And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Extremely interesting from a defender's point of view. The purposeful design of the terrain provides a limited number of defenders maximum fields of fire on any approaching enemy. It actually serves to focus the enemy approach into corridors, that can be fired on from two sides at once. The structure of the fort itself is masterful, as well. The protruding corners give the defenders the ability to see, and fire down on anyone along the base of the entire outside wall of the structure. Also, the base of the wall at each corner can be seen from the adjacent corners on both sides. The entire design was extremely well thought out by a master tactician!
If I remember correctly the thought was that the design would channel attackers into a crossfire by the time they reached the wall. Nice touch forming the hill it sits on into a a matching pattern.
The most gradually sloped approach is on the lower left, which is the North side of the structure. (assuming the location is in the Northern Hemisphere, if it is in the Southern, considerations remain the same, except upside down) That is the side they want any attacking force to find most attractive. Look at the shadows by the walls. It is near mid day. Look at the shadows of the tallest trees. They point North. The defenders would have the sun or moon at their backs, and the attackers would have either right in their faces (eyes!). Look at the additional battlements on that side of the upper part of the defenses, as well. Yeah, buddy! The mind behind the deign of this defensive structure was quite sharp, indeed!
Well, having now gone there through satellite imagery, I see that my shadows interpretation of the North orientation of the structure was off by a bit. What I had estimated as North is closer to N 15d E. A Land Surveyor should be able to do better, even just working with shadows off an air photo. Hmpf! Shoulda blown it up and used tools instead of just eyeballing it.
"...King Joseph I of Portugal and the Marquis of Pombal called on Marshal Lippe to reorganize the Portuguese army and draw up plans for the modernization of the stronghold. He drew a nearly identical copy of his home fortress Wilhelmstein, which he built in 1761."
"In 1762, at the request of the Marquis of Pombal (the Portuguese Secretary of State) he led, as Generalissimus, the allied troops in Portugal against the Spanish invasion. William conducted a brilliant defensive campaign of marches and counter-marches, so that the enemy, although it had a three-to-one superiority in numbers, always encountered defenders in a good position and never dared to risk an all-out attack."
I knew from first look at the structure, we were witnessing the results of very careful planning by an extremely adept military strategist!
Not much dead ground on the approaches.
ReplyDeleteExtremely interesting from a defender's point of view. The purposeful design of the terrain provides a limited number of defenders maximum fields of fire on any approaching enemy. It actually serves to focus the enemy approach into corridors, that can be fired on from two sides at once. The structure of the fort itself is masterful, as well. The protruding corners give the defenders the ability to see, and fire down on anyone along the base of the entire outside wall of the structure. Also, the base of the wall at each corner can be seen from the adjacent corners on both sides. The entire design was extremely well thought out by a master tactician!
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly the thought was that the design would channel attackers into a crossfire by the time they reached the wall. Nice touch forming the hill it sits on into a a matching pattern.
ReplyDeleteDo you know what, or where this structure is? I want to study it and it's history more thoroughly!
DeleteFaubian Star. My preferred house plan incorporates that design.
DeleteThe most gradually sloped approach is on the lower left, which is the North side of the structure. (assuming the location is in the Northern Hemisphere, if it is in the Southern, considerations remain the same, except upside down) That is the side they want any attacking force to find most attractive. Look at the shadows by the walls. It is near mid day. Look at the shadows of the tallest trees. They point North. The defenders would have the sun or moon at their backs, and the attackers would have either right in their faces (eyes!). Look at the additional battlements on that side of the upper part of the defenses, as well. Yeah, buddy! The mind behind the deign of this defensive structure was quite sharp, indeed!
ReplyDeleteWell, having now gone there through satellite imagery, I see that my shadows interpretation of the North orientation of the structure was off by a bit. What I had estimated as North is closer to N 15d E. A Land Surveyor should be able to do better, even just working with shadows off an air photo. Hmpf! Shoulda blown it up and used tools instead of just eyeballing it.
DeleteDo anyone know what, or where this structure is? I want to study it and it's history more thoroughly!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjdx5L1pLXqAhUdzzgGHQxrAp8QFjAAegQIBBAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FNossa_Senhora_da_Gra%25C3%25A7a_Fort&usg=AOvVaw1zf6k7p1Z74eRAZqRRFFQz
ReplyDeleteThanks bunches!
DeleteForte da Graca in Portugal.
ReplyDeleteMined from various pages in Wikipedia:
ReplyDelete"William, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe"
"...King Joseph I of Portugal and the Marquis of Pombal called on Marshal Lippe to reorganize the Portuguese army and draw up plans for the modernization of the stronghold. He drew a nearly identical copy of his home fortress Wilhelmstein, which he built in 1761."
"In 1762, at the request of the Marquis of Pombal (the Portuguese Secretary of State) he led, as Generalissimus, the allied troops in Portugal against the Spanish invasion. William conducted a brilliant defensive campaign of marches and counter-marches, so that the enemy, although it had a three-to-one superiority in numbers, always encountered defenders in a good position and never dared to risk an all-out attack."
I knew from first look at the structure, we were witnessing the results of very careful planning by an extremely adept military strategist!
In 2016 I drove from Lisbon to Badajoz to see the fort there because I'm a Sharpe fan.
ReplyDeleteBut because I'm stupid I missed Elvas, which is where this fort is, on the Portuguese side of the border which is at least as interesting.
Portugal is maybe the nicest and most interesting place I've ever been.
Type this "Nossa Senhora da Graça Fort and Elvas aerial view - Portugal" into Youtube's search bar and you can watch a fly-around video.
ReplyDelete