Whether through the influence of Albert Durer or not cannot be said, but
while the bastion was being developed in France the tenaille and the
accompanying casemates from the first found acceptance in Germany, and
thence in eastern and northern Europe. De Groote, who wrote in 1618,
produced a sort of tenaille system, and may have been the inspiration of
Rimpler. Dillich (1640), Landsberg the elder (1648), Griendel d'Aach
(1677), Werthmuller (1685) and others advocated both bastion and
tenaille, sometimes in combination; the German bastion being usually
distinguished by short faces and long flanks.
Rimpler, who was present at the siege of Candia (taken by the Turks in
1669) and died at that of Vienna in 1683, exercised a great influence.
He had been struck by the weakness of the early Italian bastions at
Candia, and published a book in 1673 called _Fortification with Central
Bastions_, which was practically the polygonal trace. Zastrow thinks
that Rimpler inspired Montalembert. He left unfortunately no designs to
illustrate his ideas.
[Illustration: FIG. 33.]
Landsberg the younger (1670-1746), a major-general in the Prussian
service, who saw many sieges, also had a great influence. He appears to
have been the first who frankly advocated the tenaille alone, chiefly on
the ground that the flank, which was the most important part of the
bastioned system, was also the weakest. Fig. 33 shows his system,
published in 1712.
Montalembert and Carnot.
It was, however, ultimately a Frenchman, Marc Rene Montalembert (q.v.),
who was the great apostle of the tenaille, though in his later years he
leaned more to the polygonal trace. He objected to the bastioned trace
on many grounds; principally that the bastion was a shell trap, that the
flanks by crossing their fire lost the advantage of the full range of
their weapons, and that the curtain was useless for defence. He took the
view that the bastions with their ravelins constituted practically a
tenaille trace, spoilt by the detachment of the ravelins and cramped by
the presence of the curtains and flanks. His tenaille system consisted
of redans, with salient angles of 60 deg. or more, flanking each other at
right angles; from which he gave to his system the name of
"perpendicular fortification."
Lazare Carnot (q.v.), the "Organizer of Victory," was, in
fortification, a follower of Montalembert, and produced in 1797 a
tenaille system (fig. 34) on strong and simple lines.
[Illustration: FIG. 34.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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