Show J from the boston journal SIEGE operations 11 vs 11 the nature of the works undertaken by a army and the means of of fience and ind resistance ei exerted e arted 14 the biege elege of a fortified place are probably not as well wh un der stood by the public as they would be ig 1 sieges cleget aers everyday every day atra afra asalia irs irb the operations against t li having drawn attention to this subject an esplan explanation a c of I 1 some of the more important engineering operations 0 of fa a a lege siege may not be without interest t abe abb in a regular siege every part of the fortress or fortl forti fortuned ned fled place ought it if possible to be invested at the outset outsell a and nd the communications of the enemy cut off so as to prevent the ingress of supplies which would enable thi th besieged to prolong their resistance starving out of the them garason garrison was formerly one of the most roost potent means of obtaining possession of a place but in our day bested besieging ng armlee armies rely reir more upon the weight of their batteries and the skill ard and success of their engineering operations the cutting offos supplies being regarded as of se condare importance in the siege of sebastopol sevastopol Seba which now excites BO so much ln in terest the communications of the russians sam ane are open ample supplies can be obtained and the garrison relieved at will but the heavy nire fire of the allies has undoubtedly greatly distressed the russians f having strongly posted the main body of their army in r 1 a position where it cannot be annoyed by the guns guns of the t h e for sor fortress tressy the first movement of th the e abke besiegers is t to ascertain the weakest part of the works of the enemy 41 1 l A JL thoroughly fortified place ought to be able to bring a g gnu guu to bear upon every foot of ground where an enemy would be likely to effect a lodgment the first object of thit this the besiegers Is to silence as many of these guns as possible aid ard A to make a breach in the walls to admit of an assault having ascertained the weakest portion of the bortree for tree trew the besiegers proceed to open trenches for batteries at a distance of from five to nine hundred paces fro from M the wall wail of the for tor fortress trem these tren trenches chesare are usually three feet deep and from nine mine to twelve feet wide and general generally man ran parallel with the outlines of the fortress hence they are ars called parallels they are dug in the n night time by the pioneers who are liable to be interrupted by srofe corties sorties and M 1 are guarded by a detachment ot of troops te rhe the blonera pl onora onera arx carry with them to the place of their labors besides th their M spades and picks a large number of fa or kilens balens galleni gab gad ieni leni 1 the former are bundles of fagots fagons and the latter arc wa wicker iiii baskets which are filled with w ith earth earthy and which serve in inz some degree to protect the sappers from any random shot shots of the enemy as well as for a foundation for ther their bris breut i works these fa fas clues cines and babions are placed to the of the trench towards the enemy and the earth over them thus are formed breastworks to shelt shelter eri ert wa tea gunners from the fira fire of the enemy these trenches the heavy guns are transported embrasure embra 3 being maal mall mad maa I 1 through the breastworks after the guns ae are mounted kal sal lind ready for service raving having established the first parallels parallel and perhaps 6 1 l fenced some borne of the guns of the for fortress tressy the desi besl egen egey proceed to open a second and a third parallel eail each nea neared nearer re r to the fortress than the other thus gradually encircling I 1 the place as la in the bolds colds folds of a huge ahugh anaconda anacondas causin IC to be T girdled with a waist of imon iron rew and hemmed about with 1 the parallels paralle lq are connected by ditches by beans means aft these works the besiegers are in a great measure p from the fire of the besieged place and anliss their works work are interrupted by sallies and their guns capture dan dad 1 spiked they can inflict a serious injury on the fo fortress f without being greatly exposed to the nire fire I 1 iti ill said that this mode of approaching a fort sort fortress rigs riis wags wars was first made use of in 1673 at the siege of maastricht Maes tricht cannon were first a siege at cressy in 1346 and at calais in 1317 1347 the largest cannon then known in europe I 1 wa was udd used by the turks at the siere siege of bf candia la in 1667 havins having brought these parallels as near to the besiege ed dh place as prudence will admit an attempt Is mada made to effect I 1 a breach in the walls through which to make an assault assaults 4 here nere it may be remarked that the batteries of the esi besle besie esl A gers are of three kindey itoda trucking batteria batterie bat tenie terie ricochet batter lesy less les ies and mortar batteries the first are brought to bear directly upon the walls which whish the ahe gunners endea yort bitter batter down by point blank shots some of theise battene batteries t are erected ea en eschar es charpe pei pep or at an angle with the nain maln batteries in order to batter down the breach obliquely reis th guns of some are adapted to firing red hot shots shot aw whit h ich ewt set bet fire to anything inflammable pon upon which fhi they idd bodet i the th ricochet batteries bat lat ternes teries are intended to command ap the une so that the balls ri roil roll along the whole length length of the lampart Tam zam pant part rendering it insecure the first experiment in tha mode 0 4 of firing I 1 la said to have been ben made anade at ther he siege oi tn 1734 the mortar batteries are adapted to the work nork ot of throwing shells 10 inta the fhe the besieged place tae ey 7 dimner differ but little Util efrom from the breaching batteries except ait eit that they have no embrasures embra the elevation ele eie paiton tation ot of the mortar miri mirl to carry the shells clear ot of the parapet it Is said that bombs were first invented at la in 1495 but bt according to some authorities near a century affe they came into general use about the year 1634 the mortar and the ricochet batteries require great skill and ad precision on the part of the tha gunners in order to make them enec exec effective tite tIve it Is stated that in n the tha siege of sebastopol sevastopol Seba the allies were much annoyed by the well weli directed fire from tae tha guns gangoff of the city until thera ranc nc the sharp i sho tho hooters shooters oters of the french army picked oss off the best of the I 1 russian rudin curin rs the fire fare of 0 the thet russia ix batteries s became ir A afterwards more uncertain last parallel that nearest mines unnes are sometimes extended to aid in the work dorkof at laying tie defenses defences de fences of the besieged place in ruins these mines are subterranean a passages which ar ang arg I 1 it sometimes directed such precision by py the engineers ahat that terminate dl rectify recty under the walls or outer defences defenses de fences of he fortress under these a heavy charge of gunpowder la Is placed which Is exploded and sometimes with tremendous effect the work upon these passages lu conducted with great te crecy N for if the approach of ox i a mine Is suspected by tm tha a countermine ine lne may be exploded exp eap fed ded which hlll w ln volve th the sappers tappers of the besieging army in almost acet certin 2 destruction n 1 the countermines count ermines are am generally I 1 constructed under the covered way of the and here we will wili ill lil state that ar usually consist ot 0 a wall or rampa ram rampart part parC outside OU A ide of lucli ii ditch or fosse beyond and parallel with which litia litta ilow liow low breastwork which sinks to the level of the field with a gentle declivity and is called billed a glacis the space th this breastwork r astete and betwee 0 tit lt it and the fth ditch is dl file railed called the tle covered c or way wa lle ile glacis and covered wy are cal cai called J the jt it Is under this covered way that a counte countermine milne Is usually excavated branches 1 1 rl are ate sometimes extended under tha thi th ilacas to afford meansie far lis its listening lenin gand and finding out the tha a rf 1 subterraneous movements when amine Is ds covered cov ered cred approaching the glacis a charge of guapo gunpowder powerful to shake chake the earth Is exploded under and abd as near to the enemas mine as possible the thew ight of the superincumbent earth earth of the glacis gena gen eilcy prevents the explosion from being perceptible perce upon the finnace run Fin face ae while it ak s tha the le ground al 4 farond a ra I 1 ani and ana anu grabe hostile ostile mines myna ao 20 t fre qigen I 1 1 in cecava c itaf evil a mine thine the sappers coma come suddenly upon the t be i ov coni gennine and then there Is no altern alternative alternate ati vo bu but t to fight ew of this contingency the sappers are usually well am gd theras TheRus nude great use of min mines es and other Z en engineering arnee ng operations in besieging the strongholds strong holds of the burks turks in the war of 1828 93 9 as well as more recently lff iff the siege 0 of f sills silis sil Sll istria t ria r we do not leam learn A that h at m ining I 1 opera tion s have been attempted at se ba j of the in 1 0 ground probably not ot of this mode of ofaf ap enacted a practical prati pra cal cai breach in iha tha the tha walls attempt ats its s ts made to carry the place by storm A breach I 1 consid er T e ed practicable when it t will admit the tha entrance of rout I 1 teen taen teea te men mea u marching breast abreast sethe assault upon a fortress 3 it if stron strongly gIr garrisoned 13 usually attended with a great sacrifice of human lite life and tau vau ought only to be attempted when the force of the be besiegers Is numerically largely in excess of I 1 I 1 talat that of the garrison garri son in imi bombardment of bes bet besiegers legers ilare graffy the advantage of the garrison as they can concentrate their flione fira upon any particular pait palt idular point in storming stor Etor ming how ajer ejer the e position tion of ot tha contending parties Is reversed 1 I the besieged being in a measure sheltered and ha having haring ing it mn tiri their power unless their guns are ate silenced td direct ther their whole alre upon the them advancing column alumn of the enemy sometimes a place consists of a series of detached ime fae in which cae case they musk must beu bai taken successively often involving a great groat sacrifice of life ille sebastopol sevastopol Seba Is thus fortl nie 11 fie daud Aau cl footing looking at the plan otlis defence de fences i the difficulties V 5 I 1 h tle tie the tte allies will have to encounter before becoming masters masters of the place seem seeni almost insurmountable va have havo thus given our readers cwb what at we trust will be af pf aunda cran n 1 intelligible intelligible explanation of siege operations ons the offensive works afford an opportunity tor for the bisp display lay of tsie kuie highest engineering skill and the defence requires the exe jp of much patience and ep endurance durance as well as bravery A siege Is often protracted for weeks and months and sometimes for years the memorable siege of troy occupied ten tell years rears and says that azoth V by the powerful for twenty nine niue In eyears years modern science has his EO so multiplied the means tio zio ence and defence that the durat duration loir of helges Is now shortened acre was besel ged by bonaparte WO bays days when the siege wai wak waa raised f burgos was Ws for five week weeks la in 1812 Sill was wag invested by ike its the russians for nine months in I 1 1823 rs 9 before it was t T Ws is was an unusually lo 10 long iong u 1 siege howeye however r and was broken broten by an intermission while the besiegers were in winter quarters with the terrible engines of destruction sest jest destruction A ruction I 1 the guns of large calibre and extended range recently brought brought into use a siege ought to be terminated few weeks either by the destruction of the fortified place or by the exhaustion of 0 the aerial material of the bes hes riegers legars for it should s h 0 uld be remembered that with large guns gun s of Y the charges Is In creasA and to 6 the same 1 l tent e n the difficulties of transportation and of supplying munitions siege operations concentrate as it were all th of war the besiegers are constantly exposed vo gathe lathe eili lili keat leat heat or inclemency of the weather and their thel labori 4 are awe are continuous and exhausting within the be leagued A citadel hunger and thirst add to the tha horrors of a arlace place T where abere gebere the sighs and groans and shrieks that tend the air 4 i it date aate are made madej not marked where violent sorrow borrow seems it A modern ecstacy the de dead admans mans knell t Is there scarce scared asked for who and good mens lives expire before th dowers flowers in their cups byeng WD 10 yIng or ere they sicken P aa A terrible commentary oa human progress arid and modern oli cli indeed are we the siege operations of the pr present 1 e 14 day k r the te devil evi evl ouid shou id lose loss his tail where would he get re tano fano another the r ah a gin gln shop io be sure there thera they s retail bad spirits TV yas |