Chapter Five. Implementing The Paradigm Siege

As Vauban aged he sought to assure his legacy of managerial efficiency by passing his knowledge and authority on to his fellow engineers, the only ones who could properly conduct a Vaubanian siege. When engineers failed to juggle adroitly the many components of the siege apparatus, their attacks deviated significantly from Vauban’s ideal. The difficulty in implementing any kind of efficient attack was that it required a large number of highly-skilled engineers who knew how to apply Vauban’s maxims to the specific siege at hand. The first source of friction was the difficulty engineers of all ranks had in getting their superiors to follow their advice, for technical experts served in a strictly advisory role even in sieges. The commanding general was not the only challenge to an engineer’s undisputed management of the siege, lieutenant-generals offered even greater sources of friction in the trenches.Keywords: engineers; lieutenant-generals; Vauban; Vaubanian siege