Vauban

vo-baN', Sebastien (1633-1707), a celebrated military engineer of France. He rose to prominence under the great French military leaders, Conde' and Turenne, by whom he was regarded as the most promising engineer of his time. He acquired reputation both in the taking of fortresses and in the construction of them. He surrounded France with a cordon of fortifications. He is credited with having constructed thirty-three new fortresses and with having conducted fifty-three sieges. In conducting sieges he borrowed a system of parallel trenches from the Turks. He declared that with time, powder, and patience any fortress could be taken.