Those who proscribe lines of circumvallation, and all the assistance
which the science of the engineer can afford, deprive themselves
gratuitously of an auxiliary which is never injurious, almost always
useful, and often indispensable. It must be admitted, at the same time,
that the principles of field-fortification require improvement. This
important branch of the art of war has made no progress since the time
of the ancients. It is even inferior at this day to what it was two
thousand years ago. Engineer officers should be encouraged in bringing
this branch of their art to perfection, and in placing it upon a level
with the rest.