Attack of Fortified Places. Including Siege-works, Mining, and Demolitions.: Prepared for the use of the Cadets of the United States Military AcademyMercur, James
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Attack of Fortified Places. Including Siege-works, Mining, and Demolitions.: Prepared for the use of the Cadets of the United States Military Academy
Mercur, James
Defensive (Military science); Military engineering; Offensive (Military science); Siege warfare
At daylight the trenches will be far enough advanced to protect the
covering force which will occupy them. This force is from this time
known as the “_guard of the trenches_,” and is relieved usually every
24 hours, the time of relief being so chosen as not to interfere with
the working parties.
The working parties are, as previously indicated, divided into reliefs
of 4 or 8 hours.
For continuous work the besieging force should be large enough to allow
each man, after being one day in the guard of the trenches and one day
in the working party, to have one day in camp.
=81.= =The Second Artillery Position.=--By the second
artillery position previously referred to is meant the position
occupied by the guns of the attack, placed in batteries, accurately
located for breaching, enfilading, counter-battering or other specific
duty. These batteries are usually of the class described under the head
of “exposed sunken batteries” (Plates V, VI, VII), and are constructed
behind or in the parallels, as explained in pars. 48 to 55. When behind
a parallel they should be, if possible, at least 150 yards from it in
order that the blast of the guns shall not interfere too much with the
occupants of the parallel.
=82.= =Counter-batteries=, designed to dismount guns or
destroy embrasures of earth or masonry at ranges from 700 to 1000 yards
by direct fire may well be armed with 4½ or 5 inch rifles, since their
projectiles have sufficient energy for the desired result, and the
guns admit of a more rapid and long-continued fire than do those of
greater calibre. The batteries must be so placed as to look through the
embrasure attacked, and the number of guns pitted against any battery
must considerably exceed that in the battery.
Counter-batteries designed to silence by direct fire guns in turrets
or behind shields must be armed with guns of large calibre, mounted
with the best available cover, and must be aided by rapid fire guns
of moderate calibre, designed to disable the turret guns either by
embrasure shots or by oblique shots penetrating the parts which project
from the turret.
=83.= =Enfilading batteries= act in conjunction with
counter-batteries or independently; they are designed to take the
faces in flank or slightly in reverse, but are of necessity at times
limited to a slant fire. They are located as nearly as possible in
the prolongation of the terre-pleins. When the salients are obtuse
these prolongations lie near the adjacent faces for some distance, and
consequently the only possible emplacements of enfilading batteries
will give ranges which may vary from 1000 to 4000 yards. They are armed
with cannon of sufficiently large calibre to make their projectiles
efficient even at moderate velocities, and, when the faces enfiladed
are well provided with traverses, the charges are reduced so as to
give to the projectiles a large angle of fall. When the batteries are
on commanding heights higher velocities may be used.
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