The rational use of coast-artillery, and the development of a correct system of defence, are based upon a knowledge of the means of defence, of the capability of those means, and of the method of employing them.
It is almost universally conceded that to-day, as in the past, fortifications play the most important rule in the. defense of coasts and harbors. In the United States, submarine mines and other obstructions are officially regarded as auxiliaries...
"In making the following study of certain attacks upon fortified harbors it was my object to make an analysis of each campaign, and of them all collectively, in order to attempt to derive well grounded conclusions as to future wars."
The following pages are written with the idea of furnishing the members of the Army School of the Line and Staff College a guide in the solution of field problems in fortification. These problems are such that any line officer might be called upon...