Inhaltsangabe
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1880. Excerpt: ... A field work performs all that is required of it, when it compels a force, superior in number to its garrison, to resort to the tedious and costly operations of a siege to take it; or makes this force move in another direction to gain its ends. The military man should remember that a wellnrranged intrenchment, or field work, should obstruct the enemy's approach, as well as give shelter to its defenders. It is a question, oftentimes, difficult to answer, as to which of the two, the shelter to the defence, or the obstruction of the enemy, is the more important. Either one gives an increase of resistance to the defence, and the two combined form an obstacle difficult to surmount. An enemy may succeed by brute force and sheer numbers, in carrying a position in which the defenders are sheltered simply, or a position arranged with obstacles that hold him under fire at close range; but the success is accompanied by such heavy losses, that the victory, in many cases, had better be classed as a defeat. This is particularly so, where the two are combined. It is well to remember, that a vigorous defence requires that every part of a field work, or line, should be guarded by a sufficient number of troops to repel any assault that an enemy might make, and that numbers alone are not sufficient. Endurance, courage, and vigilance are necessary in the commander and his troops. No better motto can be devised for the banner of the defence, than the trite aphorism so frequently cuoted, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." The memoranda, compiled for the use of the officers, commanding the different field works, surrounding the City of Washington, during the war of 1861-5, may be quoted in this connection. The precautions to be taken, and the course advised for each c...
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