Map of the redoubt Purmerend

Title Leupe: Redoute Purmerent..

As part of the 1733 plan to improve the defenses of Surinam, Fort Nieuw Amsterdam would be supported by two auxiliary forts on the opposite banks at the mouths of the Surinam and the Commewijne. The first, the earthen redoubt Purmerend on the western bank of the Surinam, was commenced in 1748 to a design by Ensign Andries Lodewijk (Andreas Ludovicus) Calvi, who held the position of Acting-Inspector of Fortifications between 1744 and 1754. This ground plan shows Calvi’s design from 1748 or a little earlier. Batteries, quarters and other buildings are all indicated. Once in service, Purmerend proved rather ineffective in a number of points. For instance, the points of the two tenailles Calvi had constructed on the river side were too small to support the required ordnance, and the moat and counterscarp with glacis were constructed so close to the bank as to be superfluous.

North is upper left.

Scale-bar of 100 Rhineland feet = [approximately 1 : 540].