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"Abatis consisting of trees lying parallel to each other with the branches pointing in the general direction of approach and interlaced. All leaves and small twigs should be removed and the stiff ends of branches pointed." — Moss, 1914

Abatis

"Abatis consisting of trees lying parallel to each other with the branches pointing in the general direction…

"Gate-tower or Barbican, Walmgate Bar, York, England. In medieval fortification, a tower built beside or over a gate, as of a city, etc., for the purpose of defending the passage." -Whitney, 1911

Barbican of Walmgate Bar

"Gate-tower or Barbican, Walmgate Bar, York, England. In medieval fortification, a tower built beside…

Fortification constructed of timber, muskets and cann0n fire from within.

Blockhouse

Fortification constructed of timber, muskets and cann0n fire from within.

Blockhouses, built of heavy logs with the second story overhanging the first, were created for defense against enemies.

Blockhouse

Blockhouses, built of heavy logs with the second story overhanging the first, were created for defense…

Campus Martius in Marietta, Ohio.

Campus Martius

Campus Martius in Marietta, Ohio.

The Norwich Castle was built in 1067 by the order of William the Conquerer, who was King of England at the time. The castle was built to be used as fortification in the city of Norwich, England.

Norwich Castle

The Norwich Castle was built in 1067 by the order of William the Conquerer, who was King of England…

An illustration of the fortification around Constantinople and soldiers firing cannons.

Constantinople

An illustration of the fortification around Constantinople and soldiers firing cannons.

Evacuation of Corinth, Mississippi- Confederate fortifications, from the northern angle, looking south- pursuit of the retreating Confederates by the Federal Cavalry under General Smith. The details of the evacuation of Corinth, by Beauregard, beyond those contained in the official reports of General Halleck, were that Beauregard's force did not exceed 60,000 men. Nobody was left in town except women and children and old men; everything was taken away except a few provisions, which were burned. They did not leave a single gun, and had been moving their stores for two weeks, and their troops for six days. Their fortifications were five miles long, extending from the Memphis and Charleston to the Mobile and Ohio Roads. But they were much weaker than supposed. They could have been carried by storm at any time.

Evacuation of Corinth

Evacuation of Corinth, Mississippi- Confederate fortifications, from the northern angle, looking south-…

"Crown-work, in Fortification, is formed to strengthen a weak front, or to occupy ground which might facilitate the enemy's operations. It consists of two faces inclined to each other at an angle, with a bastion in the middle, and half-bastions at the two ends; and it is connected with the main body of the work by two long sides. RMNPS is the crown-work, in front of and protecting the ravelin O. Both of these works are entirely beyong the main ditch of the place, but each has also a ditch of its own." — Chambers' Encyclopedia, 1875

Crown-Work

"Crown-work, in Fortification, is formed to strengthen a weak front, or to occupy ground which might…

"Curtain, in Fortification, is the portion of rampart or wall between two bastions or two gates. In a regular siege, to batter down the curtain is one of the main operations depended on; and many of the external works constructed by the defenders are intended to frustrate, or at least embarrass, this operation. In the annexed cut, which shows a ground-plan of some of the elements of a regular fortification, FF' is the curtain; HAEF, a bastion. The component parts of the bastion are thus designated: AH and AE, two faces; EF and GH, two flanks; A, the salient; FG, the gorge; and H and E, the shoulders. mn is the rampart; mo, the parapet on the rampart; QPQ', the ditch; NO, the covery-way; RWR', the glacis; KLL', a ravelin." — Chambers' Encyclopedia, 1875

Curtain

"Curtain, in Fortification, is the portion of rampart or wall between two bastions or two gates. In…

"A bundle of rods or small sticks of wood bound at both ends and in the middle, used in fortification, raising batteries, filling ditches, strengthening ramparts, and making parapets." -Whitney, 1911

Fascine

"A bundle of rods or small sticks of wood bound at both ends and in the middle, used in fortification,…

The blockhouse and soldiers at Fort Pitt in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Fort Pitt

The blockhouse and soldiers at Fort Pitt in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Fort Sumter before the Civil War.

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter before the Civil War.

The fort was built by the British Army and Canadian militia troops in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, to defend the settlement and the new capital of the Upper Canada region from the threat of a military attack, principally from the newly independent United States.

Fort York

The fort was built by the British Army and Canadian militia troops in the late eighteenth and early…

A fortified building situated between two sharp hills at the edge of a lake. Two men are launching a boat.

Fortification

A fortified building situated between two sharp hills at the edge of a lake. Two men are launching a…

"Section of Fortified Wall. (Interior on the left; exterior on the right.) a, a, is the abatis; b, b, the counterscarp; c, c, the palisade; d, d, the scarp; f, f, the fraise; f, e, g, g, the parapet; h, the banquette; and i, g, the breast-height." -Whitney, 1911

Section of Fortified Wall

"Section of Fortified Wall. (Interior on the left; exterior on the right.) a, a, is the abatis; b, b,…

Also known as the Castle of St. Angelo. A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages.

Hadrian's Castle, Rome

Also known as the Castle of St. Angelo. A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols…

Hadrian's Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of what is now northern England. Construction began in 122 AD.

Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of what…

A man standing in an armored lookout.

An Armored Lookout

A man standing in an armored lookout.

During Dummer's War, the location was a rendezvous for returned inhabitants of Pemaquid and vicinity. Colonel David Dunbar, Surveyor-General of the King's Woods, rebuilt the fort in 1729–1730, renaming it Fort Frederick. He renamed the town Harrington after the Earl of Harrington, who had helped arrange the 1729 Treaty of Seville. Fort Frederick withstood two attacks in 1747, but in 1759 was decommissioned at the end of the French and Indian Wars. In 1775, the town dismantled the fort to prevent it from becoming a British stronghold during the Revolutionary War.

Old Fort Frederick at Pemmaquid

During Dummer's War, the location was a rendezvous for returned inhabitants of Pemaquid and vicinity.…

Fort Pulaski, on Cockspur Island at the entrance to the Savannah River, Georgia, was built by the United States Government in 1829-31, for the defense of Tybee Roads and the Savannah River approach to the city of Savannah, Georgia. In January, 1861, it was seized and occupied by the military authorities of the State of Georgia, and held by them until transferred to the Confederate Government, by whom it was strongly armed and garrisoned. In form it was pentagonal; its walls were forty feet high, and presented two faces on the sea approach. The full armament of the fort consisted on the lower tier of 65 32-pounders, and the upper tier of 53 24-pounders, 4 18-pounders flanking howitzers, 1 13-inch mortar, 12 8-inch columbiads, and 7 10-inch mortars. The interior of the fort was well supplied with massive furnaces for heating shot, officers' quarters, soldiers' barracks, magazines, and a tolerable supply of shot and powder.

Fort Pulaski

Fort Pulaski, on Cockspur Island at the entrance to the Savannah River, Georgia, was built by the United…

A military tower.

Tower

A military tower.

Tower of London, with donjon in courtyard.

Tower of London

Tower of London, with donjon in courtyard.

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically as The Tower), is a historic monument in central London, England, on the north bank of the River Thames. The Tower of London is often identified with the White Tower, the original stark square fortress built by William the Conqueror in 1078. However, the tower as a whole is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. The tower's primary function was a fortress, a royal palace, and a prison (particularly for high status and royal prisoners).

Procession to the Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically…

The name Traitors' Gate has been used since the early seventeenth century, prisoners were brought by barge along the Thames, passing under London Bridge, where the heads of recently executed prisoners were displayed on pikes. Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas More, Queen Catherine Howard, and Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth I, all entered the Tower by Traitors' Gate.

Traitor's Gate, Tower of London

The name Traitors' Gate has been used since the early seventeenth century, prisoners were brought by…

"Part of Trench, with A, Fascines, and B, Gabions: in fortification, a large basket of wickerwork constructed with stakes and osiers, or green twigs, in a cylindrical form, but without a bottom." -Whitney, 1911

Trench with Fascines and Gabions

"Part of Trench, with A, Fascines, and B, Gabions: in fortification, a large basket of wickerwork constructed…

The Western Battery was built by the British Army. With ample supply of trees from the surrounding area it was made of wood. It had two guns with a blockhouse.

Remains of the Western Battery in 1860

The Western Battery was built by the British Army. With ample supply of trees from the surrounding area…

The Battle of Wyoming was an encounter during the American Revolutionary War between American Patriots and Loyalists accompanied by Iroquois raiders that took place in Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, on July 3, 1778. More than three hundred Patriots were killed in a battle followed by a massacre, in which the Iroquois raiders hunted and killed fleeing Patriots before torturing to death thirty to forty who had surrendered. <p>Site of Wintermoot's Fort. This view is from the ancient bed of the Susquehanna, looking west. The building, formerly the property of Colonel Jenkins, and now owned by Mr. David Goodwin, is upon the site of old Fort Wintermoot, which was destroyed at the time of the invasion in 1778. It is upon the ancient bank of the river, here from fifteen to twenty feeth high, and about sixty rods from the stream in its present channel.

Site of Wintermoot's Fort

The Battle of Wyoming was an encounter during the American Revolutionary War between American Patriots…

The Siege of Yorktown or Battle of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by General Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by General Lord Cornwallis. It proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War, as the surrender of Cornwallis’s army (the second major surrender of the war) prompted the British government to eventually negotiate an end to the conflict. <p>"Present appearance of the British Works at Yorktown. This view is from the fields in the direction of the American works, looking north. Toward the left is seen a portion of Governor Nelson's house, and on the extreme left, a few other houses in Yorktown appear."—Lossing, 1851

British Works at Yorktown

The Siege of Yorktown or Battle of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of…