Civil War Earthworks

During the Civil War, armies on both sides built earthwork fortifications of many sizes and shapes, including the star fort, one of the most difficult types to construct. Although its design gave defenders the potential to fire into an attacking enemy's flanks, Dennis Hart Mahan, professor of military and civil engineering at West Point and author of A Treatise on Field Fortification, first published in 1836, considered it generally not a viable option because of "dead spaces" below the parapet that artillery could not cover and because of the time and labor required to build it. He believed it should be used only when the nature of the site compelled it. Union Gen. Robert H. Milroy, who graduated first in his class at Norwich University in 1843 and earned three degrees including master of military science, believed the terrain here suited a star fort. The soldiers who built it used soil excavated from the ditch at its base and from rifle pits encircling it to form the parapet, and they also brought trees and stones to the site to strengthen the outer wall. Although Milroy may have considered this type of construction the most useful and safest kind, it did not save his army from defeat at the Second Battle of Winchester.

Virginia · United States