Civil War Field Fortifications
Magazines
Practical Magazine Designs
Practical application of the principles of magazine design and protection was strongly influenced by site fortification requirements, limitations of time, material, labor, and the creative efforts of engineers. As might be expected, specific designs and quality of construction varied to a very considerable extent. For the purposes of examination magazines will be divided into two main categories: 1) detached magazines that were constructed as separate and independent structures that were not attached to other elements of a field work and 2) attached magazines that either served a secondary purpose in the field work it served or that were attached to or built under and protected by other elements of its field work. The second category may be further subdivided into a) magazines that constructed for exclusive use as magazines and b) combined magazines in which the interior structure was partitioned to serve other purposes.
Both categories of magazines could occur both in works open at the gorge and works closed at the gorge. Most of the batteries constructed for the bombardment of Fort Pulaski, for example, had a raised magazine constructed near the central point of the parapet which served as both a magazine and a traverse, but most batteries, and siege batteries in particular, were served by free standing magazines sited in rear of the battery's terre-plein. Works closed at the gorge often included magazines constructed within or under traverses and were attached to and protected by the parapet, but in some cases these works included magazines sited well within the bounds of the terre-plein that either only incidentally served as interior traverses or did not have any defilading value at all and depended on the thickness of their covering mass and the height of the parapet of the work for protection. Most of the various means of protecting magazines outlined by theoretical considerations were accessible to both open and closed gorge field works; the engineer engaged in his art at a specific location at a specific moment in time and limited by the means at his immediate disposal determined the most appropriate manner in which to site, construct, and protect a magazine.
Theoretical considerations and general principles serve to prepare the mind to solve problems, but they can hardly answer responsibly for specific instances that call for application of their prescriptions for action. One of the very real problems that engineers faced concerned the manner in which the principles of magazine construction could be applied to specific situations and combined with the general principles of fortification function and design to produce magazines that performed their intended function. The following examples (listed and linked below) should serve as illustrations of the various ways engineers drew from both their professional expertise and mature talent to create workable structures that served their double purpose of storing gunpowder safely and protecting it (and coincidentally everything around the magazine structure) from enemy fire.
Detached Magazines |
Attached Magazines |
|||
Combined Magazines
<<< Previous Page | Next Page >>>
General Introduction to Magazines
Performance|Gabion and Fascine|Frame and Fascine|Fully Framed|Galleries|Position and Protection
Rifle Pits Blockhouses Batteries
Contents Home Page Major Works Siege Works Glossary
Copyright (c) PEM 1997, 1998