Cheval de frise
{{Short description|Defensive obstacle}}
{{distinguish|Friesian horse}}
{{About|the defense measure|the community in the United States|Chevaux De Frise, West Virginia}}
File:Cheval de frise petersburg civil war 02598.jpg cheval de frise at the Fort Mahone defenses during the siege of Petersburg]]
The cheval de frise ({{IPAc-en|ʃ|ə|ˈ|v|ɑː|l|_|d|ə|_|ˈ|f|ɹ|iː|z}}, plural chevaux de frise {{IPAc-en|ʃ|ə|ˈ|v|oʊ|_|d|ə|_|ˈ|f|ɹ|iː|z}}; {{IPA|fr| ʃə.val də fʁiz}}, plural {{IPA|fr|ʃə.vo də fʁiz|}}, "Frisian horses") was a defensive obstacle, existing in a number of forms, principally as a static anti-cavalry obstacle but also quickly movable to close breaches. The term was also applied to underwater constructions used to prevent the passage of ships or other vessels on rivers. In the anti-cavalry role the cheval de frise typically comprised a portable frame (sometimes just a simple log) with many projecting spikes.{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Chevaux-de-Frise |volume=6 |page=114}} Wire obstacles ultimately made this type of device obsolete.
The invention of the cheval de frise is attributed to ancient China. The concept of using a defensive obstacle made of wooden or metal stakes predates its use in Europe. Historical records suggest that similar types of defensive barriers, known as teng pai or mó pai, were used in China as early as the 4th century BC. These early versions of the cheval de frise were employed to protect cities, forts, and other strategic locations from enemy attacks. In Ming dynasty military treatises, it was known as the {{lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|jùmǎ}} ({{lang|zh|拒馬}}, lit. "horse repeller") or {{lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|lùjiǎo}} ({{lang|zh|鹿角}}, "deer horn").
The use of chevaux de frise spread to Europe during the Middle Ages and became a common feature of medieval fortifications. They were used extensively in castle defenses and military campaigns, particularly during the Renaissance and early modern periods.
During the American Civil War the Confederates used them more than the Union forces.{{citation | publisher = NPS | first = Peter | last = Mahan | url = http://www.nps.gov/pete/mahan/chevaux.html | title = Chevaux-de-frise | access-date = 2006-02-25 | archive-date = 2004-12-10 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041210142018/http://www.nps.gov/pete/mahan/chevaux.html | url-status = dead }}. During World War I, armies used chevaux de frise to temporarily plug gaps in barbed wire.{{cite book|title=Through the Wheat|author=Thomas Boyd|year=1923|publisher=University of Nebraska Press, 2000|isbn=0-8032-6168-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/throughwheatnov00boyd/page/226 226]}}{{cite web |url = http://www.1914-1918.net/Diaries/wardiary-2msex.htm |title = Great war diaries – 2nd Middlesex |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517184133/http://www.1914-1918.net/Diaries/wardiary-2msex.htm |archive-date=17 May 2008 |url-status=dead}} Barbed wire chevaux de frise were used in jungle fighting on the South Pacific islands during World War II.
The term is also applied to defensive works on buildings. This includes a series of closely set upright stones found outside the ramparts of Iron Age hillforts in northern Europe,{{cite book|title= The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology |author=Timothy Darvill |year=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn = 978-0-19-953404-3}} or iron spikes outside homes in Charleston, South Carolina.{{cite web |url= https://www.scpictureproject.org/charleston-county/miles-brewton-house.html |title= Miles Brewton House |website= scpictureproject.org |date= December 2014 |access-date= 11 December 2019 |archive-date= 11 December 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191211205757/https://www.scpictureproject.org/charleston-county/miles-brewton-house.html |url-status= live }}
Etymology
In French, cheval de frise means "Frisian horse".{{citation | url = http://www.charlestonfootprints.com/charleston-blog/chevaux-de-frise/2011/02/24/ | date = 2011-02-24 | publisher = Charleston footprints | title = Chevaux de Frise | access-date = 2011-05-25 | archive-date = 2011-09-12 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110912055356/http://www.charlestonfootprints.com/charleston-blog/chevaux-de-frise/2011/02/24/ | url-status = live }}.Friesian horse. The Frisians fought predominantly using cavalry;{{Cite web |url=http://www.thefriesianempire.com/friesianhistory.html |title=The Friesian Empire & Equine Center |access-date=2020-02-12 |archive-date=2019-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190907085239/http://www.thefriesianempire.com/friesianhistory.html |url-status=live }} they were known for being formidable horsemen, and Frisian horses were renowned for their strength and agility. Therefore, for defense they relied heavily on anti-cavalry obstacles. The Dutch also adopted the use of these defensive devices when at war with Spain. The term cheval de frise came to be used for any spiked obstacle, such as broken glass embedded in mortar at the top of a wall.
The cheval de frise was adopted in New York and Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War as a defensive measure installed on rivers to prevent upriver movement by enemy ships. During the Peninsular War, at the Siege of Badajoz (1812), a cheval de frise was used to fill a breach in the town wall, allowing the French to inflict heavy casualties on the British storm troops.{{Cite web|title=The Project Gutenberg e-Book of The Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence.|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29263/29263-h/29263-h.htm#page107|access-date=2021-06-07|website=www.gutenberg.org|archive-date=2021-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607103209/https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29263/29263-h/29263-h.htm#page107|url-status=live}}
American Revolutionary War
{{see|Hudson River Chains#Fort Lee to Fort Washington chevaux-de-frise (1776)}}
During the American Revolutionary War both Thaddeus KosciuszkoStorozynski, Alex. The Peasant Prince p.53 and Robert Erskine designed an anti-ship version of the cheval-de-frise to prevent British warships from proceeding up the Delaware River[https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/forts-and-fortifications/ Forts and Fortifications, Jeffery M. Dorwart, The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717111516/https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/forts-and-fortifications/ |date=2021-07-17 }} and Hudson River, respectively. A cheval de frise by Erskine's design was placed between Fort Washington at northern Manhattan and Fort Lee in New Jersey in 1776. The following year construction began on one to the north of West Point at Pollepel Island, but it was overshadowed by the completion of the Great Chain across the Hudson in 1778, which was used through 1782.
| style="margin: 1em auto;"
|File:HessianMapMudIsland.jpg map showing the placement of chevaux de frise in the Delaware River in 1777]] |
Similar devices planned by Ben Franklin and designed by Robert Smith{{cite book | last = Roberts | first = Robert B. | title = Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States | publisher = Macmillan | year = 1988 | pages = 505–506 | location = New York | isbn = 0-02-926880-X }} were used in the Delaware River near Philadelphia, between Fort Mifflin and Fort Mercer.{{citation | publisher = Roots web | chapter-url = http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~wcarr1/Lossing1/Chap35.html | last = Lossing | title = Field Book of the Revolution | volume = II | chapter = III | access-date = 2007-12-02 | archive-date = 2007-01-20 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070120235214/http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~wcarr1/Lossing1/Chap35.html | url-status = live }}. Two other lines of chevaux-de-frise were also placed across the Delaware River at Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania and Fort Billingsport, New Jersey as a first line of defense for Philadelphia against the British naval forces.{{cite web|title=The Plank House|url=http://www.marcushookps.org/house.php|website=www.marcushookps.org|access-date=31 December 2017|archive-date=29 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629230157/http://marcushookps.org/house.php|url-status=live}}
A cheval de frise was retrieved from the Delaware River in Philadelphia on November 13, 2007, in excellent condition, after more than two centuries in the river.{{cite news | url= http://www.phillyseaport.org/web_exhibits/mini_exhibits/cheval_de_frise/cheval-de-frise-photos.html | title= Revolutionary War Artifact from the Depths of the Delaware River | publisher= Independence Seaport Museum | access-date= 2008-08-05 | archive-date= 2015-01-28 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150128114629/http://www.phillyseaport.org/web_exhibits/mini_exhibits/cheval_de_frise/cheval-de-frise-photos.html | url-status= live }} In November 2012, a {{convert|29|ft|m|0|abbr=out|adj=mid}} spike from a cheval-de-frise was recovered from Delaware off Bristol Township; it was also believed to be from the Revolutionary era installation at Philadelphia and freed up by Hurricane Sandy earlier that fall.[http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2012/11/21/bristol_pilot/news/doc50a7725188f4a636617615.txt?viewmode=2 Elizabeth Fisher, "SANDY STIRS UP HISTORY: Revolutionary War spike pulled from the river depths in Bristol"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100301/http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2012/11/21/bristol_pilot/news/doc50a7725188f4a636617615.txt?viewmode=2 |date=2016-03-04 }}, Bristol Pilot, 21 November 2012, accessed 15 May 2014
{{clear}}
Legacy
A small promontory on the north-east Essex coast in the United Kingdom (UK), between Holland Haven and Frinton-on-Sea, was named Chevaux de Frise Point.{{Cite web|title=Chevaux de frise Point in Essex|url=https://www.streetmap.co.uk/place/Chevaux_de_frise_Point_in_Essex_733611_328611.htm|access-date=2021-01-10|archive-date=2021-01-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112030916/https://www.streetmap.co.uk/place/Chevaux_de_frise_Point_in_Essex_733611_328611.htm|url-status=live}}