Existing comment:
June 2, 1781
Approach Trench
"Not a man could shew his head but what he was immediately shot down."
-- General Nathanael Green
Approach trenches, called saps, connected one parallel to the next. These angled ditches allowed troops to move toward the fort without taking direct fire from the enemy. Sappers, or laborers who dug the tranches, broke through the hard red soil sometimes with only candlelight to guide them. Dangerous musket volleys often cost them their lives. |