On the Attack and Defense of Fortresses

...of Powder that was employed there; the shape of the underground Galleries: and in order to represent things as exactly as possible, these Descriptions have been accompanied by Plans, Profiles, or Elevations of all these Works, even down to the Tools which are proper and peculiar to them. And because Earths are not all of the same quality, faithful Tables of the weight of various Earths and Sands are added, in order to regulate the quantity of Powder necessary to displace them. But before entering into this detail, it is appropriate to give an abridgment of the History of Mining Officers.

One cannot doubt that, since the effects of Powder have been known, the State has had need of People who made a profession of employing it in the Attacks and Defenses of Cities: thus there were Mining Officers in fortified Places before the King reduced them into a Company, as they are today.

The first that appeared in France was that which His Majesty created after the Peace of Nijmegen, at the Camp of Maintenon in 1679, of which the Sieur Goulon *, Engineer, was made Captain. The King gave orders to several Mining Officers, who were distributed in the Places, to report there to compose a Company of thirty Miners. From the oldest he drew a Lieutenant, a second Lieutenant, four Brigade Commanders, four Brigadiers; and the surplus of these officers was placed at the head, in the capacity of senior Miners. The rest of the Company was filled by Grenadiers chosen by order of the King. And in order to make it flourish with capable subjects, he established at the same time a School, whose students had the honor of performing before

• The Manuscript says the Sieur la Mothe, Chief Engineer, but Saint-Remy expressly names the Sieur Goulon.