Every effort should be made to take advantage of this favorable moment, when the enemy, by their own works, must mask their former batteries, and before they are able to open their new ones.
The expenditure of ammunition will be nearly as follows:
First period of the siege; 5 rounds per gun, per day, with only half the full charge, or one-sixth the weight of the shot, and for only such guns as can act.
Second period; 20 rounds per gun, per day, with one-sixth the weight of the shot.
Third-period; 60 rounds per gun, per day, with the full charge, or one-third the weight of the shot.
Mortars; at 20 shells per day, from the first opening of the trenches to the capitulation.
Stone Mortars; 80 rounds per mortar, for every 24 hours, from the establishment of the demi-parallels to the capitulation; about 13 days.
Light, and Fire balls; five every night, for each mortar, from the opening of the trenches to the eighth day, and three from that time to the end of the siege.
| These amount to about | 700 | for guns. |
| 400 | for mortars. | |
| 1000 | for stone do. |
This proportion and arrangement is however made upon a supposition, that the place has no countermines to retard the progress of the besiegers, to a period beyond what is abovementioned; but the same author estimates, that a similar place, with the covert way properly countermined beforehand, and those countermines properly disputed, may retard a siege at least 2 months; and that if the other works be likewise effectually countermined and defended, the siege may be still prolonged another month.