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brandy and cereals. The town derives its chief importance from its value as a military position. After the war of 187o-1871, Belfort, which after a See also:

DIPLOMATIC

diplomatic struggle remained in See also:

French hands, became a frontier fortress of the greatest value, and the old See also:

WORKS

works which underwent the siege of 1870-1871 (see below) were promptly increased and re-modelled. In front of the Perches redoubts, the Bosmont, whence the Prussian See also:

ENGINEERS, MILITARY

engineers began their attack, is now heavily fortified with continuous lines called the Organisation defensive de Bosmont. The old Bellevue See also:

REDOUBT (Fr. redoute, from Med. Lat. reductus, a place of retreat, refuge, reducere, lead back, retire; the intrusive b is due to the O. Fr. redoubter, to fear, Lat. dubitare, to doubt)

redoubt (now Fort Denfert-Rochereau) is covered by a new work situated likewise on the ground occupied by the siege trenches in the war. Perouse, hastily entrenched in 1870, now possesses a permanent fort. The old entrenched See also:

CAMP (from Lat. campus, field)

camp enclosed by the castle, Fort La Miotte, and Fort See also:

JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

Justice, is still maintained, and See also:

PART

part even of the See also:

ENCEINTE (Lat. in, within, cinctus, girdled; to be distinguished from the word meaning " pregnant," from in, not, and cinctus, i.e. with girdle loosened)

enceinte built by Vauban is used for defensive purposes. Outside this improved inner line, which includes the whole See also:

AREA

area of the attack and defence of 1870, lies a See also:

COMPLETE

complete circle of detached forts and batteries of See also:

MODERN

modern construction. To the See also:

north, Forts Salbert and Roppe See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form the salients of a long defensive line on high ground, at the centre of which, where the Savoureuse See also:

RIVER

river divides it, a new work was added later. Two works near Giromagny, about 8 m. from Belfort itself, connect the fortress with the right of the defensive line of the Moselle (Fort Ballon d'Alsace).

In the eastern sector of the defences (from Roppe to the Savoureuse below Belfort) the forts are about 3 M. from the centre, the works near the Belfort-Mulhausen railway being somewhat more advanced, and in the western (from Salbert to Fort Bois d'Oye on the See also:

LOWER

lower Savoureuse) they are advanced to about the same distance. The fort of Mont Vaudois, the western-most, overlooks Hericourt and the battlefield of the Lisaine: farther to the See also:

south See also:

MONTBELIARD

Montbeliard is also fortified. The perimeter of the Belfort defences is nearly 25 M. See also:

HISTORY

History.—Gallo-See also:

ROMAN

Roman remains have been discovered in the vicinity of Belfort, but the place is first heard of in the See also:

early part of the 13th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, when it was in the See also:

possession of the See also:

COUNTS

counts of Montbeliard. From them it passed by See also:

MARRIAGE

marriage to the counts of Ferrette and afterwards to the archdukes of See also:

Austria. By the treaty of See also:

Westphalia (1648) the town was ceded to See also:

Louis XIV. who gave it to See also:

CARDINAL (Lat. cardinalis)

Cardinal See also:

MAZARIN, JULES (1602-1661)

Mazarin. In the See also:

THIRTY

Thirty Years' War Belfort was twice besieged, 1633 and 1634, and in 1635 there was a See also:

BATTLE

battle here between the See also:

DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

duke of See also:

LORRAINE

Lorraine and the allied French and Swedes under See also:

MARSHAL (med. Lat. marescalcus, from O.H.Ger. marah, horse, and scalc, servant)

Marshal de la Force. The fortifications of Vauban were begun in 1686. Belfort was besieged in 1814 by the troops of the See also:

ALLIES, THOMAS WILLIAM (1813-1903)

allies and in 1815 by the Austrians. The most famous See also:

EPISODE

episode of the town's history is its gallant and successful defence in the war of 187o-1871. The events which led up to the siege are described under FRANCO-See also:

GERMAN WAR. Even before the investment Belfort was cut off from the interior of France, and the German See also:

CORPS (pronounced as in French, from which it is taken, being a late spelling of tors, from Lat. corpus, a body; cf. " corpse ")

corps of von See also:

WERDER, KARL WILHELM FRIEDRICH AUGUST LEOPOLD, COUNT VON (1808—1887)

Werder was, throughout the siege, between the fortress and the forces which might See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt its See also:

RELIEF

relief.

The siege corps was commanded by See also:

General von Tresckow and numbered at first 10,000 men with twenty-four See also:

field guns—a force which appeared adequate for the reduction of the antiquated works of Vauban. Colonel Denfert-Rochereau was, however, a scientific engineer of advanced ideas as well as a See also:

VETERAN

veteran soldier of the See also:

CRIMEA (ancient Tauris or Tauric Chersonese, called by the Russians by the Tatar name Krym or Crim)

Crimea and See also:

Algeria, and he had been stationed at Belfort for six years. He was therefore eminently fitted for the command of the fortress. He had as a See also:

NUCLEUS (Lat. for the kernal of a nut, nux, the stone of fruit)

nucleus but few See also:

REGULAR

regular troops, but the See also:

ENERGY (from the Gr. ivipyela; iv, in, ipyov, work)

energy of the military and See also:

CIVIL

civil authorities enabled his force to be augmented by See also:

NATIONAL

national See also:

GUARDS, AND HOUSEHOLD TROOPS

guards, &c., to 17,600 men. The See also:

ARTILLERY (the O. Fr. artiller, to equip with engines of war, probably comes from Late Lat. articulum, dim. of ars, art, cf. " engine " from ingenium, or of artus, joint)

artillery was very numerous, but skilled gunners were not available in any See also:

GREAT

great strength and See also:

AMMUNITION

ammunition was scarce. Perhaps the most favourable circumstance from a technical point of view was the See also:

BOMB

bomb-See also:

PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof See also:

ACCOMMODATION (Lat. accommodare, to make fit, from ad, to, cum, with, and modus, measure)

accommodation of the enceinte. The old fortress consisted of the town enceinte, the castle (situated on high ground and fortified by several concentric envelopes), and the entrenched camp, a hollow enclosed by continuous lines, the salients of which were the castle, Fort La Justice and Fort La Miotte. These were planned in the days of See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short-range guns, and were therefore in 1870 open to an overwhelming See also:

BOMBARDMENT

bombardment by the rifled See also:

CANNON (a word common to Romance languages, from the Lat. canna, a reed, tube, with the addition of the augmentative termination -on, -one)

cannon of the attack. Denfert-Rochereau, however, understood better than other engineers of the See also:

day the See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of modern artillery, and his See also:

plan was to utilize the old works as a keep and an artillery position. The Perches See also:

ridge, whence the town and suburbs could be bombarded, he fortified with all possible See also:

SPEED, JOHN (1552–1629)

speed. On the right bank of the Savoureuse he constructed two new forts, Bellevue in the south-See also:

west and See also:

Des Barres to the west, and, further, he prepared the suburb on this See also:

side for a See also:

hand-to-hand defence. His general plan was to maintain as advanced a line as possible, to manceuvre against the investing troops, and to support his own by the long range See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire of his rifled guns.

With this See also:

OBJECT

object he fortified the outlying villages, and when the Germans (chiefly See also:

LANDWEHR

Landwehr) began the investment on the 3rd of See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 1870, they encountered everywhere a most strenuous resistance. Throughout the See also:

month the See also:

garrison made repeated sorties, and the Germans were on several occasions forced by the long range fire of the fortress to evacuate villages which they had taken. Under these circumstances, and also because of their numerical weakness and the rigour of the See also:

WEATHER (O. Eng. weder; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Du. weder, Dan. veir, Icel. ve8r, and Ger. Wetter and Gewitter, storm; the root is wa- to blow, from which is derived " wind ")

weather, the Germans advanced but slowly. On the and of See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December, when at last von Tresckow See also:

broke ground for the construction of his batteries, the French still held Danjoutin, Bosmont, Perouse and the adjacent See also:

woods, and, to the northward (on this side the siege was not pressed) La Forge. Thus the first attack of the siege artillery was See also:

con-fined to the western side of the river between Essert and Bavillers. From this position the bombardment opened on the 3rd of December. Some damage was done to the houses of Belfort, but the garrison was not intimidated, and their artillery replied with such spirit that after some days the German See also:

COMMANDER

commander gave up the bombardment. On this occasion the distant forts La Miotte and La Justice fired with effect at a range of 4700 yds., affording a conspicuous See also:

ILLUSTRATION

illustration of the changed conditions of siege-See also:

CRAFT (a word common to Teutonic languages for strength, or power; cf. Ger. Kraft)

craft. The German batteries, as more guns arrived, were extended from left to right, and on the 13th of December the Bosmont was captured, ground being also gained in front of Bellevue. The difficulties under which the siege corps laboured were very great, and it was not until the 7th of See also:

JANUARY

January 1871 that the rightmost See also:

BATTERY (Fr. batterie, from battles, to beat)

battery opened fire. The formal siege of the Perches redoubts had now been decided upon, and as an essential preliminary to further operations, Danjoutin, now isolated, was stormed by the Landwehr on the See also:

NIGHT

night of the 7th-8th January. In the meanwhile typhus and smallpox had broken out amongst the French, many of the national guards were impatient of See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control, and the German trenches, in spite of difficulties of ground and weather, made steady progress towards the Perches.

A See also:

WEEK (from A.S. wicu, Germanic *wikon, probably=change, turn)

week after the fall of Danjoutin the victory of von Werder andthe XIV. See also:

army corps at the Lisaine, in which a part of the siege corps See also:

BORE

bore a See also:

SHARE (O. Eng. scearu, chiefly in compounds, e.g. land-scearu, a share of land, from sceran to cut; cf. " shear" )

share, put an end to the attempt to relieve Belfort, and the siege corps was promptly increased to a strength of 17,60o See also:

INFANTRY

infantry, 4700 artillery and 'too engineers, with thirty-four field-guns besides the guns and howitzers of the siege See also:

TRAIN (M. Eng. trayn or trayne, derived through Fr. from Late Lat. trahinare, to drag, draw, Lat. trahere, cf. trail, trace, ultimately from the same source)

train. The investment was now more strictly maintained even on the north side. On the night of the 20th of January the French lines about Perouse were carried by See also:

ASSAULT (from Lat. ad, to or on, and saltare, to leap)

assault, and, both flanks being now cleared, the formal siege of the Perches forts was opened, the first parallel extending from Danjoutin to Haut Taillis. In the early See also:

MORNING

morning of the 27th a determined but premature attempt was made to See also:

storm the Perches redoubts, which cost the besiegers nearly 500 men. After this failure Tresckow once more resorted to the regular method of siege approaches, and on the 2nd of See also:

FEBRUARY

February the second parallel was thrown up. La Justice was now bombarded by two new batteries near Perouse, the Perches were of course subjected to an "artillery attack," and henceforward the besiegers fired 1500 shells a day into the works of the French. But the besiegers were still weak in See also:

numbers and their labours were very exhausting. Bellevue and Des Barres became very active in hindering the advance of the siege works, and the German battalions were so far depleted by losses and sickness that they could often See also:

MUSTER (Mid. Eng. mostre, moustre, adapted from the similar O. Fr. forms; Lat. monstrare)

muster but 300 men for See also:

DUTY (from " due," that which is owing, O. Fr. deu, dil, past participle of devoir; Lat. debere, debitum; cf. " debt ")

duty. Still, the guns of the attack were now steadily gaining the upper hand, and at last on the 8th of February the Germans entered the two Perches redoubts. This success, and the arrival of German reinforcements, decided the siege. The Perches ridge was crowned with a parallel and numerous batteries, which in the end mounted ninety-seven guns. The attack on the castle now opened, but operations were soon afterwards suspended by the See also:

NEWS

news that Belfort was now included in the general See also:

ARMISTICE (from Lat. arma, arms, and sistere, to stop)

armistice (February 15th).

A little later Denfert-Rochereau received a See also:

DIRECT

direct See also:

order from his own See also:

government to surrender the fortress, and the garrison, being granted See also:

FREE

free withdrawal, marched out with its arms and trains. " The town had suffered terribly . . . nearly all the buildings were damaged . . . the guns in the upper batteries could only be reached by ladders. The garrison, of its See also:

ORIGINAL

original strength of 17,700 See also:

OFFICERS

officers and men, had lost 4750, besides 336 citizens. The place was no longer tenable " (See also:

Moltke, Franco-German War). Nevertheless, " the defence was by no means at its last See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage " at the See also:

time of the formal surrender (See also:

BRITISH

British' See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

Text-See also:

BOOK

Book of Fortification, 1893). The See also:

TOTAL

total loss of the besiegers was about 2000 men. See J. Liblin, Belfort et son territoire (Miilhausen, 1887).

End of Article: BELFORT

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