IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) i.O I.I ^ m M 1.8 1.25 !.4 1.6 1 M 6" »■ % ^ / 'cM •c^ ^/' /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 4. E-L. NS 4 ,\ :\ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 \ <,* ^uppl6mentaires: This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce d 10X L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mithode normale de filmage sont indiquds ci-dessous. 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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmi A partir de I'angle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 MEMORANDA ON THE DEFENCE OF POSTS. BY GENERAL SIR JOHN FOX BURGOYNE BART. G. C. B. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF ft FORTIFICATIONS. 1857^ ON THE DEFENCE OF POSTS. A few Mem^on the rapid preparation of Posts for defence, to resist a coup de main, and where Artillery is nut likely to be brought against them. A post to be defensive against superior numbers, or to give the defenders every pot<«ible advantage aguinst au attack, should be provided witli the following reauisites, in the greatest degree tliat can be obtained. 1 . Cover for the men, to protect them from the enemy's fire. 2. Obstacles, to impede his approach. 3. A sweeping Hre in all directions, over every part of the fronts by which his attack can be made. These in fact are the principles sought for in every kind of fortification against an assault. * 1. THE COVER may be by walls, either in buildings or distinct, by timber baiTicades, by earth, or by any other matter of sufficient thickneu to resist musket shot. To be complete, it should cover the whole person of the defender, excepting a very small opening, as a hole or slit, (called loop- holes) for the barrel of his own musket to be passed through :— An ordinary breastwork only gives cover up to the man's chest, all above being exposed, completely protected:but even in breastworks, this inconvenience may be greatly remedied by forming loopholes, of logs of wood, bap, boxes, or barrels, filled with earth &c. The cover should be sohigli, as not only to protect the men who are clo»e to it, but every part of those who may be in the rear :— this will be the case if it is higher than the shoulders of the mer standing on the ground outside. In Fig. 1 not only is the man A, behind the breastwork, exposed to the fire of the enemy B, but also those in the rear at CD; not so in Figure S, where the covering mass is raised, the breastwork therefore should be on this account, not less than 6 feet above the level of the ground outside! Where the ehemy may' possibly approach dose to the cover, is in the case of building, walls or stockades, tfiat are without ditchea, the loopholes may fire as advantageously into the interior, as the defender to the exterior, therefore the bottom of the loophole sliould not be less than 6 feet above the level of the ground outside; the defenders to have this additional elevation can stand on some raised step, suited in height to the height of the loophole. I 2. OBSTACLES must be u»te ILe ««<>'*« "Se»*tJ Z^X of no u*, and.hould be what ""X b« /j?' ^*^ ^u' Jad U™ bettJr if what will afford him no cover, or the «1 ghteet possiDie, uu :ot"xo,'edi„g 40 or «» V tftltX'" reauS» tSe "«t time and labour t. That obstacle is most eftective that "=1'"\™,'°' "",„ .ecesearv, such an pass, and more I^'ticul.rly ^ peculnir jlemenB «e^e^»5^, ^^ ^^ laddU, «,'»'^Sed fr'wt«v«-i.^hTherbs»cle ««> «tonc.pro- the men only is caUed tor, Y*^ A,7!jn,nrPrtiUery isr^c^^^^^^^^ ^, ,,, Many are the contrivances *"J. «J^^ f ^'^^^^^^^ . very steep places time, according to the means afforded by the »«canY j > ^^^^ .^ may perhaps be made P/ecy^^ous ;--deep cuts or holes may shJlow wJ^ter; o'^^* ditches may be excavate^ Se^Sdetu :^7 dISr 'FiX Po^^^^^^^^^^ '^c., .c, .c, each fi^Srentcon^m^^^^^^^ ,,,,tantial, such as PalWdes are of httle value unless they are v^^^^ ^^ ^^^j irL™£ti^^e^P**-'.ix^srbe%t^^^^^^^ ''"S.tpSd'^teiinmost horizontal^ fr^^ front of the woWy beslighter^itaremoretroub,^^^^^^ ,„a Abbatis are felled 0-«t'' iT «Jm^v^ th?tr.S sZuU be large, and then contiguously in a line ; to be * *!!!'' them -they also should it is extremely laborious to <^n«=' »"'! JS.'TS'.r Id some time to pre- mSrat?;^t^S^=e^t^^^^^^^ -- ^^If through, inclining and i"*?'^^^""^ *^^™ l°|'^^^^^^^ an obstacle against Infantry, Chevaux de fnse can hardly be ^o"^^"!^*^^Li,„ -^ EARTH, without because they are so easily '^'^Z^^'^gS^^Jnt^t formed, they other addition, are scarcely «" «^*^" ^a cS of deterioration, ^e^^tt^tlf^lrX^ o" -^ -- -^''' ''' *" '' bodies of men. x • i «<• ««xr width is impassable by troops, but the view. wio-pd iust under the surface of the ground Ja""^:ir~^S^r»o™by their intimidating, ti^- -«• effect; but they ant! their trains are very difficult to prepare, bo as to be secured from damp; and such refined apparatus as 6alvanii action for firing, cannot be expected to be applicable on such occasions. It w impohtic to apply slight obstacles, or such as can be easily overcome, as the morale of he defenders will suffer at tlie failure of that on which they may have relied. wnica nf^fl^* •'"?'''•'''"' ';'™"f?^™ent of the direction of the fire from the post, is ot first rate importance for increasing its power of resistance Ooeniniy iTette&f '"" °' ^ H"'/4> ^- Ata.ce, is theroTtsim'inu? . i. i i 1 1 i 1 . Suppose a square or oblong buildiri^ A so prepared, the fire from it will be as shown by the red lines, which will require a very condiderable number of men, to be able to maintain it in active force, and which even then will be slack at parts ; it will be observed also that the large spaces at the angles are altogether free and unprotected. If the loopholes also are raised above the level of the ground not less than 6 feet, as before shown to be desirable, the assailants when close will be under cover. But let a building of a similar class have a capability of being flanked: and its strength will be very much greater, even when occui^ied by a much smaller number of men. A flanking fire is what ranges along the face of the line to be protected, in contra distinction to a front fire, which is directly, oujwards from it. A bunding as B with Wersor projections at t^e angles, or dh the faces, has ready made flanks, from which, as shown by the red lines, the fire of a few men would cover the whole space all around it, which will serve as tiie mam self protecting power, and which will not prevent the opening of any number of loopholes to bear directly on the exterior, and on the approach of the enemy. A. tVA flank w m influential nnd is n««nHlly t^mnll, every effort miwt be. •" ir* l»r^!:'rreu a^'not f^m^ntly met with, Imt any projection, on th. . prcvjecfng balcony 1" ■\«""' "'^' „*? fhi' it w"l be F«eived tlat the ^htrfi Jt riSv'ir''' V"'ec.ea .-.« that o^e point. D. balcony covered from front by thick plank, or other musket proof facing, and with openings on the sides and floor. , , , « ^ A balcony, even such as has only projection enough to hold flower pots, may be made an excellent flank, by lining the front with thick planking or other musket proof substance, for the height that would cover a man who stands upon the floor of the room, between 2 and 3 feet would usually be ample, and by leaving openings on the sides and bottom to hre through. For this kind of position a pistol would be even a more handy weapon than a musket. , , , , , .1 i,„ u Every side and every angle that can be reached by the enemy, should be thus put under a flanking fire. ^. , ., u ^ a a u^r. Every door, lower window, or other part which though closed and bar- ricaded may be weaker than the rest of the enclosure, or which at all events would be the mark peculiarly aimed at by the assailants for forcing, should be particularly under fire, and well watched. Premises for defence should be detached, and the greater and more exposed the open space around them, the better. A building attached to othc'-s that are not included in the arrangement, will manifestly be more difficult to protect. . , t. /. h 11 j The first point to be attended to will be to barricade Powerfully all doors and windows that are on the basement or ground floor. ., , , » It may probably be necessary to have one opening left available tor a communication in or out; if so that one will be on the part most protected and most difficult for the enemy, to approach, and its opening and shutting .. 'ii I Q— i-_a a" .««Q<,4Klr. «vh<'>h !<» }»»>ct TTinnnorpH hv nnnhle doors. or other mode of making the interior within the ou^r door defensible. Where the door or gate of a post can be approached undiscovered, and an immediate attack is threatened or apprehended, it may be useful to maintain a CMual fire blindly all through the night, from any flank bearing on it. on the chance of keepinR the enemy off; inHtunccs are on record of men bem}? in the morning found by this proceeding kUled near the gate. With petards m theu- hands. -> r » ~ "« K«u;, Buildings very strongly conttructed. isolated from others, such an oM StSn^^hri'.Tr' !»' /"b«tantial public ediHces, are most readily made defens ble; flat rooft ,f not commanded from other ground or buildings are •dvantageous, Uiat they should be little suscepUble of catching fire is of great imi>ortance. A buUding that is thatchea, or that conuJns a great todefensibfe^' ' °'' '^ombuBtible, may generaUy be considered Outbuildings may sometimes be turned to valuable account, if thev <»n be barricaded, and mr Je t« aflbrd mutual defence to one anotherhi IhiBway they may protect some important interior space and premises, thui, suppose A to be the main buildii)|; prepared lor dci'ence B. B to be •otbttlldingB, BO disposed as to be capable of giving a flank defence to the enclosure walls C. C. the entu-e space D, may be thus secured, for not only will the lire from A. B. B. make the approach to the attack difficult but if^^l P^""?'*!*.*" a great degree, if not entirely, be made to range over the whole mterior oft). In such a post as this, the communications to the exterior would not be directly out from A. B. B. but first into D and thence out. Even after the lower or ground floor of a building has been forced or abandonlBd, the upper range has frequently been defended with success by firing through oj^nings in the floors. ' If a post is in advance of a position, from whwh it may obtain support or to which the defenders may have to retreat; fo» instance, if it is in front of an army ; or on a shore, with the possibility of communicaUng by boats with shipping m the offing ; the openings must be in the rear, and those communications must be made as secure from attack, or at Jeast from view as possible. All the communications in the interior, from one part of a post to the other, should be made clear; thus suppose two or three contiguous build- mgs to be occupied for defence, openings must be broken through in the interior for ready inter-communjcation as a whole. It must be borne in ramd, that an ordinary do^r, or gate, even of the 8trou^resM« by no means musket shot proof; and' whfle e%orte are made to ortL"i^U;lr;t"^^^^^^^ ^» ordl^Ueany DddM and window shutters to be proaf a^in.it c1om» niu^ketrv f^vh>r. ot 6 teet above the floor of the room, jt will be nuffit'Zll J ♦?. *^ wflwiH^K^"*^' not haying ayery ftSe^^ommunicatWwitFrea^^^ forces, should be provided with sueb provisions, as will surelv be aranWh^ the occasion :--under anv circumstances howev^, thershS haH Liv ot water, not only for drinkin^r, but also to extinirnt«h flrl^ ^i 7 latter every avail/ble precautiol^hould be taSiTn amSi ^^^^^ ammunition should also be in the premW dulv liusbancn^lJ ^^ *^ *! secured as « possible, many a pos? h^TeWStfof wanf ^^^^^^ T^^j other such precautionary measures. **'^'*' ^^^ The attacking forces may be in possession of Field Artillery and vet not CO . ter™' n^"' =~ h""^ "'i ^^^? '^' P««' attached" s Sly Ji u ^ ™ ^^ ^''''''*"* or otherwise, in a manner to prevent tlie J. F. B. imber, ghtesfc vili be where duwfl, beigifat T may hem. »Ie for tlenty vhich ily of well aiid tnot osely t the may close