the army had had to carry out changes of front in presence

of the enemy.

The profile in Fig. 2, Pl. 1, reversed, is suitable for shelter for a battery, but in this case the mound should be from 2' 7" to 2' 11" high.

The detachments get under cover in little trenches (rigoles) hollowed out between the guns.

All the waggons which have to remain in the neighbourhood of batteries or troops in action may be sheltered in the same way. Captain Richard says, 'It will perhaps be sufficient for. the waggons to improvise shelter by digging out in front of each wheel a sloping rut, allowing of its being buried up to the middle, and to heap up in front a small mound of earth.

'As Artillery is no longer forced on the field of battle to make such frequent changes of position as formerly, either to concentrate its fire or to follow the movements of enemies or friends, the batteries may sometimes be provided with a bulletproof epaulment.'

Epaulments of this kind were constructed by the Austrians during the 1866 campaign, especially at Sadowa, where they were masked by branches planted on the glacis and the exterior slope. (See Fig. 8, Pl. 1).

The guns were in barbette, and were protected against oblique and enfilade fire by merlons, which served at the same time to cover small magazines. The communication with these magazines was by trenches, into which the detachments retired as soon as the guns were loaded.

Four hours were enough for the engineers to construct these batteries.

The shelter-trenches constructed in France were criticised as follows by General Faidherbe: 1

The width of the ditch at the bottom being only 3' 7", men

1 Revue militaire française, August 1869.

in two ranks cannot stand there very easily, and there is no room for supernumeraries, &c.

'This disadvantage is rather serious; however, the parapet is sufficient protection against musketry, and the time required for its construction is certainly not too long. Unfortunately, this must be done by means of tools carried, not by the men themselves, but in waggons attached to each division; and for that reason the system appears to us almost worthless.

'In fact, a battalion which is expecting to be attacked, and wishes to obtain cover, must first ask the general commanding the division to give orders to the Engineers of the division to provide the tools, &c.'

Supposing each man to receive a tool, and to learn to make use of it as well as of his rifle, General Faidherbe proposes to adopt the following profile :

'The digging is only 9 inches deep, but it is 13 ft. wide, so that there is room in it for officers, supernumeraries, drummers, trumpeters, &c. This is the detail for its construction:

'Every man is furnished with a tool, there being twice as many shovels as pickaxes. The battalion occupies its position in line of battle, and has to throw up cover; it gets the word: "Right about turn!" Eight paces forward!" "Ground arms!" "Front!" " Eight paces forward!" The next command is: "Rear rank step back four paces!" "Each rank number from right of companies!" "Even files step back two paces! "

'The men are then standing chequerwise, two paces from each other in every direction, which allows of each man working all round his own position.

'The command is then given: "Take up your tools!" "Commence work!"

'The whole of these preparations take about a minute; 15 minutes afterwards the digging is completed and the parapet raised to a height of 34 ft.'

This result was obtained in Africa.

We must draw attention to the fact that General Faidherbe's profile necessitates the use of shovels with long handles, while that referred to in the Memorandum of April 17, 1868, can be constructed with short-handled shovels. On the other hand, a parapet 3 ft. in height offers greater difficulties in crossing than the regulation trench. These reasons are sufficient to condemn the new profile, especially the first, which is of itself decisive. In fact, the long-handled shovel weighs 4 or 5 lbs., and is in the way of a soldier when he has to cross a wood or travel in a railway-carriage. The tools of the troops would then have to be loaded in waggons or on requisitioned carriages, which would follow the columns a short distance off, a method of transport allowed by the French general himself to be inadmissible.

As for the supernumeraries, drummers, and trumpeters, we see no objection to their temporarily falling-in in the ranks when the battalion occupies a shelter-trench. They might also lie down on the reverse side of the trench.

Besides, we have proposed (p. 19) that the French sheltertrench should be widened,

The mode of construction proposed by Colonel de Pidoll, which consists in employing 2 men for every 3 ft. of trench, has the drawback that it more or less retards the work, by obliging the rear-rank man to keep behind the one in the front rank.

The excavation is more readily performed when the men are placed in one rank, a mètre apart, as is done in France.

But in this case one-third only of the force can be employed, that is, two companies out of six, and the trench is not constructed with the rapidity it is possible to attain.

The Austrian method employs two-thirds of the battalion, but in a less effective manner, since the men are too crowded, and can only be relieved half at a time.

In our opinion, in order to obtain the maximum of speed, and to make the work as easy as possible, the following plan should be adopted :

Form up the battalion, every third file being provided with pickaxes and the remainder with shovels; halt it four paces from the trench to be dug, open the ranks, ground arms, and lay down knapsacks.

When these preparations are made, the front rank advance with their tools; each group of three takes a piece of ground 5' 10" long (being the width occupied by three men in the ranks). Two out of the three have shovels; the third has a pickaxe, and places himself between and behind the others; he picks the earth, throws with his hand on to the embankment the large pieces he loosens, throws back those which roll into the trench, and facilitates as much as possible his companions' work.

If the work were to last longer than twenty minutes (the time required for shelter-trenches in ordinary ground), the men in the rear rank, who had been lying down behind the arms, would take the place of those in the front rank.

The serjeants superintend the work of the squads, and the corporals, furnished with saws and axes, cut branches of trees in the neighbourhood, if necessary, to mask the trenches.

In this way the digging would be carried on along the whole front, with the assistance of all the soldiers. Half of them would watch over the others, and, should any unforeseen danger occur, the battalion would be under arms in less than a minute.

This mode of working would still suit if each file were provided with only one intrenching tool, as is done in Denmark ; only in this case the men on leaving the trench would leave their shovels and pickaxes there, instead of carrying them away.

CHAPTER III.

TRANSPORT OF TOOLS.

'THE question of the transport of tools is a very important one. Should every soldier have an intrenching tool, as was wished by Napoleon, and as is insisted on by the generals who took part in the War of Secession? Should part only of the troops be provided with them, as is thought in France and Prussia? Should the tools be carried in rear of regiments by special waggons, as has hitherto been done in most armies? Or, lastly, should defensive works be constructed by pioneers or Engineers, as was done under Charles V. ?

The first method is on trial in Russia. In the Danish Army a tool is given to each file. The men make use of it alternately, and the duration of their work is only five or six minutes. Under these conditions a shelter-trench can be constructed in a quarter of an hour.

In Prussia the men belonging to the battalions of Jägers have a short-handled tool. In the United States Army the tools of each battalion are carried in turn by the men of two companies at a time.

This method is also, though only partially, employed in Russia. The first plan seems to us preferable to all the others, because by it the impedimenta are diminished, and the work is accelerated.

A soldier who is forming an excavation for his own protection is more vigorous and more careful in executing his task than one who is doing the same work for others. He has, too, more