 18 The Siege of Orléans in 1428 The city of Orléans, like other medieval towns, was really a great fortress. Around it, beside the wall and the deep moats, had been built thirty-four great towers, enormously thick at the base where they were almost solid stone and rising three stories into the air. These, as well as the walls, were loophold, so that archers might shoot upon a besieging army from windows that were narrow on the inside, but broadened toward the outside, so that they would give those inside a wide view, and the arrows could reach a wide space. The great importance of the fortress to French and to the English lay in the fact that it was the last stronghold which still held out against the triumphant English armies. Besides this, it guarded the River Lois, and once the English had passed this river it would not belong before the whole of France would be in their power, since they already held all of the north in league with the Bervendians. Across the river ran a stone bridge, the head of which, on the farther side, was guarded by towers called Les Tourettes, or as we would say, the Tourettes. On the townside of the bridge were large Bastilles great round towers, powerful fortresses that had been built eleven years before to protect the town against the English Henry V. The people of Orléans had been able to hold their own against the conqueror of Agincourt, for Henry had not the strength to carry on a long siege. The English, under the command of Lord Salisbury, had taken every town in the neighborhood, and their forces filled the valleys of the Lois, both above and below Orléans. When he sought to take this last stronghold of the French, men and women, even children in the clergy, worked with the will to strengthen the fortifications, to provide ammunition, to place upon the walls the cannon and the catapults, for this siege took place before cannon had become so accurate in fire, and so long in range, that the old-fashioned war machines were driven into disuse. On October 12th, 1428, the English crossed the river and drew up their forces in front of the stone bridge. To prevent too near an approach to the defenses, the French had torn down all the neighboring houses, and also a great convent which might serve as cover to their foes. The English, however, built new defenses on the side of the convent, and soon had placed a battery where it could fire huge stones against the turrets that guarded the bridgehead. Stones, roughly rounded, were in those days quite as commonly, or more commonly used, than iron shot. So passed the first week. Then came a brave assault that lasted for four hours, in which the English tried to capture the first two or else. Against the English soldiers fought not only the French men and arms, but even the women. They threw missiles down upon the English soldiers who, in their pointed steel caps and chain armor protected by their shields, came to little harm. But they could not force their way into the turrets at the head of the bridge. No doubt this English attack was meant only to mask their more serious attempt underground, for it was soon discovered that mines had been dug beneath the turrets, and it was useless to attempt to hold them. Consequently the French abandoned this part of their defenses, moving along the bridge to smaller towers that were built halfway over the river. At the same time they exploded a mine that had been placed ready beneath two arches of the stone bridge farther back, and by blowing these into the air they cut off the portion captured by the English. In place of the destroyed arches the French put a wooden drawbridge so that when they should be driven back by the advances of the English they could raise their drawbridge to prevent their enemies from crossing. But the English commander, Salisbury, did not try to capture the rest of the bridge, being satisfied to hold ahead of it, and thus keep the French from using it for making sallies or receiving provisions. The south side of the town had no bridge. On the day of this assault Salisbury climbed into the captured towers to view Orléans from this point of vantage, as the commander gazed over the ramparts, and just as one of his officers was saying, my lord, behold your city, suddenly a cannon was discharged from the walls, mortally wounding the English commander. It is said that this was a mere chance shot fired by a boy, who, finding the cannon loaded and ready at the noon hour, touched a match to it and then ran away. In Shakespeare's play King Henry VI, Part I, Salisbury is introduced to saying, Here, through this great, I count each one and view the Frenchman how they fortify. Let me have your express opinions where it's best place to make our battery next. While those with him are replying, the shot comes from the wall, and Salisbury falls with a wound from which he soon died. Just afterward, in the drama, is announced the coming of La Pichelle, the maid of Orléans. Shakespeare too declares the shot was fired by a boy, who is introduced in the play with the French master-gunner, Maitre-Jean, a real character, noted for his markmanship. This French gunner is represented in the play as having discovered that the English leader was accustomed to inspect the town from a certain grading and as having trained a cannon upon that loophole. He leaves his son to watch and to fire the piece upon discovering the English. The death of the English leader caused the siege to slacken until the celebrated English soldier's talbot at Lord Scales took command and vigorously pressed the siege once more. There followed a vigorous bombardment between the besiegers and besieged in which the French master-gunner is said to have greatly distinguished himself by being able infallibly to shoot down those English leaders who exposed themselves. Though it was in the early days of cannon-aiding, both fired heavy shot of more than a hundred pounds in weight. The French gunners were the more skillful, so the siege dragged on with little progress, the forces of the English being increased by reinforcements until they had some forty-five hundred men. The French had about as many, but seemed to be afraid of making any determined attack upon the English troops in spite of the fact that all the French-minute arms were veteran soldiers. It was not until February 1429 that any serious fighting took place. This was the so-called Battle of the Herrings, won by the English. This battle emboldened the English and they began to strengthen the line of fortresses about the city until they had completely surrounded it and were able to bombard it from every side. The town, meanwhile, was suffering from famine and it seemed that surrender could not long be delayed unless age should arrive from outside. It was when things were in this state that the relieving force under Joan of Arc marched to the city. How many troops she had with her is not known, but there must have been from seven to twelve thousand. Enough, one would think, to have driven the English from their lines even without the miraculous aid of Joan. She had gathered her forces at the town of Blois, which is a few miles down the stream on the same river as Oléon, and here many wagons were loaded with provisions and followed the train of her army to relieve the starving city. At last all was ready and the maid, banner in hand, led her army out of Bois, singing a solemn chant and a grand chorus as if the march were a religious procession. Two nights they camped in the fields, and on the third day came in sight of the walls and towers of the besieged city. She had directed that the march should be directly to Oléon itself, but the officers thought it wiser to march on the southern side of the La River, so that they might be safer from the large part of the English army that was on the northern side. Thus they saw, before them, when they halted, the tall siege towers of the English army around the head of the fortified bridge, while beyond the river, where the walls and towers of Oléon, and still beyond, were others of the sixty fortresses that the English had erected in circuit around the town. Joan no doubt saw at a glance that no one of these towers could hold many English, for she advised that the nearest tower should be attacked, so that the French could ford the river and at once enter Oléon. Again the officers overruled the maid, and the forces were marched eastward along the river four miles to a ford where there were some small islands. These islands were used as the landing place for provisions sent to Oléon, and to them boats came to bring the supplies left there. Dunois, the French commander of Oléon, had come out to meet Joan and her forces, and while he was explaining that the wind prevented the arrival of the Oléon boats, Joan predicted that the wind would change and that the boats would come and return in safety. This all happened. The supplies were carried to the broken bridge, and Joan and her party were ferried to the north side. When darkness came, they found their way to Oléon and were admitted amid wildest rejoicing. Lighted by torches, a great crowd thronged around to see Joan and her knights, who were so pressed upon that one of the torches set fire to Joan's sacred banner in her very hand. She went straight to the cathedral to give thanks for her successful entry, and then sought rest with her attendants in the home of the Duke of Oléon's treasurer. Joan's arrival brought hope and food. Both gave new courage to the hungry and the fearful. Dunois, the commander, said that after her coming the French soldiers no longer feared the English but were eager to attack. Even before Joan gave the word, four hundred French charged out and drove back a strong force of the English, but this led to nothing further. The officers were not willing that Joan should lead an attack. The maid seemed to hope that the English would yield without fighting. She sent messengers and letters, but these were scorned. She went out upon the bridge and summoned Glanstale, who commanded the English in the captured tower to surrender. Though she was laughed at and insulted, no one shot at her. When her summons were scorned she told the English that they would soon be driven back, but that Glanstale would not go with them. While Joan was encouraging the French, Dunois had gone to Bois for the rest of the relieving army, and arrived in time to persuade them to follow him to Oléon, a step which most of those in command at Bois opposed. On the 2nd of May Joan led a great throng from the city and examined the English siege towers and forts, and two days later she rode boldly through the English lines to meet Dunois on the coming troops, and then marched back with them. The English, though the stronger force did not attack. Perhaps the soldiers were too superstitious to face an army led by a white-robed sorceress, for such they called her. So the reinforcements came safely to Oléon. Joan knew that the English, too, were expecting aid. Sir John Falstaff was on the march with soldiers and supplies, and she besought Dunois to give her instant word of his arrival. But he failed, and one day she was sleeping when she heard cannon firing. She sprang to her feet, was armed by the women, and receiving her banner through the window spurred at full speed toward the fighting. On the way she passed men carrying the wounded, and was full of grief and pity. But she rode bravely into the field of battle and gave orders that the French should see that no aid came from the other English towers to reach the one attacked, the Tower of St. Lupe. On foot, and with banner in hand she encouraged the French, and despite an attempt to reinforce the English, the Tower of St. Lupe was taken, and its defenders captured or slain. When returning in triumph she told the rejoicing people that in five days' time they would be free to the enemy, not one Englishman being left before the walls. And they believed her. That night the bells were rung in sign of their joy over the first success. Next day Joan tied to an arrow shot into the English lines a letter, saying that this was her third and last demand that they should depart. But no answering letter came. The day after this success was a church day, and Joan passed the time in religious observances. On the following day the French were led to attack the English position at the Bastille or Tower of the Augustinians. This Tower was most important, as it stood farther down the river than the bridge, and was near a little island which made it easy to cross to the towers on the opposite side of the river. If the Augustinian Tower should be taken the English would be left in two separate bodies with a river between them and no crossing place. The French crossed the river and landed on an island called Saint-Augneaux. The English had not thought this worth guarding. But when the French had been carried in their boats to this island and were gathered in force, they found themselves so near to the other shore that two boats put together made a bridge over which they could advance to the attack on the Tower of the Augustinians. But first they must take a smaller Tower, Saint-Jean-Leblanc, the very one Joan had wished to capture when they first arrived from Bois. This Tower the English abandoned setting it afire and retreated to the stronger fort. After advancing boldly the French became frightened, fearing that a strong force of English would come from a neighboring fort, and they retreated toward the river. Joan and her own company of knights followed slowly. When the English came out after them, Joan's own party charged as the maid, waving her banner, cried, Follow me! This sudden attack amazed the English. The retreating French came back and the English were glad to return to their tower in fortifications. But the maid and her knights followed closely. She planted her banner on the barricade and a hand to hand struggle took place. Soon a breach was made in the barricade in the following manner. Joan Steward, Dolon, was among those left to guard the river passage. As he and the other stood there a big, well-armed men-at-arms came by. A Spanish soldier told his fellow he ought to help guard the passage, whereupon the other said he would not do it. Then the Spaniard reproached the other. Each began to dare the other, and finally they joined hands and rode toward the English barricade to see which would go farthest. Reaching the palisades a big English knight met them at every point and kept them back. Seeing this, Dolon pointed this Englishman out to Joan the master-gunner. Now Joan's cannon, or culverine, was on wheels, and probably had been taken to aid in the attack. For it is said that he shot the English knight and thus enabled the two soldiers, French and Spanish, to break through the barricade. The rest of the French followed, and soon after won the fort or tower of the Augustinians, the next to strongest tower held by the besiegers. Joyfully the French encamped that night in and around the stronghold, while Joan returned to her lodging in the city. Although only three thousand strong, they had taken three hundred prisoners, recovered two hundred French prisoners, and slain a third of the English in the fortress. This was Joan's second victory, and the only strong position that remained was that before the bridge over the law, and this was the strongest one of all. It was too late to attack on that day, and the French officers were not anxious to fight at all, thinking that they could now wait for aid. Indeed, an officer came from their council to tell Joan of this resolve, and she replied, You have been to your council, and I have been to mine, and believe me, the Council of God will be accomplished while yours will perish. Then Joan warned her priest or almaner to rise early, saying, We shall have a hard day's work. Keep close to me. I shall have much to do more and greater than I have ever had. I shall be wounded. My blood will flow from a wound higher than my breast. A letter exists, dated fifteen days earlier than the attack on the bridge-towers, in which a French Lord of Lyon mentions this prophecy as having been made, and Joan's priest, Poscorelle, swore to her making it to him again on the night before the attack. When, early in the morning of Saturday, May 7, Joan rode to the gate, she found it had been ordered closed and passage forbidden. Nevertheless, saying, You are doing wrong and whether You wish it or not, my soldiers shall pass, she insisted upon going forth through the attack, and the gate was opened. Riding to the French outposts, the attack upon the Great Bridge Fortress began about six or seven o'clock, and the main body of the French came to the assistance of Joan and her knights. As this was the main position of the English, the struggle was most desperate. From the walls the people of Orlyon watched the struggle, and the artillery lent what aid it could sending stones and iron shot against the towers. The English had now brought their whole strength to this point, and there was desperate fighting with spear, sword, lance, and bow. Both sides lost heavily. Again and again the French reached the ditch, crossed, put up ladders, and were driven back. For six hours or more the fierce fighting lasted, Joan in the very forefront, urging on the men at arms. At length she helped raise a long scaling ladder against the tower, when a crossbowman, firing down upon her from the parapet, set a bolt deep into her shoulder. She fell and was hastily carried to the rear, while her comrades struggled on. Great was the triumph of the English over the death of the sorceress, and, as great, the discouragement of the French, who struggled on with small hope of success. Joan, meanwhile, wept with pain and grief, but soon became quieter. She refused to have her wound charmed, saying it would be a sin. Oil and lard were applied and the bleeding stocked. But in her absence the attack went badly. The French were about to retire when Joan remounted her horse and begged for a little delay. She went into a vineyard, prayed, and then came forward to the attack, burying her banner. She rode to the very edge of the trench. Her reappearance, apparently from death itself, terrified the English and redoubled the courage of her own soldiers. The French again rushed forward at all points, and soon the outer defenses were taken, and then the French rushed to the towers. It was now about eight in the evening, and the English, in trying to retreat from the first tower to the second, fell from a broken bridge that had been struck by a ball from the French artillery. Their leader, Glanstael, was in full armor, and went to the bottom of the river with many of his followers. Seeing the retreat, the French attacked the towers from the stone bridge that connected them with Orléans, and in a panic the English yielded everywhere, and their last stronghold was in the hands of the French. This Joan had predicted, even while her forces seemed to make no headway, saying, When you see the wind drive my banner toward the fort, it will be yours. After the victory the French entered Orléans by the stone bridge, and this also the maid had foretold when she set forth that morning. These prophecies are historic. All Orléans thronged to meet the victors, and together the rejoicing soldiers and citizens went in grand procession to the cathedral, while the church bells rang and kept on ringing through the night, and the joyful people betook themselves to giving thanks and making merry with bonfires, dancing, and songs. On the following day, Sunday, Joan was asked whether she would fight. But instead, when the armies both French and English were drawn up facing one another, she asked that her priests should celebrate the mass. When this was done she demanded whether the English have their faces or their backs turned to us. The English were seen to be turned in sullen retreat, and Joan said, Let them depart in God's name. Thus on May 8, 1429, after ten days of the maid's presence, ended the siege begun October 12, 1428. It was a marvelous achievement, and from it we may learn the power that comes in warfare to those who fight with belief in their leader, their cause, and themselves. The main strength of an army lies in its soul, and it was the souls of the French that followed the peasant martyr to victory. If we learn this lesson from the Siege of Orleans, we shall be fully warranted including it among the great sieges of the world, though the science displayed on either side was far from unusual or remarkable. End of section 18 We have already told the story of a successful attempt to hold Constantinople against the Eastern warriors in the year 1717, when by the use of Greek fire the enemy's ships were burned, an attempt upon the seawall of the city, by far the weakest side, was prevented. Over seven centuries later there came another attack against the great stronghold, which succeeded in resting the city from the hands of the Christians. This was one of the most important sieges in the world's history, but it is not one that needs telling at great length, since it is only the story of the success of an overwhelming force against a few helpless and abandoned men. It was great because of its results on the world. The leader of this siege was Muhammad II, a youthful warrior who was only 23 at the time of the taking of the city. Having learned something of its defenseless condition, Muhammad sent a force to build siege works just outside of Constantinople. At once envoys from the city made formal protest against these hostile operations, but the protest was not repeated since Muhammad sent back the messengers with the threat to flay any others who came from the city. Then he leisurely completed the building of his fortress, which in three months was fully completed and armed with heavy artillery. All being ready, Muhammad declared war against the Emperor Constantine, who then commanded a petty garrison of only 600 Greek soldiers, far too few to extend even a fringe of armed men along the massive walls. Constantine had little hope of securing help, but having sent a despairing appeal for aid, he finally mustered some 9,000 men and in April 1453, with this little force, he confronted the Turkish expedition, which included a quarter of a million men and a naval force of 420 vessels. A bombardment followed in which on both sides were employed not only ancient but modern artillery. The walls were subjected at the same time to the blows of great battering rams, to stones flung from catapults, and to shot and shell from the heaviest cannon that up to that time had been constructed. These cannon had been drawn to the siege on enormous platforms dragged by long trains of yoked oxen. Not only did the Turks attack the city on the side of the sea, but they carried their lighter craft across the land into the city's harbours on the narrow strait to the northward, thus assaulting the city upon all three sides. For 53 days the city held out, but on May the 29th a general attack was made along the whole line and the small garrison fell, bravely trying to defend the gates. The emperor Constantine was killed and the hordes of Turks came rushing into the city streets. The despairing people gathered in the great church of Saint Sophia where it had been predicted that an armed angel from heaven would descend to protect the Christians against the infidels. Nearly a thousand people were slain or sold into slavery. The great city which contained the uncounted wealth piled up through the long ages of its imperial history became for three horrible days a scene of murder, pillage, riot and confusion and the Turkish crescent was hoisted over the walls there to remain until our own time. The final assault by the Turks is thus told by Gibbon in his picturesque and sonorous style. The preceding night had been strenuously employed. The troops, the cannons and the facins were advanced to the edge of the ditch which in many parts presented a smooth and level passage to the breach and his four score galleys almost touched with the prowess and their scaling ladders the less defensible walls of the harbour. The foremost ranks consisted of the refuse of the host a voluntary crowd who fought without order or command of the feebleness of age or childhood of peasants and vagrants and of all who had joined the camp in the blind hope of plunder and martyrdom. The common impulse drove them onward to the wall the most audacious to climb were instantly precipitated and not a dart not a bullet of the Christians was idly wasted on the accumulated throng but their strength and ammunition were exhausted in this laborious defence the ditch was filled with the bodies of the slain they supported the footsteps of their companions and of this devoted vanguard the death was more serviceable than the life. Under their respective bachelors the troops of Anatolia and Romania were successively led to the charge their progress was various and doubtful but after a conflict of two hours the Greeks still maintained and improved their advantage and the voice of the emperor was heard encouraging his soldiers to achieve by our last effort the deliverance of their country in that fatal moment the janissaries arose fresh vigorous and invincible the sultan himself on horseback with an iron mace in his hand was the spectator and judge of their valour he was surrounded by 10 000 of his domestic troops whom he reserved for the decisive occasion and the tide of battle was directed and impelled by his voice and eye from the lines the galleys and the bridge the ottoman artillery thundered on all sides and the camp and city the Greeks and the Turks were involved in a cloud of smoke which could only be dispelled by the final deliverance or destruction of the roman empire the single combats of the heroes of history or fable amuse our fancy and engage our affections the skillful evolutions of war may inform the mind and improve a necessary though pernicious science but in the uniform and odious pictures of a general assault all is blood and horror and confusion the immediate loss of Constantinople may be ascribed to the bullet or arrow which pierced the gauntlet of john justiniani the sight of his blood and the exquisite pain appalled the courage of the chief whose arms and councils were the firmest rampart of the city as he withdrew from his station in quest of a surgeon his flight was perceived and stopped by the indefatigable emperor your wound exclaimed paleogas is slight the danger is pressing your presence is necessary and wither will you retire i will retire said the trembling genoese by the same road which god has opened to the turks and at these words he hastily passed through one of the breaches of the inner wall by this pusillanimous act he stained the honors of a military life and the few day which the leader survived in galatia or the isle of kios were embittered by his own and the public reproach his example was imitated by the greatest part of the latin auxiliaries and the defense began to slacken when the attack was pressed with redoubled vigor the number of the ottomans was 50 perhaps a hundred times superior to that of the christians the double walls were reduced by the canon to a heap of ruins in a circuit of several miles some places must be found more easy of access or more feebly guarded and if the besiegers could penetrate in a single point the whole city was irrecoverably lost the first to deserve the sultan's reward was hasan the janissary of gigantic stature and strength with his cemetery in one hand and his buckler in the other he ascended the outward fortification of the 30 janissaries who were emulous of his valour 18 perished in the bold adventure hasan and his 12 companions had reached the summit the giant was precipitated from the rampart he rose on one knee and was again oppressed by a shower of darts and stones but his success had proved that the achievement was possible the walls and towers were instantly covered with a swarm of turks and the greeks now driven from the vantage ground were overwhelmed by increasing multitudes amidst these multitudes the emperor who accomplished all the duties of a general and a soldier was long seen and finally lost the nobles who fought around his person sustained till their last breath the honorable names of paleogas and kazoo cuisine his mournful exclamation was heard cannot there be found a christian to cut off my head and his last fear was that of falling alive into the hands of the infidels the prudent despair of constant time cast away the purple amidst the tumult he fell by an unknown hand and his body was buried under a mountain of the slain after his death resistance and order were no more the greeks fled toward the city and many were pressed and stifled in the narrow pass of the gate of saint romanus the victoria's turks rushed through the breaches of the inner wall and as they advanced into the streets they were soon joined by their brethren who had forced the gate fennar on the side of the harbour in the first heat of the pursuit about 2 000 christians were put to the sword but avarice soon prevailed over cruelty and the victors acknowledged that they should immediately have given quarter if the valour of the emperor and his chosen vans had not prepared them for a similar opposition in every part of the capital it was thus after a siege of 53 days that constantin opal was irretrievably subdued by the arms of mohammed the second her empire had been subverted by the latins her religion was trampled in the dust by the muslim conquerors there is in the next siege that of the island of roads an increase in the part played by cannon fire this had so proved its value that the strong walls of roads were unable to resist the shock poured upon them but though the walls were broken through again and again the breaches were so bravely defended by the knights of st john that they won immortal glory in resisting the enormous forces of the turks gunpowder appears also in the mines that were prepared to blow up the walls when these should be attacked by the enemy the important points in the city became the targets for the enemy's guns and in general we see in this siege the beginning of the days when gunpowder plays the chief part in the taking of cities end of chapter 19 section 20 of the book of famous sieges this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Jennifer Painter the book of famous sieges by Tudor Jenks section 20 the siege of roads 1522 just to the southward of Asia Minor in the Mediterranean is a chain of large islands extending southwestward into the Mediterranean Sea the largest of these is the island of Crete then come to smaller islands near the shore and finally the island of Rhodes just about 45 miles long and half as broad lying nearest the coast of Asia Minor as it possesses two fine harbors on the eastward side and lies at the mouth of the Aegean Sea right in the path of ships on voyages from Turkey and Greece to the east and as in the old days this was one of the greatest trade routes constantly full of shipping the island of Rhodes has always been a most important naval station and trademark the climate is fine and sunshiny the land is fertile and the island has always been populace and occasionally a bone of contention between rival nations either across or at the side of one of its harbors stood the great Colossus of Rhodes one of the seven wonders of the world this stood until a little more than two centuries before Christ when an earthquake caused its fall and destruction leaving great brazen fragments lying upon the shore in the waters of the harbour until 656 AD when the Saracens having taken the city sold the old metal to an eastern dealer who loaded a train of 900 canals in order to convey the broken pieces from the desert the city has had many sieges Demetrius Colliocetes whose second name means city taker failed to keep up his reputation here for though in 304 BC he succeeded in making breaches in the walls his men were driven away in 42 BC the great Roman Cassius took the place and plundered it in the Middle Ages just at the beginning of the 14th century the island which was then in the possession of the Greek Emperor Emmanuel ruler of Constantinople was granted to the Knights of Saint John or the Knights Hospitallers the story of these knights is one of the most romantic in history but would fill many volumes the order began in 1023 when a little hospital was established in Jerusalem for the benefit of pilgrims to the holy city after the crusaders had taken Jerusalem their wounded were cared for by the attendants of this little charity and this caused the Hospitallers to be renowned and favoured throughout Christendom large sums were sent for their support and rich men dying left money and lands for their benefit the order grew so rich and its property was so widespread that officers had to be appointed all over Europe to take care of the great estates belonging to the society their great rivals were the Knights Templars with whom they at times came even to open battle while Rhodes was in their keeping the city of Smyrna which they had conquered and held as an outpost was taken by the Tata leader Timor in 1401 but the Knights when he had withdrawn his hordes still remained in possession of Rhodes there was a great wall about the city which stood at the northeast extremity of the island within the walls was their church of St John the palace of their grand master which was really the citadel of the fortress and also the separate quarters of the town set apart to the Knights of different nations for each country had its branch of the order in 1480 Muhammad II came with an enormous force against the island and besieged it by land and sea with heavy artillery for Muhammad possessed enormous cannon and very skillful artillery men but although the siege was vigorously pressed the inhabitants had maintained their fame for bravery and skill in fight and the Turks were compelled to give up the siege and retire which added greatly to the fame of the stronghold and to that of the order who held it in the year 1522 there came an election to fill the office of grand master of the order and after some fierce rivalry a French knight Villiers Delisle Adam was elected defeating another prominent knight named Damiral at this time the Turks were still warring against the Christians in the east and after a long siege had just succeeded in capturing the noted city Belgrade one of the strongest and best fortified of Serbia and the knights had every reason to expect that the successful Turkish general would soon bring his forces against them it was partly for this reason that they had been so deeply interested in the selection of the grand master Laila Dam, aware that he might have to provide for the defense of the island against the conqueror of Belgrade, Solomon II, sailed at once from France for roads. His voyage was most adventurous at first his ship caught fire and the flames were extinguished only after the most desperate efforts of his crew a terrible thunderstorm overtook them shortly afterward and the ship was struck by lightning killing nine of the crew and melting Laila's sword as it hung at his side but without injuring the grand master. It was still the custom to coast along the shores and it was fortunate that the master of the order did so for he was told at one of the ports that the noted pirate Kurtoglu was cruising about in the hope of capturing him before he could reach the island. By sailing at night instead of by day the pirate was eluded and Lail landed safely in the harbour of roads and set himself at once to prepare for the coming of the Turks. It is said that the father of Solomon II addressing his son from his death bed had declared to him you will be a great and powerful monarch provided you take Belgrade and drive the knights from roads. Probably this was known for though Solomon sent messages to the knights promising them friendship and offering to cultivate their favour Laila Adan sent no reply except to call the attention of the Turks to the fact that they had put in command of the Turkish fleet the pirate Kurtoglu who after the failure of his attempt to seize the grand master had been defeated by a ship of the Rodians and forced to give up some of his plunder. Still the Sultan Solomon pretended to be friendly and humbly desired that an ambassador might be sent to him to represent the island but Laila Adan refused knowing too well what would be done to the ambassador. His good sense was proved shortly afterward when he learned that the Turks had captured a Rodian sailor and by torturing him had extracted all the information that he could give about the defences of the island. In order to strengthen themselves as much as possible the knights dispatched swift ships to Europe and sent messages begging help from France, Germany and other countries but at this time European wars kept all the monarchs busy and the only help that came to the knights was the arrival of 500 Cretans archers with the crossbow and most famed for their skill. In addition to these there came in the same vessel a certain Venetian engineer Gabriel Martinigo known throughout Christendom for his skill in fortification and military matters. Hardly had he become acquainted with them then his admiration for the knights led Martinigo to ask to become one of the order. He was eagerly welcome to their number and at once appointed to high office and given full charge of the preparations to resist the Turks attack. With the eye of a master he examined the ramparts he built new works at what he considered the weaker points made openings for guns to sweep positions that needed defense and dug great mines under such parts of the wall as seemed to invite assault by the Turks. Not only did he strengthen the outer fortifications but caused strong barricades to be built here and there in the streets of the town so that even if the walls could be taken the defense of the place might be kept up as long as possible. When this engineer declared all was ready the garrison were ordered to parade in the public square and all sworn to defend the city to the last. To make sure that their garrison was supplied with arms each soldier also made oath that his equipment was his own and would be ready when needed. The next question was as to ammunition and supplies several of the leaders one of them being Damiral who had been defeated in his attempts to be elected grand master was sent out to find exactly how much powder and shot and what supplies the knights could rely upon and they assured the grand master that both food and ammunition were ample for their needs. All was now ready for the Turks attack but Damiral and some of the knights who favored him asked permission to make a brief visit to a neighboring island on some business of their own. Naturally the grand master refused where upon the rebellious knights seized a vessel and set sail secretly. In spite of their dangerous position Lyle Adam showed the true qualities of a leader for calling a meeting of his knights he at once demanded the expulsion and disgrace of these men who had deserted their posts at a time when the greatest dangers threatened. He was loyally supported and the vote was passed. This had the effect of shaming Damiral and his followers who returned and upon their knees begged the grand master's forgiveness. There was no further sign of disloyalty. The numbers of knights themselves was about 600 of soldiers or men at arms some 4500 with enough volunteers from the town sailors from the vessels and peasants from the country round about to bring up the total to six or seven thousand men. All these soldiers and laborers were carefully trained assigned to the different towers and points of danger while four bodies of knights were held in reserve so that they might lend aid wherever it was from time to time needed. Lyle Adam himself retained a small bodyguard like a staff of officers and took direction of the entire defence. As soon as it was learned from spies and fugitives that the Turks were actually arraying their forces a grand service was held in the church of St John under the direction of two archbishops and the church was filled with knights in their somber robes marked with the white Maltese cross and with the sturdy men at arms while the prelates prayed for the success of the Christians against the infidels. The force of the Turks is believed to have consisted of about 200,000 men and their naval force included between five and seven hundred galleys according to various accounts. On June the 26th 1522 just as the knights and inhabitants were celebrating the Octave of the Feast of St John by a grand procession a cry arose from one of the outposts on a lofty hill that the Turkish fleet was in sight. Despite the approach of the dreaded enemy the Grand Master sternly forbade the knights to change the day's proceedings and as the infidels came stealing toward the city the knights marched in their procession toward the church of St John and their held services as if in times of peace. This religious office being performed the men ran to their stations the great gates of the city were shut and barricaded the bridges across the deep ditches were raised and from all the towers the banners of the knights of St John were flung out in defiance of the foe. Along the lofty walls gathered soldiers and citizens to look down upon the great galleys of their enemies and it is well said by Porter the historian of the knights that among that throng there must have been many an old man who remembered well the great siege of 42 years before when the Turks had come as eagerly only to meet with a shameful repulse. If they recall their victory with pride yet they could not help seeing that this attack was to be in every way more difficult to meet. Solomon was a noted general and up to this time had never been defeated. His success in taking the city of Belgrade was still fresh in men's minds. There was little to give courage to the brave soldiers on the walls as they watched the arrival and disembarkation of the Turkish forces. At night however there came a crumb of comfort. A deserter had escaped by swimming from one of the Turkish vessels and on being brought before the Grand Master he declared that there was great disaffection in the fleet. He said that the Turks too remembered the disastrous siege in the last generation and that they feared to attack a city so strongly defended by men whose bravery and devotion was known throughout the world. But there was no sign of slackness in the besiegers way of going about their work. With the Turks were some 50 or 60,000 peasants and labourers who had been brought to do the heavy work against the fortifications. These men were set at once to digging trenches and erecting ramparts placing the Turks' cannon where they would best command the city walls and putting up shelters for the Turkish soldiers. At first the knights now and then sent out strong forces to make attacks upon these labourers but they soon saw that the Turks cared little how many of these poor peasants were slain. They made no attempt to protect them and simply sent new men to take the places of those that had fallen. Meanwhile though the forces sent out from the town were generally successful now and then they lost a few men and this they could not afford since the Turks had 20 men to their one without counting the labourers who were digging the trenches. When the Turks had their guns in position a heavy cannonade began and was continued for days at a time without doing any great damage to the strong fortifications. As the knights were still well provisioned and there was no sign that the walls would give way they were content to sit within simply remaining on guard and to allow the Turks to hurl cannonballs into the town. This went on until the Sultan who had not yet come before Rhodes became impatient and arrived with reinforcements determined to push the siege vigorously. The only incident of this early part of the siege that is interesting is the discovery of a plot to burn the city. A certain Turkish woman a slave had formed a conspiracy with other Turkish slaves to set fire to Rhodes in several places at once hoping either to destroy it or to aid her countrymen by the confusion to make an assault upon the walls. Fortunately for the knights one of the women revealed the plot. The poor slaves were subjected to tortures and confessed with the exception of the ringleader who died in silence. She was barbarously cut into pieces and her body shown upon the ramparts to convince the Turks that the plot had failed. Undoubtedly it was necessary to let the besiegers know that this plot was discovered for there were plenty of signs that somebody within the city was giving information to the Turkish generals. One sign of the accurate information given to the Turks was they're directing the fire of their guns upon the bell tower which stood on a lofty place in the city. This was used as a watch tower for the Knights of St John and from it they could observe and prepare against the Turkish attacks. But hardly have they organized this service when the heavy fire of Turkish guns was turned upon their watch tower. It was battered to pieces and fell. Although the Rodians served their artillery well they could not do much damage to the Turkish earthworks and as has been said they could not afford to make attacks upon the besiegers since the losses more than offset any success they gained. When the tower had fallen and they had ceased to take prisoners by sorties the Knights found themselves without information as to the Turks proceedings. So certain Rodian sailors volunteered to dress themselves as Turks and to make an expedition in search of information. There was no great danger of detection since men were chosen who could speak the Turkish language. Stealing out of the harbour in a lightboat these sailors coasted cautiously along until they succeeded in capturing and bringing back to the town two unfortunate Muslims. These prisoners were taken to the top of one of the highest towers and told that if they should show any hesitation in telling all they knew they would at once be hurled from the battlements. Under this persuasion the men only too eagerly gave an account of all Solomon's forces and even a list of his artillery. From their account we can see that the Turks were well supplied with cannon ranging from six brass guns of about 10 inches caliber to a dozen brass mortars meant to discharge what was entirely new in those days hollow brass balls filled with artificial fire. These are said to be the first explosive shells ever fired from cannon but the 70 or 80 cannon had so far done but little execution and the shells had failed so entirely that only eight of them were used. When the Sultan himself arrived he saw at once that to do any damage to the town his artillery must be brought nearer and raised higher. Consequently the Turks promptly began the construction of two great mans or cavaliers as they were then called at two different points of attack. These mans were built of bags filled with earth strengthened with timber and were only completed after the knights had slain many of the Turkish forces. When the guns had thus been raised they became more effective and one of the projecting bastions upon the works one that covered an older wall was battered to pieces. But the triumph of the Turks was short for the old rampart behind the new wall resisted them. The Turkish fire however had become so destructive that after several weeks of bombarding the wall had given way in a number of places. But no sooner was a breach formed than the Turks would discover behind that they had battered down a new wall guarded by a deep ditch. The Turkish Sultan finding his artillery too weak to destroy the walls fast enough now set his men at work to dig below the walls for the purpose of undermining them. The Venetian engineer Martin Ego did his best to discover the Turkish mines using for the purpose the stretched head of a drum which he placed upon the ground as a sounding board just as the old copper worker used the brazen shield. Though some of the mines were discovered one of them was completed and when its supports were burned a great part of the bastion known as St Mary's fell in leaving a wide breach. But here came to repulse the attack that followed the falling of the wall the grand master and his bodies of knights held in reserve. The Turkish hordes ran into the opening only to be hewed down by the powerful knights in armor and although the Turkish general urged his men to the attack and mercilessly cut down those that were treated and although the attack was again and again renewed the Turks could not force their way into the city. Such assaults were repeated again and again as new breaches were made in the wars but no sooner was a Turkish attack ready than alarm bells would ring out in the city and the garrison armed with swords small arms Greek fire boiling pitch and even heavy stones would charge so boldly against the Turkish columns that they were always repulsed. Even at one time when a general assault was made by the Turkish forces against every part of the wall simultaneously the small garrison fought so bravely as to drive back the Turkish warriors even after they had gained a footing on top of the walls. This last grand assault was watched by the sultan in person from the top of a lofty scaffolding upon which he had established his throne and in his anger over the defeat of this grand effort he caused several of his generals to be put to death and to punish the pirate Kurtoglu for having failed to send his forces in a naval attack at the moment of the grand assault. The sultan caused him to be stretched out upon the deck of his galley bastinadoed that is cruelly whipped on the soles of his feet and then degraded from his command and expelled from the navy. So much gunpowder had been burned on both sides that the supplies began to fail. The Turks sent their ships for more but the knights could not renew their supply. They found some saltpeter within the town and manufactured what gunpowder they could. It may be that the shortness of ammunition came about because of the mines that had used so greater quantity but it was believed by many in the town that Damiral and the others who had reported before the siege that there was powder in plenty had been treacherous. Fear of treachery is always common in long sieges but here it was confirmed when a Jewish physician was caught shooting a message tied to an arrow into the Turkish camp. His guilt having been proved he was put to death and not long afterward Damiral's servant caught on the walls at a lonely place with a bow in his hand was accused of the same treachery and when tortured claimed that his master had sent messages to the Turks. On this testimony and that of a priest who had claimed to have seen a message sent but had certainly never told of it before Damiral was executed though probably innocent. Learning of the distress in the town the Sultan pressed the attack most vigorously and as breaches were wider and defenders fewer the danger of capture daily increased. At length the Turks succeeded in keeping possession of the top of the wall in two places still without being able to force away into the town. The Sultan had lost 10,000 soldiers each month for half a year and fearing help would come from Europe he now sent letters by arrow mail inviting a surrender. The Grand Master refused even to treat with the Sultan and threatened to put to death any messenger who should enter the town. It was the wish of the Knights of St John to perish in the ruins rather than surrender but the townspeople besought the knights to make terms while it was possible to save the women and children. The Venetian engineer Martin Ego was forced when questioned to confess that the town could not be held since they had not men enough to repair the walls nor had they enough artillery to defend the breaches that had been made. The Grand Master seeing that he would no longer be supported by the townspeople then tried to secure from the Sultan the right to march out carrying their property five years exemption from payment of taxes and an agreement that the churches should not be profaned nor the town pillaged. The Turks agreed but before the matter was finally settled a fight broke out between the Rodians and the Turks that caused a renewal of hostilities. There was one more grand assault at a place where the walls had been broken and a new wall built within. The first day of fighting at this point resulted in the defeat of the procedures but next day the breach was taken and held by the Turkish troops. Once more the townspeople insisted that peace should be made before it was too late to save their lives and the Sultan generously offered the same terms as before which this time were accepted. All those who chose to leave the island of Rhodes were allowed 12 days to do so. As for the knights they set sail for the island of Malta where they were received rather as conquerors than as a defeated garrison for as was said by Charles V when he heard the news of the capitulation nothing in the world has been so honorably lost as Rhodes. In taking the island the Turks had lost 103,000 men in 22 battles the knights 703 of their number but the chief lesson to be learned from this siege is the fact that artillery had not yet become strong enough to destroy well-built fortifications and thus the story of the siege of Rhodes forms a good introduction to sieges of modern times where the whole nature of defences has been changed to meet the heavy fire of the great canon. End of chapter 20 section 21 of the book of famous sieges this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the book of famous sieges by Tudor Janks section 21 the fifth period this lost period extends from the early days of gunpowder to the present time and osage changed methods of attack and defense simply to the increased power and range of firearms the general principles are not entirely different but the application of them has given rise to some remarkable changes when siege guns were gradually so improved as to throw their heavy projectiles from one two three and up to 20 miles and when these projectiles came to carry explosive charges powerful enough to blow masonry to atoms it became necessary at first to make walls as strong as possible and finally even to keep them out of sight nothing except the solid earth itself or the thickest tough and steel plates can for an instant resist fire so effective until recently it was believed also that the use of magazine rifles would make it impossible for an army to charge across an open ground against a line of defense held even by a very small body of men but such charges in spite of fearful losses have as we shall see been made and made successfully fortified places strengthened by every modern device and well defended have been taken and it seems that we have not yet reached the point where either attack or defense can be said to be too strong for the science and courage of an enemy in order to choose a siege that shall while showing the effect of gunfire yet be new in its incidents we shall next tell of the defense of the great fortress of Gibraltar in the year 1783 this is an interesting siege and yet is little else that the grand fight of cannon afloat against cannon ashore full preparation was made on both sides and it is purely a question of holding or losing a fortress there aren't these years so many great sieges from which to choose that it is necessary to select those that are unlike others in order that we may not repeat accounts of assaults mines cellies and so on which differ only in place and in date the siege of Gibraltar had many peculiar features end of section 21 section 22 of the book of famous sieges this is a LibriVax recording all LibriVax recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVax.org the book of famous sieges by Tudor Janks the siege of Gibraltar 1783 the great rock of Gibraltar one of the ancient pillars of Hercules that were for ages looked upon as barriers beyond which sailors could not venture save at deadly peril is connected to Spain by a sandy isthmus which makes the great rock a peninsula guarding the entrance into the Mediterranean sea the rock itself has its highest point at the northern end where it ends in a precipice toward the sandy isthmus toward the Mediterranean too it presents a cliff-like face from the northern point the rock gradually lessens in height towards the south and west the northern portion is about 1200 feet high and the length of the ridge is a mile and a half though the western slope is gradual there are deep ravines and high cliffs making it difficult to ascend and at the base a level plane is occupied by the town of Gibraltar being of limestone the rock is honeycombed with caverns and passages now and then opening into great rocky halls but for the most part narrow and winding these caves are made beautiful by groups of stalagmites and stalactites though from a distance the rock seems barren the country round the rock itself supports much vegetation the climate is tropical with a dry summer and a rainy season in winter until very recently the water supply was not good and as a military station the place had a bad reputation so many of the garrisons suffered from disease in history the rock appears as a fortress first when it fell into the hands of the Moors it was the Moors who called it from the name of their leader Tariq Jebel Tariq Tariq's hill the name became Jebelter and then Gibraltar the fortress has withstood many sieges in 1309 the Spanish took it and after an unsuccessful attack in 1315 it was taken again by the Moors 18 years later two unsuccessful attempts to retake it followed in 1344 and 1349 the sixth siege was between two rival Moors the seventh was another unsuccessful attack by the Spanish in 1462 the Christians took it through a Moors treachery and then it was taken by a Spanish grandee whose descendants lost it and then retook it this makes 10 sieges and an 11th followed when the Algerian pirates tried but failed to bring the rock once more under Mohammedan rule the Spanish now greatly strengthened the fortifications and throughout Europe this stronghold was regarded as impregnable but in 1704 it surrendered to an attack by an English and Dutch fleet and a body of German soldiers Sir George Rook although the attack had been made in the interests of the Austrians hoisted the English flag over Gibraltar and took possession the Encyclopedia Britannica declares it was unprincipled in England to take advantage of this unscrupulous act and ungrateful to leave the English commander unrewarded in the autumn of the same year an attempt was made by the Spaniards to regain the fortress but they were defeated 21 years afterward another Spanish failure was recorded these failures the last but one of the various attacks and defenses of the great rock help us to understand both the strength of the fortress and also the intense desire of the Spaniards to gain possession of it consequently when France and Spain found themselves in 1779 in alliance against England one of their main objectives was to succeed in driving the British from this gateway to the Mediterranean they spared no labor no expense no thought in preparing the grand expedition that would they believed make the taking of the fortress a certainty at that time the English commander general George Augustus Elliott was 62 years of age a skillful and energetic leader and tactician the garrison consisted of about five thousand men 500 of them belonging to the artillery and engineer corps there were four English and five Hanoverian regiments within five days after the declaration of war the Spanish force took possession of the neck of land cutting off the fortress from communication with the mainland and their fleet far stronger than the few British vessels in the harbour prevented any communications by sea while the Spaniards and French were preparing their serious attack the garrison worked hard to make already though it seemed that they might have to surrender before long through lack of food gradually the townspeople escaped one way or another until only the British garrison and their families remained by the beginning of the year 1780 having been cut off from the world for six months the garrison were compelled by famine to subsist largely upon dandelion greens leeks thistles and such roots and herbs as they could gather the Hanoverian soldiers rigged up incubators to hatch eggs and everything was done to increase and eke out the food supply but just as they were reduced to the last extremity an English fleet under the great Admiral Rodney won a decisive victory over the Spaniards at Cape Saint Vincent capturing the Spanish commander it is said that the Spanish grandee on being told that the small boy who stood at attention near the gangway was the royal prince who afterward became William IV exclaimed well does great britain merit the empire of the sea he was greatly amazed that one of the blood royal should be found serving as a petty officer in the English fleet when Rodney arrived in the harbour of Gibraltar he was able to land plenty of supplies and also strongly to reinforce the garrison he took away from Gibraltar also the useless mouths that is all those not capable of fighting while the british fleet was lying at anchor the Spanish endeavored to burn it by means of fire ships but the attack was a failure greatly to the joy of the lookers on from the garrison above soon afterwards the british fleet sailed away to the west endies by autumn not only had the supplies once more run short but owing to the garrison having been forced to live mainly upon salt provisions they were reduced to a pitiful state by ravages of the scurvy that frightful disease which in modern times science has made almost unknown except where shipwreck or some similar disaster cuts men off from civilization for long periods fortunately the ravages of the scurvy were stayed by the timely capture of a dutch vessel laden with lemons and oranges for the juice of these fruits is a specific for the disease another supply of provisions came to the rock in 1781 and this was just in time to prepare the garrison against the last great siege which began in may of that year batteries having been placed the enemy bombarded the town and the rock for two months succeeding in destroying the town but doing little other damage against these batteries the english could do little but in november of 1781 they sent out two thousand men elliot himself going with them and captured the batteries nearly a mile away destroying them entirely and blowing up their magazines this however had little effect in checking the bombardment which was kept up so steadily that in an account of the siege it is noted by one of the garrison that from seven o'clock in the morning of may fourth to the same hour the next day no gun was fired it being the first 24 hours that had passed for 13 months without the discharge of cannon continuously meanwhile the island of menorca had been taken by the spanish and emboldened by this victory they brought before Gibraltar a force of 33 000 troops with a hundred and seventy cannon hoping to repeat their success with the greater stronghold the commander of these troops decryan prepared for the attack upon Gibraltar great floating batteries devised by darson a french engineer which he did his best to make irresistible and indestructible taking ten ships he cut them down to mere hulks timbered them heavily all over to a thickness of seven feet packed the hulls here and there full of wet sand and ran water pipes through their walls he also roofed them with hides upon a heavy framework so steeply pitched that it was believed that all shot and shell would glance from them this will remind american readers of the confederate maramaic these vessels were prepared in the harbor of algisiris and against them the english who probably had learned from spies what was going on resolved to employ red hot shot in greater numbers than had ever before been used for heating these furnaces were built in the fortress near all the heavy guns decryan relied upon the fact that his big vessels were made of green timber packed with wet sand and full of water pipes and did not believe they could be set on fire meanwhile at home in england a fleet was preparing for the relief of Gibraltar and it was during the preparation of this force that the celebrated catastrophe happened to the royal george which toppled over in dock drowning near the all of the ship's company kelper's palm on the subject is well known on september 12th the french and spaniards advanced to the attack with 47 ships of the line which carried each three tiers of guns with the 10 floating batteries and many small craft beside at the same time there were in their army 40 000 men waiting near a flotilla of covered boats ready to attack them when the fort should be silenced the next day the floating batteries were towed to within 1200 yards and by 10 o'clock one of the greatest artillery battles in history began some 400 pieces of cannon being actively engaged a perfect shower of red hot cannonballs descended upon the spanish forces but apparently everything rebounded from the floating batteries without effect all day and until afternoon both sides showered their shot upon the enemy but at two o'clock suddenly one of the floating batteries was seen to give off great masses of smoke at the same time its fire almost ceased and the british began to hope that at least one of the monsters had been disabled what had happened was this the british red hot shot had sunk into the green timbers penetrating several feet here they had retained the heat long enough gradually to fire the timbers in vain did the spanish attempt to reach and extinguish the many fires that had been thus started their fire slackened for even the artillery men were busy in finding and extinguishing the many flames that had sprung up meanwhile night had come on and the british did not know how destructive their fire had been until a little after midnight when the admirals floating battery that from which smoke had come suddenly burst into a mass of flames this was the beginning of the fires that caused the destruction of the fleet these battery vessels had been so heavily supplied with ammunition that as they took fire their crews were afraid to remain in them and when at five o'clock in the morning one of them blew up with a tremendous explosion it was decided to abandon them all as soon as by the light of these flaming vessels it was seen that their fire had ceased the british sent their own vessels to rescue the spanish and french crews and the fighting ceased while both forces dispatched boats to take up the survivors the british bravely tried to tow one of the floating batteries to Gibraltar but hardly had they attached themselves to it when the fire reached the magazine and it was blown to atoms a proof that the spaniards were justified in escaping from it by the next day all had burned it was not alone the enemy's fleet that suffered for the british had destroyed also two of the land batteries and had succeeded in repulsing several desperate attacks at the southern end of Gibraltar where under the cover of terrific fire the spaniards had tried again and again to land troops it was estimated that during the engagement the 4 000 red hot balls had been shot into the battery ships alone while the spanish and french had fired against the fortress in 24 hours over 7 000 shot and shell this was the grand effort of the besiegers and it had completely failed during nine weeks of active siege the british lost only 65 killed and less than 400 wounded while the fortifications were hardly injured by the rain of shot and shell upon them though the siege continued for several weeks longer on october 11th lord howe the same howe who had commanded in america arrived from england with supplies and reinforcements for the garrison and all hope of taking the place was abandoned peace was not made however until february of the following year at which time it was formally agreed that Gibraltar should remain in the hands of the british from the first blockade to the end of the siege covered a period of three years seven months and 12 days and in all this time the loss of the garrison was only 470 men by warfare and about 1200 from illness and privation to contrast with this attack on a seaport we shall tell briefly the story of the taking of a great land stronghold this will show how the besiegers by means of a regular digging of trenches and the regular advance of batteries gradually got near enough to blow up the fortifications and thus gain an entry for their soldiers end of section 22 section 23 of the book of famous sieges this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org recording by john jones the book of famous sieges by tutor jinx the siege of antwerp 1832 although cannon had been used as far back as the siege of orléans and earlier gunpowder had not played an important part in the taking of cities until the guns had been made light so as to be readily moved about and to shoot straight enough to destroy the old-fashioned engines of war from a distance so great that these could not reply to the cannon in the siege of roads cannon played a somewhat important part by making breaches in the walls Gibraltar one might say was rather a high cliff than a fortress and the work of the cannon in that siege was shown in the destruction of the besiegers vessels rather than in any great damage to the English fort still as artillery improved and gunners became skillful it was found that the old-fashioned sort of fortifications had to be completely changed no longer was it enough to build up strong straight walls for these could be easily battered down by pointing a number of heavy guns at one place in order to meet this defect in strongholds there arose a number of clever engineers who invented ways of building fortifications meant to secure two results the first of these was to keep the besiegers as far as possible from the main walls and to arrange their guns so that the besiegers could not advance nearer the second was to arrange the lines of their own forts so that as fast as any of these were taken by the enemy and the besieger tried to turn them to his own use the captured lines would be brought under the fire of other guns of the fort in short there began to be a regular science of fort building which was worked out down to the finest nicety every line and angle was calculated so that the fire might be strong as possible in protecting each point the science is one that would require several volumes for its complete explanation but in the form that it took in the early days it has ceased to be very important because improvement in canon has been so great that the old rules meant to meet the old-fashioned style of attack no longer apply forts are now attacked from a greater distance to give the young reader some idea of the building of a fort around an important place it will be enough to give a brief account of the different lines that make up a complete system of defense commencing at the inside a slightly elevated platform of earth was known as the terraplane rising from this a slightly higher platform was known as a banquette this was high enough to permit the soldier to fire over the parapet which was the real breastwork the front of the parapet was strengthened with masonry and this front was called the reviment it faced upon a narrow ditch the two sides of which were the escarpment and on the side away from the rampart the counterscarp all this first inner wall taken together was called the rampart in front of this there came a slightly lower embankment of somewhat the same shape as the rampart called the to nail beyond the to nail was the main wide ditch next outside the wide ditch came a third embankment called the ravelin this also had its stitch and outside of that ditch it's protected embankment which last sloped off gradually until it was lost in the flat ground thus it will be seen that there are really four lines of defense each one of which is separated from the other by a ditch and each one is so arranged as to look down on and command the next outer one by its fire each one served as a breastwork for the garrison and yet when taken gave little advantage to the procedure a complete account of this system of fortification which was varied in many many ways will be found in the encyclopedia britannica under the word fortification so skillfully were these ramparts arranged that until artillery was greatly improved the art of defending cities was easier than the art of taking them and to this is due to the fact that during the sixteenth century many cities and towns were able to defend themselves successfully when they became rebellious and defied their feudal lords behind their walls their citizens feared no attack but gradually ways were found to overcome this advantage a great french engineer and commander named vauban learned both sides of the art so thoroughly that he was not only to build magnificent fortresses but also to teach king louis the fourteenth and his generals how to take them vauban invented the system known as ricochet fire this consisted in so directing the fire of the besieging guns that the cannonballs instead of being aimed directly for the face of the forts were fired so as to glance from their top and inbounding to drop just over the edge of the embankment the result of this sort of firing when accurate enough was to dismount the guns of the defenders thus making some parts of the wall defenseless after which they could be taken by the usual assaults the besiegers also made guns or mortars meant to fire shells upwards so that they would fall over and inside the ramparts destroying guns and men besides this system of direct attack the engineers of the besiegers worked out a complete system of approaching a fortress by trenches they would begin just out of range and dig a long trench parallel to the walls of the fortress this protected their soldiers and engineers their sappers pioneers and miners these latter being men provided with picks and shovels and explosives for the purpose of digging their way by open trenches or underground mines toward the fort a good illustration of this method of taking a strong fortress is given by the siege van twerp in 1832 the fortress at the time was held by the forces of the king of holland against the will of the belgian people france and england having agreed to protect the liberties of belgium called upon the dutch garrison to withdraw and upon their refusal sent a very strong army well provided with all necessary siege apparatus for the purpose of taking the fortress the besieging army consisted of about sixty seven thousand men thousands of engineers and had plenty of artillery the antwerp garrison altogether included some five thousand men on november 24th at dark the french engineers began their first digging or ditch at a little less than half a mile from the citadel five days later they had completed their first parallel which slanted so that its nearest point was within about a thousand feet of the citadel and it's farthest point within about twelve hundred feet this trench was connected with their camps by approaches roads dug in the ground and covered with logs and earth so that men could enter it without being exposed to the fire of the fortress on november 20th they began to zigzags these were trenches that approached the fort at a slant first one way and then the other the object being to protect the men from fire at the same time that they were digging nearer and nearer in the next few days they were able to carry the zigzags within about four hundred feet of the glacis or the first upward slope of the fort and meanwhile by night they had built nine strong earthwork batteries upon the surface of the ground and in front of their first parallel trench and these batteries were connected by trenches and parallels if the garrison should charge these batteries the soldiers in the trenches could hurry to defend the artillery men two mortar batteries were also set up farther back by december fourth the besiegers had completed the second parallel that was much nearer to the city the same method of approach by digging trenches and zigzags and then establishing batteries was continued until december ninth when they had dug their trench close up to the ditch of the fort and broken their way into the ditch itself to this a covered way gave the besiegers entry on the night of the tenth the garrison of the fort dashed out and tried their best to destroy these nearest works but the besiegers were on their guard drove back the garrison and soon repaired the damage that had been done the following night the besiegers prepared three great rafts of logs with which they meant to cross the ditch they had exploded a great bomb known as a against the wall of the fort making a breach into the hole thus made a brave sergeant had ventured so as to begin digging out a gallery under the masonry during the next two or three nights this gallery was enlarged and three subterranean mines dug out beneath the projecting part of the wall this part of the fortress was known as the bastion of Saint Laurent it was an outer defense at five o'clock in the morning the fuses were lighted and by the explosion a great part of the wall was thrown into the air leaving a wide gap into this with fixed bayonets rushed a strong storming party capturing one lieutenant and 48 men who had not been able to withdraw the besiegers were now in possession of part of the fortress itself and made it the means of entering into the main defenses from this point the sapping and mining continued with the advantage that being within the very fortress itself the besiegers were not exposed to their enemies fire during all this time it must be remembered that the batteries outside were pouring shot and shell constantly upon the walls of the fortress and thus keeping the garrison from bringing a strong force to the point which the besiegers were attacking on December 21st began a grand bombardment which lasted until the 23rd by this time the besieged garrison had lost so many men and the walls had been weakened in so many places that the commander had decided defense to be hopeless and surrendered the fall of antwerp was due to the enormous advantages on the side of the besieging army they had a force 10 times as great as that of the garrison they were able to surround the besieged places on all sides so as to prevent its being reinforced or supplied with provisions they had plenty of artillery so as to keep up a steady reign of missiles upon the fort and thus the fall of the fortress was sure either by being breached or by loss of men inside or by the failure of provisions it had come at this time to be regarded as certain that given plenty of time and men no garrison could maintain itself against the besieging force sooner or later the parallels and zigzags would bring the besiegers close enough to blow up the walls in one or more places and thus to take the various defenses one by one until the citadel had fallen it followed from this that the fortifying of a town came to mean little more than delaying the forces of the besieger in hope that help would come as the fire of artillery improved and became heavier it was also proved that there was little to be gained by building elaborate forts of stone since earth walls were better defenses and were less injured by shot and shell in fact a battery on a big hill of earth was the best fortress the next step as length of range increased was to fortify high points of ground at a distance around the city to be defended since these when well provided with guns behind thick earthworks were the best possible way of keeping the besiegers at a distance and they had to be taken by regular approach and trenches precisely as if they were built of stone walls thus in modern times we see a system of attack and defense where earthworks on one side are attacked by earthworks on the other the first being fixed and the second being built more and more near as the besiegers force their way forward in the siege of fixburg there is an illustration of a great city defended by one strong army and taken by another after a most heroic defense in which the line of fortifications was made up of such earth forts on high points connected with one another by means of long trenches or rifle pits the attack was first by charges and then by regular approaches with mines as we shall see end of section 23 section 24 of the book of famous sieges this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Elsie Selwyn the book of famous sieges by Tudor Janks the siege of Vicksburg 1863 at the beginning of the war between the northern and the southern states the situation was not exactly understood on either side even the wisest leaders and statesmen had no idea of the greatness of the struggle or of what points would become most important it was not until both sections awoke to the knowledge that neither side was to have an easy victory that a long and closely contested war was certain that there was deep thought of where in the strength of the two sides lay at this time a few far-seeing men and at least one woman Miss Anna Ella Carroll saw that the strength of the Confederacy lay in the possession of the Mississippi River one of the first to see this was Admiral Porter of the Union Navy he went to Washington and laid before Lincoln and McClellan a plan for taking the city of New Orleans thus securing the mouth of the Mississippi and then by means of expeditions up the river and down the river uniting at Vicksburg to capture the great fortified bluffs that prevented Union vessels from going up or down and thus kept all the lower Mississippi open to the Confederates Lincoln saw the importance of this suggestion at once saying the Mississippi is the backbone of the Confederacy it is key to the whole situation while the Confederates hold it they can obtain supplies of all kinds and it is a barrier against our forces this was because the rivers that flow into the Mississippi communicated with states on each side that afforded food and materials which at New Orleans where there were skilled mechanics and many manufacturing establishments could be turned into whatever was needed by the southern armies and then sent to them by land wherever they were fighting with the capture of New Orleans we have nothing to do it is enough to say that Farragut's fleet ran by the forts and compelled it to surrender after the taking of that city the only great strongholds left on the river were Port Hudson and Vicksburg great expeditions both by land and water were prepared to take these cities and since whatever was done on either side soon came to the knowledge of the other the Confederates worked vigorously to strengthen the defenses of both places and to garrison them as strongly as possible many of the troops that had been driven from New Orleans marched northward to aid in the defense of Vicksburg we shall not tell of the long siege of Port Hudson there the story is a most interesting one but shall confine our attention to the even more striking attack and defense of the city of Vicksburg for the fall of Vicksburg was followed soon after by the surrender of Port Hudson partly through lack of provisions and partly because the Confederates recognized that it could not be long held after the forces that had taken Vicksburg were set free to aid in the already strong attack on Port Hudson the city of Vicksburg lies right upon the river bank on precipitous bluffs against the foot of which the river flows except at the southern part where there is a wide sandy strip ordinarily left bare these bluffs rising 200 feet above the water formed not only magnificent sites for batteries but were almost out of reach of shot and shell from any cannon carried by ships of war the only fire effective against them was that of mortars short thick cannon pointed upward which sent shells high into the air to fall with a plunging fire inside the fortification and upon the city the first efforts of the Confederates were devoted to increasing the number of guns along the bluffs and in manning them from the many skilled gunners who had been driven out of Fort Jackson and St. Philip near New Orleans on June 20th 1862 a young Confederate engineer SH Lockett arrived and was put in charge of the defenses he had been working for about a week in placing batteries along the bluffs above the city and in preparing a complete map of the country round about when Farragut's fleet was sighted coming up the river on June 27th the fleet placed on the opposite side of the river a great flotilla of mortar boats out of range of the Confederate forts but near enough to throw shells into the city hardly had these vessels taken their positions when suddenly a second flotilla was discovered on the near side of the river too close to the bluffs to be fired upon since the great guns could not be bent far enough downward to reach them this second flotilla had been fitted up with a mask of trees and hidden by the use had stolen up the river without being seen at once the bombardment began and was vigorously replied to but little harm was done on either side on the next day at dawn firing began again and several of the union vessels succeeded in running up the river past the batteries losing a few sailors and killing by their firing a few of the Confederate artillery men it was believed in the city that a land attack would follow and 10 000 men were made ready to meet it but it proved a false alarm the union fleet that lay above the city now came down and joined in the attack bringing another flotilla of mortar boats and then a bombardment of two weeks followed that did little except make the inhabitants of vixberg uncomfortable as there are great banks of clay in the vicinity of the city many of the people dug into them in excavated rooms which they furnished comfortably for refuge during the firing from the union fleet cave building became a regular business in the city the river opposite vixberg makes a sharp bend leaving a long tongue of land surrounded by the bend on the point of which was a little town named desoto the union engineers thought that by cutting through the neck of this tongue of land they could get from the river above vixberg into the river below a canal was dug but the water of the river fell faster than the canal could be deepened and the attempt to make a new channel leaving vixberg harmlessly aside had to be abandoned from july 15th to 28th vixberg was exposed to the fire of the mortar boats and witnessed during that time a most exciting naval engagement when the confederate ram arkansas came down from the yazu river and made a most gallant fight against the union fleet but by the end of the month it had evidently been decided that an unsupported naval attack was useless for without warning suddenly the whole fleet set sail leaving the vixberg people free to come out of their caves it was evident to the confederate engineers that vixberg was too important to be left alone and since the unsupported naval attack had failed they foresaw that a land and naval attack was sure to follow consequently during the interval they repaired the river battery so as to make them stronger than ever and thoroughly studied the land side of vixberg in order to pick out the strongest lines of defense for the building of fortifications back of the city the land consisted of a long succession of hills separated from one another by deep ravines it would have been most laborious to make a connected line of ramparts over this uneven ground and so the engineers wisely decided to place at the head of each ravine a strong projecting fortification somewhat triangular in shape and then to connect these with one another by long lines of rifle pits that is trenches to which the earth dug out formed an embankment these fortifications were built largely by slaves who were brought in from all the surrounding country when finished the line of defense extended seven or eight miles from hains bluff on the north around vixberg to warrington on the south about the middle of october 1862 general pemberton was in command with the confederate forces general grant of the union troops it had long been an accepted truth among military men than a general advancing into a hostile country must above all things have a strong base of supplies that is some fort or town strongly held from which the army could be supplied with food and ammunition general grant had such a position at grand gulf some miles down the river and his first advance against wixberg was defeated by a bold and successful raid of the confederate cavalry which threatened to cut off his line of supply and grant had to return toward this base then general sherman tried from the northward to get in the rear of vixberg to cut off the confederate troops which lay eastward of the city but this attempt was defeated in a fierce battle at chiksaw bluffs next followed another attempt by grant to approach from the louisiana side and to try the canal scheme again but he was forced to retire other advances also were made by different bodies of union troops but none more successful although the story of these various expeditions is most interesting we are concerned at present with the final successful movement made by general grant win learning that he could not expect strong reinforcements for some time and so would be tied to his base of supplies while the confederates were constantly strengthening the city and reinforcing in scarison he suddenly decided against the judgment of his advisors and superiors to abandon the line of supplies to march northward into mississippi so as to meet and if possible defeat the confederate forces that lay eastward of the city in may of 1863 he fought and defeated three southern generals one by one captured the city of jackson the capital of the state destroyed their great stores and useful manufacturers and gained possession of this great railroad center through which most of the supplies for vicksburg came meanwhile general pemberton was at a great disadvantage because he had not enough cavalry to keep him informed by scouting of the movement of the union troops besides he was under conflicting orders president jefferson davis telling him to hold vicksburg at all costs while the confederate general johnson was insisting that vicksburg be abandoned and that the forces of pemberton should unite with his own to defeat grant's army pemberton's army mistakenly thinking that they were attacking the rear or a small part of the union troops made a vigorous attack upon the entire body of victorious federals as they came from the capture of jackson the confederates were outnumbered defeated and so forced to retire toward vicksburg vigorously pursued pemberton made a brave effort to hold his ground at a bridge where the jackson river of vicksburg crosses the big black river but his men had been shaken by their defeat of the day before and after a short attempt to hold their entrenchments were driven from the bridge and saved from capture only by the promptness of engineer locket and burning the bridge behind them which he did at great risk and just in the nick of time by throwing upon it a barrel of turpentine as soon as the confederates were mostly over the confederate army was now shut up in vicksburg and the city was surrounded on the land side by grant's troops while the river was held by the union navy locket hastened back to vicksburg with full authority from pemberton to put all in the best possible state of defense the troops that had been driven into the city were held in reserve and the last exposed parts of the fortification while fresh troops man the ramparts upon which the first attack must fall should the union army assault the lines the artillery on the land side had been strengthened by bringing from the river bluffs all with the heaviest artillery until there were over a hundred guns in position to defend the forts the front of the fortification was strengthened by an abotus or mass of fell trees with sharpened branches and was also protected by entanglements of telegraph wire to delay the assault these were made by a tangle of wire fastened firmly to stakes driven into the ground it was on may 18th that the first soldiers in blue were seen advancing on the roads to the east of the city the confederate pickets were driven in but not until they had made resistance enough to allow the main force to withdraw to a safe place behind the ramparts the union troops believed that they had before them the men whom they had already defeated several times and had so easily driven from their entrenchments at big black river and were most eager to attack the next morning in the hope of an easy victory they rushed forward and forced right up to the main line of defenses above which not a defender could be seen until the assailants had come within close range then suddenly so terrific a fire was poured upon them that their desperate attacks were driven back though made again and again they at last had to abandon the attack with the loss of five stands of colors of which the color bearers had been shot down even repulsed the brave fellows retained an advanced position but they had been entirely convinced they could not take the fortress in a first rush and that there was no scare in the men who made up the confederate garrison during the two following days both armies were at work the confederates building traverses that is embankments running at right angles back of their main lines to prevent side fire from reaching the men in the trenches and preparing also covered waves by which they could go from their ramparts and trenches to their camp protected from federal sharpshooters many men on both sides were shot down by carelessly exposing themselves until after several days both armies had learned caution and kept undercover on May 22nd another attack was attempted accompanied by a fierce bombardment from the river but though the union troops reached the trenches three times and even planted flags upon the parapet itself they were driven back at every point and though they took one outwork it was very soon retaken by the confederates this terrible assault left 3500 men between the lines and was not repeated by the 25th it became necessary to remove the dead and wounded and general pemberton proposed a truce for this purpose which general grants accepted during this truce locket to the engineer tells of his being sent for by general Sherman to receive letters for residents of vicksburg which Sherman had undertaken to deliver the confederate engineer shrewdly suspected that Sherman kept him in conversation in order that he might not have leisure to inform himself as to the lines of attack which the bright confederate engineer admits he was eager to do the union generals had now to give up any hope of taking vicksburg except by a regular scientific approach that is by digging their trenches in a zigzag toward one of the main points of defense these trenches were carried forward undercover of the night and by day were protected by a great rollers made of timbers packed full of cotton so as to make a rolling breastwork to meet this form of attack a clever confederate soldier devised the plan of shooting from a big musket a fuse filled with cotton soaked in turpentine this was shot into the roller which caught fire and was destroyed the federals being left unprotected were forced to retire from the head of their trench yankee ingenuity met this device by keeping the cotton soaked with water and the digging of the zigzag trenches was carried on until they approached close to the works to protect these saps in case the confederate should charge out upon them barrels of powder and loaded shells were left in them ready to be lighted as the union sappers were driven out by june 13 these saps had come so near that the confederates began to counter mine their fortifications that is to dig underground galleries beneath them which packed full of powder could be blown up when the union troops should attempt to take possession of the embankments they met at work in these counter mines could hear the federal miners at work not far away but locket tells us that it was almost impossible to judge distances and directions when the sounds heard underground on june 25th a mine laid by the union engineers under one of the strongest points of the confederate works the third louisiana redan was exploded making a small breach in the line of works but behind this part of the works another readout had been built and vigorous fire defeated the union attack made upon the gap in the walls for the next few days the activities of both sides were mainly given to mining but on the confederate side some of these mines were exploded too early and did no damage and others were never used at all on june 29th the union engineers had succeeded in carrying their attacking trench forward close to the third louisiana redan where the first breach had been made and were directly under the edge of the confederate embankment so close were they that the confederates rolled shells with lighted fuses down the front of their defenses and thus drove out the attacking force then at night the union troops built and placed over their heads a great screen of heavy timber which even the shells could not injure but in the morning when this was discovered it was soon destroyed by means of a barrel containing 125 pounds of gunpowder which was dropped over the edge of the embankment and blew the timber screen to pieces on july 1st another great union mine containing tons of gunpowder was exploding making a breach in the defenses 50 feet across and 20 feet deep and in this horrible crater took place a most terrific and destructive fight where the two armies came hand-to-hand where the slightest exposure meant death and where bravery and devotion was too common to be noted by this explosion a great breach had been opened even in the second line of defense that had been built behind the rampart where the first breach was made the confederates tried to fill the opening by pouring in earth but the union fire was so terrific as to sweep the dirt away faster than it could be thrown in sandbags were tried but these two were blown to pieces and finally the breach was filled only by making great bags of wagon covers and tent cloths which packed with earth were pushed from the side across the opening and these attempts the confederates lost a hundred men this was the last stirring incident of the siege for the union troops were now at several points so close to the confederate fortifications that pemberton was convinced he could not resist an assault and indeed many of the confederate soldiers had told their enemies to whom so close were the two lines they could talk freely that the confederates had almost mutiny because they did not believe that successful resistance was longer possible vicksburg was surrendered only when the union lines had come so near that the soldiers could spring from their trenches right upon the confederate ramparts and when by hunger and fatigue the defenders were too weak to resist many of them couldn't do no more than stand in their places and fire their muskets the famine in the city had left almost nothing to support life and the confederates rations were not enough to give them strength they had yielded only to regular siege operations and an assault would have been simply a bloody sacrifice of lives there are only seven years between the siege of vicksburg and that of paris by the germans but the defenses of paris were very different from those of the southern city paris had always been fortified and in addition to the great wall that had been kept up since the middle ages it possessed a ring of great forts armed with heavy long-range guns meant to keep an enemy at the distance from its inner defenses though before the french defeats the arrival of the germans was not expected yet in the short interval given them the french did marvels in preparing for their defense of the capital and the defense itself was most admirable even german authorities admit that all was done which was possible under the circumstances their taking of the city was due only to the lack of a trained force of soldiers in france to come to the relief of the long enduring parisians who bravely withstood famine and disease and heroically fought as long as there was a possibility that the city would be rescued end of section 24 recording by lc selwyn