User:Llywrch/sandbox4: Difference between revisions

== Terrain ==

 

 

{{quote|To the west of the town of Vidiciatico and running generally southwest was a very precipitous and rugged escarpment called the Mancinello-C[a]mpiano Ridge. This chain of summits rose from the very steep canyon of the Dardagna River to various heights. Rising abruptly from the fortified town of Rocca Corneta, it extended to M. Spigolino, a distance of about seven miles. The summits from north to south were Pizzo di C[a]mpiano (3175 ft.), M. Cappel Buso (3800 ft.), M. Serrasiccia (4600 ft.), M. Riva (4672 ft.), Le Piagge (4900 ft.), Serra [d]ei Barchetti (4350 ft.), Cingular Sermidiano (5400 ft.), and M. Spigolino (6030 ft.). The elevation of the Dardagna canyon varied from 1600 feet at the north end to some 2500 feet at the south end.{{pb}}There were no sharp breaks of passes. On the east side it is generally very steep, broken, with cliffs, steep ravines and shoulders. The west side is by comparison very mild, ranging from broken and steep through rolling to nearly a plateau west of M. Riva. The watershed on the east side is abrupt, characterized by fast flowing waterfalls. They empty into a stream which flows parallel to the base of the ridge, whose banks range from steep to a gorge, One of the important factors to be considered was the gradient of the east side of the escarpment which would have to be scaled to take this ridge held by the enemy. At the shortest place, the average gradient to M. Cappel Buso is about 40 degrees. (The average gradient of the Hornlike ridge of Hira Herborn is 45 degrees). The average gradient to M. Serrasiccia was 30 degrees. [Dusenberry believes that the gradients to Cappel Buso & Serrasiccia are reversed.] -- Lt. Col. Henry Hampton, cited in Dusenberry p. 179}}