A couvreface in

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

architecture is a small

outwork An outwork is a minor fortification built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponier A caponier is a type of defensive structur ...

that was built in front of the actual fortress

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate trench created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ...

before bastions or ravelins. It usually just consisted of a low

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

with a breastwork that protected its defending infantry. Another ditch in front of the work guarded it from immediate frontal assault. The function of couvrefaces was to protect the faces of the higher ravelin or bastion behind it from direct artillery fire. So that the couvreface and the works behind it could not come under simultaneous fire from an enemy battery along the line of the ramparts they were not allowed to run parallel to one another. Similar to the couvreface is the larger counterguard which, by contrast, was designed to enable the positioning of guns. Couvrefaces are found particularly in Dutch and French fortifications from the 17th to the early 19th centuries.Rüstow: ''Militärisches Handwörterbuch.'' 1859, s.v. Contregarden

References

{{Fortifications Fortification (architectural elements)