Walking Through Fort Charlotte
Bill Long 5/8/06
The Terminology of a Fort
I learned several new words and refreshed my knowledge of other terms that can be used in describing a fort. Among them are terreplein, talus, parapet, en barbette, banquette, embrasure, souterrains and magazine. Let's march through these words, many of which are of French or Italian origin.
Terreplein and Talus
I begin with terreplein because the OED definition manages to incorporate lots of other important words. Terreplein is "originally, the talus or sloping bank of earth behind a wall or rampart; hence, the surface of a rampart behind the parapet; and strictly, the level space on which the guns are mounted, between the banquette and the inner talus." It is interesting that the terreplein can either be a sloping or a level surface. In the case of Fort Charlotte, it was the level surface where all the cannons were mounted. Its earliest use in English was in 1598, where a book on warfare said: "Terraplane, an italian word,...the earth that is rampired and filled up unto the inside of any wall or bulwarke." The verb "rampire" has fallen into disuse, but was originally a word meaning "to fortify, strengthen or protect (a place), esp. by a rampart." There seems no good reason why rampire should no longer be used, and I rather like the word. But our vocabulary in 2006 has been overtaken by the verb "ramp." "We need to ramp up production," for example.
Let's turn to talus for a minute. A talus is the "sloping side of a wall or earthwork, which gradually increases in thickness from above downwards." The word is derived from medieval Latin, and can refer also, through the French, to the "sloping" bone of the ankle. The talus is that bone on the front of the ankle which connects the two major leg bones (tibia and fibula) with the heel bone (calcaneus). The following picture, for example, shows a fracture of the talus.
Interesting, isn't it? While you are at it, you might just want to memorize the other terminology in the diagram. After all, you learn the body one bone at a time.
Parapet, En Barbette, Embrasure and Others
A parapet, derived from Italian and Latin terms meaning "breastwork," is a wall, originally breast-high, behind which a soldier could hide to protect himself from enemy fire. There were two ways that a soldier could shoot the enemy-either through a hole in the wall of the parapet or over the top of it. The holes in the wall were called embrasures, while shooting over the parapet was called shooting en barbette. One can get pretty techical here, too, but I won't, because there are several terms one might use to describe the embrasure opening, such as the splay of the embrasure or whether the embrasure is a direct or oblique embrasure.
The underground areas of the fort are known as the souterrains. In Fort Charlotte they were supposedly very secure and very comfortable, so that the ordnance could be stored underground without problem. Underneath the surface of the ground, also, are the magazines, the places where weapons and ammunition was stored. This use of magazine is much older than the current (and nearly only use) of it as a publication more general and less scholarly than a periodical. Finally, the little platform against the parapet on which one might stand to get a better shot of the enemy is called the banquette.
Thus, we have a banquet of terms on which to feast.
1842
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