FOREIGN service, in a general sense, means every service but home. In a more confined and native acceptation of the term, it signifies any service done out of the limits of the United States, or the dependent territories.
Foreign troops, in an English acceptation, regiments or companies which are composed of aliens, as the Hessians in the American revolution. Before the present war, no foreigner could bear a commission in the British service, or be enlisted as a soldier.
FORELAND, in fortification, called by the French pas de souris, relais, retraite, berm or lizier, a confined space of ground between the rampart of a town or fortified place, and the moat. Whenever a fortification can be completed without having recourse to this substitute for stone, (with which the rampart ought to be faced) it certainly is advisable to go to the expence. For a bold enemy, who has once made his way over the moat, will derive considerable advantage from having this path to stand on. It is generally from 3 to 8 or 10 feet wide. This space serves to receive the demolished parts of the rampart, and prevents the ditch from being filled up. In Holland the foreland is planted with thickset, but it is generally faced with palisades. See [Berm].
| FORELAND, | - | |
| or FORENESS, |
any point of land which juts out into the sea.
FORGE, in the train of artillery, is generally called a travelling forge, and may not be improperly called a portable smith’s shop: at this forge all manner of smith’s work is made, and it can be used upon a march, as well as in camp. Formerly they were very ill contrived, with 2 wheels only, and wooden supporters to prop the forge for working when in the park. Of late years they are made with 4 wheels, which answers the purpose much better.
Forge for red hot balls, is a place where the balls are made red-hot before they are fired off: it is built about 5 or 6 feet below the surface of the ground, of strong brick work, and an iron grate, upon which the balls are laid, with a very large fire under them. See [Red-hot Balls].
FORKHEAD. See [Barb].
FORLORN-hope, in the military art, signifies men detached from several regiments, or otherwise appointed to make the first attack in the day of battle; or at a siege, to storm the counterscarp, mount the breach, &c. They are so called from the great danger they are unavoidably exposed to; but the expression is old, and begins to be obsolete.
To FORM, in a general acceptation of the term, is to assume or produce any shape or figure, extent or depth of line or column, by means of prescribed rules in military movements or dispositions.
To Form from file, among cavalry. The front file halts at a given point: the rest, or remaining files successively ride up at a very smart gallop, taking care to halt in time, and not to over-run the ground. If the formation is by doubling round the front file, (in a formation, for instance, to the rear of the march, or to the right when marched from the right,) the files must double as close round as possible and with the utmost expedition. In forming from file, particular attention should be given to make the men put their horses quite straight as they come in. They must keep their bodies square, dress by a slight cast of the eye towards the point of formation, and close and dress in an instant. A dragoon, in fact, must no sooner get into the ranks, than his attention should be given to remain steady, well closed and dressed. It is generally required, that when the cavalry forms, each man must come up in file to his place, and by no means move up to his leader, till that leader has formed to which ever hand the file is forming to. The whole must follow the exact track of the first leader, and come up one by one into their respective places in squadron.
To Form to the front. To move nimbly up from file into ranks, and close to your leader, whether on foot, or horseback.
To Form to the rear. To double round your leaders, who have themselves turned and faced.
To Form to a proper flank. To turn and close in to your leader.
To Form to a reverse flank. To pass, turn and successively close to your leaders.
In all formations from file, the whole, till otherwise directed, dress to the hand to which the squadron, or division forms. See Am. Mil. Lib.
To Form by moving in front, and successively arriving in line, is by divisions, or distinct bodies, to advance forward by word of command towards any given point of alignement. On these occasions the eyes of the whole are turned to the hand to which they are to form, and from which they preserve required distances. The leading officer must be on the inward flank of his division; he conducts it to its point of junction in line, and from thence dresses and corrects it on the person, who is previously placed beyond him, and prolonging the general line. The outward flank of the last formed and halted body, is always considered as the point of conjunction (necessary intervals included) of the succeeding one. Thus the looking and lining of the soldier is always towards that point, and the flank of the line formed to; and the correction of dressing by the officer is always made from that point towards the other flank. Therefore on all occasions of moving up, forming and dressing in line, by the men lining themselves to one hand (inwards) and the officers correcting to the other (outwards) the most perfect line may be obtained. Commanding officers of regiments, when a considerable line is forming, must take every advantage from timeously throwing out intelligent guides to give them true points in the general line. In the French service these persons are called jalonneurs from jalonner, to fix any thing, by which any true direction, perpendicular or otherwise, may be obtained; the word guide is the best translation of the word jalonneur, and it is so used in the American Military Library.
To Form line, is to wheel to the right or left from open column of divisions, subdivisions, or sections, according to prescribed rules, so as to present one continued front or straight line; or to deploy from close column for the same end, or to file to the front.
To Form rank entire, is to extend the front of a battalion or company by reducing it to the least possible depth, from any existing number of ranks.
To Form two deep, is from rank entire or from three deep to produce a regular line of files.
To Form three deep, is to add the depth of one half file to two deep, and to produce the natural formation of a battalion in line.
To Form four deep, is to diminish the natural extent of a battalion formed in line, by adding one half-file to its depth.
To Form echellon, is, from line, or open column, to wheel a given number of paces forward or backward, so as to produce a diagonal or oblique direction in the different proportions of a line, the outward flank of each succeeding division, company or section, constantly preserving a perpendicular direction, at a regulated distance, from the inward flank of its leader, until it arrive at its point of junction.
To Form line by echellon, is to advance in column towards any given object by a diagonal movement, so as eventually to produce a regular continuity of front. See [Echellon] or [Diagonal movement].
To Form close column, is to march by files in detached proportions of a line, till each proportion shall arrive in front or in rear of any given body.
To Form open column, is to wheel backwards or forwards, or to march out by files, so that the several proportions of a line may stand in a perpendicular direction to one another, with intervals between them equal to the extent of their front.
To Form circle, is to march a battalion or company standing in line from its two flanks; the leading files bringing their right and left shoulders forward, so as to unite the whole in a circular continuity of files. On the word of command—To the right and left, form circle, the two flank files bring their right and left shoulders forward; and on the word quick, march, the whole advance. The centre marks time, each file from the direct central one gradually inclining to right and left till the junction of the two extremes has been completed.
The general use which is made of this formation is to punish offenders, or to convey public orders to the men in such a manner, that every individual may have an equal opportunity of hearing what is read, or delivered to the whole battalion.
To Form on, is to advance forward, so as to connect yourself with any given object of formation, and to lengthen the line.
To Form on a front division, is from close, or open column, or by the march in echellon, to arrive by a parallel movement at the right or left of any given division, by which means a prolongation of the line is produced. When this formation takes place with the right in front, the officer of the second, or leading division (the first standing fast, and all the rest facing to the left) having stepped out to the right at the words quick march! allows his division led by his serjeant to go on a space equal to its front, and then gives his word front, dress, halt; his serjeant still remaining on the left of his division. The officer being still on the right of his division, immediately gives the word march! and the division proceeds at the ordinary step towards its place in the alignement. He steps nimbly forward, and obliques so as to be within the third file of the left flank of the preceding division, and is thus ready to give the words, dress, halt! at the instant his inward flank man joins that division. He then expeditiously corrects his men, (who have dressed upon the formed part of the line, on the distant given point) and resumes his proper post in line. Great care should be taken in these movements to prevent the outward flank of every advancing division from over-stepping its ground; as it is a general principle in dressing, to be rather behind the preceding formed division at the word dress, than before it; the word halt being the final and conclusive direction, and the dressing of ranks being more easily attained by a forward than a backward movement.
In this manner every other division proceeds; each officer advancing, with a firm, steady step, in a perpendicular direction towards his point of formation, while the flank serjeant remains at his point in the line, till the succeeding officer, who has dressed his division, arrives to replace him; after which the serjeant covers his own officer.
To Form on a rear division, is to face all the preceding divisions which are in column to the right, (the point of forming having been previously taken in that direction, as far as the prolongation of the head division will extend, and just beyond where the right of the battalion is to come) and to uncover the rear one, so as to enable it to advance forward to a given point on the left, and take up its place in the alignement.
The leader of the front or head division having been shewn the distant point in the alignement on which he is to march, and having taken his intermediate points, if necessary, at the word march, the faced divisions step off quick, heads of files are dressed to the left, the front one moves in the alignement with scrupulous exactitude, and the others continue in a parallel direction close on its right; each carefully preserving its relative points of prolongation, and being fronted by its officer the instant it gets upon the ground, which is perpendicular to its intended formation in line.
As soon as the rear division is uncovered, and has received the word march, it proceeds forward, and when arrived within a few paces of its ground, the officer commanding steps nimbly up to the detached officer or serjeant, who has carefully marked its left in the new position, gives the words dress, halt, and quickly corrects his division on the distant point of formation; after which he replaces his serjeant on the right of his division. As the officer who conducts this division has necessarily the longest extent of ground to march on, he must take especial care to observe his perpendicular direction, constantly keeping the different points of formation in his eye, and preserving a perfect squareness of person. The intermediate divisions will successively proceed and advance as the ground opens before them.
To Form on a central division. To execute this manœuvre, the front and rear divisions must deploy, or open, so as to uncover the named division, and enable it to move up to a given point of alignement. A forming point must be given to both flanks in the prolongation of the head division.
When the caution of forming on a central division has been given, the leading officers will shift to the heads of their several divisions, the instant they have been faced according to the hand which leads to their ground. The files during their deployment must be kept close, and well locked up; and when fronted, must instantly be corrected in their dressing before they march forward. The central division, when uncovered, moves up into line to its marked flank. Those that were in front of it proceed as in forming on a rear division; those that were in rear of it proceed as in forming on a front division. By means of those three formations, which are effected by the deployment, or flank march, every battalion in close column, may uncover and extend its several divisions. The previous formation of close column upon given proportions of a brigade, battalion, &c. is done by facing and moving inwards, and thus contracting the original line with any given division for the head; which line may again be restored by the different divisions facing and moving outwards, as we have just described.
To Form line on a rear company of the open column standing in echellon, that company remains placed; the others face about, wheel back on the pivot flanks of the column, as being those which afterwards first come into line. On the word march, they move forward, and then front, halt, dress, successively, in the line of the rear company.
To Form line on the rear company facing to the rear of the open column standing in echellon, the whole column must first countermarch, each company by files, and then proceed as in forming on a front company.
To Form line on a central company of the open column, that company stands fast, or is wheeled on its own centre into a new required direction. Those in front, must be ordered to face about. The whole, except the central company, must wheel back the named number of paces. Those in front, on the proper pivot flanks of the column, and those in its rear on the reverse flanks, such being the flanks that first arrive in line. The whole then marches in line with the central company. See Am. Mil. Lib.
To Form line from close column on a rear company facing to the rear, the whole of the column changes front by countermarching each company by files. The rear company stands fast, and the remaining companies face to the right, deploy, successively front, halt, dress, and move up into the alignement.
To Form line from close column on a central company facing to the rear, the central company countermarches and stands fast; the other companies face outwards, countermarch, deploy, and successively march up to the alignement.
Whenever the column is a retiring one, and the line is to front to the rear, the divisions must each countermarch before the formation begins. In which case the head would be thrown back, and the rear forward.
To Form en potence, to wheel the right or left flank of a body of men, or to march them forward by files, so as to make that proportion of a line face inwards, and resemble a potence or angle. A double potence may be formed by running out both flanks, so that they stand in a perpendicular direction facing towards each other like the letter Λ, or thus, \__/; these oblique lines are the potence, so named by the power of their cross fire. This formation is not only extremely useful on actual service, but it conduces greatly to the accommodation of any body of men which may be marched into a place that has not sufficient extent of ground to receive it in line.
FORMATION, in a military sense, the methodical arrangement, or drawing up of any given body of men mounted, or on foot, according to prescribed rules and regulations.
Cavalry Formation, consists of the following proportions.
Squadrons of cavalry are composed each of two troops; regiments are composed of ten.
Formation of a troop, is the drawing out of a certain number of men on horseback on their troop parade, in a rank entire, fixed according to the size roll, the tallest men in the centre.
Formation of the squadron, is the military disposition of two troops that compose it closed into each, from their several troop parades. In this situation, the officers move out, and form in a rank advanced two horses length, fronting to their troops. The serjeants and covering corporals rein back, and dress with the quarter-master in the rear. When the formation of a squadron has been completed, and its component parts have been accurately told off, the commanding officer is advanced a horse’s length before the standard. Two officers are posted, one on each flank of the front rank, covered by a non-commissioned officer. One officer is posted in the centre of the front rank with the standard, and is covered by a corporal. The serjeants are placed, one on the right of the front of each of the four divisions, except the right one, and each is covered by a corporal or private dragoon. The serre-files or supernumerary officers and serjeants, the quarter-masters and trumpeters, are in the rear of their several troops, divided in a line, at two horses distance from the rear rank. Farriers are behind the serre-files a horse’s length. Allowance is always made for sick and absent officers and non-commissioned officers; and if a sufficient number of any rank is not present, then serjeants replace officers, corporals replace serjeants, and lance-corporals or intelligent men replace corporals.
Formation, considered as to general circumstances, admits of a few deviations from the strict letter of the term. In order to preserve each troop entire, it is not material, if one division be a file stronger than another. The flank divisions indeed, both in cavalry and infantry regiments, will be strongest from the addition of officers. Officers, in the formation of squadrons, are recommended to be posted with their troops. Corporals not wanted to mark the divisions, or to cover officers or serjeants, will be in the ranks according to their size, or be placed in the outward flank file of their troops. Farriers are considered as detached in all situations of manœuvre.
All these general circumstances of formation apply and take place, whether the squadron be composed of two, or more troops, and whether the troops be more or less strong.
General modes of Formation, are when a regiment broken into and marching in open column, must arrive at and enter on the ground on which it is to form in line, either in the direction of that line, perpendicular to that line, or in a direction more or less oblique betwixt the other two.
Infantry Formation, is the arrangement or disposition of any given number of men on foot according to prescribed rules and regulations. When the companies join, which are generally ten in number, the battalion is formed; there is not to be any interval between the relative parts, but the whole front must present a continuity of points, and one compact regular line from one flank file to the other.
The formation or drawing up of the companies will be from right to left. There is much folly prevalent on the subject of positions of companies. Steuben’s work has endeavored to fix a plan of alternation; but failed. A simple principle would be to number the companies from right to left, and form the first battalion of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and the second of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. Officers commanding companies or platoons are all on the right of their respective ones.
The eight battalion companies will compose four grand divisions—eight companies or platoons—sixteen subdivisions—thirty-two sections, when sufficiently strong to be so divided, otherwise twenty-four, for the purposes of march. The battalion is likewise divided into right and left wings. When the battalion is on a war establishment, each company will be divided into two equal parts. When the ten companies are with the battalion, they may then be divided into five grand divisions from right to left. This is done to render the firings more exact, and to facilitate deploy movements.
The battalion companies will be numbered from the right to the left 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. The subdivisions will be numbered 1. 2. of each. The sections will be numbered 1. 2. 3. 4. of each. The files of companies will also be numbered 1. 2. 3. 4. &c. the grenadier and light companies will be numbered seperately in the same manner, and with the addition of those distinctions. No alteration is to be made in these appellations whether the battalion be faced to front or rear.
Formation at close order, is the arrangement of any given number of men in ranks at the distance of one pace, except where there is a fourth, or supernumerary rank, which has three paces. In firing order the ranks are more closely locked in.
When a battalion is formed in close order, the field officers and adjutant are mounted. The commanding officer is the only officer advanced in front for the general purpose of exercise, when the battalion is single; but in the march in line, and during the firings, he is in the rear of the colors. The lieutenant colonel is behind the colors, six paces from the rear rank. The major and adjutant are six paces in the rear of the third and sixth companies. One officer is on the right of the front rank of each company or platoon, and one on the left of the battalion. All these are covered in the rear by their respective serjeants, and the remaining officers and serjeants are in a fourth rank behind their companies. There are no coverers in the centre rank to officers or colors. The colors are placed between the fourth and fifth battalion companies, both in the front rank, and each covered by a non-commissioned officer, or steady man in the rear rank. One serjeant is in the front rank betwixt the colors; he is covered by a second serjeant in the rear rank, and by a third in the supernumerary rank. The sole business of these three serjeants is, when the battalion moves in line, to act as guides, and direct the march according to prescribed instructions. The place of the first of those serjeants, when they do move out, is preserved by a named officer or serjeant, who moves up from the supernumerary rank for that purpose. The pioneers are assembled behind the centre, formed two deep, and nine paces from the third rank. The drummers of the eight battalion companies are assembled in two divisions, six paces behind the third rank of their 2d and 7th companies. The music are three paces behind the pioneers, in a single rank, and at all times, as well as the drummers and pioneers, are formed at loose files only, occupying no more space than is necessary. The staff officers are three paces behind the music.
Formation at open order, is any open disposition, or arrangement of men by ranks, at straight lines parallel to each other.
When a battalion is directed to take open order, the rear ranks fall back one and two paces, each dressing by the right the instant it arrives on the ground. The officers in the front rank, as also the colors, move out three paces. Those in the rear, together with the music, advance through the intervals left open by the front rank officers, and divide themselves in the following manner: the captains covering the second file from the right, the lieutenants the second file from the left, and the ensigns opposite the centre of their respective companies. The music form between the colors and the front rank. The serjeant coverers move up to the front rank, to fill up the intervals left by the officers. The pioneers fall back to six paces distance behind the centre of the rear rank. The drummers take the same distance behind their divisions. The major moves to the right of the line of officers; the adjutant to the left of the front rank. The staff place themselves on the right of the front rank of the grenadiers. The colonel and lieutenant-colonel dismounted, advance before the colors four and two paces.
FORMERS, round pieces of wood that are fitted to the diameter of the bore of a gun, round which the cartridge paper, parchment, lead, or cotton is rolled before it is sewed.
Formers were likewise used among officers and soldiers to reduce their clubs to an uniform shape, before the general introduction of tails.
Formation of guards. See [Guards].
FORT, in the military art, a small fortified place, environed on all sides with a ditch, rampart, and parapet. Its use is to secure some high ground, or the passage of a river, or to make good an advantageous post, to defend the lines and quarters of a siege, &c.
Forts are made of different figures and extents, according to the exigency of the service, or the peculiar nature of the ground. Some are fortified with bastions, others with demi-bastions. Some are in form of a square, others of a pentagon. Some again are made in the form of a star, having 5 or 7 angles. A fort differs from a citadel, the last being built to command some town. See [Citadel].
Royal-Fort, one whose line of defence is at least 26 toises long.
Triangular Forts, are frequently made with half bastions; but they are very imperfect, because the faces are not seen or defended from any other part. If, instead of being terminated at the angle, they were directed to a point about 20 toises from it, they would be much better, as then they might be defended by that length of the rampart, though but very obliquely. The ditch ought to be from 8 to 10 toises. Sometimes instead of half bastions at the angles, whole ones are placed in the middle of the sides. The gorges of these bastions may be from 20 to 24 toises, when the sides are from 100 to 120; the flanks are perpendicular to the sides, from 10 to 12 toises long; and the capitals from 20 to 24. If the sides happen to be more or less, the parts of the bastions are likewise made more or less in proportion. The ditch round this fort may be 10 or 12 toises wide.
The ramparts and parapets of these sorts of works are commonly made of turf, and the outside of the parapet is fraised; that is, a row of pallisades are placed about the middle of the slope, in an horizontal manner, the points declining rather a little downwards, that the grenades or fireworks thrown upon them may roll down into the ditch; and if the ditch is dry, a row of pallisades should be placed in the middle of it, to prevent the enemy from passing over it unperceived, and to secure the fort from any surprise.
Fort de campagne, Fr. a field fortification, See [Fortification].
FORTERESSE, Fr. Fortress. Any strong place rendered so by art, or originally so by local advantages, or by means of both nature and art. Places which are strong by nature generally stand upon mountains, precipices, in the middle of a marsh, on the sea-coast, in a lake, or on the banks of some large river. Places which are strong by art, owe their strength to the labor of man, whose ingenuity and perseverance substitute ditches and ramparts where mountains and rivers are wanting.
FORTIFICATION, is the art of fortifying a town, or other place; or of putting it in such a posture of defence, that every one of its parts defends, and is defended by some other parts, by means of ramparts, parapets, ditches, and other outworks; to the end that a small number of men within may be able to defend themselves for a considerable time against the assaults of a numerous army without; so that the enemy, in attacking them, must of necessity suffer great loss.
Fortification may be divided into ancient and modern; offensive, and defensive; regular, and irregular; natural, and artificial, &c.
Ancient Fortification, at first, consisted of walls or defences made of trunks, and other branches of trees, mixed with earth, for security against the attacks of an enemy. Invention owes its origin to necessity; fortification seems to have had fear for its basis; for when man had no other enemy but the wild beasts, the walls of his cottage were his security; but when pride, ambition, and avarice, had possessed the minds of the strong and the daring to commit violences upon their weaker neighbors, either to subject them to new laws, or to plunder their little inheritance, it was natural for the latter to contrive how to defend themselves from such injuries.
Our Aborigines of North America, have left traces of fortification in its infancy, of which there are some curious and magnificent remains on the Miami river, in the state of Ohio.
There are abundance of Indian villages fenced round by long stakes driven into the ground, with moss or earth to fill the intervals; and this is their security (together with their own vigilance) against the cruelty of the savage neighboring nations.
Nor is fortification much less ancient than mankind; for Cain, the son of Adam, built a city with a wall round it upon mount Liban, and called it after the name of his son Enoch, the ruins of which, it is said, are to be seen to this day; and the Babylonians, soon after the deluge, built cities and encompassed them with strong walls.
At first people thought themselves safe enough with a single wall, behind which they made use of their darts and arrows with safety: but as other warlike instruments were continually invented to destroy these feeble structures, so on the other hand persons acting on the defensive were obliged to build stronger and stronger to resist the new contrived forces of the desperate assailants.
What improvements they made in strengthening their walls many ages ago, appear from history. The first walls we ever read of, and which were built by Cain, were of brick; and the ancient Grecians, long before Rome was ever thought of, used brick and rubble stone, with which they built a vast wall, joining mount Hymetus to the city of Athens. The Babylonian walls, built by Semiramis, or, as others will have it, by Belus, were 32 feet thick, and 100 feet high, with towers 10 feet higher, built upon them, cemented with bitumen or asphaltus. Those of Jerusalem seem to have come but little short of them, since, in the siege by Titus, all the Roman battering rams, joined with Roman art and courage, could remove but 4 stones out of the tower of Antonia in a whole night’s assault.
After fortification had arrived at this height it stopped for many ages, ’till the use of gunpowder and guns was found out; and then the round and square towers, which were very good flanks against bows and arrows, became but indifferent ones against the violence of cannon; nor did the battlements any longer offer a hiding place, when the force of one shot both overset the battlement, and destroyed those who sought security from it.
Modern Fortification, is the way of defence now used, turning the walls into ramparts, and square and round towers into bastions, defended by numerous outworks; all which are made so solid, that they cannot be beat down, but by the continual fire of several batteries of cannon. These bastions at first were but small, their gorges narrow, their flanks and faces short, and at a great distance from each other, as are those now to be seen in the city of Antwerp, built in 1540 by Charles V. emperor of Germany; since which time they have been greatly improved and enlarged, and are now arrived to that degree of strength, that it is almost a received opinion, that the art of fortification is at its height, and almost incapable of being carried to a much greater perfection.
Offensive Fortification, shews how to besiege and take a fortified place; it further teaches a general how to take all advantages for his troops; the manner of encamping, and method of carrying on either a regular or irregular siege, according as circumstances may direct.
Defensive Fortification, shews a governor how to make the most of a garrison committed to his care, and to provide all things necessary for its defence.
Regular Fortification, is that built in a regular polygon, the sides and angles of which are all equal, being commonly a musquet shot from each other, and fortified according to the rules of art.
Irregular Fortification, on the contrary, is that where the sides and angles are not uniform, equi-distant, or equal; which is owing to the irregularity of the ground, vallies, rivers, hills, and the like.
To Fortify inwards, is to represent the bastion within the polygon proposed to be fortified; and then that polygon is called the exterior polygon, and each of its sides the exterior side, terminating at the points of the two nearest bastions.
To Fortify outwards, is to represent the bastion without the polygon proposed to be fortified, and then the polygon is called the interior polygon, and each of its sides the interior side, terminating in the centres of the two nearest bastions.
Elementary Fortification, by some likewise called the theory of fortification, consists in tracing the plans and profiles of a fortification on paper, with scales and compasses; and examining the systems proposed by different authors, in order to discover their advantages and disadvantages. The elementary part is likewise divided into [regular] and [irregular fortification], which see.
Front Fortification, any proportion of the body of a place, consisting of two half bastions and a curtain.
Practical Fortification, consists in forming a project of a fortification, according to the nature of the ground, and other necessary circumstances, to trace it on the ground, and to execute the project, together with all the military buildings, such as magazines, store houses, barracks, bridges, &c.
The names of every part of a Fortification; and first of lines, which are divided into right lines, and curve lines.
Line of defence, is the distance between the saliant angle of the bastion, and the opposite flank; that is, it is the face produced to the flank. Common experience, together with some of the greatest artists in fortification, unanimously agree, that the lines of defence may extend (though not exceed) 150 fathom. Some indeed will affirm, that as a musquet does not carry more than 130 fathom point blank, the angle of the bastion should be no further removed from its opposite flank. We agree that a musquet carries no farther point blank; but we are sure it will do execution, and kill, at 180 fathom. The enemy generally makes his breaches near the middle of the face; which if granted, the line of fire from the flank to the breach, scarcely exceeds 130 fathom; besides, the cannon of the flank does less execution upon a short line of defence than on a long one.
Line of defence fichant, is a line drawn from the angle of the curtain, to the point of the opposite bastion, which is not to exceed 120 fathom; and from the point of the curtain, and flank, to the face of the opposite bastion, which is to be defended. This line may not improperly be called in good English the butting flank, since it partly sees the opposite faces in reverse; and the shot from it, especially near the orillon, strike against the faces. Authors are numerous both for and against the fichant and rasant lines; we can only set down as a fixed rule, that the more powerful the active quality is, the more the passive must suffer; that in fortification the active quality is the fire, which discovers the assailants (who are the passive) going to attack the face of the opposite bastion; consequently, the more this active quality is augmented, by so much the more must the passive subjects suffer; and from thence we argue for the fichant flank, since it augments this active quality, by all the fire of the curtain added to the flank, which is the principal action in the art of defence.
Line of defence rasant, is a line drawn from the point of the bastion along the face, ’till it comes to the curtain, which shews how much of the curtain will clear, or defend the face. This line may very justly in our language be called the sweeping flank; because the shot as it were sweeps along the opposite faces. This line, as well as the fichant, has many supporters, and as many opponents. In our humble opinion, the line fichant is preferable to the line rasant.
Line of circumvallation. See [Siege]. See [Circumvallation].
Line of contravallation. See [Contravallation].
Line of counter-approach. See [Approaches].
Capital line, is an imaginary line which divides the work into two equal and similar parts, or a line drawn from the point of the bastion to the point where the two demi-gorges meet, &c.
Line of defence prolonged. In the square, and most polygons of the lesser fortification, you prolong the line of defence; but in the polygons of the greater and meaner, you draw a line from the angle of the opposite shoulder to the angle of the curtain, upon which you raise a perpendicular, which serves for the first line of the flank.
Names of the angles in a Fortification.
Angle of the centre, in a polygon, is formed by two radii drawn to the extremities of the same side, or from the centre, terminating at the two nearest angles of the figure.
| Angle of a bastion, | - | |
| Flanked angle, |
that which is made by the two faces, being the outermost part of the bastion, most exposed to the enemy’s batteries, frequently called the saliant angle, or point of the bastion.
Angle of the polygon, is made by the concourse of two adjacent sides of a polygon, in the centre of the bastion.
Angle of the triangle, is half the angle of the polygon.
| Angle of the shoulder, | - | |
| Angle of the epaule, |
is made by the face and flank of the bastion.
| Angle of the flank, | - | |
| Angle of the curtain |
that which is made by, and contained between the curtain and the flank.
| Angle of the tenaille, | - | |
| Flanking angle, |
made by two lines fichant, that is, the face of the two bastions extended till they meet in an angle towards the curtain, and is that which always carries its point towards the work.
Dead-angle. Every angle is so called, that points inwards, or is not well defended.
Angle of the ditch, is formed before the centre of the curtain, by the outward line of the ditch.
| Angle rentrant, | - | |
| Re-entering angle, |
is any angle whose point turns inwards, or towards the place; that is, whose legs open towards the field.
Saliant angle, is that which points outwards or whose legs open towards the place.
Angle of the complement of the line of defence, is the angle formed by the intersection of the two complements with each other.
Inward flanking angle, that which is made by the flanking-line and the curtain. See [Angle].
Names of the solid works of a Fortification.
| Advanced-foss, | - | |
| Avant-fossé, |
or ditch, made at the foot of the glacis: it is but very seldom made, because it is easily taken, and serves for a trench to the besiegers.
Appareille, is that slope or easy ascent which leads to the platform of the bastion, or to any other work, where the artillery, &c. are brought up and carried down.
Approaches, are a kind of roads or passages sunk in the ground by the besiegers, whereby they approach the place under cover of the fire from the garrison.
Area, the superficial content of a rampart, or other work.
Arrow, is a work placed at the saliant angle of the glacis, and consists of two parapets, each about 40 fathoms long; this work has a communication with the covert-way, of about 24 or 28 feet broad, called a caponniere, with a ditch before it of about 5 or 6 fathom, and a traverse at the entrance, of three fathom thick, and a passage of 6 or 8 feet round it.
Banquette, whether single or double, is a kind of step made on the rampart of a work near the parapet, for the troops to stand upon, in order to fire over the parapet: it is generally 3 feet high when double, and 1¹⁄₂ when single, and about 3 feet broad, and 4¹⁄₂ feet lower than the parapet.
Bastion, is a part of the inner inclosure of a fortification, making an angle towards the field, and consists of 2 faces, 2 flanks, and an opening towards the centre of the place, called the gorge: or it is rather a large mass of earth, usually faced with sods, sometimes with brick, but rarely with stone; having the figure described.
With regard to the first invention of bastions, there are many opinions amongst authors. Some have attributed this invention to Zisca, the Bohemian; others to Achmet Bashaw, who having taken Otranto in the year 1480, fortified it in a particular manner, which is supposed to be the first instance of the use of bastions. Those who wrote on the subject of fortification 200 years ago, seem to suppose, that bastions were a gradual improvement in the ancient method of building, rather than a new thought, that any one person could claim the honor of. It is certain, however, that they were well known soon after the year 1500; for in 1546, Tartalea published Quesiti & inventioni diverse, in the 6th book of which he mentions, that whilst he resided at Verona (which must have been many years before) he saw bastions of a prodigious size: some finished, and others building: and there is besides, in the same book, a plan of Turin, which was then fortified with 4 bastions, and seems to have been completed some time before.
The great rule in constructing a bastion is, that every part of it may be seen and defended from some other part. Mere angles are therefore not sufficient, but flanks and faces are likewise necessary. The faces must not be less than 50 fathom, nor more than 65. The longer the flanks are the greater is the advantage which can be derived from them. They must therefore stand at right angles with the line of defence. At the same time the disposition of the flanks makes the principal part of a fortification, as on them the defence chiefly depends; and it is this that has introduced the various kinds of fortifying.
The angle of the bastion must exceed 60°; otherwise it will be too small to give room for the guns, and will either render the line of defence too long, or the flanks too short. It must therefore be either a right angle or some intermediate one between that and 60 degrees.
Full bastions are best calculated for intrenchments, which are thrown up at the gorge, or by means of a cavalier, whose faces are made parallel to those of the bastion at the distance of 15 toises; having its flanks at the distance of 12 toises, and a ditch measuring 5.
Large bastions have the advantage of small ones, for this palpable reason; the bastion being considered the weakest part of the body of a place, is always attacked; when there is room for troops, cannon and mortars, its natural weakness is greatly remedied.
Gorge of a bastion, the interval between the extremity of one flank and that of the next.
Flat bastion. When a bastion upon a right line is so constructed, that its demi-gorges do not form an angle, it is called a flat bastion.
Gorge of a flat bastion, is a right line, which terminates the distance between two flanks.
| Solid bastion, | - | |
| Full bastion, |
A bastion is said to be solid or full, when the level ground within is even with the rampart; that is, when the inside is quite level, the parapet being only more elevated than the rest. Solid bastions have this advantage over others, that they afford earth enough to make a retrenchment, in case the enemy lodge themselves on the top of the bastion, and the besieged are resolved to dispute every inch of ground.
| Hollow bastion, | - | |
| Empty bastion, |
is that where the level ground within is much lower than the rampart, or that part next to the parapet, where the troops are placed to defend the bastion. The disadvantage of these kinds of bastions is, the earth being so low, that when an enemy is once lodged on the rampart, there is no making a retrenchment towards the centre, but what will be under the fire of the besiegers.
Detached bastion, is that which is separated or cut off from the body of the place, and differs from a half moon, whose rampart and parapet are lower, and not so thick as those of the place, having the same proportion with the works of the place. Counter-guards with flanks are sometimes called detached bastions.
Cut bastion, is that whose saliant angle or point is cut off, instead of which it has a re-entering angle, or an angle inwards. It is used, either when the angle would, without such a contrivance, be too acute, or when water, or some other impediment, prevents the bastion from being carried to its full extent.
Composed bastion, is when two sides of the interior polygon are very unequal, which also renders the gorges unequal; it may not improperly be called a forced bastion, being as it were forced into that form.
Deformed bastion, is when the irregularity of the lines and angles causes the bastion to appear deformed, or out of shape.
Demi-bastion, is composed of one face only, has but one flank, and a demi-gorge.
Double bastion, is that which is raised on the plane of another bastion, but much higher; leaving 12 or 18 feet between the parapet of the lower, and the foot of the higher; and is sometimes in the nature of a cavalier.
Regular bastion, is that which has its true proportion of faces, flanks, and gorges.
Irregular bastion, is that wherein the above equality of just proportion is omitted.
Barriers, in fortification, a kind of rails to stop the horse or foot from rushing in upon the besieged with violence. In the middle of this kind of defence there is a moveable bar of wood, which opens or shuts at pleasure.
Berm, is a little space or path, of 4 to 8 feet broad, between the ditch and the talus of the parapet; it is to prevent the earth from rolling into the ditch, and serves likewise to pass and repass. As it is in some degree advantageous to the enemy, in getting footing, most of the modern engineers reject it.
Bonnet, in fortification, is a sort of work placed before the saliant angle of the ravelin to cover it: it consists of 2 faces, parallel to the ravelin, or perpendicular to those of the lunette. They are generally made 10 fathom broad at the ends with a ditch of the same breadth, the covert-way 6, and the glacis 20 fathom.
Breach, is on opening or gap made in a wall or rampart, with either cannon or mines, sufficiently wide for a body of troops to enter the works, and drive the besieged out of it.
Practical breach, is that where men may mount, and make a lodgment, and should be 15 or 20 feet wide.
Capital of a work, is an imaginary line which divides that work into two equal parts.
Capital of a bastion, a line drawn from the angle of the polygon to the point of the bastion, or from the point of the bastion to the centre of the gorge. These capitals are from 35 to 40 toises in length, from the point of the bastion to the place where the two demi-gorges meet; being the difference between the exterior and the interior radii.
Caponnier is a passage made in a dry ditch from one work to another: when it is made from the curtain of the body of the place to the opposite ravelin, or from the front of a horn or crown-work, it has a parapet on each side, of 6 or 7 feet high, sloping in a glacis of 10 or 12 toises on the outside to the bottom of the ditch; the width within is from 20 to 25 feet, with a banquette on each side: there is a brick wall to support the earth within which only reaches within 1¹⁄₂ foot of the top, to prevent grazing shot from driving the splinters amongst the defendants.
Caponnieres with two parapets may properly be called double; as there are some made with one rampart only, in dry ditches of the ravelin, and in that of its redoubt, towards the saliant angles, and to open towards the body of the place.
Caponnieres, made from the body of the place to the out-works, are sometimes arched over, with loop-holes to fire into the ditch. The single ones in the ditch of the ravelin and redoubt are likewise made with arches open towards the place; for by making them in this manner, the guns which defend the ditch before them, can no other way be dismounted than by mines.
Cascanes, in fortification, a kind of cellars made under the capital of a fortification; also subterraneous passages or galleries to discover the enemy’s mines.
Casemate, in fortification, is a work made under the rampart, like a cellar or cave with loop-holes to place guns in it.
Cavaliers, are works, raised generally within the body of the place, 10 or 12 feet higher than the rest of the works. Their most common situation is within the bastion, and they are made much in the same form: they are sometimes placed in their gorges, or on the middle of the curtain, and then are in the form of a horse-shoe, only flatter.
The use of cavaliers is, to command all the adjacent works and country round them: they are seldom or never made, but when there is a hill or rising ground which overlooks some of the works.
Centre, the middle point of any work. From the centre of a place are drawn the first lines to lay down the form of a fortification.
Centre of the bastion, is that point where the two adjacent curtains produced intersect each other.
Citadel, is a kind of fort, or small fortification, of 4, 5, or 6 sides; sometimes joined to towns, &c. Citadels are always built on the most advantageous ground. They are fortified towards the city, and towards the country; being divided from the former by an esplanade, or open place: and serving in one case to overawe the inhabitants; and in the other, not only to hinder the approach of an enemy; but to become a retreat to the garrison, should the town be taken.
Coffers. See [Coffers].
Command is when a hill or rising ground overlooks any of the works of a fortification, and is within reach of common shot; such a hill is said to command that work. See [Command].
Complement of the curtain, is that part of the interior side which forms the demi-gorge.
Complement of the line of defence, is a horn-work with a crown-work before it. See [Crown-work].
Cordon, in fortification, is a round projection made of stone, in a semi-circular form, whose diameter is about 1 foot, and goes quite round the wall, and within 4 feet from the upper part.
The cordon being placed on the top of the revetement of the scarp, is a considerable obstacle to the besiegers, when they attempt to storm a place by applying scaling ladders to the scarp.
Covert-way is a space of five or six toises broad, extending round the counterscarp of the ditch, and covered by a parapet from six to seven feet and a half high, having a banquette: the superior part of this parapet forms a gentle slope towards the country, which terminates at the distance of twenty to twenty five toises; this slope is called the glacis.
Sometimes the covert-way is sunk 2 or 3 feet below the horizon of the field; for, as such works are never made to discover the enemy in their trenches, so this method of lowering the covert-way will give room for the fire of the lower curtain (in works that have one) to scour the esplanade; and the expence of it should be the most material objection against it.
Counter-forts, in fortification, are by some called buttresses; they are solids of masonry, built behind walls, and joined to them at 18 feet distance from the centre to centre, in order to strengthen them, especially when they sustain a rampart or terrace.
Counter-guard, in fortification is a work placed before the bastions to cover the opposite flanks from being seen from the covert way. It is likewise made before the ravelins.
When counter-guards are placed before the collateral bastions, they are esteemed of very great use, as the enemy cannot batter them without having first secured the possession of the counter-guards. They were first invented by Pasino, in 1579, and greatly improved by Speckle, in 1589.
Counterscarp, is properly the exterior talus of the ditch, or that slope which terminates its breadth, and is the further side from the body of the place. It is so called from being opposite to the scarp.
Crown-work, in fortification is a kind of work not unlike a crown: it has 2 fronts and 2 branches. The fronts are composed of 2 half bastions and 1 whole one: they are made before the curtain or the bastion, and generally serve to enclose some buildings which cannot be brought within the body of the place, or to cover the town-gates, or else to occupy a spot of ground which might be advantageous to an enemy. They are of such an expence, that they are rarely found in practice. The best use this work can possibly be put to, is to cover 2 joining curtains, when the sides of it will be parallel to the sides of the place, and it should be fortified with the same strength, and in the same manner.
The authors who have written on the subject, have never thought of this useful part; and we often see 2 horn-works put in practice to cover two curtains, where crown-work would do it much cheaper and much better. The crown-work is adopted for the same purposes as the horn-work.
Crowned horn-work, is a horn-work with a crown-work before it. See [Crown-work].
Curtain, in fortification, is that part of the body of the place, which joins the flank of one bastion to that of another. The straight curtains have always been preferred to the different designs which have been proposed, of which some have diminished the expence, and (at the same time) the strength of the place, others have somewhat augmented the strength, but greatly diminished its area.
| Cuvette, | - | |
| Cunette, |
in fortification, is a small ditch from 15 to 20 feet broad, made in the middle of a large dry ditch, serving as a retrenchment to defend the same, or otherwise to let water into it, when it can be had during a siege.
When there is a cunette, there should be a caponniere to flank it.
Defilement, in fortification, is the art of disposing all the works of a fortress in such a manner, that they may be commanded by the body of the place. It also includes the relative disposition of the works, and the ground within cannon shot, so that the one may be discovered, and the other not observed.
Demi-gorge, is half the gorge, or entrance into the bastion, not taken directly from angle to angle, where the bastion joins the curtain, but from the angle of the flank to the centre of the bastion, or rather the angle the two curtains would make were they protracted to meet in the bastion. Mr. Landmann determines it to be the line which is formed by the prolongation of the curtain meeting the oblique radius.
Demi-lune. See [Ravelin].
Descents in fortification, are the holes, vaults, and hollow places made by undermining the ground.
Descents into the ditch or fossé, are boyaux or trenches effected by the means of saps in the ground of the counterscarp, under the covert way. They are covered with madriers, or hurdles, well loaded with earth, to secure them against fire. In ditches that are full of water, the descent is made even with the surface of the water; and then the ditch is filled with fagots, fast bound, and covered with earth. In dry ditches the descent is carried down to the bottom; after which, traverses are made either as lodgments for the troops, or to cover the miner. When the ditch is full of water, the descent must be made over its surface; which is done by securing it with blinds or chandeliers, from being enfiladed, or by directing the course of the descent from the point of enfilade in the best way you can.
Detached bastion. See [Bastion].
Detached redoubt. See [Redoubt].
Ditch, in fortification, is a large deep trench made round each work, generally from 12 to 22 fathom broad, and 15 to 16 feet deep: the earth dug out of it serves to raise the rampart and parapet. Almost every engineer has a particular depth and breadth for ditches; some are for narrow ones and deep, others for broad ones and shallow; and it is most certain that ditches should be regulated according to the situation. In regard to wet and dry ditches, almost all authors have given it in favor of the latter; and we shall only add, that the best of all are those which can either be filled or kept dry at pleasure.
Wet ditches, which have stagnant waters, are liable to great inconveniences. They are said to be well calculated to prevent sudden surprises and assaults; but we are convinced of the contrary, especially during a hard frost. Some again assert, that they stop all communication between ill-disposed persons in the garrison and the besiegers. Every man with the least experience, must be of a different opinion.
Wet ditches might certainly be so constructed, as to let the surface of the water remain 12 or 15 feet above the level of the adjacent country. In which case they would serve as large reservoirs, and not only contribute to the defence of a fortified place, but enrich the grounds by being occasionally let out. The additional value which the neighboring meadows would bear from these seasonable overflowings, might in some degree compensate for the expence of the fortification. During a siege, these waters, with proper management, must give considerable uneasiness to the enemy that invests the place.
To answer this double purpose, the ditch must be separated into several large basons, which might be filled or emptied at discretion, as often as circumstances would require.
Dry ditches. There are some ditches which may be filled at will; and others which cannot, except by extraordinary means. If they should be intended to answer the purpose of agriculture, aqueducts might be constructed, or the waters poured in through artificial channels. In which case the ditches would not require much depth. The glacis might be raised in such a manner as to serve to dam in the body of water, and to afford a second glacis from whence the besieger might be considerably embarrassed.
Ditches that are lined, ditches whose counterscarp is supported, and kept up by a stone or brick wall.
Ditches that are not lined, whose counterscarp is supported by earth covered with sods. These ditches are not so secure as the former, on account of the breadth which must be given to the talus, and by which an enemy might easily surprise a place.
So that ditches in fortification may be briefly distinguished under three separate heads, viz:
Dry ditches, which from the facility with which they may be repaired, and their capability of containing other works proper for their security, are in most instances preferable to any others.
Wet ditches that are always full of water, and consequently must have bridges of communication which are liable to be destroyed very frequently during a siege.
Wet ditches are subject to many inconveniences, are ill calculated to favor sallies, and have only the solitary advantage of preventing a surprise.
The third sort of ditch has all the advantages of the other two kinds; if, as we have just observed, it can be so contrived, as to admit water occasionally into the different basons by means of aqueducts, and be drained, as circumstances may require.
Draw-bridge. See [Bridge].
Embrasures. See [Embrasure].
Envelope, is a work of earth raised occasionally in the ditch, sometimes like a plain parapet, at others like a small rampart with a parapet to it. Envelopes are generally made before weak places.
Epaulement. See [Epaulement].
Epaule, or the shoulder of the bastion, the angle made by the union of the face and flank.
Escarp. See [Scarp].
Esplanade. See [Esplanade].
Exterior side of a fortification, is the distance, or imaginary line drawn from one point of the bastion to that of the next.
Faces of the bastion. See [Bastion].
Faces, of any work, in fortification, are those parts where the rampart is made, which produce an angle pointing outwards.
Face prolonged, that part of the line of defence rasant, which is terminated by the curtain, and the angle of the shoulder.
Fascine. See [Fascines].
Fausse bray, is a low rampart going quite round the body of the place; its height is about 3 feet above the level ground, and its parapet is about 3 or 4 fathom distant from that of the body of the place. These works are made at a very great expence: their faces are very easily enfiladed, and their flank of course is seen in reverse: the enemy is under cover the minute he becomes master of them; and a great quantity of shells which may be thrown into them, and must of necessity lodge there, will go near to make a breach, or at worst to drive every one out. Hence they are liable to do more harm than good, and contribute no way to the defence of the place. M. Vauban only makes them before the curtains, and as such calls them tenailles.
Flanks, in fortification, are, generally speaking, any parts of a work, which defend another work along the outsides of its parapets.
Flank of the bastion, is the part between the face and the curtain; the flank of one bastion serves to defend the ditch before the curtain and face of the opposite bastion.
Flanking, is the same thing in fortification, as defending.
Retired flanks, are those made behind the line which joins the extremity of the face and the curtain, towards the capital of the bastion.
Concave flanks, are those which are made in the arc of a circle.
Direct, or grazing flank, is that which is perpendicular to the opposite face produced, and oblique or fichant, when it makes an acute angle with that face.
Second flank. When the face of a bastion produced does not meet the curtain at its extremity, but in some other point, then the part of the curtain between that point and the flank, is called the second flank. The modern engineers have rejected this method of fortifying. See [Flank].
Flêche, a work of two faces, often constructed before the glacis of a fortified place, when threatened with a siege, in order to keep the enemy as long at a distance as possible.
Gallery, is a passage made under ground, leading to the mines: galleries are from 4¹⁄₂ to 5 feet high, and about 3¹⁄₂ or 4 feet broad; supported at top by wooden frames, with boards over them.
Genouilliere, the undermost part of the rampart of a battery, or that part from the platform to the sole of the embrasures.
Glacis, is the part beyond the covert way, to which it serves as a parapet, and terminates towards the field in an easy slope at any required number of fathoms distance. Sometimes double glacis are made parallel to the esplanade, and at the distance of 16, or 20 fathoms.
Some authors think these works never answer the expence; however, M. Vauban was so sensible of their utility, that he never failed to make them when the ground was convenient for it; because, when such works are defended by a skilful governor, they will afford the means of being valiantly supported.
Gorge, of a bastion, is the interval between the extremity of one flank and that of the other.
Gorge, of any work, is that part next to the body of the place, where there is no rampart or parapet; that is, at the counterscarp of the ditch.
Half-moon. (Fr. Demi-Lune.) Is an out-work that has two faces which form a saliant angle, the gorge of which resembles a crescent. It owes its original invention to the Dutch, who use it to cover the points of their bastions. This kind of fortification, is, however, defective, because it is weak on its flanks. Half-moons are now called ravelins; which species of work is constructed in front of the curtain. See [Ravelins].
Gorge of a half moon, the distance between the two flanks, taken on the right of the counterscarp.
Head of a work, its front next the enemy, and farthest from the place.
Horn-work, is composed of a front and 2 branches: the front is made into 2 half bastions and a curtain: this work is of the nature of a crown-work, only smaller, and serves for the same purposes. The use of horn-works in general is to take possession of some rising ground advanced from the fortification; the distance of which determine that of the horn-work; and they are placed either before the curtain, or before the bastions, according to circumstances.
Horse-shoe, is a small round or oval work, with a parapet, generally made in a ditch, or in a marsh.
Insult. A work is said to be insulted, when it is attacked suddenly and openly.
Interior side of a fortification, an imaginary line drawn from the centre of one bastion to that of the next, or rather the curtain produced till they meet.
Lodgment, See [Siege].
Loop-holes, are either square, or oblong holes, made in the wall, to fire through with musquets. They are generally 8 or 9 inches long, 6 or 7 inches wide within, and 2 or 3 feet without; so that every man may fire from them direct in front, or oblique to right or left, according to circumstances.
Lunettes in fortification, are works made on both sides of a ravelin: one of their faces is perpendicular to half or ²⁄₃ds of the faces of the ravelin, and the other nearly so to those of the bastion.
There are likewise lunettes, whose faces are drawn perpendicular to those of the ravelin, within ¹⁄₃ part from the saliant angle; whose semi-gorges are only 20 fathoms.
These kind of works make a good defence, and are of no great expence; for as they are so near the ravelin, the communication with it is very easy, and one cannot well be maintained till they are all three taken.
Lunettes, are also works made beyond the second ditch, opposite to the places of arms: they differ from the ravelins only in their situation.
Lunettons, are small lunettes.
Merlon, is that part of the breast-work of a battery which is between the embrasures.
Orillon, is a part of the bastion near the shoulder, which serves to cover the retired flank from being seen obliquely: it is sometimes faced with stone, on the shoulder of a casemated bastion, to cover the cannon of the retired flank, and hinder them from being dismounted by the enemy’s cannon.
Of all the works in a fortification, there is none more capable of defending the passage of the ditch, and to destroy the miner, wheresoever he enters himself, than the orillon. Experience in the last war has shewn us of what vast advantage it is to have 2 or 3 reserve pieces of cannon, which command the ditch, and the face of the opposite bastion, in such a manner as to destroy the attempts of the miners, and see the breach in reverse. Hence the great advantages of a double flank thus concealed weigh so very much with us, and convince us so entirely of their usefulness, that we affirm no place to be well fortified without the orillon, and that the straight flank is fit for nothing but field works.
The orillon is as old as the bastion, and was first made use of about the year 1480; and we find it frequently mentioned in the works of Pasino and Speckle, first published in 1579.
Out-works. See [Works].
Palisades, in fortification, are a kind of stakes made of strong spars about 9 feet long, fixed 3 deep in the ground, in rows about 6 inches asunder: they are placed in the covert-way, at 3 feet from, and parallel to the parapet of the glacis, to secure it from being surprised.
Parapet, in fortification, is a part of the rampart of a work, 18 to 20 feet broad, and raised 6 or 7 feet above the rest of the rampart: it serves to cover the troops placed there to defend the work against the fire of the enemy.
Parallels. See [Siege].
Port-cullice, in fortification, is a falling gate or door, like a harrow, hung over the gates of fortified places, and let down to keep out the enemy.
Place is the term commonly used in fortification instead of a fortified town.
Regular place, one whose angles, sides, bastion, and other parts are equal, &c.
Irregular place, one whose sides and angles are unequal, &c.
Place of arms, in fortification, is a part of the covert-way, opposite to the re-entering angle of the counterscarp, projecting outward in an angle. It is generally 20 fathoms from the re-entering angle of the ditch on both sides, and the faces are found by describing a radius of 25 fathoms.
Places of arms. See [Siege].
Pits, or ponds, in fortification, are little holes dug between the higher and lower curtains, to hold water, in order to prevent the passing from the tenailles to the flanks.
Profiles, in fortification, are a representation of the vertical sections of a work; and serve to shew those dimensions which cannot be described in plans, and are yet necessary in the building of a fortification; they may be very well executed and constructed upon a scale of 30 feet to an inch. By a profile are expressed the several heights, widths, and thicknesses, such as they would appear were the works cut down perpendicularly from the top to the bottom. See [Profiles].
Rampart, is an elevation of earth raised along the faces of any work, 10 or 15 feet high, to cover the inner part of that work against the fire of an enemy: its breadth differs according to the several systems upon which it may be constructed: for De Ville makes them 12¹⁄₂ fathoms, M. Vauban 6, and others 10 fathoms.
Rams-horns, in fortification, are a kind of low work made in the ditch, of a circular arc; they were first invented by Mr. Belidor, and serve instead of tenailles.
Ravelin, in fortification, is a work placed before the curtain to cover it, and prevent the flanks from being discovered sideways, it consists of 2 faces meeting in an outward angle. Some ravelins are counter-guarded, which renders them as serviceable as either the cunettes, or tenaillons.
Gorge of the ravelin, is the distance between the two sides or faces towards the place.
Gorges, of all other outworks, are the intervals or spaces which lie between their several wings or sides towards the main ditch. See [Gorges].
Redans, in fortification, are a sort of indented works, consisting of lines or facings that form sallying or re-entering angles, flanking one another, and are generally used on the sides of a river running through a garrisoned town. They were used before bastions. Sometimes the parapet of the covert-way is carried on in this manner.
Redoubt, is a kind of work placed beyond the glacis, and is of various forms. Its parapet, not being intended to resist cannon, is only 8 or 9 feet thick, with 2 or 3 banquettes. The length of the sides may be from 10 to 20 fathoms.
Redoubt, is also the name of a small work, made sometimes in a bastion, and sometimes in a ravelin, of the same form.
Redoubt, is likewise a square work without any bastions, placed at some distance from a fortification, to guard a pass or to prevent an enemy from approaching that way.
Detached-redoubt, is a kind of work much like a ravelin, with flanks placed beyond the glacis: it is made to occupy some spot of ground which might be advantageous to the besiegers; likewise to oblige the enemy to open their trenches farther off than they would otherwise do. Their distance from the covert-way should not exceed 120 toises, that it may be defended by musquet shot from thence.
Redouts-en-cremaillere, so called from their similitude to a saw; the inside line of the parapet being broken in such a manner, as to resemble the teeth of a saw; whereby this advantage is gained, that a greater fire can be brought to bear upon the defile, than if only a simple face was opposed to it, and consequently the passage is rendered more difficult.
Retrenchment, in fortification, is any work raised to cover a post, and fortify it against an enemy, such as fascines loaded with earth, gabions, sand-bags, &c.
Revetement, in fortification, is a strong wall built on the outside of the rampart and parapet, to support the earth, and prevent its rolling into the ditch. When the revetement of a rampart goes quite up to the top, 4 feet of the upper part is a vertical wall of 3 feet thick, with a square stone at the top of it, projecting about 5 or 6 inches, and a circular one below, or where the slope begins, of 8 or 10 inches diameter. They go quite round the rampart, and the circular projection is called the cordon.
Rideau, in fortification, is a small elevation of earth, extending lengthways on a plane, and serving to cover a camp, or to give an advantage to a post. They are also convenient for the besiegers of a place, as they serve to secure the workmen in their approaches to the foot of a fortress.
Rideau is also used sometimes for a trench, the earth of which is thrown up on its sides, to serve as a parapet for covering the men.
Sap. See [Siege].
Scarp, is, properly speaking, any thing high and steep, and is used in fortification to express the outside of the rampart of any work next to the ditch.
Sillon, in fortification, a work raised in the middle of a ditch to defend it when too broad. This work has no particular construction, but as it runs, forms little bastions, half moons, and redans, which are lower than the rampart of the place, but higher than the covert way. It is not much used at present.
Sillon means literally a furrow. In fortification, it is a work raised.
Swallow’s-tail, a kind of out-work, only differing from a single tenaille, in that its sides are not parallel as those of the tenaille, but narrower towards the town than towards the country.
Talus signifies a slope made either on the outside or inside of any work, to prevent the earth’s rolling down; it is of various denominations, viz.
Talus of the banquette is that gentle slope from the top of the banquette to the horizontal line.
Interior talus of the parapet, the slope from the top of the parapet to the banquette.
Talus of the top of the parapet, that slope which lessens the height of the parapet towards the berm, by which means the troops firing from the banquette can defend the covert way.
Exterior talus of the parapet, the slope of the parapet from the top to the berm.
Interior talus of the ditch, the slope from the top of the ditch to the bottom, within.
Tenailles are low works made in the ditch before the curtains; of which there are three sorts. The first are the faces of the bastion produced till they meet, but much lower; the second have faces, flanks, and a curtain; and the third have only faces and flanks. Their height is about 2 or 3 feet higher than the level ground of the ravelin. Their use is to defend the bottom of the ditch by a grazing fire, as likewise the level ground of the ravelin, and especially the ditch before the redoubt within the ravelin, which cannot be defended from any other quarter so well as from them.
Tenaillons are works made on each side of the ravelin, much like the lunettes; with this difference, that one of the faces in a tenaillon is in the direction of the ravelin; whereas that of the lunette is perpendicular to it.
Terre-pleine, in fortification, the horizontal superficies of the rampart, between the interior talus and the banquette. It is on the terre pleine that the garrison pass and repass; it is also the passage of the rounds.
Tower bastions are small towers made in the form of bastions; first invented by M. Vauban, and used in his second and third method; with rooms or cellars underneath, to place men and artillery in them. As these towers are almost a solid piece of masonry, they must be attended with great expence, though their resistance can be but little; for it has been found by experience, that the casemates are but of little use, because as soon as they have fired once or twice, the smoke will oblige the defenders to leave them, notwithstanding the smoke holes: hence it may be concluded, that the strength of these tower bastions does by no means answer their expences; and that, if small bastions were made instead of them, without casemates, they would be much better, and less expensive.
Traditore, in fortification, signifies the concealed or hidden guns in a fortification, behind the reverse of the orillon.
Traverse, in fortification, is a parapet made across the covert way, opposite to the saliant angles of the works, and near the places of arms, to prevent enfilades; they are 18 or 20 feet thick, and as high as the ridge of the glacis. There are also traverses made in the caponniers, but then they are called tambours.
Traverses are likewise made within other works, when there are any hills or rising grounds from whence the interior parts of these works may be observed. Traverses that are made to cover the entrances of redoubts in the field, need not be above 8 or 10 feet thick.
Trous-de-loup, or wolf holes, round holes made about 5 or 6 feet deep, with a stake in the middle: they are generally dug round a field redoubt, to obstruct the enemy’s approach; circular at top, and about 4¹⁄₂ feet diameter; pointed at the bottom like an inverted cone. Two or three rows of them are dug chequerwise, about 6 paces from the edge of the ditch, viz. two rows of holes exactly opposite to each other, and a third row in the middle, covering the intervals.
Wicket, a small door in the gate of a fortified place, at which a man on foot may go in, and which may be opened though the gate itself be kept shut.
Works. All the fortifications about a place, are called the works of a place.
Out-works. All detached works in a fortification are so called. See [Dehors].
Zig-Zag. See [Siege].
The principal maxims of fortification, are these, viz. 1. That every part of the works be seen and defended by other parts, so that an enemy cannot lodge any where without being exposed to the fire of the place.
2. A fortress should command all places round it: and therefore all the out works should be lower than the body of the place.
3. The works farthest from the centre should always be open to those that are nearer.
4. The defence of every part should always be within the reach of musquet shot, that is, from 120 to 150 fathoms, so as to be defended both by ordnance and small fire arms; for if it be only defended by cannon, the enemy may dismount them by the superiority of their’s, and then the defence will be destroyed at once; whereas, if a work is likewise defended by small arms, if the one be destroyed, the other will still subsist.
5. All the defences should be as nearly direct as possible; for it has been found by experience, that the soldiers are too apt to fire directly before them, without troubling themselves whether they do execution or not.
6. A fortification should be equally strong on all sides; otherwise the enemy will attack it in the weakest part, whereby its strength will become useless.
7. The more acute the angle at the centre is, the stronger will be the place.
8. In great places, dry ditches are preferable to those filled with water, because sallies, retreats, succors, &c. are necessary; but, in small fortresses, wet ditches, that can be drained, are the best, as standing in need of no sallies.
Field Fortification is the art of constructing all kinds of temporary works in the field, such as redoubts, field forts, star forts, triangular and square forts, heads of bridges, and various sorts of lines, &c. An army intrenched, or fortified in the field, produces, in many respects, the same effect as a fortress; for it covers a country, supplies the want of numbers, stops a superior enemy, or at least obliges him to engage at a disadvantage.
The knowlege of a field engineer being founded on the principles of fortification, it must be allowed, that the art of fortifying is as necessary to an army in the field, as in fortified places; and though the maxims are nearly the same in both, yet the manner of applying and executing them with judgment, is very different.
A project of fortification is commonly the result of much reflexion; but in the field it is quite otherwise: no regard is to be had to the solidity of the works; every thing must be determined on the spot; the works are to be traced out directly, and regulated by the time and number of workmen, depending on no other materials than what are at hand, and having no other tools than the spade, shovel, pick-axe, and hatchet. It is therefore in the field, more than any where else that an engineer should be ready, and know how to seize all advantages at first sight, to be fertile in expedients, inexhaustible in inventions and indefatigably active.
Quantity and quality of the materials which are required in the construction of field-fortification.
1. Every common fascine made use of in the construction of field works or fortifications, should be 10 feet long and 1 foot thick. A fascine is raised by means of 6 pickets, which are driven obliquely into the earth, so that 2 together form the shape of a cross. These pickets are tied with willows, or birch twigs. It is upon supporters or tressels of this kind, that fascines are made, which are properly fagots bound together with rods, at intervals of 1 foot each in breadth. Six men are required to complete each fascine; viz. 2 to cut the branches, 2 to gather them up, and 2 to bind the fascines. Six men may with great ease, make 12 fascines in an hour. The smaller sort of willows, or birch twigs, are best calculated for this work. The fascines are fastened to the parapet, which would otherwise crumble and fall down. A redoubt, constructed en crémaillere, must have fascines 8 feet long.
2. There must be 5 pickets for each fascine, and each picket must be 3 or 4 feet long, an inch and a half thick, and sharp at one end; they serve to fasten the fascines to the parapet.
3. When you cannot procure wood for the fascines, the parapet must be covered or clothed with pieces of turf, 4 inches thick, and a foot and a half square; these are fastened to the parapet with 4 small pickets 8 inches long.
4. The fraises, or pointed stakes, must be 8 feet long, 5 inches thick, and be sharp at the top. The beams upon which they are laid, must be 12 feet long and 6 inches thick. These beams are spread horizontally along the parapet, and fraises are fixed to them, with nails 7 inches long; after which the beams are covered with earth. Two men will make 12 fraises in an hour.
5. The palisades, by which the ditch or fossé of a work is fortified, must be 9 or 10 feet long, and 6 inches thick; they must, likewise, be sharpened at the end. If you cannot procure them of these dimensions, you must use smaller ones; in which case you will have the precaution to mix a few large stakes.
6. The pickets, which are fixed in trous-de-loup or wolf-holes, must be 6 feet long, 4 inches thick, and sharp at the top.
7. The beams belonging to a cheval-de-frize must be 12 feet long, and 6 inches broad. The spokes which are laid across, must be 7 feet long, 4 inches thick, and placed at the distance of 6 inches from each other. These chevaux-de-frizes are made use of to block up the entrances into redoubts, to close passages or gates, and sometimes they serve to obstruct the fossé.
8. Gabions are constructed of various sizes. Those which are intended for field works, must be 3 or 4 feet high, and contain 2 or 3 feet in diameter. These gabions are made by means of long stakes, 3 or 4 feet long, which are placed so as to form a circle, which is 2 or 3 feet in diameter. The pickets must be covered and bound in the same manner as hurdles are. Gabions are chiefly of use in embrasures. They are fixed close to each other, and are afterwards filled with earth. There are also gabions of one foot, with 12 inches diameter at the top, and 9 at the bottom. The bank of the parapet is lined with gabions of this construction, behind which troops may be stationed, so as to fire under cover through the intervals. A quantity of large wooden mallets, rammers, hatchets, axes, and grappling irons, is required for this work.
Names of all works used in field Fortification.
Bridge heads, or têtes de pont, are made of various figures and sizes, sometimes like a redan or ravelin, with or without flanks, sometimes like a horn or crown work, according to the situation of the ground, or to the importance of its defence. Their construction depends on various circumstances; for, should the river be so narrow, that the work may be flanked from the other side, a single redan is sufficient; but when the river is so broad, that the saliant angle cannot be well defended across the river, flanks must be added to the redan; but should a river be 100 toises, or more across, half a square may be made, whose diagonal is the river side; and where the river is from 3 to 500 toises broad, a horn, or crown-work should be made. All the different sorts of heads of bridges, are to be esteemed as good works against a sudden onset only, and their use is almost momentary, as they sometimes serve but for a few days only, and at most during a campaign.
Dams are generally made of earth, but sometimes of other materials, as occasion may require: their use is to confine water.
Flêche a work consisting of two faces, terminating in a saliant angle of 90°, the faces are generally 75, or 80 feet long, the parapet 6 feet thick, and the ditch 7 feet broad.
Forts, in field fortification, are of various sorts, viz.
Field forts may be divided into two kinds: the one defending itself on all sides, as being entirely surrounded; the other, bordering on a river, &c. remain open at the gorge. They have the advantage of redoubts, in being flanked, and the disadvantage in containing less within, in proportion to their extent.
Star forts are so called, because they resemble that figure. They were commonly made of 4 angles, sometimes of 5, and very rarely of 6; but we find them now made of 7 and 8 angles. Let their figure however, be what it will, their angles should be equal; if formed of equilateral triangles, so much the better; for then the flanking angle being 120°, the fires cross better and nearer; and as the 2 flanks are on the same line, the space not defended before the saliant angle, is reduced to a parallelogram, whose smallest side is equal to the gorge.
Bastioned forts differ in nothing from that of places, except that the figure is less, and the attack supposed of another kind. It is reckoned sufficient to flank them with half bastions.
Triangular forts. As these kind of forts contain less in proportion than any other, they are consequently used as seldom as possible.
Square forts are in many respects preferable to the triangular ones. See [Fort].
Lines, in field fortification, are of several sorts, viz. the front of a fortification, or any other field work, which with regard to the defence, is a collection of lines, contrived so as reciprocally to flank each other.
Lines of intrenchment are made to cover an army; or a place indifferently fortified, and which sometimes contains the principal magazine of an army; or to cover a considerable extent of ground, to prevent an enemy from entering into the country to raise contributions, &c.
Lines, of whatever form or shape, should be every where equally strong, and alike guarded.
Maxims. 1st. To inclose with the work as much ground as possible, having regard to circumstances. This attention chiefly concerns redoubts and small works.
2d. If there are several works near each other, their lines of defence should be so directed, as to defend each other without being annoyed by their own fire.
3d. Not to depend on the defence of small arms, but where they can fire at right angles; as they too generally fire without aim, and directly before them.
4th. Not to have recourse to the 2d flank or fire of the curtain, but when there is an absolute necessity.
5th. That the flanking angle be always a right one, or at least obtuse, but never to exceed 100°, if possible, there being no fear here, as in a fortification, of the flank being too much exposed. Besides, it is not necessary to graze the faces, or even to fire obliquely on them; since there is no danger of being exposed to the defence of a breach, or lodgment of the miners. The only thing to apprehend, is a sudden attack.
6th. That the flanking parts be sufficiently extended, so that the interior of their parapets at least may rake the whole breadth of the opposite ditch.
7th. Never to make an advanced ditch in dry ground, unless it can be enfiladed throughout, and under a proper angle be defended by the work which it covers, or surrounds.
8th. Not to allow more than from 60 to 80 toises for the lines of defence, when they proceed from two flanks separated by two branches, forming a saliant angle, or when not made to cross, though produced.
9th. That the parts most extended, and consequently the weakest in themselves, be as much defended as possible, and have at least the fire of two flanks, besides their own direct fire.
Redans are a sort of indented works, consisting of lines and faces, that form saliant and re-entering angles, flanking one another. Lines are often constructed with redans: their saliant angles are generally from 50 to 70°.
Indented redans are when the two faces are indented, in that case the faces of each indented angle is 8¹⁄₂ feet only.
Tambour, a kind of work formed of palisades, 10 feet long, and 6 inches thick, planted close together, and driven 2 or 3 feet into the ground; so that when finished it has the appearance of a square redoubt cut in two. Loop-holes are made 6 feet from the ground, and 3 feet asunder, for the soldiers to fire through, who are placed on scaffolds 2 feet high. They have often been used by the French with great advantage.
Têtes-de-pont. See [Bridge-heads].
Trous-de-loup are holes dug in the ground, circular at top, about 4¹⁄₂ feet diameter, and 6 feet deep, pointed at bottom, like an inverted cone, or sugar loaf. A stake six feet long is fixed in their centre, driven 2 feet into the ground, and made sharp at top. Two or three rows of them are dug chequerwise, about 6 paces from the ditch of a field-work. They prevent the approach of horse, &c.
Perpendicular Fortification.
The principles of Vauban for direct or horizontal works, are the most perfect of all others: indeed all the masters of the art in modern times, who have introduced any thing new, allow that their works are only improvements of Vauban. The writings of Cormontagne are the most approved of the late writers on military defence. The principles of elevated works to cover naval roads and harbors, is among the improvements on Vauban; the works at Cherbourg, in France, and at fort Columbus, New York harbour, are very happy examples of the power of such works, as well as of the talents of the Engineers who erected them. Those at New York were by Col. Williams of the United States engineer corps.
Subterraneous Fortification.
These consist of the different galleries and branches which lead to mines, to the chambers belonging to them, or to fougasses, and which are required whenever it is found necessary to explode for the purposes of attack or defence. A subterraneous fortification may be of a permanent or temporary construction, offensive or defensive nature. Whenever this sort of work is adopted to strengthen and secure a fortified place, it is generally built of stone or brick, and made sufficiently solid to last a long time; it is then called permanent and defensive. Any place which is put in a state to withstand the subterraneous attacks of a besieging enemy, is said to be countermined.
When the besieger wishes to make an impression on a fortification of this sort, he must first construct galleries which he covers with wood, &c. He then practices offensive and temporary fortifications of the subterraneous sort. These works are well calculated to aid him in securing a lodgment for his subterraneous artillery, and in establishing chambers, fougasses, &c.
With respect to fortification in general, different authors recommend different methods; but the principal are those of Pagan, Blondel, Vauban, Coehorn, Belidor, Scheiter, and Muller.
It must, however, be constantly recollected by every engineer, that his views are not to be confined to the mere art of fortification. He ought further to know the use which different generals, in different periods, have made of natural strength and position; without an attention of this sort, he will fall very short of that extensive knowlege, which every military man, who aims at military fame, must be ambitious of acquiring. Chains of mountains, and volumes of water, together with the influence which different climates have upon the latter element, should always constitute a part of the natural system that ought to form an essential portion of his application. Hydrography will likewise assist him in this pursuit. To enlarge upon this important branch of geography, and to point out the great means which it affords of natural defence and offence in fortification, would be to exceed the limits of our present undertaking. We shall, therefore, refer our military readers to Belair’s Elemens de Fortification, and content ourselves with submitting a short account of the different authors who have either given original systems, or have greatly improved those that were already known. Independent of whom, may be named the following writers, who have likewise contributed to the general knowlege of fortification, viz. Errard, Deville, Belidor, D’Alembert, Cormontagne, Folard, Clairac, Muller, Robins, LeBlond, Didier, Marshal Saxe, Cugnot, Tielke, Landsberghen, Trincano, Fallios, Rosard, Belair, &c.
Fortification, according to the method of Pagan, consists in three different sorts, viz. the great, the mean, and little, whose principal dimensions are contained in the following
Table.
| The great Fortification. | The mean. | The little. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for squares | for all other polygons | for squares | for all other polygons | for squares | for all other polygons | |||||||
| Exterior side | 200 | 200 | 180 | 180 | 160 | 160 | ||||||
| The perpendicular | ?7 | 30 | 24 | 30 | 21 | 3? | ||||||
| The face | 60 | 60 | 55 | 55 | 45 | 50 | ||||||
| The flank | 22 | 24 | 2 | 19 | 1 | 24 | 18 | 3 | 23 | 2 | ||
| The curtain | 73 | 2 | 70 | 5 | 63 | 4 | 60 | 4 | 63 | 5 | 50 | 4 |
| The line of defence | 141 | 4 | 141 | 2 | 126 | 1 | 126 | 5 | 115 | 5 | 112 | 3 |
Blondel fortifies within the given polygon: he establishes two sorts of fortification; the great one, whose exterior side is 200 toises, and the lesser one 170; because he will not have the line of defence exceed 140 toises, which is the greatest musquet shot, nor less than 120 toises, not to increase the number of bastions. He begins by the diminishing angle, which may be found by taking 90 degrees from the angle of the polygon, and by adding 15 degrees to the third of the remainder.
Vauban’s method is divided into little, mean, and great: the little is chiefly used in the construction of citadels; the mean, in that of all sorts of towns; and the great, in particular cases only.
Table.
| Forts. | Little. | Mean. | Great. | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Side of Polygon | 80 | 90 | 100 | 110 | 120 | 130 | 140 | 150 | 160 | 170 | 180 | 190 | 200 | 260 | |
| Length of perpendicular | 10 | 11 | 12 | ¹⁄₂ | 14 | 15 | 16 | 20 | 21 | 23 | 25 | 30 | 31 | 25 | 22 |
| Faces of Bastions | 22 | 25 | 28 | 30 | 33 | 35 | 40 | 42 | 45 | 47 | 50 | 53 | 55 | 60 | |
| Capital of Ravelins | 25 | 28 | 30 | 35 | 38 | 40 | 45 | 50 | 50 | 52 | 55 | 55 | 60 | 50 | |
In the first horizontal row are the numbers expressing the lengths of the exterior sides from 80 to 260.
In the second, the perpendiculars answering to these sides.
In the third, the lengths of the faces of the bastions; and in the fourth, the lengths of the capitals of the ravelins.
Belidor’s method is divided also into little, mean, and great: and in all three the exterior side is 200 toises; the perpendicular of the little is 50, that of the mean 55, and the great 40: the faces of the first 70, the second 70, and the third 55 toises.
Scheiter’s method is divided into the great, mean, and small sort. The exterior side of the polygon for the great sort is 200 toises, the mean sort 180, and the small 160. The line of defence in the first is 140 toises, the second 130, and the third 120. This line is always rasant. All the other lines are fixed at the same length for all polygons, whose structure chiefly depends upon the knowlege of the exterior side, of the capital, or of the flanked angle, the rest being easily finished.—See the [Table].
Table of capitals and flanked Angles.
| Polygons. | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The flanked angles in the 3 sorts of fortification. | deg. | |||||||||||||||||
| 64 | 76 | 84 | 90 | 95 | 97 | 99 | 101 | 103 | ||||||||||
| Capital for the great sort. | toises | |||||||||||||||||
| 46 | 49 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | ¹⁄₂ | 56 | ¹⁄₂ | 58 | 59 | ||||||||
| Capital for the mean sort. | 42 | 44 | ¹⁄₂ | 46 | ¹⁄₂ | 48 | ¹⁄₂ | 50 | 51 | 52 | ¹⁄₂ | 54 | 54 | |||||
| Capital for the small sort. | 39 | 41 | ¹⁄₂ | 42 | ¹⁄₂ | 45 | 46 | 47 | ¹⁄₂ | 48 | ¹⁄₂ | 50 | 50 | ¹⁄₂ | ||||
Errard, of Bois le-Duc, who was employed by Henry IV. and was the first that laid down rules in France respecting the best method of fortifying a place so as to cover its flank, constructs that flank perpendicular to the face of the bastion; but by endeavoring to cover it effectually, he makes the gorges too exiguous, the embrasures too oblique, and leaves the ditch almost defenceless.
The Chevalier de Ville, who succeeded Errard, draws the flank line perpendicular to the curtain; but here again the embrasures are too oblique, especially in the polygons, and the ditch is necessarily ill guarded. This engineer’s method of fortifying is stiled by most authors, the French method. His favorite maxim is to make the flank angle straight, and the flank equal to the demigorge.
Count Pagan makes the flank perpendicular to the line of defence, which method seems to agree perfectly with this maxim, because by that means the flank so raised covers as much as possible the face of the opposite bastion; but notwithstanding this apparent advantage the flank becomes too small and is too much exposed to the enemy’s batteries. This engineer acquired great reputation during the several sieges which he assisted in conducting under Louis XIII. His system has been improved upon by Alain Marrison Mallet, and his construction in fortification is to this day esteemed the most perfect. It differs very little from Marshal Vauban’s first system. Count Pagan has pointed out the method of building casemates in a manner peculiar to himself.
Marshal Vauban has judiciously steered between these different methods. He has drawn his flank in such a manner, that it does not stand too much exposed, nor does its collateral line of defence extend too far from the direct line of defence. He has effected this by lengthening out his flank and giving it a circular form.
It cannot be disputed but that large and extensive flanks and demi-gorges are superior to narrow and confined ones. The more capacious the flank is, the better calculated will it prove for the disposition of a formidable train of artillery. From this conviction many writers in their proposed systems of fortification, have added a second flank, in order to augment the line of defence; but they did not foresee, that this second flank is not only incapable of covering the face of the opposed bastion, except in a very oblique and insecure direction, but that the right flank, or the flank of the bastion, is thereby more exposed to the enemy’s batteries, which, it must be acknowleged, is a great fault.
The prevailing system of the present day is to make the flanks of the bastion as wide as possible, without having recourse to a second flank, unless it be absolutely necessary. Those gorges are likewise best which are most capacious, because they afford space and ground in the bastion for the construction of intrenchments within, should the enemy have effected a practicable breach.
All parts of a fortification which stand exposed to the immediate attacks of a besieging enemy, must be strong enough to bear the boldest attempts, and the most vigorous impressions. This is a self-evident maxim, because it must be manifest to the most common understanding, that works are erected round a place for the specific purpose of preventing an enemy from getting possession of it. It consequently follows, that flanked angles are extremely defective when they are too acute, since their points may be easily flanked and destroyed by the besieger’s cannon.
The Dutch construct at sixty degrees; but according to Vauban’s method, no work should be under seventy-five degrees, unless circumstances and situation should particularly require it.
A place to be in a state of defence, should be equally strong in all its relative directions; for the enemy would of course make the weak part his object of attack, and finally succeed in getting possession of the town. The body of the place must have a command towards the country, and no quarter in the outward vicinity of it must overlook, or command either the place itself, or its outworks. Those works which are nearest to the centre of the place, must have a greater elevation than the more distant ones.
The first regular system of fortification which appeared and was adopted in France, owed its origin to Errard of Bois-le-Duc, whom we have just mentioned. His method, however, has been uniformly rejected by able engineers; and if we may give credit to the report of Ozanan, Errard himself never carried his own system into practice.
Next to Errard of Bois-le-Duc, came the Chevalier Antoine de Ville, who was engineer under Louis XIII. and published an excellent treatise upon fortification. His method is stiled by most authors, the French method. Others call it the Compound System, or Systeme à trait Composé, because it united the Italian and Spanish methods. He was, indeed, by no means an advocate for new systems; for he generally observed, that any new method, or invention was extremely easy, so long as it was confined to the mere alteration of something in the measure, or in the disposition of those parts of fortification which have been discussed by other authors.
The Count de Pagan followed after, and had the good fortune to propose a system which entirely superseded the other two. We have already [mentioned] the principal feature, in his [method].
Marshal Vauban, whose reputation rose upon the manifest superiority which his skill gave him over all others that had written upon fortification, likewise proposed three methods, with considerable improvements: viz. The great, the mean, and the little.
The great method, according to Vauban, contains on its exterior side from 200 to 230, or 240 toises. This extent is not uniformly the same throughout all the sides of a place, but is confined to that side which lies along the banks of a river, where he uniformly erects considerable outworks.
Vauban made use of his second method in fortifying Béfort and Landau. On account of the bad local situation of Béfort, and the impossibility of fortifying it with common bastions that would not be exposed to an enfilade in almost every direction, in spite of the traverses or rechutes which might be made: he invented arched bastions that were bomb proof, which he called tours bastionnées, or towers with bastions. These arched bastions are covered by counter-guards, the height of whose parapet almost equals the elevation of the towers themselves. Although strictly speaking, both these places are irregularly fortified, nevertheless a method of regular defence may be established from the construction of their works.
Vauban’s third system grows out of the second, and for that reason it is called ordre renforcé, the reinforced order or method. It was adopted in the fortifications of New Brisac. Vauban left nothing untried to bring this system to perfection, and he had the ingenuity to execute his plan at a less expence, than it would otherwise have been effected, by means of half revetements which he threw up in the outward works called the dehors.
This system, however, (ingenious and unrivalled as it certainly is,) has not escaped the censure of some writers. It must nevertheless be acknowleged, that their remarks are either founded in envy, or that they proceed from ignorance.
There are other systems of fortification which have been proposed by the writers of other countries besides France. We shall give a brief detail of them, and leave the inquisitive to go more at length into the nature of their methods, by referring them to the different treatises.
The Italians have furnished several authors who have written variously on the subject of fortification. The method proposed by Sardis has been generally esteemed the best.
The Spaniards in their methods of fortifying, never adopt that which adds a second flank. The obtuse flanked angle is not looked upon by their best engineers as a defective system in fortification.
Both the Italians and the Spaniards speak frequently of the ordre renforcé, which was originally invented to lessen the number of bastions in a great town or fortified place, and to render consequently the line of defence equal to the range of musquetry.
The Chevalier St. Julien, a very able engineer, has published a method, by which, he asserts, that works may be constructed not only at a less expence than others require, but in a manner that must render his defence or attack more formidable. He has likewise invented a new method for the defence of small places, which is preferable to the first, although it is not without faults. According to his system, the reach of the musquet is taken from the centre of the curtain. To this end he directs, that a covert lodgment, 7 feet high, and 10 toises wide, be constructed from that spot to the gorge of the half moon or ravelin. Cannon is disposed along the faces, and a gallery is erected for the musquetry, which likewise serves as a passage to the ravelin.
Francis Marchi, a gentleman of Bologna, in his folio edition, has furnished us with upwards of 160 different methods of constructing fortifications.
The Dutch uniformly pursue the system published by Marollois.
Bombelle has likewise established three sorts of fortification, the great royal, grand royal; the mean; and the little royal, petit royal. His method agrees with the sound maxims of good fortification much more than any of the preceding ones.
Blondel has published a system of fortification, which he divides into two principal heads; the great, whose exterior side contains 200 toises; and the little, where the side does not exceed 170 toises. His reason is, because he objects to the line of defence having more than 140 toises, which is the furthest reach of musquetry, or less than 120 toises, to prevent an unnecessary increase of bastions. The principles of Blondel’s system resemble, in a great degree, those upon which Pagan’s is founded, and chiefly consist in methods of fortifying inward posts. The invention has certainly great merit, but its adoption must prove expensive in all its practical branches. It must, moreover, be manifest, that the four long batteries which are supported by flanks of his construction, must serve as so many scaling ladders, or steps to the besiegers, the instant they have effected a breach by cannon shot, or shells.
In 1689, a work was published, entitled:
Nouvelle maniere de fortifier les places, tirée de methodes du Chevalier de Ville, du Comte de Pagan, et de M. de Vauban; avec des remarques sur l’ordre renforcé, sur les desseins du Capitaine Marchy, et sur ceux de M. Blondel. This work is full of strong reasoning, from the result of which the author has formed a new method, containing indeed, nothing original, but giving references to what has already appeared, and disposing the different parts in so judicious a manner, as to shew how a place may be rendered stronger, and be subject at the same time to a less expence. This writer divides fortification into three parts, the great, the mean, and the little.
There is a second and a third method proposed anonymously, and containing mere simple designs. That method in which a modern author gives it the preference over the system of New Brisac, contains little useful information, and contributes less to the real art of fortifying places.
Donato Rosetti, a Canon belonging to Livournia, professor of mathematics in the academy at Piedmont, and mathematician to the Duke of Savoy, has written upon a method of constructing works in what he calls fortification à rebours, or fortification in reverse; so called not only because the re-entering angle of the counterscarp is opposite to the flanked angle; but because, in his idea, it will be necessary to attack it from the reverse side of other works. His system is very simple, and does not require a sacrifice of much money, or stand in need of many men to defend the works: although he can, on his side, pour as much fire upon the enemy, as could be furnished by more complicated methods.
Antonio de Herbart, major of artillery, in the Duke of Wurtemberg’s service, in 1735, published a treatise on fortifications with square angles, which he calls angular polygons.
Monsieur de Montalembert has lately endeavored to bring arches, which are so much condemned by the Chevalier de Ville, into repute. He treats the subject in a manner, and upon principles so similar to those proposed by Antonio de Herbart, that it is almost impossible to separate the two systems. M. de Montalembert asserts, that the science of fortification, (as it is established and taught at present) can only be valued by the public on account of its illusion. He looks upon the use of bastions, as the effect of prejudice; he rejects them wholly, and substitutes in their room, a front of angular tenailles, polygons with small wings, and angular polygons. The engineers of the present day assert with confidence, that the chief security to be derived in works that are supported by bastions, must depend upon cross and reverse firing directed against the enemy’s lodgments on the glacis. Large half-moons are made, not only for the purpose of covering the curtains and the flanks of bastions, but principally to obtain a reverse firing, which effectually prevents the enemy from maintaining his ground on the glacis of a bastion, before he has taken the two collateral half-moons.
M. Menno, Baron of Coehorn, who was general of artillery in the Dutch service, lieutenant-general of infantry, director-general of all the fortified places belonging to the united provinces, and governor of Flanders and all the fortresses that lay along the Scheldt, has been justly esteemed for his extensive knowlege in the art of fortifying places. He was cotemporary with Vauban. This intelligent and sagacious officer being thoroughly convinced, that, however expensively the rampart of a town may be constructed, it could not long sustain the shock of heavy ordnance, invented three different systems, by which he throws so many obstacles in the way of a besieging enemy, that although the place be not in reality rendered impregnable, it is nevertheless so far secured as to make its conquest a business of considerable hazard and expence. We must however acknowlege, that the three methods which have been pointed out by this Dutch general, can only suit places and grounds that are nearly on a level with the surface of the water; that is to say of 3, 4, or 5 feet; which circumstance plainly indicates, that his attention has been chiefly directed to the soil and ground of Holland; so that his instructions are peculiarly applicable to low and aquatic situations. There is much skill discovered in his manner of treating the subject, and considerable ingenuity in the treatise he has published, which certainly contains several improvements that are exclusively his own. It would be impossible to force a passage, or to penetrate into any of his works, without being exposed on all sides, to the fire of the besieged, who are under cover, and from whose discharge of ordnance and musquetry, it is scarcely possible for an assailing enemy to secure himself.
Scheiter, a German writer, describes two kinds of fortifications, the great or the superior, and the small or the inferior species. It has been erroneously and unjustly stated, that the celebrated Vauban only copied after Scheiter, at New Brisac.
Every man of the least knowlege or penetration must see, that the whole system of that illustrious engineer differs essentially from the author we have quoted.
The defects which are manifest in all these different systems shew the superiority which exists, to this day, in all the fortifications that have been constructed by Vauban.
An anonymous writer in the Sardinian service, proposes two new methods of fortification in a work entituled Science de la Guerre, which was published at Turin, in 1744. After having discussed, at considerable length, the art of fortification in general, its utility, the different sciences which must be acquired towards obtaining any degree of perfection in that art, the various systems in it, regular and irregular, and the construction of palisades, gates, mines, casemates, magazines, &c. &c. he concludes with this extraordinary sentence: “It is not my intention to propose any alteration in the general system, but merely to suggest, that the style be rendered more intelligible.” It must be noticed, that this Italian writer in his preface, frankly confesses his deficiency in the French language. We shall however pass over what he says relative to the approbation which his proposed systems, or rather his explanation of methods already known has met with from scientific men, and give his own observations concerning the improvements that might be made. His words are—
“The first method which I propose, consists of a new figure and position that should be given to exterior works in fortification. Having constructed the body of the place after Vauban’s manner, my next object is to erect counter guards with bastions at the head, and flanks upon the wings. I have been induced to adopt this species of work, in order to remedy the inconveniences and the dangers which invariably attend works erected at the foot of the glacis. These works contribute very little to the security of the place, and can only be defended by cannon, which eventually do more harm to the garrison than to the besieging enemy, since they serve as an epaulement to the battery, which the latter will naturally erect the instant he obtains footing in that quarter. This was proved during the siege of Turin, where in a very short space of time the French carried the bonnets and fleches, and made use of them for the purpose of bringing up their artillery.
By means of the small bastions which I have proposed, and which must be pushed forward into the country, the enemy’s approaches are necessarily checked, the saliant angle of the counter-guard is covered, the ditch is completely flanked, and the garrison are impressed with confidence, because the artillery and the troops can always be called in, in cases of exigency. They moreover equal the enemy in the fire which they can furnish, and the whole body of the place is covered by them.
I construct the bastions and flanks out of the sides of the counter-guard, which are detached by means of a ditch 4 toises wide. This ditch is covered above by vaults made of brick or timber, and by boards well supported underneath by strong stakes, the whole being strengthened and rendered bomb-proof with earth 3 or 4 feet thick. This earth keeps the upper plan of the bastion compact, and is sufficient to form a parapet to the counter-guard when the bastion is destroyed. If the vaults should be blown up by mines, and the besiegers set fire to the beams that supported them, a fresh work will present itself, together with a ditch which they had not foreseen or expected, and which they must cross before any further impression can be made.
This sort of subterraneous fortification is extremely advantageous, and may be converted to various purposes. It serves for casemates and galleries to the mines, which I would construct along the whole extent of the faces belonging to these bastions; a communication with them is kept up by means of the galleries attached to the counter-guard. These galleries must be blocked up the instant the bastion is demolished. The flanks of the side will be built after the same method, with a ditch as wide as the one dug in front of the bastion, and which, according to circumstances, may be uncovered, like that already described. The flanks will be of a round figure, in order to avoid the projection of any angles towards the body of the place, which would be the case, should the work be carried; for the enemy availing himself of the earth in front of the walls, and throwing it up, would derive considerable advantage from these angles.
The principal advantage to be obtained from my system arises out of the double defence which it affords to the saliant angles of the bastions, by covering a part of the demi-lunes mitrées, or mitred half-moons (which are their chief protection,) and by these means concealing the body of the place from any outward command, or eminence. This cover or defence cannot, in fact, be taken, before the enemy has got complete possession of the outworks.
I have spoken of these sorts of fortification in the chapter that treats of field works, which, in my humble opinion, are more useful, more solid, less expensive, and more easily built than a variety of others that have been adopted to this day.
The demi-lunes or half-moons which are nearly mitred or crossed, and which I dispose between the counter-guards, have been constructed in that manner for the purpose of stretching as far as possible, beyond the body of the place towards the country. One essential advantage attends this method, which is, that the work being more spacious, it is better calculated to hold a greater quantity of artillery, and a large garrison; that it becomes double by means of the ditch, which separates it from the advanced work, which it covered as described above, and which is joined to the interior revetement by plain walls, separating a whole half-moon from it; in which space a small fort with loop-holes may be constructed to enable the garrison to dispute every inch of ground as the enemy advances. Under the main body of the place, I build a subterraneous chamber, to serve as occasion may require, either for a powder magazine, or for mines.
Between the half-moons and counter-guards, I construct another kind of ravelins, which are open towards the body of the place, cover the curtains of the counter-guards, and supply a double fire against the enemy and the covert way. These ravelins are not raised so high as the other works, in order to keep them under their fire; and I preserve a communication by means of palisaded caponnieres. I leave them empty within, that the besiegers may have as little ground as possible; they are moreover sufficiently thick and solid to withstand the discharge of ordnance, which can only batter in breach from the counterscarp, which acquires double strength, because by means of these works, it is enfiladed, and secured against the enemy’s attack or attempt to make a lodgment.
If the plan, which I had the honor of laying before the king of Sardinia, be carefully examined, it must be apparent to every military man, that the works I therein describe, are not only more useful, but capable of being constructed at a less expence, than those which are generally practised to this day. It will be clearly seen, that I have done nothing more than add some additional proportions of the flanks and bastions to the counter-guards, which are usually erected; and that I have augmented their double face, by joining it to the half-moons of the curtain. The object of this addition, is to throw obstacles in the enemy’s way, should he attempt to make close approaches, to cover the body of the place, to render the siege difficult, to increase the besieger’s expence, and to give confidence to the troops of the garrison, who are thereby no longer exposed, as they must be in all outworks erected upon the foot of the glacis.
It is not, however, my design to throw works of this kind into utter disrepute. There are situations and local circumstances, which not only make their adoption useful, but render it absolutely necessary. I cannot pretend to describe the specific nature of such exigencies, as they grow out of existing cases, which an able general and an engineer will know how to discriminate by examining the ground.
The ditch belonging to the body of the place, be its soil what it may, must be very broad, as the chief security to be derived from it, depends entirely upon its width. The enemy cannot easily fill it up, and he must suffer a considerable loss of men, should he attempt to cross it; being exposed to the discharge of artillery from the flanks, which artillery cannot be dismounted from any quarter or lodgment, before the counter-guards are taken. The storming of the place must depend entirely upon the previous conquest of the side ravelins, and of the centre half moons; for unless the enemy has first effected this, he will not be able to cross the ditch, or make any lodgment, since at every approach he must be annoyed from the flanks, and battered in front; he must, in fact, attack and get the better of five works at once. The execution of any part of so important a task, must be the more dangerous, because in proportion, as he overcomes one line of defence, another presents itself which is equally formidable, and the rest increase in difficulty and hazard.
When I submitted this new method to the consideration of able and intelligent men, only one opponent started to controvert the property of its general adoption. This was a celebrated Dutch engineer, who asserted that it could not be of any essential service, except in hexagons, or figures that had many sides; he further argued, that the method was more faulty in small works, because the angles became more acute, and that no use could be made of them in regular fortification.
I had the good fortune to satisfy this gentleman, and to convince him, that his objections were not well founded. I stated to him, that by increasing the width of the ditch at the angle of the flanks of the bastion, I reduced that angle to any size I judged necessary; I maintained, that by so doing I did not weaken the place; but that on the contrary by cancelling the parallelogram of the counter-guards, I rendered more oblique any battery which the enemy might erect in front of the bastion, whilst the rampart belonging to it fell under a cross fire from the mitred half-moon.
With respect to its uselessness in irregular fortification, after having discussed the subject at some length, I got him to agree with me, that every detached piece of fortification might be constructed any where (and with greater advantage to the ultimate defence of a place) sooner than in plain counter-guards, horn or crownworks, tenailles and such like fortifications, because by means of the retreat which was secured under a second line of retrenchment, by means of the regular resistance it afforded, without having one dead angle attached, and by means of the little ground it left for the enemy to lodge on, the main body of the place was more effectually protected, and the approaches of the enemy were considerably checked.
With regard to the construction proposed in this new method, I take all the measurements, and I mark all the essential points upon capital lines; that is to say, I prolong the lines of the saliant angles of the bastion, and those of the centre of the curtain; after which I determine the width of the ditch at 23 or 24 toises, in order to make the parallels of the faces of the different bastions for the counterscarp of the counter-guards and of the great half-moon, and finally the thickness of the works, to agree with the ditches in front.
With regard to the ravelins which are made between the mitred half-moons and the counter-guards, I place the saliant angle in the centre of the scite, and I construct faces to them in such a manner, that they are under a straight line of defence from the half-moons and counter-guards. I erect the counterscarp and glacis in the usual manner, only with this difference that I wish to have a ditch of moderate breadth and depth between the covert-way and the glacis: say, two toises broad upon two deep.
In order to clear the ditch of occasional rubbish that may fall in, or of pieces that may drop from the demolished parts of a fortification during a siege, square excavations or wells must occasionally be made along the flanks and faces of the different works; by which means the ditch is always kept clean, and you may at any time repair the fortifications, whilst on the other hand, the enemy, should he attempt to storm the place, must have recourse to fascines, as he could derive no advantage from the materials that would otherwise be found under the walls.”
This ingenious writer has described every part of the method proposed in a clear and perspicuous manner. His plan is particularly valuable, on account of the exact measurements it contains, whereby the most common understanding may become acquainted with the construction. He appears singularly anxious to have it practically proved, that works can be erected according to this method at a less expence than by any other, and that there is no comparison between the advantages it affords in point of real utility. In chap. 16, p. 61, the following account is given of his second system, which he calls the Great System.
“After I had thoroughly digested my plan, relative to the best method of covering a town or fortified place by outworks, it naturally occurred, that I had not provided the necessary means of keeping the troops under shelter, of securing a retreat to the artillery, which is always seized whenever a work is taken by assault, nor of furnishing a heavier discharge of ordnance and musquetry than the enemy could pour in. These important objects put my invention to work, and I directed all the faculties of my mind towards discovering a kind of fortification which might not only cover the body of the place, and by a new disposition of its relative parts communicate equally with every quarter, without there being any necessity to carry the heavy ordnance into the ditch; but likewise oblige the besieging enemy to increase his means of attack, and make extraordinary efforts. I necessarily saw, that the saliant angles of the bastions should be well covered, and that the strongest ought to be raised before the curtain belonging to the body of the place, in order to force the assailants to make their attack on a quarter from whence the concentrated fire of several works, presenting a wide front of artillery, would issue with considerable effect.
After having for several years, directed the whole of my attention to this specific object, and tried the result of my reflections upon paper by a variety of designs; I had the good fortune to discover a method, whose plan exhibits to the eye several pieces that are joined together by their different walls, and in front of which there are ditches covered in with beams and strong oak boards, and made bombproof by means of a sufficient quantity of earth that is spread upon the whole. So that it appears evident to me, that there is only one species of fortification, which affords the means of concentrating your line of defence from every quarter, and of lining the parapets with heavy ordnance. By means of this construction, the lines and glacis will be secured against any immediate approaches of the enemy, during which seasonable interruption, the artillery may without risk, be withdrawn and lodged in the interior work; a convenience which cannot be obtained in detached pieces, on account of the difficulty which always attends the first erection, or ultimate demolition of them.
By taking away the beams, or by destroying them at once, and by pulling down the walls which compose the flanks, you suddenly open a new work upon the enemy; which work has the advantage of being considerably larger than the one he has just attacked and taken, and against which he must raise fresh batteries, and prepare the means of crossing a ditch, he had not foreseen, and which he cannot easily pass. This work either communicates with a tenaille that commands it, or is connected with a horned work, flanked by two others of similar construction. The tenaille is open in the centre (being divided into two parts by a ditch) in order to leave as little room as possible for the enemy to lodge on, and to multiply the enfilading points of the place.
Between these large works, demi-lunes or half-moons, of three orders, are constructed in the shape of bastions. These have orillons and ditches between the two, which flank the side-works, and are always protected by an enfilade, that the enemy never can lodge without being exposed to a cross and rear fire. In order to cover the whole body of the place, I construct other intermediate demi-lunes, which are equal in elevation to the first works. These contribute greatly towards preventing the enemy’s approaches; for they not only enfilade the covert-way, but they likewise double the defences in such a manner, that the enemy, as has already been observed, cannot attack one place without experiencing a necessity to attack four others at the same time: to which may be added this disheartening circumstance, that as fast as he advances, so fast a retreat is made behind some new work, and he is, of course, obliged to recommence his attack.
The regular communication between the several works must be kept up by means of sleeping bridges, which are well supported underneath by strong beams or stakes. Those which form a part of the rampart must be covered with four feet of earth, well pressed together. The walls by which the works are connected, must be so built as to be easily demolished, and they must only serve to cover the subterraneous fortifications. These walls are never within the reach of the enemy’s cannon, and when they are pulled down, their ruins are thrown into wells, or excavations, which have been previously dug at the foot of the main wall, to prevent the ditch from being filled with them: subterraneous embrasures are opened from within to enfilade the ditch, and to obstruct the passage.
When by dint of perseverance, and after having expended considerable sums of money, lost many lives and consumed much time the enemy has at last obtained possession of these works, he discovers, that his sacrifices have only led him to an unexpected body of the place which he cannot injure. This new construction he finds flanked on both sides by two double bastions, and a broad curtain lined with a triple front of artillery, having a very wide ditch, traversed by tenailles, batteries from casemates, and defended by flanks with the two cavaliers belonging to the bastions, which keep up an incessant fire upon the artillery that is planted in the carried outworks, and render it almost impossible for him to establish a lodgment.”
“I need not pretend,” continues the same author, “to have discovered by this new method, any certain means of rendering a place impregnable; such an idea would be chimerical and absurd.
Let a town be ever so well fortified, that town, if properly invested and resolutely attacked, must eventually fall, unless it be seasonably succoured from without. My chief object is to correct the errors into which former writers seem to have fallen, and by the methods I have proposed, to harrass a besieging army, not only by increasing its expence, but by occasioning a considerable loss of men; I thereby prolong the siege, and gain time for the garrison, so that succours may arrive, or such conditions be entered into as will secure the country, which the place attacked is destined to cover.
Counter-guards, ravelins, and demi-lunes are, in fact, a species of fortification by which they flank one another obliquely, and which only tend to embarrass the troops of the garrison, whenever it is judged expedient to manœuvre under the fire of artillery; a circumstance that invariably causes confusion; whereas the works which I have proposed are capacious enough to admit of every movement and evolution without inconvenience.
Horned and crowned works are extremely expensive in their construction, and of little use when completed; their lines of defence, their faces and their flanks are so short and limited, that a besieging enemy can with great ease attack, and carry them by means of an equal front and range of fire: and when he has so far succeeded, he derives considerable advantage from having opened a wide space of ground on which he can erect angles to annoy and batter the place. Whereas in the works of my proposed method, the foundations are broader, the defences are more direct and within musquet shot, and when the garrison retreats towards the body of the place, the ground which it abandons is scarcely sufficient for the erection of a small battery; it is moreover exposed to all the retrenched and flanking points, so that the enemy would be instantly dislodged.
Tenailles and queues d’hirondelle contain dead angles which may always be taken advantage of by the besieging enemy. This does not exist in the works I propose. For at every approach, not only fresh expences must be incurred by the assailant, but he will remain exposed to several fires at once, without being able to cover himself from the reverse and cross ones.
Double ditches afford the means of creating perpetual uneasiness in the enemy, by uncovering fresh works as he advances. So that the siege is protracted, his expences are increased, and his loss of men, ammunition, stores, and artillery is proportionably multiplied.
In the examination which was made of the relief proposed by me; some persons well acquainted with the particular subject, objected to its adoption on account of the expence. I made an accurate calculation of the amount, and I found that it cost a sixth more than the usual fortification. This does not assuredly form sufficient ground to outbalance the many advantages which can be derived from the construction. Besides, there is no occasion of fortifying all the parts of a town in this manner, since it would be advisable to strengthen the weak points only.”
The construction which is proposed in this new method, is simple, and easily understood. The principal objects to be attended to are these; that there be mines under all the works, and that a regular communication be kept up with the chambers by means of subterraneous galleries, which must be resorted to in proportion as the enemy approaches.
The Piedmontese engineer, from whom we have made these extracts, has added to Vauban’s and Coehorn’s systems. We leave the subject to the consideration of those professional men who have made the art of fortification their peculiar study; they must determine whether the theory of the proposed method be susceptible of practice, and if so, whether it can be rendered so generally useful, as the author seems to promise it would.
On a general view of the subject it must, however, be acknowleged, that a situation is not always found which will admit of the improvements and additions that might otherwise be made. There are some old places in which the figure of the fortifications erected for their defence, is so strange and whimsical, that the least correction of its errors, must be attended with an enormous expence.
A town may be irregularly fortified, and owe that irregularity either to the figure of the works only, by the angles not being equally distant from the centre, although every one may admit of a good bastion, and the lines be tolerably extensive; or by the figure and the angles differing, from some being too acute, and others being rentrant; or by the inequality of the figure and its sides; some being too long and others too short; or finally by a disparity all together in the figure, in its sides and angles.
If the three first kinds of irregularity are judiciously corrected, the correction of the fourth follows of course, as it is only the natural consequence of the others. Those irregularities may be occasioned by a neighboring river, by the entrance into a creek or harbor, or by steep rocks beyond which it is impossible to carry the works.
It is a sound and general maxim in the art of fortifying, to reduce the irregular proportions of its lines, &c. of defence to as much regularity as the ground and situation will permit. For by so doing, their strength becomes equally great throughout. If you should not be able to surmount the natural obstacle which may be thrown in your way, you must never deviate from the general rules that are laid down in regular fortification. These are, that all the parts be well flanked, that the angles of the bastions do not fall under sixty degrees, that the line of defence be within musquet shot, or that outworks be established to bring it within that range; and finally, that the means of resistance be distributed in as many equal proportions as the irregularity of the works will suffer.
You must, however, be careful to avoid an error into which many have fallen. You must not weaken the collective means of defence, in order to strengthen any particular vulnerable quarter; for by so doing you are sacrificing a great line of defence, to the security of a small part which might be strengthened by outworks.
The author of Oeuvres Militaires, in his 3d volume, page 45, has given observations and maxims relative to irregular fortification.
Baron d’Espagnac, in consequence of the remarks which are made by Marshal Saxe, in his Reveries, has in his supplement to that work amply discussed the subject of fortification, and described the different means of attack and defence. We refer the inquisitive officer to those works. Before we conclude these interesting remarks upon an art, which is certainly equal to any invention that has employed the skill and ingenuity of man, we must observe that in all periods, productions on that head have been as numerous as the subject has hitherto proved inexhaustible. It must, however, be acknowleged with some regret, that the tendency of the greater part, if not of all, seems to be an indiscriminate and bold attack upon the works of the immortal Vauban. These writers censure the methods of that great engineer by proposing something of their own, which only differs in appearance, and which they think proper to call a superior system. Assertions, and promises to afford new lights upon the science of fortification, have always, in fact, been profusely given by authors of this description. Their labors, however, are only so far to be regarded and esteemed, in as much as their different systems tend to point out the necessary calculations which are required to shew the expence attending their construction, and to prove the effects they might produce. The memoirs upon perpendicular fortification, written by M. Montalembert engineer, will throw considerable light upon these observations.
With respect to the knowlege of fortification, it must be manifest to every thinking man, that from a chief magistrate, or head of a country, down to the lowest infantry officer, the acquirement of it is more or less indispensibly necessary.
A chief magistrate of a country, should be well versed in the science of fortification, in order to examine the plans that are laid before him, and to determine upon the execution of proposed projects.
A secretary of war should know it, in order to explain the nature of the plans when questioned by a superior power, to calculate the expences which will attend the construction of works, and to distinguish good ones from those which might be useless and expensive.
Every commandant of a town or fortified place, should be well acquainted with the subject, because it may fall to his peculiar share to construct works in cases of emergency, or to add to those already erected for the defence of the place entrusted to his care. He likewise ought, at all times, to be able to ascertain how far such a place is capable of holding out.
Every director of fortification should be master of it, in order to discriminate between what is proper, or what is defective, and make his report accordingly.
Every infantry officer, in a word, should be conversant in field fortification at least, if not acquainted with the general system. For without some knowlege of its branches, how will he, in cases of emergency, be capable of throwing up a temporary redoubt, of fortifying a spot of ground which he is ordered to maintain, or of securing a common outpost?
Field Fortifications, fortifications de campagne, Fr. consist in the art of fortifying, constructing, attacking, and defending all sorts of temporary field works during a campaign.
Although an engineer may be perfectly master of the different methods by which a town can be strengthened and secured by permanent works, he should not remain satisfied with that acquisition, but carefully direct his attention to the distribution of ground, for field fortification. He should be able to ascertain, with geometrical precision, all the relative divisions and corresponding points of any situation in which it might be judged expedient to construct that species of fortification which consists in intrenched lines, fortins, or small forts, and in redoubts of various denominations. The shape or figure of these works is exactly similar to those of the permanent kind. Ditches, ramparts, and parapets must be dug and thrown up, to secure the former, in the same manner as they are practised for the protection of the latter. They only differ in their measurement and proportions. Intrenched lines are made for the purpose of covering a camp from any sudden insult of the enemy, which should always, on this account, be pitched in the most advantageous manner; contiguous to and facing that quarter where it is probable the attack will be made, a ditch must be dug, having three toises at least in width and two in depth. This must be defended by a parapet en redans, or be occasionally flanked with small bastions, two toises thick, consisting of solid good earth well pressed together, covered and supported with fascines; having likewise banquettes behind them sufficiently high to conceal the soldiers’ tents. If water could be conveyed, or drawn into the ditch from any adjacent rivulet, or river, the security would be greater. When the lines of intrenchment are thrown up with an intention to maintain the ground any length of time, a covert-way must be made, which should be regularly fenced with palisades.
There is another species of field fortifications, which is resorted to in order to keep up a communication between two places; in which case great care must be taken to prevent the lines from being enfiladed in any quarter; and if they should be exposed in that manner, no time ought to be lost in strengthening the weak points by constructing redoubts, or small forts. The defence of these redoubts and forts must be entrusted to small arms and musquetry, but not to cannon, as the range of the latter is always too extensive to prevent an enemy’s close approaches to the lines of communication from their field works, or forts. Necessary drains must be made to let out the water that collects, as it would otherwise destroy the works, drown the sentries, and cut off all communication with the main body.
When a position is taken upon a steep rock, or eminence extremely difficult of access, the lines which surround it do not absolutely require ditches for their safety, as the parapet and banquette may probably be sufficient; but if any vulnerable or weak part be observed, every effort should be used to get at a spring, and to fill up an excavation in front of it, to prevent surprises. An able engineer will be particularly careful in drawing his plan of communication, to ascertain the exact points whereby they may be protected by an enfilade from one fort to another; so that if the enemy should make a lodgment any where, he will not be able to maintain his position on account of his being flanked by other works.
Field works, or small forts are generally constructed in places the preservation of which is judged to be indispensibly necessary. Such, for instance, are necks of land that stretch into a marsh, and are surrounded by it; the passage of a road, têtes de ponts, or heads of bridges, and other objects of similar importance in offensive, or defensive operations. On these occasions the shape and size of the construction must depend upon the nature of the ground, the importance of the undertaking, and on the number of men by which the works are to be garrisoned.
Many forts in field fortification are built in triangular forms; some are square, some starred, or en étoile, some as redoubts, in the shape of demi-lunes, others in crown, or horn-work, and others again in the figures of tenailles or queues d’hirondelle.
When the object of defence is a windmill, a castle, or a small dwelling-house, the first step to be taken, is to select a spot of ground upon which you are to build the field work, so as to check and prevent the enemy’s approaches. In order to do this effectually, the shape and adjacent parts of the building must be closely attended to, and the work be thrown up without exposing it to a rear attack; but if the place to be defended stand alone, and be not supported by any ditch or eminence on its flanks, or in its rear, you must then fortify it all round. The earth which is dug out of the ditch will serve to raise the rampart, or parapet. Saliant angles, distributed at equal distances, in the shape of bastions, must be erected with good flanks to protect and cover the intrenchment. If, on account of the ground, the work should not be much raised, the parapet must be raised, in order to prevent the enemy from attempting an easy assault.
An engineer from Piedmont, who has proposed some new methods in field fortification, is decidedly against stone and masonry, in the construction of parapets and field works. His reason is self-evident; for as he justly observes, the scattered pieces which must naturally be thrown about in all directions by the demolishing of the walls in the discharge of heavy cannon, would do more mischief than the cannon itself.
It is frequently found necessary to fortify a bridge; the means adopted for this purpose must depend entirely upon the size and current of the river. If the stream should be broad and navigable, and so far from the fortress, that it cannot be defended by the ordinance of the town or fortified place, in that case a large retrenchment, resembling a place of arms, must be constructed, with strong bastions to support and cover it, curtains and half-moons, a broad and deep ditch, and covert-way that must be well secured by palisades. This retrenchment, or place of arms, must be made sufficiently capacious to hold a garrison that would be capable of opposing the attack of a large detachment from the main army of an enemy. A half-moon must be constructed within the lines, with a ditch in front, to serve as a work behind which the garrison might retreat with its artillery, disputing every inch of ground, and by that means affording sufficient time to cut down the bridge.
If the river should be narrow, yet wide enough to prevent any sudden irruption into the country beyond it, the bridges that are across must be fortified by works made of earth, which are to be covered by ditches dug in front. Half-moons, tenailles, crown and horn-works, and similar constructions, provided they be well fenced with palisades, will answer all the purposes required in such cases. The engineer, by the first glance of his eye, will be able to ascertain the situation of the country, and to fit his plans accordingly. Small lodgments, or wooden recesses, must be made as guard-houses, in which detached parties of men should be stationed to meet the first attacks of the enemy, and to keep him in check while the whole army passes over the river, or is drawn up in order of battle to dispute the passage. These intrenchments must invariably be well furnished with light artillery, for the purpose of annoying the approaching enemy. But the disposition and arrangement of these pieces must always be such as to admit of their being instantly removed, when the intrenchments are carried, under the cover of heavier ordnance which is kept playing upon the enemy from the opposite side of the river.
Practical Maxims in building Field Works. 1st. The spot on which works are to be constructed should determine their figure; nor should any attention be paid to preserve a regular form which does not occupy the ground to advantage.
2d. Every line must be so disposed, that the slope of hills all around even to the very bottom, be open to the small arms of the garrison; and every part should be discoverable to the distance of at least 500 paces.
3d. Works thrown up for the defence of a defile, should always be within musquet shot of it, which must not be more than 200 yards.
4th. The best defence in works that are flanked, or where one side is defended by the fire of another, is that formed by right angles.
5th. A saliant angle should never be less than 60, and a re-entering angle than 90 degrees; nor greater than 120 degrees.
6th. The entrance to the work should always be made in the part least exposed to attack, and if possible in a re-entering angle.
7th. Endeavor to present, if possible, a larger front to the enemy than he can occupy in making the attack.
8th. Avoid all ground commanded by an eminence, either in front, flank, or rear.
9th. Never leave the rear of a work so exposed that the enemy may turn it.
10th. Always make the angles of a work in the directions least exposed to attacks, and consequently always present a front to the most exposed.
11th. The garrison should never be drawn up more than two deep; and an ordinary pace of two feet is usually allowed for each file, and from 6 to 8 paces from each piece of ordnance.
12th. If a work is so large as to be defended by a battalion or two, a reserve should be allowed of about one sixth of the number.
13th. The space within a work should always be sufficient for the men to move and lie down. Every soldier will require at least 18 square feet, and every field gun at least 216 square feet.
14th. Provided the line is not made too extensive, the more inward space there is the better.
15th. A parapet to resist cannon shot should never be less than 12 feet thick; and for musquet shot not less than 6 feet.
16th. The height of the parapet must be regulated by the situation of the work, and of the adjoining ground; with this consideration, that its height above the banquette does not exceed 4¹⁄₂ feet.
17th. The depth and breadth of the ditch must be regulated by the quantity of earth required for the parapet and banquette.
18th. A tête de pont, or work to cover the embarkation of troops, or the passage of a river, should, if possible, be made where the line of the river or coast forms a kind of re-entering angle; that the flanks of the corps, as well as those of the works, may be covered.
To carry on the work.—The number of workmen must be proportioned to the time allotted for carrying on the work, the quantity of labor, and the number of hands capable of being employed at the same time. When the ditches are broad, the workmen may be posted in two rows; but if narrow, only in one. In the first case, the earth will be thrown by those who are on the outward edge of the ditch to the second row, and by them upon the parapet; for which reason the second row, to keep pace with the first, ought to be twice as numerous. The workmen should never be placed nearer than 2 paces, or 4 feet, from each other; and two men with shovels should be preceded by one with a pickaxe. If more than usual expedition be required, one man with a wheelbarrow, or basket, may be added to six or eight with shovels. Another row of workmen should also be placed upon the parapet, to spread the earth and beat it down, as it is thrown up.
In fixing the fascines, three men will be sufficient for every 24 feet of the work, who should be provided with mallets, a saw, and a handbil, or hatchet.
In order to form some idea of the time in which a field work may be completed, compute the number of cubic feet of earth to be excavated, thus; multiply half the sum of the breadth of the ditch at top and at bottom, by the depth, for the number of square feet in the profile; and this multiplied by the distance between the workmen in feet will give the number of cubic feet each man has to dig: or being multiplied by the length of the ditch, gives the cubic contents of the ditch. Now one man is supposed to be able to move 216 cubic feet of earth in a day, during the summer; but this is not always the case. If a field work be completed in 24 hours, it will be as much as the most diligent workmen are capable of. This time is generally allowed for the formation of a weak profile; 48 hours for that of a stronger, with a revetement of fascines; and 72 for the strongest.
The different slopes for the works must depend upon the nature of the soil, and the materials of which the work is composed. The interior slope of the parapet, though it be fascined, should be ¹⁄₆ of its height; exterior about ²⁄₃ its height. The slope of the banquette equal to its height. The slope of the scarp or counterscarp of the ditch, should be from half its height to its full height, according to the soil. The superior slope of the parapets must entirely depend upon the situation of the work, and that of the surrounding country. The interior slope of the parapet is generally lined with fascines, to keep up the earth; but it is not absolutely necessary to fascine the exterior slope, if the soil be pretty stiff. The embrasures are generally made 20 inches wide on the inside, and 9 feet on the outside; they must always be lined with something to retain the earth; turf is generally preferred, as fascines are so apt to take fire.
The manner of making the materials for field works, may be seen under the heads [Fascines], [Gabions], [Hurdles], &c. and the manner of estimating the quantity of materials for works of this kind, may be seen under the word [Battery]. See Am. Mil. Lib.
Fortification....Permanent.
A parapet, to resist cannon should never be less than 18 feet thick in earth, and 8 or 9 in masonry. A wall need only be two feet thick in masonry to resist musquetry. The parapet should always be 4¹⁄₂ feet above the banquette, and 7¹⁄₂ or 8 feet above the rampart, or terre-plein.
The Rampart should always be sufficiently wide to allow for the platform, and for two carriages passing each other; about 9 fathoms at top. A parapet of earth, though it takes more room, is always preferable to one of masonry, when it can be raised; though the only objection to the masonry, is the number of splinters it produces.
Entire Revetements of masonry are not advantageous for the same reason. The masonry of revetments should not be so high as to be seen or battered from a distance; earth parapets are battered in vain, as the earth forms a natural slope.
The best Scarp is made of masonry, either in wet or dry ditches, be the earthen one ever so well fraized or palisaded. The earthen one may be stormed without making a breach. The scarp should be 30 or 35 feet high.
The Counterscarp should also be of masonry, and not less than 12 feet high. The inconveniences of an earth or low counterscarp, are the impossibility of defending to the last the covert way; as the enemy may descend into the ditch, and again mount the covert way, and so get in the rear of the traverses. The enemy may find his way along the natural slope of an earth counterscarp, and is not delayed by a tedious operation of getting into the ditch. Besides the natural slope of the end of an earth traverse prevents its effectually covering the covert way.
Ditches are generally 15 or 18 toises wide. Dry ditches are always preferable to wet ones, on account of the shelter they afford the troops, and the ready communication with the outworks, without the constant trouble and danger of bridges.
The Covert way should be 5 toises wide; less would croud the troops, and more would allow room for the enemy to erect batteries in it.
The whole of the glacis should be seen, not only from the crest of the parapet, but from the embrasures in the parapet.
The Tenaille, must not be so high as to prevent the flank guns in one bastion seeing the breach that may be made in the collateral one.
Ravelins are best without flanks; their faces directed to 10 toises from the shoulders of the bastions.
The crest of the parapet of the body of the place should be 8 feet above the crest of the glacis, to command it across a ditch of 15 or 20 toises.
The crest of the parapet of the ravelin is 3 feet lower than that of the body of the place, in order that it may be more effectually commanded from the place; and therefore to enable the parapet of the ravelin to command its own glacis, the ditch is only made 10 toises, and this glacis is a foot lower than that of the body of the place.
There must be an equilibrium of defence established through every front of a fortified place; for it will be needless to strengthen any particular front, if the others from their weakness be left exposed. The following remarks may enable an observer to appreciate the value of particular works, in the proper application and arrangement of which that equilibrium consists.
Intrenchments within the works add much to their defence. In large bastions with obtuse flanked angles, the best intrenchment is formed of the front of a fortification, or of two demi-bastions and a curtain, connecting the angles formed by the flank and curtain. If this intrenchment be advanced to the shoulders of the bastion, so as to include its flanks, as is often the case, it will be subject to be taken in the rear, by the fire from the counter batteries opposed to the flanks. But in bastions with acute flanked angles which do not afford sufficient space for this kind of intrenchment, Cormontaigne proposes one in the form of a cavalier, whose faces and flanks are parallel to those of the bastion. The first kind of intrenchment does not operate in the defence of the place, till after the passage of the ditch; till which time it remains entire, and then capable of a very great defence. The second kind becomes a support to the bastion from the first commencement of the siege; but it is therefore subject to have its defence destroyed at a distance. Nor is its defence equal to that of the other form.
Counterguards should possess the three following properties: 1st. They must cover effectually the principal work before which they are placed; at least that part of it, which can be battered in breach. 2d. They must be lower than the work which they cover; but not so low as to permit its revetement to be seen. 3d. They must be so narrow as not to afford room for the besiegers to erect batteries in them, against the work which they cover, and therefore not leave the besiegers a choice of positions. The counterguards in Coehorn’s system are only of earth, through which it is necessary to make an opening, before the capital work can be battered.
Horn or Crown works, unless to occupy some important point, to strengthen some weak side, or to afford more room for a confined garrison are rather a weak than a strong arm to a place. This is particularly the case when they are constructed with smaller, and consequently weaker fronts, than that part of the body of the place which they cover: as they facilitate, when taken, the approaches to the body of the place. This is remedied by constructing their fronts of the same strength as the front or fronts which they cover. They also facilitate the taking of the place, by exposing the revetement of the work on which their branches are directed to be battered in breach, along the ditches of those branches. This is a great evil, even to an outwork, but is of serious consequence if they rest upon the body of the place. This defect has been remedied by placing these works altogether outside of the covert way, and allowing their ditch no communication with those in the rear. In this case their gorge must be made very secure to prevent its being turned.
An Advanced Covert way, is esteemed amongst the best means of adding to the defence of places. Besides the advantages common to the usual covert way, it has many peculiar to itself. It however seems necessary to ensure to it the many advantages of which it is susceptible, (beside being properly palisaded,) that it should be secured in the rear by a wet ditch, as the only means of giving it an inaccessible counterscarp, and at the same time keeping it under the fire of the musquetry of the place. This kind of covert way is generally supported by redoubts upon the capitals of the bastions and ravelins which from their position cannot mask the fire of the place; and being mounted with artillery, oblige the besiegers to commence their attack at a great distance, and very much to extend their operations; and as their establishment upon this covert way must effectually mask the fire of their first batteries, it must greatly increase their labor. The retreat from these redoubts must be secured by an underground passage.
Countermines are undoubtedly one of the first means of strengthening places. For this article we refer to the word [Mines].
Detached redoubts, when circumstances of situation favor them, are employed with great success. They are usually detached and totally unconnected with any of the works of the place, by any covert way or other above ground work; and have for objects, either the opposing an additional obstacle to the besiegers at the point they occupy, or the rendering the adjoining fronts inaccessible, by an enfilade or reverse fire upon the approaches. They also afford at their gorge, a most excellent rendezvous and retreat for sorties; upon the level of the country, and without the difficulty of filing troops through the barrier of a covert way.
But in order to insure to the detached work or works, all these advantages, it is necessary that they should be either totally inaccessible to the besiegers, by reason of the natural difficulties of their situation, as in an inundation, morass, &c. or be made secure by art, from being taken by storm, and only attackable by regular approaches. They should be under cover of the fire of the place; but if their distance be too great for that, an intermediate work must be established to give them support. Their best form is that of a bastion with retired flanks; and a strong system of countermines the most effectual way of prolonging their resistance.
General remarks...The larger the flanked angles of works, the more direct will be their fire, and that of their covert way, upon the approaches; the greater extent will they oblige the besiegers to occupy in their parallels and batteries; and the more will they oblige the besiegers to expose themselves to the fire of the fronts collateral to the one attacked. Faces of works directed to inaccessible situations, such as rivers, lakes, &c. from whence they cannot be enfiladed by ricochet batteries, add greatly to the strength of a front.
If the flanked angle of a ravelin be so advanced as to see in reverse any battery erected upon the crest of the glacis, or in the covert way of the bastions, it will increase the strength of that front; because it will oblige the besiegers to gain possession of the ravelin, before they can make any lodgment, from which they can batter the bastions. This is the case in Cormontaigne’s system: and a place thus fortified, obliges the besiegers to attack and gain two ravelins to get at the bastion between them. Beside, if this system be applied to a right line, or to a polygon of many sides, the prolongations of the faces of the bastions will be intercepted by the flanked angle of the ravelins, and consequently make the establishment of enfilading batteries against them very difficult. A work which admits of a breach being made in it (particularly the body of the place) at a distance, very much facilitates its being taken. The ditch of the ravelin affords an opening through which the besiegers may make a breach in the face of the bastion from the glacis, opposite the flanked angle of the ravelin, and is therefore subject to this defect. A counterguard before the bastion, lessens this evil, by transferring the breach from the body of the place to the ravelin; but it requires a counterguard also before the ravelin, effectually to cure it. A crown or horn work also produces this evil; its remedy was given, in speaking of those works.
The direction of the flanks or faces of a work is not so material as relating to the fire of artillery, as to that of musquetry; for artillery is never fired without being pointed, but musquetry is fired mechanically, and perpendicular to the parapet, without much attention to the object to be struck.
A work in the neighborhood of a height must be defiladed[8] from that height, that is, instead of being built upon a horizontal plane, it must be erected upon an imaginary inclined plane, passing from somewhere in the interior of that work, over the most commanding points of the height: and every part of the works must bear the same relation to this inclined plane, that they would do, to a horizontal plane in a level country.
[8] The French use the word defile in a contrary sense to enfile; and as we admit the words enfilade and enfiladed from the latter, we cannot refuse the terms defilade and defiladed from the former.
A work is not therefore always to be condemned, because it is in the neighborhood of a height; for if it be properly defiladed from that height, it will receive a great advantage over the approaches of the besiegers, carried on down an inclined plane towards it. But a work to be properly constructed in the neighborhood of heights, must not uniformly preserve the same distance from those heights, unless their summits be all upon the same level; but must approach them at their lowest parts, and recede from them as they rise; thus will the necessary plane of defilement preserve nearly the same degree of obliquity throughout.
Dimensions of Walls and their Counterforts, from 10 to 50 Feet high, having a Slope of ¹⁄₅ their Height.
| Wall. | Counterforts. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Height. | Thickness at Top. | Thickness at Bottom. | Distance between them. | Breadth. | Length. | ||||
| Ft. | Ft. | In. | Ft. | In. | Feet | Ft. | In. | Ft. | In. |
| 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 4 | — |
| 15 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 5 | — |
| 20 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 6 | — |
| 25 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 7 | — |
| 30 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 8 | — |
| 35 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 9 | — |
| 40 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 6 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 10 | — |
| 45 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | — |
| 50 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 24 | 8 | 0 | 12 | — |
The heights in the above table are taken only from the bottom of the ditch, and do not include the foundations.
When the rampart is partly walled and partly turfed; then ¹⁄₅ of the height of the turfed part must be added to the breadth of the wall at the top given in the table.
The bases of all inward slopes of earth should be equal to their height, if not more.
The bases of all outward slopes of earth ²⁄₃ of their height.
The superior slopes of all parapets ¹⁄₆ of their breadth.
The slope of all walls, or revetements ¹⁄₅ of their height.
Though the above principles given for the erection of field works may assist an officer’s recollection who may be employed on that duty, the memorandums given respecting permanent fortification pretend to no such object: but may serve to remind an officer, if he should visit a fortification, of its essential requisites; and may assist his observations in passing round the works.
FORTIN, FORTLETT, or FORTILAGE. See [Field-Fort].
FORTRESS, any place strongly fortified.
FORWARD, a word of command, which is given when a regiment, or company has been interrupted in its regular movement, and the march is continued. On this occasion every succeeding division must preserve its proper distance and mark time until the word Forward, is given. This frequently occurs in the passage of obstacles, and in the winding of roads, streets, &c.,
| Right or Left | - |
shoulders Forward, an absurd word of command, used in the British exercise. It is a gross misconception of the French line of science, which requires the whole body to face in the given inclination; every man must see that it is impossible for a soldier to march either with ease or grace in such a position. See [Line of Science].
FOSSE, in fortification. See [Ditch].
Fosses pleins d’eau, Fr. Wet Ditches. See [Fortification].
Fosses secs, Fr. Dry ditches.
Fosses revétus, Fr. Ditches that are lined.
Fosses non revétus, Fr. Ditches that are not lined.
FOUCADE, FOUGADE, a small mine.
FOUGASS, in mining, a small mine, from 6 to 8 feet under ground: It is generally placed under the glacis or dry ditches.
FOUGETTE. Fr. Indian sky-rocket, a species of fire-work which is frequently used by the Asiatics. The author of a late military production in France makes the following observations relative to advantages which might be derived from this weapon against cavalry, and for the defence of fortified places, or intrenchments. He observes, that the fougette, in shape, resembles a sky-rocket, whose flight is gradually brought to run along an horizontal direction. By throwing several fougettes into parks of artillery and upon the caissons, &c. considerable damage might be occasioned from the fire which would inevitably be communicated to some part. A fougette forces itself immediately forward, cuts as it penetrates, by the formation of its sides, which are filled with small spikes, becomes combustible and on fire at all its points; and possesses within itself a thousand various means by which it can adhere to whatever object it is destined to set on fire or to destroy. This weapon would be more effectual, because it might be more variously applied, to defend the mouth of a harbor against an enemy’s shipping, than red-hot balls can ever prove. Fougettes might be used on board ships of war, but there would certainly be some danger in the experiment; although, in my humble opinion, a little experience would effectually remove that difficulty; in which case ships might run along a coast, and easily destroy the wooden works that are sometimes erected upon it. They would in the first place occasion more havoc than red-hot balls; and in the next, they might be used whilst the vessel was in full sail; which cannot be done in the first instance. By means of their natural velocity they would do more execution in a less space of time, than the most active piece of ordnance could effect; and they would require fewer hands, as the only necessary operation would be to light and dart them forward. As a defensible weapon it must naturally be allowed, that, where a small body of men is attacked, the fougette might be adopted with considerable advantage.—The writer of this article, who, we find, is likewise the inventor of a fougette which has been submitted to the French government, continues to argue much in favor of its adoption. If, adds he, our enemies should imitate the invention, we must then have recourse, especially in sea-fights to those pieces of ordnance which are calculated to do more execution at a distance; and it will then be our business to contrive fougettes that shall reach their shipping, by means of a greater degree of force and velocity which might be given to them, than they would be capable of attaining. See [Rocket].
FOUILLER, Fr. To search. In a military sense, it signifies to detach small bodies of infantry round the flanks of a column that is marching through a wood, for the purpose of discovering an ambuscade, and of giving timely notice that it may be avoided. The same precaution is necessary when a body of men advances towards or enters a village.
FOUNDATION, in military architecture, is that part of a building which is under ground, or the mass of stone, brick, &c. which supports a building, or upon which the walls of a superstructure are raised: or it is the coffer or bed dug below the level of the ground, to raise a building upon; in which sense, the foundation either goes to the whole area or extent of the building, as when there are to be vaults, galleries, casemates, or the like; or is drawn in cuts or trenches, as when only walls are to be raised. Sometimes the foundation is massive, and continued under the whole building, as in the antique arches and aqueducts; but it is more usually in spaces, or intervals; in which latter case, insulated pillars, bound together by arches, should be used.
There are several things to be well considered in laying the foundation of a military building. We must first examine the bed of the earth upon which we are to build, and then the under fillings or substruction. We are not to rest upon any seeming solidity, unless the whole mould through which we cut has likewise been solid; and in such cases, allow ¹⁄₆th part of the height of the building for the hollowing or under-digging, unless there be cellars under ground, in which case it may be something less. There are many ways to try the firmness of the ground; but the following, in our opinion, is the best. Take an iron crow, or such a borer as well-diggers use, which at once will point out the goodness and tenacity of the ground.
Engineers should use the utmost diligence in this point; for, of all the errors that may happen in building, those are the most pernicious which are committed in the foundation, because they bring with them the ruin of the whole building; nor can they be amended without very great difficulty.
Foundations are either natural, or artificial: natural, as when we build on a rock, or very solid earth; in which case we need not seek for any other strengthening; for these, without digging, or other artificial helps, are of themselves excellent foundations, and most fit to uphold the greatest buildings. But if the ground be sandy or marshy, or have lately been dug, in such case recourse must be had to art. In the former case, the engineer must adjust the depth of the foundation by the height, weight, &c. of the building: ¹⁄₆th part of the whole height is looked upon as a medium; and as to the thickness, double that of the width of a wall is a good rule. If you build upon mossy and loose earth, then you must dig until you find sound ground. This sound ground, fit to support a building, is of divers kinds: in some places so hard, as scarcely to be cut with iron; in other places very stiff; in other places blackish, which is accounted the weakest; in others like chalk, and in others sandy: but of all these, that is the best which requires most labor in cutting or digging, and when wet, does not dissolve into dirt.
If the earth to be built upon is very soft, as in moorish grounds, or such that the natural foundation cannot be trusted, then you must get good pieces of oak, whose length should be the breadth of the trench or about 2 feet longer than the wall; these must be laid across the foundation about 2 feet asunder, and being well rammed down, lay long planks upon them; which planks need not lie so broad as the pieces are long, but only about four inches on a side wider than the basis, or foot of the wall is to be. But if the ground be so very bad, that this will not do, then you must provide good piles of oak of such a length as will reach the good ground, and whose diameter must be about ¹⁄₁₂th part of their length. These piles must be driven down by an engine for that purpose, and must be placed as close as one can stand by another; then lay planks upon them, and pin them fast. But if the ground be faulty in some parts, and firm in others, you may turn arches over those loose places, which will discharge them of the weight. You must not forget to place the piles under the inner, as well as the outer walls; for if these should sink, it would be a means to make the outer walls crack, and so ruin the whole building.
Having thus far considered the bed of the earth on which the building is to be erected, we shall next consider the substruction, as it was called by the ancients; but our modern engineers call it the foundation. This is the ground-work of the whole edifice, which must sustain the walls, and may be termed artificial, as the other was natural; with regard to which, the following things are most necessary to be observed: 1. That the bottom be exactly level; therefore lay a platform of good boards. 2. That the lowest ledge or row be all of stone, the broader the better, laid closely without mortar; which is a general caution for all parts of a building that are contiguous to board or timber, because lime and wood are utter enemies to one another, and, if unfit confiners any where, they are more especially so in the foundation. 3. That the breadth of the foundation be at least double the breadth of the wall which is to be raised upon it: but even in this case art should give way to discretion: and the foundation may be made either broader, or narrower, according as the ground and the ponderosity of the edifice require. 4. That the foundation be made to diminish as it rises, but yet so that there may be as much left on the one side as on the other; so that the middle of that above may be perpendicularly over the middle of that below, which should in like manner be observed in diminishing the walls above ground; for by this means the building will become much stronger than it would be if the diminution were made by any other way. 5. That you should never build on the ruins of an old foundation, unless you are well assured of its depth, and that its strength is sufficient to bear the building.
The stones in the foundation should be laid as they naturally lay in the quarry, for they have the most strength in their natural position. This should be observed in all parts of a building, because all stones have a cleaving grain; consequently, if the horizontal position of the stones in the quarry should be placed vertically in the building, the superincumbent weight would be apt to cleave them, and so render the building ruinous.
FOUNDER, a person, who casts cannon, &c.
FOUNDERING, a disorder in horses, which may be considered under two heads, viz.
Foundering in the feet, which is an universal rheumatism, or defluxion of humors upon the sinews of a horse’s feet; so that in the course of time the hoofs become stiff and callous, and the horse has no sense or feeling of them. This disorder is generally brought on by hard riding. Sometimes it proceeds from sudden heats and colds; and frequently from the horse being watered when he is very hot. Too tight a shoe, or frequent travelling upon hard flinty ground, will likewise produce this disorder.
Foundering in the chest, a disorder which may be occasioned by crudities collected in the stomach, or by other infirmities which obstruct the free action of the lungs. It is discovered by the horse not being able to bend his joints, and, when once laid, by not being able to rise again. A swelling in the legs is likewise symptomatic of it.
| FOUNDERY, | - | |
| FOUNDRY, |
in military matters, the art of casting all kinds of ordnance, such as cannon, mortars, howitzers, &c. It likewise signifies the place or work-house wherein these operations are performed. At present all pieces of artillery are cast solid, and bored afterwards. Formerly guns were bored perpendicularly, but at present in a horizontal position: the boring instrument is fixed immoveably, and forced into the gun or mortar by a mechanical power. The piece of artillery is turned round by a large wheel, and at the same time the gun is bored, the outside is turned and polished, by another very curious machine for that purpose, invented by the very ingenious Messrs. Verbruggen, founders at Woolwich. Guns were first founded in England in 1587.
FOURAGE, Fr. Forage. In the artillery, it is used figuratively to signify hay, straw, or any thing else of vegetable growth, which is used to ram into the bore of a cannon for the purpose of cleansing it.
Aller au Fourage, to go a foraging.
FOURAGER, Fr. To forage, or look about for provender and provisions.
Fourager likewise means among the French to ravage, desolate, pillage, and waste a country for the purpose of throwing the inhabitants into disorder. The word is derived from foras agere, or to seek for forage in the fields.
Fourageur, Fr. foragers, or men employed to procure forage, &c. for an army. They are generally escorted. Hence the expression: so many men have been ordered to escort the foragers. The body of foragers has been charged by the enemy’s cavalry.
FOURBISSEURS, Fr. a sword cutler. The French familiarly say of two persons who are extremely intimate, Ces gens sont tête-a-tête comme des fourbisseurs, meaning, that, like sword cutlers, (who when they work sit closely opposite to each other) they are putting their heads together.
Se battre a l’épée qui est chez le fourbisseur, to fight with a sword which is still in the cutler’s hands; signifying figuratively to dispute about any thing that does not concern either party.
FOURGON, Fr. a sort of waggon. It likewise signifies a poker.
FOURNEAU, Fr. furnace, also the chamber of a mine.
FOURIER, Fr. A quarter master belonging to a cavalry or infantry regiment. In France there were fouriers-majors of cavalry who composed a part of the cavalry staff. Serjeant fourier, and corporal fourier, answer to our quarter master serjeant.
FOURNIMENT, Fr. A horn which holds about one pound of gun-powder to prime cannon. It is likewise used by cavalry and infantry soldiers, who hang it across their shoulder. The artillerists keep it in a belt.
FOURCHETTES à mousquet, Fr. Rests for a musquet. They are sometimes used to relieve men who do duty on the rampart of a town.
Chemin Fourchu, a cross way.
Paix FOURREE, Fr. a peace suddenly patched up.
Pays FOURRE, Fr. a country thick set with hedges, &c. properly called a close country.
FOURREAU de pistolet, a holster.
Faux Fourreau de pistolet, pistol bag.
Fourreau d’epée the scabbard of a sword.
Fourmiller, Fr. to swarm with. La France fourmille en braves soldats—France swarms with brave soldiers; L’Angleterre fourmille en braves marins—England swarms with brave seamen.
FOUR de campagne. A field oven.
FOUR, a place of confinement in Paris to which vagabonds and persons who could not give any satisfactory account of themselves were committed; and when once shut up had their names enregistered, and were enlisted for the service of the old French government. A four in this acceptation of the term means a room arched over without having the least aperture to receive day light. There were several such places of confinement in Paris. They owed their invention to a Monsieur D’Argenson, and were supposed to add annually two thousand men at least to the king’s regular army; by which means the capital was relieved from a multitude of thieves, pick-pockets, &c.
FOURNITURES des vivres, Fr. See [Stores], &c.
FOYER, Fr. Focus, or centre of the chamber. See [Mine].
FRAISE, in fortification, a kind of stakes or palisades placed horizontally on the outward slope of a rampart made of earth, to prevent the work being taken by surprise. They are generally 7 or 8 feet long, and about 5 inches thick. When an army intrenches itself, the parapets of the retrenchments are often fraised in the parts exposed to an attack.
To Fraise a battalion, is to line, or cover it every way with pikes, that it may withstand the shock of a body of horse.
FRAISER, Fr. To plait, knead or drill....In a military sense to fraise or fence; as fraiser un battalion, is to fraise or fence all the musquetry-men belonging to a battalion with pikes, to oppose the irruption of cavalry should it charge them in a plain. At present it means to secure a battalion by opposing bayonets obliquely forward, or cross-ways in such a manner as to render it impossible for a horseman to act against it.
Fraises, Fr. See [Fraise] an adopted English term.
FRANCHES, Fr....Les compagnies franches, free companies, were bodies of men detached and separated from the rest of the army, having each a chief, or commandant. They consisted chiefly of dragoons, hussars, &c. and their peculiar duty was to make irruptions into an enemy’s country; and may not improperly be called land pirates, as their chief occupation was to harrass and plunder the enemy and his adherents, in whatever manner they could, without paying any regard to military forms. The persons who composed these corps were termed partisans. They always accompanied the main army in time of war, and were distributed among the different garrison towns in France during peace. They were common to every power in Europe; the Pandours and Hulans were of this description. They were the worst afflictions of war; and generally as fatal to their friends as their enemies.
FRAY, a battle, combat, or duel.
FRICTION, in mechanics, the rubbing of the parts of engines and machines against each other, by which a considerable part of their effect is destroyed.
It is hardly possible to lay down general rules for computing the quantity of friction, because it depends upon a multiplicity of circumstances, as the structure, firmness, elasticity, &c. of bodies rubbing against each other. Some authors make the friction upon a horizontal plane, equal to ¹⁄₃d of the weight to be moved; while others have found it to be considerably less. But however this be, the doctrine of friction, as ascertained by the latest experiments, may be summed up in the following manner.
1. When one body rests on another upon a horizontal plane, it presses it with its whole weight, which being equally reacted upon, and consequently the whole effect of its gravity destroyed by the plane, it will be absolutely free to move in any horizontal direction by any the least power applied thereto, provided both the touching surfaces be smooth.
2. But since we find no such thing as perfect smoothness in the surfaces of bodies, arising from their porosity and peculiar texture, it is easy to understand, that when two such surfaces come together, the prominent parts of the one will, in some measure, fall into the concave parts of the other; and therefore, when an horizontal motion is attempted in one, the fixed prominent parts of the other will give more or less resistance to the moving surface, by holding and retaining its parts; and this is what we call friction.
3. Now since any body will require a force equal to its weight, to draw it over a given obstacle, it follows that the friction arising to the moving body, will always be in proportion to its weight only, and not to the quantity of the surface, by which it bears upon the resisting plane or surface. Thus if a piece of wood 4 inches wide, and 1 thick, be laid upon another fixed piece of the same wood, it will require the same weight to draw it along, whether it be laid on its broad or narrow side.
4. For, though there be 4 times the number of touching particles on the broad side (cetæris paribus) yet each particle is pressed with only ¹⁄₄th of the weight, that those are on the narrow side, and since 4 times the number multiplied by one fourth of the weight, it is plain the resistance is equal in both places, and so requires the same force to overcome it.
5. The reason why friction is proportional to the weight of the moving body, is, because the power applied to move the body must raise it over the prominent parts of the surface on which it is drawn; and this motion of the body, as it is not upright, will not require a power equal to its whole weight; but being in the nature of the motion on an inclined plane, it will only require a part of its own weight, which will vary with the various degrees of smoothness and asperity.
6. It is found by experiment, that a body, may be drawn along by nearly ¹⁄₃d of its weight; and if the surfaces be hard and well polished, by less than ¹⁄₃d part; whereas, if the parts be soft or rugged, it will require a much greater weight.
The ingenious Mr. Emerson, in his Principles of Mechanics, has given the following rules deduced from experiments; but they require some variation under different circumstances, which must be left to the judgment of the artist.
1. Wood and all metals, when greased, have nearly the same friction; and the smoother they are, the less friction they have; yet metals may be so far polished as to increase friction by the cohesion of their parts.
Wood slides easier upon the ground in wet weather than in dry, and easier than iron in dry weather; but iron slides easier than wood, in wet weather. Lead makes a great deal of resistance. Iron or steel running in brass, makes the least friction of any. In wood acting against wood, grease makes the motion twice as easy, or rather ²⁄₃ds easier. Wheel-naves, greased or tarred, go 4 times easier than when wet.
Metals oiled make the friction less than when polished, and twice as little as when unpolished.
In general, the softer or rougher the bodies, the less or greater their friction.
2. As to particular cases: a cubic piece of soft wood of 8 pounds weight, moving upon a smooth plane of soft wood, at the rate of 3 feet per second; its friction is about ¹⁄₃d of the weight of it; but if it be rough, the friction is little less than one half the weight.
Upon the same supposition, other soft wood upon soft wood very smooth, the friction is bout ¹⁄₄th of the weight.
Soft wood upon hard, or hard wood upon soft, ¹⁄₅th or 1-half of the weight. Hard wood upon hard wood, ¹⁄₇th or ¹⁄₈th of the weight.
Polished steel moving upon steel or pewter, ¹⁄₄th of the weight; moving on copper or lead, ¹⁄₅th of the weight; on brass, ¹⁄₅th of the weight. Metals of the same sort have more friction than different sorts.
The friction, cæteris paribus, increases with the weight almost in the same proportion. The friction is also greater with a greater velocity, but not in proportion to it, except in very few cases. A greater surface also causes somewhat more friction, with the same weight and velocity; yet friction may sometimes be increased by having too little surface to move on; as upon clay, &c. where the body sinks.
3. The friction arising from the bending of ropes about machines, differs according to their stiffness, the temper of the weather, degree of flexibility, &c., but, cæteris paribus, the force or difficulty of bending a rope is as the square of the diameter of the rope, and its tension, directly; and the diameter of the cylinder or pulley it goes about, reciprocally.
A rope of 1 inch diameter, whose tension or weight drawing it is 5 pounds, going over a pully 3 inches diameter, requires a force of 1 pound to bend it.
4. The resistance of a plane moving through a fluid is as the square of the velocity; and putting v = velocity in feet in a second; it is equal to the weight of a column of the fluid, whose base is the plane, and height vvb4. And in a globe it is but half so much.
5. As to the mechanic powers, the single lever makes no resistance by friction; but if, by the motion of the lever in lifting the fulcrum, or place of support, be changed further from the weight, the power will be decreased thereby.
6. In any wheel of any machine, running upon an axis, the friction on the axis is as the weight upon it, the diameter of the axis, and the angular velocity. This sort of friction is but small.
7. In the pully, if p, q, be 2 weights, and q the greater; and w = 4pqpxq then w is the weight upon the axis of the single pulley; and it is not increased by the acceleration of the weight q, but remains always the same.
The friction of the pullies is very considerable, when the sheaves rub against the blocks; and by the wearing of the holes and axles.
The friction of the axis of the pulley is as the weight w, its angular velocity, the diameter of the axis directly, and the diameter of the pully inversely. A power of 100 pounds, with the addition of 50 pounds, will only draw up 500 with a tackle of 5; and 15 pounds over a single pully will draw up only 14 pounds.
8. In the screw, there is a great deal of friction: those with sharp threads have more friction than those with square threads; and endless screws have more than either. Screws, with a square thread, raise a weight with more ease than those with a sharp thread.
In the common screw the friction is so great, that it will sustain the weight in any position given, when the power is taken off; and therefore the friction is at least equal to the power. From whence it will follow, that in the screw, the power must be to the weight or resistance, at least as twice the perpendicular height of a thread to the circumference described by one revolution of the power; if it be able to raise the weight, or only sustain it. This friction of the screw is of great use, as it serves to keep the weight in any given position.
9. In the wedge, the friction is at least equal to the power, as it retains any position it is driven into; therefore in the wedge, the power must be to the weight at least as twice the base to the height, to overcome any resistance.
10. To find the friction of any engine, begin at the power, and consider the velocity and the weight at the first rubbing part; and estimate its quantity of friction by some of the foregoing articles; then proceed to the next rubbing part, and do the same for it, and so on through the whole.
And note that something more is to be allowed for increase of friction by every new addition to the power.
FRILL. An ornamental appendage to the shirt which officers and soldiers generally wear with regimentals. A small aperture is usually made at the top to admit the hook and eye of the uniform coat. Detached frills for the privates are certainly preferable to those which are fixed to the shirts, as three per week, at the regular times allotted for a change of linen, would answer every purpose of cleanliness.
FRISE. Fr. See [Chevaux de Frize].
FRISRUTTER. An instrument made of iron, and used for the purpose of blocking up an haven, or a river. The following description of it is among General Monk’s observations on political and military affairs.
The beams through which the upright bars pass must be twelve feet in length, and the upright bars that go through the beam must be of that length, so that when one of these iron frisrutters is let down into an haven or river, the perpendicular bars of this iron instrument shall be deep enough to reach at high water within five feet of the surface. See [Chevaux-de-Frize].
FROCK, the undress regimental coat is very often so called.
FRONDE, Fr. a sling. This weapon was used in France by the Huguenots at Sancerre, as late as the year 1572, in order to save their powder. There are two sorts, one which is used in throwing a stone from the arm, and the other that was fixed to a lever, and was so contrived, that a large quantity of stones might be thrown out of a machine, either from a camp into a besieged town, or from a town into the enemy’s camp. This machine has been used since the invention of cannon.
The fronde or sling was used by the Romans on three different occasions, viz. when they sent their light-armed men, called velites, forward to skirmish before a general engagement; when they wished to drive the enemy from under the walls of a town which they were preparing to storm, and finally to harrass and wound the men in the enemy’s works. This weapon, in fact, together with the bow and arrow, may be numbered among the primitive arms of mankind.
FRONT, a word of command signifying, that the men are to turn to their proper front; this movement is performed at once by revolving on the left heel, without first planting the right foot, as in the facings. If the battalion has been faced to the right, the men turn on this word a quarter circle to the left; if faced to the left, they turn a quarter circle to the right, if they have been faced to the right, or left about, they turn a half circle to the right. When the battalion is marching by files, or is put through its right or left facings, as, To the Right, Face, To the Left, Face, the word front is some times used to restore it to its natural situation in line. In displaying, or, to use the French term, in deploying, from close or open column, or in executing either of those movements from line, the word front precedes halt.
Front of a regiment, the foremost rank of a battalion, squadron, or any other body of men. To front every way, is when the men are faced to all sides.
Quatre hommes de front, four men in front.
Front of a fortification. See [Face].
Front d’un bataillon, Fr. The front of a battalion, consisting of the leading man of each file. This term is variously used in the French service, as Un battalion qui fait front de tous côtés, et presente les armes par tout. A battalion which is fronted towards every quarter and presents arms in every direction. Un battalion est sur son front signifies, that a battalion is drawn up so that it presents its natural front in line.
Front give-point, a movement of the sword used by the cavalry. See Sword Exercise.
Rear-Front is the disposition of a body of men in line, or column, so that the natural formation of the battalion is changed with regard to aspect, but not to shape. Those files, which in the first telling off were leaders, become followers. It sometimes happens, that to save time a column is ordered suddenly to face about and retire; in this case the different companies march rear front. In the conversion of a regiment, and during the various manœvres, the divisions, &c. frequently appear rear front. They are restored to their natural order by the countermarch. Thus a battalion standing in open column, the right in front, when faced about stands rear front; when countermarched it resumes its original or natural formation, and stands left in front with its proper leading files. When a battalion retiring in line, fires by wings or alternate companies, every retrograde movement is made rear front.
FRONTIER, the limits, confines, or boundaries of any country. See [Barrier Towns].
FUEL, the matter or aliment of fire; any thing capable of ignition.
There is a certain and regulated allowance of fuel made by government, to regiments and companies.
When there is a sufficient number of rooms in a barrack to allow of one to a subaltern of infantry, a full allowance of fuel and candles may be issued for the same.
The weekly deliveries of fuel and candles for every room are not to exceed the given quantities.
FUGEL-MAN, (an incorrect method of pronouncing flugel-man) a well drilled intelligent soldier advanced in front of the line, to give the time in the manual and platoon exercises. The word flugel is derived from the German, and signifies a wing; the man having been originally posted on the right wing.
FUGITIVE, one who runs from his post, station or duty.
To FUMIGATE, in a general acceptation of the term, to medicate or heal by vapours; to correct any infected building, or limited circumference of atmosphere, by smoke, impregnated with antiputrescent particles of heat. Hospitals are strictly ordered to be attended to on this head; especially when any contagious disorder has prevailed. But in no instance ought this important precaution to be so scrupulously observed as when troops are embarked for any space of time.
FUMIGATION, the act of fumigating or conveying smoke into any confined place.
The frequent fumigation of every ship on which troops, or prisoners of war are embarked, is deemed highly material, in order to prevent mischief from confined air. The materials for fumigation may be brimstone with saw-dust; or the brimstone may be thrown over hot coals. Nitre, to which a little vitriolic acid is added; or common salt, with the same addition of vitriolic acid. Gun-powder wetted, or the heated loggerhead in the pitch pot.
This operation should always be performed under the immediate eye of the medical officer on board, to prevent improper quantities of the articles being used.
FUND. See [Stock Purse].
FUNERALS. See [Burials].
FUNNEL, any pipe or passage of communication from one place to another.
To FURL, in regard to military flags or colors, is opposed to their exposure; and is used, to express the act of folding them so as to be cased.
FURLOUGH, a leave of absence. Every non-commissioned officer and soldier who obtains leave of absence from his regiment must be provided with a proper voucher to satisfy the commanding officer of any place or party, that he has the sanction of his superiors to pass and repass within a given period.
The following is an eligible form:
According to the authority vested in me by law, I ———— lieutenant colonel ———— commanding the ———— quartered at ———— do issue the following.
“Permit the bearer ———— private ———— in the above regiment and in captain ———— to pass to ———— in the state of ———— county of ———— for the space of ———— ending the ———— of ———— and then to return to ———— as no excuse will be taken but that of sickness, for his over-staying his furlough; and that to be certified by an officer of the army, or civil magistrate; he behaving as becometh. He is —— feet —— inches high, —— years of age, ———— complexion, ———— hair, ———— eyes, &c.”
All soldiers found half a mile from a camp or garrison, going towards an enemy’s country, or quarters, without a pass, are deemed and treated as deserters.
FURNACE. In a general acceptation of the term, any vessel or utensil for maintaining a strong and searching fire, either of coal or wood.
Furnace is sometimes applied, but improperly so, to that used in the melting of iron, and by some authors it is confounded with iron forges; although there is a considerable difference between them. See [Foundry].
Furnace in mining, signifies a hollow, or excavation which is made in the earth and is charged with gun-powder, for the purpose of blowing up a rock, wall, or any part of a fortification.
Mine Furnaces must be made under that part of the glacis belonging to the covert way, which faces the quarter from whence the besiegers will make their principal attacks, the instant they can be ascertained by the opening of the trenches. Several small ones must likewise be sunk under the glacis of the outworks, in order to blow up the lodgments which the enemy may have made when he has carried the advanced posts. Mine furnaces are moreover extremely useful in the defence of the covert way, especially to overthrow the saps and lodgments, together with the batteries that may have been erected by the besieging enemy. For a scientific explanation of this article, see Foissac’s last edition of Traité de la défense des places par le Maréchal Vauban, tom. ii. pages 202, 224, 240.
FURNITURE. In a general sense means all sorts of moveables made use of for the comfort, or decoration of a house. In a military sense it applies to certain articles which are allowed in barracks, to which are added household utensils, according to the number of rooms.
By the British regulations, commissioned and warrant officers’ rooms of cavalry and infantry are to have a closet, 1 table, 2 chairs, a coal box, coal tray, bellows, fire irons and fender.
Non-commissioned officers and private mens’ rooms of cavalry and infantry are to be furnished with bedsteads, mattrasses, or paillasses, bolsters, blankets, sheets, rugs, round towel, closet or shelves, 1 table, rack for arms, set of fire-irons, a fender and three forms.
The following utensils are also allowed for each room: 2 iron pots with wooden lids, 2 pair of iron pot hooks, 2 iron trivets, 2 wooden ladles; an iron flesh-fork, and a frying-pan, 2 large bowls or platters; 8 small bowls or porringers, 8 trenchers and 8 spoons for cavalry rooms; 12 of each of the three last articles for infantry rooms; a water bucket, coal-tray, candlestick, tin can for beer, large earthen pan for meat, box or basket for carrying coals; 2 drinking horns; a wooden urinal, broom and mop.
The guard rooms of cavalry and infantry are furnished with a water bucket, candlestick, tin can for beer, drinking horns; also with fire irons and a coal-tray, from 1st Sept. to 1st May, when they are to be taken into store.
The rooms of the quarter masters and serjeants of cavalry, and the serjeant major, and quarter master serjeant of infantry, to be furnished with the necessary bedding and utensils, in the same manner as is allowed to the soldiers’ rooms.
Each stable of cavalry for 8 horses is provided with 2 pitchforks, 2 shovels, 1 lantern, 1 wheel-barrow, 2 water buckets; and allowed 4 brooms per month.
Horse Furniture, ornaments and embellishments which are adopted by military men when they are mounted for service or parade, consisting chiefly of housins, saddle cloth, &c. The following are the usual distinctions in the British service:
| Field Marshal, | - | Saddle cloth or covering leopard skin trimmed with black bear skin. | |
| General, | |||
| Lieutenant General, | |||
| Major General, | |||
| Brigadier General, | |||
| Colonel of Infantry, | - | White furniture. | |
| Lt. Colonel of ditto, | |||
| Major of ditto, | |||
| Aid de Camp, | - | White do. trimmed with black. | |
| Brigade Major, | |||
Cavalry—cloth trimmed with silver, or gold. Privates in cavalry regiments—large saddle cloths, the centre of which is yellow, with a border to agree with the facings of the regiment. The tenth regiment of light dragoons is an exception to this general custom. The privates of that corps have a large piece of broad blue cloth which is thrown over the saddle, and covers the horse’s loins.
At the commencement of the present war, officers were dispensed from wearing furnitures at reviews, because it was judged very properly that the expence of 14 or 15 guineas for an article which was worn one day in the year, was at such a moment unnecessary.
FUSES, in artillery, are chiefly made of very dry beach wood, and sometimes of horn-beam taken near the root. They are turned rough and bored at first, and then kept for several years in a dry place. The diameter of the hole is about ¹⁄₄th of an inch; the hole does not go quite through, having about ¹⁄₄ of an inch at the bottom; and the head is made hollow in the form of a bowl.
The composition for fuses is, salt petre 3, sulphur 1, and mealed powder 3, 4, and sometimes 5. This composition is driven in with an iron driver, whose ends are capped with copper, to prevent the composition from taking fire; and to keep it equally hard; the last shovel-full being all mealed powder, and 2 strands of quick match laid across each other, being driven in with it, the ends of which are folded up into the hollow top, and a cap of parchment tied over it until it be used.
When these fuses are driven into the loaded shell, the lower end is cut off in a slope, so that the composition may inflame the powder in the shell. The fuze must be of such a length as to continue burning all the time the shell is in its range, and to set fire to the powder as soon as it touches the ground, which occasions the shell instantly to burst into many pieces.
When the distance of the battery from the object is known, the time of the shell’s flight may be computed to a second or two; which being ascertained, the fuse may be cut accordingly, by burning two or three, and making use of a watch, or of a string by way of a pendulum, to vibrate seconds.
Fusee, according to the French acceptation of the word, is applied to various purposes, and belongs to various instruments of destruction which are used in war. The fusee is differently made by different artificers. Some make it consist of one pound of gunpowder, and two or three ounces of charcoal well mixed together; others of four pounds of gun-powder, two of saltpetre, and one of sulphur. It must be generally remarked, that the time a bomb, or grenade, will take to burst after it has been thrown out of the mortar, must depend entirely upon the length and quality of the fusee.
Fusees à bombes, Fr. bomb fuses. The intent and object of these fuses, are to communicate fire to the gun-powder, with which the bomb is filled, in order to force it to burst and separate in broken pieces on any given spot. These fuses are usually made in the shape of a wooden pipe or tap, out of the linden tree, the alder, or any other dry and solid wood, and are afterwards filled with a slow combustible composition. The materials are increased, or diminished, according to the nature of their application. Fuses are sometimes made of copper, and they must not have the least aperture or fissure.
There are fuses for bombs of 12, of 10, and of 8 inches diameter. Fuses for bombs of 12 inches diameter, are 8 inches 4 lines long, being 1 inch 8 lines broad at the thick, and 1 inch 2 lines broad at the thin end; the breadth or diameter of the light, or aperture, is 5 lines. Fuses decrease nearly 1 inch in length and 2 lines in diameter, according to the calibre of the bomb. The diameters of the lights or apertures, only diminish one half line.
The composition for bomb fuses consists of seven parts of priming powder to four of salt-petre, and three of sulphur. These different materials are (each separately) first passed through a silk sieve; and after they have been well mixed together, the whole mass is thrown into a moderate sized hair sieve, and again passed through.
The fuse is gradually filled with this composition, each proportion being well pressed in, without violence. Iron ramrods, fitted to the bore of the fuse are used for this purpose. Every time the materials are poured in, the ramrod is inserted, and by means of a small mallet, with which it is struck 14 or 15 times, the composition is pressed into a hard consistency.
When fuses have been well loaded, and the materials have previously been properly mixed, they will naturally burn with an equal steady fire, preserving in general an even length of flame, without spitting or irregularly shaking.
In order to preserve fuses for a length of time, the composition, when thoroughly prepared, must be covered with a mastick or cement made of ²⁄₃ds bees-wax and ¹⁄₃d rosin, well mixed together. Bomb fuses prepared in this manner, will burn either in water, or in earth, nearly 70 seconds, without being extinguished.
The usual method of priming fuses, is to grate about one third of a French inch of composition. Two small matches about 5 or 6 inches long, with the ends bent inwards, are then well fixed with pounded composition to the eye of the fuse, by which last operation it is completely filled and closed. This part is finally covered over with cartridge paper that is tied, and remains so till there is occasion to use it. Before the fuse is driven into the bomb, the thin or small end must be cut off, in order that the fire may be easily communicated to the mass of gun-powder, which is lodged in the bomb.
Fusees à bombes, à feu-mort, bomb fuses with dead light. There is a species of bomb-fuse, which is distinguished by the term feu mort, or dead-light. The difference between these fuses and the ordinary ones consists in this, that the eye instead of being pierced and hollow, is full and of a half spherical shape. In both cases, however, the composition is introduced through the small end.
The composition for fuses, à feu-mort, consists of 16 parts of pounded gunpowder and 9¹⁄₂ parts of ashes. The ashes must be baked over again, and run through a silk sieve. Potter’s earth or clay will produce the same effect as ashes.
In proceeding to charge a bomb-fuse that is made of ordinary wood, the eye, or aperture is first closed with pipe-clay, which is well beaten and pressed against the fuse in a small platter; the thin end of the fuse being held upwards. Three lines (or ³⁄₁₂ths of a French inch) of this earth will be sufficient to stop the communication of any fire. A tube, or trundle, filled with pounded gunpowder for the purpose of setting fire to the composition called feu mort, is thrust into the fuse, by which it is finally charged. If this charge of pounded gunpowder were to be omitted, the fuse might not be susceptible of ignition; but the quantity never ought to exceed 3 lines, as the fuse would split by the explosion.
When the grains of gunpowder have been well pounded, a trundle, or tube filled with the aforementioned composition must be applied, and it is finally loaded like the rest.
It must be recollected, that two inches of this composition will last as long as one of the quality with which common fuses are charged. Before the fuse is driven into the bomb, it must be pierced through with a gimblet of one line diameter, taking care, that the hole is made precisely through the charge of pounded gunpowder. One end of a priming match must be forced in, and three others be tied to it, which three are to fall upon the bomb when it lies in the mortar.
The particular object to be obtained from this sort of fuse, is to prevent the least trace of fire or light being visible in its projection; so that the enemy may remain ignorant of the range, or direction of the bomb, and not be able, of course, to get out of the way when it falls, or to avoid the effects of its explosion.
These fuses were made use of at the siege of Ham in 1761. The experiments which were made in 1792, with this composition, by an artificer belonging to the ordnance-board at Douay, have proved, that it answers every purpose for which it is invented.
The author of the Manual de l’Artilleur, from whose treatise these observations are taken, concludes this article by stating that the advantages to be derived from this invention are not so great as they at first appear.
He remarks that with respect to the real utility of the fuse à feu mort, if it be considered as tending martially to the defence of any besieged place, the argument cannot be very forcible, when we reflect, that to gain time constitutes one of the principal means of defence, and that the only way to obtain it is by regarding the besiegers’ operations. These ends are gained by various expedients. Among others, the common lighted fuse conduces not a little; since during the whole direction of the bomb against the works of the assailants, the attention of the workmen is diverted from their immediate labour, and as long as it continues in its range, much uneasiness is created, because its ultimate explosion and concomitant destruction are unknown.
Add to this, that independent of the confusion which is occasioned among the assailants by repeated projectiles, the bombadier by means of the lighted fuses, is enabled to correct his aim during the darkest night. The same principles must certainly hold good in attacks; and from a conviction of their solid utility in both instances, the common fuses have been hitherto adopted, although the kind in question has been known for several years.
Fusees à grenades, Fr. fuses for grenades. These fuses are made of the same quality of wood as those adopted for bombs. Their length is 2 inches 6 lines; their diameter at the head is 10 lines; 7 lines in diameter 1 inch from the head, and 2 lines in diameter to the sight or aperture. The composition of these fuses consists of 5 parts of priming gunpowder, 3 parts of sulphur, and 2 of saltpetre: or 3 parts of priming powder, 2 of saltpetre, and one of sulphur.
These fuses must be loaded with the same care and precision as are required in bomb-charges; that is, the thick end of the fuse must be placed downwards, so that it stands upright; the composition must then be introduced by means of a trundle, which the French call lanterne, made for that specific purpose; the composition must, after that, be well pressed in with an iron ramrod fitted to the bore of the fuse, and gradually forced in by gentle taps with a mallet. Great precaution must be observed during this operation, as too much violence might split the fuse. When the fuse has been half filled, a shorter ramrod must be used, with which the charge is completed. In making bomb-fuses great care must be taken to strike equal blows with the mallet until you get to the three last, when the strength of each blow must be increased.
Fusees d’obus, Fr. howitzer-fuses. These are generally made of the same composition and wood, as serve for bombs, and are loaded in a similar manner. They have the same dimensions when applied to calibres of 8 or 6 inches diameter; that is, they contain 5 inches 4 lines in length; 15 lines diameter at the small end, 3 lines diameter at the thick end; 13 lines diameter 1 inch from the head; the eye, or vent is 10 lines. These fuses do not exceed the vent of an howitzer, so much as bomb fuses do the vent of bombs. They are in fact, shorter.
Fusees volantes, Fr. sky-rockets. These fuses are made of various dimensions, and serve for signals in times of war. They are sometimes 2 inches and more in diameter. The cartridges with which they are loaded, contain in thickness the sixteenth part, or more of the diameter.
The composition which is used for fuses of this description, consists of 16 parts of saltpetre, 7¹⁄₂ of charcoal, and 4 of sulphur; or of 16 parts of saltpetre, 6 of charcoal, 4 of sulphur, and 2 of priming gunpowder. The materials must be carefully pounded and well mixed together. Hollow rods of various lengths are used to charge these fuses. They must have cavity enough to admit the stick.
Fuses are tied to long sticks, or rods made of very light wood, such as hazel tree which must have been cut some time, and be perfectly dry. They must likewise be straight, and contain from 7 to 8 feet in length; the thick end of the rod, in which 2 notches are made to fix it to the fuse, must be 7 or 8 lines in diameter, and at the small end 3 to 4 lines diameter. When the rod is rather heavy, it takes a more upright direction than when it is light; but it does not acquire so many degrees of elevation.
It must be generally remarked, that as soon as a fuse is fixed to a grenade, which is not intended for immediate use, you must melt some pitch and immerse the head of the fuse, instantly dipping it into cold water, by which precaution the composition will remain unaltered; unless the wood be rotten.
FUSEE, FUSIL, or FUZEE, a light musquet.
FUSILS à l’épée, Fr. fusils with long bayonets, shaped like a cut and thrust sword. These weapons have been proposed by the writer of Melanges Militaires, as being extremely useful in the rear rank of a battalion, or in detached bodies that are stationed for the defence of baggage, &c.
Something similar to this invention has been adopted by the dismounted light horse volunteers in London, who have in addition temporary sword hilts made to fit the sockets of their bayonets.
Fusils, mousquets, Fr. a sort of fusil which was invented by Marshal Vauban, and which was so contrived, that in case the flint did not strike fire, the powder might be inflamed by means of a small match which was fixed to the breech.
Fusils à chevalets, a species of fusils upon rests, which is recommended by Marshal Vauban, to be used at the commencement of a siege, about 50 or 100 toises in front of the glacis, at the entrances of narrow passes, &c.
FUSILEERS, are soldiers armed like the infantry, with this difference only, that their musquets are shorter and lighter than those of the battalion and the grenadiers. They wear caps which are somewhat less in point of height, than common grenadier caps. There are three regiments in the English service: the royal regiment of Scotch Fusileers, raised in 1678; the royal regiment of Welch Fusileers, raised in 1685; and the royal regiment of Welch Fusileers, raised in 1688-9.
It is always presumed, that these corps, like the guards, possess an esprit de corps, which is peculiar to themselves.
As the fusileer regiments upon the British establishment are distinguished from other corps by some peculiarities, we shall briefly state what has occurred to us on the subject. In former times the officers of these regiments did not carry spontoons, but had fusils like the officers of flank companies throughout the line. At present they wear swords. It is necessary to remark, that there are not any ensigns in fusileer regiments; their junior officers rank as second lieutenants, taking precedence of all ensigns, and those of the 7th or Royal Fusileers, have no second lieutenants; so that they rank, with the rest of the army according to the dates of their several commissions, as lieutenants. On account of this difference, the first commission in the fusileers was, by a regulation issued from the War Office in 1773, rated fifty pounds higher than that of an ensign; whilst the first commission in the 7th having the pay of lieutenant attached to it, was rated at 500l. that of the other two, having only the pay of ensign annexed, was 450l.
When the estimates of the British army were made out for the year 1755, the extra sum of 164l. 5s. per annum was charged against the 7th regiment. This surplus, however, was easily explained when it came to be understood, that that regiment, being a fusileer corps, had 20 lieutenants, instead of 11 lieutenants and 9 ensigns. The difference between these commissions amounted to 9s. per diem, and the sum total to 164l. 5s. per annum. The 23d, or royal regiment of Welch fusileers, wear helmets; and all officers belonging to fusileer corps have two epaulettes.
Fusiliers, Fr. Fusileers are men armed with fusils or light musquets. When pikes were in use among the French, each regiment had only four fusileers, exclusive of ten grenadiers who carried the fusil or musquet. At present fusils or musquets are universally adopted in the European armies. Among the French there was a distinct regiment of fusileers under the immediate command of the grand master of the ordnance. The length of a French fusil was directed to consist of three French feet eight inches from the touch-hole to the muzzle, and the calibre to have the diameter of a ball taking twenty to the pound.
FUYARD, Fr. a run-a-way, a coward.
Un corps fuyard, Fr. a regiment that has been in the habit of running away.
FUZE. See [Fuse].
FUZES. Composition.
| Saltpetre | 3 | lbs. | 4 | oz. |
| Sulphur | 1 | — | ||
| Mealed powder | 2 | 12 |
| Kind. | Fuse Diameter. | Composition. | Drove by one man in 1 day. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| below the cup. | at the bottom. | at the cup. | Diam- eter. | Length. | Time it burns. | ||||||
| Inches. | In. | Inch. | Inch. | In. | In. | ″ | No. | ||||
| 13 | 2.1 | 1 | .575 | 2 | .49 | .5 | 8 | .4 | 35 | 25 | |
| 10 | 1.8 | 1 | .55 | 2 | .13 | .438 | 7 | .2 | 33 | 25 | |
| 8 | 1.3 | 1 | .25 | 1 | .78 | .375 | 6 | .37 | 29 | 30 | |
| 5 | ¹⁄₂ | 1.1 | .825 | 1 | .3 | .275 | 4 | .4 | 18 | 50 | |
| 4 | ¹⁄₂ | 1.0 | .75 | 1 | .18 | .25 | 3 | .5 | 15 | 703 | |
| Grenades. | 0.8 | .6 | .9 | .2 | 2 | .25 | 1000 | ||||
Diameter inside the cup is 3 diameters of the bore.
Depth of the cup 1¹⁄₂ do.
Thickness of wood at bottom of the bore, 2 diameters.
To find the length of Fuzes for any Range.
The 13 and 10 inch fuzes of the same length burn so nearly equal, that one common length answers both, as do the 8 inch, 5¹⁄₂ and 4²⁄₅. Therefore, to find the length of fuze for any range, multiply the time of flight by 22 for the 13 and 10 inch, and by 24 for the 8, 5¹⁄₂ and 4²⁄₅; which is the decimal part of an inch a fuze burns in a second. Fuzes are thought to keep better by being painted; and for field service, are often marked off by black lines into seconds and ¹⁄₂ seconds.