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Making Fascines and Gabions in Kentucky Item Info

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Title:

Making Fascines and Gabions in Kentucky

Artist:

Schell, Francis H., 1834-1909

Date:

1863

Transcription:

Recto: "Turn over.";Verso: "Capt. Muller's battery company making fascines & gabions for the construction of breastworks // During the preparatory work of concentrating & organizing the immense army in Kentucky, opportunities are afforded for perfecting the men in a knowledge of all that pertains to the efficiency of the soldiers. Capt. Muller, in command to the batter attached to Col. Stambaugh's 77th Pa. Reg, is an accomplished officer, having served with distinction in the Prussian Army, & our sketch shows he is determined to omit nothing essential to the perfection of his artillery corps. The scene is of much interest. The men cutting down the oak saplings, using trunk, branches and twigs in fashioning what are technically called gabions. The pointed stakes of which being set into the ground, and ranged in a continuous line they are then filled with dirt or sand and form a secure revetment against which the embankment of earth is thrown, thus making a strong and durable breastwork with great expedition. A revetment of fascines requires more labor and is not considered so durable." A caricature of a donkey in a high collar, labeled, "portrait B."

Subjects:

Kentucky--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Fortification--History--19th century

Condition:

Vertical folds; dog ear at upper right; uneven paper at right margin; brown stains and faint speckling all over.

Place:

Kentucky

Medium:

Graphite on cream heavy gauge wove paper

Dimensions:

7.25 x 9.75 in.

Genre:

Image;StillImage

Coordinates:

37.8393332, -84.2700179

Source:

Original drawing location: CW-FHS-KY-NDc (Box 8.)

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/2345/4888

Ref. Number:

(Becker)CW-FHS-KY-NDc

Collection:

America's Civil War Years: Multiple Perspectives

Tags:

Axe Breastworks Construction techniques Work detail

Format:

image/jpeg

Attribution

Citation:

"Making Fascines and Gabions in Kentucky", The Becker Collection, Boston College Libraries, /items/2818.html