Couvreface

A: counterguard B: couvreface before the Facen a bastion (idealized graph have been omitted in all the ACCESSORIES YOU such as digging or glacis).

With couvreface a narrow is the fortress outwork called that before the actual moat before bastions or ravelins is built. It often consists of only a low wall with a parapet that provides cover for riflemen. Another ditch in front of the plant protects it against immediate attack. The task of the couvrefacen was to cover the facen (i.e. the front or enemy sides) of the higher ravelins or bastions behind them from direct artillery fire. So that the Couvreface and the works behind it cannot be attacked by an enemy battery along the ramparts at the same time, they must not run parallel to them. Comparable to a couvreface is the larger Kontregarde which, however, was also set up for the preparation of the guns. Couvrefacen can be found mainly in Dutch and French fortress construction from the 17th to the early 19th centuries.

References and comments

1. ^ Riistow: Military concise dictionary. 1859, sv Couvrefacen