Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/390

Kort 3G4 PLAN OF ATTACKING THE NOIITII SIDE. CHAP, invader coining down upon them by land from '^' the north ; but on the high ground above, though still at a distance of only a few hundred yards from the bay, there was the Work already referred to — a Work ill-contrived and dilapidated — which The star the English have called the Star Fort. The work had been constructed in the year 1818, with a view to secure Fort Constantine, and the other great sea-forts which lined the north of the road- stead, from being taken in reverse by marines or other forces landing on the west coast ; but it stood in the path of any invader approaching Sebastopol from the Belbec, and could therefore be brought into use as a means of defence against liira. It was an octagon, having sides of which each was from 190 to 230 yards long ; and, of its eight angles, every other one was supplied with a little bastion or caponiere, having an earthen parapet, whilst three out of the four remaining angles of the octasjon were furnished with small bonnettes and barbettes, each taking three pieces. At the flanks of the bastions, the lines of what would otherwise have been the curtain were so interrupted as to provide means of obtaining a flanking fire from some small guns placed in casemates. The profiles of the bastions gave 14 feet of height with 10 of thickness, and the other parts of the fort had a height of from 4 to 7 feet, with a thickness of from 3 to 7 feet. The bas- tion which looked towards the roadstead was re- trenched at its gorge by a work called a cavalier. The fort was surrounded by a ditch 12 feet deep