Such, however, is not the case. Improvements in the mode of attack have not kept pace with the facilities of locomotion; and, although fortifications do not now usually sustain a siege of as _many days_ as in former times, still, as compared with the relative lengths of campaigns in ancient and modern wars, the _proportional_ length of sieges is now even _greater_ than formerly. When the same is accomplished in a campaign of seven weeks as was formerly done in a war of seven years, it is not necessary that fortified places should hold out a very long time. A place that can sustain a siege of a month is now deemed sufficiently strong for ordinary campaigns; for by the end of that time the defensive army will either be destroyed, or be able to come to its succor. In either case a longer defence would not be required. A reference to the most important sieges of the last century or two will show that forts are, on an average, capable of sustaining a siege for more than that length of time. Lille, in 1708, held the allies in check for a whole year; and again, in 1792, compelled the Austrians to raise the siege after an unsuccessful attack of fifteen days. Antwerp, in 1585, sustained a siege of fourteen months against greatly superior forces; in 1814 Carnot defended the citadel of this place for four months, and until an armistice had been concluded between the contending parties; in 1832, it sustained, with a garrison of only 4,500 men and 145 pieces of ordnance, a siege of twenty-five days, against a force of 55,000 men and 223 cannon. Namur, near the end of the seventeenth century, sustained a siege of ten weeks. Ismail, in 1790, sustained a siege of more than two months against the Russians. Maestricht, in 1793, sustained a siege of nearly two weeks; and again, in 1794, sustained a blockade and siege of nearly two months. Magdeburg, in the thirty years' war, resisted the army of Wallenstein for seven months; and in 1813-14, although garrisoned by only 4,000 men, it for a long time resisted the overwhelming forces of the allies. Dantzic, at the same time, sustained a siege against superior forces for more than nine months. Landau, in 1793, sustained a siege of nine months. Valenciennes and Mayence, in 1793, each sustained a siege of about three months. Charleroi, Fort Vauban, and L'Ecluse, in 1794, each sustained a siege of about thirty days. Quesnoy, in 1794, sustained a siege of about three weeks. Rosas, in 1795, sustained a siege of some seventy days. Mantua, in 1796-7, protected from invasion, for eight months, the Tyrol and the heart of the Austrian monarchy. Kehl and Huninguen, in 1796, sheltered Moreau for three months against all the efforts of the Archduke Charles. St. Jean d'Acre, in 1799, sustained a siege of sixty days of open trench. Ulm, in 1800, held Moreau in check for more than a month. Genoa, in 1800, sustained a blockade of sixty and a siege of forty days.