Engineering. All this is achieved through practical education in peacetime. Indeed, look at the Field Engineering Troops: how great, varied and instructive is their practical activity in peacetime! During the winter period, they undergo theoretical training, draw up maps and plans for various tasks related to their specialty, draw up projects and develop various specialized issues. With the onset of warm weather, they begin to frenetic activity on the floor and on the water. Indeed, it must be done in full justice that not a single type of weapon endures as much labor and hardship as the Field Engineering Troops.
In addition to the work aimed at studying their specialty in practice, the Field Engineering Troops are busy carrying out various types of experiments and improvements in the Field Engineering Department. For a more visible and widespread application of their art, the Field Engineer Troops participate annually in joint training with other types of weapons.
Based on the point of view that only through practical means can one develop, in peacetime, an officer of the Field Engineering Troops who is fully appropriate for his appointment, of course, you will agree with me that a military engineer, placed in the conditions in which he is now with us, in peacetime, cannot successfully appoint an officer of the Field Engineering Troops in wartime.
[fragment illegible in the scan of the first edition]
Without going into a critical assessment of engineering activities during the Turkish war, I will allow myself to say a few words in defense of the Field Engineering Troops, which did not deserve such a reproach.
If some blunders were noticed in the actions of the Field Engineering Troops, then the main reason should be sought not in the weakness of their knowledge or art, but in the fact that, 1) their number, especially the number of officers, did not correspond to all the needs of the army; With today's short service life, everything depends on the cost; Not many lower ranks are being produced who could be entrusted with independently carrying out, albeit minor, engineering work; 2) a lot happened as a result of insufficient acquaintance with
How useful it is to use and recruit Field Engineering Troops in wartime.
As proof of the validity of my opinion, I can cite that the Field Engineering Troops, being directly subordinate to the commanders,
Those experienced and well acquainted with their properties were able to show themselves and maintain the glory of their weapons. Let's take, for example, the siege of Plevna, the crossing of the Danube at Sistov, the defense of Shipka: no one will deny that the Field Engineering Troops carried out these affairs with full honor and impeccably on their shoulders, thanks to the experience of the people who led them.
D. P. Ivnov.
Editions that I, ch. image, used (except for dBl, preserved in the archives), when compiling this essay:
1) Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire, ed. 1830
2) Historical sketch of the Engineering Administration in Russia, Alexander Ivanovich Savelyev, ed. 1879
I owe a lot to this venerable work that deserves full respect. Being far from our main archives, I am not in a position to use them if I had not written this name at hand. All records placed in it have absolutely clear and precise indications of the file number of all archives. These certificates gave me the opportunity to ask for the deportation of the necessary documents from the archives to the city. K!ev. In addition, this work helped me to completely understand the management system of the Engineering Corps, the character and activities of the people who headed it.
3) Materials on the history of Engineering in Russia, A. Savelyev (Engineering Notes 1853).
4) Materials for the history of Engineering in Rosai, Lieutenant General ©. Laskovsky.
5) Materials for the history of the Engineering Unit in Russia, Vasilyeva. (Engineering Journal, 1860, Nos. 4, 5 and 6).
6) A chronological list of the main figures was established and transformed in the Military Engineering Department from 1659 to 1858, G. Dekhtereva, ed. 1858
7) Historical sketch of the Main Engineering School, M. Maksimovsky, ed. 1869
8) Chronological tables of Sapernykh and Pontoon battalions, compiled by the editor of the Russian Military Chronicle, ed. 1866
9) Experience of a library for military people, ed. Vasil Sots (St. Petersburg, printing house of the Main Staff), 1826
10) Materials for the history of the Artillery Directorate, comp. Brandenburg.
11) Biography of Count Minich, ed. 1806.
12) About European military bridge parks and their best design, Karl von Birogo. Translation from German by L. Olf (Engineering Notes, Part XXX] 1848).