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MARTELLO TOWER

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 784 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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MARTELLO See also:

TOWER (Lat. turris; Fr. tour, clocker; Ital. torre; Ger. Thurm)

TOWER , a See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of tower formerly used in See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast See also:

defence. The name is a corruption of Mortella. The Martello tower was introduced in consequence of an incident of the See also:

French revolutionary See also:

WARS

wars. In See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September 1793 a See also:

BRITISH

British See also:

SQUADRON

squadron of three See also:

SHIPS

ships of the See also:

LINE

line and two frigates was ordered to support the Corsican insurgents. It was determined in the first See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place to take a tower on Cape Mortella which commanded the only secure anchorage in the Gulf of See also:

San Fiorenzo. This tower, according to See also:

James, was named" after its inventor "; but the real derivation appears to be the name of a See also:

WILD, JONATHAN (c. 1682-1725)

wild See also:

MYRTLE

myrtle which See also:

GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew thickly around. The tower, which mounted one 24-pounder and two 18-pounders on its See also:

TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top, was bombarded for a See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short See also:

time by the frigates, was then deserted by its little See also:

garrison, and occupied by a landing party. The tower was afterwards retaken by the French from the Corsicans. So far it had done nothing to justify its subsequent reputation. In 1794, however, a fresh See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt was made to support the insurgents. On the 7th of See also:

FEBRUARY

February 1400 troops were lauded, and. the tower was attacked by See also:

LAND

land and See also:

sea on the 8th. The " Fortitude " and " See also:

JUNO

Juno " kept up a cannonade for 22 See also:

HOURS, CANONICAL

hours and then hauled off, the former being on See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire and having sixty-two men killed and wounded.

The fire from the batteries on See also:

SHORE

shore produced no impression until a hot shot set fire to the " See also:

bass See also:

JUNK

junk with which, to the See also:

DEPTH

depth of 5 ft., the immensely thick See also:

PARAPET (Ital. parapetto, Fr. parapet, from para, imperative of Ital. porare, to cover, defend, and petto, breast, Lat. pectus; the German word is Brustwehr)

parapet was lined." The garrison of See also:

THIRTY

thirty-three men then surrendered. The armament was found to consist only of two 18-pounders and one 6-pounder. The strong resistance offered by these three guns seems to have led to the conclusion that towers of this description were specially formidable, and Martello towers were built in large See also:

numbers, and at heavy expense, along the shores of See also:

England, especially on the See also:

SOUTHERN

southern and eastern coasts, which in certain parts are lined with these towers at short intervals. They are structures of solid See also:

MASONRY

masonry, containing vaulted rooms for the garrison, and providing a See also:

PLATFORM (Fr. plateforme, i.e. ground plan)

platform at the top for two or three guns, which fire over a See also:

low masonry parapet. See also:

ACCESS (Lat. accessus)

Access is provided by a See also:

LADDER, (0. Eng. hlaeder; of Teutonic origin, cf. Dutch leer, Ger. Leiter; the ultimate origin is in the root seen in " lean," Or. KNiµat)

ladder, communicating with a See also:

DOOR (corresponding to the Gr. Bbpa,. Lat. fores or valvae; the English word, with other forms common in allied languages, comes from the same Indo-European stem as the Gr. Obpa and Lat. fares)

door about 20 ft. above the ground. In some cases a deep ditch is provided around the See also:

BASE

base. The See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief defect of the tower was its weakness against See also:

VERTICAL (from Lat. vertex, highest point)

vertical fire; its masonry was further liable to be cut through by breaching batteries. The French See also:

TOURS

tours modeles were somewhat similar to the Martello towers; their chief use was to serve as keeps to unrevetted See also:

WORKS

works. While the Martello tower owes its reputation and its widespread See also:

ADOPTION (Lat. adoptio, for adoptalio, from adoptare, to choose for oneself)

adoption in See also:

GREAT

Great See also:

BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain to a single incident of See also:

MODERN

modern warfare, the See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round masonry structure entered by a door raised high above the base is to be found in many lands, and is one of the earliest types of masonry fortification.

End of Article: MARTELLO TOWER

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