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A scarp and a counterscarp are the inner and outer sides, respectively, of a ditch or
These are tunnels or "galleries" that have been built behind the counterscarp wall inside the moat or ditch. Each gallery is pierced with loopholes for
''A Course of Military Instruction Originally Composed for the Use of the Royal Engineers: Volume 3''
John Murray, London (p.380)
Counterscarp: European fortress wall - Art - Britannica Concise: diagram
* Stephen Francis Wyley (Drawings by Steven Lowe
* ttp://civilwarfortifications.com/dictionary/xgc-015.html Counterscarp Gallery* E. Cobham Brewer 1810–189
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898: Counterscarp
;Attribution *
A scarp and a counterscarp are the inner and outer sides, respectively, of a ditch or moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
used in fortifications. Attackers (if they have not bridged the ditch) must descend the counterscarp and ascend the scarp. In permanent fortifications the scarp and counterscarp may be encased in stone. In less permanent fortifications, the counterscarp may be lined with paling fence set at an angle so as to give no cover to the attackers but to make advancing and retreating more difficult.
If an attacker succeeds in breaching a wall a coupure can be dug on the inside of the wall to hinder the forlorn hope, in which case the side of the ditch farthest from the breached wall and closest to the centre of the fortification is also called the counterscarp.
Counterscarp gallery
These are tunnels or "galleries" that have been built behind the counterscarp wall inside the moat or ditch. Each gallery is pierced with loopholes for musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket graduall ...
ry, so that attacking forces that enter the moat can be directly fired upon. Counterscarp galleries were usually built into the angles of the ditch to give the widest field of fire. Occasionally, casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mean ...
d artillery batteries were built into the counterscarp, but they were more commonly designed for infantry weapons only. The galleries were usually connected to the main body of the fort by a tunnel which passed under the ditch, or by a caponier, a gallery built across the floor of the ditch.Pasley, Charles William, Sir (1817''A Course of Military Instruction Originally Composed for the Use of the Royal Engineers: Volume 3''
John Murray, London (p.380)
References
Counterscarp: European fortress wall - Art - Britannica Concise: diagram
* Stephen Francis Wyley (Drawings by Steven Lowe
* ttp://civilwarfortifications.com/dictionary/xgc-015.html Counterscarp Gallery* E. Cobham Brewer 1810–189
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898: Counterscarp
;Attribution *
Further reading
* Jean LafittFootnotes