Cheval de frise petersburg civil war 02598

The ''cheval de frise'' (plural: ''chevaux de frise'' , " Frisian horses") is a defensive obstacle, which existed in a number of forms and were employed in various applications. These included underwater constructions used to prevent the passage of ships or other vessels on rivers, or as anti-cavalry measure consisting of a portable frame (sometimes just a simple log) covered with many projecting long iron or wooden spikes or spears. They were principally intended as an anti- cavalry obstacle but could also be moved quickly to help block a breach in another barrier. They remained in occasional use until they were replaced by

wire obstacle In the military science of fortification, wire obstacles are defensive obstacles made from barbed wire, barbed tape or concertina wire. They are designed to disrupt, delay and generally slow down an attacking enemy. During the time that the at ...

s just after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. During the Civil War, the Confederates used this type of barrier more often than the Union forces. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, armies used ''chevaux de frise'' to temporarily plug gaps in barbed wire. Barbed wire ''chevaux de frise'' were used in jungle fighting on the South Pacific islands during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The term is also applied to defensive works on buildings. This includes a series of closely set upright stones found outside the ramparts of

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

s in northern Europe, or iron spikes outside homes in Charleston, South Carolina.

Etymology

In French, ''cheval de frise'' means " Frisian horse". The Frisians fought predominantly using cavalry; they were known for being formidable horsemen, and Frisian horses were renowned for their strength and agility. Therefore, for defense they relied heavily on anti-cavalry obstacles. The Dutch also adopted the use of these defensive devices when at war with Spain. The term ''cheval de frise'' came to be used for any spiked obstacle, such as broken glass embedded in mortar at the top of a wall. The ''cheval de frise'' was adopted in New York and Pennsylvania during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

as a defensive measure installed on rivers to prevent upriver movement by enemy ships. During the Peninsular War, at the siege of Badajoz in 1812, a ''cheval de frise'' was successfully deployed to fill a breach in the town wall, allowing the French to inflict heavy casualties on the British storm troops.

American Revolutionary War

During the

both

Thaddeus Kosciuszko Thaddeus (Latin ''Thaddaeus'', Ancient Greek Θαδδαῖος ''Thaddaĩos'', from Aramaic תדי ''Ṯaday'') is a male given name. As of the 1990 United States census, 1990 Census, ''Thaddeus'' was the 611th most popular male name in the Unit ...

and

Robert Erskine Robert Erskine (1735–1780) was a Scottish inventor and engineer who came to the British colonial Province of New Jersey in 1771 to run the ironworks at Ringwood, New Jersey. He subsequently became sympathetic to the movement for independen ...

designed an anti-ship version of the cheval-de-frise to prevent British warships from proceeding up the Delaware River and

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

, respectively. A ''cheval de frise'' by Erskine's design was placed between Fort Washington at northern Manhattan and Fort Lee in New Jersey in 1776. The following year construction began on one to the north of

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

Pollepel Island Pollepel Island is a uninhabited island in the Hudson River in New York. The principal feature on the island is Bannerman's Castle, an abandoned military surplus warehouse. Description Pollepel Island has been called many different names, inc ...

, but it was overshadowed by the completion of the

Great Chain The Hudson River Chains were a series of chain booms constructed across the Hudson River at West Point by Continental Army forces from 1776 to 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. These served as defenses preventing British naval vessels ...

across the Hudson in 1778, which was used through 1782. Similar devices planned by

Ben Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intel ...

and designed by Robert Smith were used in the Delaware River near

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, between

Fort Mifflin Fort Mifflin, originally called Fort Island Battery and also known as Mud Island Fort, was commissioned in 1771 and sits on Mud Island (or Deep Water Island) on the Delaware River below Philadelphia, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia International A ...

and

Fort Mercer Fort Mercer was a earthen fort on the Delaware River on its New Jersey shore constructed by the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Built by Polish engineer Thaddeus Kosciuszko under the command of George Washington, Fort M ...

. Two other lines of chevaux-de-frise were also placed across the Delaware River at

Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania Marcus Hook is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,397 at the 2010 census. The current mayor is Gene Taylor. The borough calls itself "The Cornerstone of Pennsylvania". The 2005 film ''One Last Thing''... was set an ...

and Fort Billingsport, New Jersey as a first line of defense for Philadelphia against the British naval forces. A ''cheval de frise'' was retrieved from the Delaware River in Philadelphia on November 13, 2007, in excellent condition, after more than two centuries in the river. In November 2012, a spike from a cheval-de-frise was recovered from Delaware off Bristol Township; it was also believed to be from the Revolutionary era installation at Philadelphia and freed up by

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

earlier that fall.

Legacy

A small promontory on the north-east

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

coast in the United Kingdom (UK), between Holland Haven and Frinton-on-Sea, was named Chevaux de Frise Point.

References

{{Fortifications Fortification (obstacles) Medieval defences

Etymology

American Revolutionary War

Legacy

See also

References