FORTH 



2269 



FORTIFICATION 



Arthur. It is on the main line of the Canadian 

 Northern Railway, and at International Falls 

 has connection, through the Minneapolis & 

 International Railway, with the Northern Pa- 

 cific and other railways in the United States. 

 Fort Frances is the terminus of several steam- 

 ship lines whose small vessels traverse Lake 

 of the Woods, Rainy River and Rainy Lake, 

 one-half mile east of the town. Large lumber 

 mills, in which from 600 to 800 people are em- 

 ployed, pulp and paper mills and planing mills 

 are the principal industrial establishments. 

 Nearly all nationalities are represented in the 

 population, which in 1910 was 1,611; in 1916 

 it was estimated at 2,000. 



FORTH , a river and firth, or estuary, in the 

 east of Scotland. The river is formed by the 

 Duchray Water and the Avondhu River, which 

 rise in the slopes of Ben Lomond in Stirling- 

 shire and unite about a mile from the town 

 of Aberfoyle. The actual length of the river 

 is sixty-six miles, though the distance from 

 its source direct to the sea is only about thirty 

 miles. From the town of Kincardine to the 

 North Sea, a distance of forty-eight miles, the 

 river is known as the Firth of Forth, one of 

 the finest natural harbors in the British Isles. 

 It varies in width from one and a half miles 

 at Kincardine to seventeen and a half miles 

 at the mouth. The oyster beds for which the 

 Firth of Forth was long noted are greatly 

 diminished in value, but there are still many 

 important fishing centers on both coasts. 



Forth Bridge, a railway bridge one and a 

 half miles long, crossing the Firth of Forth. 

 It is built on the cantilever principle, and is 

 regarded as one of the most remarkable bridges 

 in the world. The actual length is 8,295 feet, 

 over one and a half miles; it has two main 

 spans of 1,710 feet, two arms of 680 feet, fifteen 

 spans of 168 feet and seven small arches. The 

 center of the bridge is 152 feet above high 

 water, the extreme height of the towers being 

 361 feet. The bridge was completed in 1889 

 at a cost of $13,000,000. 



FORT HENRY AND FORT DONELSON, 

 two forts of the War of Secession in America, 

 constructed by the Confederates in 1861 south 

 of the boundary line between Kentucky and 

 Tennessee. The former was located on the 

 right bank of the Tennessee River, and the 

 latter on the left bank of the Cumberland, the 

 distance between the two being about twelve 

 miles. They were important, for they con- 

 trolled the entrance into Tennessee and the 

 states farther south. 



On February 6, 1862, a fleet of gunboats 

 under Commodore Foote attacked and cap- 

 tured Fort Henry. Most of the Confederates 

 escaped to Fort Donelson, which, thus reen- 

 forced, at first successfully withstood the attack 

 of the land troops under General Grant, but 



LOCATION OF FORTS HENRY AND 

 DONELSON 



later began to weaken. During the next night 

 Generals Floyd, Pillow and Forrest, with 2,000 

 men, escaped, leaving the command to Gen- 

 eral Buckner, who, on the following day, recog- 

 nizing the situation as hopeless, offered to sur- 

 render on certain conditions. These were re- 

 jected by General Grant in his now famous 

 words, "No terms but unconditional and imme- 

 diate surrender can be accepted." General 

 Buckner then surrendered 15,000 men, and a 

 large amount of ammunition and stores. This 

 was the same General Buckner who, in 1896, 

 was the candidate for President of the United 

 States on the Gold Democratic ticket, as a 

 party protest against the "free silver" candi- 

 dacy of William Jennings Bryan. 



FORTIFICATION, for ti jy ka' shun, a term 

 applied to the art of strengthening military 

 positions, and also to the earthworks, fort, 

 fortress or other engineering device used for 

 defense. Modern scientific fortification dates 

 from the reign of Louis XIV of France (1638- 

 1715), during which time the distinguished 

 engineer, Vauban, devoted many years to the 

 erection of permanent fortresses sufficiently 

 strong to withstand the attacks of the most 

 powerful artillery then known. The object of 

 fortification is to give protection to troops so 

 that they may, while themselves under cover, 

 repel attacks of troops in superior numbers who 

 must advance against them along compara- 

 tively open ground. 



For military purposes fortifications may be 

 classed as permanent or temporary. Perma- 

 nent fortifications are erected to defend a town, 

 harbor, arsenal or some particular point that 

 may be an object of attack. In planning such 

 fortification the nature of the surrounding ter- 



