BATTERY, in the military art, a parapet thrown up to cover the gunners and men employed about the guns from the enemy's shot. This parapet is cut into embrasures, for the cannon to fire through. The height of the embrasures on the inside is about three feet; but they go sloping lower to the outside. Their width is two or three feet, but open to six or seven on the outside. The mass of earth that is betwixt two embrasures, is called the merlon. The platform of a battery is a floor of planks and sleepers, to keep the wheels of the guns from sinking into the earth; and is always made sloping towards the embrasures, both to hinder the reverse, and to facilitate the bringing back of the gun.
BATTERY of Mortars differs from a battery of guns; for it is sunk into the ground, and has no embrasures.