Constructing an earthen fortification like Fort Nonsense required enormous labor. Men with axes chopped down the trees in front of the work to create a clear field of fire. Logs framed the fort's outline and helped hold the earth in place. Gabions, wicker baskets made from saplings, vines, and small trees, were piled to create the walls. The ditch outside the walls was dug both to provide earth for the parapet and to impede attackers. Abatis, tangled tree limbs with sharpened ends facing toward the enemy, were placed in a continuous line 60 to 80 yards in front of the earthwork to slow attackers and enable defenders to deliver close small-arms fire from the fort. Logs cleared from the field of fire area were used inside the fort to construct cannon platforms, munitions magazines, and bombproof shelters.

Photo: Bernard Fisher

Photo: Bernard Fisher

Photo: Bernard Fisher

Mathews, Virginia · USA