SIEGE 



5374 



SIEGE 



At various times it held the supreme place in 

 the Phoenician confederacy, alternating with 

 Tyre in this role. Sidon was famed for its 

 purple dyes, and its people, who are mentioned 

 in Homer's writings, were skilled traders and 

 artisans. There is a tradition that they manu- 

 factured glass from the fine sand of the Belus 

 River, and Pliny credited them with the dis- 

 covery of the process. A number of magnifi- 

 cent sarcophagi have been found in the vi- 

 cinity. The modern town of Saida, a place of 

 about 12,000 people, occupies a portion of the 

 site of the ancient city. See PHOENICIA ; TYRE. 



SIEGE, seej, a word derived from the Latin 

 sedere, meaning to sit. Literally, a siege con- 

 sists in stationing an army before a defended 

 place for the purpose of taking it by assault or 

 by starving it into surrender. The first object 

 of the besieging force is to invest or surround 

 the position, to prevent outside help or sup- 

 plies from reaching the besieged. If time is 

 not of great importance, and submission 

 through starvation is sought, the besieging 

 force may content itself with only such opera- 

 tions as are necessary to repel sorties by the 

 garrison. If there is danger of a relieving force 

 arriving in strength sufficient to give battle to 

 the besiegers, the operations must be more 

 vigorous. Artillery must be placed at impor- 

 tant and commanding positions, and the attack- 

 ers must advance to the assault, or from trench 

 to trench dug parallel to the works of the 

 enemy. The digging of the trenches is a diffi- 

 cult and dangerous undertaking and must be 

 carried on under cover of artillery and rifle fire 

 or at night. The besieged, meanwhile, use 

 their utmost endeavors to prevent the nearer 

 approach of the besiegers. 



In reducing a city by artillery fire, called 

 bombardment, special guns are used, more 

 powerful than those with the army in the field. 

 For siege guns in the United States service 

 modern 7-inch howitzers, mortars and long 

 5-inch siege guns have been adopted. The 

 5-inch gun is also much used in Europe when 

 there is not time to bring up heavier guns 

 which cannot possibly travel with the army. 

 The 5-inch guns weigh about 3,660 pounds, are 

 12.15 feet in length and fire a shell 45 pounds in 

 weight. The big siege guns, used first by the 

 German army in 1914, have an effective range 

 far greater than any previously known siege 

 gun, and practically rendered besieging an un- 

 necessary operation. 



Modern Siege Methods. Modern siege tactics 

 have undergone considerable change since the 



methods adopted by the Japanese proved e 

 fective at Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanei 

 War. The heavy guns used by the Germans i 

 the outbreak of the War of the Nations : 

 1914 have proved that however strong positioi 

 may be, and however well protected the forl 

 the weight of metal will eventually batter dov 

 the defenses. In fact, it may be safely state 

 that sieges, in the old way, will not again I 

 prominent in warfare. What the Japanese a 

 complished by zigzag trenches, which expose 

 the least possible space to gunfire, the Germai 

 in Belgium accomplished by bombardment ai 

 assault. 



An army now caught in any town, howev 

 strongly fortified, would be better employed 

 fighting its way out than in attempting to pr 

 vent the enemy getting in. By the consta: 

 nearer approach of trenches, by utilizing 

 natural means of defense and concealmer 

 modern armies accomplish in a week wh 

 could hardly be done in months in any pr 

 vious wars. The modern siege guns, with 

 range of 12,000 yards (about seven miles), cov 

 the advance of attacking infantry in a ws 

 hitherto unheard of in siege tactics. 



Famous Sieges. The most famous sieges 

 the last century are those of Paris in 187 

 Plevna, 1877; Mafeking, 1899-1900; Port A 

 thur, 1904; Przemysl, 1914-1915. In the fir 

 stage of the War of the Nations in 1914, t) 

 siege of Antwerp was characterized by none 

 the principles of siegecraft. Weight and nur 

 bers and long range of guns rendered it impc 

 sible for the besieged to offer strong resistanc 

 and also made it unnecessary for the besiege 

 to resort to any delaying tactics of gradu 

 approach. Antwerp was taken by the Ge 

 mans in eleven days, whereas by former siei 

 methods and appliances six months might ha 1 

 been required, if, indeed, success were at { 

 possible, for the fortifications of Antwerp we 

 among the strongest in the world. The Ru 

 sian siege of Przemysl was stubbornly co 

 tested for six months, at the end of which tin 

 the Austro-German garrison surrendered, 

 was the sixth longest siege in history. 



The greatest sieges recorded are the follow 

 ing: 



1779-81 Gibraltar, three years, seven montt 

 twelve days. Relieved. 



1856 Sebastopol, 335 days. Fell. 

 1857 Delhi, 131 days. Relieved. 

 . 1857 Lucknow, 149 days. Relieved. 

 1862-63 Vicksburg, 186 days. Fell. 

 1864-65 Richmond, 287 days. Evacuated. 

 1870 Metz, 134 days. Fell. 



