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Fortification, Temporary |
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Also called field fortifications, temporary fortifications were
defensive and offensive structures constructed using readily available or
perishable materials for the purpose of strengthening positions of temporary
strategic or tactical importance or to conduct attacks by covered approaches
against permanent or temporary fortifications. Temporary fortifications may
be divided into six basic categories based on their object and structural
forms: battlefield fortifications, major fortifications, semi-permanent
fortifications, accessory defenses, adapted fortifications, and siege works.
Battlefield fortifications were hastily constructed earth works
Major field works were usually constructed by troops in position
or working parties prior to the arrival of an expected hostile force.
Characterized by a ditch and parapet profile, major field works served the
double purpose of sheltering troops from hostile fire and presenting substantial
physical obstacles to close assaults.
Accessory defenses included works that could either be employed
in combination with other field works or made to sustain an independent defense.
These works could be constructed on almost any profile, from trench and
embankment to double-cased wooden walls. Wooden walled blockhouses and stockades,
in particular, could be employed either as reduits (safety redoubts) in larger
field works or as
Adapted field fortifications were pre-existing structures adapted
to perform the protective or obstructive functions of fortifications. This
included converting solidly built civilian houses into blockhouses by reinforcing
the walls and flooring, covering windows with bullet-proof shielding, and
cutting loop-holes through walls. It
Siege works were specialized offensive structures employed to
conduct covered attacks against strong field or
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January, 2004 |
intended to enhance the defensive power of an army already in
position and deployed to accept battle. These works were generally characterized
by trench and embankment profiles and were constructed by the troops who
would occupy them with the object of gaining cover from hostile fire as rapidly
as possible.
Semi-permanent field works also generally employed ditch and
parapet profiles, but were generally the product of prolonged periods of
design and development that produced works nearly as strong and unassailable
as permanent fortifications. Field works of this nature were better designed
and constructed with materials intended to increase their resistance to the
destructive effects of weather.
independent works to shelter small garrison along lines of
communication exposed to hostile attack. This category of field works also
included obstacles that could be used in combination with other types of
field works to impede close assaults.
also encompassed preparing free standing garden or cemetery
walls and thick hedges to serve as parapets and erecting barriers and barricades
in streets to create cover and obstacles for the defense ofr small towns
and villages. During the Civil War adapted fortifications were largely subplanted
by hastily constructed battlefield fortifications since most American wood
frame houses were inherently unsuitable to adaptation as fortifications,
but were highly suitable as sources of material for more effective earth
and wood fortifications.
permanent fortifications. These works could be given a number
of different profiles depending on their position and purpose in the design
of an attack, but were usually constructed with trench and embankment profiles
since their primary object was to intercept hostile fire without necessarily
interposing an obstacle between the attacking troops and sorties by a besieged
garrison. Parallels, saps, and several types of batteries employed trench
and embankment profiles while some very specialized works, such as trench
cavaliers and cavalier batteries, employed ditch or trench and rampart profiles
to achieve specific fire effects on the enemy's defensive works.
