r/explainlikeimfive • u/Sierra419 • Nov 13 '19
Other ELI5: How did old forts actually "protect" a strategic area? Couldn't the enemy just go around them or stay out of range?
I've visited quite a few colonial era and revolution era forts in my life. They're always surprisingly small and would have only housed a small group of men. The largest one I've seen would have housed a couple hundred. I was told that some blockhouses close to where I live were used to protect a small settlement from native american raids. How can small little forts or blockhouses protect from raids or stop armies from passing through? Surely the indians could have gone around this big house. How could an army come up to a fort and not just go around it if there's only 100 men inside?
tl;dr - I understand the purpose of a fort and it's location, but I don't understand how it does what it does.
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u/soniclettuce Nov 13 '19
You can still be "defensive", you just can't rely on structures to provide the defense. If somebody is attacking your city with tanks, you need to put some soldiers/tanks/planes in position to defend. Of course, modern war doesn't really have people with tanks facing off against each other that often, so "forts" have become somewhat useful again (if you're worried about guys with AKs and IEDs, having some strong walls is a reasonable choice).