Spanish American War
GLOSSARY
| Armistice | Peace agreement between two nations. The agreement between belligerents to suspend offensive operations and hostilities. It may be temporary or permanent. |
| Arsenal | A store or warehouse for war materials used by the army, and containing arms, machines and munitions of all types. |
| Artillery | All classes of armament. The common classification of all types of weapon with the characteristic of having large caliber and high potency such as cannons, mortars and obuses. Strictly, all types of cannons and heavy weapons with muzzles. These were placed in batteries in the forts. |
| Bastion | A fortification of pentagonal shape which juts out at the junction of two curtain walls and is made up of two flanks and faces which form a projecting angle. The flanks protect the adjacent curtain walls and the faces control the outworks and the foreground. The internal entrance from the fort into the bastion between the two flanks is called the gorge. |
| Battery |
The part of a fort containing embrasures for placing and firing cannons. |
| Bulwark | Synonymous with a bastion - A type of advance defense above the outward angles of a defensive wall. An advance work projecting from a major fortification and including a redoubt. |
| Caballero | Normally the highest part of a fort or Castle giving a high vantage point from which to observe the actions of the enemy. It could include embrasures or covered emplacements for cannons. High point - a point from which shots could be fired at both low and high trajectories. |
| Campaña | The extensive level ground with few trees or inhabitants which surrounds a fort, across which an enemy must advance before reaching the defenses. Battleground located in front of a fort. |
| Cañuelo | The name given to the small island upon which was constructed the small fort of San Juan de la Cruz, located at the entrance to San Juan Bay opposite El Morro. |
| Casemate | Very strong arched construction in which could be installed one or more pieces of artillery. Enclosure or closed or covered area which had an embrasure or area to site artillery. |
| Cistern | Large reservoirs normally located beneath the squares in the forts for storing rainwater. These were fed by channels located in the upper parts of the forts at the base of the interior walls and supplied the water needs of the garrison. |
| Citadel or Keep | Permanently fortified tower or area deep within a fortress, serving as a center of operations and also a last retreat for the defenders. |
| Corsair or privateer | Captain or owner of a ship who holds letters of marque (a "corsair’s licence"). In other words, one who can attack other ships like a pirate, but who has the backing of some government or country and has to pay part of the spoils or booty to them. |
| Counterfort | A buttress which supports or reinforces a wall. |
| Counterguard | Permanent fortification which protects or covers the face of a bulwark. |
| Countermine | A mine placed in a tunnel which can be detonated beneath an advancing enemy to delay his advance. A fortified location may have a permanent system of galleries to use for mines when besieged but conversely, a besieging enemy may dig tunnels of his own to detonate beneath the defenders should they try to leave, or to blow up fortifications from below. In this latter case, it is the besieger who is the counter miner. Mock attacks may also be launched to tempt the enemy to advance onto the mined area. The term can also refer to the hidden access to a trench system. |
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Countermine gallery |
The covered or underground gallery leading to the countermine spaces. |
| Counter scarp | The outermost of the two walls which, form the sides of a moat, nearest to the battleground and to the attacking enemy. |
| Covert way | A covered or secret pathway for movement or observation. Also, an earthwork encircling and defending the moat which serves as a parapet from which the garrison can fire over the top of the glacis |
| Curtain or curain Wall | In fortification terms, the blank wall between two bastions, usually with a parapet on top from which the soldiers could fire. |
| Drawbridge | Bridge linking the entrance door of a Castle with the glacis or the outside, which enabled the moat to be crossed. In time of battle, it could be raised to close off the gate in the Castle wall, forcing the attacking enemy to climb down into the moat and up the otits side, then having to scale the Castle wall itself before gaining access. |
| Dysentery | An illness associated with tropical climates which causes diarrhoea and bleeding. |
| Embrasure | An opening in the parapet of a wall or the earthwork of a battery through which a cannon can be fired safely and effectively. |
| Esplanade | See Glacis |
| Flank | Architecturally, the part of a bulwark or bastion which joins the curtain wall at an angle and extends outward to the face (the front part of the bastion which faces outwards the enemy) i.e. the "sides" of the bastion, or the walls which lead from the main wall to the faces of a bulwark. Depending upon the formation of the defenses, they are given the names of right flanks, curves, lowers, etc. In flank-tactics, it is the terrain, the space which is in the prolongation of the wing or side. In the military sense, it is the wing or the side of a battle formation. |
| Footbank | Firing platform, a stair or small ramp joined to the wall which looks out onto the battleground. From these platforms, the defending infantry soldiers could fire their muskets from the walls at the enemy. |
| Frigate | A speedy and maneuverable light warship, smaller than the ships-of-the-line or men-of-war. |
| Gallery | Narrow subterranean passageway for communica tion or for placing explosive mines. |
| Garrison | Troops stationed at and protecting a fortress or citadel. |
| Gate | Gateway in the wall or fort protecting the city, which may be opened to let in friends or closed to keep out enemies. It would normally consist of a gate in the outside wall, a room-sized space, then a furtits door through the inner wall into the interior. |
| Glacis | A gently sloping bank in front of a fortification or the outer wall of a moat, raised in such a way as to bring the enemy into the most direct line of fire from the defenses. Also called an esplanade. |
| Gun carriage | Carriage with wheels upon which a cannon is mounted. |
| Hornwork | An old-style fortification, an outwork comprising two demibastions joined by a curtain wall. Its purpose was to give improved flank cover to the wall faces. In other words, the defenders could see from a side vantage point who was climbing their curtain wall, rather than having to look over the top. |
| Merlon | The name given to the solid wall or parapet between two embrasures which protects the infantry while firing their muskets at an advancing enemy. |
| Moat | The excavation or wide ditch in front of a defense work or which encircles a fortress, Castle or strongpoint. It consists of a) the base or bottom, b) the scarp, i.e. the vertical or inclined wall on the defenders’ side, and c) the counterscarp, i.e. the similar outer wall on the side next to the battlefield. This type of channel or dry moat (which could sometimes be flooded) subjected an attacker to significant delay and exposure in three separate stages. When descending the outer wall (counterscarp), he showed his back to the defenders; while crossing the base he was exposed to heavy fire without the opportunity to return it, and while scaling the inner wall (scarp), he had to face the dangers of climbing. |
| Outer ditch | Moat parallel to the counterscarp which encircles the esplanade. |
| Plaza | The area where the soldiers paraded in formation to receive orders, practice weapons drills and march. |
| Parapet | Defensive work for protecting the bodies of defenders. A wall or earthwork 6 or 7 feet high in the citadel and 4 or 5 feet high in open ground. Parapets often had slits through which defenders could fire in relative safety. |
| Pirates | People who attacked shipping on the high seas or ports which they believed to contain riches, regardless of nationality. |
| Ramp | Sloping path or roadway for troops or artillery to climb or descend between different levels of the fortification. |
| Ravelin | An exterior fortification with two embankments or walls projecting outwards and forming a salient angle. |
| Redoubt | A work normally consisting of a parapet and one or more footbanks. |
| Siege | The encirclement of a fortified place by an opposing armed force intending to take it, usually by force, bombardment or starvation over a period of time. |
| Square or Citadel (Plaza) | In military terms, any fortified place, walled city or community having a garrison. For this reason, the walled city of San Juan was called the "Plaza de San Juan". |
| Trench | Long, narrow, shallow excavation which enabled the movement of reinforcements and provided a shooting position with limited protection from enemy fire. |
| Tunnel | Subterranean passageway created artificially to allow for communication from one place to another. Construction which comprises a long cylindrical cavity. |
| Wall or Defensive Wall | The thick wall or other defensive work which protects and surrounds a citadel or similar location. |
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Last Update: March, 2000