Civil War Field Fortifications

Revetments

 Since the interior slope of a parapet had to be given a sharp inclination that had a base between 1/3 and 1/4 its height a  revetment had to be constructed to prevent the interior slope from sliding down onto the tread of the banquette. Revetments could be, and during the Civil War were, made from a wide variety of materials such as sod, gabions, fascines, sandbags, wicker hurdles, raw timber or worked planks, and just about anything else that could restrain packed soil. All of these materials had certain strengths and weakness that suggested their use under certain conditions. Sandbags could speed the construction of a parapet plus they were very resistant to  enemy fire, but they only had a life expectancy of about two months before they rotted and the soil started flowing back to its natural angle. They were excellent for works that had to be constructed quickly, but not so good for works that had to be maintained for an extended period of time.

Raw wood was generally plentiful and relatively easy to cut to the necessary lengths, but it tended to shatter into thousands of splinters when hit and cause numerous secondary injuries to troops at a distance from the point of impact. Gabions and fascines were sturdy and durable, but took a long time to construct and required some degree of expertise to make properly. Wicker hurdles were probably a fine and time consuming project for an otherwise bored and inactive garrison, but they tended to deteriorate rather quickly and did not take the weight of the soil as well as other materials.

 Posts and planks were probably the most common and widely used materials for revetments. Post and plank revetments consisted of planks laid side by side up and along the interior slope with posts every four to five feet along the interior slope to retain the planks in place. This type of revetment was easy to build, quite durable when good wood was used, and held the soil very well. Properly cut planks did not splinter to the extent that raw timber did. The primary drawback to this type of revetment was that it could be difficult to gather enough planks to fully revet a sizable field work, but this problem could be alleviated by the proximity of abandoned or confiscated houses that could be stripped to their bare chimneys for planks. Having a saw mill nearby didn't hurt either, though green wood would tend to rot much faster than seasoned planks when in contact with the soil. In some cases, particularly in extensive lines of field works, raw timber was substituted for either posts or planks or both.

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