An outwork is a minor
fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere ...
built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as
ravelins,
lunette
A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void.
A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc taken ...
s (demilunes),
flèches and
caponier
A caponier is a type of defensive structure in a fortification. Fire from this point could cover the ditch beyond the curtain wall to deter any attempt to storm the wall. The word originates from the French ', meaning "chicken coop" (a ''capon'' ...
s to shield
bastions and fortification curtains from direct battery were developed in the 16th century. Later, the increasing scale of warfare and the greater resources available to the besieger accelerated this development, and systems of outworks grew increasingly elaborate and sprawling as a means of slowing the attacker's progress and making it more costly. When taken by an enemy force, their lack of rear-facing ramparts left them totally open to fire from the main works.
''A Dictionary of Military Architecture Fortification and Fieldworks from the Iron Age to the Eighteenth Century''
by Stephen Francis Wyley. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
An advanced work An advanced work, advance-work or advanced outwork is a fortification or outwork in front of the main defensive building or castle. , a fortification detached and forward of the main castle or fortification, is sometimes referred to as a type of outwork or 'advanced outwork'.
The hornwork and crownwork
A crownwork is an element of the trace italienne system of fortification and is effectively an expanded hornwork (a type of outwork). It consists of a full bastion with the walls on either side ending in half bastions from which longer flank wal ...
are subtypes of outworks.
See also
* List of established military terms
This is a list of established military terms which have been in use for at least 50 years. Since technology and doctrine have changed over time, not all of them are in current use, or they may have been superseded by more modern terms. However, the ...
References
{{Fortifications
Fortification (architectural elements)
Castle architecture