Nineteenth-century field fortifications such as Fort Ward were constructed in forms from simple one-sided works to bastion forts, in which angled points extended out from a common wall. Due to the time and labor required to build bastion forts, this design was reserved for sites considered to be of great importance.
Fort Ward, a bastion fort, was built in the shape of an elongated five-pointed star. Each of its five bastions held emplacements for 4-6 guns (cannon) which were arranged along the angular walls to create a formidable cross-fire to the front of the fort. Other gun emplacements were positioned to cover an adjacent bastion or wall.