Obstacles

Civil War Field Fortifications

Common Obstacles

Abatis

An abatis was a well arranged tangle of large limbs or whole trees felled and laid in a line with the branches pointed toward the enemy. Smaller branches and leaves were stripped off and the remaining branches were sharpened into points. The ends pointing toward the field work could be covered with soil, staked to the ground, or nailed together with cross beams to prevent the enemy from easily dismantling the abatis as they advanced against the work. In many cases during the Civil War abatises were formed by simply cutting trees in front of a work and letting them lay where they fell which both created an obstacle and clear fields of fire from the work.

Chevaux-de-frise

Chevaux-de-frise were useful for the obstruction of roads and intervals between field works where it was undesirable to construct more permanent and unmovable types of obstructions. They could also be used where the ground was either too hard or too soft to erect palisadings or stockades. Chevaux-de-frise could stop cavalry dead in its tracks, but really weren't a serious obstacle to the passage of infantry. Because chevaux-de-frise were time consuming to construct and required special tools and some carpentry skill to bore the holes for the cross stakes (called lances) they were generally only used where armies had plenty of time and labor available to develop their field works. Like all wooden field works they could be shattered by artillery very quickly.

Entanglements

Entanglements were obstacles built low to the ground to snarl the feet and trip attacking troops. There were several common ways to fashion enetanglements. Small trees around a work could be cut half-way through their trunks about 18 inches above the ground and the top pulled over and staked down in a direction perpendicular to the enemy's expected line of advance. Small straight branches about three feet long could be driven into the ground in a quincunx pattern with vines and the branches of prickly shrubs intertwined among the stakes. It was a small jump to go from using vines to stringing telegraph wire between stumps to create wire entanglements.

Palisadings

Palisadings were lines of closely space palisades planted vertically or at about a 45 degree upward angle. They could be used at the foot of the counterscarp to give enemy troops something seriously ugly to think about as they descended into the ditch or they could be used to cover the rear of field works open at the gorge. Several lines of palisadings, with the palisades widely spaced, were occaisonally used in front of field works in place of an abatis. As with fraises and chevaux-de-frise, palisadings were vulnerable to artillery fire and could be knocked to pieces very quickly.

Stockades

Stockades were constructed using the trunks of small trees between nine and twelve inches in diameter. The larger trunks were placed side by side in a line with the smaller trunks positioned to cover the joins between the larger trunks. Although stockades were actually a type of wooden field work in their own right they could be used in place of palisades when a more substantial obstacle was required. Being a wooden construction stockades were usually only used where they could not be threatened by direct artillery fire.

Other less common types of obstacles such as inundations, fraises, and trous de loup are covered in the Glossary.

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Glossary

	Abatis
			An abatis was a well arranged tangle of large limbs or whole trees felled and laid in a line with the branches pointed toward the enemy. Smaller branches and leaves were stripped off and the remaining branches were sharpened into points. The ends pointing toward the field work could be covered with soil, staked to the ground, or nailed together with cross beams to prevent the enemy from easily dismantling the abatis as they advanced against the work. In many cases during the Civil War abatises were formed by simply cutting trees in front of a work and letting them lay where they fell which both created an obstacle and clear fields of fire from the work.

	Chevaux-de-frise
			Chevaux-de-frise were useful for the obstruction of roads and intervals between field works where it was undesirable to construct more permanent and unmovable types of obstructions. They could also be used where the ground was either too hard or too soft to erect palisadings or stockades. Chevaux-de-frise could stop cavalry dead in its tracks, but really weren't a serious obstacle to the passage of infantry. Because chevaux-de-frise were time consuming to construct and required special tools and some carpentry skill to bore the holes for the cross stakes (called lances) they were generally only used where armies had plenty of time and labor available to develop their field works. Like all wooden field works they could be shattered by artillery very quickly.

	Entanglements
			Entanglements were obstacles built low to the ground to snarl the feet and trip attacking troops. There were several common ways to fashion enetanglements. Small trees around a work could be cut half-way through their trunks about 18 inches above the ground and the top pulled over and staked down in a direction perpendicular to the enemy's expected line of advance. Small straight branches about three feet long could be driven into the ground in a quincunx pattern with vines and the branches of prickly shrubs intertwined among the stakes. It was a small jump to go from using vines to stringing telegraph wire between stumps to create wire entanglements.

	Palisadings
			Palisadings were lines of closely space palisades planted vertically or at about a 45 degree upward angle. They could be used at the foot of the counterscarp to give enemy troops something seriously ugly to think about as they descended into the ditch or they could be used to cover the rear of field works open at the gorge. Several lines of palisadings, with the palisades widely spaced, were occaisonally used in front of field works in place of an abatis. As with fraises and chevaux-de-frise, palisadings were vulnerable to artillery fire and could be knocked to pieces very quickly.

	Stockades
			Stockades were constructed using the trunks of small trees between nine and twelve inches in diameter. The larger trunks were placed side by side in a line with the smaller trunks positioned to cover the joins between the larger trunks. Although stockades were actually a type of wooden field work in their own right they could be used in place of palisades when a more substantial obstacle was required. Being a wooden construction stockades were usually only used where they could not be threatened by direct artillery fire.