Soldiers and Sailors or, Anecdotes, Details, and Recollections of Naval and Military Life, as Related to His Nephews, by an Old Officer.

CHAPTER X.

Chapter 1085 wordsPublic domain

Fortification.—Surprise of Bergen-up-Zoom.—Six hundred British troops lay down their arms from a want of knowledge of fortification.—Fortified places in England and abroad.—On the origin of fortification.—The battering-ram.—Parapets.— Embrasures.—Square towers.—Terraces or ramparts.—Bastions.— Horn-works.—Curtains.—Maxims in fortification.—Old plan of fortifying a place.—Modern plan.—Periods of attack.—Investment or blockade described.—Parallels.—Circumvallation and countervallation.—What is necessary to ensure the reduction of a fortress.—Blockade of Pamplona.—A bombardment, siege, and storming party described. 125