[Badbru]

Originally Posted by kalos72

So as the story develops in South Texas in my game, the questions has come up about the need for every major settlement to have a rubble/dirt mound wall around it for protection.

You need to go back in history quite a bit to find a time when settlements of any size had/needed a wall around it for protection. Pre gunpowder history even.

Originally Posted by kalos72

My game has the III Corps landing back in Texas to rebuild...has secured 2-3 counties and it trying to secure the major settlements. They are training local militias for the day to day security of each settlement.

When you say "has secured 2-3 counties" that's a past tense statement. You allready consider 2-3 whole counties "secured" do these, or even just the settlements in them, have defensives motes and berms? I'm thinking not, so...

Originally Posted by kalos72

So for say Victoria, population limited to about 10k maybe (population limits for major settlements still being discussed) and digging a "moat" at a 5 square mile perimeter an making a wall out of the excavated earth and then using that as city limits and patrolled by the militia.

Ten thousand people per 5 square miles sounds like a pretty high population density to me. I admit I'm not that informed on population densities but I doubt you could put that many people inside a 5 square mile perimeter AND have them self sustaining on other land within that perimeter so that kinda rules out point two.

Originally Posted by kalos72

The thinking here is:
1. Keeps unregistered people (non-citizens) from just sneaking into the city

Any well patrolled fence will do that.

Originally Posted by kalos72

2. It limits the population some by the physical boundary set by the wall. The society is mostly agrarian, they HAVE to be able to support themselves locally.

See above but there are other easier ways to controll the numbers of population and population will be dictated more by the viability of the land for food crops production than any local defense earthen works.

Originally Posted by kalos72

3. Helps with general security of the city

Yeah it may well do, but I saw the last five minutes of a TV show about Chinas' Great Wall, and guess what, it didn't actually keep people out. At one point a gate was opened for the Monghol army.

Originally Posted by kalos72

But I imagine digging a 5 square mile moat and then creating a suitable wall out of it, around each County Seat...maybe a 2 sqm around every city would take alot of work.

I see my response as a bit harsh but I'm with Raketenjagdpanzer on this one. Even with equipment and machinery that's going to be a major undertaking taking valuable man hours and resources perhaps better spent, if they have that engineering machinery, rebuilding roads, or the other recent hot topic, Railways.

Defensive hardpoints with elevated observation towers spaced every 600 meters or so around a fenced perimeter with some clear fields of fire will be more than adequate defense for your town because you really don't want to be facing any threat to ten thousand people right on those ten thousand peoples doorsteps anyway. Where is your defence in depth?