(Fort Royal)

Fort Royal included the Gaillardin Redoubt, originally built of logs and later of drywall masonry, a small enclosure surrounded by a breastwork and intended to prevent an enemy from taking possession of Gaillardia Mountain, which overlooked Fort Louis and the town. Embrasures in its walls allowed soldiers to fire on attackers, and in 1799 it had an armament of six cannons. The low stone walls around Fort Royal, called breastworks, formed an outer defense perimeter for the fort and were originally accompanied by a wooden palisade. The upper part of the hill was cleared of trees so soldiers could fire on an approaching enemy from behind this protection, and if the enemy threatened to overrun the breastwork, the soldiers would retreat to the fort. The sloping ground outside the walls of Fort Royal, known as the glacis, exposed an attacking enemy to musket fire from the fort.

Newfoundland and Labrador · Canada