18th century siege-craft against fortifications often involved the digging of trenches in order to bring up artillery pieces closer. The same applied to bringing up men and troops to carry out assaults on the fortified places.
Don't let the general lack of long sieges against fortified places during the Napoleonic and French Revolutionary Wars distract from the countless wars of the princes during the 18th century against Vauban style fortifications, nor from the religious wars in the 16th century in the Low Countries or during the 80 years war of rebellion against the Spanish crown ending in 1648 with formal recognition of the United Provinces.
During that war, Antwerp in 1584-1585 as just once instance was besieged with a multitudes of breastworks, bulwarks, redoubts, artillery emplacements and trenches around the city.
To be fair, trenches into the ground were not always dug as such, but above ground trenches were constructed using all kinds of materials from packed earth, building rubble, woven wickets and so on ... but still, high trenches or low trenches, the principle is the same and they were used extensively.
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dannieboy20906
10 years ago
I have read of fascines and other temporary breastworks, but that is not the same as trenches. By definition, entrenchment means digging into the ground. However, I admit that this is a matter of semantics and could be argued as a quibble. I do agree in the sense of temporary fortification it is a distinction that makes little or no difference.
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