Like many cities in the Middle Ages, Hamburg had towering walls. Yet with the growth of commerce and people expanding beyond them, Hamburg no longer resembled the fortress it once was, looking instead like a beautiful English garden.
Although it still closed its gates at dusk, the practice had lost all military significance and become more of a custom. To avoid interrupting the citizens' recreation, on Sundays the gates were closed forty-five minutes later.
Ever since rumors spread in the taverns that Pichegru, the assassin who had attempted to kill Napoleon, might be hiding in Hamburg, it was not only the Sunday forty-five-minute delay that disappeared. The city's grim atmosphere had even affected the mood of Christmas. Unless absolutely necessary, citizens chose to stay indoors and warm themselves by the fire.
This indirectly caused the price of firewood to rise, while the rivers had also frozen over. Frederick the Great had once said that the more developed a country's roads and transportation were, the easier it was for that country to be occupied by its enemies.
During the French Revolution, the northern front advanced along the postal roads built by Louis XIV, and several important pitched battles were fought around fortress cities. This was already unlike the pattern of ancient warfare.
In ancient warfare, armies encountering a city would choose a frontal assault, insisting on capturing it before moving on to attack the next city. They rarely took detours. Once they bypassed a city, the unconquered city could attack from front and rear, cutting off supply lines to the rear—the grain routes and the like. A single misstep could lead to being surrounded deep behind enemy lines.
The French had revolted because of famine and crossed the Alps on empty stomachs. They had almost no logistical supplies, relying on living