Bombardment

Severe and continuous artillery fire of shot and shell upon a fortified place for the purpose of destroying its means of defense, demoralizing its garrison and inciting such terror among its peaceable inhabitants as to compel pel the mpet commander to surrender the place. In that period of n military history where bombardments were most frequent (1682 to 1815), they were usually the final resort in siege operations when the further progre of the latter was too hazardous for succe . The most prominent bombardments recorded in history are that of Algiers by Duquesne in 1682-83, by the Venetians in 1784, and by the English in 1816; of Genoa in 1684; of Tripoli in 1685, 1728, and 1747; of Barcelona in 1691; of Bru els in 1694; of Toulon by the English in 1707; of Prague in 1744, 1759, and 1848; of Lille by the Austrians in 1792; of Le Quesnoy, Breda, Lille, Lyons, Mae strict and Mayence in 1793; of Menin, Valenciennes, and Ostend in 1794; of Copenhagen in 1807, where the English threw over 11,000 shot and shell in three days; of Glogan, Breslau, and Schweidnitz by the French in 1806-7; of Sarago a by the French in 1808; of Flushing by the English in 1809; of Antwerp in 1832; of Saint Jean d'Ulloa by the French in 1838; of Beyrout and St. Jean d'Aca by the English in 1840; of Barcelona by Espartero in 1842; of Mogador by the French in 1844; of Ode a by the English and French fleets in 1854; of Vera Cruz by General Scott in 1847. During the Rebellion Forts St. Philip and Jackson on the Mi i ippi were bombarded for six days in 1862, and then surrendered; Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor first in August 1863, and afterward in Octocer; but though the fort was destroyed as a channel defense, it was never surrendered. Over 4,700 shell were fired into Charleston from Cummings Point, a distance of nearly 5 miles, without accomplishing any useful military result. During the Franco Pru ian war Strasburg was bombarded by the Pru ians August 18, 1870, and after a great number of shells were thrown into it with ruinous effect, the city was surrendered on September 27. Great destruction of life and property occurred during the siege and bombardment of Paris in January 1871, where over 500 shells were daily, for two weeks, thrown into the city. Bombay. Seaport and capital of the Bombay Presidency IMG:content-0576.png:[graphic][subsumed][subsumed] IMG:content-0577.png:[blocks in formation]