FORTIFICATION. 



seems doubtful, whether the former mode 

 was not the best, considering every cir- 

 cumstance attendant upon the ancient 

 mode of assault, and the nature of their 

 weapons. 



The invention of gunpowder does not 

 appear to have made any important 

 change for several years, nor indeed until 

 heavy artillery formed a part of the as- 

 sailant's means, as may be proved by an 

 examination of the remaining castles, 

 towers, keeps, &c. the dates may be tra- 

 ced beyond the middle of the fourteenth 

 century. Such were the solidity and 

 the hardness of many ancient buildings, 

 that the stone shots, originally used, pro- 

 duced a very slight effect; nor was it un- 

 til iron balls were brought into use, that 

 the powers of cannon were, in any mea- 

 sure, ascertained. 



That point being gained, the whole 

 system of defence was necessarily made 

 to conform to the destructive engines 

 which now were added to the common 

 practices of assault. The sword, buck- 

 ler, lance, dart, javelin, sling, bow and 

 arrow, lost their wonted estimation, and, 

 dwindling into insignificance on the great 

 scale, were reserved for individual con- 

 test, or for the lesser purposes of de- 

 sultory warfare. The great object was, 

 to construct such stupendous bulwarks, 

 as might not only oppose the newly de- 

 vised missiles, but, at the same time, sup- 

 port similar means of destroying the in- 

 vading army. 



Hence arose the formation of ramparts, 

 and, gradually, the necessity for deep 

 ditches, and various outworks ; whereby 

 considerable delay and difficulty might 

 be created. 



The fortifications of the fifteenth cen- 

 tury, although to a certain extent new- 

 modelled, and made comformable to the 

 necessity imposed by the invention and 

 use of cannon, nevertheless did not dis- 

 play any ingenuity in regard to mutual 

 defence. That great principle was little 

 understood, and the minutiae of the sci- 

 ence remained, for a long time, miserably 

 defective. Men of genus, at length, in 

 part remedied the errors of the old school, 

 and opened the way for that exactness of 

 proportion, and for that systematic ar- 

 rangement, which characterize the works 

 of modern times. The impregnable for- 

 tresses to be seen in various parts of Eu- 

 rope cannot fail to transmit the names of 

 their several engineers to posterity ; un- 

 happily, not unaccompanied by those of 

 the traitors and poltroons, who, even 

 since the commencement of the present 



century, have shamefully abandoned the 

 posts of honour, and yielded to inferior 

 powers. 



The immense armies now constantly 

 brought into the field, and the heavy 

 trains of artillery by which they are, in 

 almost all cases, attended, occasion not 

 only an adequate preparation for resist- 

 ance, but the necessity for establishing 

 lines of communication, of depots, Scc.all 

 of which must be on the best construction 

 for defence, containing safe lodgment for 

 a sufficient garrison, together with ample 

 and secure magazines for provisions and 

 for stores. Hence the province of the en- 

 gineer becomes peculiarly important ; it 

 comprises various branches of informa- 

 tion, and requires that readiness of com- 

 putation, of discernment, and of appro- 

 priate resource, which rarely combine in 

 the same individual. The merely plan- 

 ning in the closet, and the laying down on 

 the soil, such defences as may perhaps be 

 void of fault, so far as relates to mutual 

 support, and to the great work of procras- 

 tination, will avail nothing, if the other 

 essentials are neglected ; and even when 

 they are not, the whole may be rendered 

 abortive,and become contemptible, mere- 

 ly from a want of judgment in point of 

 locality. 



Fortification is generally considered un- 

 der two heads, i. e>. natural and artificial. 

 The former relates entirely to those inva- 

 luablesituationSjWhicb, being either com- 

 pletely inaccessible, or nearly so, require 

 but few additions, and demand only such 

 guards as may prevent surprise. For want 

 of that precaution, some posts have been 

 taken, which no army, however numerous 

 and well provided, could have forced to 

 capitulation. Perhaps, of all the instan- 

 ces that could be adduced in regard to 

 so fortunate a position as should defy as- 

 sault, the fortress of Ootradroog, situated 

 in the dominions of the late Tippoo Sa- 

 heb, sultan of the Mysore, may be justly 

 considered as the most worthy of being 

 cited. It stands on a plain, no hill or 

 eminence of any consideration being 

 within several miles. It is, in fact, insu- 

 lated, and consists of a solid rock, rising, 

 on a average, about eight hundred feet 

 above the adjacent level ; its sides are 

 nearly perpendicular throughoutitswhole 

 circumference, which measures nearly a 

 mile. The ascent into it is by stone 

 steps, intermixed with occasional breaks 

 for temporary ladders, the whole of which 

 could be destroyed by the -fall of a few 

 large stones, always kept on the parapet 

 for that purpose. Indeed, the interior is 



