leries, and thus deprive the besieged of the use of their entire system of mines. The measures of defence during this period must embrace every thing calculated to retard the works of the besiegers. This may be most effectually accomplished by maintaining a constant fire of grape and musketry on the heads of the sap, and throwing grenades, shells, &c., into the trenches, to harass and destroy the workmen. As the musketry fire of the besiegers now becomes very destructive to the artillerists at the guns, strong musket-proof blinds are arranged to mask the mouths of the embrasures when the guns are not in battery, and also sloping blindages to cover the men when serving at the pieces. The possession of the outworks should be disputed inch by inch, and when the besiegers have reached the ditch of the body of the place, sorties, and every species of projectile, should be employed to drive off the sappers, and to retard the construction of their works. In fine, all the resources of the engineer's art should be put in requisition for the defence of the breach, and the final assault should be vigorously resisted by the bayonet, and by a well-sustained fire from all the collateral works. With respect to the relative strength of the opposing forces it may be well to remark, that if the fortress is properly constructed the garrison will be able to resist a besieging army six times as numerous as itself. Such is the estimate of the best engineers.* * A good knowledge of the several subjects discussed in this chapter may be derived from the writings of Vauban, Cormontaigne, and Noizet de St. Paul, on the attack and defence of places and field fortification; the several manuels used in the French service on sapping, mining, and pontoniering; Col. Pasley's experiments on the operations of a siege, sapping, mining, &c.; Douglas's work on military bridges; Macauley's work on field fortification; and Professor Mahan's Treatise on Field Fortification. This last is undoubtedly the very best work that has ever been written on field fortification, and every officer going into the field should supply himself with a copy. The following are recommended as books of reference on subjects discussed in the three preceding chapters. Mémorial pour la fortification permanente et passagère. Cormontaigne. Défense des places. Cormontaigne. Attaque des places. Cormontaigne. Attaque des places. Vauban. Traité des mines. Vauban. Mémorial pour la castrametation et la fortification passagère. Lafitte-Clavé. Exercice sur les fortifications. Duvigneau. Mémorial de l'officier du génie. A periodical of rare merit, containing most valuable military and scientific matter. It is conducted by officers of the French corps of engineers. It has already reached its fourteenth number, each number forming a volume. Traité complet de fortification. Noizet de St. Paul. Traité d'art militaire et de la fortification. Gay de Vernon. Art de la guerre. Rogniat. Essai général de fortification, &c. Bousmard. Aide-mémoire portatif à l'usage des officiers du génie. Laisné. A very valuable and useful book. Aide-mémoire de l'ingénieur militaire. Grivet. Cours d'art militaire. Laurillard Fallot. Cours de fortification, &c. Lavart. Le livre de la guerre. Perrot. Journaux des siéges dans la péninsule. Belmas. Journal of Sieges in Spain. John Jones. Both of the above are works of great value. Cours d'art militaire et de fortification militaire. François. Essai sur la fortification. Baltard. La fortification. Bar-le-Duc. Elémens de fortification. Bellaire. La science des ingénieurs. Bélidor. L'art universel des fortifications. Bitainvieu. Nouvelle manière de fortifier les places. Blondel. Les sept siéges de Lille. Brun Lavaine. Défense des places fortes. Carnot. Mémoire sur la fortification. Carnot. Défense de Saragosse. Cavallero. Mémoires sur la fortification. Choumara. Théorie de la fortification. Cugnot. Des fortifications, &c. &c. Darçon. Rélation de la défense de Dantzik. D'Artois. Les fortifications. Deville. Péribologie. Dilich. De la fortification permanente. Dufour. A work of merit. Essai sur la défense des états par les fortifications. Duvivier. Attaque et défense des places du camp de St. Omer. L'école de la fortification. Fallois. Introduction à la fortification. De Fer. Précis de la défense de Valenciennes. Ferrand. Traité théorique, &c. Foissac-Latour. Les ouvrages militaires de Fossé. Instruction sur la fortification, &c. Gaillard. Mémoires pour l'attaque et défense d'une place. Goulon. Journal du siége de Philisbourg. Précis du siége de Dantzick. Kirgener. Deuxième défense de Badajos. Lamare. Fortification, et l'attaque et défense des places. Leblond. L'architecture des forteresses. Mandar. Traité sur l'art des siéges. Mazeroy. La sûreté des états par le moyen des forteresses. Maigret. Fortification. Marolois. Siége de Turin. Mengin. Recherches sur l'art défensif, &c. Michaloz. La fortification de campagne, &c. Miller. L'art défensif, &c. Montalembert. Journaux des siéges de Flandre. Rélations des siéges en Europe, &c. Musset-Pathay. A very valuable and interesting work. Rélation du siége de Metz. Rélation du siége d'Anvers. Les siéges de Jaffa et de St. Jean d'Acre. Les siéges de Saragosse et de Tortose. Rogniat. Siége de Dantzick. Sainte-Susanne. Mémoire sur la fortification permanente. Séa. Le siége de Constantine. Elémens de fortification. Trincano. Des places fortes. Valaze. Essay on Military Bridges. Douglas. A valuable work. Guide du pontonier. Drieu. Mémoire sur la guerre souterraine. Coutèle. Traité des mines. Etienne. Traité de l'art du mineur. Geuss. Traité de fortification souterraine. Gillot. Essay on Field Fortifications. Pleydell. Traité de fortification souterraine. Mouze. Abhandlung über die Befestigungskunst, &c. Hauser Course of Elementary Fortification. Pasley. This is a work of much detail-useful, no doubt, to an uneducated engineer soldier, but to an officer at all acquainted with his profession, it must seem ridiculously minute. To the above list might be added a long list of books on that branch of the engineer's art called constructions; but as this part of the profession is, in some degree, common both to the civil and military engineer, it is not deemed necessary to include works of this character in a list of books strictly military. 32* CHAPTER XV. MILITARY EDUCATION-APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION. WITH the Romans, six years' instruction was required to make a soldier; and so great importance did these ancient conquerors of the world attach to military education and discipline, that the very name of their army was derived from the verb to practise. Modern nations, learning from experience that military success depends more upon skill and discipline than upon numbers, have generally adopted the same rule as the Romans; and nearly all of the European powers have established military schools for the education of their officers and the instruction of their soldiers. France, which has long taken the lead in military science, has six military schools for the instruction of officers, containing in all more than one thousand pupils, and numerous division and regimental schools for the sub-officers and soldiers. Prussia maintains some twelve general schools for military education, which contain about three thousand pupils, and also numerous division, brigade, garrison, and company schools for practical instruction. Austria has some fifty military schools, which contain in all about four thousand pupils. Russia has thirty-five engineer and artillery technical schools, with about two thousand pupils; twenty-five military schools for the noblesse, containing eight thousand seven hundred pupils; corps d'armée schools, with several thousand pupils; regimental schools, with eleven thou |