Cavalier (fortification)

File:Cavalier.fortifications.Arras.png

Illustration of a cavalier (the structure on the right, marked as "B") from Dictionnaire raisonné de l’architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc

A cavalier is a fortification which is built within a larger fortification, and which is higher than the rest of the work. It usually consists of a raised platform within a fort or bastion, so as to be able to fire over the main parapet without interfering with the fire of the latter. Through the use of cavaliers, a greater volume of fire can be obtained, but its greater height also makes it an easier target for a besieger's guns.

There are two types of cavaliers:

• Common cavalier – a raised gun platform without any additional defensive features
• Defensible cavalier – a raised gun platform surrounded by a ditch. If the ditch cuts across the bastion's terreplein and is supported by cuts, the cavalier can also be considered as a retrenchment.

File:Malta - Birgu - Ix-Xatt tal-Birgu - Fort Saint Angelo (MSTHC) 02 ies.jpg

Antonio Ferramolino's Cavalier, Fort St. Angelo, Birgu, Malta

References

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