In
sapping and siege operations a movable shield made of heavy scantling attached
to a wheeled carriage that was rolled in front of a sap to cover the sappers
from enemy musket fire. This type of mantlet served the same purpose as a
sap roller or stuffed gabion, but was much easier to maneuver, especially
in difficult or uneven ground.
Any
device used to close an embrasure and inhibit enemy small arms or artillery
fire from passing through the neck of an embrasure was also referred to as
a mantlet. Embrasure mantlets could be given a wide range of forms from swinging
iron or wooden shutters to rope screens hung from the crest of the interior
slope. Circular rope mantlets that were made to fit over the tube of a piece
of artillery were popularized during the Siege of Sebastopol and also used
during the American Civil War.
In
sapping and siege operations a movable shield made of heavy scantling attached
to a wheeled carriage that was rolled in front of a sap to cover the sappers
from enemy musket fire. This type of mantlet served the same purpose as a
sap roller or stuffed gabion, but was much easier to maneuver, especially
in difficult or uneven ground.
Any
device used to close an embrasure and inhibit enemy small arms or artillery
fire from passing through the neck of an embrasure was also referred to as
a mantlet. Embrasure mantlets could be given a wide range of forms from swinging
iron or wooden shutters to rope screens hung from the crest of the interior
slope. Circular rope mantlets that were made to fit over the tube of a piece
of artillery were popularized during the Siege of Sebastopol and also used
during the American Civil War.
