The attacking army's artillery had to be brought forward, under fire, so as to facilitate effective counter-battery fire. When an army was defending a fortress with cannons, they had an obvious height and therefore range advantage over the attacker's guns. Saps were excavated by brigades of trained sappers or instructed troops. This digging was referred to as sapping the enemy fortifications. It comes from the French word sapeur, itself being derived from the verb saper (to undermine, to dig under a wall or building to cause its collapse). The mule carries the tools required for field engineering tasks.Ī sapper, in the sense first used by the French military, was one who dug trenches to allow besieging forces to advance towards the enemy defensive works and forts over ground that is under the defenders' musket or artillery fire. See also: Sapping Soldiers of No 2 Field Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners on duty in China in 1900.

The term 'sapper' is used in the British Army and Commonwealth nations and the U.S. A sapper's duties facilitate and support movement, defense, and survival of allied forces and impede those of enemies. They are also trained and equipped to serve as provisional infantry, fighting as such as a secondary mission. JSTOR ( January 2018) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ī sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses, and road and airfield construction and repair.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.

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