A scarp and a counterscarp are the inner and outer sides, respectively, of a

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 ...

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

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 A forlorn hope is a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the vanguard in a military operation, such as a suicidal assault through the breach of a defended position, or the first men to climb a scaling ladder against a defended ...

, in which case the side of the ditch furthest from the breached wall and closest to the centre of the fortification is also called the counterscarp.

Counterscarp gallery

Defensive tunnel in Southsea Castle - geograph

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 gradually dis ...

ry, so that attacking forces which 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 armoured 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" ...

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 caponier is a type of defensive structure in a fortification. Fire from this point could cover the ditch beyond the curtain wall (fortification), curtain wall to deter any attempt to storm the wall. The word originates from the French ', meaning ...

, 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 *

Footnotes

{{Fortifications Siege tactics Fortification (architectural elements)

Counterscarp gallery

References

Further reading

Footnotes