Defile (geography)

The issue of Defile (geography) is widely discussed today as it affects a large number of people around the world. Since its discovery, Defile (geography) has sparked growing interest in the scientific community, as well as society in general. Over the years, numerous studies and research have been carried out that seek to fully understand the implications and consequences of Defile (geography) in terms of health, society and the environment. In this article, different aspects related to Defile (geography) will be examined, providing an overview of its importance and impact today.

The Defile of l'Ecluse viewed from Fort l'Écluse

In geography, a defile is a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills. The term originates from a military description of a route through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front.[1] On emerging from a defile (or something similar) into open country, soldiers are said to "debouch".

Background

In a traditional military formation, soldiers march in ranks (the depth of the formation is the number of ranks) and files (the width of the formation is the number of files), so, if a column of soldiers approaches a narrow pass, the formation must narrow, and so the files on the outside must be ordered to the rear (or to some other position) so that the column has fewer files and more ranks. The French verb for this order is défiler,[2] from which the English verb comes, as does the physical description for a valley that forces this manoeuvre.[3]

Defiles of military significance can also be formed by other physical features that flank a pass or path and cause it to narrow, for example impassable woods and rivers. At the Battle of Agincourt, a defile formed by the woods of Agincourt and Forecourt caused a choke point for the French army and aided the English in their victory over the French.[4]

Some defiles have a permanent strategic importance and become known by that term in military literature. For example, the military historian William Siborne names such a geographic feature in France near the frontier with Germany in his book Waterloo Campaign 1815:

On the following day, General Rapp fell back upon the Defile of Brümath; but this he quitted in the night, and took up a favourable position in the rear of the Suffel, near Strasburg.

— William Siborne[5]

See also

  • Battle of Cerro Gordo – 1847 battle of the Mexican–American War
  • Battle of Thermopylae – 480 BC engagement of the Greco-Persian Wars
  • Canyon – Deep chasm between cliffs
  • Draw (terrain) – A long area of downward sloping low ground
  • Gully – Landform created by running water and/or mass movement eroding sharply into soil
  • Ravine – Small valley, often due to stream erosion
  • Valley – Low area between hills, often with a river running through it
  • Water gap – Geological feature formed through a mountain
  • Wind gap – Topographic gap made by a former waterway
  • Fulda Gap – Cold War strategically important area

References

  1. ^ "Defile". Oxford English Dictionary (1).
  2. ^ Oxford English Dictionary "defile" "F. défilé (17th c.), ppl. n. from défiler to DEFILE
  3. ^ Oxford English Dictionary "defile" n. 2.
  4. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition. "Agincourt". "The battle was fought in the defile formed by the wood of Agincourt and that of Tramecourt, at the northern exit of which the army under d'Albret, constable of France, had placed itself so as to bar the way to Calais against the English forces..."
  5. ^ Siborne, William. Waterloo Campaign 1815, Fourth Edition, Birmingham, 34 Wheeleys Road. Supplement section (p. 772)