Note. These dimensions give for a battery of two guns 3456 cubic feet of earth; and must be varied according to the quantity required for the epaulment.
| Epaulment.— | Breadth | at bottom | 23 | feet. |
| ” | at top | 18 | ||
| Height | within | 7 | ||
| ” | without | 6 | ft. 4 in. | |
| Slope, | interior | ²/₇ | of height. | |
| ” | exterior | ½ | of height. |
Note. The above breadths at top and bottom are for the worst soil; good earth will not require a base of more than 20 feet wide, which will reduce the breadth at top to 15 feet; an epaulment of these dimensions for two guns will require about 4200 cubic feet of earth, and deducting 300 cubic feet for each embrazure, leaves 3600 required for the epaulment. In confined situations the breadth of the epaulment may be only 12 feet.
| Embrazures.— | Distance | between their centers | 18 | feet. |
| Openings, | interior | 20 | inches. | |
| ” | exterior | 9 | feet. | |
| Height of the sole above the platform | 32 | inches. | ||
Note. Where the epaulment is made of a reduced breadth, the openings of the embrazures are made with the usual breadth within, but the exterior openings proportionally less. The embrazures are sometimes only 12 feet asunder, or even less when the ground is very confined. The superior slope of the epaulment need be very little, where it is not to be defended by small arms. The slope of the sole of the embrazures must depend upon the height of the object to be fired at. The Berm is usually made 3 feet wide, and where the soil is loose, this breadth is increased to 4 feet.
2. Howitzer Batteries.—The dimensions of howitzer batteries are the same as those for guns, except that the interior openings of the embrazures are 2 feet 6 inches, and the soles of the embrazures have a slope inwards of about 10 degrees.
3. Mortar Batteries—Are also made of the same dimensions as gun batteries, but an exact adherence to those dimensions is not so necessary. They have no embrazures. The mortars are commonly placed 15 feet from each other, and about 12 feet from the epaulment.
Note. Though it has been generally customary to fix mortars at 45°, and to place them at the distance of 12 feet from the epaulment, yet many advantages would often arise from firing them at lower angles; and which may be done by removing them to a greater distance from the epaulment, but where they would be in equal security. If the mortars were placed at the undermentioned distances from the epaulment, they might be fired at the angles corresponding:
| At | 13 | feet distance | for firing at | 30 | degrees. |
| 21 | ” | ” | 20 | ||
| 30 | ” | ” | 15 | ||
| 40 | ” | ” | 10 | ||
| over an epaulment of 8 feet high. | |||||
A French author asserts, that all ricochet batteries, whether for howitzers or guns, might be made after this principle, without the inconvenience of embrazures; and the superior slope of the epaulment being inwards instead of outwards, would greatly facilitate this mode of firing.