Plan and profile of the redoubt Leiden

Title Leupe: Plan en defentiestaat van de Redout Leyden.

Just as in the case of the redoubt Purmerend, it quickly became apparent that the redoubt Leiden was far too weak to offer any serious opposition to a naval attack through the mouth of the Suriname River. When he made the plan for Leiden as part of his 1781 general defence plan (see VEL2007A), Johann Friedrich Ferdinand Wollant seized the opportunity to propose a few adjustments, to eliminate the defects in the poorly designed rear side of the redoubt. This project plan suggests a counterscarp with a covered road could be constructed to be defended by ‘small arms’, that is infantry men with handheld firearms, plus an extra, small ravelin on the landward side. This plan was never carried out. The Leiden redoubt remained unprotected on its northern side, and, along with the redoubt Purmerend, easily fell to British troops during an 1804 attack.

The legend in cipher on Wollant’s map is as follows: (organization of the batteries, cannon available) no. 1. 5 pieces of 24-pound iron ordnance; no. 2. 4 24-pound iron pieces; no. 3. 2 24-pound iron pieces, 2 iron 12-pound pieces; no. 4. 1 12-pound iron piece, 3 small pieces of field artillery borrowed from the Cordon, 6 pounds each; no. 5. 1 piece of field artillery, ditto, 2 iron 6-pound pieces; no. 6. on the flanks of the half-bastions 2 3-pound iron pieces; (other indications) a. officers’ quarters; b. garrison barracks; c. guardhouse; d. gunpowder magazine; e. arsenal for gunpowder and equipment for the batteries; f. accomodation for sworn servants; g. gallery, passage.

North is up.

Scale-bars of 60 Rods of 12 Rhineland feet = [approximately 1 : 1,985] / [profile] 15 Rods of 12 Rhineland feet = [approximately 1 : 390].