S I E

S I E

an army, and approaching it by passagesmade in the ground, so as to be co-vered against the fire of the place.

The first operation of a siege is in-vesting. The body of troops investinga town should, at least, be as strongagain as the garrison; so as to be ableto divide itself into several parties, inorder to take possession of all the ave-nues leading to the place. By day theyshould keep themselves out of cannon-shot; but as soon as it is dusk theymust approach much nearer, the betterto be able to support each other, and tostraiten the town.

General phrases and terms used at aSiege arc , viz.

To besiege a place. See Sif.ge.

To accelerate the Siege , (acc'el'trerle siige, Fr.) is when an army can apdproach so near the place as the covert-way, without breaking ground, underfavour of some hollow roads, risinggrounds, or cavities, and there begintheir work.

An attack, is when the besieging armycan approach the town so near as to takeit, without making any considerableworks.

To form the Siege , or lap siege to aplace, (mettre le siege a une place, Fr.)thore must be an army sufficient to fur-nish five or sis reliefs for the trenches, fpioneers, guards, convoys, escorts, &c. jand artillery, with all the apparatus ;thereto belonging; magazines furnishedwith a sufficient quantity of all kindsof warlike stores; and a general hospi- ital, with physicians, surgeons, medicines,&c. !

To raise the Siege , (lever le siege , Fr.) Iis to give over the attack of a place,quit the works thrown up against it,and the posts formed about it. If there jlie no reason to fear a sally from the iplace, the siege may be raised in the ;day-time. The artillery and ammuni-tion must have a strong rear guard, lestthe besieged should attempt to chargethe rear: if there be any fear of anenemy in front, this order must be al-tered discretionally, as safety and thenature of the country will admit.

To turn the Siege into a blockade,(eonvertir le siege en blocus, Fr.) is to jgive over the attack and endeavour totake it by (amine; for which purpose*11 the avenues, gates, and streams,

leading into the place, are so wellguarded, that no succour can get in toits relief.

To insult a work, to attack it in asudden and unexpected manner, withsmall arms, or sword in hand.

Surprize, is the taking a place bystratagem or treason.

To escalade a place, is to approach itsecretly, then to place ladders againstthe wall, or rampart, for the troops tomount, and get into it that way.

To petard a place, is privately to ap-proach the gate, and fix a petard to it,so as to break it open for the troops toenter.

Line of circumvallation, is a kind offortification, consisting of a parapet, orbreast-work, and a ditch before it, tocover the besiegers against any attemptof the enemy in the field.

Line of countervallation, is a breast-work, with a ditch before it, to coverthe besiegers against any sally from thegarrison, in the same manner that theline of circumvallation serves to protect

them in the field.

Lines, are works made to cover anarmy, so as to command a part of thecountry, with a breast-work and a ditchbefore it.

Retrenchment, a work maderound thecamp of an army, to cover it againstany surprise.

Line of counter-approach, a trenchwhich the besieged make from the co-vert-way to the right and left of thebesiegers attacks, in order to scourtheir works. This line must be per-fectly enfiladed from the covert-wayand the half-moon, &c. that it may be

of no service to the enemy, in

case he

gets possession of it.

Batteries at a siege, cannot he erectedtill the trench is advanced within reachof the cannon of the place; that is,within what is generally understood tobe a point-blank range, which is reckon-ed about 300 toises, or 1800 feet.

Cannon is made use of at a siege f ottwo different purposes; the first to driveaway the enemy from their defences;and the second, to dismount their gw 1 *-To produce these two effects, the b at 'teries should not be above the meanreach of cannon-shot from the placettherefore there is no possibility ol con-structing them, till the first parallel isformed;