Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett
Tennessee State Library and Archives
Civil War Resources
Civil War Source Book
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| Gabion: | Stout, rough, cylindrical baskets, open at top and bottom used to revet the interior slopes of batteries or the cheeks of embrasures, to form the parapet of trenches, and to form free-standing defensive works. Gabions were made of various dimensions and heights according to their use. The open-end basket was woven from twigs and small branches and was filled with dirt. |
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| Gabionnade: | A fieldwork constructed of gabions. |
| Gads: | These were also called withes and were used to tie fascine bundles. They were made of tough twigs or sapling rods and were to be "no smaller than your little finger and no larger than your thumb." They were prepared by twisting by hand, in order to make them supple, then "tying" them around the fascine bundles. |
| Gallery: | A covered passage way usually in the counterscarp and used as a ditch defense. The gallery was about six feet high and four feet wide. |
| Glacis: | A mound of earth placed in front of the ditch. The function of raising the ground in front of the rampart was to eliminate any dead space and to allow a sweeping fire form the parapet. The Glacis also caused shots from enemy cannons to ricochet over the main works. It was seldom used in field works due to the time and energy needed for construction. |
| Gorge: | The open-ended side of the rear of a lunette or redan or the opening in an enclosed work. If the work was detached or isolated, the gorge may have been fortified with a stockade wall. |
| Gunboat: | The term gunboat was used broadly during the Civil War to describe any armed vessel that was not a ship of the line, a frigate, or a sloop. The term included all ocean-going ships and steamers that could operate for long periods of time at sea. It also included Union and Confederate ironclads and monitor class vessels with V-shaped hulls of the ocean going type. These ships were handicapped by not being able to sail far from the protection of a friendly harbor. The term gunboat also includes all of the flat-bottomed armored ships that navigated the inland waterways and were predominately propelled by either side wheels or stern paddle wheels. |