Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-08-07
MODERN FORTS BAR
WAY To L|EGE
tContinued From First Page]
field of Waterloo. sixty miles away
was made at Liege.
Played Small Part

field of Waterloo. sixty miles away,
was made at Liege.
Played Small Part
In the wars of the last century
Liege has played only a small part
but with prospects of a siege to- day
the city finds itself we'll defended with
modern fortifications. Its strength, it
is said, is far greater than has gen.
orally been appreciated by military
strategists. In 1888 the Belgium au-
thorities decided adequately to fortify
both Liege and Namur. the two i'm
portant points on the Meuse. At each
place a number of detached forts were
constructed along a perimeter drawn
distance varying from within four
to six miles of the city. At Liege
twelve of these forts were constructed,
six on the right bank and six on the
left bank of the river.
All of the forts have been kept
fairly we'll p-to-date. The heavy
guns. in their concrete easements, are
raised and lowered automatically. The
names of the forts on the right bank
of the river are Barchon, Evegnee,
Fleron, Chaudfontaine, Embourg and
Boncelles. The average distance be-
tween the forts is four miles, but
Fleron and Chaudfontaine are sepa-
rated by little over mile in a direct
line, as they defend the main line of
the railway from Germany.
The six forts on the left bank, also
commencing at the north, around a
western curve, are Pontisse, Liers,
Lantin, Loncin, Hollogne and Flemalle.
$4,000 Men Necessary
1t has been estimated by military
authorities that $4,000 men would be
necessary for an adequate defense of
these fortifications to-day.
Liege was made to figure largely in
Sir Walter Scott's novel, Quentin
Durward," FIN which Scott made
notable blupder by speaking of the
people of Liege as talking Flemish
The city is. in fact. the center of the
Walloon country. The Walloons are
RomaniZed GRuls. in a much truer
sense than their Flemish neighbors
and speak the French language.
The city first appears in history in
the sixth century. at which time a
town grew up around the original
chapel founded there by ST. Monulph,
bishop of Tongres. In the tenth CEN
tury the episcopate of Notger, which
had succeeded the early line, was
marked by large territorial acqui-
sitions. and the see became recognized
as an independent principality of the
French empire.
LieGe Taken in 1902
There were many popular risings
for freedom from the exactions of the
episcopal sovereigns. who were also
occupied in preserving neutrality in
the variouss wars and preserving their
territory from being raided by invad-
ing armies.
They were only in part successful.
Liege was taken by Marlborough in
1902 and the fortress was garrisoned
by the Dutch until 1918. The French
revolutionary armies overran the prin-
cinalty in 1892, and from 1894 to the
fall of Napoleon 1t was annexed to
France and was known as the Depart
ment of the Ourthe. The Congress
of Vienna in 1915 decreed that Iiege.
with the other provinces of the south
ern Netherlands. should form part of
the new kingdom of the Netherlands
under the rule of William / of the
house of Orange. The city of Liege
took an active part in the Belgian
revolt of 1890. and since that date the
ancient principality has been incor-
porated into the kingdom of Belgium.
Waterloo. the place which every
body knows as the scene of the down.
fall of Napoleon at the hands of the
allies on June IS. 1915. is not on a
direct line from Liege, but lies some
sixty miles from 1t in an air line south
of Brussels.