"Gabion" Topic

I suppose there wasn't a template but I'm wondering roughly what size a gabion might be: height & diameter? Specifically for the Renaissance but any general information would be appreciated.

Would size vary if they were sheltering artillery as opposed to infantry?

I'm not sure about Renaissance gabions -- most appear pretty big. I have a reproduction of a 19th century Engineers manual and it describes how to make them -- by then they seem to have preferred small gabions, that were used in the making of a sap, but also for revetting walls etc.

Artillery gabions do have a reputation for being big -- but I'm not sure when the distinction was created. It may be that originally (in the Renaissance), they were all big, and that only later (late 17th-18th century?) they started introducing different sizes for different functions. But I don't really know, it's just a general impression that I have.

I only looked at them for the 1475-1540 era, so any later usage will elude me.

I am quite sure that Gabions would be used in any size that was appropriate for its task – soldiers tend to be adaptive if their live is on the line. Anyway, contemporary depictions show Gabions mainly to protect artillery, so I estimate their size at 1.5 – 2m in height and a diameter of 1-1,5m. Some (not many) depictions show slighly larger Gabions (eg the siege of Floence).

This would also work for infantry to fight beyond, but I have yet to find a contemporary painting that shows Gabions in field battles. Their main usage seem to be the protection of artillery and static positions, mainly camps.

For battles simple earth walls (eg. on the Fornovo depiction, or as reported at Hemmingstedt) seem to be more common (probably the production of Gabions took too long), while sieges often saw earth, rubble and stone-filled barrels beside or instead Gabions.

Imho the size of the Renedra Gabions looks pretty good. It certainly enhances the look of your artillery positions to have two Gabions next to each gun.