MAP OF THE LAND OF OHET.
ANNALS OF A FORTRESS.
BY
E. VIOLLET-LE-DUC.
TRANSLATED BY BENJAMIN BUCKNALL,
ARCHITECT.
BOSTON:
JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY,
Late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co.
1876.University Press: Welch, Bigelow, & Co.,
Cambridge.
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
[Pg v]The Fortress whose transmutations during successive ages are so vividlydescribed in the following pages is an ideal one; its supposed situationis on the Cousin, an affluent of the Saône. The practical genius of theauthor indicates the position which, in view of the new easternfrontier, should be fortified in order to command the Saône.
To his unrivalled talent as an architect, Monsieur Viollet-le-Duc addsthe highest qualifications of the military engineer. In this branch ofapplied science he is a recognised authority; and it may not be out ofplace to notice here that he was frequently consulted by the lateEmperor respecting the permanent defences of the country. It is not toomuch to assert that if his recommendations had been carried out theinvestment of Paris would have been rendered impossible, whilst theprogress of the German invasion elsewhere would have been attended withgreater difficulties. As colonel of engineers, no officer displayedgreater energy, skill, or bravery, in the defence of the city; and everyoperation planned and directed by him during the siege was successful.Within two or three days after the signing of[Pg vi] the armistice, theGermans had done their utmost to destroy all evidences of their works ofinvestment. Nothing, however, had escaped the vigilant eye of M.Viollet-le-Duc. In that brief space of time he had surveyed andaccurately noted all these works of investment; plans and descriptionsof which are given in his interesting memoir of the siege. Upon theoutbreak of the Commune, he was solicited by its chiefs to take themilitary command; and had he not made a timely escape would probablyhave paid the penalty of his life for refusing that questionable honour.From his retreat at Pierrefonds he was recalled by General MacMahon, toassist the Versailles troops in re-entering Paris. It is deserving ofmention that in his absence a devoted band of craftsmen thrice gallantlydefended his house from being burnt and pillaged.
In presenting the Histoire d'une Forteresse in an English form, thetranslator has considered it impossible to do justice to the originalwithout adhering to its archaic style and manner; and aware that atranslation must lose something either in point of sense or style, hischief aim has been to give a faithful rendering of the sense.
Benjamin Bucknall,
Architect.
Oystermouth, Swansea,
February 11, 1875.
[Pg vii]