An
embrasure is a shaped opening in a parapet or casemate wall that allows artillery
to fire through the parapet or wall. Embrasures were generally employed when
it was necessary to cover artillerists serving a piece from enemy musket
or artillery fire and when a piece did not require a wide wide field of fire.
Embrasures in field fortifications were usually given a trapezoidal shape
with a narrow neck through the interior slope of a parapet that gradually
widened until it reached the crest of the exterior slope. Cut surfaces on
either side of an embrasure were referred to as cheeks and were usually revetted
with gabions or fascines to stand at a slope of one unit of base to three
units of altitude above the lower flat surface of the embrasure, called the
sole.
An
embrasure is a shaped opening in a parapet or casemate wall that allows artillery
to fire through the parapet or wall. Embrasures were generally employed when
it was necessary to cover artillerists serving a piece from enemy musket
or artillery fire and when a piece did not require a wide wide field of fire.
Embrasures in field fortifications were usually given a trapezoidal shape
with a narrow neck through the interior slope of a parapet that gradually
widened until it reached the crest of the exterior slope. Cut surfaces on
either side of an embrasure were referred to as cheeks and were usually revetted
with gabions or fascines to stand at a slope of one unit of base to three
units of altitude above the lower flat surface of the embrasure, called the
sole.
