The Citadel -- Quebec City by weesel
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Description
We are strolling along the glacis - the sloping field that appears to run right up to the top of the citadel walls except for that deep ditch which now has parking spaces marked on it.
In the good old days, the hostiles would run along the glacis towards the wall expecting such a ditch, so they'd be carrying scaling ladders to climb into the ditch and then place them on the actual citadel walls to make an unfriendly house call. Think of highly-trained, well-armed Jehovah's Witnesses with real attitude.
Any how, this was not an easy thing to do. For one thing, the glacis had no shrubbery or other places to hide which meant that the guys behind the walls had a clear field of fire right across said glacis. Given all that, why the heck DID Montcalm leave a well-designed position to go play on the Fields of Abraham. Honor? Ah, sure. Explain that one to King Louis.
Let's poke around a bit more. The tour is coming to its end.
Enjoy; thanks for viewing.
Comments (4)
susanmoses
Beautiful Weese... What are glacis? And where are we going next?
weesel
Glacis is the clear field leading up from cannon-range to the edge of the ditch. It's like a big ramp (field-sized) that leads to the walls except for that nasty drop into what must have been pure HECK for troops trying to take a fortress. There are all sorts of fancy terms for fortification features. I believe this is essentially a Vauban-type fort. Lots of intersecting lines of fire so the walls and bastions can protect each other. Nice bit of engineering. Another thing the glacis does, not obvious though, is protects the walls from enemy cannon fire. If all the cannon have a shot at is the very top of the wall (because the ground is sloping upwards), they will have to shoot through their own troops (never a good idea) at a small target. If they aim too high, their shots go way way over the target and probably fall on their own troops attacking from the other side. The concept of a glacis is simple. It is very effective however. Next stop? Hmmmmmm. Not really sure yet. Probably somewhere in the San Antonio area to be sure.
kenmo
Great shot of this historic fort... Quebec City is so beautiful !
Akinom
Looks really huge this citadel!