Plan for improving the defenses around the estuary of the Berbice River

Title Leupe: Plaan en profil sub no. 2 geprojecteert enz.

In about 1742, all the consecutive plans for a fort, or at least a redoubt, on Crab Island or on the eastern point of the bank of the river-mouth had been finally rejected. This rejection led to emergency measures taken in 1745-1746 to defend access to the colony. A temporary solution was found through placing a modest battery with ten guns on the eastern bank exactly opposite Crab Island which, at the instigation of the then governor, Johan Andries Lossner (also: Lössner, 1740-1749), was given the name Fort Sint Andries.

This bird’s-eye perspective belongs to a series made the land surveyor and engineer Philippus Marcus Osterlin (see VEL1612 and VEL1614-6) which expose the weaknesses of the fort Sint Andries and present project proposals for its further fortification. Osterlin’s plan for improvement shown here proposes building a second, much bigger fort half way around the old one with wider moats and heavier extra batteries on both the land and river sides. This would involve the landward side to be partially excavated for the waterway between both sections of the new fort.

A profile is shown below.

Scale-bars of 40 Rhineland rods = [approximately 1 : 1,000] / [profile] 12 Rhineland rods = [approximately 1 : 285].