(1) The works excavated by the besiegers to attack a fortifications defences by making a breach. The early method was to fill the excavated cavity under a wall with combustibles, set it a light, once the upright timbers burnt through the chamber collapsed bringing down the wall above, thus making a breach. The later method of using a mine to make a breach involved using gun powder, the gun powder was exploded in the excavated chamber under the walls, the resulting effects producing a breach. (2) Mines were made by besiegers while countermines were made by the besieged. See ecoutes.
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