cavalier (fortification)

File:Cavalier.fortifications.Arras.png by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc]]

A cavalier is a fortification which is built within a larger fortification, and which is higher than the rest of the work. It usually consists of a raised platform within a fort or bastion, so as to be able to fire over the main parapet without interfering with the fire of the latter.{{cite journal|last1=Spiteri|first1=Stephen C.|title=Illustrated Glossary of Terms used in Military Architecture|journal=ARX Supplement|page=5|url=http://www.militaryarchitecture.com/index.php/Journals/illustrated-glossary-of-military-architecture-terms.html|date=2010|publisher=MilitaryArchitecture.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101025044429/http://www.militaryarchitecture.com/index.php/Journals/illustrated-glossary-of-military-architecture-terms.html |archive-date=25 October 2010}} Through the use of cavaliers, a greater volume of fire can be obtained, but its greater height also makes it an easier target for a besieger's guns.{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Cavalier|volume=5|pages=562–563}}

There are two types of cavaliers:

• Common cavalier – a raised gun platform without any additional defensive features
• Defensible cavalier – a raised gun platform surrounded by a ditch. If the ditch cuts across the bastion's terreplein and is supported by cuts, the cavalier can also be considered as a retrenchment.{{cite book|last1=Pasley|first1=Charles William|title=A Course of Elementary Fortification - Volume II|date=1822|publisher=John Murray|location=London|pages=337–342|edition=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fM1CAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA337}}

File:Malta - Birgu - Ix-Xatt tal-Birgu - Fort Saint Angelo (MSTHC) 02 ies.jpg