Civil War In Mathews County

Civil War In Mathews County. Artillery Position. Fort Nonsense today consists of two sections of earthworks divided by a road trace. Archaeological evidence suggests that the fort's parapet extended across present-day Routes 3 and 14 to reach the exiting natural obstacles. The northerly-facing section is an infantry redan, and the southerly work is a continuous parapet with two cannon emplacements within a redan. The existing road trace that separates Fort Nonsense's two components could be considered the fort's sally port., The fortification is a continuous line of field works. It is primarily a breastwork, which was designed to allow soldiers to stand or lean against the interior slope of the parapet to fire at attacking troops. The exterior wall absorbed most of the incoming fire., Since only a portion of the original fort remains, it appears that it was constructed in the style of a lunette with its angles anchored on natural obstacles., Two gun platforms were located at the point of the salient. The cannons' field of fire was centered on the road from Mathews Court House. The infantry redan was constructed to guard the gun platforms' curtain wall and produce a crossing column of fire to help protect the position from an assault., (captions) , (lower left) Breastworks such as these protected the soldiers, who stood upright against the wall and fired over the parapet. - Courtesy Library of Congress , (upper right) Artillery pieces on platforms - Courtesy Library of Congress