![Battle at the St Jacques fort near Bertigny, 13 November 1847.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/titel-kanonen-300x225.jpg)
The thunder of cannon at Fribourg’s gates
Today allotment gardens bloom and flourish there, but in November 1847 the thunder of cannonfire filled the air. The story of an almost forgotten theatre of war on Fribourg’s doorstep.
![Today, the site is part of the conurbation of Fribourg.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/karte-swisstopo-300x190.jpg)
![Graphic representation of the Sonderbund War in Switzerland 1847.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/2017/11/Sonderbund_karte_marco_zanoli-300x191.jpg)
![Formal portrait of Philippe de Maillardoz, 1821.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/maillardoz-286x300.jpg)
![Graphic reproduction: Swiss Confederate troops at the gates of Fribourg.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/angriff-auf-freiburg-300x221.jpg)
![Briefing by General Dufour (centre) with his staff. Also present are Louis Rilliet-de Constant (fourth from left) and Peter Ludwig von Donatz (sixth from left).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/dufour-300x191.jpg)
![Portrait of Colonel Louis Rilliet-de Constant, 1848.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/rilliet-224x300.jpg)
![View inside the St Jacques fort on 13 November 1847.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/fort-st-jacques-300x153.jpg)
![Odd fact about the Sonderbund War: A cross helped the Fribourg cannoneers to aim their cannon more accurately...](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/kreuz-1-200x300.jpg)
![War scythe from the Sonderbund War of 1847.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/waffe-sonderbundskrieg-300x93.jpg)
Today allotment gardens bloom and flourish there, but in November 1847 the thunder of cannonfire filled the air. The story of an almost forgotten theatre of war on Fribourg’s doorstep.