An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 25 A mountain pass is a defile the sides of which are constituted by the natural slopes of the mountain sides, as at the Scalp. A bridge over a river is defile the sides of which are constituted by the river. A street is a defile the sides of which are constituted by the houses in the street. To traverse a mountain pass with any degree of safety the sides of the mountain must be cleared by flanking parties ahead of the main body; to pass over a bridge the banks of the river on each side must be raked by gun or rifle fire whilst the bridge is being rushed; to take a street properly barricaded and held on both sides by forces in the houses, these houses must be broken into and taken by hand-to- hand fighting. A street barricade placed in a position where artillery cannot operate from a distance is impregnable to frontal attack. To bring artillery within a couple of hundred yards – the length of the average street – would mean the loss of artillery if confronted by even imperfectly drilled troops armed with rifles. The Moscow revolution where only 80 rifles were in the hands of the insurgents, would have ended with the annihilation of the artil- lery had the number of insurgent rifles been 800. The insurrection of Paris in June, 1848, reveals how districts of towns or villages should be held. The streets were barricaded at tactical points not on the main streets but commanding them. The houses were broken through so that passages were made inside the houses along the whole length of the streets. The party walls were loop holed as were also the front walls, the windows were blocked by sandbags, boxes filled with stones and dirt, bricks, chests, and other pieces of furniture with all sorts of odds and ends piled up high against them. Behind such defences the insurgents poured their fire upon the troops through loop holes left for the purpose. In the attack against Napoleon a village held in this manner repulsed several assaults of the Prussians allies of England. When these Prussians were relieved by the English these latter did no dare attempt a frontal attack, but instead broke into an end house on one side of the village and commenced to take the houses one by one. Thus all the fighting was inside the houses, and musket-fire played but a small part. On one side of the street they captured all the houses, on the other they failed, and when a truce was declared the English were in possession of one side of the village, and the French enemies the other. The truce led to a peace. When peace was finally proclaimed the two sides of the village street were still held by opposing forces. The defence of a building in a city, town or village is governed by the same rules. Such a building left unconquered is a serious danger even if it supports are all defeated. If it had been flanked by barricades, and all these barricades were destroyed, no troops could afford to push on and leave the building in the hands of the enemy. If they did so they would be running the danger of perhaps meting a check further on. Which check would be disastrous if they had left a hostile building manned by an unconquered force in their rear. Therefore, the fortifying of a strong building, as a pivot upon which the defence of a town or village should hinge, forms a principal object of the preparations of any defending force, whether regular army or insurrectionary. The general principle to be deducted from a study of the example we have been dealing with, is that the defence is of almost over- whelming importance in such warfare as a popular force like the Citi- zen Army might be called upon to participate in. Not a mere passive defence of a position valueless in itself but the active defence of a position whose location threatens the supremacy or existence of the enemy. The genius of the commander must find such a position, the skill of his subordinates must prepare and fortify it; the courage of all must defend it. Out of this combination of genius, skill and courage alone can grow the flower of military success. Extract from Revolutionary Warfare 24th July 1915 by JAMES CONNOLLY In the military sense of the term what after all is a street? A street is a defile in a city. A defile is a narrow pass through which troops can only move by narrowing their front, and therefore making themselves a good target for the enemy. A defile is also a difficult place for soldiers to manoeuvre in. especially if the flanks of the defile are held by the enemy.

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