M.

=McAllister, Fort.= A formidable casemated earthwork, with bombproofs, mounting 9 guns, on Genesis Point, about 6 miles above the mouth of Great Ogeechee River, Georgia, which was erected by the Confederates during the civil war. On January 27, 1863, it was attacked by the ironclad “Montauk,” under the command of Capt. John L. Worden, three gunboats, and a mortar-schooner; but after a bombardment of many hours’ duration, they failed to reduce it. Another attack was made with like results on February 1, the “Montauk” again participating in it. A third attack was made on March 3, and after a bombardment of eight hours by a fleet of ironclad monitors and mortar-schooners, under the command of Capt. Drayton, they again failed to reduce it. After the naval attacks the fort received additions in armament and garrison, and in 1864 comprised three half-bastions and two curtains, mounted 21 guns, several of which were 8-inch and 10-inch pieces, and was garrisoned by 250 men. On December 13, 1864, it was taken by assault by a division of Gen. Sherman’s army under Gen. Hazen, and its entire garrison and stores captured. Communication by water being thus opened, the capture of Savannah followed on December 21.

=Macadamized.= A term applied to roads covered with broken stone,--from McAdam, a Scotch engineer, who first introduced this method of road-making.

=Macana.= The war-club of the South American Indians.

=Macassar=, or =Mankasser=. The chief settlement of the Dutch in the island of Celebes, and is defended by Fort Rotterdam. In 1810 it surrendered to the British, but was restored to the Dutch in 1814.

=Maccabees.= A family of patriotic Jews, who commenced their career during the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes, 167 B.C., when Mattathias, a priest, resisted the tyranny of the governor. His son, Judas Maccabæus, defeated the Syrians in three battles, 166 and 165 B.C., but fell in an ambush, 161 B.C. His brother Jonathan made a league with the Romans and Lacedæmonians, and after an able administration was treacherously killed at Ptolemais by Tryphon, 143 B.C. His brother and successor, Simon, was also murdered. The history of the Maccabees is contained in five books bearing that name.

=Mace.= A strong, short, wooden staff, with a spiked metal ball for a head. It was a favorite weapon with knights, with the cavalry immediately succeeding them, and at all times with fighting priests, whom a canon of the church forbade to wield the sword. No armor could resist the force of a well-delivered blow from the mace. The mace is now borne before magistrates as an ensign of authority.

=Macedonia.= Anciently the name of a country lying north of Thessaly, which was originally of small extent. The history of Macedonia is involved in much obscurity till about 490 B.C., when the Persians subdued it, so that the Macedonian king, Alexander I., was compelled to take part with Xerxes in his invasion of Greece. It again regained its independence upon the retreat of the Persians after the battle of Platæa in 479 B.C. After a period of civil wars Philip II. ascended the throne in 359 B.C., and his son Alexander III., surnamed Alexander the Great, brought half the then known world under his empire; but after his death the Macedonian empire was broken up, and, at the end of a period of twenty-two years of incessant wars, formed into four principal kingdoms under his greatest generals. Macedonia itself fell to the lot of Antipater, after whose death ensued another period of civil wars and contests for the throne. The Macedonians were defeated by the Romans in the great battle of Cynocephalæ, 197 B.C., and their country became subject to the Roman power. After the time of Constantine the country was ravaged by Slavic tribes, and by the 7th century the old semi-Greek Macedonians were extinct, and in the latter ages of the Byzantine empire their place was supplied by colonies from Asia, many of them of Turkish descent.

=Macedonian Pike=, or =Sarissa=. A spear or lance of great length used in warfare by the Greeks.

=Macerata.= A town of Central Italy, in a province (formerly a delegation) of the same name, situated on an eminence between the rivers Potenza and Chienti, 21 miles southwest of Ancona. The place was taken by assault and sacked by the French, in 1799.

=Machete= (_Sp._). A large, heavy knife resembling a broadsword, often 2 or 3 feet in length, used by the inhabitants of Spanish America as a hatchet, to cut their way through thickets, and for various other purposes.

=Machicolation.= The act of hurling missiles or pouring various burning or melted substances upon assailants through machicolations.

=Machicolations.= The apertures between the corbels or brackets supporting a projecting parapet; the term is applied also to the parapets. The apertures are for the purpose of allowing projectiles to be hurled at an enemy when he approaches near the wall, as in scaling, undermining, etc. Such defenses are very common in castellated architecture, especially over gateways, towers, etc.

=Machicoulis.= The same as machicolation.

=Machine Guns.= See BATTERY GUNS.

=Machine, Infernal.= This term has been applied to various deadly contrivances, for instance, to the battery gun with which the attempt to assassinate Louis Philippe was made, as well as to the devices used on similar historical occasions; also to the fire-ship used by the English at St. Malo. This was a three-decker charged with powder on the first deck; shells, carcasses, etc., on the second; and with barrels filled with combustibles on the third; the gun-deck was covered with old guns overloaded. It was intended to destroy ships, bridges, etc.

=Machines, Artillery.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Machines of War, Ancient.= Under this head is comprehended every kind of machine or engine made use of before the invention of gunpowder, for overthrowing, destroying, and burning the defenses of an enemy. They were of three kinds,--the first for projecting arrows, darts, stones, javelins, and fire-arrows; the second for battering and breaching walls, etc.; and the third for covering the troops thus engaged. They are as follows:

_Muscule_, _arbalest_, _ballista_, _belfry_, _belier_. (See appropriate headings.)

_Bricole_, machine for projecting quarrels or darts.

_Carreau_, _catapulta_ (which see).

_Chat_, or cat, a covered shed, occasionally fixed on wheels, for protecting soldiers employed in filling up the ditch, preparing the way for the helepole, or wooden tower, or for mining the wall.

_Chat echine_, prickly cat, beam bristling with oaken teeth, for the defense of a town, by being let down on the besiegers.

_Corbeau_, long pole armed with a strong iron harpoon or scythe at one end, suspended in a frame placed on a cart; by manœuvring the other end they tore away the machines with which the besieged endeavored to seize the head of the battering-ram.

_Corbeau à griffe_, pole with strong nippers or pincers, with which any object was seized and lifted up, and afterwards broken, if possible.

_Couillard_, _clide_, _jauclide_, machine for throwing stones.

_Cranequin_, large stirruped cross-bow or latch. (See ARBALEST.)

_Espringal_, _falarique_, _harpe_ (which see).

_Frondibale_, long beam moving in a vertical plane between two uprights on an axle (not in the middle); the longer arm was provided with a bag or case containing stones, and sometimes a sling; the other was heavily loaded, the beam being placed horizontally, and suddenly disengaged; the weight on the shorter limb forced up the other, and projected the stones forward.

_Helepole._ (See HELEPOLIS.)

_Herse._ (See HERSE.)

_Hourdeis_, hurdles employed by the besieged to protect their walls from the machines of the enemy.

_Lyonnois_, machine for defending a breach, with a head like a treble _fleur-de-lis_ on wheels.

_Mangona_, machine similar to the ballista, generic term signifying all kinds of machines.

_Mangonel_, diminutive of the above, applied to small machines.

For the following machines of war, see appropriate headings: MANTELET, MANUBALLISTE, MATAFUNDA, MATE-GRIFFON, MUCHETTÆ, ONAGRE, PLUTEUS, POLIBOLE, RIBAUDEQUIN, SAMBUQUE, SCORPION, TARIÈRE, TESTUDE, TOLENON, TREBUCHET, TREPIED, VIGNE, VIRETON.

=Maciejovice.= Near Warsaw, Poland. Here the Poles were totally defeated, and their general, Kosciusko, taken prisoner, October 10, 1794, after a murderous action. Kosciusko strenuously endeavored to prevent the junction of the Russian and the Austrian armies.

=Mackay Gun.= This gun is made of wrought iron, and distinguished from the Whitworth and Lancaster guns by the following characteristics: The Whitworth has a hexagonal bore in a tube of homogeneous iron, strengthened with hoops forced on by hydraulic pressure; the Lancaster is without grooves, but the bore is oval; the Mackay has numerous grooves, but the projectile does not, as in other guns, fit into them, its rotation being imparted by the rush of gases through the spiral grooves around it. In every case the groove or oval takes one turn, or portion of a turn, within the gun.

=Mackinaw=, or =Mackinac=. Formerly called Michilimackinac, “the great turtle.” A town and fort on an island of the same name in Lake Huron, about 320 miles by water north-northwest of Detroit, Mich. It fell into the hands of the English on the conquest of Canada from the French; but the Indians in its neighborhood remained hostile to their new masters. The fort was captured by a ruse, and the inhabitants massacred by the Chippewas under Pontiac, June 4, 1763. It was again garrisoned by the British in the following year. The island came into possession of the United States in 1796, and was captured by the British and Indians July 17, 1812. The Americans attempted its recapture, August 14, 1814, but without success.

=Macrones=. A powerful and warlike Caucasian people on the northeastern shore of the Pontus Euxinus.

=Madagascar.= An island of the Indian Ocean, situated at some distance from the east coast of Africa, being separated from that continent by the channel of Mozambique. The French formed several settlements in different parts of the island in 1665, but they were repeatedly driven out by the natives. The English were also driven out of the island in 1836, and the old system of Fetichism was restored. Madagascar is at present governed by Ranavalona, a Christian.

=Made.= A professional term for having obtained a commission, or being promoted.

=Madras.= Called by the natives Chennapatam, a maritime city and fortress of British India, and capital of the presidency of the same name. It was taken by the French in 1744; restored to the English at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1749, and was vainly besieged by the French under Lally, December, 1758-59. It is now considered one of the strongest fortresses in India.

=Madrid.= The capital of Spain, in New Castile, on the left bank of the river Manzanares. It is mentioned in history as _Majerit_, a Moorish castle. Madrid was sacked by the Moors in 1109; retaken and fortified by Henry III. about 1400; taken by Lord Galway in 1706; and by the French in March, 1808. The citizens of Madrid attempted to expel the French, and were defeated with much slaughter, May 2, 1808; the French were compelled to retire, but the place was retaken by them December 2, 1808, and retained until Wellington and his army entered it, August 12, 1812.

=Madriers.= Are long planks of broad wood, used for supporting the earth in mining, carrying on a sap, making coffers, caponiers, galleries, and for various other purposes at a siege; also to cover the mouth of petards after they are loaded, and are fixed with the petards to the gates or other places designed to be forced open. When the planks are not strong enough they are doubled with plates of iron.

=Madura.= An island of the Malay Archipelago, situated off the northeast coast of the island of Java, from which it is separated by a narrow channel. The Dutch invaded this island about the year 1747, and made slaves of a great number of the inhabitants.

=Maestricht.= A town of Holland, and capital of the province of Limburg, on the Maas, 110 miles southeast from Amsterdam. This town was taken by the French in 1794; and from 1795 till 1814 it was the capital of the French department of the Lower Meuse.

=Magazine.= A word derived from the Arabic, _makhzan_, “store-house,” means any place where stores are kept; but as a military expression, it always means a store-house for powder, although arms may at times be kept in it. In military structures the magazines must be bomb-proof, and therefore necessitate very thick walls; they must be quite free from damp, and should admit sufficient daylight to render the use of lanterns within generally unnecessary. The entrance is protected by shot-proof traverses, lest an opening should be forced by ricochet shots.

=Magazine Guns.= Are breech-loading small-arms having a magazine capable of holding several cartridges which may be fired in quick succession,--the empty shell being ejected and another cartridge conveyed into the breech from the magazine by working the mechanism of the piece. Among American magazine guns, the _Spencer_ was one of the first that proved successful, and was extensively used during the war of the Rebellion, 1861-65. The magazine was a tube in the stock. The _Spencer_ is no longer made. The _Henry_ was a contemporary, and used a tube under the barrel,--this gun as now improved is known as the _Winchester_, and is sold in every part of the globe. The _Ward-Burton_ and _Hotchkiss_ have tubes, the first under the barrel, the second in the stock like the _Spencer_; they are both _bolt_ guns _as to_ breech mechanism. The _Lee_ uses as a magazine a kind of pocket between the stock and barrel. This is readily detached. A gun carrying a great number of cartridges is the _Evans_, which has a spiral cartridge-carrier in the stock. Other guns, the _Meigs_ and _Cullen_, have been made carrying a still greater number, as many as forty or fifty, but these systems have not met with any considerable success. See SMALL-ARMS.

=Magdala.= A strong mountain fortress in Abyssinia, which King Theodore held against the expedition sent out in 1867 by the British government for the rescue of their subjects. In April, 1867, this stronghold was taken by Gen. Napier, for which he was created Baron of Magdala. See ABYSSINIA.

=Magdeburg.= A fortified city of Prussia, in the province of Saxony, on the Elbe. It was founded by Otto the Great in the 10th century, and is considered one of the strongest fortresses in Germany. It suffered greatly during the Thirty Years’ War, when it was sacked, and its inhabitants massacred, under the direction of Tilly. In 1806 it was taken by the French, and annexed by them to the kingdom of Westphalia; but finally restored to Prussia in consequence of the downfall of Napoleon in 1814.

=Magdolum= (in the Old Testament _Migdol_). A city of Lower Egypt, near the northeastern frontier, about 12 miles southwest of Pelusium, where Pharaoh Necho defeated the Syrians, according to Herodotus.

=Magenta.= A town of Italy, in Lombardy, 15 miles west from Milan. A great battle was fought here in June, 1859, between the French and Austrians, in which the latter were defeated. The French were commanded by Gen. MacMahon, who received the title of Duke of Magenta.

=Magetobria= (now _Moigte de Broie_, on the Saône). A town on the western frontiers of the Sequani, near which the Gauls were defeated by the Germans shortly before Cæsar’s arrival in Gaul.

=Magistral Line.= The tracing or guiding line in fortification,--the first laid down on the work or on paper,--and from which the position of all the other works is determined. In field fortification the crest line of the parapet is the _magistral_; in permanent fortification the _cordon_ or coping of the escarp wall is the guide.

=Magna Charta.= The great charter, so called, obtained by the English barons from King John in 1215, at Runny Meade. This name is also given to the charter which was granted to the people of England in the ninth year of Henry III., and confirmed by Edward I.

=Magnate.= A person of rank or dignity; a grandee or nobleman; one of influence or distinction in any sphere.

=Magnesia= (now _Manissa_). A town of Lydia, usually mentioned with the addition of _ad Sypilum_ (“at or near Sypilus”) to distinguish it from Magnesia on the Mæander, in Ionia, situated on the northwestern slope of Mount Sypilus. It is chiefly celebrated in history for the victory gained under its walls in 190 B.C. by the two Scipios over Antiochus the Great, whereby that monarch was forever driven from Western Asia. The town after the victory of the Scipios surrendered to the Romans.

=Magnetic.= Pertaining to the magnet; possessing the properties of the magnet, or corresponding properties; as, a magnetic needle. _Magnetic needle_, a slender bar of steel magnetized and suspended at its centre on a sharp-pointed pivot, so that it may take freely the direction of the magnetic meridian. It constitutes the essential part of a mariner’s compass.

=Maharajpoor.= A small town in Hindostan, India. This place was the key of the position of the Mahratta army on December 29, 1843, when the battle took place between them and the British army under Sir Hugh Gough. The Mahrattas were totally defeated.

=Mahe.= A seaport in Hindostan, India; is a French settlement on the coast of Malabar, and was taken possession of by them in 1722; retaken by the British in 1761; restored at the peace of Paris in 1763, but was again taken in 1793. It was restored to the French in 1815.

=Mahrattas.= A people of Hindoo (Hindu) race, inhabiting Central India, south of the Ganges, from Gwalior to Goa, and supposed by many to be the descendants of a Persian or North Indian people. They are first mentioned in history about the middle of the 17th century. Under the leadership of Sevaji, a freebooter or adventurer, they overran and subdued a large portion of the emperor of Delhi’s territory. They subsequently were divided into tribes under powerful leaders, and endeavored to overcome the Mogul; but they sustained a frightful defeat in January, 1761, at the hands of Ahmed Shah Abdalli, the ruler of Afghanistan, on the field of Paniput, where they lost 50,000 men, and all their chiefs except Holkar. They still, however, continued to be the hired mercenaries of the Delhi emperor, till the growing influence of the British compelled them to look to their own safety. After many long and bloody contests with the British and their allies, in which sometimes the whole, but more frequently a portion of the Mahrattas joined, they were one by one, with the exception of Scindiah, reduced to a state of dependence. This last-mentioned chief having raised a powerful army, officered by Frenchmen and disciplined after the European method, continued the contest for a number of years, till his power was finally broken in 1843. The Mahratta chiefs still possess extensive dominions under British protection.

=Maida.= A town of Naples, in Calabria Ulta, 9 miles south from Nicastra. It is noted for the defeat of the French under Regnier by the British under Sir John Stuart, in an action that took place in the plains near the town in 1806.

=Maiden.= An instrument resembling the guillotine, formerly used in Scotland for beheading criminals. Also, a fortress which has never been taken.

=Maidstone.= A town of England, in Kent, 29 miles southeast from London, on the Medway. In 1648 this town was stormed by the Parliamentary troops.

=Mail= (Fr. _maille_, It. _maglia_; from the Lat. _macula_, a “spot, hole, or mesh of a net”). Signifies a metal net-work, and is ordinarily applied to such net-work when used as body defensive armor. Well-made mail formed an admirable defense against all weapons except fire-arms, and its pliability and comparative lightness gave it favor over the more cumbrous plate-armor.

=Mail.= To put a coat of mail or armor upon; to arm defensively.

=Maillet= (_Fr._). A mallet. The French formerly made use of this instrument as an offensive weapon in their engagements. In 1351 the mallet was used at the famous battle “des Trente” (of thirty), which derived its name from the number of combatants that fought on each side. This extraordinary combat holds a distinguished place in the history of Brittany, and was entered into by the partisans of Charles of Blois and the king of France on one side, and by the Count Montfort and the king of England on the other. Under the reign of Charles VI. a Parisian mob forced the arsenal, and took out a large quantity of mallets, with which they armed themselves for the purpose of murdering the custom-house officers. The persons who assembled on this occasion were afterwards called _Maillotins_. In the days of Louis XII. the English archers carried mallets as offensive weapons.

=Maillotin= (_Fr._). An old French term which signified an ancient weapon that was used to attack men who wore helmets and cuirasses. A faction in France was also distinguished by this appellation. See MAILLET.

=Mainade= (_Fr._). A body of marauders commanded by a chief.

=Main Body.= The line or corps of an army which marches between the advance- and rear-guard; in camp, the body which lies between the two wings.

=Main Guard.= See GUARD, MAIN.

=Main Work.= In fortification, is the principal work as distinguished from the outworks.

=Maine.= The largest of the New England States, and the most easterly of the United States. The first settlement was made in it at Phippsburg, in 1607, but was subsequently abandoned. Settlements from New Hampshire gradually extended themselves into it, and it was afterwards annexed to Massachusetts, as far as the Kennebec River. In the latter part of the 17th century it suffered much from the incursions of the savages and the French, many of the towns being laid waste and the inhabitants slaughtered. This state of affairs was terminated by the treaty of Utrecht in 1712. During the Revolutionary war Portland was bombarded by the British in 1775, and much property destroyed. Maine was admitted into the Union as a State in 1820. Its northern boundary formed a subject of controversy with Great Britain, which threatened a war, but was settled by compromise in 1842. During the civil war, Maine was one of the most active of the Northern States in the cause of the Union.

=Mainotes.= The inhabitants of the mountainous district of Maina, a peninsula between the bays of the Kolokythia and Koron, forming part of the province of Laconia, in Greece. They number about 60,000, and are a wild and brave race, but addicted to robbery. While the Turks held possession of Greece, the Mainotes were almost completely independent, and when not engaged in a common struggle against the Turks their chiefs were at war with each other. The Mainotes, under their principal chief or bey, took a prominent part in the war for the liberation of Greece; but subsequently their independence was destroyed.

=Maintain.= When any body of men defend a place or post against the attacks of an adverse party, they are said to maintain it.

=Maintenance, Cap of.= Sometimes called Cap of Dignity, a cap of crimson velvet lined with ermine, with two points turned to the back, originally only worn by dukes, but afterwards assigned to various families of distinction. According to Sir John Fearne, “the wearing of the cap had a beginning from the duke or general of an army, who, having gotten victory, caused the chiefest of the subdued enemies whom he led to follow him in his triumph, bearing his hat or cap after him, in token of subjection and captivity.” Most of the reigning dukes of Germany, and various families belonging to the peerage both of England and Scotland, bear their crests on a cap of maintenance.

=Maison-du-Roi= (_Fr._). The king’s household. Certain select bodies of troops were so called during the monarchy of France, and consisted of the _gardes-du-corps_, or body-guards, the _gendarmes_, _chevaux-legèrs_, or light-horse, _mousquetaires_, or musketeers, _la gendarmerie_, _grenadiers à cheval_, or horse-grenadiers, the regiments belonging to the French and Swiss guards, and the _cent Suisses_, or hundred Swiss guards. The _maison-du-roi_, or king’s household, was not considered a separate establishment from the rest of the army until the reign of Louis IV. This establishment was successively formed by different kings out of militia companies, which they took into their body-guard.

=Maitre d’Armes= (_Fr._). A term in general use among the French, signifying a fencing-master. Every regiment has a _maitre d’armes_ attached to it.

=Majesty.= A title applied to sovereigns; as, Her Britannic Majesty.

=Major.= An officer next in rank above a captain and below a lieutenant-colonel; the lowest field-officer.

=Major, Aid-= (_Fr._). See AID-MAJOR.

=Major, Brigade-.= See BRIGADE-MAJOR.

=Major, Drum-.= See DRUM-MAJOR.

=Major, Etat-= (_Fr._). See ÉTAT-MAJOR.

=Major, Farrier-.= See FARRIER-MAJOR.

=Major, Fife-.= See FIFE-MAJOR.

=Major, Sergeant-.= See SERGEANT-MAJOR.

=Major, Town-.= See TOWN-MAJOR.

=Major, Trumpet-.= See TRUMPET-MAJOR.

=Majorate.= The office or rank of major.

=Majorca.= The principal of the Balearic Isles, in the Mediterranean, lying about 120 miles to the east of Spain. Majorca rebelled against Philip V. of Spain in 1714; but submitted July 14, 1715.

=Major-General.= See GENERAL, MAJOR-, and GENERAL OFFICER.

=Majority.= High rank; specifically, the military rank of a major.

=Make Good.= A phrase used sometimes in the wording of sentences in proceedings of courts-martial in the case of deserters; as, he will make good the time lost by desertion.

=Make Ready.= See READY.

=Malabar.= An extensive province of Hindostan, in the presidency of Madras. It is supposed that Malabar was, at a very early period, conquered by a king from above the Ghauts. It was invaded by Hyder Ali in 1760, and subdued by him in 1761. On the downfall of Tippoo Sahib, this country was annexed to the British dominions.

=Malabar Guns.= Heavy pieces of ordnance, which were made in the Malabar country, and were formed by means of iron bars joined together with hoops. They were very long, and extremely unwieldy.

=Malacca.= A British settlement situated on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, about 100 miles northwest from the settlement of Singapore. This district was annexed to the Portuguese dominions about 1511, taken by the Dutch in 1640, and given by the Dutch to the English in 1825.

=Malacca.= The capital of the above country, is situated on the coast, upon the strait which bears its name. In 1507 this town was visited by the Portuguese, and afterwards stormed by them. It was subsequently taken by the Dutch, who retained possession of it till 1795, when it was occupied by a British force.

=Malaga.= A city of Spain, in Granada, on the coast of the Mediterranean, 66 miles northeast from Gibraltar. It fell into the hands of the Moors in 714, and was not wrested from them until 1487, when it was taken by Ferdinand the Catholic. In 1810 it was occupied by the French, and remained in their possession till 1812.

=Malakoff.= A hill near Sebastopol, on which was situated an old tower strongly fortified by the Russians during the siege of 1854-55. The allied French and English attacked it on June 17-18, 1855, and after a conflict of forty-eight hours were repulsed with severe loss. On September 8, the French again attacked the Malakoff; at 8 o’clock the first mine was sprung, and at noon the French flag floated over the conquered redoubt. In the Malakoff and Redan were found 3000 pieces of cannon of every caliber, and 120,000 pounds of gunpowder.

=Malandrins=, or =Tard-venus= (_Fr._). Companies of banditti, who chose their own chief, and overran France and Italy in the 14th century.

=Malatesta.= A noble Italian family, which acquired the lordship of Rimini in the 13th century, and furnished several leaders of the Guelph party. Malatesta II. and Galeotto Malatesta, sons of Pandolfo I., began to reign over Rimini in 1355. They had a great military reputation, and next to the Visconti were perhaps the most powerful princes of Italy. The former died in 1364, and Galeotto in 1385, leaving two sons, Carlo and Pandolfo III. These two became able generals, and commanded the army of Visconti, duke of Milan, from 1393 to 1408. Carlo, who was lord of Rimini, died without issue in 1429. The descendants of Pandolfo III. possessed Rimini until 1528, when it was added to the papal dominions.

=Malavilly.= A town of Hindostan, in the province of Mysore, where the English troops under Gen. Harris defeated Tippoo Sahib’s army in 1799.

=Maldon.= A town of England, in the county of Essex, which was built in 28 B.C. It is supposed to have been the first Roman colony in Britain; was burnt by Queen Boadicea, and rebuilt by the Romans. It was burnt by the Danes in 991, and rebuilt by the Saxons.

=Malignant.= In English history, one of the adherents of the house of Stuart; a cavalier; so called by the opposite party.

=Malinger.= To feign illness, or to protract disease in order to avoid duty.

=Malingerer.= A soldier who feigns himself sick. Any soldier convicted of malingering, feigning or producing disease, or of intentionally protracting his cure or aggravating his disease, is liable to be tried by a court-martial for “conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline,” and to suffer the punishment attached to that offense.

=Malingery.= A feigning of illness, or protracting of disease in order to escape duty.

=Malkin.= A sponge with a jointed staff for cannon.

=Malleable Iron.= Iron which can be worked under the hammer. The term is specifically applied to cast iron which has had a part of its carbon extracted by cementation with an oxide.

=Mallet.= A wooden hammer, to drive into the ground the pegs by which a tent is fastened; it is likewise used on various other occasions, especially in fortification and artillery.

=Malmesbury.= A town of England, in Wiltshire. This town was taken from the royalists by Sir William Walter in 1643, but it was soon recovered, and again taken a short time after.

=Malo, St.= A seaport of France, in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, on the small island of Aron. This port sustained a tremendous bombardment by the English under Admiral Benbow in 1693, and under Lord Berkely in July, 1695. In 1758 the British landed in considerable force in Cancalle Bay, and went up to the harbor, where they burnt upwards of a hundred ships, and did great damage to the town, making a number of prisoners.

=Maloi-Jaroslavitz.= A town of Russia, in the government of Kaluga. It is noted for being the scene of a most sanguinary action between the French and Russians, in October, 1812, in which the former were defeated.

=Malplaquet.= A village of France, in the department of the North. It was the scene of a sanguinary battle in 1709, between the French under Marshal Villars, and the allies commanded by the Duke of Marlborough and the Prince Eugène, in which the latter were victorious.

=Malta.= An island belonging to Great Britain, situated in the Mediterranean, 54 miles from the Sicilian coast, and about 200 from Cape Bon, on the African coast. It is strongly fortified around the capital, Valetta, which was built by the Knights of St. John. Malta was colonized by the Carthaginians about 500 B.C., and as early as the first Punic war it was plundered by the Romans, but did not come finally into their possession until 242 B.C. During the 5th century it fell successively under the sway of the Vandals and Goths. The Romans, however, regained it under Belisarius in 533 A.D., and kept possession of it till it was conquered by the Arabs in 870. In 1090, Count Roger of Sicily drove out the Arabs, and established a popular council for the government of the island. Charles of Anjou, after overrunning Sicily, made himself master of it; but after a time, the houses of Aragon and Castile successively held the island. Subsequently, the emperor Charles V. took possession of Malta, and in 1530 granted it to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, from whom the Turks had recently captured their great stronghold at Rhodes. The knights raised by degrees the stupendous fortifications, and, moreover, spent their large income in beautifying the island in every way. Meanwhile they rendered incessant services to Christendom in the chastisement of the ferocious Barbary pirates. To revenge these acts, the Turks brought immense forces against Malta in 1557, and again in 1565. The siege in the latter year was carried on by the sultan Solyman himself, with the flower of the Ottoman army; but the grand master, La Valette, opposed a heroic resistance, and he was forced to re-embark, with the loss of more than 25,000 of his best troops. The defenders lost 260 knights and 7000 Maltese soldiers; and their gallantry was the theme of admiration throughout the world. After this siege the knights built Valetta. In 1571, they, with the Maltese, behaved most courageously at the battle of Lepanto, where the Turks lost 30,000 men. Though waging perpetual war with the Turks, the knights continued in possession of Malta until 1798, when it surrendered to Napoleon, and received a French garrison. In 1800 it was blockaded by a British squadron, and was forced to surrender to the English, in whose possession it has remained as a dependency.

=Malta, Knights of.= See ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM, KNIGHTS OF.

=Maltese Cross.= A cross of eight points, of the form worn as a decoration by the Hospitallers and other orders of knighthood.

=Malvern Hill.= Near the James River, in Virginia. Here, on the night of June 30, 1862, all the divisions of the Army of the Potomac, under Gen. McClellan, were united in a strong position, after five days of incessant marching and fighting. About 4 A.M. on July 1 the Confederate forces advanced to storm this position, but were mowed down by a destructive fire of grape from the land batteries, and were obliged to seek shelter in the woods. The gunboats, also, which were within range, opened a destructive fire of shells on the enemy. The attack was a complete failure, the loss of the Confederates being considerable, while that of the Federals was insignificant. After this repulse, the Confederates retired to Richmond, and McClellan pursued his way to the James, arriving at Harrison’s Landing on July 3.

=Mameliere= (_Fr._). Armor for the breast, from which depended two chains, one attached to the pommel, and the other to the scabbard of the sword.

=Mamelukes= (Arabic, _mamluk_, a “slave”). The name given to the slaves of the beys, brought from the Caucasus, and who formed their armed forces. When Genghis Khan desolated a great part of Asia in the 13th century, and carried away a multitude of the inhabitants for slaves, the sultan of Egypt bought 12,000 of them, partly Mingrelians and Tartars, but mostly Turks, and formed them into a body of troops. But they soon found their own power so great that, in 1254, they made one of their own number sultan of Egypt, founding the dynasty of the Baharites, which gave place to another Mameluke dynasty in 1382. The Caucasian element predominated in the first dynasty, the Tartar element in the second. Selim I., who overthrew the Mameluke kingdom in 1517, was compelled to permit the continuance of the 24 Mameluke beys as governors of the provinces; but in the middle of the 18th century they regained such a preponderance of power in Egypt that the pasha named by the Porte was reduced to a nominal ruler. The number of them scattered throughout all Egypt was between 10,000 and 12,000 men. Their number was kept up chiefly by slaves brought from the Caucasus, from among whom the beys and other officers of state were exclusively chosen. Their last brilliant achievements were on the occasion of the French invasion of Egypt, and during the time immediately following the retirement of the French. At this time Murad Bey stood at their head. But in 1811 they were foully massacred by Mehemet Ali.

=Mamertini.= Sons of Mamers, or Mars, were Campanian soldiers of Agathocles. They seized Messina, in Sicily, in 281 B.C., and when closely besieged by the Carthaginians and Hiero of Syracuse in 264, they implored the help of the Romans, which led to the first Punic war.

=Mammoth Powder.= See GUNPOWDER.

=Man.= To supply with men; to furnish with a sufficient force or complement of men, as for management, service, defense, or the like. Also, to supply with strength for action; to prepare for efficiency; to fortify.

=Man, Isle of.= An island of Great Britain, in the Irish Sea, nearly equidistant from the coasts of England, Scotland, and Ireland. It was subdued by the king of Northumberland, 621; by Magnus of Norway, 1092; ceded to the Scots, 1266, and taken from them in 1314 by Montacute, afterwards earl of Salisbury; it subsequently fell to the Earl of Derby. The brave Countess of Derby held this island against the troops of the Parliament in 1651, after her husband had been beheaded at Bolton, England, in the same year for his devotion to the royal cause.

=Manassas.= A town in Prince William Co., Va., which was an important military position during the civil war, and where the Alexandria and Manassas Gap Railways meet, near a creek called Bull Run; it was held by the Confederates in 1861, when they were attacked by the Federal general Irvin McDowell. He began his march from Washington on July 16, and gained some advantage on the 18th at Centreville. On the 21st was fought the _first_ battle of Bull Run. The Federals, who began the fight, had the advantage till about 3 o’clock P.M., when the Confederate general Johnston brought up reinforcements, which at first the Federals took for their own troops. After a brief resistance, the latter were seized with sudden panic, and in spite of the utmost efforts of their officers, fled in disgraceful rout, abandoning a large quantity of arms, ammunition, and baggage. The Confederate generals, Johnston and Beauregard, did not think it prudent to pursue the fugitives, who did not halt till they reached Washington. The Federal army is said to have had 481 killed, 1011 wounded, and 1216 missing. The loss of the Confederates was stated to be about 1500. In March, 1862, when the Army of the Potomac under Gen. McClellan marched into Virginia, they found that the Confederates had quietly retreated from the camp at Manassas. On August 30, 1862, this place was the site of another great battle between the Northern and Southern armies. In August, Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson, after compelling the Federal general Pope to retreat, defeated him at Cedar Mountain on the 9th, turned his flank on the 22d, and arriving at Manassas repulsed his attacks on the 29th. On the 30th, Gen. R. E. Lee (who had defeated Gen. McClellan and the invading Northern army before Richmond, June 26 to July 1) joined Jackson with his army, and Pope received reinforcements from Washington. A desperate conflict ensued, which ended in the Confederates gaining a decisive victory, compelling the Federals to a hasty retreat to Centreville, where they were once more routed, September 1. The remains of their army took refuge behind the lines of Washington on September 2. Pope was at once superseded, and McClellan resumed the command to march against the Confederates, who had crossed the Potomac and entered Maryland.

=Manch=, or =Maunch=. A charge frequently used in heraldry to represent a sleeve with long pendent ends, of the form worn by ladies in the reign of Henry I.

=Manchester.= A city of England, in Lancashire, on the Irwell. In the time of the Druids, it was one of their principal stations. It was one of the seats of the Brigantes, who had a castle or stronghold called _Mancenion_; and was, about 79, selected by the Romans as a station, and called _Mancunium_. Called by the Saxons _Manceastre_. Taken from the Britons, 488; captured by Edwin of Northumbria, 620; taken by the Danes, 877; retaken, 923.

=Mandans.= A tribe of Indians of the Dakota family, who are located with the Arickarees and Gros Ventres on a reservation near Fort Berthold, Dakota. They were hostile to the Sioux, and more friendly to the whites than the neighboring tribes. They number about 250.

=Mandarin.= A general term applied to Chinese officers of every grade by foreigners. It is derived from the Portuguese _mandar_, “to command”; the Chinese equivalent is _kwan_. There are nine ranks, each distinguished by a different-colored ball or button placed on the apex of the cap, by a peculiar emblazonry on the breast, and a different clasp of the girdle. The military mandarins are selected by the emperor of China to superintend and command the militia of the country.

=Mandilion.= A soldier’s loose coat; an outer garment without sleeves.

=Mandrel.= In forging, is a rod used to preserve the interior form of hollow-work. Also, the spindle upon which an article is placed in shaping it in a lathe.

=Manduria= (now _Casal Nova_). A town in Calabria, on the road from Tarentum to Hydruntum, and near a small lake. Here Archidamus III., king of Sparta, was defeated and slain in battle by the Messapians and Lucanians, 338 B.C.

=Manège.= The art of horsemanship or of training horses. Also, a school for teaching horsemanship, and for training horses; a riding-school.

=Mangalore.= A seaport town and fortress of Hindostan, on the eastern shore of the Indian Ocean, in the province of Canara. The Portuguese had a factory here, which was destroyed by the Arabians. In 1793 the town was taken by Hyder Ali, then the Mysore general; in 1768 it was captured by a detachment from Bombay; but was shortly afterwards retaken by Hyder. In 1783 Mangalore again surrendered to a force from Bombay; and after the destruction of Gen. Matthews’s army, sustained a long siege from Tippoo Sahib, and was gallantly defended by Col. Campbell. Upon the conclusion of peace in 1784, it was restored, and the fortifications were dismantled. In 1799, on the overthrow of Tippoo, it was finally taken possession of by the British.

=Mangan= (_Fr._). This word is sometimes written _mangon_, a warlike machine formerly used. The term itself was generally adopted to signify any species of warlike machine. But it more particularly meant the largest and most powerful machine that could be used for warlike purposes; whether it was practiced to throw enormous stones against besieged places, or to cast javelins, etc. It was likewise called _ballista_, from the Greek, _tormentum_, from the Latin, _torquendo_, and sometimes _petraria_, because stones weighing upwards of 360 pounds were thrown from it. This machine answered the double purpose of defending or attacking fortified places, and it was sometimes used at sea.

=Mangonel= (Fr. _mangonel_, _mangoneau_). A very strong and powerful cross-bow, from 15 to 20 feet long, for throwing arrows, darts, or stones. The _trebuchet_, _ribaudequin_, etc., were only a variety of the above.

=Manheim=, or =Mannheim=. A town of Germany, in the grand duchy of Baden, at the confluence of the Neckar and the Rhine. It surrendered to the French, under command of Pichegru, September 20, 1795. On October 31, the Austrians under Wurmser defeated the French near the city. Several battles were fought with various success in the neighborhood during the late wars.

=Manifesto=, or =Manifest=. A public declaration, usually of a prince or sovereign, showing his intentions, or proclaiming his opinions and motives in reference to some act done or contemplated by him; as, a manifesto declaring the purpose of a prince to begin war, and explaining his motives.

=Maniglions.= The two handles on the back of a piece of ordnance.

=Manilla=, or =Manila=. A town of the island of Luzon, and the capital of the Spanish settlements in the Philippine Islands. It was taken by the English in 1757; and again in October, 1762, by storm.

=Manipularis= (Fr. _manipulaire_). The chief officer in a part of the Roman infantry called _manipulus_, was so called. This officer was likewise ordinary (Fr. _ordinaire_).

=Manipulus.= So called from its standard or flag, which was made of cloth, and hung suspended on a staff with a hand. The manipulus was distinguished in this manner from the chief standard of each legion, which was an eagle of massive metal.

=Manipulus= (Fr. _manipule_). A small body of infantry originally, so called among the Romans during the reign of Romulus. Their ensign was a hand on the end of a staff. The manipulus consisted of 100 men, and in the days of the consuls and first Cæsars, of 200. Three manipuli constituted a Roman cohort. Each manipulus was commanded by two officers called _centurions_, one of whom acted as lieutenant to the other. Every manipulus made two centuries, or _ordines_. This, however, cannot be said to have been the uniform establishment or formation of the manipulus; for according to Varro and Vegetius, it was the smallest body of men employed in the Roman armies, and composed the tenth part of a century. Spartian says, “it consisted of only ten soldiers.” Some authorities assert that it takes its name from _manipulus_, “a handful of straw,” the latter having been fixed to a long pole to serve as a rallying signal, before the eagles were adopted. This circumstance has given rise to the modern expression, a handful of men, _une poignée de gens_. Vegetius, on the other hand, says it comes from _manus_, which signified a small body or handful of men collected together, and following the same standard; and Modestus as well as Varro state it to have been so called because, when they went into action, they took each other by the hand, or fought all together. A French writer conceives that the manipulus may be considered as one of those parts of a modern battalion which are distributed in different rooms, etc., and which is called _une chambree_, or a company that messes together.

=Manly.= Having qualities becoming a man; firm; brave; undaunted; noble, etc.

=Mannite, Nitro-.= A high explosive resembling nitro-glycerine in its properties, and made in an analogous manner by the action of nitric and sulphuric acids upon mannite, a form of sugar.

=Manœuvre=, or =Maneuver=. Management; dexterous movement; specifically, an evolution, movement, or change of position among military or naval bodies. To perform a movement in military or naval tactics; to make an evolution. Also, to change the positions of, as troops or ships.

=Manœuvring-wheels.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, SEA-COAST CARRIAGES.

=Manresa.= A town of Spain, in Catalonia, 30 miles northwest from Barcelona. It suffered much in the war of independence; and in March, 1811, it was almost completely burnt to the ground by Marshal Macdonald.

=Mans, Le.= A city of France, formerly capital of the province of Maine, now of the department of Sarthe. The final struggle between the Vendean troops and the French republicans took place here in 1793, in which the latter were victorious; and in 1871, another battle took place between the Germans and French, in which the former were victorious.

=Mansoura=, or =Mansourah=. A town of Lower Egypt, 34 miles southwest from Dalmietta. Here Louis IX. was defeated by the Saracens and taken prisoner, April 5, 1250. Some French troops which occupied the garrison were massacred here in 1798.

=Manteau= (_Fr._). This word, which literally signifies a cloak, is frequently used among the French to express the covering that hussars or light infantry troops carry for the double purpose of shielding their bodies from the inclemencies of the weather in outposts, etc., and for spreading over their heads, by means of poles, when they occasionally halt, and take a position.

=Mantelet= (_Fr._). A large osier buckler which was used in ancient times; it was held upright, under cover of which archers shot their arrows. Also a circular frame upon wheels covered with osier or horse-hair, used for the same purpose.

=Mantes.= A town of France, in the department of Seine-et-Oise, 30 miles west-northwest of Paris. It was taken and reduced to ashes by William the Conqueror in 1087.

=Mantillis.= A kind of shield, anciently fixed upon the tops of ships as a cover for archers.

=Mantinea=, or =Mantinœa=. Anciently a city of the Morea, 9 miles north from Tripolitza. It is now the modern Greek village of Palespoli. It was famous as being the scene of several battles, of which the most important was that fought between the Spartans and the Thebans under Epaminondas (362 B.C.), in which the former were defeated.

=Mantle.= A long flowing robe, worn in the Middle Ages over the armor, and fastened by a fibula in front, or at the right shoulder. The mantle is an important part of the official insignia of the various orders of knighthood.

=Mantlet.= A sort of temporary fortification intended to protect the men working guns in embrasures, casemates, or port-holes from the bullets of sharpshooters. The mantlet is usually made to be hoisted up while the gunner takes aim, and then lowered to cover the whole opening except a circular aperture for the muzzle of the cannon. With every increase in the range and precision of small-arms, mantlets become more essential for the safety of gunners. Mantlets are made of thick fir, of solid oak planks, or of iron plates, the last being preferable, as the lightest. At Sebastopol, the Russians effectively blocked their embrasures by thick mantlets of plaited rope suspended freely. A mantlet of planks or iron plates, about 5 feet high, and occasionally mounted on small wheels, is also used to protect sappers working at the end of a sap, although a rolling gabion is preferred for this purpose by many engineers.

=Mantling=, or =Lambrequin=. A heraldic ornament depicted as hanging down from the helmet, and behind the escutcheon. It is considered to represent either the cointise (an ornamental scarf which passed round the body and over the shoulder) or the military mantle or robe of estate. When intended for the cointise, it is cut into irregular strips and curls of the most capricious forms, whose contortions are supposed to indicate that it has been torn into that ragged condition in the field of battle. When the mantling is treated as a robe of estate, the bearings of the shield are sometimes embroidered on it. A mantling adjusted so as to form a background for the shield and its accessories constitutes an _Achievement of Arms_. In British heraldry, the mantling of the sovereign is of gold lined with ermine; that of peers, of crimson velvet lined with ermine. Knights and gentlemen have generally crimson velvet lined with white satin; but sometimes the livery colors are adopted instead, as is generally the practice in continental heraldry.

=Mantonet= (_Fr._). A small piece of wood or iron, which is notched, for the purpose of hanging anything upon it. The pegs in soldiers’ rooms are sometimes so called.

=Mantua.= A fortified city of Northern Italy, 22 miles southwest from Verona. Mantua is both by nature and art one of the strongest places in Europe. It can boast of an antiquity almost equal to that of Rome, and experienced all the vicissitudes of the Middle Ages, and, like other Italian cities, emerged from them into liberty and independence. It surrendered to the French, February 2, 1797, after a siege of eight months; was retaken by the Austrian and Russian army, July 30, 1799, after a short siege. In 1800, after the battle of Marengo, the French again obtained possession of it. It was included in the kingdom of Italy till 1814, when it was restored to the Austrians, who surrendered it to the Italians, October 11, 1866, after the peace.

=Manual.= Book of reference; as, ordnance manual, etc.

=Manual.= A prescribed exercise by means of which soldiers are taught to handle and use their weapons. The _manual of arms_ is the exercise with the musket; the _manual of the piece_, the exercise with the field-gun. There are also _manuals for the sabre, pistol_, etc.

=Manuballiste= (_Fr._). A cross-bow. There were two kinds in the reign of Henry VII., viz., the _latch_ which was used for quarrels, and the _prodd_ for bullets.

=Manufacture of Ordnance.= See ORDNANCE, MANUFACTURE OF.

=Manufacture of Powder.= See GUNPOWDER.

=Manx.= Pertaining to the Isle of Man.

=Maoris.= A New Zealand word signifying _native_, is the name given to themselves by the inhabitants of New Zealand, and that by which they are now usually designated. In 1861 war broke out between them and the British, terminating in favor of the latter in 1862; but in 1863 the Maoris recommenced hostilities, and a formidable conspiracy was formed to expel the British troops. In 1868 they massacred many settlers and offered a desperate resistance, and were not subdued until the following year. They numbered at that time about 40,000. They are now comparatively peaceable.

=Map.= In a military and geographical sense, is a plane figure, representing the surface of the earth, or a part thereof, according to the law of the particular kind of projection used; distinguishing the situation of cities, mountains, rivers, roads, etc.

=Marathon.= A village on the east shore of Attica, 20 miles northeast from Athens. Here on September 28 and 29, 490 B.C., the Greeks, only 10,000 strong, defeated the Persian army amounting to 200,000, who had 6400 killed. The Greek loss was 192 Athenians killed, besides some Platæans and slaves. The Greeks were commanded by Miltiades, Aristides, and Themistocles. Among the slain was Hippias, the instigator of the war. The Persian army was forced to retreat to Asia.

=Marathus.= An important city on the coast of Phœnicia, opposite to Aradus. It was destroyed by the people of Aradus in the time of the Syrian king, Alexander Balas, a little before 150 B.C.

=Maraud.= To rove in quest of plunder; to make an excursion for booty; to plunder.

=Marauder.= A rover in quest of booty or plunder; a plunderer.

=Marauding.= Is irregular plunder or violence offered to the inhabitants of a country by the individuals of an army. In all armies where discipline is maintained, marauding is, at least professedly, punished by death; the provost-marshal having power to inflict that penalty summarily on all offenders taken in the act. Marauding is also applied to plundering at sea; as, the Barbary corsairs are systematic marauders.

=Marburg.= A town of Germany, in Hesse-Cassel, situated on the Lahn. It suffered much during the Seven Years’ War, 1753-60.

=March.= The movement of a body of men from one place to another. In marching it cannot be too strongly inculcated that every just movement and manœuvre depends upon the correct equality of march established and practiced by all the troops of the same army, and that when this is not attended to confusion must follow on the junction of several battalions. Also, the distance marched over; as, a march of 20 miles.

=March.= To cause to move in military array; to push forward, as troops; to cause to advance in a steady, regular, or stately manner.

=March.= The military signal for soldiers to move; a piece of music, designed or fitted to accompany and guide the movement of troops; or a piece of music composed after the measure of a march. Also, the command for soldiers to move.

=March.= The length of a day’s march for troops of any arm depends, to a great extent, upon the condition of the roads, the supply of water, forage, etc.; also upon the advantages to be gained over an enemy.

Infantry marches at the rate in common time of 90 steps = 70 yards in one minute, or 2 miles 680 yards in an hour; in quick time, 110 steps = 86 yards in one minute, or 2 miles 1613 yards in an hour; in double time, 165 steps = 151¹⁄₄ yards in one minute, or 5 miles 275 yards in an hour. Under ordinary circumstances infantry should march from 15 to 20 miles a day, halting about ten minutes every hour.

Cavalry should march about 20 miles a day, and be kept at a walk, halting several times during the day, when the men should dismount and permit the horses to refresh themselves by giving them a few mouthfuls of grass and water. On a forced march the horses should not be halted, but they should be relieved fifteen minutes every hour by dismounting the men and requiring them to march. For selection of cavalry horses, rate of speed at a trot, gallop, etc., see HORSE.

The march of artillery should be governed by the movements of the arms of the service to which it is assigned for duty. The care of men and horses is a combination of what has been laid down for cavalry and infantry. For the rates of march of, and loads carried by, artillery horses, see PACK AND DRAUGHT HORSES.

=Marchands= (_Fr._). Slop-sellers, petty sutlers. Men of this description always flock round and follow an army on its march. As they generally deal in articles which are required by the officers and soldiers, it is the business of every general to see them properly treated, to insure their safety, and to permit them, under certain regulations, to have access to the camp.

=Marcher.= One who marches. In ancient times the lord or officer who defended the marches or borders of a territory.

=Marches.= A frontier, a border. In English history, the boundary between England and Wales, also between England and Scotland.

=Marches, Combined.= When the movements of the divisions or corps are made independent of each other, but having the same object in common, they are known as combined marches. They are arranged with the intention of having the several columns arrive at a given position but coming from different directions.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Marches, Flank.= Are marches made parallel or obliquely to the enemy’s position. They are used when it is desired to turn the enemy’s position or attack him on the flank.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Marches, Manœuvre.= Marches are sometimes made by which an army gains a position, the possession of which compels the enemy to leave the position he is occupying. If these marches are under the observation of the enemy, they are termed “manœuvres”; but if made out of his sight, they are called _manœuvre marches_.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Marches of Concentration.= The marches which are made by several bodies of troops, starting from points separated from each other, for the purpose of bringing these troops together at some stated place, are termed _marches of concentration_. Forced marches are much used in concentrating troops, especially before a battle. Many examples are given in military history.

Friant’s division of Davoust’s corps marched over 80 miles in forty-eight hours in 1805, to join Napoleon in the battle of Austerlitz. Craufurd’s brigade marched, so Napier says, 62 miles in twenty-six hours, to join Wellington at Talavera, in 1809. Napoleon marched an army to the relief of Dresden, in 1813, by forced marches of over 30 miles a day for three consecutive days. The marches of the different corps of the Army of the Potomac on the 30th of June and the 1st of July, 1863, by means of which the army was concentrated at Gettysburg, are good examples of _marches of concentration_. The 6th Corps under Gen. Sedgwick made on this occasion a march over 30 miles.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Marches, Route.= Route marches are used by troops both during war and in peace. They are used in peace to conduct a body of troops from one station or post to another. They are used in war for the purpose of assembling the fractions of an army on its base of operations; of conducting troops through a district or country where there is no enemy, etc.

There are three kinds of _route marches_, according to the manner in which they are made, viz.: _ordinary_, _forced_, and _marches by rail_.

_Ordinary route marches_ are those made along ordinary roads and where the length of the march in any one day is not greater than 20 miles. Twenty miles is a long march, especially if the body of troops is large, and this distance is taken as the limit for an ordinary march. If the distance marched in any one day is greater than 20 miles, the march is _forced_.

_Forced marches_ are extremely exhausting upon the troops and should not exceed 30 miles per day, although greater distances have been overcome by good troops. The number of forced marches made in succession must be few, only two or three, even for the best of troops. They are used but rarely in time of peace, and then only under pressing circumstances. They are much used in war, when a rapid concentration of troops is to be made; when a strategical combination is to be effected, etc.

_Route marches by rail_ are employed both in peace and war. This kind of march includes all those in which the troops do not actually march, but are transported bodily to their destination. Railroads have become in recent years the great factor in rapid and cheap means of moving troops, and the term “rail” is therefore applied to this method of conducting troops from one place to another.

This method is of especial service when the time given to the troops to reach their destination is short, and the distance is great. It is especially used in the case of assembling armies and forwarding the reserves and recruits to the theatre of war. The late war in the United States, the war in 1859 in Italy, the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, etc., all furnish examples.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Marches, Strategical.= Marches which made in the theatre of war, near an enemy whose position is not exactly known, having in general for their object the completion of some strategical combination, are designated _strategical marches_. They are used to conduct an army to a position from which an attack can be made on the enemy, or to a position in which the army can remain and receive an attack; in other words, to a position immediately in the presence of the enemy.

_Strategical marches_ are either _ordinary_ or _forced_ marches, and are used principally to mass troops at some stated point on the theatre of operations before the enemy can make arrangements to prevent it or can prepare counter-movements to weaken or nullify the effect of the movement. Secrecy, celerity, and good order are therefore indispensable requisites for success in marches of this kind.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Marches, Tactical.= Marches made in the immediate vicinity of the enemy, and so near that they may be observed by him, are called _tactical marches_. Since these marches are made very near the enemy, greater precautions are required to guard against an attack than are necessary in _strategical marches_.

_Tactical marches_ differ from _route_ and _strategical_ marches in one material particular, and that is in the number and sizes of the wagon-trains accompanying the troops on the march. Both in _route_ and _strategical_ marches the troops are cumbered with long and unwieldy wagon-trains carrying the baggage and supplies of the army, whereas in a _tactical_ march there are none, or the trains are reduced to a minimum. Since the enemy may attack the moving columns at any minute, everything is sacrificed to the important one of being ready to fight at a minute’s notice, and the army carries with it only supplies enough for two or three days, and little or no baggage. Everything not essential for feeding the troops and not necessary for fighting is therefore left behind the army while it is making a _tactical march_.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Marchfeld.= In Austria, where Ottocar II. of Bohemia was defeated and slain by his rival, the emperor Rodolph of Hapsburg, August 26, 1278.

=Marching.= One of the first necessities to distinguish a body of disciplined troops from a mere crowd of men is a regular cadenced step, taken by every individual at the same time, and with the same foot. When troops are to march a long distance the _route_ step is employed, the men keeping the same distance and their places in the ranks as when marching on drills, parades, reviews, musters, etc., where the cadenced step in common, quick, or double time is employed. In the U. S. service the length of the step in common and quick time is 28 inches, and the cadence is at the rate of 90 steps per minute for common time and 110 for quick time; in double time the length of the step is 33 inches and the cadence at the rate of 165 steps per minute, but it may be increased to 180. In the feudal ages, when infantry fell into disrepute, cadenced marching was unattended to, and seems only to have been thoroughly revived by Marshal Saxe.

=Marching Money.= The additional pay which officers and soldiers receive for the purpose of covering the expense necessarily incurred when marching from one place to another.

=Marching Order.= In the British service a soldier is said to be in marching order when he is fully equipped with arms, ammunition, and a portion of his kit, which weighs from 30 to 35 pounds. In _service marching_ order, by the addition of provisions and some campaigning necessaries, he carries nearly 50 pounds. But _heavy marching order_, which was yet heavier, is now happily abolished. See HEAVY MARCHING ORDER, and LIGHT MARCHING ORDER.

=Marching Orders.= The orders issued preparatory to troops marching; and in the British service signifies six days’ journey at least.

=Marching Regiments.= A term given in England to those who had not any permanent quarters, but were liable to be sent not only from one end of Great Britain to another, but to the most distant of her possessions abroad. Although the word _marching_ is insensibly confounded with those of _line_ and _regulars_, it was originally meant to convey something more than a mere liability to be ordered upon any service; for by marching the regular troops from one town to another, the inhabitants, who from time immemorial have been jealous of a standing army, lost their antipathy to real soldiers, by the occasional absence of regular troops. At present the English guards, infantry, etc., may be considered more or less as marching regiments. The marines and volunteers have stationary quarters.

=Marcomanni.= A powerful confederacy of ancient Germans, who were resident, as their name imports, on the borders. They are first mentioned in history by Cæsar, and seem at that time to have dwelt upon the banks of the Rhine. From Tacitus and several others we learn that they soon afterwards moved westward, under their king Maroboduus, drove the Boii out of Bohemia, and settled in that country. After organizing a government, Maroboduus formed a league with the neighboring tribes, for the purpose of defending Germany against the Romans. He was thus enabled to muster 70,000 disciplined soldiers, and to conclude an honorable treaty with the emperor Tiberius in 6 A.D. In 17 he was defeated by the Cherusci, and in two years afterwards he was expelled from his throne by the Goth Catualda, and forced to seek refuge in Italy. The same fate soon afterwards befell his dethroner and successor, and the Marcomanni once more came under the sway of native kings. After this they gradually extended their dominions, until they had reached the Danube, and had provoked the jealousy of the Romans in the time of Domitian. Then began hostilities between the Romans and the Marcomanni, which led to the protracted struggle of the Marcomannic war, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, but was finally quelled by the peace of Commodus, in 180. Favored, however, by the feeble rule of Commodus, they continued their predatory inroads into the Roman provinces of Noricum and Rhætia, and ventured sometimes as far as the defiles of the Alps. In 270, in the reign of Aurelian, they pushed forward into Italy, and penetrated even to Ancona, spreading consternation around them. After this period they disappear gradually, and are mentioned for the last time among the hordes of Attila.

=Marcouf, St.= Two small islands of France, in the department Manche, and which protect the roadstead off Cape La Hogue. They were taken by the British in 1795, but restored to France at the peace of Amiens.

=Maréchal= (_Fr._). Major-general.

=Maréchal de Bataille= (_Fr._). A military rank which once existed in France, but was suppressed before the revolution, or rather confined to the body-guards. An officer belonging to that corps received it as an honorary title. Its original functions, etc., with respect to general service, sunk in the appointments of _maréchal de camp_ and major-general. It was first created by Louis XIII. _Maréchal-général des logis de la cavalerie_, this appointment took place under Charles IX. in 1594. He had the chief direction of everything which related to the French cavalry. _Maréchal des logis pour les vivres_, a person belonging to the quartermaster-general’s department was so called in the old French service.

=Maréchal de Camp= (_Fr._). A military rank which existed during the French monarchy. The person invested with it was a general officer, and ranked next to a lieutenant-general. It was his duty to see the army properly disposed of in camp or quarters, to be present at all the movements that were made; to be the first to mount his charger, and the last to quit him. He commanded the left in all attacks. The appointment under this distinction was first created by Henry IV. in 1598.

=Maréchal-Général des Camps et Armées du Roi= (_Fr._). A post of high dignity and trust, which during the French monarchy was annexed to the rank of _maréchal de France_. Military writers differ with respect to the privileges, etc., which belonged to this appointment; it is, however, generally acknowledged that the general officer who held it was intrusted with the whole management of a siege, being subordinate only to the constable, or to any other _maréchal de France_, who was his senior in appointment.

=Maréchal-Général des Logis de l’Armée= (_Fr._). This appointment, which existed during the old French government, and has since been replaced by the _chef de l’état-major_, corresponds with that of quartermaster-general in the British service.

=Maréchaussées de France= (_Fr._). A species of military police which formerly existed in France. During the French monarchy there were 31 companies of _maréchaussées à cheval_, or mounted policemen. These companies first formed for the purpose of preserving public tranquillity, and were distributed in the different provinces of the kingdom. This useful body of men was first formed under Philip I. in 1060; they were afterwards suppressed, and again re-established in 1720, as constituting a part of the gendarmerie of France. There were other companies of _maréchaussées_, who were particularly distinguished from the 31 above mentioned; such, for instance, as that of the constables, called the gendarmerie.

=Marengo.= A village of Italy, in Piedmont, near the Bormida, 2 miles southeast from Alessandria. Here the French army, commanded by Bonaparte, attacked the Austrians, June 14, 1800; his army was retreating, when the arrival of Gen. Dessaix turned the fortunes of the day. The slaughter on both sides was dreadful. By this victory Bonaparte gained 12 strong fortresses, and became master of Italy.

=Margarita.= An island in the Caribbean Sea lies off the coast of Venezuela, of which republic it forms a province. This island was first visited by Columbus in 1498, and has in more recent times (1816) been the scene of a bloody warfare between the revolutionists and the Spanish troops under Gen. Murillo, in which the latter were defeated.

=Margrave.= A German nobleman corresponding in rank to the English marquis. _Margravine_ is the wife of a margrave.

=Margum=, or =Margus=. A fortified place in Mœsia Superior, west of Viminacium, situated on the river Margus (now _Morava_), at its confluence with the Danube. Here Diocletian gained a decisive victory over Carinus.

=Maricopa Indians.= A tribe of aborigines, numbering about 400, who are located with the Pimas on a reservation on the Gila River, Arizona, about 180 miles above its mouth. They are peaceable, and follow agricultural pursuits.

=Marienbourg.= A fortified town of Belgium, situated in the province of Namur. This place was occupied by the French from 1659 till 1815.

=Marignano= (now _Malegnano_). A village of Northern Italy, near Milan. Three battles have been fought near here: (1) Francis I. of France defeated the Duke of Milan and the Swiss, September 13-14, 1515; above 20,000 men were slain; this conflict has been called the “battle of the giants.” (2) Near here was fought the battle of Pavia. (See PAVIA.) (3) After the battle of Magenta, June 4, 1859, the Austrians intrenched themselves at Malegnano. Marshal Baraguay d’Hilliers with 16,000 men was sent to dislodge them, which he did, on June 8, with a loss of about 850 killed and wounded. The Austrians suffered severely.

=Marine.= A soldier serving on ship-board; a sea-soldier; one of a body of troops trained to do duty on vessels of war.

=Marine Fortification.= This kind of fortification differs from land fortification in that the approaches of the enemy which are to be resisted take place on the level of the sea, so that he can come near without having to overcome the dangerous slope of the glacis. The combat is simply one between two powerful batteries, and the question to be decided is, whether the ship or the fort will first be placed _hors de combat_; the ship having ordinarily the largest number of guns, while the fort has more solid battlements, and its fewer guns of great caliber can be fired with a steadiness unattainable on so shifting a base as the ocean. Under these circumstances, the less relief a sea-fortress has the better, the less likely is it to be hit from shipping. Its walls are usually built perpendicular, or nearly so. The magazines and quarters for the men are bomb-proof, as also are the casemates, from which the guns are usually fired, although sometimes, as in the martello tower, the gun is worked on top of the structure. Sea fortifications may be of various importance, the simplest being the battery consisting of a mere parapet formed in a cliff or on a hill, and mounted with guns to command the sea; these are generally built in such concealed situations, that it is hoped the hostile ship will not perceive them until they actually open fire. These are numerous all around the British coast. Next greater in importance is the martello tower (which see). More powerful still are the breach-forts, such as those which on either shore defend the entrance to Portsmouth harbor, England. These are constructed of the most solid masonry, and armed with guns of the heaviest caliber, sweeping the very surface of the sea so as to strike an approaching ship between wind and water. The guns are usually in bomb-proof casemates, and the fort is often defended on the land side, if the coast be level; if, however, higher ground be behind, this would be useless, and then the sea-front alone is defensible. Most terrible of all sea-forts, however, are the completely isolated forts with perpendicular faces and two and three tiers of heavy guns. Such are the tremendous batteries which render Cronstadt almost unapproachable, and by which Spithead and Plymouth Sound, England, are now being fortified. These forts are generally large, with all the requisites for a garrison to maintain itself; against them wooden ships stand no chance, and in the American civil war, Fort Sumter, at Charleston, has shown itself no mean antagonist for ironsides. In the new forts, as Spithead, etc., iron is to be employed as the facing, in plates of such vast thickness and weight that it is supposed no ship can ever possess any comparable power; and as they are to be armed with guns the smallest of which will probably be 300-pounders, it is expected that they will be able to destroy any fleet that could be sent against them. At the present day, the value of sea fortifications is disputed, as iron-plated vessels may pass them with impunity, unless the artillery in the fort be so heavy as to destroy the armor of the ships. In the long run, however, it is apparent that the fort can command the greater power; for its armor may be of any thickness, while that of the ship must be limited by her floating powers, and on the other hand, the limit to the size of artillery must be sooner reached in a ship than in a solid and stationary fortress.

=Marines, Corps of.= In the U. S. service is a body of troops who serve at the different naval stations, and on board ships of war. The men are drilled in all respects as infantry, and therefore, when on shore, are ordinary land forces. On board ship, their ordinary functions are as sharpshooters in time of action, and at other times to furnish sentries for guarding the stores, gangways, etc.; and they are useful as exercising a good control over the less rigidly disciplined sailors. They are also instructed as guns’ crews, and when not on guard, are subject to the orders of the naval officers in the same manner as the seamen. The corps was first established in the United States in 1775, and was permanently organized by act of Congress in 1798. By this act, marines were made liable to do duty at the call of the President in any of the forts or posts of the United States, and were placed on the footing of infantry soldiers, as far as regards pay and allowances. When detached for duty with the army, marines are subject to the Articles of War; at all other times they are subject to the laws and regulations for the government of the navy. The corps numbers about 2000 men commanded by a colonel. The corps has undergone many changes in respect of numbers, equipment, drill, and methods of recruiting since its organization, and was never in a better state of discipline and efficiency than now. No man is enlisted who is unable to read and write, under 5 feet 6 inches high, or over thirty-five years of age. It is organized into battalions for duty on shore, and into “guards,” or companies, for service afloat, each having its proper complement of officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, and is considered an indispensable auxiliary to the navy. Civilians between twenty and twenty-five years of age are eligible at present to appointment as lieutenants in line of promotion, and are stationed at the head-quarters of the corps in Washington for their preliminary instruction. In the British service, besides the infantry, there is a division of marine artillery. In rank, marine officers correspond with army officers of the same grade, according to seniority; they are usually appointed from civil life.

=Maritime.= Bordering on, or situated near, the ocean; connected with the sea by site, interest, or power.

=Mark.= That toward which a missile is directed; a thing aimed at; what one seeks to hit or reach.

=Mark, St., Knights of.= An order of knighthood which formerly existed in the republic of Venice, under the protection of St. Mark the Evangelist.

=Mark Time.= To mark time is to move each leg alternately in quick or ordinary time, without gaining ground. This is frequently practiced when a front file or column has opened too much, in order to afford the rear an opportunity of getting up; and sometimes to let the head of a column disengage itself, or a body of troops file by, etc.

=Marker.= The soldier who forms the pivot of a wheeling column, or marks the direction of an alignment. Also, the one who records the number of hits and misses made by soldiers at target practice.

=Marks, Inspection.= Are certain marks cut on cannon to show the number of the gun, the name of the founder, name of inspector, weight of the piece, etc. Condemned shot are also marked. See INSPECTION OF PROJECTILES.

=Marksman.= One who is skillful to hit a mark; one who shoots well.

=Marksmanship.= The skill of a marksman.

=Marlins.= Are tarred white skeins or long wreaths or lines of untwisted hemp, dipped in pitch or tar, with which cables and other ropes are wrapped round, to prevent their fretting and rubbing in the blocks or pulleys through which they pass. The same serves in artillery upon ropes used for rigging gins, usually put up in small parcels called skeins.

=Maron= (_Fr._). A piece of brass or copper, about the size of a crown, on which the hours for going the rounds were marked in the old French service. Several of these were put into a small bag, and deposited in the hands of the major of the regiment, out of which they were regularly drawn by the sergeants of companies, for the officers belonging to them. The hours and half hours were engraved on each maron. These pieces were numbered one, two, etc., to correspond with the several periods of the night; so that the officer, for instance, who was to go to the 10 o’clock rounds, had as many marons marked ten as there were posts or guard-houses which he was directed to visit. Thus on reaching the first, after having given the _mot_, or watch-word, to the corporal, he delivers into his hands the maron marked one. These marons being pierced in the middle are successively strung by the different corporals upon a piece of wire, from which they slide into a box called _boite aux rondes_, or box belonging to the rounds. This box is carried next morning to the major, who keeps the key; and who on opening it can easily ascertain whether the rounds have been regularly gone by counting the different marons, and seeing them successively strung.

=Maroons.= A name given to runaway negroes in Jamaica. When the island was conquered from the Spaniards a number of their negroes fled to the hills and became very troublesome to the colonists. A war of eight years’ duration ensued, when the Maroons capitulated on being permitted to retain their free settlements, about 1730. In 1795 they again took arms, but they were speedily suppressed.

=Marquee=, or =Markee=. An outer fly, or roof-cloth of a tent; also, a large field-tent.

=Marquis=, or =Marquess=. The degree of nobility which in the peerage of England ranks next to a duke. Marquises were originally commanders on the borders or frontiers of countries, or on the sea-coast, which they were bound to protect. In England, the title of marquis was used in this sense as early as the reign of Henry III., when there were marquises or lords-marchers of the borders of Scotland and Wales; and the foreign equivalent of _markgraf_ was common on the continent.

=Marrons.= In pyrotechny, are small paper shells filled with grained powder and primed with short pieces of quick-match. They form part of the _decorations_ of signal-rockets.

=Marrucini.= A brave and warlike people in Italy of the Sabellian race, occupying a narrow slip of country along the right bank of the river Atermus. Along with the Marsi, Peligni, and other Sabellian tribes, they fought against Rome; and, together with them, they submitted to the Romans, 304 B.C., and concluded a peace with the republic.

=Marsacii.= A people in Gallia Belgica, on one of the islands formed by the Rhine, which first became known to the Romans through the war with Civilis.

=Marsaglia.= Near Turin, in Italy. A battle took place here on September 24, 1693, in which Catinat defeated Prince Eugène and the Duke of Savoy. This battle and place are memorable for being the first at which bayonets were used at the ends of muskets, and to this the French owed the victory.

=Marsala= (Arab. _Marsa Alla_, “the port of God”). A maritime town of Sicily, in the province of Trapani, about 19 miles south-southwest of the port of Trapani. Marsala has recently acquired historic interest as the point where Garibaldi, eluding the vigilance of the Neapolitan fleet, landed with his heroic _thousand_, and began the romantic campaign which terminated the kingdom of the two Sicilies so ignominiously.

=Marseillaise.= The name by which the grand song of the first French revolution is known. The circumstances which led to its composition are as follows. In the beginning of 1792, when a column of volunteers was about to leave Strasburg, the mayor of the city, who gave a banquet on the occasion, asked an officer of artillery, named Rouget de Lisle, to compose a song in their honor. His request was complied with, and the result was the Marseillaise,--both verse and music being the work of one night. De Lisle entitled the piece “_Chant de Guerre de l’Armée du Rhin_.” Next day it was sung with that rapturous enthusiasm that only Frenchmen can exhibit, and instead of 600 volunteers, 1000 marched out of Strasburg. Soon from the whole army of the North resounded the thrilling and fiery words, _Aux armes! Aux armes!_ Nevertheless, the song was still unknown in Paris, and was first introduced there by Barbaroux, when he summoned the youth of Marseilles to the capital in July, 1792. It was received with transports by the Parisians, who--ignorant of its real authorship--named it “_Hymne des Marseillais_,” which name it has borne ever since.

=Marseilles= (anc. _Massilia_). A city in the south of France, the capital of the department of the Mouths-of-the-Rhone, situated on the Mediterranean Sea. It was founded by the Phocæans about 600 B.C.; was an ally of Rome, 218 B.C.; taken by Julius Cæsar after a long siege, 49 B.C.; by Euric the Visigoth, 470; sacked by the Saracens, 839; united to the crown of France, 1482. Marseilles opposed the revolutionary government, and was reduced August 23, 1793.

=Marshal= (Fr. _maréchal_). A term which originally meant a groom or manager of the horse, though eventually the king’s marshal became one of the principal officers of state in England. The royal farrier rose in dignity with the increasing importance of the _chevalerie_, till he became conjointly with the constable the judge in the _Curiæ Martiales_, or courts of chivalry. When the king headed his army in feudal times, the assembled troops were inspected by the constable and marshal, who fixed the spot for the encampment of each noble, and examined the number, arms, and condition of his retainers. With these duties was naturally combined the regulation of all matters connected with armorial bearing standards, and ensigns. The constable’s functions were virtually abolished in the time of Henry VIII., and the marshal became thenceforth the sole judge in questions of honor and arms. (See EARL MARSHAL.) In France, the highest military officer is called a marshal, a dignity which originated early in the 13th century. There was at first only one _maréchal de France_, and there were but two till the time of James I. Their number afterwards became unlimited. Originally, the marshal was the esquire of the king, and commanded the vanguard in war; in later times, the command became supreme, and the rank of the highest military importance. See FIELD-MARSHAL.

=Marshal.= To dispose in order; to arrange in a suitable manner; as, to marshal troops or an army.

=Marshal of Scotland, Earl.= An officer who had command of the cavalry under the constable. This office was held by the family of Keith, but forfeited by rebellion in 1715.

=Marshal, Provost-.= See PROVOST-MARSHAL.

=Marshaler= (written also _marshaller_). One who marshals.

=Marshaling of Arms.= In heraldry, is the combining of different coats of arms in one escutcheon, for the purpose of indicating family alliance or office.

=Marsi.= A brave people of Southern Italy, who, after several contests, yielded to the Romans about 301 B.C. During the civil wars they and their allies rebelled, having demanded and been refused the rights of Roman citizenship, 91 B.C. After many successes and reverses, they sued for and obtained peace and the rights they required, 87 B.C. The Marsi being _Socii_ of the Romans, this was called the Social war.

=Marsilly Carriage.= A naval gun-carriage having but one set of trucks, one of the transoms resting directly on the deck. It is used in the U. S. navy for mounting the 9-inch Dahlgren in broadside.

=Marston Moor.= Near the city of York, England. The Scots and Parliamentary army were besieging York, when Prince Rupert, joined by the Marquis of Newcastle, determined to raise the siege. Both sides drew up on Marston Moor, July 2, 1644, and the contest was long undecided. Rupert, commanding the right wing of the royalists, was opposed by Oliver Cromwell, at the head of troops disciplined by himself. Cromwell was victorious; he drove his opponents off the field, followed the vanquished, returned to a second engagement and a second victory. The prince’s artillery was taken and the royalists never recovered the blow.

=Marta=, or =Martha Santa=. A town of New Granada, South America, capital of a province of the same name in the department of Magdalena. It was repeatedly sacked by pirates during the 16th and 17th centuries; and in 1672 was completely pillaged by a French and an English vessel. It suffered much from the attacks of the Indians during the revolutionary war, and does not appear to have regained its former importance.

=Marteau d’Armes= (_Fr._). An offensive weapon, so called from its resemblance to a hammer.

=Martel-de-fer.= A hammer and pick conjoined, used by horse-soldiers in the Middle Ages to break and destroy armor.

=Martello Towers.= Are round towers for coast defense, about 40 feet high, built most solidly, and situated on the beach. They occur in several places round the coast of Great Britain; but principally opposite to the French coast, along the southern shore of Kent and Sussex, where, for many miles, they are within easy range of each other. They were mostly erected during the French war, as a defense against invasion. Each had walls of 5¹⁄₂ feet thickness and was supposed to be bomb-proof. The base formed the magazine; above were two rooms for the garrison, and over the upper of these the flat roof, with a 4¹⁄₂ feet brick parapet all round. On this roof a heavy swivel-gun was to be placed to command shipping, while howitzers on each side were to form a flanking defense in connection with the neighboring towers. Although the cost of these little forts was very great, they are generally considered to have been a failure. The name is said to be taken from Italian towers built near the sea, during the period when piracy was common in the Mediterranean, for the purpose of keeping watch and giving warning if a pirate-ship was seen approaching. This warning was given by striking on a bell with a hammer (Ital. _martello_), and hence these towers were called _tarri da martello_.

=Martial.= Pertaining to war; suited to war; military, as, martial music; a martial appearance; given to war; warlike; brave, as, a martial nation or people; belonging to war, or to an army and navy; opposed to civil; as, martial law; a court-martial.

=Martial Law.= An arbitrary law, proceeding directly from the military power, and having no immediate constitutional or legislative sanction. When it is imposed upon any specified district, all the inhabitants, and all their actions, are brought within its dominion. It is founded on paramount necessity, extends to matters of civil as well as of criminal jurisdiction, and is proclaimed only in times of war, insurrection, rebellion, or other great emergency. It is so far distinct from military law, which affects only the troops and forces. Martial law may, in fact, be termed a subjection to the Articles of War. In a hostile country it consists in the suspension, by the occupying military authority, of the civil and criminal law, and of the domestic administration and government in the occupied place or territory, and in the substitution of military rule and force for the same, as well as in the dictation of general laws, as far as military necessity requires this suspension, substitution, or dictation, and is simply military authority exercised in accordance with the laws and usages of war. Military oppression is not martial law, it is the abuse of the power which that law confers. As martial law is executed by military force, it is incumbent upon those who administer it to be strictly guided by the principles of justice, honor, and humanity,--virtues adorning a soldier even more than other men, for the very reason that he possesses the power or his arms against the unarmed. Martial law affects chiefly the police and collection of public revenue and taxes, whether imposed by the expelled government or by the invader, and refers mainly to the support and efficiency of the army, its safety, and the safety of its operations.

=Martialize.= To render warlike; as, to martialize a people.

=Martinet= (so called from an officer of that name in the French army under Louis XIV.). A strict disciplinarian; one who lays stress on the rigid adherence to the details of discipline, or to forms and fixed methods.

=Martinetism.= Rigid adherence to discipline.

=Martini-Henry Rifle.= See SMALL-ARMS.

=Martinique.= An island in the West Indies, the most northern and one of the largest of the Windward group. It was taken from the French by the British in February, 1762; restored to France at the peace of the following year; again taken March 16, 1794; restored at the peace of Amiens in 1802; and was again captured February 23, 1809. It reverted to its French masters in 1815.

=Martin’s Shell.= A hollow spherical projectile lined with loam and filled with molten iron,--used for incendiary purposes.

=Martlet.= In heraldry, a bird resembling a swallow, with long wings, very short beak and thighs, and no visible legs, borne on the shield as a mark of cadency by the fourth son.

=Maryland.= One of the thirteen original States of the United States, and one of the Central Atlantic States. Maryland was first settled in 1631, by a party from Virginia, and in 1632 by a colony of Roman Catholic gentry from England, under a grant to the second Lord Baltimore, when it received its present name in honor of the English queen, Henrietta Maria. From 1642 to 1645 the Virginian and English colonies were at perpetual warfare, and the governor of the English colony, Philip Calvert, was obliged to leave, but in 1646 he returned, the rebellion having ended. Maryland took a prominent part in the two French wars, the Revolution, and the war of 1812-14, when it was twice invaded by the British, who were gallantly repulsed from North Point, near Baltimore, September 13, 1814, although they had gained a temporary triumph a few weeks before at Bladensburg. In the war of 1861-66, its sympathies were with the South, and the first blood of the war was shed in Baltimore, several Massachusetts volunteers having been killed on their way to Washington. The State was the scene of several battles during the civil war, and suffered greatly from the contending armies. Maryland was organized as a State in 1776.

=Masada.= A fortress on the shore of the Dead Sea, built by Jonathan Maccabæus, and afterwards greatly strengthened by Herod, as a place of refuge for himself. It fell into the hands of the Romans after the capture of Jerusalem, the garrison having devoted themselves to self-destruction.

=Mascara.= A town of Algeria, 48 miles southeast from Oran. The town was taken and nearly destroyed by the French in 1835, and occupied a second time by Gen. Bugeaud in 1841, since which time a garrison of French troops has been constantly maintained there.

=Mascat=, or =Muscat=. A large seaport of Arabia, standing on a peninsula on the northeast coast of the province of Oman. In 1507 it was taken by Albuquerque. For nearly 150 years after, it continued in the possession of the Portuguese. About the year 1648, however, it was retaken by the natives, who have ever since retained it.

=Mascled Armor.= A kind of armor sometimes worn by the Norman soldiers, composed of small lozenge-shaped plates of metal fastened on a leathern or quilted under-coat.

=Mascoutins.= A tribe of Indians of Algonkin stock, who formerly inhabited the region of the Upper Lakes. They afterwards moved to the Wisconsin River, and subsequently settled on the Ohio. In 1765 they fought against Col. Croghan on the Wabash River, and attacked Col. Clarke in 1777. Their name is now lost among the numerous petty tribes that reside in Kansas.

=Mask.= A military expression used in several senses. A _masked battery_ is one so constructed with grassy glacis, etc., as to be hidden from the view of the enemy, until, to his surprise, it suddenly opens fire upon him,--on his flank, perhaps. The fire of a battery is masked when some other work, or body of friendly troops, intervenes in the line of fire, and precludes the use of the guns. A fortress or an army is masked when a superior force of the enemy holds it in check, while some hostile evolution is being carried out.

=Mask.= A wire cage to protect the face in fencing.

=Mask Wall.= In permanent fortification, is the scarp wall of casemates.

=Mason and Dixon’s Line.= The line which divides Pennsylvania from Maryland, running on the parallel of 39° 43′ 26″. The boundary between the colonial possessions of the lords Baltimore and of the Penn family had been a subject of almost continual dispute from the first settlement of the country. At length, in 1760, the contending parties having agreed upon a compromise, appointed commissioners to settle definitively the limits between the two territories. Surveyors were employed by both sides, but their progress appeared rather slow; the proprietors who resided in England decided to send Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, two distinguished mathematicians and astronomers, to complete the work. They arrived in Philadelphia in November, 1763, and by the autumn of 1767 had carefully surveyed and marked a line of nearly 250 miles, extending for the most part through a dense forest and passing over a number of mountain ridges. This line, dividing as it does the free State of Pennsylvania from Maryland, which was formerly a slave State, has been often referred to, in popular language, as the boundary between freedom and slavery in the United States.

=Mass.= In _statics_, is the amount of matter contained in a body. In _dynamics_, is that measure of the matter in a body which determines its relation to force. The accepted measure is the weight divided by the force of gravity. See FORCE OF GRAVITY.

=Mass.= A word signifying the concentration of troops; the formation of troops in column at less than half distance. To _mass troops_, is to concentrate them by this arrangement on a certain point. A column _is closed in mass_ when the sub-divisions have less than half distance.

=Massachusetts.= One of the thirteen original States of the American Union, and oldest of the New England States. It was discovered by the Cabots in 1497. In 1614 it was visited by Capt. John Smith. In 1620 the “Mayflower” sailed from Southampton with 102 Puritan settlers, and landed at Plymouth December 22. One half of them died from cold and hardship the first year. In 1637, the colony suffered from Indian massacres; and in King Philip’s war (1675) 12 towns and 600 houses were burned. The war of the Revolution of 1776 began in Massachusetts with the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill. It adopted the Constitution of the United States, 1788.

=Massachusetts Indians.= A general name given to all the tribes of aborigines inhabiting the country in which the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay were founded. The five principal tribes were the Nausets, Pokanokets, or Wampanoags, Massachusetts, Pennacooks, and Nipmucks. They were nearly all exterminated in King Philip’s war (1675). At present about 1500 Indians reside in Massachusetts.

=Massacre.= The killing of human beings by indiscriminate slaughter, murder of numbers with cruelty or atrocity, or contrary to the usages of civilized people; cold-blooded destruction of life; butchery; carnage. The following are among the most remarkable:

_Before Christ._--Of all the Carthaginians in Sicily, 397; 2000 Tyrians crucified and 8000 put to the sword for not surrendering Tyre to Alexander, 331; 2000 Capuans, friends of Hannibal, by Gracchus, 211; dreadful slaughter of the Teutones and Ambrones near Aix, by Marius, the Roman general, 200,000 being left dead on the spot, 102; the Romans throughout Asia, women and children not excepted, massacred in one day, by order of Mithridates, king of Pontus, 88; great number of Roman senators massacred by Cinna, Marius, and Sertorius, 87; again, under Sylla and Catiline, his minister of vengeance, 82; at Perusia, Octavianus Cæsar ordered 300 Roman senators and other persons of distinction to be sacrificed to the manes of Julius Cæsar, 40.

_After Christ._--At the destruction of Jerusalem 1,100,000 Jews are said to have been put to the sword, 70; the Jews, headed by one Andræ, put to death many Greeks and Romans in and near Cyrene, 115; Cassius, a Roman general under the emperor M. Aurelius, put to death 300,000 of the inhabitants of Seleucia, 165; at Alexandria, many thousands of citizens were massacred by order of Antoninus, 215; the emperor Probus is said to have put to death 400,000 of the barbarian invaders of Gaul, 277; massacre of the Gothic hostages by Valens, 378; of Thessalonica, when 7000 persons invited into the circus were put to the sword by order of Theodosius, 390; of the circus factions at Constantinople, 532; massacre of the Latins at Constantinople by order of Andronicus, 1184; of the Albigenses and Waldenses, commenced at Toulouse, 1208; thousands perished by the sword and gibbet of the French in Sicily, 1282 (see SICILIAN VESPERS); at Paris, of the Armagnacs, at the instance of John, duke of Burgundy, 1418; of the Swedish nobility at a feast, by order of Christian II., 1520; of Protestants at Vassy, March 1, 1562; of 70,000 Huguenots, or French Protestants, in France, August 24, 1572 (see BARTHOLOMEW, ST.); of the Christians in Croatia by the Turks, when 65,000 were slain, 1592; of the pretender Demetrius and his Polish adherents, May 27, 1606; of the Protestants in the Valteline, Northern Italy, July 19, 1620; of the Protestants at Thorn, put to death under a pretended legal sentence of the chancellor of Poland for being concerned in a tumult occasioned by a Roman Catholic procession, 1724; all the Protestant powers in Europe interceded to have this unjust sentence revoked, but unavailingly; at Batavia, 12,000 Chinese were massacred by the natives, October, 1740, under the pretext of an intended insurrection; at the taking of Ismail by the Russians, 30,000 old and young were slain, December, 1790; of French royalists (see SEPTEMBRIZERS), September 2, 1792; of Poles at Praga, 1794; in St. Domingo, where Dessalines made proclamation for the massacre of all the whites, March 29, 1804, and many thousands perished; insurrection at Madrid, and massacre of the French, May 2, 1808; massacre of the Mamelukes in the citadel of Cairo, March 1, 1811; massacre of Protestants at Nismes, perpetrated by the Catholics, May, 1815; massacre at Scio, April 22, 1822; destruction of the Janissaries at Constantinople, June 14, 1826; above 500 Kabyles suffocated in a cave in Algeria, June 18, 1845 (see DAHRA); massacre of Christians at Aleppo, October 16, 1850; of Maronites by Druses in Lebanon, June, 1860; and of Christians at Damascus, July 9-11, 1860. See DRUSES and DAMASCUS.

_In British History._--Of 300 English nobles on Salisbury Plain by Hengist, about 450; of the monks of Bangor, to the number of 1200, by Ethelfrid, king of Bernicia, 607 or 612; of the Danes in the southern counties of England in the night of November 13, 1002, and the 23d, by Ethelred II. At London it was most bloody, the churches being no sanctuary. Among the rest was Gunilda, sister of Swein, king of Denmark, left in hostage for the performance of a treaty but newly concluded. Of the Jews in England; some few pressing into Westminster Hall at Richard I.’s coronation, were put to death by the people, and a false alarm being given that the king had ordered a general massacre of them, the people in many parts of England slew all they met. In York, 500 who had taken shelter in the castle killed themselves rather than fall into the hands of the multitude, 1189. Of the Bristol colonists, at Cullen’s Wood, Ireland (see CULLEN’S WOOD), 1209; of the English factory at Amboyna, in order to dispossess its members of the Spice Islands, February, 1624; massacre of the Protestants in Ireland, in O’Neill’s rebellion, October 23, 1641. Upwards of 30,000 British were killed in the commencement of this rebellion. In the first three or four days of it, 40,000 or 50,000 of the Protestants were destroyed. Before the rebellion was entirely suppressed, 154,000 Protestants were massacred; of the Macdonalds of Glencoe (see GLENCOE), February 13, 1692; of 184 men, women, and children, chiefly Protestants, burnt, shot, or pierced to death by pikes, perpetrated by the insurgent Irish, at the barn of Scullabogue, Ireland, in 1798; of Europeans at Meerut, Delhi, etc., by mutineers of the native Indian army, May and June, 1857; of Europeans at Kalangan, on the south coast of Borneo, May 1, 1859; of the Europeans at Morant Bay, Jamaica, by the infuriated negroes, October 11-12, 1865. See JAMAICA.

_In American History._--Massacre of about 900 French Protestants (soldiers, women, children, the aged and sick) in Florida, by the Spaniards under Melendez de Aviles, on September 21, 1565; of about 347 English on March 22, 1622, and of 300 English on April 18, 1644, by Indians in Virginia; of about 100 Algonkin Indians, in the neighborhood of Manhattan, by the Dutch, on February 25-26, 1643; of 200 people at La Chine, Isle of Montreal, by Iroquois, August 25, 1689; of a large number of the inhabitants at Haverhill, Mass., by the French under Des Chaillons and Hertel de Rouville, assisted by 100 picked Canadians and a number of Algonkin Indians, August 29, 1708; of the English at Pocotaligo, Carolina, by the Yamassees and their confederates, on April 15, 1715; of a colony of French, in the southwest, near the banks of the Mississippi, by the Natchez Indians, November 28, 1729; of about 30 English soldiers, by Indians, allies of the French, after the capitulation of Fort William Henry, August 19, 1757; of some 300 settlers, chiefly boys and old men, by British soldiers, Seneca Indians, and Tories, in Wyoming Valley, Pa., on June 30, 1778 (see WYOMING VALLEY); of a party of emigrants, by Indians in Mountain Meadows, Utah, 1857; of about 1000 settlers in Western Minnesota, by Sioux Indians in 1862; of the garrison of Fort Pillow, Tenn., by the Confederates, April 13, 1864; of part of the garrison of Fort Phil Kearney (near the fort), by Indians, December, 1866; of five companies of the 7th U. S. Cavalry under Gen. Custer, by Sioux Indians, June 25, 1876.

=Massacrer.= One who massacres.

=Massagetæ.= An ancient Scythian people (probably the ancestors of the Goths), who invaded Asia about 635. In a conflict with them Cyrus the Great was killed, 529 B.C.

=Massa-Lubrenze=, or =Massa-de-Sorrento=. A town of Naples, on the gulf of the same name, 19 miles south of the city of Naples. It was sacked by the Turks in 1558.

=Masse= (_Fr._). A species of stock-purse, which, during the French monarchy, was lodged in the hands of the regimental treasurer or paymaster, for every sergeant, corporal, drummer, and soldier. The amount retained for each sergeant was _vingt deniers_ per day, and _dix deniers_ for each of the other ranks, according to the establishment, not the effective number of each battalion. Out of these stoppages a settled and regular _masse_, or stock-purse, was made up, and at the end of every month it was paid into the hands of the major or officer intrusted with the interior management of the corps, and was then appropriated to defray the expense of clothing the different regiments, and lodged in the hands of the directors or inspector-general of clothing.

=Masse d’Armes= (_Fr._). A warlike weapon, which was formerly used. It consisted of a long pole with a large iron head.

=Masselotte= (_Fr._). A French term which is used in foundery, signifying that superfluous metal which remains after a cannon or mortar has been cast, and which is saved or filed off, to give the piece its proper form.

=Massie= (_Fr._). A short stick or rod, used by artificers in making cartridges.

=Master, Baggage-.= An inspector of roads, formerly an appointment in the British service.

=Master, Barrack-.= See BARRACK-MASTER.

=Master-General.= See ORDNANCE BOARD.

=Master-General, Barrack-.= Formerly an officer with the rank of major-general, in the British service, who was vested with considerable powers. His duties consisted in keeping all barracks in repair, and all supplies of barrack furniture, utensils, and other stores for the troops, were furnished by him, as also a proper quantity of good and sufficient firing, candles, and other stores. He also supplied forage to the cavalry.

=Master-General, Scout-.= See SCOUT-MASTER-GENERAL.

=Master-Gunners.= In the British service are pensioned sergeants of artillery, who are placed in charge of the stores in small towers or forts; they are divided into three classes, of which those in the first class receive 5 shillings, in the second, 3 shillings and 6 pence, and in the third, 3 shillings per day. They are now borne in the Coast Brigade of Royal Artillery, but the office has much degenerated in importance since it was first created, at least as early as the time of Henry VIII.

=Mastery.= Victory in war.

=Matafunda.= An ancient machine of war, which was used for throwing stones, probably by means of a sling.

=Matagorda.= A small fort and military post in the south of Spain, contiguous to Cadiz. On February 22, 1810, Capt. (afterwards Lieut.-Gen. Sir Archibald) Maclaine was posted here with a force of about 140 men. The French cannonaded the work with field artillery all the next day; but the garrison were immovable. On March 21, the fire of 48 guns and mortars was directed on the little fort for thirty hours; when 64 men out of the 140 having fallen, Gen. Graham sent boats to carry off the survivors, and the fort was surrendered.

=Matan.= One of the Philippine Islands, lying to the east of Zebu, where Magellan was killed in a skirmish with the natives in 1520.

=Matarieh.= A village of Lower Egypt, in the province of Ghizeh, which stands on the site of the ancient Heliopolis, 5 miles northeast from Cairo. The Turks were defeated here by the French in 1800.

=Match.= A preparation invented to retain fire for the service of artillery, mines, fireworks, etc. For different kinds in use and their composition, see LABORATORY STORES.

=Match.= A bringing together of two parties suited to one another, as for a trial of skill or force, a contest, or the like; as, specifically, a contest to try strength or skill; an emulous struggle.

=Matchlock.= The lock of a musket containing a match for firing it; hence, a musket fired by means of a match.

=Mate-griffon.= An ancient machine, the destroyer and terror of the Greeks, which projected both stones and darts.

=Matériel.= All cannon, small-arms, carriages, implements, ammunition, etc., necessary for war purposes, used in contradistinction to _personnel_. See PERSONNEL.

=Mathematics.= That science, or class of sciences, which treats of the exact relations existing between the quantities or magnitudes, and of the methods by which, in accordance with these relations, quantities sought are deducible from other quantities known or supposed. It is usually divided into _pure_, which considers magnitude or quantity abstractly, without relation to matter; and _mixed_, which treats of magnitude as subsisting in material bodies, and is consequently interwoven with physical considerations; and to this branch may be referred astronomy, geography, hydrography, hydrostatics, mechanics, fortification, gunnery, mining, and engineering. The knowledge of military mathematics is applicable to all the operations of war, where everything consists in proportion, measure, and motion, bringing into play the several important sciences already enumerated, a certain proficiency in most of which is absolutely requisite to the formation of a good and skillful officer.

=Matras= (_Fr._). A sort of dart which was anciently used, and which was not sufficiently pointed to occasion anything more than a bruise.

=Matron.= A woman, generally the wife of some well-behaved and good soldier, who is employed to assist in the hospital, do the washing, etc., and is under the direction of the surgeon, by whom she is originally appointed to the situation.

=Matrosses.= Were soldiers in the royal regiment of artillery in the British service, who assisted the gunners in loading, firing, and sponging the great guns. The term is now obsolete in the service, and the duty is done by the gunners.

=Matter.= That with regard to which anything takes place,--the subject of action, complaint, discussion, legal action, or the like. A word used in reference to courts-martial. The specific charges which are brought against a prisoner, and to which the court must strictly confine itself. Also applied to the evidence before a legal tribunal. _New matter_ is new evidence not before considered.

=Mattiaci.= A people in Germany, who dwelt on the eastern bank of the Rhine, between the Main and the Lahn, and were a branch of the Chatti. They were subdued by the Romans, who, in the reign of Claudius, had fortresses and silver mines in their country. After the death of Nero they revolted against the Romans, and took part with the Chatti and other German tribes in the siege of Moguntiacum. From this time they disappear from history; and their country was subsequently inhabited by the Alemanni.

=Mattock.= A pioneer tool, resembling a pickaxe, but having two broad sharp edges instead of points.

=Mattress.= A quilted bed; a bed stuffed with hair, moss, or other soft material, and quilted. Mattresses are much used by officers on campaigns.

=Mattucashlash.= An ancient Scotch weapon sometimes called armpit dagger, which was worn under the armpit, ready to be used on coming to close quarters. This, with a broad sword and shield, completely armed the Highlanders.

=Maubenge.= A town of France, in the department of Nord, situated on the Sambre, not far from the frontiers of Belgium. The town is well fortified, the defenses being by the famous Vauban. The town traces its origin back to the 7th century, and being situated near the frontier, has been an object of great contention. It has been taken no less than ten times since the 15th century, and finally by the allies in 1815.

=Maul.= A heavy beater, or hammer, usually shod with iron, used in driving piles, etc.

=Mauritania=, or =Mauretania=. The ancient name of the northwestern part of Africa, corresponding in its limits to the present sultanate of Morocco and the western portion of Algeria. It derived its name from its inhabitants, the Mauri (Moors). The country was conquered by the Romans, who founded many colonies in it, and in 49 B.C. Julius Cæsar appointed Bogudes and Bocchoris joint kings of Mauritania. In 429 the Vandal king Genseric, at the invitation of Count Boniface, crossed the Straits of Gades, and Mauritania, with other African provinces, fell into the hands of the barbarian conquerors. Belisarius destroyed the kingdom of the Vandals, and Mauritania again became a Roman province under an Eastern exarch. In 698, when the Arabs made the final conquest of Africa, the Moors adopted the religion, name, and origin of their conquerors, and sunk back into their more congenial state of Mohammedan savages.

=Mauritius=, or =The Isle of France=. An island in the Indian Ocean, lying about 500 miles east from Madagascar, and forming a colony of Great Britain. This island was discovered by the Portuguese in 1505, and in 1598 it was taken by the Dutch. In 1810 it came into the possession of the English.

=Mauser Gun.= Is the army service breech-loading rifle used since 1874 by the German infantry. It was invented in 1871, and derives its name from Mauser, a gunsmith of Würtemberg, who modified and greatly improved it. Its advantages over the needle-gun, the weapon used in the Franco-German war, are numerous. It is lighter, weighing about two pounds less, and carrying a heavier charge of powder and a lighter ball, is of longer range, being effective at 1300 yards; the manner of loading it is simpler, and it can be fired with greater rapidity.

=Maximum Charge.= See CHARGE.

=Maya.= A gorge in the Pyrenees, between Bidassoa and Nivelle, the scene of an action in July, 1813, in which the French were worsted by the English, under Gen. Stewart.

=Mayaguez.= A town and port of the island of Porto Rico. An adventurer named Ducondray took this town in 1822, and made an attempt to establish an independent republic.

=Maynard’s Primer.= Consisted of a coil of paper tape containing small charges of percussion-powder placed at certain intervals. The coil was placed in a circular cavity on the outside of the lock-plate. The cocking of the piece, by unwinding the coil, brought successive charges over the nipple, when they were exploded by the fall of the hammer.

=Maynard’s Rifle.= One of the first, if not the first rifle in which a metallic cartridge was used. It was described in an official report to the U. S. Chief of Ordnance in 1856. This, as well as the _primer_ mentioned above, was the invention of Dr. E. Maynard. This rifle in improved form is still in the market.

=Meal Powder.= See GUNPOWDER.

=Measure.= To compute or ascertain the extent, quantity, dimensions, or capacity of, by a certain rule or standard.

=Measure of Velocity.= In projectiles and mechanics, is the space passed over by a moving body in any given time. The space therefore must be divided into as many equal parts as the time is conceived to be divided into: the quantity of space answering to such portion of time is the measure of the velocity.

=Measures.= For powder are cylindrical copper vessels of various sizes for determining the charges of shells, cannon, etc.

=Meaux.= A town of France, in the department of the Seine-et-Marne, 23 miles northeast from Paris. After a siege of several months, this place was taken by the English in 1520.

=Mecca.= A city of Arabia, capital of the province of Hejaz, and of the district Belud-el-Haram. This was the birthplace of Mohammed, and the cradle of the Mussulman creed. In 1804 and 1807, it was taken by the Wahabees, and in 1818, by Ibrahim Pasha.

=Mechanical Manœuvres.= The application of the mechanical powers in mounting, dismounting, shifting, and transporting artillery.

=Mechanical Powers.= Certain simple machines, such us the lever and its modifications, the wheel and axle, the pulley, the inclined plane with its modifications, the screw, and the wedge, which convert a small force

## acting through a great space into a great force acting through a small

space, or _vice versa_, and are used separately or in combination.

=Mechanics.= That science, or branch of applied mathematics, which treats of motion, and develops the effects of powers or moving forces, so far as they are applied to machines.

=Mechanicsville.= In Henrico Co., Va. Near here, on the left bank of the Chickahominy, on the east side of Beaver Dam Creek, a battle was fought on June 26, 1862, between the Confederate forces, under Gen. Lee, and the Federal troops, under Gen. McClellan, in which the former were compelled to retreat with great loss. The fight was mainly sustained on the Federal side by the brigades of Gens. Reynolds and Seymour, and lasted about seven hours, during the greater part of which time the Federal artillery kept up a destructive fire on the enemy as they essayed to charge the lines, each successive attempt only ending in renewed disaster. Their loss was said to be about 3000, while that of the Federals did not exceed 300.

=Mechlin=, or =Malines=. A town of Belgium, in the province of Antwerp, situated on the Dyle. It was founded in the 6th century; destroyed by the Normans in 884; sacked by the Spaniards, 1572; taken by the Prince of Orange, 1578, and by the English, 1580; frequently captured in the 17th and 18th centuries, partaking in the evil fortunes of the country.

=Mecklenburg.= Formerly a principality in Lower Saxony, now independent as the two grand duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The house of Mecklenburg claims to be descended from Genseric the Vandal, who ravaged the Western empire in the 5th century, and died, 477. During the Thirty Years’ War, Mecklenburg was conquered by Wallenstein, who became its duke, 1628; it was restored to its own duke, 1630. After several changes, the government was settled in 1701 as it now exists in the two branches of Schwerin and Strelitz. In 1815 the dukes were made grand dukes, and they joined the new North German Confederation by treaty, August 21, 1866.

=Medal.= Is a piece of metal in the form of a coin, struck to commemorate some remarkable event, or in honor of some distinguished person, but having no place in the currency. Medals belong to two periods, ancient and modern, separated by a wide interval. To the former belong those pieces issued in ancient Rome, known as _medallions_, and made of gold, silver, or copper. They are generally supposed to have been struck on occasions similar to those on which medals are coined in modern times, on the accession of an emperor, on the achievement of an important victory, or as specimens of workmanship. Modern medals date from the 14th century, but few were struck prior to the 15th. In more recent times, it has become customary to confer medals as marks of distinction for eminent worth or noble conduct, but more particularly for naval or military services. Such medals of honor are seldom of great intrinsic value, their worth depending on the associations connected with them. During the Revolutionary war Congress conferred these marks of honor on several military and naval heroes, who distinguished themselves by their valor or achievements during that eventful period. In the U. S. service, at present, bronze medals of honor are conferred on enlisted men in the army, navy, and marine corps for gallantry in action, or extraordinary heroism in the line of their duties. In the English military service, similar medals are granted. They are generally of silver, and have ribbons attached, with clasps or small bars, each of which bears the name of a particular engagement. Good-service medals of silver are also distributed among meritorious soldiers, sailors, and marines.

=Medals of Honor.= See MEDALS.

=Medeah=, or =Medeyah=. A fortified town of Algeria, 40 miles southwest from Algiers. This town was taken by the French in 1820.

=Media.= In ancient times, the name of the northwestern part of Iran, which was bounded by the Caspian Sea on the north, Persia on the south, Parthia on the east, and Assyria on the west. The Medians were in language, religion, and manners very nearly allied to the Persians. After they had shaken off the yoke of the Assyrians, their tribes united about 708 B.C., chose Dejoces for their chief, and made Ecbatana their capital. His son Phraortes, or Arphaxad, subdued the Persians. Cyaxares, the son of Phraortes, in alliance with Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, overthrew the Assyrian empire about 604 B.C., spread the terror of his arms as far as Egypt and the farthest bounds of Asia Minor, and vanquished the brigand hordes of Scythia, who had carried their ravages as far as Syria. He was succeeded by his son Astyage, who was deposed (560 B.C.) by his own grandson Cyrus, king of Persia; and from this time the two nations are spoken of as one people. After the death of Alexander the Great (324 B.C.), the northwest portion of Media became a separate kingdom, and existed till the time of Augustus; the other portion, under the name of _Great Media_, forming a part of the Syrian monarchy. Media was on several occasions separated from Persia. In 152 B.C., Mithridates I. took Great Media from the Syrians, and annexed it to the Parthian empire, and about 36 B.C., it had a king of its own, named Artavasdes, against whom Mark Antony made war. Under the Sassanian dynasty, the whole of Media was united to Persia. It became, during the 14th and 15th centuries, the stronghold of the Turkoman tribes. In early times the Medes were a warlike race, and were distinguished for their skill with the bow. They were also celebrated for their horsemanship, and it was from them that the Persians adopted this and other favorite exercises and acquirements. In subsequent times, they appear to have become effeminated by luxury.

=Mediator.= Any state or power which interferes to adjust a quarrel between any two or more powers, is called a mediator.

=Medical Department.= This department of an army, next to the commissariat, is the most important of all the non-combatant sections. The surgical treatment of the wounded in actual fighting, and still more the combat with disease engendered by crowding, unhealthy stations, and the reckless habits of the soldiery, necessitate a large medical staff; for, on an average of the whole army, it is found that the rate of sickness is at least quadruple that for the civil population. In the British army every battalion, when at home or in the temperate zone, has a surgeon and an assistant-surgeon; when in India or the tropics, another assistant-surgeon is added. The medical department is governed by a director-general, who is a member of the War Office, and has charge of the surgical, medical, and sanitary arrangements of the army. In the United States every military post has at least one medical officer and sometimes two, as the nature of the climate or the strength of the command demands, all of whom are under the command of a surgeon-general, who ranks as brigadier-general, and is permanently established at Washington, D. C. He has full control over everything that pertains to the medical department of the army. Officers of the medical department are assistant-surgeons, with the rank of first lieutenants of cavalry the first five years of their service thereafter, till promoted to the grade of surgeon, when they receive the rank, pay, and emoluments of captain.

=Medical Director.= In the U. S. service, an officer who is placed on duty at the headquarters of a military geographical division or department, and who, under the supervision of the surgeon-general, has control of the medical department within the limits of the command in which he is serving.

=Medical School.= At Netley, England, an institution is established for the technical education of medical officers for the British and Indian military service. Candidates are examined competitively in the ordinary subjects of professional knowledge; and, passing satisfactorily through that ordeal, are then required to attend for six months at the Military Medical School. As the school is attached to the Royal Victoria Hospital, which is the great invalid depot for the whole army, the students have ample opportunity of seeing theory exemplified in practice.

=Medical Staff.= This branch of the British army is under the control of an experienced officer, stationed at headquarters, under the denomination of “director-general.” Immediately under his command are a number of inspectors-general, deputy inspectors-general, and a corps of staff-surgeons. The locality of all the officers subordinate to the director-general is determined by the force to which they may be attached. All the regimental surgeons and assistant-surgeons make their reports to and consult the staff-officer who is placed in their district. The director-general is paid from the civil department of the government. A deputy inspector-general of hospitals must have served five years at home, or three years abroad in this rank, before he shall be eligible to the highest rank of inspector-general.

The _medical board_ consists of three or four medical officers, who may be convened by an order through the Secretary of War, for the inspection of wounded officers, in order to secure them a provision for life, according to the regulations regarding pensions, etc.

=Medicine-chest.= Is composed of all sorts of medicines necessary for a campaign, together with such chirurgical instruments as are useful, fitted up in chests and portable. The army is supplied with these at the expense of the government.

=Medina.= Or more fully, Medinat Al Nabi (City of the Prophet), the holiest city throughout Mohammedanism next to Mecca, and second capital and stronghold of Hedjaz in Western Arabia. In this city Mohammed was protected when he fled from Mecca, September 13, 622, others say July 15, 622. (See HEGIRA.) Medina was taken by the Wahabees in 1804; retaken by the pasha of Egypt in 1818.

=Medina de Rio Seco.= A town of Spain, 25 miles northwest of Valladolid, on the Seguillo, an affluent of the Douro. Here Bessières defeated the Spaniards, July 15, 1808.

=Medjidie.= A Turkish order, instituted in 1852, and conferred after the Crimean campaign, to a considerable extent, on British officers. It has five classes; and the decoration, which differs in size for the different classes, is a silver sun of seven triple rays, with the device of the crescent and star alternating with the rays. On a circle of red enamel, in the centre of the decoration, is the legend in Turkish, whose signification is “zeal, honor, and loyalty,” and the date 1268, the Mohammedan year corresponding to 1852; the sultan’s name is inscribed on a gold field within this circle. The first three classes suspend the badge round the neck from a red ribbon having green borders, and the fourth and fifth classes wear it attached to a similar ribbon on the left breast. A star, in design closely resembling the badge, is worn on the left breast by the first class, and on the right breast by the second class.

=Meeanee=, or =Miyani=. A village in Sinde, Hindostan, on the Indus, 6 miles north of Hyderabad, is celebrated as the scene of a great battle between Sir Charles Napier and the ameers of Sinde, February 17, 1843. Sir Charles’s force, composed partly of Europeans, and partly of natives, amounted to only 2800 men; that of his foes to 22,000, yet the latter were totally routed, losing in killed and wounded 5000, while Sir Charles’s loss was only 256. The result of this victory was the conquest and annexation of Sinde.

=Meer Bukshy.= In the East Indies, a chief paymaster.

=Meer Tozuk.= In the East Indies, a marshal whose business is to preserve order in a procession or line of march, and to report absentees.

=Meerut=, =Merut=, or =Mirut=. The chief town of a district of the same name in British India, on the Kali Nuddi, about 42 miles northeast from Delhi. Here on May 10, 1857, the native troops revolted, shooting their own European officers, and massacring the European inmates without respect to age or sex.

=Megalopolis= (now _Sinano_, or _Sinanu_). The most recent, but the most important of the cities of Arcadia, was founded on the advice of Epaminondas, after the battle of Leuctra, 371 B.C., and was formed out of the inhabitants of 38 villages. It was situated near the frontiers of Messenia, on the river Helisson. It was for a time subject to the Macedonians, but soon after the death of Alexander the Great, it was governed by a series of native tyrants, the last of whom united the city to the Achæan League, 234 B.C. It became, in consequence, opposed to Sparta, and was taken by Cleomenes, who destroyed a great part of the city, 222. After the battle of Sellasia in the following year it was restored by Philopœmen.

=Megara.= An ancient city of Greece, capital of the territory Megaris, was situated 8 stadia (1 mile) from the sea, opposite the island of Salamis, about 26 miles from Athens and 31 miles from Corinth. In 461-445 B.C. the Athenians had possession of the country, but it subsequently became annexed to Attica, and Megaris formed one of the four ancient divisions of Attica. It was next conquered by the Dorians, and was for a time subject to Corinth; but it finally asserted its independence, and rapidly became a wealthy and powerful city. The government was originally an aristocracy, as in most of the Doric cities; but Theagenes, one of the common people, put himself at the head of the popular party, and obtained the supreme power about 620 B.C. Theagenes was afterward expelled, and a democratical form of government established. After the Persian wars, Megara was for some time at war with Corinth, and was thus led to form an alliance with Athens, and to receive an Athenian garrison in the city, 461; but they were expelled in 441. The city was taken and its walls destroyed by Demetrius Poliorcetes; it was again taken by the Romans under Q. Metellus; and in the time of Augustus it had ceased to be a place of importance.

=Meggheteriarque= (_Fr._). The commanding officer of a body of men; who formerly did duty at Constantinople, and were called _Heteriennes_, being composed of soldiers who were enlisted in the allied nations.

=Mehadpore=, =Mehidpoor=, =Mahedpore=, or =Maheidpoor=. A town of Hindostan, Gwalior dominions, 22 miles north of Odjein. Here Sir Thomas Hislop and Sir John Malcolm defeated the Mahrattas under Holkar, December 21, 1817.

=Meigs Gun.= See MAGAZINE GUNS.

=Melanippus.= The name of four Trojan warriors, who fought valiantly in the wars of their native country.

=Melazzo= (West Sicily). Here Garibaldi, on July 20-21, 1860, defeated the Neapolitans under Gen. Bosco, who lost about 600 men; Garibaldi’s loss being 167. The latter entered Messina; and on July 30 a convention was signed by which it was settled that the Neapolitan troops were to quit Sicily. They held the citadel of Messina till March 13, 1861.

=Mêlée= (_Fr._). A military term, which is used among the French to express the hurry and confusion of a battle. Mêlée corresponds with the English expression “thick of the fight.”

=Melegnano.= See MARIGNANO.

=Melfi.= A town of Naples, province of Basilicata (Potenza), 75 miles east-northeast of Naples, and 34 south of Foggia. It was formerly the capital of the Norman possessions in Southern Italy, and was defended by walls, now in a ruinous condition, and by an ancient Norman castle. The town was taken, and 18,000 of its inhabitants massacred by the French, under Lautrec de Foix, in 1528.

=Meloria=, or =Melora=. A small island in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Tuscany, 4 miles west of Leghorn. Near Meloria the Pisan fleet defeated the Genoese in 1241, capturing many bishops going with much treasure to a council. The total destruction of the Pisan fleet on August 6, 1284, by the Genoese near the same place, after a most sanguinary conflict, was considered to be the just punishment of impiety.

=Melos= (now _Milo_). One of the Cyclades in the Ægean Sea, colonized by the Spartans about 1116 B.C.; it was captured during the Peloponnesian war, after a seven months’ siege, by the Athenians, who massacred all the men and sold the women and children as slaves, 416 B.C.

=Melrose.= A village at the foot of the Eildon Hills, on the south bank of the Tweed. It is famous for the ruins of its noble abbey founded by King David I. in 1136, its original pile having been destroyed during the Wars of the Succession. Melrose was burned by Kenneth, king of Scots, in 839.

=Melton-Mowbray.= A town of England, in Leicestershire, situated at the confluence of the Wreak and Eye. It is remarkable as the scene of a defeat of the Parliamentary troops by the royalists in 1644.

=Melun.= An ancient town of France, capital of the department of Seine-et-Marne, 28 miles southeast from Paris. It was the _Melodunum_ of the Romans; was taken by Clovis in 494; was stormed five times during the 9th century by the Northmen, and fell into the hands of the English after a siege of six months in 1419, and was held by them for ten years.

=Members.= Officers are so called who are detailed by orders to sit on general or garrison courts-martial.

=Members, Supernumerary.= In case supernumerary members are detailed for a court-martial, they are sworn, and it is right that they should sit and be present at all deliberations even when the court is cleared, in order to be prepared to take the place of any absent member. Until then they have no voice.

=Memel.= A town and seaport of East Prussia, on the small river Dange, adjacent to the Cürische Haff, 74 miles northeast from Königsberg. It is strongly fortified. It was taken by Teutonic knights about 1328.

=Memmingen.= A town of Bavaria, circle of Swabia, situated on a tributary of the Iller. It is noted as the scene of a victory gained by the French under Moreau over the Austrians, May 10, 1800.

=Memoir.= Is the title given by military officers to those plans which they offer to their government or commanders on subjects relating to war or military economy.

=Memoirs.= In military literature, a species of history, written by persons who had some share in the transactions they relate, answering in some measure to what the Romans call _commentarii_, “commentaries.” Hence Cæsar’s Commentaries, or the memoirs of his campaigns.

=Memorial.= An address to the government on any matter of public service.

=Memphis.= A celebrated Egyptian city, situated in the Delta, or Lower Egypt. During the attempts of the native rulers to throw off the Persian rule, Memphis was an important strategic point. Ochus inflicted severe injury on this town, having plundered the temples and thrown down the walls after he had driven out Nectanebus. Ptolemy VIII. destroyed the city. It fell with the rest of Egypt under the Roman rule, and afterwards was conquered by Amru Ben Abas (639-40).

=Memphis.= A flourishing city and port of entry of Shelby Co., Tenn. During the civil war, it fell into the hands of the Union forces, after a short naval fight, June 6, 1862, and in 1864, Gen. Forrest made a raid upon it, capturing a great number of prisoners.

=Men, Battalion.= All the soldiers belonging to the different companies of an infantry regiment were so called, except those of the two flank companies.

=Men, Camp-color.= Soldiers under the immediate command and direction of the quartermaster of a regiment. Their business is to assist in marking out the lines of an encampment, etc.; to carry the camp colors to the field on days of exercise, and fix them occasionally for the purpose of enabling the troops to take up correct points in marching, etc. So that in this respect they frequently, indeed almost always, act as guides, or what the French call _jalonneurs_. They are likewise employed in the trenches, and in all fatigue duties.

=Menace.= A hostile threat. Menacing words used in the presence of a court-martial are punishable in accordance with Article of War 86. See APPENDIX.

=Menai Strait= (between the Welsh coast and the isle of Anglesey). Suetonius Paulinus, when he invaded Anglesey, transported his troops across this strait in flat-bottomed boats, while the cavalry swam over on horseback, and attacked the Druids in their last retreat. Their horrid practice of sacrificing their captives, and the opposition he met with so incensed the Roman general, that he gave the Britons no quarter, throwing all that escaped from that battle into fires which they had prepared for the destruction of himself and his army in 61.

=Menapii.= A powerful people in the north of Gallia Belgica, who originally dwelt on both banks of the Rhine, but were afterwards driven out of their possessions on the right bank by the Usipetes and Tenchteri, and inhabited only the left bank near its mouth, and west of the Mosa.

=Mendavia.= A town of Spain, province of Navarre, 37 miles southwest from Pamplona. Cæsar Borgia, the infamous son of Pope Alexander VI., was killed here in a skirmish in 1507.

=Mende.= A town of France, capital of an arrondissement of the same name, on the left bank of the Lot. This town was fortified in 1151; it suffered much in the civil wars of the Reformation, and was taken no less than seven times.

=Menehould, St.= A town of France, in the department of the Marne, situated on the Aisne, 26 miles northeast of Chalons; it was taken by Louis XIV. in 1653.

=Menin.= A fortified town of Belgium, province of West Flanders, on the Lys, 31 miles southwest of Ghent. It has undergone a great number of sieges, and in the 17th and 18th centuries was frequently taken by the French.

=Menomonees.= A tribe of Indians, of Algonkin stock. They number about 1500, are partially civilized, and reside on a reservation near Green Bay, Wis.

=Men’s-harness.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Mensuration.= That branch of applied geometry which gives rules for finding the length of lines, the areas of surfaces, or the volumes of solids, from certain simple data of lines and angles. Every military officer should be acquainted with mensuration.

=Mentana.= A small village, 13 miles from Rome. Here Garibaldi and his volunteers, numbering between 3000 and 4000, after having intrenched his positions at Monterotondo and Mentana on their march towards Tivoli, on November 3, 1867, were totally defeated by the papal and French troops, under Gens. Kanzler and Polhès, after a severe conflict, in which Gen. Failly said “the Chassepot rifles did wonders.” There were about 5000 men on each side, but the Garibaldians were very badly armed. The loss of the papal and French troops was about 200 killed and wounded; that of Garibaldi about 800. Garibaldi crossed the Italian frontier, and was arrested at Correse, and eventually sent to Caprera.

=Mentonniere= (_Fr._). Chin-piece; chin-strap; chin-piece of a helmet is so called.

=Mentz= (Ger. _Mainz_, Fr. _Mayence_, anc. _Moguntiacum_). A city of Germany, in the grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, on the left bank of the Rhine. Mentz was founded by the Romans in the 2d century, and in 406 was destroyed by the Vandals; but after lying in ruins for some centuries it was restored by Charlemagne, and attained great prosperity after the time of Bonifacius. In the Thirty Years’ War, it was taken by the Swedes, and in 1688 by the French, but was restored at the subsequent peace. At the end of 1792, it surrendered to the French. Next year it was taken by the Austrians. By the peace of Lunéville, concluded in 1801, it was formally ceded to France, and in 1815 it was assigned to Hesse-Darmstadt. The town is strongly fortified, and is one of the strongest places in Europe, serving as a defense for Germany on the side of France. On the other side of the Rhine stands the suburb of Castel, which is also fortified.

=Mequinenza.= A town and port of Spain, on the Ebro, in the province of Huesca, Aragon, 64 miles southeast from Huesca. It is defended by a fortress, which was taken by the French in 1810.

=Mercara.= A town and fortress in the south of India. It was built by Hyder Ali in 1773, after he had conquered the country. Tippoo Sahib gave it up to the rajah of Coorg in 1792. It was taken possession of by the British in 1834.

=Mercenaries.= Soldiers serving for pay in a foreign service.

=Mercia.= One of the largest of the seven kingdoms of the Heptarchy (which see). It comprised the counties from the Thames to Yorkshire, and is said to have been founded by Crida in 585. Three-quarters of a century later, Mercia was conquered for a time by Northumbria; but it recovered its independence, which it retained until Egbert subdued it, when it was included in the kingdom of Wessex.

=Merida.= A town of Spain, province of Estremadura, on the Guadiana, 35 miles east from Badajos. It was built by the Romans; taken by the Moors in 713; taken from them in 1229; taken by the French, January, 1811. Near this town, at Arroyas Molinos, the British army under Gen. (afterwards Lord) Hill defeated the French under Gen. Girard, after a severe engagement, October 28, 1811. The British took Merida from the French in 1812, Gen. Hill leading the combined forces of English and Spanish troops.

=Merionethshire.= The most southern county of North Wales, situated at the middle of the Welsh coast. Here Owen Gwynedd defeated Henry II., and brave Glyndwr rose in arms at the call of friendship and patriotism to resist the usurper of the throne of gentle Henry, and the enslaver of his loved Wales. Tradition and records tell of bloody deeds done here in those and later days by freebooters, daring and cruel.

=Merit.= To earn by active service, or by any valuable performance; to have a right to claim as reward; to deserve. Also, the quality or relation of deserving well or ill.

=Merit, Certificate of.= In the U. S. army a certificate which is given by the President, upon the recommendation of commanding officers, to enlisted men who have distinguished themselves in the service. The holder of each certificate is entitled to $2 per month.

=Merit, Order of.= A military distinction given to officers or soldiers for some signal service, the badge of which is generally expressive of the service. Such was the medal, or order of merit, presented by the Austrian emperor to the officers of the 15th British Light Dragoons for their bravery in the affair of Villers en Couché in 1794.

=Meritorious.= Possessing merit or desert; deserving of reward or honor.

=Merkin.= A mop to clean a cannon. See MALKIN.

=Merlin.= A handspike.

=Merlon.= The mass of earth of the parapet between two embrasures, generally from 15 to 18 feet in length. Also, the projection on the top of a crenellated wall.

=Merovingians.= The first Frankish dynasty in Gaul. The name is derived from Merwig, or Merovæus, who ruled about the middle of the 5th century, having united a few tribes under his sway. His grandson, Clovis, or Clodwig, greatly extended his dominions, and on his death divided his kingdom among his four sons, one of whom, Chlotar, or Chlotaire I., reunited them under his own sway in 558. On his death, in 561, the kingdom was again divided into four parts,--Aquitaine, Burgundy, Neustria, and Austrasia. His grandson, Clotaire II., again united them in 613; but after his death, in 628, two kingdoms, Neustria and Austrasia, were formed, in both of which the Merovingian kings retained a merely nominal power, the real power having passed into the hands of the mayors of the palace. The dynasty of the Merovingians terminated with the deposition of Childeric IV., in 752, and gave place to that of the Carlovingians.

=Merseburg.= A town of Prussian Saxony, capital of a circle of the same name, on the Saale. It was near this town that the emperor Henry the Fowler gained his famous victory over the Hungarians in 934. Rudolf of Swabia was here defeated and slain by Henry IV. in 1080.

=Mesolonghi.= See MISSOLONGHI.

=Mess.= The law is silent with regard to messes in the army. Executive regulations have been made on the subject, but without law it is impossible to put messes on a proper footing. In England, an allowance is granted by the sovereign in aid of the expense of officers’ messes; and every officer on appointment to a corps subscribes one month’s pay to the mess-fund. All the officers of the corps mess together. (See GUARD MESS.) In France, the several grades mess separately; lieutenants and sub-lieutenants forming two tables, captains another, and field-officers of different grades generally eating separately also. Generals and colonels of the French service receive an allowance for table expenses, not sufficient to keep open house, but enough to enable them to entertain guests. In the British navy there are generally three messes, namely, the ward-room mess, the gun-room mess, and the engineers’ mess; in the U. S. navy there are two: the ward-room and steerage messes. Enlisted soldiers and seamen, in the army and navy respectively, mess together in tables comprising a certain number, according to squads or rating; but this has no reference to the technical meaning of messing as applied to officers, and is merely for the purpose of economy of fuel and labor in the cooking of their rations.

=Message.= Word sent; more especially a dispatch signaled or telegraphed.

=Messenia.= A district in the southwest of the Peloponnesus. At an early period after the Doric conquest, it rose to power and opulence. It is chiefly noted for its two wars with Sparta, known as the Messenian Wars, the first of which lasted from 743 to 724 B.C., and the second from 685 to 668 B.C. In both instances the Athenians were defeated, and in consequence, a great part of them emigrated to Sicily, where they took possession of Zancle, which then received the name of Messana, the present Messina (which see).

=Messina.= A city in the northeast of the island of Sicily, situated on a strait called the Faro di Messina, which separates Italy from Calabria. It is 9 miles northwest from Reggio, in Calabria. The town is entirely surrounded with walls and protected by detached forts and a citadel, which stands on the neck of the curved promontory that forms the harbor. It was seized by the Mamertini about 281 B.C. It belonged for many ages to the Roman empire; was taken by the Saracens about 829. Roger the Norman took it from them by surprise about 1072. It revolted against Charles of Anjou, and was succored by Peter of Aragon, 1282; revolted in favor of Louis XIV of France, 1676; the Spaniards punished it severely, 1678; headquarters of British forces in Sicily prior to 1814; an insurrection took place here which was subdued September 7, 1848. Garibaldi entered Messina after his victory at Malazzo, July 20-21, 1860; the citadel surrendered to Cialdini, March 13, 1861.

=Mestre de Camp Général= (_Fr._). The next officer in rank, in the old French cavalry service, to the colonel-general. This appointment was created under Henry II. in 1552. _Mestre de camp général des dragoons_, an appointment which first took place under Louis XIV. in 1684.

=Metal.= Broken stone, etc., used as a road cover.

=Metal.= In heraldry, the metals in use are gold and silver, known as _or_ and _argent_. The field of the escutcheon and the charges which it bears may be of metal as well as of color. It is a rule of blazon that metal should not be placed on metal, or color on color.

=Metals for Cannon.= See ORDNANCE, METALS FOR.

=Metapontum=, or =Metapontium=. A city of Magna Græcia; was situated on the Tarentine Gulf, 14 miles from Heraclea, and 24 from Tarentum. The Metapontines assisted the Athenians in their Sicilian expedition (415 B.C.); they embraced the side of Pyrrhus in his war with the Romans, and after its conclusion fell under the Roman yoke. When Hannibal invaded Italy, the Metapontines after the battle of Cannæ were well disposed to him; but, on account of a garrison of Romans, were unable openly to desert to him till 212 B.C., when the city was occupied by a Carthaginian garrison. When Hannibal was compelled to leave Italy he removed, along with his own troops, the inhabitants of Metapontum; and from that time the city disappears from history.

=Metaurus= (now _Metauro_). A river in Central Italy, where Hasdrubal, brother of Hannibal, was defeated and slain, 207 B.C., when marching with abundant reinforcements for the latter. The Romans were led by Livius and Claudius Nero, the consuls. The latter commanded the head of Hasdrubal to be thrown into his brother’s camp. This victory saved Rome.

=Meter=, or =Metre=. The French standard of linear measure, intended to be the ten-millionth part of the earth’s quadrant, from the equator to the pole. It is equal to 39.370 British, or 39.369 American inches.

=Methone= (_Modon_). An ancient city of Messenia; was situated on the southwest coast. At the close of the second Messenian war it was given by the victorious Lacedæmonians to the exiled Nauplians, but was restored to its rightful owners by Epaminondas. An unsuccessful attack was made upon Methone by the Athenians in 413 B.C. It was made a free city by the emperor Trajan.

=Métier= (_Fr._). Literally means any calling or business. In a military sense, it is peculiarly applicable to those nations which keep up large standing armies, and make war their principal object and pursuit. Chevalier Folard gives the following definition relative to the question which is often discussed on the subject of war, namely, whether war be a trade or a science. The English call it a profession. Folard, however, distinguishes it in this manner: _La guerre est une métier pour les ignorons, et une science pour les habiles gens_, “war in the apprehension, and under the management of ignorant persons is certainly a mere trade or business, but among able men it becomes an important branch of science.”

=Metric System.= The French system of measures, founded upon the metre. The system is decimal, and includes measures of length, area, volume, and weight.

=Metulum.= The chief town of the Iapydes in Illyricum; was near the frontier of Liburnia, and was situated on two peaks of a steep mountain. Augustus nearly lost his life in reducing this place, the inhabitants of which fought against him with desperate courage.

=Metz= (anc. _Divodurum_). A city and fortress of Alsace-Lorraine, situated on the Moselle. It was the Roman _Divodurum_, or _Meti_, capital of the Mediomatrici, a powerful Gaulish tribe (whose name it took at a later date), and of the kingdom of Austrasia, or Metz, in the 6th century; but in 985, Otho II. made it a free imperial city, and thereafter it was used by the German emperors as a barrier against France. It was besieged by Charles VII. in 1444, and could only preserve its freedom by the payment of 100,000 crowns. At length Henry II. obtained possession of it in 1552; and although it was besieged by Charles V. with an army of 100,000 men, his efforts were completely baffled by the skill and energy of the Duke of Guise, and by the courage and constancy of the townsmen; so that the French continued in possession of the town till it, along with Toul and Verdun, was formally secured to them by the peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the Franco-German war (1870-71) the emperor Napoleon III. arrived at Metz, and assumed the chief command, July 28, 1870. After the disastrous defeats at Wörth and Forbach, August 6, the whole French army, except the corps of MacMahon, De Failly, and Douay, was concentrated here, August 10, 11, and by delay was hemmed in by the Germans. Marshal Bazaine assumed the chief command on August 8, and on August 14 he was attacked at Courcelles, a little east of Metz. On August 16, Bazaine advanced from the fortress, but was attacked by the second army, under command of Prince Frederick Charles, at Vionville, and was compelled to retreat to Metz. But on August 17, Bazaine massed his troops for a decisive conflict, and on August 18 he gave battle at Gravelotte (which see), but was compelled to retreat again, and was shut up in the city. Prince Frederick Charles now surrounded the city, and then began one of the greatest sieges of history. After many brilliant sallies Bazaine was compelled to surrender, October 27, on account of starvation and sickness, with an army including 3 marshals, 66 generals, 173,000 men, including the imperial guard, 400 pieces of artillery, 100 mitrailleuses, and 53 eagles and standards; and on October 29 the Germans entered Metz. All the army that surrendered was compelled to go to Germany as prisoners of war. In May, 1871, Metz was ceded to the German empire by the peace of Frankfort, and its fortifications greatly strengthened.

=Meurtrières= (_Fr._), Small loop-holes, sufficiently large to admit the barrel of a rifle or musket, through which soldiers may fire, under cover, against an enemy. They likewise mean the cavities that are made in the walls of a fortified town or place.

=Mexico.= A federal republic of North America, next to the United States. It was conquered by the Spaniards under Cortez in 1521, and remained as a Spanish dependency for 300 years; and after a long struggle with the mother-country, which commenced in 1810, it shook off the Spanish yoke in 1821, and declared its independence. In 1824 the country was declared a federal republic, with a constitution similar to that of the United States, and its independence was acknowledged by Spain in 1836. About this time Texas, which was then the most northeastern of the Mexican states, withdrew from the federal league and became an independent republic. The Mexican general, Santa Anna, was sent to reduce them to subjection, but he was defeated and taken prisoner by the Texans. In 1845, Texas was annexed to the United States and admitted into the Union as a State. This led to a war between Mexico and the United States, by which the former lost all her northern provinces, consisting of Utah, California, and New Mexico, which were ceded to the United States in 1848. From this time the history of Mexico consists, for the most part, of a long series of insurrections, revolutions, and political changes, which followed each other in rapid succession. Santa Anna, who had been driven into exile shortly after his disgrace in Texas, was recalled and made dictator in 1853. He was succeeded in power by Gens. Carera, Alveraz, Comonfort, and Zulagoa. When the last named was made dictator in 1858, Benito Juarez, the Indian statesman, was declared constitutional president by the liberal party; a civil war ensued, anarchy and confusion reigned supreme in the country; but Juarez, taking advantage of the dissensions between Zulagoa and Miramon, the leaders of two opposite sections of the party that was hostile to his government, at last gained the ascendency, and entered the capital as president of the Mexican republic in January, 1861. In the same year, in consequence of the enormities practiced by Juarez and his partisans, and the outrages committed on European merchants resident in the country, the governments of England, France, and Spain formed a triple alliance, and sent an expedition to Mexico to demand satisfaction for the injuries inflicted on the subjects of their respective countries, and to endeavor to bring about a more settled state of affairs. Vera Cruz was occupied by the allied forces, and this event was followed soon after by the convention of Soledad, signed in February, 1862, in which the government of Juarez engaged to comply with the requisitions of the allies. But the French government disapproved of the convention, and although the forces of England and Spain were withdrawn in compliance with its terms, Napoleon III. determined to advance on the capital, with the view of effecting the overthrow of Juarez and placing the government of the country on a settled basis. The French troops were, however, delayed for some months before Puebla, which capitulated on May 18, 1863, and entered Mexico on the 8th of the following month, amid the acclamations of the people, who had become weary of the intestine strife that had so long convulsed the land, and which had been produced by the jealousy and rivalry of the party leaders who had aspired to the direction of the government. This event was followed by the proclamation of the empire and the nomination of Maximilian, the brother of the present emperor of Austria, as the first emperor of Mexico under the new régime. The republican leaders were violently opposed to this measure, and Maximilian by his severity towards them alienated the affections of many of his original supporters. At length, on the withdrawal of the French troops at the demand of the United States, the republicans advanced into Central Mexico. Maximilian with a Mexican force vainly attempted to oppose them, and was captured and shot at Queretaro, June 19, 1867.

=Mézières.= An ancient and well-built town of France, the capital of the department of Ardennes, situated on a peninsula formed by the Meuse. In 1520, the Chevalier Bayard successfully defended this place against 40,000 Spaniards under the Count of Nassau, and in 1815 it held out for two months against the Prussians, but was at length obliged to capitulate.

=Miami Indians.= A tribe of aborigines, of Algonkin stock, who formerly resided in Ohio and Indiana. In the war of 1812, they fought against the United States as allies of the British. In 1846 the majority of the tribe removed to Kansas, on a reservation in which State a remnant still resides.

=Michigan.= One of the Northern Central States of the United States. It was colonized by the French, near Detroit, in the latter half of the 17th century, but, like other French colonies in America, did not progress rapidly. At the peace of 1763, it came, with the other French possessions in North America, under the dominion of Great Britain, and so remained till the breaking out of the American Revolution, when it passed to the United States. On the expulsion of the French, the celebrated Indian chief Pontiac seized the occasion to rid the country of the hated whites by a general uprising, and simultaneous attacks on all the forts of the English on the lakes. Mackinaw was taken by stratagem, and the garrison mercilessly butchered. Detroit was besieged for some months by Pontiac, with 600 Indians; but it held out till the Indian allies, becoming weary of the siege, retired and left Pontiac no choice but to make peace. The British surrendered Detroit to the United States in 1796. In 1805, Michigan, which up to that period had been a part of the Northwest Territory, was formed into a separate government. In 1812, it became the scene of some stirring events in the war with Great Britain. Lying contiguous to Canada, it was invaded in the very commencement of that struggle, and its capital (Detroit) surrendered August 15, 1812, by Gen. Hull, under circumstances which led to his displacement from his command. Previous to this Fort Mackinaw had been taken by the enemy. In January, 1813, a cruel massacre by the savages of a party of American prisoners took place at Frenchtown, but soon after, Gen. Harrison drove the enemy out of the Territory of Michigan, and removed the seat of war into Canada. Michigan became an independent member of the American Confederacy in 1837. During the civil war, she contributed greatly to the cause of the Union, and sent over 90,000 men to the field.

=Micmacs.= A tribe of Indians numbering about 4000, who reside principally in New Foundland, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. They were formerly faithful allies of the French in their wars with the New England colonies, and with the English, against whom they maintained a hostile attitude until about 1760.

=Middle Ages.= The ages or period of time about equally distant from the decline of the Roman empire and the revival of letters in Europe, or from the 8th to the 15th century of the Christian era.

=Middle Assembling-bar.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, THE CAISSON.

=Middle-chest.= The front ammunition-chest on the body of the caisson,--so called because it is between the hind chest and the limber-chest when the caisson is limbered.

=Middle-man.= The man who occupies a central position in a file of soldiers.

=Midea.= A town in Argolis, of uncertain site; is said to have been originally called Persepolis, because it had been fortified by Perseus. It was destroyed by the Argives.

=Midianites.= An Arab race, descended, according to Scripture, from Midian, the son of Abraham by Keturah. They occupied the greater part of the country between the north side of the Arabian Gulf and Arabia Felix as far as the Plains of Moab. The Midianites were very troublesome neighbors to the Israelites till Gideon’s victory over them (about 1249 B.C.), after which they gradually disappeared.

=Mignon= (_Fr._). Picked soldier, now called _élite_.

=Milan= (_Mediolanum_, capital of the ancient Liguria). A city of Italy, the capital of the province of Lombardy, 78 miles northeast from Turin; is reputed to have been built by the Gauls about 408 B.C. It was conquered by the Roman consul Marcellus, 222 B.C. It was the seat of government of the Western empire in 286; plundered by Attila in 452; taken by the emperor Frederick I., 1158; it rebelled and was taken by Frederick and its fortifications destroyed in 1162; but was rebuilt and fortified in 1169. The Milanese were defeated by the emperor Frederick II. in 1237; and the city was conquered by Louis XII. of France in 1499. The French were expelled by the Spaniards in 1525, and the city annexed to the crown of Spain in 1540; ceded to Austria, 1714. It was conquered by the French and Spaniards in 1743; reverted to Austria upon Sicily and Naples being ceded to Spain in 1748; seized by the French, June 30, 1796, retaken by the Austrians, 1799; regained by the French, May 31, 1800. The Milanese revolted against the Austrians, March 18, 1848, but submitted August 5, 1848. Another insurrection was attempted in 1853, but with disastrous results. On June 8, 1859, by the peace of Villa Franca, Lombardy was annexed to Piedmont, and Victor Emmanuel became sovereign of Milan.

=Milazzo= (anc. _Mylæ_). A fortified seaport on the north coast of Sicily, 18 miles west of Messina. It was founded about 700 B.C., and has been the scene of many battles. It was taken by Laches in 427 B.C. It was off Mylæ that the Romans, under their consul Duilius, gained their first naval victory over the Carthaginians, and took 50 of their ships, 260 B.C. Here also Agrippa defeated the fleet of Sextus Pompeius, 36 B.C. On July 20, 1860, Garibaldi with 2500 men defeated 7000 Neapolitans, at Milazzo, and compelled the garrison to evacuate the fortress.

=Mileage.= An allowance for traveling, as so much by the mile; especially in the United States, an allowance made to military officers to defray the expenses of their journeys on duty when not traveling with troops.

=Milesian.= A native or inhabitant of Ireland, descended according to the legendary history of the country from King Milesius of Spain, whose two sons conquered the island 1300 B.C., and established a new order of nobility.

=Milesian.= Pertaining to Ireland, from the tradition that King Milesius of Spain once conquered the country.

=Miletus.= A flourishing Greek city of Ionia, in Asia Minor, was situated on the north side of the peninsula of Mt. Grion, at the entrance of the Gulf of Latmus, nearly opposite the mouth of the Meander. At the time of the Ionian emigration to Asia Minor it existed as a town, but when the Ionians arrived in Asia, Neleus and a company of his followers seized Miletus, put to death all the male inhabitants, who were Carians or Leleges, and took the women for their wives. Miletus became for a time a prosperous city under the rule of Lydia and Persia, but in 500 B.C. it revolted against Persia, and after repeated defeats in the field, the city was besieged by land and by sea, and finally taken by storm in 494 B.C. The city was plundered and its inhabitants massacred, and the survivors were transplanted to a place called Ampe, near the mouth of the Tigris. The town itself was given up to the Carians. Towards the end of the Peloponnesian war, Miletus threw off the yoke imposed upon her by Athens, and in a battle fought under the very walls of the city, the Milesians defeated their opponents; the Athenian admiral, Phrynichus, abandoned the enterprise. In 334 B.C., Alexander the Great took the city by assault, and destroyed a part of it, but it continued to flourish, until it was destroyed by the Turks and other barbarians.

=Milford Haven.= A town of Wales, in Pembrokeshire, 6 miles northwest from Pembroke. Here the Earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII., landed on his way to encounter Richard III., whom he defeated at Bosworth, 1485.

=Milice.= An old term for militia.

=Militancy.= Warfare. This term is obsolete.

=Militant.= Engaged in warfare; fighting; combating; serving as a soldier.

=Militantly.= In a militant manner. This term is rarely used.

=Militar.= Military. This term is obsolete.

=Militarily.= In a military or soldierly manner.

=Militarist.= One devoted to military pursuits.

=Military.= Pertaining to soldiers, to arms, or to war; having to do with the affairs of war; as, a military parade or appearance; military discipline. Engaged in the service of soldiers or arms; as, a military man. Warlike; becoming a soldier; as, military bravery, military virtue. Derived from the service or exploits of a soldier; as, military renown. Conformable to the customs or rules of armies or militia; as, the conduct of the officer was not military. Performed or made by soldiers; as, a military election.

=Military.= The whole body of soldiers; soldiery; militia; the army.

=Military Academies.= The great improvements made in the art of war in modern times, in weapons, drill, discipline, etc., has made warfare more of a science and less of a trial of brute force than formerly, and hence the necessity for a body of trained officers capable of moving, directing, and bringing into effective operation all the appliances of war with which modern armies are furnished. As this special training cannot be obtained at ordinary educational establishments, special schools for the purpose have been established in all civilized countries. A few of them are here noted.

GREAT BRITAIN.--The _Royal Military Academy_, an establishment at Woolwich, through which must pass all candidates for the artillery and engineers. It was instituted in 1741, but the present structure was not erected until 1805. It usually contains about 200 cadets. The age of admission is sixteen, and the vacancies are open to public competition. The parents or guardians have to make annual payments for the support of the cadets as long as they remain at the academy, the amount being greater for the son of a civilian than of a military or naval officer. When the term of instruction--which comprises the subjects of a thorough general education, the higher mathematics, fortification, gunnery, and military duty--is completed, the cadets compete for vacancies in the engineers and artillery, those who pass the best examination being allowed a choice of either branch of the service. All who obtain commissions in the engineers proceed to Chatham for further instruction in their professional duties; the artillery cadets at once join the artillery as lieutenants.

_Royal Military College, Sandhurst_, is an institution for the training of candidates for commissions in the cavalry and infantry. The course is limited to one year immediately before entering the army, and the subjects of instruction confined to the higher mathematics, modern languages, and military science. Entrance is on the nomination of the commander-in-chief; and the payment by the cadets’ parents or guardians varies according to their circumstances and rank. No payment is made for what are called “Queen’s Cadets,” who must be orphans. Commissions in the cavalry and infantry are given to the cadets in the order of merit at the end of the year.

The _Staff College_ was founded in 1858, about 2 miles from Sandhurst, for the purpose of giving higher instruction to 30 officers aspiring to appointments on the staff. To be entitled to compete for entrance, an officer must have been three years in active service, must have passed the qualifying examination for a captaincy, and must have the recommendation of his commanding officer. A very strict examination decides which among the competitors shall be admitted to the college, one only being eligible from any battalion. The course lasts two years. At the end of each year there is an examination; that of the second fixing the order of the candidates’ choice for staff employment. After passing the Staff College the officer is attached for duty, for a short period, to each of the arms with which he may not have already served. He then becomes eligible for appointment to the staff, as opportunity may occur. There are also the Royal School of Military Engineers at Chatham, for the instruction of engineer officers, the Royal Military School at Dublin, and professional schools for officers and enlisted men, as the School of Musketry at Hythe, and the School of Gunnery at Shoeburyness.

FRANCE.--The celebrated _Polytechnic School_ at Paris was established by the National Convention, September 28, 1794. By a decree of July 16, 1804, Napoleon placed it under a military régime. No attempt being made to impart a general education, candidates are required to have a thorough general knowledge before they are admitted. The preliminary examination of candidates for admission comprises mathematics, physics, chemistry, history, German, etc.; in fact, the candidate to be successful should have the degree of Bachelor of Science. Admission is open to competition; a board of examiners passes through the country once every year, and examines all who present themselves, possessing the requisite qualifications of age, etc. A list is made out from the proceedings of the board, and the number of candidates highest in order of merit for whom there are vacancies admitted. The age of admission is from sixteen to twenty years, or if the candidate is in the army, to twenty-five. This school prepares students for various branches of the public service, for the staff, engineers, artillery, for the corps of hydrographical engineers, engineers of roads and bridges and of mines, the department of powder and saltpetre, etc. The number of cadets is usually about 350, and the course of instruction two years. After the final examination the first 30 or 40 candidates usually select civil employment under the government, those next in merit choose the artillery and engineers, and are sent to the School of Application, to pass through a technical course. The remaining students either fail to qualify, and leave the school, or receive commissions in the line, subordinate situations in the government service, civil or colonial, or they retire into civil life altogether.

The _Special Military School_ at St. Cyr, near Versailles, was established for the instruction of candidates for commissions in cavalry and infantry. The age of admission is the same as for the Polytechnic School, and pupils are entitled to partial or entire state aid if they need it, as are also those of the Polytechnic. The course of instruction is two years, at the end of which time the more promising students pass to the Staff School, and thence, after a thorough course, to the _état-major_ of the army; the remaining students pass as subalterns into the cavalry and infantry, selecting the arm of the service in which they desire to serve according to the order of merit in which they graduate. There are also the School of Application for Engineers and Artillery, the School of Application for the Staff, the Cavalry School at Saumur, for one year’s instruction to officers of that arm, and the School of Musketry at Vincennes.

PRUSSIA.--The Prussian system of military education differs from that of France, in that competition is but sparingly resorted to, the object being to give a good general and professional education to all the officers, rather than a specially excellent training to a select few. For this purpose there are established seven cadet schools, one senior, at Berlin, and six junior, situated at Bensburg, Culm, Oranienstein, Ploen, Potsdam, and Wahlstatt. The age of admission to the junior schools is from ten to eleven years, and the usual course of instruction is for four years, and two or three at the senior school, followed by the finishing term of nine months at a division school, when graduates are eligible to commissions. Some, however, are sent to the army to earn their commissions as other candidates. Others pass an additional year at the senior cadet school, in which case the term at the division school is dispensed with. After completing their course at the junior schools, students pass to the senior school without examination. They may also be admitted to the senior school without passing through the junior grade, provided they come up to the required standard of qualification. Aspirants for commissions must enter the ranks, and within six months pass a good examination in general and liberal knowledge if they are not graduates of a cadet school. Those who are graduates are not examined. After some further service the candidate goes for nine months to one of the division schools, which are eight in number, situated at Anclam, Cassel, Engers, Erfurt, Hanover, Metz, Neisse, and Potsdam. Here he completes his professional education, and if he passes the final examination, is eligible for the next vacancy in the line, but cannot be commissioned unless the officers of the corps are willing to accept him as a comrade. Candidates for commissions in the artillery and engineer corps, after graduating from the cadet school or passing an examination from the army, must pass nine months at the Artillery and Engineer School, after which they receive a provisional appointment as sub-lieutenants. Upon graduating, after two more terms of nine months each, they are commissioned as lieutenants. But the culmination of Prussian military education is the Staff School, or War Academy, which presents the highest prizes in the profession, and competition for which is open to all officers of the army who have had three years’ service, and can produce testimonials of good conduct, ability, etc., from their superiors. Admission is by competitive examination, usually about 40 of the applicants being selected. The course of study lasts three years. During three months of each year the officers are sent to do military duty with arms of service or corps not their own. Of the 40 who pass through the Staff School each year, 8 or 10 only are sent to the topographical department of the staff. There they serve two or three years, at the expiration of which time two are selected from the number, and appointed captains on the staff. The remainder return to their regiments or corps, sometimes receiving appointments in the division schools.

AUSTRIA.--The Austrian military system of training is very elaborate, and commences at an early age,--boys intended for military service beginning their professional almost contemporaneously with their general education. There are schools of various orders for training non-commissioned officers and for officers, and senior departments for imparting more extended instruction to both classes. Candidates for appointment as non-commissioned officers pass by competition through the lower houses, where they remain till eleven years old, the upper houses, which detain them till fifteen, and the school companies, whence, after actual apprenticeship to service, a few pupils pass to the academies as aspirants for commissions, and the others are drafted into the service as non-commissioned officers. For the education of officers there are four cadet houses, each containing 200 pupils. The boys are pledged to the service by their parents at the age of eleven, after which the state takes charge of them. At fifteen they pass according to qualification to the academy for the line, the engineer or artillery academy, and four years later receive their commissions in the arms of the service for which they have graduated. The young officer’s chance of entering the Staff School--and therefore the staff--depends upon his place at the final academic examination.

The _Staff School_ consists of 30 pupils selected by competitive examination from all arms of the service, 15 entering each year. The course of instruction is two years. To be qualified for admission a candidate must have served two years with his regiment, and be over twenty-one and under twenty-six years of age. The students receive appointments in the staff corps according to the order of merit, immediately after the final examination, if there are vacancies; if there are none, they return to their regiments until vacancies occur. If the successful candidate is a second lieutenant, he is promoted to the rank of first lieutenant; if a first lieutenant, he is promoted captain after three years’ service.

RUSSIA.--Has 22 military colleges for the guards and line, containing over 7000 cadets, a school of ensigns for the guards, an artillery and an engineer school, averaging over 8000 military students. There is also an imperial staff school, into which 20 or 25 officers enter each year after examination. The term of instruction is for two years. Upon graduation, the most distinguished scholar is at once promoted to the rank of captain on the staff, and all the graduates are, from time to time, as vacancies occur, attached to the staff, but not immediately promoted in it.

Italy, Spain, and other powers have also their military academies, but those already given may be considered a fair type of all. It need only be stated that the educational status of the Italian officers is considered very high.

THE UNITED STATES.--The Military Academy at West Point is the only government institution in the United States for the military training of cadets and their preparation for the duties of officers. The necessity for such an institution was recognized at an early date in the history of the country. A committee of Congress which had visited the Continental army at New York recommended the establishment of a military academy in their report, October 3, 1776. The subject was subsequently brought to the notice of Congress on several occasions, but without result until 1794, when provision was made for the establishment of 4 battalions of engineers and artillerists, 8 cadets to be attached to each battalion. The number was increased to 56 in 1798, and provision made for procuring books and apparatus for their instruction. By the act of March 16, 1802, determining the military peace establishment, the artillerists and engineers were made two distinct corps; 40 cadets were attached to one regiment of artillery, and 10 to the corps of engineers, said corps to be stationed at West Point, and to constitute a military academy. The act also provided that the senior engineer officer present should be superintendent of the academy, and authorized the Secretary of War to procure the necessary books, apparatus, etc., for the institution. Another act, dated February 28, 1803, authorized the President to appoint teachers of French and drawing. At the expiration of five years, however, further legislation was deemed necessary, and on April 12, 1808, a bill was passed which added 156 members to the corps of cadets. By the act of April 19, 1812, it was declared that the Military Academy should consist of the corps of engineers, the teachers of French and drawing already provided for, a professor of natural philosophy, a professor of mathematics, and a professor of engineering, with an assistant for each professor. Provision was also made for a chaplain, who was to officiate as professor of geography, physics, and history. The number of cadets was limited to 260; the requirements for admission, terms of study and service, and rate of pay and emoluments were also prescribed. But the commencement of its great success as an educational institution, and the reputation which the academy possesses for its elevating and disciplinary government, dates from July, 1817, when Brevet Maj. Sylvanus Thayer, of the engineer corps, assumed command as superintendent. He was an early graduate of the academy, had served with distinction in the war of 1812, and having studied in the military schools of France, had acquired matured views for the government of such an institution. He organized and perfected a system of management, which he carried into successful operation for sixteen years, and which, with but little modification, is followed to-day. In 1818 the department of geography, history, and ethics was organized, and the chaplain appointed professor; the clerical and secular duties thus combined have ever since remained inseparable. A professorship of chemistry, mineralogy, and geology was created by act of July 5, 1838, and an assistant authorized, “to be taken from the officers of the line, or cadets.” In May, 1846, the teachers of French and drawing were styled professors, and the appointment of assistants was authorized. In 1857 a professorship of the Spanish language was established. By act of Congress approved June 23, 1879, whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of professor of the French or Spanish language, both these offices shall cease, and the remaining one of the two professors shall be professor of modern languages. A professorship of law has also been established, which is held by an officer of the bureau of military justice. The academic staff consist of the superintendent; the commandant of cadets, who is instructor of artillery, cavalry, and infantry tactics, and is charged with the discipline of the cadets, having usually 8 officers detailed from the line of the army as assistants; and of the professors of civil and military engineering and science of war, of natural and experimental philosophy, of mathematics, of history, geography, and ethics (chaplain), of chemistry, mineralogy, and geology, of drawing, of French, of Spanish, and of law, all of whom have one or more commissioned officers as assistants. There are also detailed on duty several officers of the engineer and ordnance corps as instructors in practical military engineering, military signals and telegraphing, and in ordnance and gunnery. A sword-master is also employed. The military staff consists of an adjutant; a treasurer, quartermaster and commissary, of the battalion of cadets; a quartermaster, surgeon, and assistant surgeon. In 1843 the custom which had prevailed of appointing one cadet from each Congressional district received the sanction of law, and thus the number was limited to the number of Representatives. But as the District of Columbia and the army and navy were not represented, the President was empowered to appoint 1 cadet from the former and 10 cadets “at large,” the latter to be selected annually from the army or navy, or any other quarter at his option, without regard to Congressional districts. The age for admission is from seventeen to twenty-two years, except when the candidate has served one year in the war of the Rebellion, in which case he may be admitted up to twenty-four, and the course of instruction is fixed at four years. Candidates must be able to read and write well, have a good knowledge of grammar, of geography, and history, particularly of the United States, and of arithmetic, including vulgar and decimal fractions. Examinations are held annually on January 1 and June 1. All newly-appointed cadets must report for examination by June 25, and none are examined after September 1, unless detained by sickness or other unavoidable cause, when they may be examined with the fourth class on January 1, and if found competent may proceed with that class. Each cadet on admission takes the oath of allegiance and binds himself to serve the United States for eight years, unless sooner discharged. For purposes of instruction, the cadets are divided into four classes, the fourth being the junior class, and for matters of discipline the permanent organization is that of a battalion of infantry composed of four companies. During their academic course cadets receive $500 a year and one ration a day. Upon graduating, the cadets highest in merit are usually commissioned as second lieutenants and appointed to the engineer corps, those next in order of merit to the artillery, and the remainder to the cavalry and infantry. Those for whom no vacancies exist at graduation are attached to regiments or corps as additional second lieutenants, and promoted second lieutenants as soon as a vacancy occurs in the arm to which they are attached. By act of Congress approved June 23, 1879, each member of the graduating classes of 1879-80 may elect, with the assent of the Secretary of War, to receive the sum of $750 and mileage to the place of his residence in lieu of an appointment in the army, except in the event of war, until two years after his graduation. There is also an artillery school at Fort Monroe, Va., for the training of officers and enlisted men. The school is entirely conducted by commissioned officers, and the course of instruction is one year.

=Military Asylum.= See SOLDIER’S HOME.

=Military Asylum, Royal.= See ASYLUM, ROYAL MILITARY.

=Military College.= See MILITARY ACADEMIES (SANDHURST).

=Military Column.= See COLUMN, MILITARY.

=Military Discipline.= Next to the forming of troops, military discipline is the first object that presents itself to our notice: it is the soul of all armies; and unless it be established among them with great prudence, and supported with unshaken resolution, soldiers become a contemptible rabble, and are more dangerous to the very state that maintains them than even its declared enemies. See DISCIPLINE.

=Military Execution.= The ravaging or destroying of a country or town that refuses to pay the contribution inflicted upon them. Also, the punishment inflicted by the sentence of a court-martial.

=Military First Principles.= Is the bodily training for a soldier, to make him hardy, robust, and capable of preserving health amidst fatigue, bad weather, and change of climate; to march at such possible pace, for such length of time, and with such burden, as without training he would not be able to do.

=Military Frontier, The.= A crown-land of the Austrian empire, bounded on the north by Croatia, Slavonia, and the Wojwodschaft, on the east by Transylvania and Wallachia, on the south by Turkey and Dalmatia, and on the west by the Adriatic, comprising an area of 12,800 square miles. The military frontier owes its origin as a crown-land to the necessity of having a permanent body of defenders on the borders during former wars, and especially during wars with the Turks. In the 15th century the Austrians had gained from the Turks certain tracts of territory on the banks of the Save and Danube. These tracts they colonized, making it, however, a condition that the colonists must render military service against the Turks. The Warasdin frontier originated in the same manner under Ferdinand I. In the 17th century the Petrinier frontier, which at a later period received the name of the Banat frontier, was erected. The military stations along the frontier serve a threefold purpose,--the defense of the country, the prevention of smuggling, and the prevention of the spread of contagious disease into the territories of the Austrian empire. The inhabitants of this crown-land enjoy peculiar privileges. Their immigrant ancestors received only the temporary use of lands consigned to them; but in 1850 a law was passed making over the land to the occupiers as their own property. This right of property does not belong, however, to individuals, but to the family in a united sense. The oldest member of a family is intrusted with the management of the land; his partner ranks equal with him, and they each receive a double share of the profits. All who are able to bear arms are sworn to the service from their twentieth year. The soldier of the frontier, who is clothed as well as armed and supplied with ammunition by government, finds it his duty not only to watch and protect the frontier, but to preserve peace and order in the interior, and to go on foreign service when required. Only the smaller portion of the forces of the military frontier is retained in readiness for active service, while the remainder pursue their ordinary employments. To facilitate the accomplishment of the purposes aimed at by the military frontier, the _cordon_, a series of guard-houses along the whole frontier, affording accommodation to from 4 to 8 men, as well as larger ones, accommodating 12 men and a junior officer, has been instituted. Within this line are the officers’ posts. Without announcing himself at the posts, no one is allowed to pass the boundary; and after permission is given the passenger must remain a longer or shorter time at the quarantine establishment, in order that all introduction of disease may be prevented.

=Military Indications.= Officers should study attentively the customs of their enemy, their hours for dining, commencing their marches, etc., and the many indications of intended movements which an enemy may unwittingly afford. The collection of boats, heavy guns, scaling-ladders, gabions, etc., at particular places, are indications that must always precede the passage of rivers, sieges, etc. If large magazines of stores or provisions are collected anywhere, it is clear that no retreat is contemplated; if, on the other hand, the parks of heavy, or spare guns, ammunition, engineer stores, etc., are being sent to the rear, a retreat is imminent, or being prepared for. The dust raised by columns is a fair guide in some countries as to the numbers and composition of the force marching. That raised by cavalry forms a high, light cloud, by infantry, a lower and dense one, by parks and baggage, one more dense still. With a good glass you can sometimes learn from the manner in which troops move, and from their dress, whether they are regulars or militia, or if they belong to any special corps. The manner and bearing of people in a hostile country is usually a fair indication of the public spirit and feeling; if they are gloomy and anxious, it is an indication of want of confidence in their cause, and that their troops are distant; whilst if they are excited and insolent, it shows that they rely upon assistance near at hand, and anticipate success from the number and efficiency of their army. In following a retreating army much can be learned from its trail; if the _débris_ of arms, accoutrements, etc., lie about, there is a want of transport, and it is a sign of demoralization, according to the extent to which it is the case; a large number of graves indicates the existence of disease in the enemy’s army. The places where they halted for the night should be carefully examined; and all indications carefully noted. Did they bivouac or pitch tents; was their camp laid out with regularity; were their cooking-places neatly made. Is their track strewn with dead or dying transport animals; have they plundered the inhabitants or burnt their crops or houses; have they effectually or only partially destroyed the bridges, etc. The most insignificant circumstance affords sometimes whole pages of information to officers who, having studied the manners and customs of an enemy, know how to interpret them aright. Officers commanding small detached parties sent out on reconnoitring duties may many times avoid falling into the hands of strong patrols or detachments by learning their proximity from their track if crossed anywhere; the number and composition of such detachments may easily be estimated from it.

=Military Knights.= See KNIGHTS, MILITARY.

=Military Law.= See LAW, MILITARY.

=Military Mines.= See MINES, MILITARY.

=Military Necessity.= As understood by modern civilized nations, consists in the necessity of those measures which are indispensable for securing the ends of war, and which are lawful according to the modern law and usages of war. Military necessity admits of all direct destruction of life or limb of _armed_ enemies, and of other persons whose destruction is incidentally _unavoidable_ in the armed contests of war; it allows of the capturing of every armed enemy, and every enemy of importance to the hostile government, or of peculiar danger to the captor; it allows of all destruction of property, and obstruction of the ways and channels of traffic, travel, or communication, and of all withholding of sustenance or means of life from the enemy; of the appropriation of whatever an enemy’s country affords necessary for the subsistence and safety of the army, and of such deception as does not involve the breaking of good faith, either positively pledged, regarding agreements entered into during the war, or supposed by the modern law of war to exist. Men who take up arms against one another in public war do not cease on this account to be moral beings, responsible to one another, and to God. Military necessity does not admit of cruelty, that is, the infliction of suffering for the sake of suffering, or for revenge, or of maiming or wounding, except in fight, or of torture to extort confessions. It does not admit of the use of poison in any way, or of the wanton devastation of a district. It admits of deception, but disclaims acts of perfidy; and in general, military necessity does not include any act of hostility which makes the return to peace unnecessarily difficult.

=Military Orders.= Religious associations which arose from the mixture of the religious enthusiasm and the chivalrous love of arms which almost equally formed the characteristic of mediæval society. The first origin of such associations may be traced to the necessities of the Christian residents of the Holy Land, in which the monks, whose first duty had been to serve the pilgrims in the hospital at Jerusalem, were compelled by the necessity of self-defense to assume the character of soldiers as well as of monks. (See SAINT JOHN OF JERUSALEM.) The order of the Templars (see TEMPLAR, KNIGHTS) was of singular origin. Those of Alcantara and Calatrava (which see), in Spain, had for their immediate object the defense of their country against the Moors. These orders as well as that of Avis in Portugal, which was instituted with a similar view, followed the Cistercian rule, and all three differed from the Templars and the Knights of St. John in being permitted by their institute to marry once. The same privilege was enjoyed in the Savoyard order of Knights of St. Maurice, and the Flemish order of St. Hubert. On the contrary, the Teutonic Knights, who had their origin in the Crusades (see GRAND MASTER), were bound by an absolute vow of chastity. With the varying conditions of society, these religious associations have at various times been abolished or fallen into disuse; but most of them still subsist in the form of orders of knighthood, and in some of them, attempts have recently been made to revive, with certain modifications, the monastic character which they originally possessed.

=Military Positions.= See POSITIONS, MILITARY.

=Military Punishment.= See PUNISHMENT, MILITARY.

=Military Regulations.= The rules and regulations by which the discipline, formations, field-exercise, and movements of the whole army are directed, to be observed in one uniform system. See ARMY REGULATIONS.

=Military Science.= See LOGISTICS, STRATAGEM, STRATEGY, TACTICS, and WAR.

=Military Secretary.= An officer on the personal staff of generals in high command. His duties are to conduct the correspondence of his chief, and to transact a great amount of confidential business, which would dangerously occupy the time of the general himself. In the British service the military secretary to the commander-in-chief is usually a general officer. To a commander-in-chief in the field, he is for most part below that rank, while to a general commanding a division only, an assistant military secretary is allowed. His staff pay is of course additional to the officer’s regimental or unattached pay.

=Military Service.= In the feudal ages, a tenure of lands by knight’s service, according to which the tenant was bound to perform service in war unto the king, or the mesne lord, of whom he held by that tenure. As the king gave to the great nobles, his immediate tenants, large possessions forever, to hold of him for this or that service or rent, so they in time parceled out to such others as they liked, the same lands for rents and services as they thought good. And these services were divided into two sorts, chivalry and socage; the first whereof was martial and military, whereby the tenant was obliged to perform some noble or military office unto his lord. This was of two kinds: either regal, that is, held only by the king, or common, when held of a common person. That which was held only of the king was called _servitium_, or _serjeantia_, and was again divided into grand and petit serjeantry. The grand serjeantry was where one held lands of the king by service, which he ought to do in his own person; as, to bear the king’s banner or spear, to lead his horse, or to find a man-at-arms to fight, etc. Petit serjeantry was when a man held lands of the king, to yield him annually some small thing towards his wars, as a sword, dagger, bow, etc. Chivalry that might be holden of a common person was termed _scutagium_, or _escuage_; that is, service of the shield, which was either uncertain or certain. _Escuage uncertain_ was likewise twofold: first, where the tenant was bound to follow his lord, by going in person to the king’s wars, or sending a sufficient man in his place, there to be maintained at his cost so long as was agreed upon between the lord and his first tenant at the granting of the fee. The days of such service seem to have been rated by the quantity of land so holden; as, if it extended to a whole knight’s fee, then the knight was to follow his lord forty days; if but a half a knight’s fee, then twenty days; and if a fourth part, then ten days, etc. The other kind of this escuage was called _castle-ward_, where the tenant was obliged by himself or some other, to defend a castle as often as it should come to his turn.

=Military Stores.= See STORES, MILITARY.

=Military Tenure.= Tenure of land, on condition of performing military service.

=Military Train.= A highly important corps of the army of Great Britain, of which the function is to transport the provisions, ammunition, and all other material, together with the wounded in time of battle. It was formed after the Crimean war, on the dissolution of the Land-Transport Corps. In the year 1863 it comprised 6 battalions, in all 1840 officers and men. The corps ranks after the Royal Engineers, and is classed as Mounted Infantry, the officers receiving infantry rates, and the men cavalry rates of pay. The men are armed with carbine and sword, but rather for defensive than aggressive purposes. Attached to each battalion are 166 horses, with proportionate wagons and ambulances. It is proper to observe that the Military Train constitutes the nucleus of a transport service for a large army, and that in time of war it would be expanded by the addition of thousands of horses or mules, and the incorporation of many hundred drivers, etc. The advantage of possessing even a few men ready trained and capable of directing the movements of others was amply demonstrated by the failures of the Crimea in 1854-56; so that Parliament votes ungrudgingly the expense of this corps, although in time of peace it is comparatively without employment. It is now termed the Army Service Corps.

=Military Ways.= The large Roman roads which Agrippa caused to be made through the empire in the reign of Augustus for the marching of troops and conveying of carriages. They were paved from the gates of Rome to the utmost limits of the empire. The British have constructed a military road throughout India, with wells and other accommodations at certain distances.

=Militia.= From the Latin _miles_, a “soldier,” a term which was formerly synonymous with “military,” or the whole fighting force of a country, but in modern times has come to signify the domestic force for the defense of a nation, as distinguished from the regular army, which can be employed at home or abroad in either aggressive or defensive operations. Every nation has a reserve, under its law military, upon which its defense would fall on the discomfiture of the regular army; but the system differs in each country. France has her _Gardes Nationaux_, Prussia the _Landwehr_ and _Landsturm_, and similar organizations exist in other European states. It also comprehends the volunteer organizations of Great Britain and the United States. The laws of the United States require the enrollment into the militia of all able-bodied males between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, with certain exceptions specified in general and State laws. The militia of each State is required to be arranged into companies, battalions, regiments, brigades, and divisions, as the Legislature of the State may direct, and it shall be subject to military duty and shall serve a definite time. These organizations are to be officered by the respective States, the grades and number of officers being named in the laws requiring enrollment. The Constitution of the United States has given the power to Congress to provide for “calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.” Congress by legislation has given the President the authority to call forth the militia under certain exigencies, as has been frequently done. When called into actual service of the United States, the militia receive pay from the government, and are subject to the Rules and Articles of War. The militia is therefore a part and parcel of the army of the United States, although in common use the term is limited to mean the regular army alone. The organized militia of the United States numbers 125,906 men, the number of men available for military duty unorganized, is 6,598,105.

=Militia-man.= One who belongs to the militia.

=Mill, Gunpowder-.= Is a machine used for mixing or incorporating the ingredients of which gunpowder is composed. The operation was formerly effected as follows: The ingredients being duly proportioned and put into the mortars of the mills, which are hollow pieces of wood, each capable of holding 20 pounds of paste, are incorporated by means of the pestle and spindle. There are 24 mortars in each mill, where are made each day 480 pounds of gunpowder, care being taken to sprinkle the ingredients in the mortars with water from time to time, lest they should take fire. The pestle is a piece of wood 10 feet high, and 4¹⁄₂ inches broad, armed at the bottom with a round piece of metal. It weighs about 60 pounds. For more modern methods of incorporation, see GUNPOWDER.

=Mill Springs.= A village of Wayne Co., Ky., about 100 miles south of Frankfort. Near here a Federal force under Gen. Geo. H. Thomas defeated a Confederate army under Gen. G. B. Crittenden, January 19, 1862. In this engagement the Confederate general F. K. Zollicoffer was killed.

=Mill-cake.= The incorporated materials for gunpowder, in the form of a dense mass or cake, ready to be subjected to the process of granulation.

=Milliken’s Bend.= A village of Madison Parish, La., on the right bank of the Mississippi River, about 25 miles above Vicksburg. On June 6, 1863, the Confederates under Gen. McCullough made an attack on this place, which was defended by a body of colored troops and part of an Iowa regiment, and were repulsed after a severe engagement.

=Mim Bashy.= In the East Indies, a commander of 1000 horse.

=Minas, Sabbatha.= A fort in Babylonia, built in the time of the later Roman empire on the site of Seleucia, which the Romans had destroyed.

=Mincio.= A river of Lombardy, Italy. Here the Austrians were repulsed by the French under Brune, December 25-27, 1800, and by Eugene Beauharnais, February 8, 1814, near Valeggio.

=Minden.= A strongly fortified town of Prussia, in Westphalia, situated on the Weser, 35 miles southwest from Hanover. In its neighborhood the battle of Minden was fought, on August 1, 1759, between the English, Hessians, and Hanoverians (under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick), and the French were beaten and driven to the ramparts of Minden. Lord George Sackville (afterwards Lord Germaine), who commanded the British and Hanoverian horse, for some disobedience of orders was tried by a court-martial on his return to England, found guilty, and dismissed April 22, 1760. He was afterwards restored to favor, and became secretary of state, 1776.

=Mines, Military.= Constitute one of the most important departments in military engineering, and a very formidable accessory both in the attack and defense of fortresses. A military mine consists of a gallery of greater or less length, run from some point of safety under an opposing work, or under an area over which an attacking force must pass, and terminating in a chamber, which, being stored with gunpowder, can be exploded at the critical moment. Mines are of use to the besiegers in the overthrow of ramparts and formation of a breach; the _countermines_ of the besieged in undermining the glacis over which the assaulting column must charge, and blowing them into the air, or in destroying batteries erected for breaching, are equally serviceable. But far above the actual mischief wrought by the mine--often very great--is its moral influence on the troops, and especially on the assailants. Mines are either vertical,--when they are called _shafts_,--horizontal, or inclined, in either of which cases they are “galleries,” the word “ascending” or “descending” being added, if there be inclination. The dimensions range from the “great gallery,” 6 feet 6 inches by 7 feet, to the “small branch,”--the last diminutive of the gallery,--which has but 2 feet 6 inches height, with a breadth of 2 feet. The most frequent work is the “common gallery,” 4 feet 6 inches by 3 feet, which is considered the easiest for the miner.

=Minié Ball.= A ball or bullet of peculiar construction. It is cast hollow for nearly two-thirds of its length, and into the opening of the internal cylinder there is introduced a small concave piece of iron, which the powder at the moment of firing forces into the slug, spreading it open, and causing it to fit perfectly to the barrel. Hence a great increase in the precision of aim and the extent of range.

=Minié Rifle.= A species of fire-arm, invented by Capt. Minié, from whom it receives its name. It is certain in aim, and fatal in its results at 800 yards.

=Mining.= In military affairs, is the art of blowing up any part of a fortification, building, etc., by gunpowder. The art of mining requires a perfect knowledge both of fortifications and geometry; and by these previous helps, the engineer may be qualified to ascertain correctly the nature of all manner of heights, depths, breadths, and thicknesses; to judge perfectly of slopes and perpendiculars, whether they be such as are parallel to the horizon, or such as are visual; together with the true levels of all kinds of earth. To which must be added, a consummate skill in the quality of rocks, earths, masonry, and sands; the whole accompanied with a thorough knowledge of the strength of all sorts of gunpowder.

=Minion.= An ancient form of ordnance of small size, the caliber of which was about 3 inches.

=Minister.= Is one who acts not by any inherent authority of his own, but under another. Thus, in England all ministers act under a supreme authority, which is vested in the sovereign, lords, and commons, to whom they are responsible. In military matters, there is not only a war minister, but a secretary at war, who likewise acts conjointly with the secretary of state. All dispatches and papers of consequence relating to the army must first pass through the secretary of state, and the war minister, before they are laid before Parliament, or otherwise acted upon by the secretary at war. The common arrangements of corps, directions with respect to marching, are transmitted to the secretary at war, and to the quartermaster-general’s office, without previously passing through the secretary of state, or war minister. See SECRETARY OF WAR.

=Minnesota.= One of the Northwestern States of the American Union. The country was visited by white traders as early as 1654, but very few settlements were made in it until about 1845. The eastern part of the State formed a portion of the French possessions which were ceded to the British in 1763, and by them to the United States in 1783. The remaining part belonged to the Louisiana Territory, which was purchased from the French in 1803. The country was traversed by an exploring expedition under Gen. Pike in 1805. A territorial government was organized in 1849, and in 1853 Minnesota was admitted into the Union as a State. The State suffered severely in 1862 from an inroad of the Sioux, who destroyed whole settlements. They were soon afterwards, however, summarily punished, and removed from the State altogether.

=Minnetarees.= A tribe of Indians, formerly a branch of the Crows, but now affiliated to the Mandans, who reside on the Upper Missouri. They have always been friendly to the whites, and hostile to the Sioux, at whose hands they have suffered severely. They number about 400.

=Minor.= Under age. Minors will not be enlisted in the army of the United States without the consent of their parents or guardians. If any have enlisted and it becomes known, the Secretary of War, on demand, is required to grant the discharges from the army of minors who have enlisted without the consent of their parents or guardians.

=Minorca.= One of the Balearic Islands (which see) in the Mediterranean. It was captured by Lieut.-Gen. Stanhope and Sir John Leake in 1708, and was ceded to the British by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713; taken by the Spanish and French in July, 1756, and Admiral Byng fell a victim to public indignation for not relieving it. It was restored to the British at the peace in 1793; besieged by the Spaniards, and taken February 5, 1782; captured by the British under Gen. Stuart, without the loss of a man, November 15, 1798; but was given up at the peace of Amiens in 1802.

=Minturnæ= (_Minturnensis_; now _Trajetto_). An important town in Latium, on the frontiers of Campania; was situated on the Appia Via, and on both banks of the Liris, and near the mouth of this river. It was an ancient town of the Ausones, or Aurunci, but surrendered to the Romans of its own accord, 296 B.C. In its neighborhood Marius was taken prisoner.

=Minute.= A hasty sketch taken of anything in writing. Hence minutes of a general or regimental court-martial.

=Minute-gun.= A gun discharged every minute, as a signal of distress or mourning.

=Minute-man.= A man enlisted for service wherever required, and ready to march at a moment’s notice;--a term used in the American Revolution.

=Minutes of Councils in the Military Department.= The notification of orders and regulations, which are directed to be observed by the British army in India, are so called. These minutes receive the sanction of the governor-general in council, and are the result of previous communications from the court of directors in Europe. The answer to the French word, _resultat_, which was prefixed to all orders and regulations that were occasionally issued by the military boards, or _conseils de guerre_, for the government of the army. The term, _jugement d’un conseil de guerre_, corresponded with our minutes of a general or garrison court-martial, and expressed not only the minutes, but the sentence of the court.

=Miquelets= (_Fr._). Bandits, who have infested the Pyrenean Mountains; armed mountaineers of the Pyrenees; the name is now borne by the captain-general’s guard; in 1808, Napoleon organized a corps of _miquelets Français_, who rendered good services.

=Miqueletti.= A small body of mountain fusiliers, who formerly belonged to the Neapolitan army.

=Mire= (_Fr._). In the French artillery, a piece of wood about 4 inches thick, 1 foot high, and 2¹⁄₂ feet long, which is used in pointing cannon.

=Mireur= (_Fr._). An instrument employed in coast batteries for ascertaining whether the enemy’s ships are within the range of the guns, and thus to prevent the gunners from expending their shot unnecessarily.

=Mirmillones.= A class of Roman gladiators; said to have been so called from their having the image of a fish on their helmets. Their arms were like those of the Gauls; hence we find that they were also called Galli. They were usually matched with the retiarii or Thracians.

=Mirror.= See INSPECTION OF CANNON; also LOOKING-GLASS SIGNALING.

=Misbehavior before the Enemy.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 42.

=Miscellaneous.= An item or charge in the estimates of the British army, so distinguished as _miscellaneous services_; the same as our contingent expenditures.

=Misconduct at Divine Service.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 52.

=Misconduct in Time of War.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 55, 56, 57, and 58.

=Misericorde= (_Fr._). A short dagger, which the cavalry formerly used, for the purpose of dispatching an enemy who would not ask quarter or mercy.

=Misnomer.= The mistaking of the true name of a person; the using of one name for another. If a prisoner plead a misnomer before a court-martial, the court may ask the prisoner what is his real name, and call upon him to plead to the amended charge.--_Hough._

=Miss.= To fail to hit; to fly wide; as, the bullet missed its mark.

=Missile.= Capable of being thrown; adapted for hurling, or to be projected from the hand, or from any instrument or engine; as, to wing the missile dart.

=Missile.= A weapon thrown or intended to be thrown, for doing execution; as, a lance, an arrow, or a bullet.

=Missing.= Wanting; not present when called or looked for; lost; as, 100 soldiers are wounded and missing.

=Mississagas.= A tribe of Indians of Algonkin stock, who formerly resided on the north shore of Lake Huron, but are now found to the number of 700 in Ontario. They were one of the Confederate tribes of the “Seven Nations,” fought as allies of the French against the English (1743-48), sided with the English in the seven years’ war against the French and in the war against Pontiac, and aided the Canadian forces against the United States in the war of 1812.

=Mississippi.= One of the Southwestern States of the American Confederacy. It was first visited by Europeans about the year 1540, when De Soto, with 1000 followers, crossed the State on an exploring expedition from Florida, and remained in it for nearly a year. This party having suffered severely by attacks from the aborigines, no other attempt was made to establish a permanent colony till 1682, when La Salle descended the Mississippi and visited this region. He returned in two years with a party which he intended to settle in Mississippi, but meeting with misfortunes, the colony never reached its destination. The next attempt at settlement was made by Iberville, but with no successful result. The settlement at Fort Rosalie (now Natchez) in 1716, by some Frenchmen under Bienville, was generally considered the first permanent colony. A general massacre of the white inhabitants by the savages took place in 1728, but, as in every other contest between the Indians and the whites, victory ultimately rested with the latter. Other conflicts in 1736, 1739, and 1752, though carried on for a time with varying success, had the same result. At the peace of Paris, in 1763, Mississippi became a part of the English territory. Soon after a portion of the French, so inhumanly driven by the English from Nova Scotia, settled in Mississippi; and in 1768 commenced an emigration from the Eastern colonies by way of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. In 1798 the United States having attained the rights of the British government in this region, erected it into a Territory, and in 1817 it was admitted into the Union as an independent State. Mississippi was one of the first of the Southern States to secede from the Union, and it suffered severely during the civil war. It was the scene of several engagements, raids, etc., the most important being the battles of Iuka, Corinth, siege and capture of Vicksburg, and raids to Meridian.

=Missive.= Intended to be thrown, hurled, or ejected; missile. “The missive weapons fly.”

=Missolonghi=, or =Mesolonghi=. A town of Greece, in the government of Ætolia, is separated from the sea by a large lake. It is noted for the memorable siege it sustained in 1825-26. In the beginning of 1825 it was garrisoned by 5000 Greeks, who were commanded by Nóthi Bozzaris; and on April 25 of the same year a Turkish force of 20,000 under Reshid Pasha appeared before Missolonghi, which was poorly fortified. On May 11, the first bombardment began, and for the space of two months afterwards the town was exposed to numerous bombardments and assaults; but the defenders were not less active in answering the enemy’s fire, and making sallies from their defenses, by which means they succeeded in repelling their assailants, and inflicting on them considerable loss. During this time they were supplied with ammunition and provisions by the fleet which was stationed at the entrance of the lake; but on July 10, a superior Turkish fleet, after compelling the ships of Greece to retire, succeeded in landing a strong reinforcement to the besiegers. The assaults on the town were then renewed with increased fury, and the cannonade of the Turks carried destruction to its frail ramparts and death among the ranks of its brave defenders. Yet the garrison, though reduced to the number of 4000, continued to maintain their ground until, in the month of August, the Greek fleet appeared in the offing, and by defeating the Turkish squadron relieved Missolonghi for a time from the blockade. But the sultan was resolved at all hazards to reduce this stronghold of liberty; and in the end of November the Greek ships were again driven off, and the blockade renewed by the combined Turkish, Egyptian, and Barbary fleets. In the beginning of 1826 the besieging army was reinforced by the arrival of 14,000 troops under Ibrahim Pasha, who took command of all the besieging forces. On January 25, a bombardment was commenced, which lasted for three days, and reduced the town to ruins, but could not shake the resolute courage of the Greeks. The repeated assaults of the enemy were still repulsed with great loss. At last, reduced to the utmost extremities by famine, and seeing on all sides nothing but the ships and tents of the enemy, yet never entertaining any thought of surrender, the Greeks determined to force their way through the opposing ranks. Although by treachery the enemy was made aware of their design, and thus prepared to meet them, they were not able to prevent nearly 2000 of the besieged from making their way to the mountains. Many prisoners fell into the hands of the Turks, and the remainder, who were unable from their wounds or weariness to accompany their fellows, continued to defend themselves among the ruins until the explosion of a powder-magazine, destroying alike friends and foes, put an end to the bloody conflict. Such was the siege of Missolonghi, which attracted, during its continuance, the eyes of all Europe, and in which the Greeks showed themselves the worthy sons of the heroes of Marathon and Thermopylæ.

=Missouri.= One of the Central States of the Mississippi Valley, and the first organized wholly west of the Mississippi River. The French were the earliest settlers in the country, having built a fort there in 1719. By the treaty of 1763 it was ceded to Spain, with all the territory west of the Mississippi. Spain being at war with England during the American Revolution, her colonies were harassed by the English and their Indians allies. In 1780, a body of British and Indians attacked and besieged St. Louis, killing 60 of its defenders. The siege was raised by Col. Clark, an American, who came to the relief of the place with 500 men. In 1800 Spain restored the territory to France, and it passed to the United States by purchase in 1803. After the admission of Louisiana as a State in 1812, the remaining portion of the territory received the name of Missouri, from which was separated the State of that name in 1821. Though the State officially declared itself in favor of the Union in 1861, many of its prominent citizens sided with the Confederates. It was the scene of several engagements during the civil war.

=Missouria Indians.= A tribe of Dakota stock, who reside at the Otoe agency, Nebraska. They number about 200, and are progressing favorably in the arts of civilization.

=Mithridatic War.= The name of the celebrated contest carried on for a long series of years by the Romans against Mithridates VI., king of Pontus. It was caused by the massacre of about 100,000 Romans by Mithridates, 88 B.C., and remarkable for its duration, its many sanguinary battles, and the cruelties of its commanders. Mithridates having taken the consul Aquilius, made him ride on an ass through a great part of Asia, crying out as he rode, “I am Aquilius, consul of the Romans.” He is said to have killed him by causing melted gold to be poured down his throat, in derision of his avarice, 85 B.C.

=Mitigate.= To diminish the severity of; as, to mitigate punishment; to reduce in amount of severity, as a penalty. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 112.

=Mitraille= (_Fr._). Small pieces of old iron, such as heads of nails, etc., with which pieces of ordnance are sometimes loaded.

=Mitrailleur.= A gun in which several barrels are combined in order to produce a greater effect by the rapid succession of a number of shots. Mitrailleures existed as early as the 14th century. They were called _killing-organs_ at that time. The Scaligers at the end of the 14th century, the Protestant princes of Germany in the Smalkaldian war, and Austria in the war against Turkey, used this kind of gun. But the ancient mitrailleur differs from the modern both in dimensions and in the positions of the barrels. A peculiar kind of mitrailleur was the _espingol_, each barrel being loaded with several shots, which, by a slowly-burning charge, were discharged one after the other. The _espingol_ was used not only in the Middle Ages, but also recently,--by the Danes in 1848-50, and 1863-64. At the storming of Düppel the Prussians took about thirty such guns. In modern times the term has been specifically applied to certain battery guns employed by the French in the Franco-Prussian war. (See BATTERY GUN.) In the U. S. Light Artillery Tactics the term mitrailleur is applied to the Gatling gun.

=Mitylene=, or =Midulu= (anc. _Lesbos_). An island of the Grecian Archipelago, belonging to Turkey, and lying off the west coast of Asia Minor. Mitylene suffered much in the Greek war of independence, in the course of which it lost nearly the half of its inhabitants. (See MYTILENE.)

=Moabites.= A tribe descended from Moab, the son of Lot, and consequently related to the Hebrews; they inhabited the mountainous country east of the lower part of the Jordan and of the Dead Sea. In the time of the Judges, the Jews were for eighteen years under the yoke of the Moabites, who were afterwards made tributary by David, but about 900 B.C. shook off their allegiance to the Jewish kings, and after the Assyrians invaded the land of Judah, took part with the Chaldeans against the Jews.

=Moat.= The ditch round the ramparts of a fortress may be either wet--_i.e._, full of water--or dry. In the latter, which is the commoner case, the depth should not be less than 12 feet, nor the width under 24. The more perpendicular the walls, so much the greater will be the obstruction to the enemy. In regular works the walls are usually reveted with masonry, that at the foot of the rampart being the scarp or escarp, and that below the covered way the counterscarp. See DITCH.

=Mobile.= A city and capital of Mobile Co., Ala., situated on the west bank of the Mobile River, immediately above its entrance into the bay of the same name. It was founded by Bienville in 1711, passed into the hands of the English in 1763, was taken by the Spanish general Galvez in 1780, and was confirmed to Spain by the treaty of 1783. Mobile was blockaded by the Federal fleet in May, 1861. In 1864 the Confederates constructed several ironclads and gunboats, and threatened to raise the blockade. On August 5, Admiral Farragut with his fleet passed Forts Morgan and Gaines, the Confederate fortifications guarding the entrance to Mobile Bay, captured the ram “Tennessee” and the gunboat “Selma,” and effectually crippled the “Gaines.” With the co-operation of the land forces, the forts were soon captured, and the city was effectually cut off from external commerce. Mobile was evacuated by the Confederates, and surrendered to Gen. Canby and Rear-Admiral Thatcher, April 12, 1865, about 1000 prisoners, 150 guns, and a large quantity of ammunition and supplies falling into the hands of the Federals.

=Mobilization.= The calling into active service troops not previously on the war establishment.

=Mobilize.= To call into active service;--applied to troops which, though enrolled, were not previously on the war establishment.

=Moccasin= (Algonkin, _makisin_). A shoe or cover for the foot, made of deer-skin or soft leather, without a sole, and ornamented on the upper side; the customary shoe worn by the American Indians.

=Möckern.= A town of Prussian Saxony, 13 miles east of Madgeburg, on the Ehle. Here the French army under Eugène Beauharnais was defeated by the Prussians under York, April, 1813, and here Blücher defeated the French, October 16, 1813.

=Modena= (anc. _Mutina_). A fortified city of Northern Italy, 24 miles west-northwest of Bologna, capital of the former duchy of the same name. In ancient times Mutina was an important town of Gallia Cispadana, situated on the Via Æmilia; it fell into the hands of the Romans in 218 B.C., who established a colony here thirty-five years later; in 117 B.C. the settlers were disturbed by an incursion of the Ligurians, who for a short time held possession of the town, but were ultimately expelled by Consul Claudius; it was held by M. Brutus against the victorious Pompey; sustained a siege of about four months against the troops of Mark Antony; besieged and taken by Constantine in 312; was laid waste by Attila in 452. The modern town is surrounded with walls, and defended by bastions and a citadel; was governed by the house of Este from 1288 till 1796, when the last male of that house, the reigning duke, Hercules III., was expelled by the French. By the treaty of Campo Formio the Modenese possessions were incorporated with the Cisalpine republic, 1797, and with the kingdom of Italy, 1805. The Archduke Francis of Este, son of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, and of Mary, the heiress of the last duke, was restored in 1814. Modena was annexed to Sardinia March 18, 1860.

=Modocs.= A treacherous tribe of Indians of the Klamath nation. In 1872 they left the Klamath reservation under the leadership of their chief, Captain Jack, and refused to return. Military aid was invoked to compel them, and the troops were fired upon by the Indians, who retreated to the almost inaccessible fastnesses of the lava-beds. Here they held out until June 5, 1873, by which time nearly all were killed or captured. Captain Jack and some of the principal men of his tribe were tried by military commission for the murder of Gen. Canby and Mr. Thomas, Indian peace commissioner, who were treacherously slain in April while attending a conference with the Indians outside the camp. Captain Jack and three others were hanged October 3, 1873, and the remainder of the tribe deported to Indian Territory.

=Mœsia.= A Roman province in Europe. It was invaded by the Romans, when C. Scribonius Curio gained a victory over the Mœsians (75 B.C.), but not until the reign of Augustus was it finally subdued, 29 B.C. A line of fortresses was then planted for its defense along the southern bank of the Danube. The principal of these were afterwards known as Singidunum (Belgrade), Viminacium, and Axiopolis. It was successfully invaded by the Goths, numbers of whom eventually settled here. In the 7th century invading hordes of Bulgarians and Sclavonians founded the kingdoms of Bulgaria and Servia, which now comprise the territory of ancient Mœsia.

=Mogador=, =Mogodor=, or =Suerrah=. A seaport town of Morocco, on the Atlantic, 132 miles southwest from Morocco. Mogador is walled and fortified; but its defenses, which are the work of Genoese engineers, are of no great strength; its harbor, although much exposed, is considered the best on the coast. Mogador was bombarded in 1844 by a French fleet under the Prince de Joinville, on which occasion it suffered severely.

=Mognions= (_Fr._). A sort of armor for the shoulders.

=Mograbian.= A soldier of a branch of the Turkish infantry composed of the peasants of the northern part of Africa, who sought to better their condition by entering foreign service.

=Mogul Empire, The.= An empire which at one time extended over the greater part of Northern India. It was founded by Sultan Baber, a descendant of Timur (or Tamerlane), in 1526, and lasted until 1749, when the Mogul army was totally defeated by the Rohillas, and the empire was broken up into a number of petty sovereignties. In 1857, Mohammed Bahadur, the last king of Delhi and head of the Mogul empire, joined in the Indian mutiny, and was transported to Rangoon (1858), where he soon after died.

=Mohacs.= A town of Southern Hungary, on the western arm of the Danube. It owes its historical importance to the great battle fought here, August 29, 1526, between Louis II. of Hungary, with 25,000 Hungarians, and the sultan Solyman, at the head of about 200,000 Turks. The battle resulted in the disastrous defeat of the Hungarians, who lost their king, seven bishops, many nobles and dignitaries, and upwards of 22,000 men. A second battle was fought here on August 12, 1687, when the Turks in their turn were defeated by an Austro-Hungarian army under Charles of Lorraine.

=Mohammerah.= A Persian town near the Euphrates; captured, after two hours’ cannonading, by Sir James Outram, during the Persian war, March 26, 1857.

=Mohawks=, or =Maquas=. A warlike tribe of Indians who formerly inhabited the valley in the State of New York which bears their name. They were allied with the Onondagas, Oneidas, Senecas, Cayugas, and Tuscaroras, the confederation constituting what was known as the “Five Nations.” They were allies of the English in their wars with the French, and in the Revolutionary war. After the peace of 1783 they removed to Upper Canada, and settled on Grand River upon lands procured for them by their chief, Brant.

=Mohegans=, or =Mohicans=. A tribe of Indians of Algonkin stock, who formerly inhabited a considerable part of New England, and a part of New York. The town of Norwich, Conn., called Mohegan by the Indians, is situated about the centre of their ancient country. When the English first settled at Hartford, Uncas, the chief of the tribe, formed a treaty of amity with them, which appears to have been generally observed. The Mohegans were long the sworn foes of the Narragansetts. The latter, under their chief, Miantonomoh, invaded the Mohegan country in 1643, but were defeated by Uncas, who captured Miantonomoh and put him to death in September of that year. In 1645, the Narragansetts, under Passacus, the brother of Miantonomoh, burning to avenge the death of that chief, again invaded the Mohegan territory. On this occasion they were more successful. They laid waste the country in all directions, and compelled Uncas and his warriors to take refuge in his strong fortress at Shantock, which they would probably have become masters of but for the timely assistance of the English, who furnished a supply of provisions to the besieged. The invasion was again repeated, and with almost fatal effect to Uncas. The English again saved him, however, and after nearly twenty years of strife the hatchet was at length buried between these tribes.

=Mohilow.= A town in Russia, where the Russian army under Prince Bagration was signally defeated by the French under Marshal Davoust, prince of Eckmühl, July 23, 1812.

=Mohrungen.= A town of East Prussia, 62 miles south-southwest of Königsberg. The French defeated the Russians here in 1807.

=Moienne= (_Fr._). A piece of ordnance, which is now called a 4-pounder, and which is 10 feet long, was formerly so called.

=Moineau.= A small, flat bastion, raised in front of an intended fortification, to defend it against attacks from small-arms.

=Mojave Indians.= A tribe of aborigines, of Apache stock, residing in Arizona. They number about 2100, of whom about one-third are located on a reservation on the Colorado River, and about an equal number (known as Mojave Apaches) at the San Carlos agency, Arizona.

=Moldavia.= A province in the northeastern part of Turkey in Europe. The princes of Moldavia were formerly called _voyvodes_, or military leaders, a name which was afterwards changed by the Turks to that of _hospodars_, which is still retained. In the 13th century Moldavia was frequently disturbed by civil war, occasioned by rival claimants for the crown, and these dissensions rose to such a height that the country was divided into two parts, one of which acknowledged the sovereignty of Poland, and the other that of Hungary. A union was, however, soon after effected, and Moldavia became subject to Hungary, paying at the same time a tribute to the Poles. In 1536 Moldavia came under the protection of the sultan; for a considerable time after this period, it was the scene of constant wars between the Poles and Turks, until the claims of the former to the sovereignty of the state were finally abandoned in 1621, and peace concluded between Turkey and Poland; in 1738, during the war of Austria and Russia against Turkey, Moldavia was invaded by a Russian force, and occupied for two years, but was evacuated after the peace of Belgrade; in 1769 it was again occupied by the Russians, and became for a short time subject to the czar, but was restored to Turkey in 1774; in 1789 this unfortunate principality was again the scene of contest between Russia and Turkey, until the peace of Jassy in 1792, when the Russian frontier was fixed by the Dneister; in the war of 1807-12, Moldavia again fell into the hands of the Russians, who, by the treaty of Bucharest, acquired possession of Bessarabia, and thus extended their frontier to the Pruth. At the commencement of the Greek war in 1820 an insurrection broke out in the Danubian principalities, but it was suppressed by the Turks; in 1828 another war between Turkey and Russia broke out, and Moldavia was occupied by the Russians without opposition until peace was established by the treaty of Adrianople in 1829. A conspiracy was formed in 1840, to unite the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia into one state, but without success. In 1848 the influence of revolutionary sentiments was felt in Moldavia; the people of Jassy demanded a new constitution, and, although the hospodar successfully resisted this movement, he laid down his authority in the same year. In 1853 a Russian army took possession of Moldavia and Wallachia; after attempting in vain to cross the Danube in Wallachia, the Russians, in the spring of 1854, crossed that river at Galatz, and seized the fortresses in the Dobrudscha; they then proceeded to lay siege to Silistria, but this town was so vigorously defended that they were obliged to raise the siege, and the British and French troops having arrived at Varna, the Russian army evacuated the principalities in the autumn of 1854; the hospodars then returned to their respective governments, and the principalities were occupied by an Austrian army. At a conference at Paris, August 19, 1858, it was decided that the principalities should thenceforth be called the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, and should have in common a central commission and court of appeal, but be governed by different hospodars, to be elected by the people, and confirmed by the Porte.

=Molded Powder.= See GUNPOWDER.

=Mole.= A mound or massive work formed of large stones laid in the sea, extended either in a right line or an arc of a circle before a port, which it serves to defend from the violence of the waves, thus protecting ships in harbor; also, sometimes the harbor itself.

=Molino del Rey.= A range of massive stone buildings, about 500 yards long, forming the western side of an inclosure which surrounds the rock and castle, groves and fields of Chapultepec, 2 miles southwest of the city of Mexico. These buildings were occupied by the troops of Santa Anna in September, 1847, to intercept the march of the American army under command of Gen. Scott upon the city of Mexico. They were attacked on the morning of the 8th by Gen. Worth’s division, and, after a severe contest, the buildings were captured, with a loss to the Americans of 787 killed and wounded (including 59 officers), out of 3447, the whole number engaged. The Mexican forces numbered about 10,000 men.

=Mollwitz.= A village of Prussian Silesia; to the east of it lies the celebrated battle-field where Frederick II. of Prussia gained his first victory over the Austrians, April 10, 1741.

=Moluccas=, or =Spice Islands=. A numerous group of islands in the Asiatic Archipelago, situated between Celebes on the west, and New Guinea on the east, and stretching from lat. 2° N. to lat. 9° S. They were discovered by the Portuguese about 1510; became dependencies of Holland, 1795; during the French war of 1796, however, they were taken by the British, who held possession of them till 1800, when they were returned to Holland. The islands were again occupied by the British in 1810, but were finally restored to the Dutch in 1814, by the treaty of Paris.

=Molycrium.= A town in the most southerly part of Ætolia; it was founded by the Corinthians, but was afterwards taken possession of by the Ætolians.

=Mombas.= A seaport town of Africa, on a small island, in a bay on the coast of Zanzibar. It was first visited by the Portuguese under Vasco de Gama in 1498. In 1505, Francisco de Almeida, the Portuguese viceroy of India, took and burnt the town; in 1529 the Portuguese returned and repeated their work of destruction, and retained the city from that date to 1720, when Mombas fell into the hands of the imam of Muscat, but he was soon dispossessed by a rebellion of the inhabitants. It was under British protection from 1824 to 1826, and is now governed by an Arab sheikh.

=Momentum.= Is that force possessed by a body in motion; and is measured by the product of the mass of the body into its velocity.

=Mona= (now _Anglesey_). An island off the coast of the Ordovices, in Britain; it was invaded by Suetonius Paulinus, 61, and was conquered by Agricola, 78.

=Moncontour.= A town near Poitiers, in France. Here Admiral Coligny and the French Protestants were defeated by the Duke of Anjou, October 3, 1569.

=Mondovi.= A town of Northern Italy, near the river Ellero, about 47 miles south from Turin. The town is defended by walls and a small citadel, and contains a great number of religious houses. The French, under Napoleon I., defeated the Sardinian troops, under Colli, near this town in 1796, and in 1799 the town was sacked by the French under Soult.

=Monghir.= A town of Hindostan, East Indies, situated on the southern bank of the Ganges. It was an object of contention between the kings of Behar and Bengal in the early part of the 16th century; taken by the British in 1763.

=Mongolia.= A vast district in Asia. Its present boundaries east and north are Manchuria and Siberia, respectively, and on the south and west Thibet and Turkestan; but these boundaries have varied greatly at different periods of history. The whole of what is now usually recognized as Mongolia is considered to belong to the Chinese empire. See TARTARY.

=Mongols.= See TARTARY.

=Monmouth, Battle of.= Was fought June 28, 1778, between the Revolutionary forces under Gen. Washington and the British under Sir Henry Clinton. Gen. Washington, whose army of about 12,000 men was encamped at Valley Forge, being informed of the intention of the enemy to evacuate Philadelphia and proceed to New York, placed his forces in a condition to march immediately in pursuit. Accordingly, when intelligence of the evacuation reached him, he broke up his encampment, and detaching a small force under Gen. Arnold to take possession of Philadelphia, marched rapidly with his whole army toward the Delaware. On the morning of June 28 the advance of the Colonial army, under Gen. Lee, became engaged with the enemy’s rear on the plain near Monmouth Court-house, in New Jersey; but the English line being soon reinforced, the Americans were compelled to give way, upon which Lee ordered a retreat. Gen. Washington, who was riding ahead of the main body of his army, met the retreating force, and peremptorily ordered Lee to reform his troops and hold his position. This he for a time partially effected, but was being again driven back, when the main body of the army arrived to his assistance. The battle now became general, and under the inspiring influence of their commander-in-chief the Americans fought with such desperate resolution that the British were at length obliged to give way. Washington made preparations to follow up his advantage, but owing to the broken character of the ground, and twilight coming on before a proper disposition of his troops could be made, the attack was postponed until next morning. When morning dawned, however, it was found that Sir Henry Clinton with his whole force had retreated during the darkness of the night toward Sandy Hook, and Washington, on account of the heat of the weather and the fatigue of his men, did not pursue them. This was one of the most severely contested battles of the war. The American loss was 227 killed and wounded, the English was a little greater.

=Monomachy= (Fr. _monomachie_). A single combat, or the fighting of two, hand to hand. It is derived from the Greek. A duel may properly be called a monomachy.

=Mons= (Flemish, _Berghen_). A strongly-fortified town of Belgium, in the province of Hainault, on the Trouille, 33 miles southwest from Brussels. It has been frequently besieged and taken; in 1709 it was taken by the allies under Marlborough and Eugène; in 1746 by Marshal Saxe; and in the wars of the French revolution in 1792-94 it was taken alternately by the French and the allies, the former of whom held the town from 1784 to 1814.

=Monsoon.= A wind blowing half the year in one direction, and the other half in the opposite;--a term applied particularly to certain winds of the Indian Ocean, which blow from the southwest from April to October, and from the northeast the rest of the year. The term is sometimes used to designate similar winds in other parts of the globe.

=Mont St. Jean.= A village of Belgium; it is near the scene of the battle of Waterloo, called by the French the battle of Mont St. Jean.

=Montana Territory.= A Territory of the United States, which is bounded on the north by the British possessions, east by Dakota, south by Wyoming and Idaho, and west by Idaho. This Territory has been overrun by hostile Indians, who, under the management of the military, are being rapidly subjugated. It was formed into a separate Territory in May, 1864, before which time it formed part of Idaho.

=Montauban.= A town of France, capital of the department of Tarn-et-Garonne, 342 miles south by west from Paris. At the Reformation the people embraced the Protestant cause; and the town was ineffectually besieged by the adverse party in 1580. It afterwards, in 1621, resisted for three months the assaults of Louis XIII., and did not yield till after the fall of Rochelle in 1629. The fortifications were soon after destroyed.

=Montbéliard=, or =Montbélliard=. A town of France, in the department of Doubs, 48 miles northeast from Besançon. It was in former times a place of some strength, and the capital of a county that originally formed part of the kingdom of Burgundy, but was transferred to the Würtemberg family in 1395. Although twice taken by the French in the 17th century, it was not finally ceded to them till 1796.

=Monte Aperto, Battle of.= See SIENA.

=Monte-Baldo.= A mountain of Lombardy; the Austrians were defeated in its vicinity by the French in 1797.

=Montebello Casteggio.= A village of Northern Italy, in the province of Voghera; here the Austrians were defeated by a French army under Gen. Lannes, after a desperate conflict, June 9, 1800; in the last Italian war the Austrians were again defeated here by the united armies of the French and Piedmontese in May, 1859.

=Montemaggiore Belsito.= A town of the island of Sicily, 31 miles southeast of Palermo. It was occupied by the Saracens when they first took possession of the country.

=Montenegro.= A principality of Europe, situated between the Turkish eyalets of Bosnia and Albania, and separated from the Adriatic by the narrow strip of land known as the circle of Cattaro, in Austrian Dalmatia. The Montenegrins are Slavs of the Servian race, knit together in clans and families, and have many fights among themselves, which are perpetuated by the hereditary obligation of avenging blood. Montenegro belonged in the Middle Ages to the great Servian kingdom, but after the dismemberment of the latter, and its conquest by the Turks at the battle of Kossovo (1389), the Montenegrins, under their prince, who was of the royal blood of Servia, maintained their independence, though compelled to relinquish the level tracts of land, and confine themselves to the mountains, in 1485. The Turks continued to assert their claims to Montenegro, but they were only defeated in their plans, and in 1710 the Montenegrins sought and obtained the protection of Russia, the czar agreeing to grant an annual subsidy on condition of their harassing the Turks by inroads. In 1860 the Montenegrins excited an insurrection against the Turkish rule in Herzegovina, which was soon suppressed, and in return they themselves were so hard pressed by the Turks that they were glad to agree to a treaty (September 8, 1862) by which the sovereignty of the Porte over Montenegro was recognized.

=Montenotte.= A small village of Northern Italy; here the Austrians were defeated by the French under Bonaparte, April 12, 1796.

=Monter= (_Fr._). This word means to rise from one rank to another in the way of promotion, as from lieutenant to captain, etc., or from having the command of the youngest company to be promoted to that of the oldest.

=Montereau.= A town of France, in the department of Seine-et-Marne. In its immediate vicinity Napoleon, on February 18, 1814, gained his last victory over the allies.

=Monterey.= A city of Mexico, capital of the state of Nuevo Leon, about 85 miles east by north of Saltillo. Gen. Taylor with an army of about 6000 men, the first division under Gen. Worth, appeared before this place, September 21, 1846. It was defended by a force of about 10,000 Mexicans under Gen. Ampudia. In approaching the city the first obstacles to be overcome were two batteries, which were in a commanding position. These were soon taken and their guns turned on a third battery erected in a large stone building, called the Bishop’s Palace. This was stormed on the morning of the 22d, and a vigorous sortie of the garrison having been repulsed, the Americans entered the city with the flying Mexicans. During the day a feigned attack on the defenses in front was soon converted into a real one, and after a severe contest the Americans entered the city, though with great sacrifice of life; for every street was barricaded, and guns were pointed from almost every wall. On the morning of the 23d, the defenses on the opposite side were assaulted and carried by the division of Gen. Worth, and the garrison soon after surrendered.

=Monterey.= A port of entry and capital of the county of the same name in California, about 95 miles south-southeast of San Francisco. It was once a populous and thriving city, but has greatly declined since the rise of San Francisco. Being led to suppose that war existed between the United States and Mexico, Commodore Sloat took this place July 7, 1846, and raised the American flag without opposition.

=Montero.= A military cap and hood formerly worn in camp.

=Monterotondo.= A town of Central Italy, situated about 26 miles south-southwest of Rieti. An engagement took place here October 25, 1867, between the French and pontifical troops and the volunteers of Garibaldi, in which the latter were victorious.

=Montevideo.= The capital of the republic of Uruguay, in South America. It was taken by the British forces under Sir Samuel Auchmuty, February 3, 1807, but was evacuated by them July 7 of the same year, in consequence of the severe repulse the British met with at Buenos Ayres (which see). Montevideo was given up to Uruguay in 1828.

=Montgomery.= The capital of the State of Alabama. A convention of delegates from the Southern States met here February 4, 1861, to organize a provisional government for the seceded States, which were thereafter to be known as the Confederate States of America, and Montgomery was chosen as the seat of government. Richmond being afterwards made the capital of the Confederacy, the seat of government was transferred thither on May 20 in the same year.

=Montiel= (Spain), =Battle of=. Took place on March 14, 1369, between Peter the Cruel, king of Castile, and his brother, Henry of Transtamare, aided by the French warrior, Bertrand du Guesclin. Peter was totally defeated, and afterwards treacherously slain.

=Montilla.= A town of Spain, in Andalusia; in 1508 the fortifications of this place were destroyed by Ferdinand the Catholic.

=Montlhery= (Seine-et-Oise, France). The site of an indecisive battle between Louis XI. and a party of his nobles, termed “The League of the Public Good,” July 16, 1465.

=Montmartre.= A village of France immediately to the north of Paris, and standing within the new line of fortifications; it was the scene of some sharp fighting in March, 1814.

=Montmirail.= A town of France, in the department of the Marne; Bonaparte defeated the Russians near this place in 1814.

=Montmorency=, or =Montmorenci=. The name of a noble French family, whose celebrity dates as far back as the 11th century, and which has produced many famous princes, peers, and generals. Among them were 6 constables and 11 marshals of France.

=Mont-Pagnote= (_Fr._). In fortification, an eminence where persons post themselves out of the reach of cannon, to see a camp, siege, battle, etc., without being exposed to danger. It is also called the post of the invulnerables.

=Montreal.= The largest city of the Dominion of Canada and of British America; it was surrendered to the English by the French, September 8, 1760; taken by the Americans, November 12, 1775, and retaken by the English, June 15, 1776.

=Montserrat.= A West India island, discovered by Columbus in 1493; it has several times been taken by the French, but was secured to the British in 1783.

=Moodkee.= A small town of Hindostan; it is only remarkable for a victory gained by the British over a greatly more numerous force of the Sikhs on December 18, 1845.

=Mook.= A village of Holland, in the province of Limburg; Louis of Nassau was defeated by the Spaniards near this place in 1574, and was slain in the action.

=Mooltan=, or =Moultan=. A city of India, in the Punjab; this place was stormed by Runjeet Sing, 1818; it was taken by the British after a protracted siege, in January, 1849.

=Moon.= A crescent-formed outwork. See HALF-MOON.

=Moors.= Formerly the natives of Mauritania (which see), but afterwards the name given to the Numidians and others, and now applied to the natives of Morocco and the neighborhood. They assisted Genseric and the Vandals in the invasion of Africa, 429, and frequently rebelled against the Roman emperors. They resisted for a time the progress of the Arab Mohammedans, but were overcome in 707, and in 1019 by them introduced into Spain, where their arms were long victorious. In 1063 they were defeated in Sicily by Robert Guiscard. The Moorish kingdom of Granada was set up in 1237, and lasted till 1492, when it fell before Ferdinand V. of Castile. The expulsion of the Moors from Spain was decreed by Charles V., but not fully carried into effect till 1609, when the bigotry of Philip III. inflicted this great injury on his country. About 1518 the Moors established the piratical states of Algiers and Tunis. In the history of Spain the Arabs and Moors must not be confounded.

=Mootiana.= In the East Indies, the soldiers are so called, who are employed to collect the revenue.

=Moppat.= An early name for a sponge of a cannon.

=Moquis.= A body of Pueblo Indians, in Arizona, numbering about 1700, inhabiting seven villages in the region southwest of the Navajoes. Their towns would be almost impregnable to an Indian assault. Each pueblo is built around a rectangular court, and is surrounded by a wall 15 feet high, the top of which forms a landing, upon which the doors of the houses open. The exterior walls, which are of stone, have no openings, and would have to be scaled or battered down before access could be gained to the interior. The successive stories are set back, one behind the other. The lower rooms are reached through trap-doors from the first landing; the latter is reached by means of detached ladders. The houses are three rooms deep, and open from the interior court; the arrangement is as strong and compact as could be well devised; but as the court is common, and the landings are separated by no partitions, it involves a certain community of residence.

=Morat.= An old town of Switzerland, situated on a lake of the same name, in the canton of Friburg. Charles the Bold of Burgundy was defeated before Morat by the Swiss in 1476.

=Moravia.= An Austrian province, occupied by the Slavonians about 458, and conquered by the Avars and Bohemians who submitted to Charlemagne. About 1000 it was subdued by Boleslas, king of Poland, but recovered by Ulric of Bohemia in 1030. After various changes, Moravia and Bohemia were amalgamated into the Austrian dominions in 1526. Moravia was invaded by the Prussians in 1866.

=Morea.= The name borne by the ancient Peloponnesus since the Middle Ages, if not from as early a period as the 4th century; it forms the most southern part of Greece. Morea was overrun by the Goths and Vandals, and became a prey in the second half of the 8th century to bands of Slavic invaders, who found it wasted by war and pestilence. Gradually, however, these barbarians were subdued and Grecianized by the Byzantine emperors. In 1207 Morea was conquered by French knights; part of the country was reconquered in 1261 by the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII. Palæologus; but in 1460 the greater part of the Morea fell into the hands of the Turks, who retained possession of it down to the period of the Greek revolution, except from 1687 to 1715, when it was held by the Venetians.

=Morella.= A strongly-fortified town of Spain, province of Castellon-de-la-Plana. It was taken by Philip V. in 1707, surprised in 1838 by Cabrera, and retaken, after a brave defense, by Espartero in 1840. During the last civil war, the walls and magazines of the citadel were destroyed.

=Morgarten.= A mountain of Switzerland, 5 miles north from Schwyz, where, in November, 1315, the first battle was fought for Swiss independence. On this occasion 20,000 of the Austrian forces were defeated by 1300 Swiss. In 1798 the French were also defeated here by the Swiss.

=Morglay.= A deadly weapon; a great sword.

=Morion.= An iron or steel head-piece worn by a man-at-arms in the days when armor was used. It was distinguished from the helmets of the knights and esquires in having neither visor nor beaver. Under the Norman laws, every yeoman between certain ages was bound to keep his morion ready for service.

=Mormons.= A modern sect who profess the religious doctrines of one Joseph Smith. Polygamy is one of the prominent features of their religion. The sect has its headquarters at Salt Lake City, Utah.

=Morne.= The head of the lance used in tilting or other peaceful encounters. It was curved so that an adversary might be unhorsed, but not wounded, by a stroke.

=Morning Gun.= The gun fired at the first note of reveille in military barracks, forts, etc.

=Morning Star.= A weapon consisting of a ball with projecting spikes attached by a chain to a short staff. Used as late as the time of Henry VIII. by the train-bands of London.

=Morocco.= An empire in Northern Africa, formerly Mauritania. In 1051 it was subdued for the Fatimite caliphs, by the Almaravides, who eventually extended their dominion into Spain. They were succeeded by the Almohades (1121), the Merinites (1270), and in 1516 by the Scherifs, pretended descendants of Mohammed, the now reigning dynasty. The Moors have had frequent wars with the French, Spaniards, and Portuguese, due to piracy.

=Moron=, or =Moron-de-la-Frontera=. A town of Andalusia, Spain, about 32 miles northeast of Seville. On a hill east of the town are the ruins of an ancient castle erected by the Moors, which was one of the most important strongholds in Spain for several centuries. It was blown up by the French in 1812.

=Morris Island.= A low sand island, about 5 miles long, on the south side of Charleston harbor, S. C. A Confederate battery erected on its northern extremity aided in the capture of Fort Sumter, April 12-13, 1861, after which Fort Wagner and other batteries were erected for the defense of Charleston. An expedition against the city having been contemplated, the military occupation of the island by the Federals, and the erection of land-batteries for the reduction of Fort Sumter were deemed necessary. As the latter was a task requiring engineering skill, the duty was assigned to Gen. Q. A. Gillmore, who took command of the department. He took possession of the south end of the island on July 10, 1863, and on the 11th and 18th made two attempts to capture Fort Wagner near the north end by assault, his object being to get within more effective breaching distance of Fort Sumter. His efforts, however, were unsuccessful, and it was accordingly determined to reduce Fort Wagner by a regular siege. Gen. Gillmore commenced by the erection of parallels, which he pushed forward with such diligence in spite of all difficulties, that by August 13 his works were within about 400 yards of Wagner. On the morning of the 17th, having completed his batteries, which numbered about 60 pieces, and obtained the range, his guns opened fire on Sumter. The fleet, consisting of the frigate “Ironsides” and the monitors, aided by some wooden gunboats, made an attack at the same time upon Fort Wagner and Fort Gregg, another Confederate work, both of which were nearly silenced. On August 26, having completed a parallel and sap which extended very close to Fort Wagner, Gen. Gillmore determined to possess a ridge of sand which interposed, and was necessary to the success of his operations. It was constantly occupied by a strong body of the enemy’s pickets and at night by a force protected by rifle-pits. A bombardment of the position was made just before dark, after which it was carried by the 24th Massachusetts, and one company of North Carolina troops captured. After a terrific bombardment of forty-two hours, September 5-6, it was determined to carry the place by storm on the next day, but during the night the enemy evacuated the fort, and Gen. Gillmore became master of the whole island.

=Morris-pike.= An ancient Moorish pike.

=Mortar.= Short cannon for throwing shells, usually fired at angles from 45° to 60° elevation, called “vertical fire,” in contradistinction to the fire of long cannon, usually made at low angles. Mortars--so called from their similarity of form to the mortar for pulverizing, which has retained its familiar shape from the earliest ages--are believed to have been the first guns used, and, though changed from age to age frequently in form of chamber, size, and projectile, all ages have found them too useful in their special way to suppress or essentially alter them. The “Coehorn” mortar--so called from the famous Dutch engineer, Gen. Coehorn, who first proposed them in 1674--is to-day in use, of the same pattern and for the like service then suggested. Monster mortars have been constructed from time to time, in the hope of producing immense destruction in bombardments with single shells containing a large quantity of powder. The most recent of these, the monster mortar made by Mallet for the British government, weighing 114,000 pounds, with a bore of 36 inches and a shell of 2912 pounds, failed to be of any service. Perhaps the most unique mortars ever made were to be found in the island of Malta in the last century. The solid rock had been hollowed out into immense mortars, some of them 6 feet wide at the mouth. These tremendous _fougasses_ (the proper term for them) were to be filled with stones, shells, and missiles of various kinds, to descend in a crushing shower upon an enemy attempting a landing. For different kinds of mortars now in use, see ORDNANCE.

=Mortara.= A walled town of Italy, situated on the right bank of the Arbogna, 14 miles south-southeast of Novara. In 774, the Lombards were here defeated by Charlemagne with great slaughter.

=Mortar-bed.= See BEDS, and ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Mortar-fuze.= See LABORATORY STORES.

=Mortar-piece.= An old term for a mortar.

=Mortar-scraper.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Mortar-wagon.= A wagon used to transport mortars, mortar-beds, spare guns, and projectiles. See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Mortfontaine.= A village of France, in the department of the Oise, in the castle of which peace between France and the United States was signed in 1800.

=Mortimer’s Cross.= Four cross-roads about 6 miles northwest from Leominster, in Herefordshire, England, where the Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians in 1461.

=Mortlach.= A parish of Scotland, in Banffshire. In this parish the Danes were defeated by Malcolm II. in the 11th century.

=Mortne.= See MORNE.

=Moscow.= A city of Russia in Europe, situated on the river Moskwa, 375 miles southeast from St. Petersburg. It was the ancient capital of Russia, and was founded about 1147. It was plundered by Timur, 1382; by the Tartars, 1451 and 1477; ravaged by Ladislas of Poland in 1611. It was entered by Napoleon I. and the French, September 14, 1812; the governor, Rostopchin, ordered it to be set on fire (11,840 houses burnt, besides palaces and churches), September 15, 1812. It was evacuated by the French in October, 1812.

=Moskirch= (Baden). Here the Austrians were defeated by Moreau and the French, May 5, 1800.

=Moskwa, Battle of.= See BORODINO.

=Moslem.= Pertaining to the Mohammedans.

=Moss-troopers.= A name formerly applied to the raiders and cattle-thieves who infested the borders of England and Scotland.

=Mothir al Moolk.= In the East Indies, fortifications, barricades, intrenchments, or breastworks, are so called.

=Motion.= Each movement in the manual of arms is divided into motions to facilitate instruction of recruits.

=Motion of Projectiles.= See PROJECTILES.

=Moton.= In ancient armor, a small plate covering the armpits of a knight, used when plate-armor was worn.

=Motto.= In heraldry, is a word or short sentence which forms an accompaniment to a coat of arms, crest, or household badge. In modern heraldry it is customary to place the motto in an escrol either above the crest or below the shield.

=Motya.= An ancient town in the northwest of Sicily, situated on a small island (now _Isola di Mezzo_), only 6 stadia from the coast. It passed from Sicily into the hands of the Carthaginians; was taken from them by Dionysius of Syracuse about 397 B.C., and was finally captured by the Carthaginian general Himilco, who transplanted all its inhabitants to the town of Lilybæum. From this time it disappears from history.

=Moulinet.= A circular swing of the weapon in sword exercise.

=Moultrie, Fort.= See FORT MOULTRIE.

=Mound.= A bulwark for offense or defense.

=Mound.= In heraldry, a representation of a globe, surmounted with a cross (generally) pattée. As a device, it is said to have been used by the emperor Justinian, and to have been intended to represent the ascendency of Christianity over the world. The royal crown of England is surmounted by a mound, which first appeared on the seal of William the Conqueror, though the globe without the cross was used earlier.

=Mount.= The means or opportunity for mounting, especially a horse; and the equipments necessary for a mounted horseman.

=Mount.= To place one’s self on, as a horse or other animal, or anything that one bestrides or sits upon; to bestride. Hence, to put on horseback; to furnish with animals for riding; to furnish with horses. “To mount the Trojan troop.” See DISMOUNT.

=Mount.= To put anything that sustains and fits, for use; as, to mount a gun on a carriage. To prepare for being worn or otherwise used, as a sword-blade by adding the hilt and scabbard. A ship or a fort is said to mount cannon when they are arranged for use in and about it.

=Mount.= A word of command in the cavalry exercise for the men to mount their horses.

=Mount a Breach, To.= To run up in a quick and determined manner to any breach made in a wall, etc. _To mount guard_, to do guard duty in a town, garrison, camp, etc.

=Mount Desert Island.= A mountainous island in the Atlantic, and in Hancock Co., Me.; is 14 miles long and 7 wide. The French settled it in 1608; they were driven out by the English in 1616. The English settled it in 1761.

=Mountain Artillery.= A species of light artillery which is used in the United States and other countries in mountain warfare. See MOUNTAIN BATTERY.

=Mountain Battery.= A battery of mountain pieces. The pieces and carriages are carried separately upon the backs of animals, by means of pack-saddles of special construction. These have, however, of late been almost entirely superseded for this purpose by the aparejo. A portable forge also accompanies each battery, and is carried with a bag of coal upon a pack-saddle.

=Mountain-carriage.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Mountain-gun.= See MOUNTAIN ARTILLERY.

=Mountain-howitzer.= The howitzer used in the U. S. service is a 12-pounder brass gun of old pattern with cylindrical chamber. The gun weighs 220 pounds and has an extreme length of 37.21 inches. This gun is ignored in the Light Artillery Tactics.

=Mounted Troops.= Cavalry.

=Mounting Guard.= See GUARD MOUNTING.

=Mourne.= That part of a lance or halbert to which the steel or blade is fixed.

=Mouser.= In the British army, a sobriquet which was sometimes used in sport to distinguish the battalion men from the flank companies. It was indeed generally applied to them by the grenadiers and light bobs, meaning that while the latter are detached, the former remain in quarters, like cats to watch the mice, etc.

=Mousquetaires=, or =Musketeers=. A body of horse-soldiers under the old French _régime_, raised by Louis XIII. in 1622. This corps was considered a military school for the French nobility. It was disbanded in 1646, but was restored in 1657. A second company was created in 1660, and formed Cardinal Mazarin’s guard.

=Mouth.= See MUZZLE.

=Mouth.= The outer opening of an embrasure.

=Movement.= A term used to express the changes of position which troops undergo in performing their evolutions.

=Mow.= To cut down with speed; to cut down indiscriminately, or in great numbers or quantity; to sweep away; as, a discharge of grape-shot mows down whole ranks of men.

=Moyan.= A species of early artillery.

=Moyen= (_Fr._). The bastions which are constructed on the angles are called royal bastions. Some engineers have distinguished those bastions by the name of _moyens royaux_, or medium royals, whose flanks contain from 90 to 100 toises.

=Moyenne= (_Fr._). An ancient 4-pounder, 10 feet long, weighing 1300 pounds. In the time of Charles IX. (1572) it was a 2³⁄₄-pounder.

=Moyenne Ville= (_Fr._). A term formerly given by the French to any town in which the garrison was equal to a third of the inhabitants, and which was not deemed sufficiently important to bear the expense of a citadel; more especially so because it was not in the power of the inhabitants to form seditious meetings without the knowledge of the soldiers who were quartered on them.

=Moyens Côtés= (_Fr._). In fortification, are those sides which contain from 80 to 120 toises in extent. They are always fortified with bastions on their angles. The _moyens côtés_ are generally found along the extent of irregular places, and each one of these is individually subdivided into small, mean, and great sides.

=Mozyr.= A town in the southeast of the government of Minsk, in European Russia, situated on the Pripet, a tributary of the Dnieper. It is a town of considerable antiquity, and played a rather important part in the wars between the various Russian princes previous to the Tartar invasion. It was unsuccessfully besieged by the Tartars in 1240.

=Muff and Collar.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, LIMBER.

=Muffle.= To wrap with something that dulls or renders sound inaudible; to deaden the sound of; as, to muffle a drum.

=Mufti.= The civilian dress of a military officer when off duty; hence, a citizen’s dress, as distinguished from military uniform.

=Muhlagis.= Turkish cavalry composed of expert horsemen, who generally attend the beglierbeys. They are not very numerous.

=Muhlberg.= A town of Prussian Saxony, situated on the Elbe. Here, on April 24, 1547, a battle was fought between Johann-Friedrich, elector of Saxony, and the emperor Charles V., a battle fraught with the most important results to the cause of Protestantism in Germany. The battle was soon decided in favor of the emperor; the elector was taken prisoner, and stripped of his territories. From this time till 1552, the Catholics were triumphant in Germany.

=Muhldorf.= In Bavaria, near which place Frederick, duke of Austria, was defeated and taken prisoner by Louis of Bavaria, September 28, 1322.

=Mulct.= A soldier is said to be mulcted of his pay when put under fine or stoppages for necessaries, or to make good some dilapidations committed by him on the property of the people or the government.

=Mule.= See PACK AND DRAUGHT ANIMALS.

=Mullet.= In heraldry, is a charge in the form of a star, generally with five points, intended to represent a spur-rowel. It is a mark of cadency assigned to the third son.

=Multan=, or =Mooltan=. An ancient and important city of India, in the Punjab, 200 miles southwest from Lahore. Multan is a military station, with a small redoubt in the rear of the cantonment. In 1849 it was taken by the British troops under Gen. Whish, and annexed with its territory to the British possessions.

=Multi-charge Gun.= Many attempts have been made by inventors to utilize the accelerating effect on the projectile of several charges successively fired in a gun. _Lyman’s multi-charge_ gun has a series of pockets along the bore, the charges in which are successively fired as the projectile passes them. _Bessemer_ proposed plan is to use a gun of great length. The charges are placed separately in holes at the breech, to be fired in succession by electricity.

=Multiple Lines.= In fortification, several lines of detached walls for the defense of a position.

=Munchengratz.= A town of Bohemia, on the Iser, 8 miles northeast from Jungbunzlau; it was taken by the Prussians under Prince Frederick Charles, after a severe action, June 28, 1866. The Austrians lost about 300 killed and 1000 prisoners, and the prince gained about 12 miles of country. There is a palace here, in which the emperors of Austria and Russia and the king of Prussia met in 1833.

=Munda.= A Roman colony and an important town in Hispania Bætica, situated on a small river, and celebrated on account of two battles fought in its neighborhood, the victory of Cn. Scipio over the Carthaginians in 216 B.C., and the important victory of Julius Cæsar over the sons of Pompey in 45.

=Munich= (Ger. _München_). The capital of the kingdom of Bavaria, situated on the Iser, 117 miles southeast from Stuttgart. It was taken by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1632; by the Austrians in 1704, 1741, and 1743; and by the French under Moreau, July 2, 1800.

=Munifice= (Lat. _munifex_), Fr. A Roman soldier who was subjected to every kind of drudgery-work in camp.

=Munimell.= A stronghold, fortification, etc.

=Munition.= Whatever materials are used in war for defense, or for annoying an enemy; ammunition; also, stores and provisions; military stores of all kinds.

=Munkacs.= A market-town of East Hungary, 80 miles northeast from Debreczin. It was taken by the Imperialists in 1687, after a siege of three years.

=Munsees=, or =Minsees=. A tribe of Indians of Algonkin stock, who were closely allied to the Delawares. Many of them became converts to Christianity. A few of them now reside on the reservation of the Stockbridge Indians in Wisconsin, and about 60 are settled in Kansas.

=Münster.= A city of Germany, on the small river Aa, 77 miles northeast from Cologne. It is the capital of a government of the same name in Prussian Westphalia. It was seized by the French in 1806; part of the duchy of Berg, 1809; annexed to France, 1810; ceded to Prussia, 1815. It was the headquarters of the Anabaptists under John Leyden, who defended it against the bishop of Münster, 1534-35. Here was signed the treaty of Westphalia or Münster, October 24, 1648.

=Münsterthal.= Two valleys of Switzerland, one in the canton Grisons, the other in Berne, where, in 1444, the battle of St. Jacob was fought between the French and Swiss, when the latter were nearly annihilated.

=Muotta Valley.= A secluded valley of Switzerland, canton of Schwytz, traversed by the river Muotta, an affluent of Lake Lucerne. Here a sanguinary struggle took place in 1799, between the French under Lecourbe, Mortier, and Masséna, and the Russians under Suwarrow. The latter was hemmed in on all sides, but by a desperate onslaught he cut his way through the French lines, and made a masterly retreat.

=Muradal, Battle of.= See TOLOSA.

=Murage.= Money appropriated to the repair of military works; anciently so called.

=Mural Crown.= In Roman antiquity, a golden crown, or circlet of gold, indented so as to resemble a battlement; bestowed on him who first mounted the wall of a besieged place, and there lodged a standard.

=Murcia.= An old kingdom in the southeast of Spain, now divided into the modern provinces of Murcia and Albacete. It was conquered by the Arabs in 711 (712, 713); after the fall of the caliphate of Cordova, it became an independent Arab kingdom, but six years afterward was subjugated by King Ferdinand II. of Castile.

=Murcia.= A city of Spain, capital of the ancient kingdom and modern province of its own name, 30 miles north-northwest of Carthagena. It was taken by the Moors in 713; wrested from them by Ferdinand of Castile. In 1810 it was taken and sacked by the French.

=Murderer.= A great piece of artillery. Among the ordnance given up to Monk with Edinburgh Castle in 1650 is mentioned “The great iron murderer, Muckle Meg.”

=Murdresses.= In ancient fortification, a sort of battlement with interstices, raised on the tops of towers in order to fire through.

=Muret= (Southern France). Here the Albigenses under the Count of Toulouse were defeated by Simon de Montfort, and their ally, Peter of Aragon, killed, September 12, 1213.

=Murfreesboro’.= A town and capital of Rutherford Co., Tenn., about 30 miles southeast of Nashville. A Federal force which occupied this place in 1862 was surprised and captured by a body of Confederates under Gen. Forrest. Near here, on December 31, 1862, the Army of the Ohio under Gen. Rosecrans encountered the Confederates under Gen. Bragg, and a desperate battle ensued, continuing at intervals and with varying success until January 3, 1863, when the Confederate army retreated, and Gen. Rosecrans occupied Murfreesboro’. The Federal loss was about 8500 killed and wounded, and 3600 missing; the Confederates represented their loss at 10,000, of which 9000 were killed and wounded. This battle is known as the battle of Murfreesboro’, or of Stone River.

=Murviedro.= A fortified town of Spain in the province of Valencia, 17 miles north from Valencia. It was taken by Hannibal 219 B.C.

=Muscule=, or =Testude=. In ancient times, a machine of war; a mantelet; shed; low, long, and sharp-roofed shed, which enabled the besiegers to advance to and sap the wall of the besieged.

=Music.= A general term for the musicians of a regimental band.

=Music, Phrygian.= A martial sort of ancient music, which excited men to rage and battle; by this mode Timotheus stirred up Alexander to arms.

=Musicians.= See BAND, DRUMMER, FIFER, and TRUMPETER.

=Musket=, or =Musquet= (Fr. _mousquet_). The fire-arm for infantry soldiers, which succeeded the clumsy arquebuse, and has itself given way before the rifle (which see). The first muskets were matchlocks; after which came wheel-locks, asnaphans or snaphance muskets, and lastly percussion muskets, which were a vast improvement both for accuracy and lightness on all which had gone before. Compared, however, to the present rifle, the musket was a heavy, ugly, and ineffective weapon.

=Musket Baskets.= These are about a foot or a foot and a half high, 8 or 10 inches diameter at bottom, and a foot at the top, so that being filled with earth there is room to lay a musket between them at the bottom, being set on low breastworks, or parapets, or upon such as are beaten down.

=Musketeer.= A soldier armed with a musket.

=Musketoon.= An obsolete weapon; was a short musket of very wide bore, carrying a ball of 5 ounces, and sometimes bell-mouthed like a blunderbuss. Also one who was armed with such a weapon.

=Musket-proof.= Capable of resisting the effects of musket-balls.

=Musketry.= Muskets in general or collectively. “The rattle of musketry.”

=Musselburgh.= A royal burgh of Scotland, county of Mid-Lothian, at the mouth of the Esk, 6 miles east of Edinburgh. The town is historically important on account of the battle of Pinkie, which was fought in the neighborhood in 1547, when the Scottish army was defeated by the English under the Earl of Somerset.

=Mustang.= The wild horse of the prairies in Mexico, California, etc. It is small, hardy, and easily sustained.

=Muster.= A review of troops under arms, fully equipped, in order to take an account of their numbers, inspect their arms and accoutrements, and examine their condition. In the U. S. service troops are mustered bi-monthly. During the civil war, the mustering in and mustering out of troops (into or out of the U. S. service) were performed by staff-officers, called commissaries of musters.

=Muster-book.= A book in which military forces are registered.

=Muster-file.= A muster-roll.

=Muster-master.= One who takes an account of troops, and of their arms and other military apparatus. This title is not known in the U. S. army. The person who performs these duties is called a _mustering_ officer, or an _inspecting_ officer.

=Muster-roll.= A roll or register of the men in each company, troop, or regiment.

=Muta= (Syria). Here Mohammed and his followers defeated the Christians in his first conflict with them, 629.

=Mutilated.= In a military sense, signifies wounded in such a manner as to lose the use of a limb. A battalion is said to be mutilated when its divisions, etc., stand unequal.

=Mutina.= See MODENA.

=Mutine.= To mutiny; a mutineer. This term is obsolete.

=Mutineer.= One guilty of mutiny; a person in military or naval service, who rises in opposition to the authority of the officers, who openly resists the government of the army or navy, or attempts to destroy due subordination.

=Mutinous.= Disposed to mutiny or resist the authority of laws and regulations, especially in an army, or openly resisting such authority; turbulent; seditious.

=Mutinously.= In a mutinous manner.

=Mutinousness.= The quality or state of being mutinous; seditiousness.

=Mutiny.= Insurrection against constituted authority, particularly military authority; open and violent resistance to the authority of officers; concerted revolt against the rules of discipline; hence, generally, forcible resistance to rightful authority on the part of subordinates. Violent commotion; tumult; uproar; strife.

=Mutiny.= To rise against lawful authority in the military service; to excite, or to be guilty of mutiny, or mutinous conduct; to revolt against one’s superior officer or rightful authority.

=Mutiny Act.= In Great Britain, an annual act of Parliament fixing the strength of the army for the military year, which commences April 1, and ends March 31, and imposing certain penalties for offenses connected with the army. It also authorizes the sovereign to issue Articles of War.

=Muzzle.= See ORDNANCE, NOMENCLATURE.

=Muzzle Velocity.= Velocity at the muzzle. See INITIAL VELOCITY.

=Muzzle-ring.= The metallic ring or circle that surrounds the mouth of a cannon or other piece.

=Muzzle-sight.= A front sight placed on or near the muzzle.

=Mycale= (now _Samsum_). A mountain in the south of Ionia, in Asia Minor, north of the mouth of the Meander. It forms the western extremity of Mount Messogis, and runs far out into the sea, opposite to Samos, forming a sharp promontory, which was called Mycale, or Trogilium (now _Cape St. Maria_). This cape and the southeast promontory of Samos (Posidonium) overlap one another, and the two tongues of land are separated by a strait only about three-fourths of a mile in width, which is renowned in Greek history as the scene of the victory gained over the Persian fleet by Leotychides and Xanthippus, 479 B.C.

=Mycalessus.= An ancient and important city in Bœotia, mentioned by Homer, situated on the road from Aulis to Thebes. In 413 B.C., some Thracian mercenaries in the pay of Athens surprised and sacked the town and butchered the inhabitants. From this blow it never recovered, and was in ruins in the time of Pausanias.

=Mycenæ=, sometimes =Mycene= (now _Karvata_). An ancient town in Argolis, about 6 miles northeast of Argos; it is said to have been founded by Perseus in 2 B.C. After the conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians, it ceased to be a place of importance. It still, however, continued an independent town till 468 B.C., when it was attacked by the Argives, whose hatred the Mycenæans are said to have incurred by the part they took in the Persian war in favor of the Greek cause. The massive walls of Mycenæ resisted all the attacks of the Argives; but the inhabitants were at length compelled by famine to abandon their town. They effected their escape and took refuge, some at Cleonæ, some in Achaia, and others in Macedonia.

=Mylæ.= See MILAZZO.

=Myonnesus= (now _Cape Hypsili_). A promontory of Ionia, with a town and a little island of the same name, forming the northern headland of the Gulf of Ephesus. Here the Romans, under the prætor L. Æmilius, gained a great naval victory over Antiochus the Great, 190 B.C.

=Myriarch.= A captain or commander of 10,000 men.

=Myrmidons.= The soldiers who accompanied Achilles in the expedition against Troy. Rough, desperate characters banded under a leader.

=Mysore=, =Maheshasoora=, or =Maisur=. A raj or native principality of Southern India. It was ruled by Hyder Ali, who acquired the sovereignty in 1761, and afterwards by his son Tippoo Sahib, who was slain when Seringapatam (May 4, 1799) was stormed and taken, and the country occupied by the British, who set up, in the same year, an heir of the ancient Hindoo royal family of Mysore to rule in his stead. The state is now subsidiary to the British.

=Mytilene=, =Mitylene=, or =Metelin=. The city of Lesbos. At the beginning of the 7th century B.C., the possession of its colony, Sigeum, at the mouth of the Hellespont, was disputed in war between the Mytileneans and Athenians, and assigned to the latter by the award of Periander, tyrant of Corinth. Mytilene submitted to the Persians after the conquest of Ionia and Æolis, and furnished contingents to the expeditions of Cambyses against Egypt and of Darius against Scythia; it was active in the Ionian revolt; became again subject to Persia, and took part in the expedition of Xerxes against Greece. After the Persian war it formed an alliance with Athens, and remained one of the most important members of the Athenian confederacy. In 428 B.C. it headed a revolt of the greater part of Lesbos, the progress and suppression of which forms one of the most interesting episodes in the history of the Peloponnesian war. Mytilene fell under the power of the Romans after the Mithridatic war.

N.

=Naas.= A town of Ireland, in the county of Kildare, 18 miles southwest from Dublin. Here the insurgent Irish were defeated by a body of the king’s forces, May 24, 1798; the insurgents lost about 300 killed and many wounded.

=Nabatæi=, or =Nabathæ= (in the Old Testament _Nebaioth_). An Arabian people, descended from the eldest son of Ishmaël, had their original abodes in the northwestern part of the Arabian peninsula, east and southeast of the Moabites and Edomites. After the Babylonian conquest of Judæa, the Nabathæans extended west into the Sinaitic peninsula and the territory of the Edomites. They resisted all the attacks of the Greek kings of Syria. Under Augustus the Nabathæans are found, as nominal subjects of the Roman empire, assisting Ælius Gallius in his expedition into Arabia Felix; under Trajan they were conquered by A. Cornelius Palma, and Arabia Petræa became a Roman province, 105-107. The Mohammedan conquest finally overthrew the power of the Nabathæans.

=Nachod.= A town of Bohemia, near where the Prussians, under their crown prince, defeated the Austrians after a severe conflict, June 27, 1866. In this battle, the superiority of the Prussian Uhlans over the Austrian cavalry was demonstrated.

=Nafels.= A small town of Switzerland, in the canton of Glarus, 4 miles north from Glarus. Here in 1388, 1500 men of Glarus, under Matthias am Buhl, overthrew an Austrian force of from 6000 to 8000 men The event is still celebrated yearly.

=Nagarkana.= In the East Indies, the place where all the drums and war-music are kept, is so called.

=Naggur= (_Ind._). The principal drum in Asiatic armies, commonly allowed only to persons of high dignity; the bass drum.

=Nagpore=, =Nagpur=, or =Nagpoor=. A city of British India, capital of the province of the same name, 430 miles in a direct line east-northeast from Bombay. The rajahs of Nagpore, now an extinct dynasty, were the rulers of a state which was a branch of the great Mahratta confederacy. Its founder was Parsojee, originally a private soldier. Ragojee, one of the successors of Parsojee, united his forces in 1803 with those of Scindia in the war against the British consequent on the treaty of Bassein. The victories of Assaye and Argaum compelled him to sue for peace, and by a treaty concluded in 1804, he surrendered the province of Cuttack. Appa Sahib, his successor, concluded a treaty with the British government, but on November 26, 1817, he made an attack on the British troops at Seetabuldee, an eminence on the outskirts of the town of Nagpore. The British force, only 1400 strong, under Col. Scott, was opposed to a body of 20,000 native troops; but the best dispositions which the suddenness of the attack allowed were promptly made. A noble charge, headed by Capt. Fitzgerald with a small party of cavalry, upon a large body of the enemy’s horse, decided the fortune of the day, which ended in the defeat of the natives.

=Naigue=, =Naick=, or =Naik=. A native non-commissioned officer among Indian and Anglo-Asiatic troops, whose functions are somewhat analogous to those performed among European troops by the drill-sergeant.

=Nail Cannon, To.= See SPIKE CANNON, TO.

=Nail-ball.= A round projectile with an iron pin protruding from it, to prevent its turning in the bore of the piece.

=Nairs.= A native military tribe of the Malabar coast. They affirm that they are the oldest nobility in the world. Their pride on this supposition is greater than that of the Rajpoots. In 1755, the king of Travancore, with the assistance of a French officer called Launoy, disciplined 10,000 Nairs in the method of European infantry.

=Najera.= A town of Spain in the province of Logrono. Near this place Edward the Black Prince defeated Henry de Trastamere, and re-established Peter the Cruel on the throne of Castile, April 3, 1367.

=Naked Bullet.= _Grooved_ or _cannelured_ bullet as distinguished from the _patched bullet_.

=Namur.= A city of Belgium, capital of the province of the same name, 33 miles southwest from Liège. It has been fortified from the earliest period of its history; in 1692 its defensive works were repaired and strengthened by Coehorn; was taken in the following year by Louis XIV. and Vauban, the latter of whom added considerable to its original strength; in 1695 it sustained a long siege against William III. of England, and was taken; seized by the French in the beginning of the 18th century, but ceded to Austria in 1713. In 1781 the emperor Joseph expelled the Dutch garrison. In 1792 it was occupied by the French, but retaken by the Austrians in 1793. In 1794 it was again occupied by the French, who kept it till the Netherlands were given up by the French government in 1814; and after having been gallantly defended by its French conquerors in 1815, against the Prussians under Pirch, it was finally restored to the Netherlands after the battle of Waterloo, and at once put into thorough repair. The works were demolished again in 1866 with the exception of the citadel.

=Nana.= In the East Indies, the title which is given to a chief of the Mahrattas. It more properly signifies the acting head of the government, and general of the forces.

=Nancy.= A city of France, the capital of the department of the Meurthe, situated on the Meurthe, 30 miles south from Metz; it was the capital of Lorraine and the residence of the dukes of that country in the 13th century. After taking Nancy, November 29, 1475, and losing it, October 5, 1476, Charles the Bold of Burgundy was defeated and slain beneath its walls by René II., duke of Lorraine, and the Swiss, January 5, 1477. Nancy on the retreat of MacMahon’s army, and expecting the German army, surrendered to four Uhlans, August 12, 1870.

=Nankin=, =Nanking=, =Kianning-Foo=, or =Kiangning-Fu=. The ancient capital of China, now the chief town of the province of Kiangsu, is situated about 3 miles from the south bank of the river Yang-tse-Kiang, about 100 miles from its mouth. On August 4, 1842, the British ships arrived at Nankin, and were kept before this place till the final treaty of August 29, between China and Great Britain, was signed and ratified. The rebel Tae-pings (Taipings) took it on March 19-20, 1853. It was recaptured by the imperialists, July 19, 1864.

=Nantes= (anc. _Condivicnum_, afterwards _Namnetes_, or _Nannetes_). An important commercial town of France, capital of the department of Loire-Inférieure, on the right bank of the Loire, about 30 miles from its mouth, 208 miles southwest of Paris. The history of Nantes reaches back to the time of the Romans, in whose hands it seems to have remained until the beginning of the 5th century, when they were driven from the town. In 445 it valiantly withstood a siege of sixty days by the Huns. It was captured by the Normans in 853 and 859, and held in possession by them for nearly a century, after which the town suffered many sieges,--in 1343 by the English; in 1380 by the Earl of Buckingham, when it was relieved by Oliver of Clisson; and again in 1491 by Charles VIII. It suffered much from the Vendéan civil war of 1793. In June of that year the Vendéan army, 50,000 strong, under Cathelineau, laid siege to the city, then defended by Gens. Beysser and Canclaux, but were repulsed with great loss,--their general being among the slain. Here took place the wholesale drowning (termed _Noyades_) of the royalists in the Loire, by command of the brutal Carrier, one of the leaders of the republicans, November, 1793. It was from Nantes that Prince Charles Edward embarked for Scotland in 1745.

=Nantes, Edict of.= The name given to the famous decree published in that city by Henry IV. of France, April 13, 1598, which secured to the Protestant portion of his subjects freedom of religion.

=Naples.= A province of Italy, occupying the southern part of the Italian peninsula, formerly the continental division of the old kingdom of the Two Sicilies. It began with a Greek colony named Parthenope (about 1000 B.C.), which was afterwards divided into Palæpolis (the _old_) and Neapolis (the _new_ city), from which latter the present name is derived. The colony was conquered by the Romans in the Samnite war, 326 B.C. Naples, after resisting the power of the Lombards, Franks, and Germans, was subjugated by the Normans, under Roger Guiscard, king of Sicily, in 1131. Naples was conquered by Theodoric the Goth in 493; retaken by Belisarius in 536; taken again by Totila in 543; retaken by Narses in 542; conquered, and the kingdom of the Two Sicilies founded by Roger Guiscard II. in 1131. Here occurred the massacre called the Sicilian Vespers (which see), March 30, 1282. The territory was invaded by Louis, king of Hungary, in 1349; seized by Alphonso V. of Aragon in 1435; conquered by Charles VIII. of France in 1494; and by Louis XII. of France and Ferdinand of Spain, who divided it in 1501. The French were expelled from Naples in 1504; insurrection of Masaniello, occasioned by the extortions of the Spanish viceroys, July, 1647; Masaniello slain by his own followers a few days later; another insurrection suppressed by Don John of Austria, October, 1647. Naples was conquered by Prince Eugène of Savoy for the emperor in 1706; the king flies on the approach of the French republicans, who establish the Parthenopean republic, January 14, 1799; Nelson appears; Naples retaken June, 1799; the Neapolitans occupy Rome, September 30, 1799. Ferdinand is compelled to fly to Sicily, January 23, 1806; the French enter Naples, and Joseph Bonaparte made king, February, 1806; Joachim Murat made king, July 15, 1808; Joachim declares war against Austria, March 15, 1815; defeated at Tolentino, May 3, 1815; successful insurrection of the Carbonari under Gen. Pépé, July 13, 1820; the Austrians invade the kingdom; Gen. Pépé defeated, March 7, 1821; insurrection of the Carbonari suppressed, August, 1828; great fighting in Naples; the liberals and the national guard almost annihilated by the royal troops, aided by the _lazzaroni_, May 15, 1848; a martial anarchy prevails, 1849; Italian refugees, under Count Pisacane, land in Calabria, are defeated, and their leader killed, June 27-July 2, 1857; insubordination among the Swiss troops at Naples, many shot, July 7, 1859; Garibaldi lands in Sicily, May 11, 1860, and defeats the Neapolitan army at Calatafimi, May 15, 1860; state of siege proclaimed at Naples, June 28, 1860; Garibaldi defeats Neapolitans at Melazzo, July 20; enters Messina, July 21, and the Neapolitans agree to evacuate Sicily, July 30, 1860; the army proclaim Count de Trani king, July 10, 1860; Garibaldi lands at Melito, August 18, 1860; takes Reggio, August 21, 1860; he enters Naples without troops, September 7, 1860; Garibaldi gives up the Neapolitan fleet to the Sardinian admiral Persano, September 11, 1860; repulses the Neapolitans at Cajazzo, September 19, 1860, and defeats them at the Volturno, October 1, 1860; the king of Sardinia enters the kingdom of Naples, and takes command of his army, which combines with Garibaldi’s, October 11, 1860; Cialdini defeats the Neapolitans at Isernia, October 17, and at Venafro, October 18, 1860; Garibaldi meets Victor Emmanuel, and salutes him as king of Italy, October 26, 1860.

=Naples= (Lat. _Neapolis_, It. _Napoli_). A city of Italy, the capital of the province of Naples, situated on the Bay of Naples, near the foot of Mount Vesuvius. In 1799 it was taken by the French, who evacuated it shortly after, but again occupied it in 1806. In 1848 it was plundered by the _lazzaroni_, of whom 1500 lost their lives. The history of this city is nearly identical with that of the province of the same name (which see).

=Napoleon Gun.= In 1856 it was proposed to increase the power of the light, and diminish the weight of the heavy field artillery, by the introduction of a single piece of medium weight and caliber; such is the new field or Napoleon gun. It has no chamber, and should therefore be classed as a gun. Its exterior is characterized by the entire absence of molding and ornament, and in this respect may be at once distinguished from the old field-cannon. The first reinforce is cylindrical, and it has no second reinforce, as the exterior tapers uniformly with the chase from the extremity of the first reinforce. The size of the trunnions and the distance between the rimbases are the same as in the 24-pounder howitzer, in order that pieces may be transported on the same kind of carriage. The diameter of the bore is that of a 12-pounder, the length of bore is 16 calibers. The weight is 100 times the projectile, or 1200 pounds. The charge of powder is the same as for the heavy 12-pounders (pattern of 1840), or 2¹⁄₂ pounds for solid and case-shot, and 2 pounds for canister-shot. It has, therefore, nearly as great range and accuracy as the heaviest gun of the old system, and, at the same time, the recoil and strain on the carriage are not too severe. The new gun and carriage weigh about 500 pounds more than the 6-pounder and carriage, still it has been found to possess sufficient mobility for the general purposes of light artillery. It is proposed to retain the 12-pounder howitzer in service, to be employed in cases where great celerity of movement is indispensable. The effect of this change is to simplify the _matériel_ of field artillery, and to increase its ability to cope with the rifle-musket, principally by the use of larger and more powerful spherical case-shot. The principal objection to an increased caliber for light field-guns is the increased weight of the ammunition, and consequent reduction of the number of rounds that can be carried in the ammunition-chests.

=Narbonne.= A city of France, in the department of the Aude, 32 miles east of Carcassonne. The modern town of Narbonne occupies the site of the ancient _Narbo Martius_, a Roman colony founded in 118 B.C. After the first colonization of Narbo, many of the soldiers of Cæsar’s Tenth Legion were settled here, from whom the town derived the name of _Decumanorum Colonia_. It was taken by the Visigoths in 462, by the Burgundians in 508, by the Franks in 531, by the Saracens in 719, and by the Moors in 779. Charles Martel defeated the Moors under its walls, but the town held out until it was taken by Pepin in 759. In 859 it fell to the arms of the Northmen.

=Narisci.= A small but brave people in the south of Germany, of the Suevic race, dwelt west of the Marcomanni and east of the Hermunduri. Their country extended from the Sudeti Montes on the north to the Danube on the south.

=Narni= (anc. _Narnia_). A town of Central Italy, on the Nera, or Nar, about 45 miles northeast of Rome. During the second Punic war an army was posted here to oppose the threatened advance of Hasdrubal upon Rome. The town bore an important part in the civil war between Vitellius and Vespasian. It was occupied by the generals of the former to check the advance of Vespasian’s army, but the increasing disaffection towards Vitellius caused the troops at Narnia to lay down their arms without resistance. Its natural strength and commanding position rendered it also of great importance during the Gothic wars of Belisarius and Narses. The town was sacked by the Venetians and its garrison put to the sword in the 16th century, since which time it has been a place of little importance.

=Narragansetts.= A tribe of Algonkin Indians who formerly inhabited a tract of country nearly corresponding to the present State of Rhode Island. They were generally friendly to the early white settlers, and were sworn enemies of the Mohegans (which see). In 1637, when the Pequots were attempting to induce them to join in a general war upon the whites, they were dissuaded from doing so by Roger Williams, who had great influence with their chief, Canonicus. In King Philip’s war (1675) they were suspected of playing false to the settlers, and of sheltering the enemy that wasted their settlements. It was accordingly resolved to treat them as enemies, and 1000 colonists marched against their chief fort, which was situated on a swamp island near what is now the village of Kingston, R. I. The fort was taken by storm and burned, all the winter supplies of the Indians and many of the aged and helpless, it is said, perishing in the flames. Hunger and distress followed; but the Narragansetts still maintained the contest under their chief, Canonchet, until he was taken prisoner and put to death. They subsequently merged into the dominant race, and only a few of the tribe now exist.

=Narva.= A town of Russia in Europe, in the government of St. Petersburg, on the Narova, 8 miles from its mouth, and 90 miles southwest from St. Petersburg. Near this town on November 30, 1700, Charles XII. at the head of 8000 Swedes, defeated Peter the Great with about 80,000 Russians. It was taken by Peter in 1804.

=Nasamones.= A powerful but savage Libyan people, who dwelt originally on the shores of the Great Syrtis, but were driven inland by the Greek settlers of Cyrenaica, and afterward by the Romans.

=Naseby.= A parish and village of England, in the county of Northampton, 12 miles north of the town of that name. The battle of Naseby, between Charles I. and the Parliamentary army under Fairfax and Cromwell, took place here, June 14, 1645. It resulted in the total defeat of the royalists, the king being compelled to flee, after losing his cannon and baggage, and nearly 5000 of his army as prisoners.

=Nashville.= A city and capital of the State of Tennessee, situated on the left bank of the Cumberland River, about 200 miles from its mouth. During the civil war, after the fall of Fort Donelson, it was occupied by the Union forces, February 24, 1862. Within a few miles of the city was fought the memorable battle which bears its name, between the Confederate forces under Gen. Hood and the Union troops under Gen. George H. Thomas, December 15-16, 1864. The battle commenced by a feint on Hood’s right and a real attack on his left, which resulted in driving it a distance of 8 miles, and the capture of over 1000 prisoners, 20 wagons, and 16 pieces of artillery. During the ensuing night, Gen. Hood contracted his lines, and next day the battle was renewed with vigor, towards the afternoon becoming close and obstinate. Near dusk the Confederates gave way, and a total rout soon followed. Some 4000 prisoners were captured, over 50 pieces of artillery, and an immense number of small-arms. On the 17th the pursuit of the enemy was continued and many more prisoners captured. Hood escaped with a mere wreck of his army, and was soon after relieved of command.

=Nasir-Jung= (_Ind._). Victorious, or triumphant in war.

=Nassau, House of.= A noble family of German origin, which produced many great men, and derived its title from Nassau, on the Rhine. In the 16th century the family acquired the principality of Orange, in the southeast of France; after which the counts of Nassau took the title of Prince of Orange.

=Natchez=, or =Natches=. A tribe of Indians who formerly occupied four or five villages situated east of the Mississippi in a tract of country which embraced the site of the city of that name. They were generally friendly to the early French settlers; but in 1729, being enraged by the brutal avarice of Chopart, the commander of the garrison, who demanded as a plantation the very site of their principal village, they concerted a general massacre of the French, which they effected November 28, killing about 200 and holding the women and children captives. The French took a bloody and terrible revenge. Under the leadership of Le Sueur, a Frenchman, 700 Choctaws broke upon the slumbers of the Natchez on the night of January 28, 1730, liberated the captives, and with a loss of but two of their number, brought off 60 scalps and 18 prisoners. On February 8 following the French under Loubois completed the ruin of the tribe. Some fled to the neighboring tribes and some crossed the Mississippi to the vicinity of the Natchitoches. They were pursued and their places of refuge taken. Of the scattered remnants some remained with the Chickasaws, others settled with the Muskogees, and about 400 were shipped to San Domingo and sold as slaves. Thus perished the Natchez as an independent tribe.

=Natchitoches.= A tribe of Indians allied to the Caddos, who formerly lived on Red River, La. They were dispossessed of their territory by the fugitive Natchez in 1731, and settled permanently with the Caddos, with which tribe a few still exist.

=National Armory.= See ARMORY, NATIONAL.

=National Cemeteries.= In the United States, are the burial-places for soldiers. They are called national because they belong to and are cared for by the general government.

=National Flag.= See FLAG.

=National Guards.= The militia organizations of several States of the United States and of some foreign countries are so called. In the United States they are authorized by State laws, and may be called into the service of the general government. After the destruction of the Bastile, a similar organization, called the _garde nationale_, was formed in Paris from the bourgeois class in 1789, under Lafayette as colonel-general. Napoleon subsequently defeated and dispersed it, but it was again organized by him in 1814. The national guard was adopted as an institution under the Restoration, and the Comte d’Artois appointed colonel-general. By decree of 1852 the government reserved the right of organizing or suppressing the national guard in _communes_, and also of nominating all the officers, who up to this time had been elected. The French national guard fought in the war of 1870-71, and also

## participated in the Communist struggles.

=National Military Homes.= See SOLDIERS’ HOMES.

=National Salute.= In the United States, a salute of one gun for each State in the Union.

=National Troops.= Are those raised under the authority of Congress, in contradistinction to the militia, which may be called State troops, being organized by the several States.

=Native Cavalry.= A body of natives in the East Indian army, formed into light dragoons.

=Native Infantry.= A body of native troops in the East Indian army.

=Natural Angle of Sight.= The angle which the natural line of sight makes with the axis of the piece.

=Natural Fortification.= See FORTIFICATION.

=Natural Line of Sight.= See LINE OF METAL.

=Natural Steel.= See ORDNANCE, METALS FOR, STEEL.

=Naumburg.= A town of Prussia, province of Saxony, 18 miles south-southwest from Merseburg. It was besieged in 1482 by the Hussites under Procopius; but they were induced to raise the siege by the entreaties of the children of the town. Naumburg was a place of importance in the Thirty Years’ War, as well as in the campaigns of 1806 and 1813.

=Nauplia.= A small fortified town and seaport in the Morea, Greece. At an early period it was the port and arsenal of Argos; occupied by the Venetians in the 13th century; taken by the Turks in 1540, and again in 1715. The Turks lost it on the outbreak of the Greek insurrection.

=Navajo Indians.= A numerous and warlike tribe of the Shoshone family, who are located to the number of about 12,000 on a large reservation in New Mexico. They were for a long time at war with the whites, but have at length been thoroughly subdued, and are gradually adopting semi-civilized habits. They are famous for the manufacture of a peculiar blanket of excellent quality which bears their name.

=Naval Camp.= In military antiquities, a fortification, consisting of a ditch and parapet on the land side, or a wall built in the form of a semicircle, and extended from one point of the sea to the other. This was beautified with gates, and sometimes defended with towers, through which they issued forth to attack their enemies. Towards the sea, or within it, they fixed great piles of wood, like those in their artificial harbors; before these the vessels of burden were placed in such order, that they might serve instead of a wall, and give protection to those without; in this manner Nicias is reported by Thucydides to have encamped himself. When their fortifications were thought strong enough to defend them from the assaults of enemies, the ancients frequently dragged their ships on shore. Around these ships the soldiers disposed their tents, as appears everywhere in Homer. But this seems only to have been practiced in winter, when their enemy’s fleet was laid up, and could not assault them; or in long sieges, and when they lay in no danger from their enemies by sea, as in the Trojan war, where the defenders of Troy never once attempted to encounter the Grecians in a sea-fight.

=Naval Crown.= In heraldry, a rim of gold, round which are placed alternately prows of galleys and square-sails. A naval crown supporting the crest in place of the wreath, occurs in various grants of arms in the early part of the present century to naval heroes. The crest of the Earl of St. Vincent, bestowed on him after his victory over the Spanish fleet in 1797, is issuing out of a naval crown or, enwrapped by a wreath of laurel vert, a demi-pegasus argent maned and hoofed of the first, and winged azure, charged in the wing with a fleur-de-lis or.

=Navarre.= A province, and formerly a kingdom, of Spain, is bounded on the north by France, on the south and east by Aragon, and on the west by the Biscays. It was occupied in ancient times by the Vascones, who were subdued by the Goths in the 5th century: After having become gradually amalgamated with their conquerors, the people continued to enjoy a species of turbulent independence under military leaders until the 8th century, when they were almost annihilated by the hordes of Arabs who were rapidly spreading their dominion to all parts of the peninsula. Navarre was conquered from the Saracens by Charlemagne, 778. In 1076, Sancho Ramorez of Aragon seized Navarre. During the war of independence and the civil war, the province produced bands of formidable guerrilleros.

=Nave.= In gun-carriages, that part of a wheel in which the arms of the axle-tree move, and in which the spokes are driven and supported.

=Nave-boxes.= Are boxes which are placed in the naves; they were formerly made of brass, but experience has shown that those of cast iron cause less friction, and are much cheaper. There are two, one at each end, to diminish the friction of the axle-tree against the nave.

=Nave-hoops.= Are flat iron rings to bind the nave; there are generally three on each nave.

=Navel.= A lug with a hole through it on the under side of a carronade, used to connect it with its carriage.

=Naxos=, or =Naxia=. An island in the Ægean Sea, and the largest of the Cyclades; is situated nearly half-way between the coasts of Greece and Asia Minor. It was conquered by Pisistratus, who established Lydamis as tyrant of the island about 540 B.C. The Persians in 501 attempted, at the suggestion of Aristagoras, to subdue Naxos, but failed; Aristagoras, fearing punishment, induced the Ionian cities to revolt from Persia. In 490 the Persians, under Datis and Artaphernes, conquered Naxos, and reduced the inhabitants to slavery. The Naxians recovered their independence after the battle of Salamis (480). They were the first of the allied states whom the Athenians reduced to subjection, 471. After the capture of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204, the Ægean Sea fell to the lot of the Venetians; and Marco Sanudo in 1207 took possession of Nuxos, and founded there a powerful state under the title of duchy of the Ægean Sea. His dynasty ruled over the greater part of the Cyclades for 360 years, and was at length overthrown by the Turks in 1566. Naxos now belongs to the kingdom of Greece.

=Naxos.= A Greek city on the eastern coast of Sicily, south of Mount Taurus; was founded 735 B.C. by the Chalcidians of Eubœa, and was the first Greek colony established in the island. It carried on a successful war against Messina, and was subsequently an ally of the Athenians against Syracuse. In 403 the town was taken by Dionysius of Syracuse, and destroyed.

=Nebraska.= One of the Central States of the United States, lying west of the Missouri River. Nebraska formed a part of the great grant of the Mississippi Valley to Crozart in 1712, and was part of the territory included in Law’s celebrated Mississippi scheme. It came into possession of the United States in 1803, as a portion of the Louisiana purchase. In 1804, Lewis and Clarke explored the interior and western parts of the State. In 1854 it was erected into a Territory, and in 1867 admitted as a State.

=Necessaries.= The articles issued to the British soldier, such as boots, shirts, stockings, razor, etc., which are requisite for his comfort and cleanliness, are technically termed regimental necessaries. Non-commissioned officers are not allowed to sell regimental necessaries to the soldiers. Every article is directed by the regulations to be marked with the owner’s name, the letter of his company, and the number of his regiment; and the sale or injury of them renders him liable to be tried by court-martial and punished.

=Neck.= The elbow or part connecting the blade and socket of a bayonet.

=Neck Line.= An old term in fortification signifying the gorge.

=Neck of a Cascabel.= The part joining the knob to the base of the breech.

=Neck of a Gun.= The small part of the piece in front of the chase.

=Needle.= A slender bar of steel, usually pointed, and resting on a vertical pivot, in a mariner’s, or other compass, so as to turn freely towards the magnetic poles of the earth by virtue of the magnetic polarity with which it has been artificially endued; called also the _magnetic needle_.

=Needle-Gun= (Ger. _Zundnadelgewehr_). Is a breech-loading gun, so constructed that by pulling the trigger a stout needle or wire is thrust through the base of the cartridge, parallel with its axis, into the detonating charge behind the ball, causing explosion and the ignition of the cartridge. This gun was the regulation arm of the German infantry until it was replaced by the Mauser, a gun somewhat similar. The gun was invented by Nicolaus Dreyse, of Sömmerda, Prussia, where it is manufactured. It was first used by the Prussians in 1848, and again in the Italian war of 1866, when it proved a fearful instrument of destruction, and to it may be ascribed in a great measure the success of its employers.

=Neemuch.= In Hindostan, a town with a British cantonment, in the territory of Gwalior, or possessions of Scindia. The native troops stationed at this place participated in the general mutiny of the Bengal army. The rising took place on the night of June 3, 1857, when a general massacre of the Europeans took place. The work of slaughter was commenced by the artillery, and all the native troops joined heartily in it. A native officer opened the gate of the fort and gave entrance to the rebels. Having committed the most frightful enormities, and outraged every law of humanity, a large body of the miscreants marched in the direction of Agra.

=Neerwinden.= A village of Belgium, in the province of Liège. William III. of England was defeated by the Duke of Luxemburg between this place and Landen in 1693; the French were also defeated here in 1793 by the Austrians.

=Neeshungpat= (_Ind._). A violent assault without bloodshed.

=Negapatam.= A considerable seaport in the south of India, and province of Tanjore. In 1660 it was taken from the Portuguese by the Dutch. It was a very flourishing city in 1781, when it was besieged and taken by the British with about 4000 troops, and finally ceded to them at the peace of 1783.

=Negative.= This term is sometimes used to express the result of measures or enterprises which, though not entirely successful, are not productive of serious or mischievous consequences. Hence the British expeditions to Spain and Walcheren may be considered as having had negative success.

=Negative Penalty.= Deprived of command; a bar to indulgence; a reprimand; etc.

=Neglect of Duty.= Is total omission or disregard of any prescribed service, or unsoldier-like execution, which is punishable at the discretion of a court-martial. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 62.

=Negrais.= An island, harbor, and cape of the Eastern Peninsula, situated on the southwest extremity of the kingdom of Pegu. In 1687 a settlement was founded here by the British; it was soon after abandoned; again occupied by the British in 1751; it was attacked by the Burmese in 1759, and nearly all the inhabitants were put to death.

=Negropont.= See CHALCIS.

=Nelli-Cotah.= A fort situated about 40 miles to the south of Tinnevelly, East Indies. This fort has been rendered memorable by the manner in which it was carried by the English in 1755, and the barbarity with which the garrison was treated which had not killed a man and had called for quarter, and yet men, women, and children, to the number of about 400, were massacred.

=Nepaul=, or =Nipal=. An extensive country of Hindostan. It is said to have been completely subdued in 1323 by Hurr Singh, one of the princes of Oude, who was driven out of his own possessions by the Patans. Runjeet Mull was the last of the Surya Bansi race that reigned in Nepaul. He formed an alliance with Purthi Nirain, which ended in the loss of his dominions, of which he was stripped by his ally in 1768. It was in his reign that Capt. Kinloch with a British force endeavored to penetrate into Nepaul, but from the sickness of the troops, and the difficulty of the country, the enterprise was abandoned. In 1790 the Nepaul government became involved in a war with the emperor of China, who sent against them an army of 70,000 men, and defeated the Nepaulese in repeated battles. A peace was at last concluded, though on terms ignominious to the Nepaulese, who were compelled to become tributaries to the Chinese. In the year 1814 the British commenced a war against the Nepaulese, and, after a long and arduous struggle, during which the British suffered a number of reverses, the Nepaulese were compelled to sue for peace.

=Nervii.= A nation of Gallia Belgica, whose territory was situated north of the Ambiani. On receiving intelligence that Cæsar was advancing into their country, the inhabitants sent away their old men, women, and children to a place of refuge among the marshes by the sea-shore, and posted themselves in ambush on the banks of the Sabis (_Sambre_). The invaders had approached to the place of concealment, and, unsuspicious of any danger, were engaged in forming a camp, when they suddenly found themselves attacked by 60,000 fierce barbarians. The Romans would have been immediately routed, had not the invincible genius of Cæsar been there to sway and turn the tide of battle. After a hard-fought contest, the Nervian forces were almost annihilated; but the Nervii were not yet subdued. In 54 B.C. they assisted the Eburones in the unsuccessful attack upon the camp of Quintus Cicero; and it was not until the following year that they finally submitted to the Romans.

=Neshaumburdar= (_Ind._). An ensign.

=Netherlands, Kingdom of the.= A country in the northwest of Europe. The name of the Netherlands was, for several centuries, applied to the countries which now form the kingdoms of Belgium and the Netherlands and part of the north of France. The greater portion of this territory was held by the Spaniards until Marlborough, the general in command of the allied forces, gained the memorable victory of Ramilies in 1706. After this, Brussels, the capital, and great part of these provinces acknowledged Charles VI., afterwards emperor of Germany, for their sovereign. They were held by the German house until the war of 1741, when the French made an entire conquest of them, except part of the province of Luxemburg. They were restored, however, by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in the year 1748. In 1794 Holland was overrun by the troops of the French republic, and annexed to the French empire in 1810, after having been formed into the Batavian republic, and subsequently into a kingdom under Louis Bonaparte. In 1814 the royal family of Holland was restored, and two years after Holland and Belgium were once more reunited under the common title of the Netherlands; but in 1830 Belgium became a distinct kingdom. See BELGIUM, HOLLAND, and FLANDERS.

=Netley, Royal Victoria Hospital at.= Is a superb building on the shore of Southampton Water, Hants, England, for the reception of invalids from the army on foreign service, and from among the troops serving in the adjoining military districts. In times of peace, it is only necessary to use a portion of the vast structure; but in the event of a European war, in which the British army should take part, the exigencies of the service would probably tax its accommodation to the utmost. There is provision for 1000 patients, with power to increase the number. The establishment has a complete medical staff. Netley is also the headquarters of the female nurses of the army, who are under the control of a lady stationed here as superintendent-general. Complete arrangements have been made for the landing of wounded men in front of the hospital, and for conveying them thither with the least disturbance. See MEDICAL SCHOOL.

=Nettoyer les Magazins= (_Fr._). In artillery, signifies to remove the different pieces of ordnance, for the purpose of having them carefully examined, etc., and to have the stores and ammunition so arranged as not to receive damage.

=Nettoyer les Tranchées= (_Fr._). To scour or clear the trenches. This is effected by means of a vigorous sally which the garrison of a besieged place make upon the besiegers; when they beat in the guard, drive off the workmen, level the parapet, break up and choke the line of circumvallation, and spike or nail the cannon.

=Neusatz.= A town of Hungary, on the Danube, opposite Peterwardein. On June 11, 1849, it was taken from the Hungarian insurgents by the imperial troops, and was almost wholly destroyed.

=Neutral.= Not engaged on either side; not taking part with either of contending parties; neuter.

=Neutral.= A person or nation that takes no part in a contest between others.

=Neutral Powers.= By the treaty of Paris, signed by the representatives of Great Britain, France, Austria, Russia, Prussia, Turkey, and Sardinia, on April 16, 1856, it was determined that privateering should be abolished; that neutrals might carry an enemy’s goods not contraband of war; that neutral goods not contraband were free even under an enemy’s flag; and that blockades to be binding must be effective. The President of the United States acceded to these provisions in 1861.

=Neutrality.= In international law, the state of a nation which takes no part between two or more other nations at war with each other. Neutrality consists in the observance of a strict and honest impartiality, so as not to afford advantage in the war to either party; and particularly in so far restraining its trade to the accustomed course, which is held in time of peace, as not to render assistance to one of the belligerents in escaping the effects of the other’s hostilities. Even a loan of money to one of the belligerent parties is considered a violation of neutrality. A fraudulent neutrality is considered as no neutrality.

=Neutrality, Armed.= See ARMED.

=Nevada.= One of the Pacific States of the United States. Nevada is a part of the territory ceded to the United States by Mexico in 1848. It was at first a part of California Territory; it was subsequently attached to Utah; in March, 1861, was organized as a Territory; and on October 31, 1864, was admitted as a State.

=Nevers.= A town of France, the capital of the department of Nièvre, situated on the right bank of the Loire, 153 miles south-southeast from Paris. The town is ancient, and is mentioned by Cæsar under the name of Noviodunum. Here that general, in 52 B.C., fixed his headquarters, and here he left his hostages, supplies, baggage, and military-chest. After his defeat at Gergovia, the people of Noviodunum rose against the Romans, massacred all of them who were in the town, and plundered the stores.

=Neville’s Cross= (or Durham), =Battle of=. Fought between the Scots under King David Bruce, and the English under Philippa, consort of Edward III., and Lord Percy, October 12 or 17, 1346. More than 15,000 of the Scots were slain, and their king taken prisoner.

=Nevis=, or =Nievis=. One of the West India Islands, belonging to Great Britain, and separated from the south extremity of St. Christopher by a channel about 2 miles in width. It was taken by the French February 14, 1782; restored to the English in 1783.

=Newark.= A town of England, in Nottinghamshire, on the Newark River, 16 miles northeast from Nottingham. Here, in the midst of troubles, died King John, October 9, 1216; here the royal army under Prince Rupert repulsed the army of the Parliament, besieging the town, March 21, 1644; and here, May 5, 1646, Charles I., after his defeat at Naseby, put himself into the hands of the Scotch army, who afterwards gave him up to his enemies.

=Newbury.= A town of England, in Berkshire, on the Kennet, 15 miles southwest from Reading. Near here were fought two desperate battles: (1) On September 20, 1643, between the army of Charles I. and that of the Parliament under Essex; it terminated somewhat favorably for the king. (2) A second battle of dubious result was fought between the royalists and the Parliamentarians, October 27, 1644.

=New Caledonia.= An island of the South Pacific Ocean, discovered by Cook on September 4, 1774; seized by the French September 20, 1853. The French government in December, 1864, redressed the outrages committed on British missionaries at a station established here in 1854.

=Newcastle-upon-Tyne.= A river-port and the chief town of the county of Northumberland, England, 14 miles north from Durham. The Romans had a stationary camp here, called _Pons Ælii_, one of the chain of forts by which the Wall of Hadrian was fortified. Newcastle surrendered to the Scotch in 1646, who here gave up Charles I. to the Parliament in 1646. The town occupied by Gen. Wade in 1745.

=New England.= The name given by Capt. John Smith, in 1614, to the territory granted by James I. to the Plymouth Company for colonization, which now comprises the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. For history of New England, see these States under appropriate headings.

=Newfoundland.= A large island of British North America, at the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Newfoundland is supposed to have been discovered by the Norwegians, or Northmen, about the year 1000; it was rediscovered by John Cabot on June 24, 1497; a settlement was subsequently formed here by some Portuguese adventurers, who were in their turn expelled by Sir Francis Drake in the reign of Elizabeth. After this period numerous English colonies were established from time to time along the east coast, and several French along the south coast, in the Bay of Placentia. The French often tried to conquer the island, and during the French and English wars it was the scene of many bloody events. In 1713, Newfoundland and its dependencies were declared, by the treaty of Utrecht, to belong wholly to Great Britain; the French reserving a right to fish on certain parts of the coast. In 1728 the island was made a province of Great Britain.

=New Grenada= (now _United States of Colombia_). A republic in the northwest of South America, discovered by Ojeda in 1499, and settled by the Spaniards in 1536. It formed a part of the new republic of Bogota, established in 1811, and combined with Caracas, formed the republic of Colombia, December 17, 1819. (See COLOMBIA, UNITED STATES OF.) A struggle took place between the conservative partisans of the old government and the liberals, January, 1861, and Gen. Mosquera (liberal) deposed Ospina and seized the government, July 18, 1861. Mosquera invited Venezuela and Ecuador to join the confederation, August, 1863; Ecuador declined, which resulted in a war, which commenced November 20, 1863. The troops of Ecuador were defeated, December 6; peace ensued, and Ecuador remained independent, December 30, 1863; Mosquera declared himself dictator, by a _coup d’état_, March 11, 1866; he was deposed by Santos Acosta, May 23, 1867; Gen. Ponce was made provisional president, July, 1868, and was succeeded by Correoso, August 29, who defeated his opponents, November 12, 1868.

=New Hampshire.= One of the Eastern States, and one of the original thirteen of the American Confederacy. New Hampshire was first visited in 1614, and was settled near Portsmouth in 1623. It was several times connected with Massachusetts up to 1679, when it became a royal province, but renewed its connections with Massachusetts in 1689, and was for a short time attached to New York; finally, in 1741, it became an entirely separate province, and so remained till the Revolution. New Hampshire was much harassed by the Indians, and in 1689 a party of them sacked Dover, killed many of the whites, and burnt the town. No important action took place on the soil of this State, either in the war of the Revolution or that of 1812. The State contributed greatly to the cause of the Union in the late civil war.

=New Jersey.= One of the Middle Atlantic States, and one of the original thirteen of the American Confederacy. Settlements were made at Bergen, in New Jersey, soon after their arrival in New York, by the Dutch, between the years 1614 and 1624. The whole of the region lying between the Delaware and the Hudson was claimed by them, although the Swedes had made some settlements in the western part of the same country. These claims, however, were disregarded by the British; and in 1664, Charles II. granted to the Duke of York the whole of this country, and in the same year the duke sold it to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, in honor of the latter of whom, a native of Jersey, it received the name which it still bears. The Dutch again got possession of it in 1673, but resigned it on the conclusion of peace in the following year. New Jersey escaped the inroads of the savage tribes which desolated and afflicted most of the older colonies; but in the war of the Revolution it suffered greatly, and was the scene of many important battles, such as Trenton, Princeton, Millstone, Red Bank, and Monmouth. In the late civil war, New Jersey contributed greatly to the cause of the Union, and her regiments were distinguished on many important battle-fields.

=New Matter= (in military courts). Should either party, in the course of their examination of witnesses, or by bringing forward new ones for that purpose, introduce new matter, the opposite one has the right of calling other witnesses to rebut such new matter. A prosecutor, however, cannot be allowed to bring forward evidence to rebut what has been elicited by his own cross-examination, but must be confined to new matter introduced by the accused, and supported by the examination-in-chief of the accused. The court should be very circumspect to see and prevent new matter from being introduced, either in the prosecution or defense. But the accused may urge in his defense mitigating circumstances, or examine witnesses as to character or service, and produce testimonials of such facts, without its being considered new matter; and if any point of law be raised, or any matter requiring explanation, the judge-advocate may explain; no other reply is admitted.

=New Mexico.= A Territory of the United States, bounded on the north by Colorado, east by Texas, south by Texas and Mexico, and west by Arizona. The country was explored by the Spaniards in 1537, and was taken possession of by the viceroy of Mexico in the name of the king of Spain towards the latter part of that century. About 1680, the natives, who were an industrious people of Aztec race, provoked by the oppression of their rulers, rose against them and succeeded in driving them from the country. The Spaniards, however, soon regained their foothold, which they succeeded in maintaining until 1822, when Mexico and its dependencies threw off the yoke of Spain. In 1846, Gen. Kearney captured Santa Fé, the capital of New Mexico, and soon after became master of the whole Territory, which was ceded to the United States in 1848, and in 1850 organized as a Territory. In 1854 another portion of Mexican territory gained by purchase was added to it, and subsequently the Territory of Arizona was set off from it, and another portion added to Colorado. During the civil war New Mexico was the theatre of some desperate and hard-fought battles. On February 21, 1862, a Confederate force of Texans about 2500 strong, under Gen. Sibley, defeated the Union forces under Col. Canby at Valverde, about 10 miles from Fort Craig, and captured their guns. The loss of his battery compelled Col. Canby to fall back to Fort Craig, but the enemy was so crippled that he did not attempt to follow, but proceeded to Albuquerque and Santa Fé, both of which towns were evacuated by the Union troops. Soon afterwards a force of 400 Texans going north to reinforce Gen. Sibley were captured by Col. Canby. On March 26, 1862, an engagement took place at Apache Pass, in which 100 Texans were captured, between 300 and 400 killed, and 50 wagons burned. Another engagement took place on the 28th, at Pigeon’s Ranche, 25 miles north of Santa Fé, in which the Confederates lost more prisoners. About the middle of April, Col. Canby concentrating his forces attacked the Texans at Parillo, on the Rio Grande, and after a short action defeated them with great slaughter, and compelled them to fly to the mountains. From this point until they reached Fort Bliss, Texas, their retreat was a succession of disasters. They left in New Mexico more than one-half of their original number as killed, wounded, or prisoners, and every place which they abandoned in their retreat was immediately occupied by Union troops.

=New Model.= In the United States, all cannon made since 1861 are on the new model. This is characterized by the absence of all ornament on the exterior,--the outline is made up of gentle curves as far us possible,--on the inside the bottom of the bore is a semi-ellipsoid.

=New Orleans.= Capital of the State of Louisiana, and commercial metropolis of the Gulf States. It was founded in 1718 by Bienville, the governor of the province of Louisiana under the French, who caused it to be laid out, and levees built, under the direction of the engineer De la Tour. On January 8, 1815, was fought the battle of New Orleans, a few miles below the city, between Gen. Andrew Jackson at the head of the American forces, and the British under Gen. Pakenham, ending in the defeat of the latter with a loss in killed and wounded of nearly 3000 men. The American loss was but 13. In the late civil war, New Orleans held out until 1862, when it surrendered to the Union forces. Gen. Butler was placed in command, but on December 16, 1862, was relieved by Gen. Banks.

=New Ross.= A town in Wexford Co., Southeast Ireland, where Gen. Johnston totally defeated the insurgent Irish under Beauchamp D. Bagenal Harvey, June 4, 1798.

=Newry.= A town in Down Co., Ireland, which was reduced to a ruinous condition in the rebellion of 1641; it was surprised by Sir Con. Magenis, but was retaken by Lord Conway. After the restoration the town was rebuilt. It was burnt by the Duke of Berwick when flying from Schomberg and the English army, and only the castle and a few houses escaped, 1689.

=Newtown-Butler.= A town in Fermanagh Co., Ireland, where, on July 30, 1689, the Enniskilleners under Gustavus Hamilton thoroughly defeated the adherents of James II. commanded by Gen. Maccarty, whom they captured with his artillery, arms, and baggage.

=New Trial.= The privilege of a new trial does not seem to be denied. The provisions therefore are borrowed from common law, and are not held, in either civil or military tribunals, to preclude the accused from having a second trial on his own motion. Officers who sat on the first trial should not be detailed for the new trial; they have formed and expressed opinions. New, or second trial, can only be authorized where the sentence adjudged upon the first trial has been disapproved. After a sentence has been duly approved and has taken effect, the granting of a new trial is beyond the power of a military commander, or the President.

=New York.= One of the Middle States of the United States, and one of the thirteen of the original confederation. The earliest explorations of New York by Europeans were in 1609, by Hendrik Hudson, who took possession of the country on the river which bears his name for the Dutch, and by Champlain, a Frenchman, who explored Lake Champlain from Canada. The English, however, claimed the right of prior discovery, which led to frequent conflicts. The first white settlements were made in the State in 1713, and the early settlers suffered greatly from Indian depredations. In 1690, Schenectady was taken and burned by the savages, and many of the inhabitants massacred. The massacre of the garrison at Fort William Henry by the Indians in 1757 will long be remembered in the annals of New York. The State took an active part in the war of independence, and was the theatre of many important military events. The defeat of Washington at Long Island and at White Plains in the autumn of 1776, the surrender of Burgoyne in October, 1777, and the taking of Stony Point by Wayne in July, 1779, are the most important

## actions that took place here during the Revolutionary contest. The

sanguinary naval battle of Lake Champlain in the war of 1812, in which McDonough defeated the British after a hard-fought action, and several other minor engagements, took place within the limits of New York in the last struggle with Great Britain. During the civil war New York took an

## active and prominent part in aiding the government in the suppression of

the rebellion; her quotas of troops were promptly filled, $40,000,000 being paid in bounties to her volunteers.

=New York.= The chief commercial city of the United States, and the most populous, is situated at the southern extremity of Manhattan Island, at the junction of the Hudson River and the extension of Long Island Sound, known as the East River, about 18 miles from the Atlantic. It was founded in 1613 by Dutch traders, who built two trading forts and four houses on Manhattan Island, and called the settlement New Amsterdam. It was taken by the English in 1664, and its name changed to New York in honor of the Duke of York, brother of Charles II. Nine years later it was recaptured by the Dutch, and its name changed to New Orange in honor of the prince of that title; but in February, 1674, the English obtained possession of it by treaty, and restored the name which they had formerly given it. During the Revolutionary war New York was occupied by the English troops after the battle of Long Island, and was evacuated by them November 25, 1783. In the civil war the city was among the first in manifesting its loyal disposition, and furnished over 116,000 men in support of the Union cause.

=New Zealand.= A group of islands lying in the South Pacific Ocean, discovered by Tasman in 1642. The right of Great Britain to New Zealand was recognized in 1814. An insurrection of the natives (Maoris) took place in March, 1860; several indecisive actions took place between the natives and the militia, March 14-28, 1860; war broke out at Taranaki, and the British were repulsed with loss on June 30; Gen. Pratt defeated the Maoris at Mahoetahi, and destroyed their fortified places November 6. The Maoris were defeated December 29, 1860, January 23, February 24, March 16-18, 1861; the natives surrendered March 19, 1861. The Maoris again resorted to war in May, 1863; Gen. Cameron defeated them at Rangariri November 20; and forced the Maori king to capitulate December 9, 1863. The British were repulsed at Galepa (the gate pah) with loss of officers and men, April 29, 1864. The Maoris were again severely defeated January 25 and February 25, 1864. The Maoris continued in a state of insurrection, but were finally overcome in 1865.

=Nez Percés Indians= (“pierced noses”). A tribe of aborigines of the Sahaptin family, who were located on a reservation in Northern Idaho. In 1877 they broke into open hostilities against the whites, and after a sanguinary struggle under their chief Joseph they were at length captured by Gen. Miles and transported to Indian Territory. Some few escaped to the British possessions, where they still remain.

=Niagara.= Chief town of Lincoln County, in the Canadian province of Ontario, on Lake Ontario. It was burnt down in December, 1813, by the American general McClure on his retreat; it was afterwards rebuilt.

=Niagara, Battle of.= See LUNDY’S LANE.

=Nicæa= (anc. _Nicæensis_, _Nicensis_). Formerly one of the most celebrated cities of Asia, stood on the eastern side of Lake Ascania (now _Iznik_), in Bithynia. At the battle of Nice, 194, the emperor Severus defeated his rival, Niger, who was again defeated at Issus, and soon after taken prisoner and put to death. Under the later emperors of the East, Nicæa long served as a bulwark of Constantinople against the Arabs and Turks; it was taken by the Seljuks in 1078, and became the capital of the sultan Soliman; it was retaken by the first Crusaders in 1097. After the taking of Constantinople by the Venetians and the Franks, and the foundation of the Latin empire there in 1204, the Greek emperor, Theodorus Lascaris, made Nicæa the capital of a separate kingdom, in which his followers maintained themselves with various success against the Latins of Constantinople on the one side, and the Seljuks of Iconium on the other, and in 1261 regained Constantinople. At length, in 1330, Nicæa was finally taken by Orchan, the son of the founder of the Ottoman empire, Othman.

=Nicæa.= A fortress of the Epicnemidian Locrians on the sea, near the pass of Thermopylæ, which it commanded. From its important position it is often mentioned in the wars of Greece with Macedonia and with the Romans. In the former its betrayal to Philip by the Thracian dynast Phalæcus led to the termination of the Sacred war, 346 B.C.; and after various changes it is found at the time of the wars with Rome in the hands of the Ætolians.

=Nicaragua, Republic of.= Formerly a State in the Central American Confederation, from which it withdrew in 1852. The inhabitants of the country are Indians and _mestizoes_, with a scattering of a few whites and negroes. It has been the scene of many revolutions for the last thirty-five years.

=Nice= (It. _Nizza_, anc. _Nicæa_). Chief town since 1860 of the department of the Maritime Alps, France, on both sides of the river Paglione, 100 miles south-southwest from Turin. It was the seat of a colony from Massilia, now Marseilles, and formed part of the Roman empire. It first became important as a stronghold of the Christian religion, which was preached there by Nazarius at an early period. In the Middle Ages it was subject to Genoa, and suffered from the frequent wars, being taken and retaken by the Imperialists and French. It was taken by the Austrians under Melas, 1800; seized and annexed to France, 1792; restored to Sardinia in 1814; again annexed to France in virtue of the treaty of March 24, 1860. The French troops entered April 1, and definite possession was taken June 14 following. Garibaldi protested vehemently against this annexation. The town of Nice is remarkable as the birthplace of Masséna, one of the most famous of Napoleon’s generals.

=Nicomedia= (now ruins at _Izmid_, or _Iznikmid_). A celebrated city in Asia Minor, capital of Bithynia, built by King Nicomedes I., 264 B.C., at the northeast corner of the Sinus Astacenus (now _Gulf of Izmid_). Like its neighbor and rival Nicæa, it occupied an important place in the wars against the Turks; it is memorable in history as the scene of Hannibal’s death. It surrendered to the Seljukian Turks, 1078, and to Orchan and the Ottoman Turks in 1338.

=Nicopolis=, or =Nikopoli=. A town of Turkey in Europe, in Bulgaria, situated on the Danube. The Hungarians under Sigismund were defeated here in 1396 by the Turks.

=Nicosia=, or =Lefkosia=. The capital of Cyprus, stands near the centre of the island, on the right bank of the Pedia. In 1570 it was stormed by the Turks, who on that occasion put to the sword about 20,000 of the inhabitants.

=Niemen=, or =Memel=. A large river of Lithuania, which rises a few miles south of Minsk. Napoleon I. and Alexander of Russia held an interview on the waters of this river in 1807.

=Nieuport.= A fortified town of Belgium, in the province of West Flanders, 11 miles southwest from Ostend. This place has often been besieged and taken and retaken by the French and English.

=Nigher= (_Ind._). Any fortified city measuring at least 8 coss, or 8 English miles, in length and breadth.

=Night-firing.= When a fixed object is to be fired at by night, the piece should be directed during the day, and two narrow and well-dressed strips of wood (to prevent injury to the strips from the recoil, they should be nailed at such a distance from the carriage that the space can be filled up with a strip that can be removed before firing) laid on the inside of the wheels, and two others outside of the trail of a siege carriage, and nailed or screwed to the platform. In case of a barbette carriage, the traverse wheels should be chocked in the proper position. To preserve the elevation, measure the height of the elevating-screw above its box, or take the measure between a point on the gun and another on the stock; cut a stick to this length and adjust the gun on it at each fire. _Direction_ of fire may be secured at night with mortars by nailing or screwing two boards to the platform outside of the cheeks, and the _elevation_ by drawing a line across one of the trunnions, or by inserting a wedge-shaped block of the proper inclination below the mortar and the front transom or step. Night-firing with guns should be limited to a small number of rounds, as it consumes ammunition to little advantage.

=Night-signaling.= An important branch of signaling. It may be effected in various ways. In ordinary service two torches are used,--one on the ground and the other attached to a staff, which is used precisely as the flag for day signals. Lanterns held in the hands can also be used. For long distances and when stations cannot be seen on account of intervening obstacles, such as woods, signal-rockets, candle-bombs, and other pyrotechnic devices are used.

=Nihilists.= The name given to a political party in Russia. Beyond the extinction of imperialism it is difficult to give their creed.

=Nijni-Novgorod=, or =Nijnei-Novgorod= (Lower Novgorod). A fortified town and the capital of the government of the same name in Russia. It is an ancient town, and was founded in 1221 by Prince Yury Vsevolodovitch as a stronghold against the invasions of the Bulgarians and the Mordva. It was devastated on several occasions by the Tartars; and in 1612, during the civil dissensions in Russia, when it was on the point of falling a prey to Poland, Minin, the famous butcher of Nijni-Novgorod, collected an armed force here, which, under Prince Pojarsky, drove the invaders from the capital.

=Nikolsburg=, or =Mikulov=. A town of Austria, in the south of Moravia, 27 miles south of Brunn. Here were signed, July 26, 1866, the preliminaries of a peace between Austria and Prussia.

=Nile, The.= A river of Northeastern Africa, and one of the most powerful, most interesting, and most celebrated rivers on our globe. Near Rosetta, at the mouth of the Nile, a naval battle took place, August 1, 1798, between the Toulon and British fleets, the latter commanded by Lord (then Sir Horatio) Nelson. Nine of the French line-of-battle ships were taken, two were burnt, and two escaped. The French ship L’Orient with Admiral Brueys and 1000 men on board, blew up, and only 70 or 80 escaped. This engagement is also called the battle of Aboukir.

=Nimeguen=, or =Nymwegen=. The _Noviomagum_ of the Romans, called by Tacitus _Batavorum oppidum_, and in the Middle Ages _Numaga_, is the principal city of the district of the same name, or the Betuwe, in Holland, province of Guelderland. Nimeguen is celebrated for the great peace congress of the European powers which was held here, and, August 10, 1678, concluded a treaty between Spain and France on September 17, between France and the United Netherlands, and between the German empire and France, and the same empire and Sweden, February 5, 1679. The French were successful against the British under the Duke of York before Nimeguen, October 28, 1794; but were defeated by them November 8.

=Nimes=, or =Nismes= (anc. _Nemausus_). A city of France, and the chief town of the department of the Gard, 30 miles northeast from Montpellier. Previously to the Roman invasion, it (supposed to have been founded by a colony from Massilia) was the chief city of the Volcæ Arecomici. It surrendered to the rule of the Visigoths between 465 and 535, and afterwards to that of the Franks; subsequently, it became a possession of Aragon; but was finally restored to France in 1259 by the treaty of Corbeil. In 1791 and 1815, bloody religious and political reactions took place here. The treaty termed the Pacification of Nimes (July 14, 1629) gave religious toleration for a time to the Huguenots.

=Nimrûd=, or =Nimroud=. The Arab name of the great mound on the east bank of the Tigris, near Mosul, supposed to represent the Assyrian city of Calah, which was destroyed at the final conquest of Assyria by the Medes and Babylonians.

=Nineveh.= The greatest city in Assyria and for some time the capital of the country, was situated on the eastern bank of the Tigris at its junction with the stream of the Khosr. The walls of Nineveh are described as about 55 miles in circumference, 100 feet high, and thick enough to allow three chariots to pass each other on them; with 1500 towers, 200 feet in height. The city is said to have been entirely destroyed by fire, when it was taken by the Medes and Babylonians, about 606 B.C.

=Ninians, St.= A town and parish of Scotland, in Stirlingshire, about a mile south from Stirling. Several battles have been fought in this parish. The first was between the Scottish followers of Wallace and the English, who were defeated, the second was the famous battle of Bannockburn, and the third was that in which James III. of Scotland was defeated and slain by his rebellious nobles.

=Nipple.= Any small projection in which there is an orifice for discharging a fluid, or for other purposes, as the nipple of a percussion-lock, or that part on which the cap is put to be fired.

=Niquibs= (_Ind._). Men whose military functions among the Sepoys correspond with those of corporals in other services.

=Nisbet=, or =Nesbit= (Northumberland, Eng.). Here a battle was fought between the English and Scotch armies, the latter greatly disproportioned in strength to the former. Several thousands of the Scots were slain upon the field and in the pursuit, May 7, 1402.

=Nishapoor=, or =Nishapur=. A town of Persia, province of Khorassan. The town is said to be very ancient, and to have existed in the time of Alexander the Great, by whom it was destroyed. In 1269 it was sacked by the Tartars, again by Ihengiz-khan, and in 1749 by Nadir Shah, from which last calamity it has never recovered.

=Nisibis.= The capital of ancient Mygdonia, the northeastern part of Mesopotamia. It was a place of great importance as a military post, was twice taken by the Romans (under Lucullus and Trajan), and again given up by them to the Armenians; but being a third time taken by Lucius Verus in 165, it remained the chief bulwark of the Roman empire against the Persians, till it was surrendered to them by Jovian after the death of Julian in 363.

=Nissa=, or =Nish=. A well-fortified town of Turkey in Europe, in the province of Servia, about 120 miles southeast from Belgrade. It commands the communication between the provinces of Servia, Bulgaria, and Roumelia. It was taken by Amurath II. in 1389, and again by the Austrians in 1737.

=Nithing.= A coward or poltroon.

=Nitre.= Potassium nitrate or saltpetre, the most important ingredient of gunpowder. It is obtained principally from the East Indies. It has been the policy of the American government to keep large quantities in store. See SALTPETRE.

=Nitro-cellulose.= See GUN-COTTON.

=Nitro-glycerine.= Is a light, yellow, oily liquid, inodorous, with a sweet, pungent, aromatic taste. It received its name from Sobrero, a chemist, who in 1847 discovered that glycerine when treated with nitric acid was converted into a highly-explosive substance. This liquid appears to have been almost forgotten by chemists until in 1864 Nobel, a Swedish engineer, succeeded in applying it to a very important branch of his art, namely, blasting. It is now prepared by introducing glycerine into a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids, the whole being kept at a temperature below freezing-point. When uncongealed this preparation explodes by concussion, and is therefore unfit for transportation, and very dangerous to handle while in that state. The chief advantage for mining purposes which nitro-glycerine possesses is, that it requires a much smaller hole or chamber than gunpowder does, the strength of the latter being scarcely one-tenth of the former. Hence the miner’s work, which, according to the hardness of the rock, represents from five to twenty times the price of the gunpowder used, is so short that the cost of blasting is often reduced 50 per cent. The process is very easy: if the chamber of a mine presents fissures it must first be lined with clay, to make it water-tight; this done, the nitro-glycerine is poured in, and water after it, which, being the lighter liquid, remains at the top. A slow-match, with a well-charged percussion-cap at one end, is then introduced into the nitro-glycerine. The mine may then be sprung by lighting the match, there being no need of tamping. Submarine mines may be sprung by electricity. In this manner the obstructions of Hell Gate, N. Y., were removed by Gen. Newton, one of the greatest engineering feats of the time. On account of its liability to spontaneous explosion, the great danger in handling it, and its liability to decomposition, nitro-glycerine is now almost entirely superseded for ordinary mining purposes by dynamite.

=Nitroleum.= Nitro-glycerine; a name given it by Shaffner, an American patentee of high explosives.

=Nitro-mannite.= See MANNITE, NITRO-.

=Nive.= A river in the southwest of France, the scene of an important battle, December, 1813. After Wellington had forced Marshal Sault to fall back on Bayonne from the Pyrenees, the former determined to cross the Nive in order to place the right of his own army upon the Adour, with the double purpose of establishing a communication with the interior of France, and cutting off the enemy’s means of obtaining supplies. The brunt of this enterprise fell upon the right division of Wellington’s army under Lord Hill, a good deal of work, however, being done by the left division under Sir John Hope. Hill’s success was complete, and after five days’ fighting (December 9-13), the passage of the Nive had been effected, with the loss on the part of the British of 650 killed and 3459 wounded.

=Nivelle.= A small river which rises in Spain, and, after a short course, falls into the Bay of Biscay at St. Jean-de-Luz, in the French department of the Lower Pyrenees, near which the Duke of Wellington crossed the river in 1812, after carrying the French posts.

=Nizam’s Dominions=, or =Hyderabad=. An extensive territory in the interior of Southern India, lying to the northwest of the Presidency of Madras. In 1687 the territory now known as the Nizam’s Dominions, became a province of the Mogul empire; but in 1719 the governor or viceroy of the Deccan, Azoph Jah, made himself independent, and took the title of _Nizam-ool-Moolk_ (Regulator of the State). After his death, in 1748, two claimants appeared for the throne,--his son Nazir Jung, and his grandson Mirzapha Jung. The cause of the former was espoused by the East India Company, and that of the latter by a party of French adventurers under Gen. Dupleix. Then followed a period of strife and anarchy. In 1761, Nizam Ali obtained the supreme power, and after some vacillation signed a treaty of alliance with the English in 1768. He aided them in the war with Tippoo Sahib, sultan of Mysore, and at the termination of that war, in 1799, a new treaty was formed, by which, in return for certain territorial concessions, the East India company bound itself to maintain a subsidiary force of 8000 men for the defense of the Nizam’s dominions. The Nizam or ruler, _Afzul-ul-Dowlah_, remained faithful to the British during the mutiny of 1857-58.

=Nizza-Montferrato.= A town of northern Italy, province of Alessandria, on the Belbo. It was a strongly-fortified place during the Middle Ages, was besieged unsuccessfully for forty days by Charles of Anjou, and afterwards suffered severely from the Spanish and French armies.

=Noblesse Militaire= (_Fr._). Military nobility. Although most of the orders may be considered as appendages which confer a species of military nobility, especially that of the British “Garter,” which was instituted by King Edward III. on January 19, 1344, yet the British cannot be strictly said to have among them that species of military nobility or distinction that was peculiarly known in France under the immediate title of _noblesse militaire_. In order to reward military merit, an edict was issued by the French court at Fontainebleau, in November, 1750, and enregistered on the 25th of the same month by the Parliament of Paris, whereby a _noblesse militaire_, or military nobility, was created; the acquisition of which depended wholly upon martial character, but did not require any letters patent for the purpose of ennobling the individual. By the first article of this perpetual and irrevocable edict, as it was then stated, it was decreed that no person serving in the capacity and quality of officer in any of the king’s troops, should be liable to the land- or poll-tax, so long as he continued in that situation. (2) That by virtue of this edict, and from the date thereof, all general officers, not being otherwise ennobled, but being actually and bona fide in the service, should be considered as noble, and remain so, together with their children, born or to be born in lawful wedlock. (3) That in future the rank of general officer should of itself be sufficient to confer the full right of nobility upon all those who should arrive at that degree of military promotion; and that their heirs and successors, as well as their children, actually born and lawfully begotten, should be entitled to the same distinction; and that all general officers should enjoy all the rights and privileges of nobility from the date of their commissions. In Articles IV., V., VI., and VII., it was specifically provided upon what conditions those officers, who were not noble, and were inferior in rank to that of maréchal-de-camp, but who had been chevaliers or knights of the royal and military order of St. Louis, and who should retire from the service after having been in the army during thirty years without intermission, were to be exempted from the payment of the land- and poll-tax, and how the same privileges were to be transferred to their sons, provided they were in the service. By Article VIII. it was enacted, that those officers who had risen to the rank of captain, and were chevaliers or knights of the order of St. Louis, but who were disabled by wounds, or diseases contracted in the service, should not be obliged to fill up the period of thirty years as prescribed by the recited articles. By Article IX. it was provided that when any officer, not under the rank of captain, died in the actual exercise of the functions or bearing the commission of captain, the services he had already rendered should be of use to his sons, lawfully begotten, who were either in the service or were intended for it. It was specified in Articles X. and XI. that every officer born in wedlock, whose father and grandfather had been exempted from the land- or poll-tax, should be noble in his own right, provided he got created a chevalier or knight of St. Louis, had served the prescribed period, or was entitled to the exemption mentioned in Article VIII.; that if he should die in the service, he would be considered as having acquired the rank of nobility, and that the title so obtained should descend, as a matter of right, to the children, lawfully begotten, of such officers as had acquired it. It further specified, that even those who should have been born previous to their fathers being ennobled, were entitled to the same privilege. Article XII. pointed out the method by which proofs of military nobility were to be exhibited in conformity to the then existing edict. Articles XIII. and XIV. provided for those officers, who were actually in the service at the promulgation of the edict, in proportion as the prescribed periods were filled up. This provision related wholly to the personal services of officers; as no proof was acknowledged relative to services done by their fathers or grandfathers, who might have retired from the army, or have died prior to the publication of the edict. The XVth or last Article was a sort of register, in which were preserved the different titles that enabled individuals to lay claim to military nobility. The whole of this edict may be seen, page 206, in the 3d volume “Des Elemens Militaires.” The French emperor Bonaparte instituted an order of nobility called the “Legion of Honor,” the political influence of which appears to be greater than any order ever established, even than that of the Jesuits. He also adopted the ancient military title of duke, which was conferred only on men who had merited renown by their military greatness. The title of count was also established, and all the members of the Legion of Honor held a rank corresponding with the knights of feudal institution. Private soldiers and tradesmen, for acts of public virtue, have been created members of the Legion of Honor.

=Noblesse Oblige.= A French phrase,--rank has its obligations.

=Nocera dei Pagani= (anc. _Nuceria Alfaterna_). A town of Southern Italy, province and 8 miles northwest of Salerno. During the second Samnite war (315 B.C.) the Nucerians, who were on friendly terms with the Romans, were induced to abandon their alliance and make common cause with the Samnites, for which they were punished in 308 by the Roman consul Fabius, who invaded their territory, laid siege to their city, and compelled them to unqualified submission. In the second Punic war the city was besieged by Hannibal, and after a vigorous resistance was compelled by famine to surrender; it was given up to plunder and totally destroyed, while the surviving inhabitants took refuge in the other cities of Campania. It again became a flourishing town, and its territory was ravaged in the Social war, 90 B.C. The decisive battle between Narses and Teïas, which put an end to the Gothic monarchy in Italy (533 A.D.), was fought in its neighborhood. Its modern appellation is derived from the circumstance that in the 13th century a body of Saracens were established there by the emperor Frederick II.

=Nogent-le-Rotrou.= A parish and town of France, in the department of the Eure and Loire, 33 miles southwest from Chartres. Taken by the English in 1428.

=Nola.= A city of Italy, province of Terra di Lavoro, 14 miles east-northeast of Naples. The ancient Nola was founded by the Ausonians, but afterwards fell into the hands of the Tyrrheni (Etruscans). In 327 B.C. it was sufficiently powerful to send 2000 soldiers to the assistance of Neapolis. In 313 the town was taken by the Romans. It remained faithful to the Romans even after the battle of Cannæ, when the other Campanian towns revolted to Hannibal; and in consequence retained its own constitution as an ally of the Romans. In the Social war it fell into the hands of the confederates, and when taken by Sulla it was burnt to the ground by the Samnite garrison.

=Nolan’s Range-finder.= See RANGE-FINDER.

=Nolle Prosequi= (_Practice_). An entry made on the record of courts-martial, by which the prosecutor or plaintiff declares that he will proceed no further. The effect of a _nolle prosequi_, when obtained, is to put the defendant without day, but it does not operate as an acquittal; for he may be afterwards re-indicted, and even upon the same indictment fresh process may be awarded.

=Nomenclature.= Technical designation. For nomenclature of ordnance, see appropriate headings in this work.

=Nominal.= By name, hence _nominal call_, which corresponds with the French _appel nominatif_; and, in a military sense, with our roll-call.

=Non-combatant.= Any person connected with an army, or within the lines of an army, who does not make it his business to fight, as any one of the medical officers and their assistants, chaplains, and others, also any of the citizens of a place occupied by an army; also, any one holding a similar position with respect to the navy.

=Non-commissioned Officers= (Fr. _sous-officers_, Ger. _unter-offizieren_). Are the subordinate officers of the general staff, regiments, and companies who are appointed, not by commission, but by the secretary of war or commanding officers of regiments; and they are usually selected on account of good conduct or superior abilities.

=Non-effective.= Signifies men not fit or available for duty, in contradistinction to effective (which see).

=Noose.= A running knot, which binds the closer the more it is drawn.

=Nootkas=, or =Ahts=. The generic name of the Indians residing on Vancouver Island and the shore of the mainland along the sound of the same name. They are subdivided into many tribes and number about 14,000, some of whom are partially civilized.

=Nora.= A mountain fortress of Cappadocia, on the borders of Lycaonia, on the northern side of the Taurus, noted for the siege sustained in it by Eumenes against Antigonus for a whole winter.

=Norba=, or =Norbanus= (now _Norma_). A strongly fortified town in Latium, on the slope of the Volscian Mountains, and near the sources of the Nymphæus, originally belonged to the Latin and subsequently to the Volscian league. The Romans founded a colony at Norba in 492 B.C. It espoused the cause of Marius in the civil war, and was destroyed by fire by its own inhabitants when it was taken by one of Sulla’s generals.

=Nordlingen.= A walled town of Bavaria, in the circle of Swabia, 48 miles southwest from Nuremberg. Here the Swedes under Count Horn were defeated by the Austrians, August 27, 1634; and the Austrians and allies by Turenne in 1645.

=Noreia= (now _Neumarkt_, in Styria, Austria). The ancient capital of the Taurisci, or Norici, in Noricum. It was situated in the centre of Noricum, a little south of the river Murius, and on the road from Virunum to Ovilaba. It is celebrated as the place where Carbo was defeated by the Cimbri, 113 B.C. It was besieged by the Boii in the time of Julius Cæsar.

=Norfolk.= A city and capital of Norfolk Co., Va., on the Elizabeth River, an arm of Chesapeake Bay, about 18 miles from Fortress Monroe, has a fine harbor, safe, commodious, and of sufficient depth to admit the largest vessels. It is the largest naval station in the United States. Its navy-yard was destroyed on April 21, 1861, by the Federals, to prevent the ships of war and naval stores that were there from being appropriated and used by the seceding States.

=Noricum.= A Roman province south of the Danube, was bounded on the north by the Danube, on the west by Rhætia and Vindelicia, on the east by Pannonia, and on the south by Pannonia and Italy. Its inhabitants, the most important of which were the Taurisci, also called Norici, were conquered by the Romans toward the end of the reign of Augustus, after the subjugation of Rhætia by Tiberius and Drusus, and their country was formed into a Roman colony.

=Normandy= (Fr. _Normandie_). Formerly a province in the north of France, bordering on the English Channel; now divided into the departments of Seine-Inférieure, Eure, Orne, Calvados, and Manche. In the time of the Romans, the country bore the name of _Gallia Lugdunensis II._ Under the Frankish monarchs it formed a part of Neustria. From the beginning of the 9th century it was continually devastated by the Scandinavians, termed Northmen, or Normans, from whose irruptions Charles the Simple of France purchased immunity by ceding the duchy to their leader, Rollo, 905. Rollo, the first duke, and several of his successors held it as a fief of the crown of France, until William, the seventh duke, acquired England in 1066; it was reunited to France in 1204; was reconquered by Henry V. 1418, and held by England partially till 1450.

=Normans= (the Northmen). Toward the end of the 8th century Western Europe began to be scourged by the inroads of Scandinavian pirates, known to the inhabitants of the British Isles as “East-men” and “Danes,”--to those of the continent as “North-men.” These Northmen were of Germanic stock, a vigorous, seafaring race, not yet Christianized, peopling the coasts of the Baltic and of the two peninsulas which form the Norway and Sweden and the Denmark of to-day. Need and the national thirst for adventure and for strife drove forth from the thickening population, down upon the sunnier, richer, weaker South, swarms of vikings,--_i.e._ warriors,--who scourged the coasts of England, Germany, and France, pressed with their small, sharp, open vessels up the narrowest streams, burned, slew, and plundered, and sailed away laden with booty and with slaves. About the middle of the 9th century these raids began to assume an altogether new character and importance. The consolidation of the three great Scandinavian kingdoms broke the power of the petty kinglets and independent nobles, and drove many a jarl forth with his followers to seek a freer life in some new home. Northmen threw themselves in larger bands upon England, which the Wessex kings had not yet fairly centralized; upon the Frankish kingdoms, fast falling asunder under the later Karlings; harried the country, besieged and sacked the cities, wintered at the mouths of the rivers, and by the end of the century had wrested from Alfred half his kingdom, and begun to plant colonies on the coasts of France. Northmen ravaged Spain and the shores of the Mediterranean, fell upon Western Italy, penetrated Greece and Asia Minor, and there met others of their countrymen, who had pressed down through Russia. For in the Russia of that day, under the name of Verangians, Northmen had become the ruling class, a military aristocracy; while those who made their way still farther south had formed the famous Verangian body-guard of the Byzantine emperors, which maintained its existence and its distinctive character for five centuries. During the latter half of the 9th century, also, Scandinavians, sailing westward, found and settled Iceland. With the establishment, early in the 10th century, of settlements upon the continent, with the occupation Scandinavian energy now found at home in wars between the three new kingdoms, and with the gradual triumph of Christianity in the North, Europe gained, at last, comparative rest. England’s period of misery and humiliation under Ethelred the Unready (979-1016), ended by the establishment of a Danish dynasty (1017-42), marks the last great outburst of the pent-up heathenism.

=Northallerton.= A town of Yorkshire, England, 31 miles northwest from York. Near here was fought the “battle of the Standard,” where the English under the Earls of Albemarle and Ferrers totally defeated the Scotch armies, August 22, 1138. The archbishop of York brought forth a consecrated standard on a carriage at the moment when they were hotly pressed by the invaders, headed by King David.

=Northampton.= The chief town of Northamptonshire, situated on the Nen, or Nene, 60 miles northwest from London. It was held by the Danes at the beginning of the 10th century, and was burnt by them in 1010. Its castle was besieged by the barons in 1215, during the civil wars of King John. On July 10, 1460, a conflict took place between the Duke of York and Henry VI. of England, in which the king was defeated, and made prisoner (the second time) after a sanguinary fight which took place in the meadows below the town. It was seized and fortified by the Parliamentary forces in 1642. On March 30, 1645, Cromwell marched from it with 1500 horse and two regiments of foot to Rugby. After the restoration, October 17, 1661, the walls of Northampton were demolished, it having taken the side of the Parliament.

=North Carolina.= One of the Southern Atlantic States, and one of the original thirteen of the American Confederacy. Attempts were made under the auspices of Sir Walter Raleigh to settle North Carolina as early as between 1585 and 1589, but in one year after no trace of the colony could be found. The first permanent settlement was made on the banks of the Roanoke and Chowan, by some emigrants from Virginia, in 1653. John Culpepper rebelled against the arbitrary government of Miller in 1678, and held the government for two years. In 1693, North and South Carolina were separated. In 1711 the Tuscaroras, Corees, and other savages attacked and massacred 112 settlers, principally of the Roanoke and Chowan settlements; but the following year the united forces of the two Carolinas completely routed them, killing 300 savages. In 1729 the proprietors sold their rights to the crown. A party of malcontents, in 1771, rose against the royal governor, but after two hours’ contest, fled with considerable loss. A severe conflict with the Northwest Indians occurred in 1774, on the Kanawha River, which resulted in the abandonment of the ground by the savages. North Carolina took an early and active part in the events of the Revolution, and within her borders took place sanguinary conflicts at Guilford Court-house, Brier Creek Springs, Fishing Creek, and other places. The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was made May 20, 1775: so North Carolina has the honor to have first proposed a separation from Great Britain. In the second war with Great Britain she also played a prominent part, although she had no serious losses on her territory. During the late civil war North Carolina suffered greatly, and was the scene of many important engagements, among which were the capture of Forts Hatteras and Clark in 1861, Roanoke Island and Newbern in February, 1862, and Fort Fisher in January, 1865. In March, 1865, the battles of Averysboro’ and Bentonville were fought by the armies of Gen. Sherman and J. E. Johnston, which ended in the final surrender of the latter, at Durham Station, April 26, 1865.

=Norwich.= A city of England, and the capital of the county of Norfolk, on the river Wensum, 108 miles from London. In 1549 the city was the scene of an insurrection resembling that of the Jacquerie in France and the Peasant’s war in Germany. The poor objected to the inclosure of certain commons and waste lands in the neighborhood of Attleborough and Wymondham; fences were thrown down; Robert, _alias_ Knight, a tanner, a bold and resolute man, headed the rebels, aided by his brother William, a butcher. Their numbers increased, and, marching towards Norwich, they encamped on Mousehold Heath, took possession of the mansion of the Earl of Surrey, and thence proceeded to lay siege to the city. Having augmented their number to 16,000, and strongly fortified their camp, they summoned the city to surrender. For months they maintained hostilities, and the country round was pillaged and laid waste, until at length they gained an entrance to the city. A strong force was sent down for the defense of the city, under the Marquis of Northampton, who was defeated on St. Martin’s Palace plain; the rebels plundered and set fire to the city in many parts. The Earl of Warwick, assisted by his son Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, was then sent to the relief of the citizens. The city was stormed by the king’s troops, and the rebels forced to retreat after a two days’ sharp conflict, during which upwards of 3000 were killed, and the insurgents subdued. About 300 of the ringleaders, including the two Ketts, were executed.

=Nose-bag.= A bag of stout canvas with a leather bottom, and straps by which it can be hung over a horse’s head. It is used for feeding grain to horses out of stables.

=Note.= A brief writing intended to assist the memory. Members of courts-martial sometimes take notes. They are frequently necessary to enable a member to bring the whole body of evidence into a connected view, where the case is complex.

=Noted.= Well known by reputation or report; celebrated; as, a noted commander.

=Nottingham.= A large town of England, the capital of the county of the same name, 13 miles northeast from Derby. The castle here was defended by the Danes against King Alfred, and his brother Ethelred, who retook it, 868. William the Conqueror erected a castle, and constructed fortifications so strong as to render the place impregnable against any of the methods of attack which were then known. The castle of Nottingham, defended by the royalists, was besieged by the Parliamentary forces under the command of Col. Hutchinson, to whom, after a brave defense, it at length surrendered.

=Nottoways.= A tribe of Indians who formerly resided in Virginia on the river of the same name. As a distinct race they have ceased to exist.

=Novara.= A city of Northern Italy, defended by a castle, 53 miles west from Turin. In 1849 the Sardinians were disastrously defeated here by the Austrians; and in 1859 a French corps occupied the town.

=Nova Scotia.= A province of British North America, connected with New Brunswick by a narrow isthmus lying between Chignecto and Varte Bays. This country was discovered by Cabot in 1497; it was subsequently settled by the French; and came into the possession of the English in 1758.

=Novi.= A town of Northern Italy, situated at the foot of the Apennines, 13 miles southeast from Alessandria. It is noted for a sanguinary battle fought here in August, 1799, between the French under Joubert and the allied Austro-Russian forces under Suwarrow. The former were defeated, and among 10,000 of the French slain were Joubert and several other distinguished officers.

=Noyan= (_Fr._). In English _mandril_; it also means the whole of the vacant space or bore of a cannon, under which are comprehended the diameter of the mouth, the vacant cylinder, the breech, and the vent. With respect to bombs, grenades, and hollow balls, that which is called _noyan_ consists of a globular piece of earth, upon which the cover of bombs, grenades, and hollow balls is cast. The metal is poured in between this cover and the noyan, after which the noyan, or core, is broken, and the earth taken out.

=Nubia.= A large country of Africa, the ancient _Æthiopia supra Ægyptum_, said to have been the site of the kingdom of Meroë, received its name from a tribe named Nubes or Nubates. It is now subject to the viceroy of Egypt, having been conquered by Ibrahim Pasha in 1822.

=Nuddea.= A town of British India, in the district of Burdwan, 80 miles north of Calcutta. It was taken and entirely destroyed in 1204.

=Nuggar.= A term in the East Indies for a fort.

=Nuits.= A small fortified town near Dijon, in Burgundy, Northeast France. It was frequently captured and ravaged, especially in 1569, 1576, and 1636. It was taken by the Badenese under Von Werder, December 18, 1870, after five hours’ conflict, in which above 1000 French are said to have been killed and wounded, and 700 prisoners taken. The German loss was also heavy. A depot of arms and ammunition was gained by the victors.

=Numantia.= The chief town of the Celtiberian people, called Arevaci, in ancient Spain, was situated on the Douro, in Old Castile, and is celebrated for the long war of twenty years which it maintained against the Romans. See NUMANTINE WAR.

=Numantine War.= The war between the Romans and the Celtiberians (Celts who possessed the country near the Iber, now _Ebro_) began 143 B.C., on account of the latter having given refuge to their allies, the Sigidians, who had been defeated by the Romans. Numantia, an unprotected city, withstood a long siege, in which the army of Scipio Africanus, 60,000 men, was opposed by no more than 4000 men able to bear arms. The Numantines fed upon horse-flesh, and on their own dead, and at last drew lots to kill one another. At length, those whom plague and famine had spared destroyed themselves, so that no one remained to adorn the triumph of the conqueror, 133 B.C.

=Numéros= (_Fr._). Round pieces of brass or other metal, which were numbered and used in the old French service in the detail of guards.

=Numidia.= An ancient country of North Africa, the seat of the war of the Romans with Jugurtha, which began 111 B.C., and ended with his subjugation and captivity, 106. The last king, Juba, joined Cato, and was killed at the battle of Thapsus, 46 B.C., when Numidia became a Roman province.

=Nuncio.= An ambassador from the pope.

=Nuremberg= (Ger. _Nürnberg_). A town of Bavaria, in the circle of Middle Franconia, stands on the Pegnitz, an affluent of the Regnitz. In 1219 it became a free city, independent of any European power, and as such it continued till it was given over by Napoleon in 1806 to the king of Bavaria. At the Reformation the inhabitants embraced the Protestant cause; and in the Thirty Years’ War they were on the side of the Swedes, and suffered much in 1632, during the blockade which Gustavus Adolphus endured from the imperial forces under Wallenstein. The city was occupied by the Prussians in 1866, and its fortifications demolished.

=Nurse.= A person whose whole business is to attend the sick in hospital. In the U. S. service, nurses are detailed in post hospitals from the companies who are serving at the post, and are exempt from other duty, but have to attend the parades for weekly inspections and the musters of their companies, unless especially excused by the commanding officer. Ordinarily one nurse is allowed to every ten persons sick in hospital. In the British service there are sergeants, orderly men, and nurses (generally women) in hospitals of regiments of the line.

=Nuthall’s Rifle.= See SMALL-ARMS.

=Nyköping.= A seaport of Sweden, pleasantly situated on the Baltic, about 60 miles southwest of Stockholm. In 1317 the castle of Nyköping was seized and sacked by the people, who demolished its keep and donjons. In 1719 the town was taken and dismantled by the Russians.

=Nystadt.= A town of Finland, on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, 50 miles south of Biorneborg. Here, in 1721, a treaty was agreed to between Russia and Sweden, by virtue of which all the conquests of Peter the Great along the coasts of the Gulf of Finland were annexed to Russia.

O.

=Oakum.= A tangled mass of tarred hempen fibres, is made from old rope by untwisting the strands and rubbing the fibres free from each other. Its principal use is in calking the seams between planks, the space round rivets, bolts, etc., for the purpose of preventing water from penetrating.

=Oaths, Military.= The taking of the oath of fidelity to government and obedience to superior officers, was, among ancient armies, a very solemn affair. A whole corps took the oath together, and sometimes an entire army. The tribunes of every legion chose out one whom they thought the fittest person, and gave him a solemn oath at large, the substance of which was, that he should oblige himself to obey the commanders in all things to the utmost of his power, be ready to attend whenever they ordered his appearance, and never to leave the army but by their consent. After he had ended, the whole legion, passing one by one, every man, in short, swore to the same effect, crying, as he went by, _Idem in me_, “the same by me.” In modern times when so many other checks are used in maintaining discipline, the oath has become little more than a form. A recruit enlisting in the army or navy, or a volunteer enrolling himself, swears to be faithful to the government, and obedient to all or any of his superior officers. The members of a court-martial take an oath to try the cases brought before them justly, according to the evidence, to keep secret the finding and sentence of the court, until they shall be published by the proper authority, and to keep secret the votes or opinions given by the members individually. The judge-advocate swears that he will not reveal the individual opinions or votes of the members nor the sentence of the court to any but the proper authority. There is also an oath for the members and an oath for the recorder of a court of inquiry. The only other military oath is the common oath of a witness before a court-martial, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR.

=Obedience= (Fr. _obéissance_). Submission to the orders of a superior. The first principle which ought to be inculcated and impressed upon the mind of every officer and soldier is obedience to all lawful commands. It is the mainspring, the soul and essence of military duty. It is evident that if all officers and soldiers are to judge when an order is lawful and when not, the captious and mutinous would never be at loss for a plea to justify their insubordination. It is, therefore, an established principle, that unless an order is so manifestly against law that the question does not admit of dispute, the order must first be obeyed by the inferior, and he must subsequently seek such redress against his superior as the laws allow. If the inferior disputes the legality before obedience, error of judgment is never admitted in mitigation of the offense. The redress now afforded by the laws to inferiors is not, however, sufficient; for doubtful questions of the construction of statutes, instead of being referred to the Federal courts of law for their true exposition, have received variable expositions from the executive, and left the army in an unfortunate state of uncertainty as to the true meaning of certain laws; and this uncertainty has been most unfavorable to discipline. Again, while the punishment of death is meted to officers and soldiers for disobedience of _lawful_ commands, the law does not _protect_ officers and soldiers for obeying _unlawful_ commands. Instances have occurred in the United States, where officers and soldiers have been subjected to vexatious prosecutions, simply for obeying orders according to their oath of office. Would it not be just if the law, instead of requiring officers and soldiers thus nicely to steer between Scylla and Charybdis, should hold the superior who gives an illegal order alone responsible for its execution?

=Obedience to Orders.= An unequivocal performance of the several duties which are directed to be discharged by military men. All officers and soldiers are to pay obedience to the lawful orders of their superior officers.

=Obey, To.= In a military sense, is without question or hesitation to conform zealously to all orders and instructions which are legally issued. It sometimes happens that individuals are called upon (by mistake, or from the exigency of the service) out of what is called the regular roster. In either case they must cheerfully obey, and after they have performed their duty they may remonstrate.

=Obidos.= A town of Portugal, in the province of Estremadura, situated on the Amaya, 45 miles northwest from Lisbon. An engagement took place here between the French and English in 1808.

=Object.= A word in military movements and evolutions, synonymous with _point_. Thus, in marching forward in line, etc., the guide of a squad, company, or battalion, must take two objects at least to fix his line of march by which the whole body is regulated. As he advances he selects succession objects or points to prolong the line.

=Object.= The mark aimed at in the fire of small-arms or artillery.

=Objective-points.= The point to be reached or gained by an army in executing a movement, has been termed the “objective-point.” There are two classes of objectives, viz., _natural_ and _accidental_. The term _geographical_ is frequently used to designate the first of these.

A _natural objective_ may be an important position, strong naturally, or made so by fortifications, the possession of which gives control over a tract of country, and furnishes good points of support or good lines of defense for other military operations. Or, it may be a great business centre, or a capital of a country, the possession of which has the effect of discouraging the enemy and making him willing to sue for peace.

_Accidental objectives_ are dependent upon the military operations which have for their object the destruction or disintegration of the enemy’s forces. These objectives are sometimes called “_objective-points of manœuvre_.” The position of the enemy determines their location. Thus, if the enemy’s forces are greatly scattered, or his front much extended, the central point of his position would be a good objective-point, since the possession of it would divide the enemy’s forces, and allow his detachments to be attacked separately. Or, if the enemy has his forces well supported, a good objective would be on that flank, the possession of which would allow his communications with his base to be threatened. It is well to remark that the term “point” used in this connection is not to be considered merely in its geometrical sense, but is used to apply to the object which the army desires to attain, whether it be a position, a place, a line, or even a section of country.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Oblat= (_Fr._). Disabled soldier formerly maintained by abbeys.

=Oblique.= In tactics, indicates a direction which is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the front, but more or less diagonal. It is a command of warning in the tactics for the movement. It is used in referring to diagonal alignments, attacks, orders of battles, squares against cavalry, changes of front, fires, etc.

=Oblique Deployments.= When the component parts of a column that is extending into line, deviate to the right or left, for the purpose of taking up an oblique position, its movements are called _oblique_ deployments.

=Oblique Fire.= See FIRE, OBLIQUE.

=Oblique Flank.= See FLANK, OBLIQUE.

=Oblique Order of Battle.= See ORDER OF BATTLE, OBLIQUE.

=Oblique Percussion.= Is that wherein the striking body is not perpendicular to the body struck, or is not in line with its centre of gravity.

=Oblique Position.= Is a position taken in an oblique direction from the original line of formation.

=Oblique Projection.= Is that wherein the direction of the striking body is not perpendicular to the body struck, which makes an oblique angle with the horizontal line.

=Oblique Radius.= Is a line extending from the centre to the exterior side of a polygon.

=Oblique Step.= Is a step or movement in marching, in which the soldier, while advancing, gradually takes ground to the right or left at an angle of about 25°. It is not now practiced.

=Oblique, To.= In a military sense, is to move forward to the right or left, by obliquing in either of those directions, according to the words of command.

=Oblong Projectiles.= See PROJECTILES.

=Obsequies.= See FUNERAL HONORS.

=Observation, Army of.= An army assigned to the duty of observing and checking the movements of an enemy.

=Observer Sergeants.= In the United States, are sergeants in the signal service, stationed in large towns and important commercial centres, to give timely warning of the approach of storms, rise of rivers, and all other important weather news for the guidance of merchants and others.

=Observe, To.= To watch closely, etc. Hence, _to observe_ the motions of an enemy, is to keep a good lookout by means of small corps of armed men, or of intelligent and steady spies and scouts, and to be constantly in possession of information regarding his different movements.

=Obsession.= The act of besieging.

=Obsidional.= Belonging to a siege.

=Obsidional Crown= (Fr. _couronne obsidionale_). A crown so called among the ancient Romans, which was bestowed upon a governor or general, who by his skill and exertions, either held out or caused the siege to be raised of any town belonging to the republic. It was made from the grass which grew on the spot, and was therefore called _gramineus_ (Lat. _gramen_, “grass”).

=Obsidionale Monnaie= (_Fr._). Any substitute for coin which has a value put upon it that is greater than its intrinsic worth; and a currency given to answer the convenience of the inhabitants of a besieged place.

=Obstacles.= Are narrow passes, woods, bridges, or any other impediments which present themselves when a battalion is marching to front or rear; or abatis, crows-feet, palisades, etc., which, being placed in the glacis of a fortress, obstruct the operations of an assaulting party.

=Obstinate.= In a military sense, means determined; fixed in resolution; as, an obstinate resistance.

=Obstruct.= To block up; to stop up or close, as a way or passage; to fill with obstacles or impediments that prevent passing; as, to obstruct a road, highway, channel, etc.

=Obstruction.= The act of obstructing, or the state of being obstructed. Also, that which obstructs or impedes; obstacle; impediment; hindrance.

=Obtain.= To get hold of by effort; to gain possession of.

=Obus=, or =Obusier= (_Fr._). A species of small mortar, resembling a mortar in everything but the carriage, which was made in the form of that belonging to a gun, only shorter. It has been frequently used at sieges; and was well calculated to sweep the covert way, and to fire ricochet shots. They were usually loaded with cartouches.

=Obusier= (_Fr._). Howitzer, called _haubitz_ by the Dutch. In 1434 it was known under the name of _husenicze_.

=Oc.= A Turkish arrow.

=Ocana.= A town of Spain, in New Castile, 33 miles southeast from Madrid. Near here the Spaniards were defeated by the French, commanded by Mortier and Soult, November 19, 1809.

=Occasion= (_Fr._). Has the same signification in military matters that _affair_ bears among the French. _Une occasion bien chaude_, a warm contest, battle, or engagement; it further means, as with us, the source from whence consequences ensue. _Les malheurs du peuple sont arrivés à l’occasion de la guerre_, “the misfortunes of the people have been occasioned by the war,” or “the war has been the occasion of the people’s misfortunes.” The French make a nice distinction which may hold good in our language, between cause and occasion, viz.: _Il n’en est pas la cause,--il n’en est que l’occasion, l’occasion innocente_,--“He is not the cause, he is only the occasion, the innocent occasion of it.”

=Occupation.= The state of occupying or taking possession. Also, the state of being occupied or possessed; possession.

=Occupation, Army of.= An army which invades an enemy’s country and establishes itself in it either temporarily or permanently, is termed an _army of occupation_.

=Occupy.= Is a military phrase for taking possession of a work or fort, or to remain stationary in any place.

=Octagon.= A figure or polygon that has eight equal sides, which likewise form eight equal angles. The octagon in fortification is well calculated in its ground for the construction of large towns, or for such as have the advantage of neighboring rivers, especially if the engineer can so place the bastions, that the entrances and outlets of the rivers may be in some of the curtains. By means of this disposition no person could come in or go out of the garrison without the commandant’s permission, as the sentinels must have a full view from the flanks of the neighboring bastions.

=Oczakov=, or =Otshakov=. A town of Russia in Europe, in the government of Cherson, near the mouth of the Dnieper. This place was once the object of obstinate contests between the Turks and Russians.

=Oda.= The different corps or companies into which the Janissaries were divided bore this appellation. The word itself means a room, and the companies were so called from messing separately.

=Oda-Bachi.= Captain superintending the gunners at Constantinople.

=Odas.= Company of soldiers.

=Odessa.= A fortified seaport of European Russia, in the government of Cherson, on a small bay of the Black Sea between the Dniester and Dnieper, 85 miles west from Kherson. In the beginning of the 15th century the Turks constructed a fortress here, which was taken by the Russians in 1789. On the outbreak of the Crimean war, April, 1854, the British steamer “Furious” went to Odessa for the purpose of bringing away the British consul. While under a flag of truce, she was fired upon by the batteries of the city. On the failure of the written message from the admiral in command of the fleet to obtain explanations, 12 war-steamers invested Odessa, April 22, and in a few hours destroyed the fortifications, blew up the powder-magazines, and took a number of Russian vessels. On May 12, the English frigate “Tiger” stranded here, and was destroyed by Russian artillery. The captain, Giffard, and many of his men were killed, and the rest made prisoners.

=Odius.= A herald in the camp of the Greeks before Troy.

=Odometer.= An instrument attached to the wheel of a carriage to measure distances in traveling, indicating on a dial the number of revolutions made by the wheel.

=Odrysæ.= The most powerful people in Thrace, dwelt, according to Herodotus, on both sides of the river Artiscus, a tributary of the Hebrus, but also spread farther west over the whole plain of the Hebrus. Their king Teres retained his independence of the Persians 508 B.C. Sitalces, his son, enlarged his dominions, and in 429 aided the Athenians against Perdiccas II. of Macedon with an army of 150,000 men. Sitalces was killed in battle with the Triballi, 424. Cotys, another king (382-353), disputed the possession of the Thracian Chersonesus with Athens; after nine or ten years’ warfare, Philip II. of Macedon reduced the Odrysæ to tributaries.

=Œniadæ= (now _Triyardon_, or _Trikhardo_). An ancient town of Acarnania, situated on the Achelous, near its mouth. Œniadæ espoused the cause of the Spartans in the Peloponnesian war. At the time of Alexander the Great, the town was taken by the Ætolians, who expelled the inhabitants; but the Ætolians were expelled in their turn by Philip V., king of Macedonia, who surrounded the place with fortifications. The Romans captured and restored the town to the Acarnanians 211 B.C.

=Œnophyta= (now _Inia_). A town in Bœotia, on the left bank of the Asopus, and on the road from Tanagra to Oropus, memorable for the victory gained here by the Athenians over the Bœotians, 456 B.C.

=Oesel.= An island belonging to Russia, stretches across the mouth of the Gulf of Riga. It at one time belonged to the Teutonic knights, but was seized by the Danes at an early period, and ceded by them to Sweden in 1645. In the beginning of the 18th century it was taken possession of by Russia, to which power it was finally ceded in 1721.

=Ofanto= (anc. _Aufidus_). A river of Naples, which rises in the province of Principato Ultra, and after a course of 75 miles flows into the Adriatic, 4 miles from Barletta. Near its mouth was fought the famous battle of Cannæ, in which the Romans were defeated by Hannibal.

=Off, To Go.= To be discharged, as a gun.

=Off, To March.= To quit the ground on which you are regularly drawn up, for the purpose of going upon detachment, relieving a guard, or doing any other military duty.

=Off, To Tell.= To count the men composing a battalion or company, so as to have them readily and distinctly thrown into such proportions as suit military movements or evolutions.

=Offa’s Dyke.= An intrenchment from the Wye to the Dee, England, made by Offa, king of Mercia, to defend his country from the incursions of the Welsh, 779.

=Offense, Weapons of.= Those which are used in attack, in distinction from those of _defense_, which are used to repel.

=Offenses.= All acts that are contrary to good order and discipline, omissions of duty, etc., may be called military offenses. The principal ones are specified in the Articles of War (which see). No officer or soldier can be tried twice for the same offense, unless in the case of an appeal; nor can any officer or soldier be tried for any offense committed more than two years before the date of the order for trial, unless in cases where through some manifest impediment the offenders were not amenable to justice in that period, when they may be brought to trial any time within two years after the impediment has ceased.

=Offensive.= Used in attack; assailant; opposed to _defensive_; as, an offensive weapon or engine. Making the first attack; assailant; invading: opposed to _defensive_; as, an offensive war.

=Offensive and Defensive Fireworks.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Offensive and Defensive League.= A league that requires both or all

## parties to make war together against a nation, and each party to defend

the other in case of being attacked.

=Offensive and Defensive Operations.= Are operations the object of which is not only to prevent the enemy’s advance, but to attack him whenever there is a favorable opportunity which promises success.

=Offensive Fortification.= See FORTIFICATION.

=Offensive War.= Military acts of aggression constitute what is called an _offensive war_. Those who assail an opposite or adverse army, or invade the dominions of another power, are said to wage an _offensive war_.

=Office.= Any place or department appointed for the officers and clerks to attend in, for the discharge of their respective employments; as, the adjutant-general’s office, etc.

=Office of Ordnance.= See BOARD OF ORDNANCE and ORDNANCE OFFICE.

=Officer, Brevet.= See BREVET.

=Officer, Field-.= See FIELD-OFFICER.

=Officer, General.= See GENERAL OFFICER.

=Officer in Waiting.= In the British service, the officer next for duty is so called. He is also mentioned in orders, and ought to be ready for the service specified at a minute’s warning. He must not on this account quit the camp, garrison, or cantonment.

=Officer, Non-commissioned.= See NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICER.

=Officer of the Day.= Is an officer whose immediate duty is to attend to the interior economy of the corps or garrison to which he belongs, or of those with which he may be doing duty. The officer of the day has charge of the guard, prisoners, and police of the garrison, inspects the soldiers’ barracks, messes, hospital, etc.

=Officer of the Guard.= An officer detailed daily for service with the guard. It is his duty, under the officer of the day, to see that the non-commissioned officers and men of his guard are well instructed in all their duties, he inspects the reliefs, visits the sentinels, is responsible for the prisoners and the property used by them and the guard; he is also responsible for good order, alertness, and discipline, and should never quit his guard duty unless properly relieved.

=Officer, To.= To furnish with officers; to appoint officers over.

=Officers.= Commissioned officers are all those officers of a government who receive their commissions from the executive, and are of various grades from the ensign to the marshal, all of which see under their respective headings. See APPOINTING POWER and COMMISSIONS.

=Officers, Marine.= All those who command in that body of troops employed in the sea service.

=Officers, Staff-.= Are all those officers who are not attached to regiments, whose duties extend over the whole, or a large section, such as a brigade or a division; such as the adjutant-general, the quartermaster-general, etc., and their subordinates, together with brigade-majors and aides-de-camp. The regimental staff-officers are those who are not attached to companies; they are the adjutant and quartermaster, in the U. S. service, and in European armies the surgeon, paymaster, adjutant, assistant-surgeon, and quartermaster. See STAFF.

=Officers, Subaltern.= Are all those officers below the grade of captain.

=Officers, Warrant-.= Are those who have no commissions, but only warrants from such boards or persons as are authorized by law to grant them. The only warrant-officers in the British service are master-gunners and schoolmasters. Technically the non-commissioned officers of the U. S. army are not warrant-officers, though they are appointed by warrants.

=Official.= All orders, reports, applications, memorials, etc., which pass through the regular channels of communication, are called official.

=Official Courtesies.= The interchange of official compliments and visits between foreign military or naval officers and the authorities of a military post are international in character. In all cases it is the duty of the commandant of a military post, without regard to his rank, to send a suitable officer to offer civilities and assistance to a vessel of war (foreign or otherwise) recently arrived. After such offer it is the duty of the commanding officer of the vessel to send a suitable officer to acknowledge such civilities, and request that a time be specified for his reception by the commanding officer of the post. The commanding officer of the post, after the usual offer of civilities, is always to receive the first visit without regard to rank. The return visit by the commanding officer of the military post is made the following day, or as soon thereafter as practicable.

When a military commander officially visits a vessel of war he gives notice of his visit to the vessel previously thereto, or sends a suitable officer (or an orderly) to the gangway to announce his presence, if such notice has not been given. He is then received at the gangway by the commander of the vessel, and is accompanied there on leaving by the same officer. The officer who is sent with the customary offer of civilities is met at the gangway of a vessel of war by the officer of the deck; through the latter he is presented to the commander of the vessel, with whom it is his duty to communicate.

When a civil functionary entitled to a salute arrives at a military post, the commanding officer meets or calls upon him as soon as practicable. The commanding officer tenders a review, provided the garrison of the place is not less than four companies of troops. When an officer entitled to a salute visits a post within his own command, the troops are paraded and he receives the honor of a review, unless he directs otherwise. When a salute is to be given an officer junior to another present at a post, the senior will be notified to that effect by the commanding officer. Military or naval officers of whatever rank, arriving at a military post or station, are expected to call upon the commanding officer. Under no circumstances is the flag of a military post _dipped_ by way of salute or compliment.

=Officially.= By the proper officer; by virtue of the proper authority; in pursuance of the special powers vested; as, accounts or reports officially verified or rendered; letters officially communicated; persons officially notified.

=Off-reckonings.= A specific account was so called which existed between the government and colonels of British regiments for the clothing of the men.

=Ogee=, or =Ogive=. In pieces of ordnance, an ornamental molding on guns, mortars, and howitzers.

=Ogival.= The form given the head of oblong projectiles. It was found by Borda that this shape experienced less resistance from the air than any other.

=Ohio.= One of the Western States of the American Confederacy, lying between Lakes Michigan, Erie, and the Ohio River. In 1680, La Salle explored the State, and built a military post on the Ohio, which the French claimed; but in 1763 they relinquished it. The first settlement was made subsequent to the Revolution, a company of New Englanders having settled at Marietta in April, 1788. The early inhabitants were much annoyed by incursions of the Indians, who had successively defeated Gens. Harmar and St. Clair (the latter with great slaughter of his troops, leaving scarcely one-fourth) in 1791 and 1792, but were themselves in turn utterly routed by Gen. Wayne in August, 1794. Ohio was admitted as a State in 1802. In the second war with Great Britain, Ohio suffered greatly from raids by the British and Indians. Fort Sandusky was attacked by Gen. Proctor, with 500 regulars and as many Indians, and was successfully defended by Maj. Croghan, a youth of twenty-one years, with 160 men. But the most important action which occurred was the naval engagement on Lake Erie, fought at Put-in-Bay, September 10, 1813, in which Commodore O. H. Perry defeated a superior British fleet under command of Barclay. Ohio contributed greatly to the cause of the Union in the late civil war; she sent her full quotas of troops to the field, and the women attended to the sick and wounded with untiring zeal. The State was twice invaded by Confederate guerrillas, but suffered no material damage.

=Oillets=, or =Œillets=. Apertures for firing through in the walls of a fort.

=Ojibways.= See CHIPPEWAS.

=Okanagans=, or =Cutsanim=. A semi-civilized tribe of Indians who, to the number of about 300, reside to the east of the Cascade Mountains, in Washington Territory.

=Olcades.= An ancient people in Hispania Tarraconensis, north of Carthago Nova, nearer the sources of the Anas, in a part of the country afterwards inhabited by the Oretani. They are mentioned only in the wars of the Carthaginians with the inhabitants of Spain.

=Oldensworth= (Denmark). A conference was held here in 1713, between Peter the Great and Frederick IV. of Denmark.

=Olifant=, or =Oliphant= (_Fr._). A horn which a paladin or knight sounded in token of defiance, or as a challenge.

=Olinde.= A sort of sword-blade.

=Olivenza.= A fortified town of Spain, in Estremadura, situated on the Guadiana, 16 miles southwest from Badajos. This town was ceded by Portugal to Spain in 1801; and for having arranged this cession, Godoy received his title of “Prince of Peace.” In 1811 it was taken by the French.

=Olmütz.= The chief fortress of Moravia, in the district of the same name, in Austria, 40 miles north-northeast from Brünn. Olmütz was taken by the Swedes during the Thirty Years’ War; but was besieged in vain for seven weeks by Frederick the Great in 1758. Lafayette was confined here in 1794. A conference was held here November 29, 1850, under the czar Nicholas, when the difficulties between Austria and Prussia respecting the affairs of Hesse-Cassel were arranged.

=Olot.= A town of Spain, in the province of Gerona, 85 miles from Barcelona. It figured and suffered much in the war of independence, being a strong point, and passed alternately into the hands of French and Spaniards, until the latter dismantled the fortifications. In the civil war of 1856 and 1857 it was much coveted and frequently attacked by the Carlists, but unsuccessfully.

=Oltenitza.= A fortified village of Turkey in Europe, in Wallachia, situated on the Danube, 2 miles north from Turtukai. A Turkish force having crossed the Danube under Omar Pasha, established themselves at Oltenitza in spite of the vigorous attacks of the Russians, who were repulsed with loss November 2-3, 1853. On November 4, a desperate attempt to dislodge the Turks by Gen. Danneberg with 9000 men, was defeated with great loss.

=Olympic Games.= Were instituted by Hercules A.M. 2856, in honor of Jupiter Olympus, at Olympia, a city of Elis, in Peloponnesus. They were celebrated about every four years, about the summer solstice. The design of them was to accustom the young military men to running, leaping, and every other military exercise.

=Olynthus.= A town of Chalcidice, stood at the head of the Toronaic Gulf, between the headlands of Sithonia and Pallene, about 60 stadia from Potidæa. During the second Persian invasion of Greece, Artabazus, the general of Xerxes, captured the town, slaughtered its Bottiæan inhabitants, and gave it to the Chalcidians. It was subdued in war by Sparta in 382-379 B.C. It resisted Philip of Macedon 350 B.C., by whom it was destroyed in 347.

=Omagh= (Irish, _Oigh magh_, “seat of the chiefs”). An ancient town, capital of the county of Tyrone, in Ireland, 34 miles south from Londonderry. Omagh grew up around an abbey founded in the year 792, but is first heard of as a fortress of Art O’Nial in the end of the 15th century, about which time it was forced to surrender to the English, although its possession long continued to alternate between Irish and English hands. It formed part of James I.’s “Plantation grants,” and was strongly garrisoned by Mountjoy. On its being evacuated by the troops of James II. in 1689, it was partially burned.

=Omaha Indians.= A tribe of aborigines, of Dakota stock, who, to the number of 1000, inhabit a reservation in Nebraska. They are generally peaceful and industrious.

=Omer, St.= A fortified town of France, in the department of Pas-de-Calais, 24 miles southeast from Calais. This place was taken by Louis XIV. in 1677. It suffered severely during the revolution of 1830.

=Omra=, or =Omhra= (plural of _ameer_, a “lord”) Ind. They were persons of considerable consequence in the dominions of the Great Mogul. Some of them had command of 1000 horse, others of 2000, and so on to 20,000; their pay being regulated according to their commands. The governors and great officers of state were generally chosen out of this body.

=On.= A preposition frequently used in military exercise. It precedes the word of command which directs the change or formation of bodies of men upon points that are fixed; as, form on the centre company.

=On the Alert.= In a state of vigilance or activity.

=Onagre= (_Fr._). A warlike machine, which was used by the ancients to throw stones of different sizes. It is mentioned by Vegetius.

=Oneidas.= A tribe of Indians forming one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, who resided in the county and near the lake which bears their name. They were continually at war with the early French settlers in Canada, and took sides with the colonists against the British in the war of the Revolution. For this they suffered severely. Their castle, church, and villages were destroyed by the Tories in 1780, and they were compelled to flee to the white settlements for protection. In 1788 they ceded most of their lands to the State and moved to Canada; subsequently some of the tribe settled in Wisconsin, where they are still comfortably located on a reservation; and a remnant still resides near Rome, Oneida Co., N. Y. They are well advanced in the arts of civilization, and, contrary to the usual fate of Indian tribes, have increased in numbers.

=Onein.= An offensive weapon of mediæval times, consisting of a staff with a hooked iron head.

=Onondagas.= One of the confederate tribes of Indians known as the Five Nations. They resided in the State of New York, in the county which bears their name. They were long the enemies of the Canadian French, with whom, and with the Hurons, they were continually at war. They were allies of the English in the French war, 1756-63, fought against the colonists in the Revolutionary war, and suffered severely in the contest. In 1788 they ceded their lands to the State and moved to Ontario, Canada, where about 400 of them now reside.

=Onset.= A rushing or setting upon; a violent attack; assault; a storming; especially the assault of an army or body of troops upon an enemy or a fort.

=Onsetting.= A rushing upon or assaulting.

=Onslaught.= Attack; onset; aggression; assault. “By storm and onslaught to proceed.”

=Onward.= Toward the point before or in front; forward; as, to move onward.

=Oodeypoor=, or =Mewar=. A Rajpoot state in India. It became tributary to the British government by the treaty of 1818. A corps of Bheels was raised in 1841 at the joint expense of the British and Oodeypoor governments, in order to reduce to subjection the Bheel districts of the country.

=Oojein=, or =Oojain=. A city of India, in the territory of Gwalior, 152 miles southwest from Goonah. It fell into the power of the Mohammedans in 1310. At this time it was the capital of Malwa; and along with this country it afterwards came under the power of the Patans, but was recovered by Akbar in 1561. In the middle of the 18th century it was conquered by the Mahrattas.

=Opatas=, or =Yakis=. An Indian people who reside in the state of Sonora, Mexico. They number about 25,000, and are generally peaceable and industrious.

=Open.= In military movements and dispositions, this term is frequently used in contradistinction to _close_; as, open column, open distance, open order, etc. It also constitutes part of a word of command; as, rear rank take open order. By _open distance in column_ is meant that the intervals are always equal in depth to the extent in front of the different component parts of the column.

=Open Flank.= In fortification, is that part of the flank which is covered by the orillon.

=Opening of Trenches.= Is the first breaking of ground by the besiegers, in order to carry on their approaches towards the place.

=Operations, Lines of.= See LINES OF OPERATIONS.

=Operations, Military.= Consist in the resolute application of preconcerted measures in secrecy, dispatch, regular movements, occasional encampments, and desultory combats or pitched battles.

=Opinion.= In military proceedings that regard the interior government of an army, this word signifies decision, determination, judgment formed upon matters that have been laid before a court-martial or court of inquiry.

=Opinion.= Officers on courts-martial give their opinion by seniority, beginning with the youngest in rank.

=Oporto.= A city of Portugal, in the province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho, about 2 miles from the mouth of the Douro, and 175 miles north from Lisbon. It was attacked by the Moors under Abderrahman in 820. In 1092 certain knights of Gascony, commanded by Don Alfonso Fredrico, captured it from the Moors. It was famous for the strength of its fortifications during the Middle Ages, its walls being 3000 paces in circumference, 30 feet in height, and flanked with towers. From the 17th to the present century, Oporto has been the scene of an unusual number of popular insurrections. In 1808 it was taken by the French. The French, under Marshal Soult, were surprised here by Lord Wellington, and defeated in an action fought May 11, 1809. It was besieged in 1832 and 1833 by Dom Miguel, and successfully defended by Dom Pedro with 7500 men. In this siege, the city suffered severely, and more than 16,000 of the inhabitants were killed. It has since been the scene of civil war. The insurgents entered Oporto January 7, 1847; a Spanish force entered Oporto, and the Junto capitulated, June 26, 1847.

=Oppenheim.= A town of the grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, on the left bank of the Rhine, 10 miles southeast of Mayence. It occupies the site of the Roman castle of _Bauconia_, and was made a royal palatinate under the Carlovingians. It afterwards became one of the most important free towns of the empire. It was taken in 1218 by Adalbert, archbishop of Mayence, in 1620 by the Spaniards, in 1631 by the Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus, and in 1634 by the Imperialists, suffering much upon all these occasions. In 1689 the French under Melac almost entirely destroyed it.

=Opponent.= One who oppones, or opposes; an adversary; an antagonist; a foe.

=Oppose.= To act as an adversary against another; to resist, etc. It likewise signifies to place as an obstacle.

=Oppugn.= To fight against, whether in attack, resistance, or simple opposition; to attack; to oppose; to resist.

=Oppugnant.= Tending to awaken hostility; hostile; opposing.

=Or.= In heraldry the metal gold, represented in heraldic engravings by an unlimited number of dots.

=Oran.= A seaport town of Algeria, about 220 miles west-southwest of Algiers; it is defended by strongly armed forts. The town of Oran was built by the Moors. It was taken by the Spaniards in 1509, by the Turks in 1708, and again by the Spaniards in 1732. It was taken by the French in 1831, and has since remained in their hands.

=Orb.= In tactics, is the disposing of a number of soldiers in circular form of defense. The orb has been thought of consequence enough to employ the attention of the famous Marshal de Puysegur, in his “Art of War,” who prefers this position to throw a body of infantry in an open country to resist cavalry, or even a superior force of infantry; because it is regular, and equally strong, and gives an enemy no reason to expect better success by attacking one place than another. Cæsar drew up his whole army in this form when he fought against Labienus. The whole army of the Gauls was formed into an orb, under the command of Sabinus and Cotta, when fighting against the Romans. The orb was generally formed six deep.

=Orchomenus.= A city of Bœotia, and the capital of the powerful tribe of the Minyæ, was situated near the western shore of Lake Copaic, on a hill which overlooked the windings of the Cephissus. Its original inhabitants are said to have been Thessalian emigrants, and its name was derived from Orchomenus, one of the kings of the Minyans. Homer compares its treasures to those of Egyptian Thebes, and tells us that it sent 30 ships to the Trojan war. Some time after this event it became a member of the Bœotian confederacy. During the Persian war, like the other towns of Bœotia, it abandoned the national cause. Its government was thoroughly aristocratic, and after the Peloponnesian war, when Thebes became a democracy, Orchomenus took part with Sparta, and shared in its first triumph over Thebes; but the victory of Epaminondas at Leuctra (371 B.C.) placed it at the mercy of the Thebans, who soon after destroyed it by fire, and sold its inhabitants as slaves. It was again rebuilt during the Phocian war, but was a second time destroyed in the reign of Philip of Macedon, who, however, once more rebuilt it; but it never again became prominent in history. The site is now occupied by the modern village of Skripú.

=Orchomenus.= An ancient city of Arcadia, stood in a plain surrounded by hills, which separated its territory from that of Mantinea on the south and those of Pheneus and Stymphalus on the north. Its founder is said to have been Orchumenus, the son of Lycaon, and several of its kings are said to have spread their rule over all Arcadia. During the Peloponnesian war, when its acropolis had fallen into ruins, and its last king, Pisistratus, had been murdered by an oligarchical faction, Orchomenus began to decline. About 367 B.C. three of its tributary towns were depopulated to furnish inhabitants to the newly-founded city of Megalopolis; in 313 B.C. it was taken by the Macedonian general Cassander; and ever afterwards it continued to be bandied about between different belligerent powers. At the time of Pausanias it was still inhabited, and at the present day its ruins are seen near the village of Kalpáki.

=Order.= This term, considered in its relation to the army, embraces divers subjects. It gives an idea of harmony in the accomplishment of duties; a classification of corps or men; injunctions emanating from authority; measures which regulate service, and many tactical details. In tactics, the natural order is when troops coming upon ordinary ground are ranged in line of battle by the prescribed tactical means, and when they are formed in column, right in front. The _oblique order_ is contradistinguished from the parallel, and in general means every tactical combination, the aim of which is to produce an effect upon two points of an enemy’s line by bringing a superior force to bear down on these two points. Such combinations constitute the _oblique order_, whatever manœuvres may be used to accomplish the object. The _parallel order_ operates, on the contrary, against the whole front of an enemy. Turenne and Condé fought habitually in parallel order, although they sometimes made a skillful use of oblique attacks. Guibert well says that a contiguous and regular parallel order can be of no use in war.

=Order Arms.= A word of command directing that the musket be brought down to the right side of the soldier, the butt resting on the ground.

=Order, Beating.= In the British service, is an authority given to an individual empowering him to raise men by beat of drum for any

## particular regiment, or for general service. It consists of a warrant

which is signed by the secretary at war, or issued in his name by the adjutant-general.

=Order Book.= Every company in the service has such a book, in which orders are written for the information of officers and men. Order books are also kept at all military headquarters.

=Order, Close.= In tactics, comprehends space of about one-half pace between ranks.

=Order, Entire.= When applied to rank, means a straight line composed of half-files.

=Order, Extended.= Is preparatory to rank entire, and is frequently practiced in light infantry manœuvres. It comprehends the opening of files of a battalion or company standing two deep, so as to have just space enough for one man between each two. The battalion or company, after it has obtained all its relative distances and been halted, is fronted, and each rear rank man springs into the vacancy when the word of command is given.

=Order of Alcantara.= A Spanish military order. It was established by Ferdinand II., king of Leon and Castile, in 1170. The knights wore a green cross upon their garments. See ALCANTARA.

=Order of Amaranth.= An order of military knighthood, instituted in Sweden by Queen Christina in 1645, at the close of an annual feast celebrated in that country, and called _wirtschaft_. Their device was the cipher of _amarante_, composed of two A’s, the one erect, the other inverted, and interwoven together; the whole inclosed by a laurel crown, with the motto, _Dolce nella memoria_.

=Order of Argonauts of St. Nicholas.= Was the name of a military order instituted by Charles III., king of Naples, in 1382, for the advancement of navigation, or, as some authors say, merely for preserving amity among the nobles. They wore a collar of shells inclosed in a silver crescent, from which hung a ship with the device, _Non credo tempori_.

=Order of Battle.= The arrangement or disposition of the different component parts of an army in one or more lines, according to the nature of the ground, for the purpose of engaging an enemy by giving or receiving an attack, or in order to be reviewed, etc.

=Order of Battle, Concave.= If the attack is made simultaneously on both wings, and the centre is refused, it is plain that the attacking army will assume a line of battle which will be concave towards the enemy’s line.

=Order of Battle, Convex.= If the attack is made in the centre of the enemy’s line, refusing both wings, the general direction of the line of battle of the attacking army will be convex towards the enemy’s line, and the term “_convex order of battle_” is applied to it. Other orders of battle are named by military writers. Their names will generally describe the direction of the hostile lines of battle and the particular formation adopted by the attacking army.

=Order of Battle, Oblique.= An arrangement of an army for battle with one wing advanced beyond the other, or a movement which brings the line in contact with an enemy’s flank; in general, any combination which brings a preponderating force upon any point of the enemy’s line. See ORDER.

=Order of Calatrava.= See CALATRAVA, ORDER OF.

=Order of Knights of St. Stephen.= Instituted in 1561, by Cosmo, duke of Florence. They wear a red cross with a border of gold.

=Order of Knights of the Band.= Instituted by Alphonso, king of Spain, in 1268. Their name proceeded from the knights wearing a red scarf, or lace of silk, the breadth of 3 inches, which hung on their left shoulder.

=Order of Knights of the Bath.= A military order in Great Britain, deriving its name from the ceremony of bathing, which was performed at the initiation of the knights. The earliest authentic instance of this ceremony was at the coronation of Henry IV. (1399). The last occasion on which this ceremony was used was the coronation of Charles II., in 1660, after which the order fell into oblivion until it was revived by George I., in 1725. It is now the second in rank among the orders of England, the order of the Garter being the highest. The order of the Bath comprises three classes: first class, Knights Grand Cross (K.G.C.), the number of whom is limited to 50 military men and 25 civilians, besides the royal family; second class, Knights Commanders (K.C.B.), = 102 military and 50 civil; these and the first have the title of Sir; third class, Companions (C.B.), = 525 military and 200 civil.

=Order of Knights of the Redemption.= Instituted in the kingdom of Aragon by King James, who conquered the island of Majorca, in 1212. Their garments are white, with a black cross thereon.

=Order of Knights Templar.= See TEMPLAR, KNIGHTS.

=Order of Maria Theresa.= This order was instituted in June, 1757, by the empress queen of Hungary. In 1765 an intermediate class, styled knights commanders, was added to the two classes that originally composed the order.

=Order of Merit.= Instituted by Frederick III., king of Prussia, as a reward to those officers whose behavior deserved some marks of distinction. The ensign of this order is a golden star of eight rays, enameled with blue, which is worn appendant to a black ribbon edged with silver. The motto is _Pour le merite_.

=Order of Mount Carmel.= Instituted by Henry IV. in 1608.

=Order of St. Alexander Newski.= Or the Red Ribbon, which was instituted by Peter I., emperor of Russia; but the czarina Catherine I. conferred it in 1725.

=Order of St. Hubert.= See HUBERT, ST., ORDER OF.

=Order of St. James.= See JAMES OF THE SWORD, ST.

=Order of St. Lazarus.= See LAZARUS.

=Order of St. Louis.= See LOUIS.

=Order of St. Mark.= See MARK, ST., KNIGHTS OF.

=Order of St. Michael.= Instituted in 1469 by Louis XII. in honor of the important services done to France by that archangel at the siege of Orleans, where he is supposed to have appeared at the head of the French troops, disputing the passage of a bridge, and to have repulsed the attack of the English, whose affairs ever after declined in that kingdom. The order is a rich collar, with the image of that saint pendent thereto; with the inscription, _Immensi tremor oceani_.

=Order of St. Michael and St. George.= This order of knighthood, founded for the Ionian Isles and Malta, April 27, 1818, was reorganized in March, 1869, in order to admit servants of the crown of England connected with the colonies.

=Order of St. Patrick.= See PATRICK, ST., ORDER OF.

=Order of Teutonic Knights.= Established towards the close of the 12th century, and thus called, as chiefly consisting of Germans, anciently called Teutons.

=Order of the Annunciation.= See ANNUNCIADA.

=Order of the Bear.= See BEAR, ORDER OF.

=Order of the Black Eagle.= See EAGLE, BLACK.

=Order of the Crescent.= See CRESCENT.

=Order of the Golden Fleece.= See GOLDEN FLEECE, ORDER OF THE.

=Order of the Golden Stole.= A Venetian military order, so called from a golden stole, which those knights wore over their shoulder, reaching to the knee both before and behind, a palm and a half broad. None are raised to this order but patricians, or noble Venetians. It is uncertain when this order was instituted.

=Order of the Holy Ghost.= See HOLY GHOST, ORDER OF THE.

=Order of the Knights of the Garter.= See GARTER, ORDER OF THE.

=Order of the Knights of Malta.= See ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM.

=Order of the Knights of St. Jago.= Instituted by the king Ramico of Spain, in commemoration of a victory obtained against the Moors, 1030. Their ensign is a red cross in the form of a sword.

=Order of the Seraphim.= See SERAPHIM, ORDER OF THE.

=Order of the Sword.= See SWORD, ORDER OF THE.

=Order of the White Eagle.= See WHITE EAGLE, ORDER OF THE.

=Order, Open.= In tactics, comprehends an interval of about 3 yards between each rank.

=Order, Parade.= When a regiment of horse or foot, a troop, or company, is drawn up with the ranks open and the officers in front, it is said to be in _parade order_.

=Orderlies.= Non-commissioned officers and soldiers appointed to wait upon generals and other officers, to communicate orders and carry messages.

=Orderlies, Standing.= Are soldiers who permanently perform orderly duty.

=Orderly Book.= A book for the sergeants to insert the orders which are issued from time to time.

=Orderly Drum.= The drummer that beats the orders, and gives notice of the hour for messing, etc., is so called.

=Orderly Officer.= The officer of the day; especially the officer of the day about an army headquarters in the field.

=Orderly Room.= A room in the barracks, used as the office of a company.

=Orderly Sergeant.= The first sergeant of a company is so called in the U. S. army.

=Orders.= Are the instructions, injunctions, or commands issued by superior officers. The orders of commanders of armies, divisions, brigades, regiments, are denominated orders of such army, division, etc., and are either general or special. They are numbered, general and special in separate series, each beginning with the year. In Great Britain and other European countries, and in the United States, orders generally take the designation of the headquarters from which they are issued.

=Orders, General.= Are orders that are issued to announce the hours for roll-calls and duties; the number and kind of orderlies, and the time when they shall be relieved; police regulations, and the prohibitions required by circumstances and localities; returns to be made and their forms; laws and regulations for the army; promotions and appointments; eulogies or censures to corps or individuals, and generally, whatever may be important to make known to the whole command.

=Orders, Military.= Companies of knights, instituted by kings and princes either for defense of the faith, or to confer marks of honor on their military subjects. See KNIGHTS, and names of orders under appropriate headings.

=Orders, Regimental.= Are such orders and instructions as grow out of general or special orders from superior authority, or proceed immediately from the commanding officer of a regiment.

=Orders, Special.= Are such as do not concern the troops generally, and need not be published to the whole command; such as those that relate to the march of some particular corps, the detaching of individuals, the granting requests, etc.

=Orders, Standing.= Are certain general rules and instructions, which are to be invariably followed, and are not subject to the temporary intervention of rank. Of this description are those orders which the permanent commander may judge fit to have inserted in the order books, and which are not to be altered by the temporary commander.

=Ordinaire= (_Fr._). The soldiers’ mess is so called among the French.

=Ordinary of Arms.= In heraldry, an index or dictionary of armorial coats, arranged, not according to names, like an armory, but according to the leading charges in the respective shields, so as to enable any one conversant with heraldic language, on seeing a shield of arms, to tell to whom it belonged.

=Ordinary Time.= In the U. S. army is quick time, which is 110 steps, or 86 yards in one minute, or 2 miles 1613 yards in an hour.

=Ordnance.= A general name for all kinds of weapons employed in war, and the appliances necessary for their use. Under the general term ordnance and ordnance stores are included all guns, howitzers, mortars, rockets, and projectiles of every description, the explosives used in warfare, all gun-carriages, limbers, caissons, mortar-beds, battery-wagons, and traveling-forges with their equipments, and all other apparatus and machines required for the service and manœuvres of artillery at sieges or in the field; together with the materials for their construction, preservation, and repair. Also all small-arms, side-arms, and accoutrements for artillery, cavalry, and infantry, all ammunition for cannon and small-arms; and all stores of expenditures for the service of the various arms, materials for the construction and repair of ordnance buildings, utensils and stores for laboratories, including standing weights, gauges, and measures, and all other tools and utensils required for the performance of ordnance duty. Harness and horse equipments are also furnished by the ordnance department. This general application of the word is not the purport of the present article; it is its special signification as used by the artillery with which we have to do. Technically speaking, ordnance is a term applied to all heavy fire-arms which are discharged from carriages.

_History._--Although the battering-rams and the engines for projecting missiles employed by the ancients and during the Middle Ages are regarded as artillery, yet the military weapons in use before the invention of fire-arms cannot fairly come under this designation. At what exact date cannon were first used is not known, but guns called “Crakys of War” were employed by Edward III. against the Scots in 1327, by the French at the siege of Puy Guillaume in 1338, and by Edward III. at Crécy, and at Calais in 1346. The first cannon, or _bombards_, were clumsy, wider at the mouth than at the chamber, and made of iron bars hooped together with iron rings. Ancient cannon were also made of wood wound with rope or wire, and in some instances were even occasionally constructed of leather. The balls fired from these bombards were first made of stone, which was afterwards superseded by iron. In the 15th century various kinds were known by the names of cannon, bombards, culverins, serpentines, etc. Bombards of great length and power were employed by Louis XI. during his Flemish campaign in 1477, some with stone balls and some with iron. About this time cannon began to be made of cast iron instead of hooped bars; and bronze or brass as material began to be used as well as iron, and projectiles were also made of cast iron instead of stone. The introduction of cast-iron projectiles led to the invention of _culverins_, which corresponded very nearly in construction and appearance to the guns of the present day; these were in some instances made of enormous lengths from the erroneous idea that the range increased with the length of the piece. A remarkable gun of this description still exists at Dover, England, familiarly known as “Queen Anne’s pocket-piece;” while it carries a ball weighing only 18 pounds, it is more than 28 feet in length. From the earliest days of artillery there existed short-chambered pieces, which projected stone balls under great angles of elevation; and in 1478 hollow projectiles filled with powder began to be employed; but it is probable that the accidents which accompanied their use caused them to be abandoned for the time. In 1634, however, this difficulty was overcome, and these pieces were introduced into the French service, forming the class of cannon now known as mortars. Early attempts were also made to throw hollow projectiles from culverins and other long guns, but great difficulties were experienced in loading them, and the accidents to which they were liable caused them to be abandoned. Subsequently, however, the Dutch artillerists reduced their length so that the projectile could be inserted in its place by hand, and thus improved these cannon rapidly came into use under the name of howitzers, from the German _Haubitz_. A short cannon of large caliber for naval service was invented by Mr. Gascoigne in 1799, and called a _carronade_, after the Carron Iron-Works, Scotland, where it was first made. It was not for many years after hollow projectiles had been used that it was accidentally discovered that the firing of the gun-charge could be relied upon to light the fuze. Prior to this a long fuze lighted from the outside had been used. The difficulties and danger incurred in loading long guns with hollow projectiles delayed their application to shell-firing, and it was not until 1812 that they were used for firing both solid shot and shell at low angles. In this year a gun of this class, which was invented by Col. Bomford, Chief of Ordnance, U.S.A., was adopted by the United States, and a number of these guns were used in the war with England, 1812-15. About 1814 this invention of Col. Bomford’s was improved upon by himself, and the gun thus improved was called a _columbiad_. The columbiad gave way about 1859 to the gun invented by Gen. Rodman. (See RODMAN GUN.) The dimensions of the columbiads were first taken to Europe by a young French officer, and thus fell into the hands of Gen. Paixhans, who introduced them, with certain modifications, into the French service about 1822. They were by this means first made known to the rest of Europe by the name of _Paixhan gun_, and small calibers were afterwards used in the U. S. service under that name. Cannon up to this time were constructed on the smooth-bore principle; the rifle principle, although employed by the Russians in 1615, by the Prussians in 1661, and by the Germans in 1696, had not been brought into general use on account of its imperfectness. From 1696 to 1833 many attempts were made to rifle cannon with more or less success; but although the firing of smooth-bore guns was as aberrant as that of smooth-bore muskets, and from greater range even more so, yet, since the gunners were safe from musketry fire at 200 yards, and the cannon could be directed against masses of men with tolerable certainty up to three times that distance, there was no special inducement to improve their powers. But the introduction of rifled small-arms changed the relative advantages; for a rifled small-arm might pick off the gunners of a smooth-bore cannon before their weapon could come into effective play. The Crimean war set inventors vigorously to work, and many admirable guns have resulted from their attempts, the great difficulty of the day being to decide which is most effective. Rifled guns have nearly superseded smooth-bored cannon, except in the United States, which still gives the preference to the latter.

=Ordnance, Modern, History of.= Heavy modern ordnance dates properly from the casting of the great Rodman smooth-bores in the United States. To the impetus thus given may be ascribed the origin of the powerful guns of the present day. In Rodman’s study of gunpowder and the improvements introduced by him lay the germ of all subsequent progress in ordnance. His most important invention, _perforated cake powder_, was transplanted bodily to the continent of Europe, where, under the name of _prismatic powder_, it has been used ever since. So perfect is the theory of this powder that invention and science toiling over the subject for twenty years has produced nothing better. Since the first half of the decade--1860-70--the United States has fallen behind the nations of Europe in the power of her armament. Having been committed by her two great inventors, Rodman and Dahlgren, to cast-iron smooth-bores, which were fabricated in great numbers, her attitude has been that of Micawber,--waiting for something to turn up. England occupies the other extreme,--of all the powers she has ventured the greatest sums upon the theories of her gun-makers. Her private manufacturers have received such encouragement at home or abroad that they are now able to supply the whole world. Their only great rival on the continent is Krupp, who finds his market principally in Germany, Russia, and Turkey.

The early adoption of the rifle principle by all European powers placed them at once on a plane of advancement. The vexed questions of breech- and muzzle-loading and of gun construction have been decided by each nation in the manner most satisfactory to itself. Opinions differ widely, and it is probable that many changes may be made in these matters. Still, they all possess powerful guns which have certain features in common, essential to heavy ordnance in the present stage of its development. Large-grained powder, the first of these requisites, is universally used (for varieties, see GUNPOWDER). Great length of bore, to utilize the whole force of the powder, is another characteristic. Great power is secured by immense charges of powder and weight of shot. A caliber of at least 12 inches, giving an oblong shot of about 700 pounds, seems to be regarded as a _sine qua non_ for all armaments. (See CANNON, ORDNANCE, GREAT BRITAIN, RUSSIA, FRANCE, etc.) England has taken the lead in all these improvements, and though it would appear from recent events that her choice of gun systems is unfortunate, there is no question that all great advances since Rodman’s day have been based upon her expensive experiments. The work of the celebrated “Committee on Explosives,” 1875, of which Col. Younghusband and Capt. Noble (now a member of Sir Wm. Armstrong’s firm) were members, did more to this end than any other investigation since Rodman’s experiments in gunpowder. Acting upon the obvious idea that the peril to the life of the gun is relieved by air-space, the committee recommended the enlargement of the bore at the seat of the charge, or the use of a chamber larger than the bore. This simple expedient led at once to an immense increase in the power of guns while the pressure endangering them was kept at a point lower than before. Every good thing can be pushed too far. The immense charges made possible by the English chamber have been continually added to by the Italians in their 100-ton Armstrong monsters and the vital air-space reduced till a charge of 552 pounds of powder has recently (1880) burst one of these magnificent guns.

_Nomenclature of Ordnance._--For component parts of cannon and their description, see CASCABEL, BASE OF THE BREECH, BASE-LINE, BASE-RING, BREECH, CHASE, ASTRAGAL AND FILLETS, NECK, SWELL OF THE MUZZLE, FACE, TRUNNIONS, RIMBASES, BORE, and REINFORCE. For recent modifications in the external form of cannon, see ORDNANCE, STRAINS UPON.

UNITED STATES.--_Smooth-bored._--The official system for the land service comprises the following smooth-bored cannon: The Napoleon gun for field service (see NAPOLEON GUN) and the mountain howitzer for mountain and prairie service. (See HOWITZER.) For siege purposes, the 8-inch howitzer, 8- and 10-inch and 24-pounder Coehorn mortars,--and for sea-coast defense, 13-, 15-, and 20-inch (Rodman) and 10-, 13- and 15-inch mortars. No 15-inch mortars have been yet cast. The 24-pounder flank defense howitzer, as well as the 8- and 10-inch smooth-bored Rodman and the 10-inch sea-coast mortar, no longer belong to the system, and are no more to be cast. The 13-inch smooth-bore is an experimental gun, not more than two or three of which have been cast. The smooth-bored gun principally used in the naval service is the Dahlgren. (See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.) The carronade is now little employed.

_Rifled Cannon._--The rifled cannon adopted for the land service of the United States at the present time (1880) are, for the field service a 3- and 3¹⁄₂-inch rifle, having the exterior shape of Rodman guns, but made of wrought iron,--the former adopted in 1861; the 3¹⁄₂-inch gun has never been made--the model was adopted in 1870,--and three mitrailleurs, viz., 1-inch and ¹⁄₂-inch (Gatling), adopted in 1868, and a .45-inch Gatling, adopted in 1874, intended to replace the ¹⁄₂-inch, and to use the service cartridge of the rifle musket. In the siege service there is but one rifle gun properly belonging to the system of the United States, viz., 4¹⁄₂-inch, of casting, having the Rodman shape, but cast solid. The 30-pounder (4.2-inch) Parrott so extensively used is not a regulation gun. (See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.) The weight of the 4¹⁄₂-inch is 3570 pounds. It has an extreme length of 133 inches. The twist is uniform, and the weight of the solid projectile 32¹⁄₂ pounds, and of the charge 3¹⁄₄ pounds. The piece is loaded at the muzzle. The rifled sea-coast guns belonging to the system are a 10- and 12-inch, made of cast iron, and weighing 40,681 and 52,000 pounds respectively. The extreme length of the 10-inch is 180, and of the 12-inch 192 inches; the weight of the solid shot, 292 and 620 pounds respectively; the twist in each is uniform, and both are muzzle-loaders. Such is the official system of the United States. All the large guns are cast iron and are now useless as an armament to cope with modern armed ironclads. We have, however, a number of experimental guns, the models of which must be our immediate reliance in case of foreign war. In making these experimental rifles it has been held in view to utilize as far as possible the cast-iron ordnance now on hand. They are all made of cast-iron cases fitted with internal tubes of wrought iron (steel has also been used) after the plans of Parsons and Palliser. (See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.) The 12¹⁄₄-inch rifle, muzzle-loader, is an original construction, the case required being larger than the 15-inch smooth-bored. The weight of gun is 40 tons; charge, 110 pounds _hexagonal powder_; shot, 700 pounds. The others are converted guns,--the 10-inch rifle, muzzle-loader, converted from 13-inch smooth-bore by inserting wrought-iron tube; two patterns of 8-inch rifle, breech- and muzzle-loaders, converted from 10-inch smooth-bores by muzzle and breech insertion of tubes. Quite a number of the muzzle-loaders have been made and mounted. A similar gun has been made for the naval service by converting the 11-inch Dahlgren. Parrott 100-pounders have also been converted into 6.4-inch breech-loaders for the navy.

Although the Parrott gun does not belong to the system adopted by the United States, it has been much employed for both siege and sea-coast purposes, almost to the exclusion of other rifled cannon. They are also very generally used in the naval service. There are eight of these guns employed in the service of the United States, viz.: a 300-pounder (10-inch), 200-pounder (8-inch), and 100-pounder (6.4-inch), in use by both land and naval forces; a 60-pounder (5.3-inch) and 30-pounder (4.2-inch), used exclusively by the navy, and a 30-pounder (4.2-inch), 20-pounder (3.67-inch), and 10-pounder (3-inch), employed exclusively by the land forces. The Parrott cannon are all muzzle-loading and made of cast iron, reinforced with a wrought-iron jacket. See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.

GREAT BRITAIN.--The cannon employed in the British service are all rifled, and nearly all muzzle-loaders.

_Royal Arsenal, Woolwich._--The guns belonging to the British system, and made at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, are: for land service, an 11-inch gun, wrought iron, muzzle-loading, weighing 25 tons; two 7-inch, weighing 7 tons, and differing slightly in length and details of construction; a 16-pounder (3.6-inch), weighing 12 cwt.; and a 9-pounder (3-inch), weighing 8 cwt. These guns are all made of wrought iron. There are also an 8-inch howitzer weighing 46 cwt., also of wrought iron, and two converted guns, viz., a 64-pounder (6.29-inch) converted from 32-pounder, and an 80-pounder converted from 68-pounder smooth-bore. Both of these guns are of cast iron, with wrought-iron tubes, and were converted according to the Palliser method. For the Woolwich 38-ton gun, see ARMSTRONG CANNON. For sea service exclusively, there are made at the Woolwich Arsenal a 12-inch, weighing 35 tons; two 8-inch, weighing 9 tons respectively, of the same length, one having no preponderance, and differing in other details of their construction; two 7-inch, weighing 6.5 tons respectively, differing slightly in length and details; a 7-inch, weighing 4.5 tons; and 9-pounder (3-inch), weighing 6 cwt. These guns are all made of wrought iron, and are muzzle-loading. For both land and sea service, there are made at the Royal Arsenal a 12-inch, weighing 25 tons; a 10-inch, weighing 18 tons; two 9-inch, one of which has no preponderance, the other a preponderance of 5 cwt.; three 64-pounders (6.3-inch), each weighing 64 cwt., but differing in length and construction. These guns are all made of wrought iron; for both services is used a 64-pounder (6.29 inch), converted from 8-inch smooth-bored according to the Palliser method. There are besides two bronze guns, one called the “boat gun,” a 7-pounder (3-inch) weighing 200 pounds; the other a 9-pounder (3-inch), used in the Indian service, and weighing 8 cwt.; also a 7-pounder (3-inch) mountain gun of steel, and weighing 150 pounds; these are all muzzle-loaders. The 9-, 10-, 11-, and 12-inch calibers have all steel tubes; one 7-ton and one 6.5-ton gun have tubes of wrought iron.

_Armstrong Cannon._--The guns used in the British service made by Sir William Armstrong are--for the land service--a 12-inch weighing 38 tons (some of these guns are bored to 12¹⁄₂ inches), an 11-inch weighing 25 tons, a 7-inch weighing 7 tons, a 40-pounder (4.75-inch) weighing 35 cwt., a 25-pounder (4-inch), and a 16-pounder (3.6 inch) weighing 18 and 12 cwt. respectively, a 9-pounder (3-inch) weighing 6 cwt., a 10-inch weighing 6 tons, having no preponderance. These guns are all of wrought iron and muzzle-loading. There are also used in the land service, and of the same make, a 7-pounder (3-inch) muzzle-loading steel gun weighing 150 pounds, an 8-inch muzzle-loading howitzer made of wrought iron and weighing 46 cwt., a 64-pounder (6.29-inch) converted from 32-pounder, and an 80-pounder (6.29-inch) converted by Palliser method from 68-pounder muzzle-loading, made of cast iron with wrought-iron tubes. The other guns manufactured by Sir William Armstrong, and used in the land service, are all breech-loading, viz.: a 7-inch (screw) weighing 72 cwt., a 20-pounder (3.75-inch screw) weighing 16 cwt., a 64-pounder (6.4-inch wedge) weighing 64 cwt., and a Gatling gun (0.45) weighing 3 cwt. 84 pounds. The guns used in the sea service of this make are a 12-inch weighing 35 tons, an 8-inch weighing 9 tons, two 7-inch weighing 6 tons 10 cwt. and 90 cwt. respectively, and a 9-pounder (3-inch) weighing 6 cwt. These are all muzzle-loading, and made of wrought iron. There is another muzzle loading gun used for sea service, viz., a 64-pounder (6.29-inch) converted from 8-inch, and weighing 71 cwt.; this gun is of cast iron with a wrought iron tube. The breech-loaders used for sea service are two 20-pounders (3.75-inch screw) weighing 15 and 13 cwt. respectively, 40-pounder (4.75-inch) wedge weighing 32 cwt., and a Gatling gun (0.65-inch) weighing 7 cwt. 35 pounds; these guns are all of wrought iron. For land and sea service are constructed a 12-inch weighing 25 tons, a 10- and 9-inch weighing 18 and 12 tons respectively, a 64-pounder (6.3-inch) weighing 64 cwt., a 9-pounder (3-inch) weighing 8 cwt., a 7-pounder (3-inch) weighing 200 pounds, and made of steel; the others are of wrought iron, and all are muzzle-loading. The breech-loading guns of this manufacture used in both land and sea service are a 7-inch (screw) weighing 82 cwt., two 40-pounders (4.75-inch) screw weighing 35 and 32 cwt., respectively, a 12-pounder (3-inch), 9-pounder (3-inch), and 6-pounder (2.5-inch) screw weighing 8, 6, and 3 cwt. respectively. They are all made of wrought iron. See ARMSTRONG GUN.

GERMANY.--In Germany the Krupp gun is almost entirely employed; they are all breech-loading and constructed of steel. (For particular construction, see ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.) Those used in the German land service are a 28-centimetre howitzer weighing 9.82 tons, caliber in inches 11.023, a long 21-centimetre weighing 9.84 tons, caliber 8.241 inches, a short 21-centimetre weighing 8.84, caliber 8.241 inches, a short 15-centimetre weighing 2.9 tons, caliber 5.869 inches, a 12-, 9-, 8-, and 6-centimetre, whose calibers are 4.735, 3.602, 3.090, and 2.362 inches, and whose weights are 1.37 tons, and 935, 649, and 235 pounds respectively. In the sea service are used a 30¹⁄₂-centimetre weighing 35.3 tons, caliber 12.007 inches, a short 26-centimetre weighing 17.67 tons, caliber 10.236 inches, a long 24-centimetre weighing 14.38 tons, caliber 9.267 inches, and a short 24-centimetre. For both land and sea service are employed a long 17-centimetre weighing 5.5 tons, caliber 6.771 inches, a short 17-centimetre, a long 15-centimetre weighing 3.03 tons, caliber 5.869 inches, and a long 15-centimetre weighing 3.09 tons.

FRANCE.--The guns adopted in the French service are both breech- and muzzle-loading, and are, for the land service, a siege-gun, 24-pounder rifled breech-loading, weighing 40.55 tons, caliber 6.01 inches, for fortress guns a 24- and 12-pounder rifled muzzle-loading, weighing 5953 and 3307 pounds, and having calibers of 6.01 and 4.77 inches respectively. For siege-guns a 24- and 12-pounder rifled weighing 4409 and 1940 pounds, whose respective calibers are 6.01 and 4.77 inches and muzzle-loading. For field artillery a 12-, 8-, and 4-pounder rifled, weighing respectively 1367, 1234.6, and 727.55 pounds, and whose calibers are 4.77, 4.17, and 3.40 inches respectively, all muzzle-loading. There is also a 4-pounder rifled muzzle-loading mountain piece weighing 220.5 pounds, whose caliber is 3.40 inches. In the sea-coast service there are a 30-pounder (muzzle-loader) not hooped, weighing 61 cwt., caliber 6.48 inches, a 30-pounder (muzzle-loader or breech-loader) hooped, weighing 70.86 cwt., caliber 5.46 inches, a howitzer 22-centimetre rifled and hooped, caliber 8.66 inches. In the French sea-service are a 32-centimetre weighing 34.5 tons, caliber 12.599 inches, and a 27-centimetre weighing 21.7 tons, caliber 10.803 inches. Both of these guns are breech-loading. For both land and sea service are used a 24-centimetre weighing 13.8 tons, caliber 9.499 inches, a 19-centimetre weighing 7.9 tons, caliber 7.638 inches, a 16-centimetre weighing 98.42 cwt., caliber 6.484 inches, a 14-centimetre weighing 52.26 cwt., caliber 5.456 inches. The guns used for sea service only, or for both land and sea service, are all made of cast iron, tubed with steel nearly to the trunnions, and strengthened near the breech by steel rings heated and shrunk on. The fortress guns, most of the siege, and all the field-guns are made of bronze. The large breech-loaders use the solid breech-screw _fermeture_. The term “pounder” as applied to certain guns has no reference to the weight of the oblong projectile used, but to the weight of the corresponding spherical solid shot.

RUSSIA.--In the Russian service the Krupp gun is rapidly taking the place of all others; there are, however, still used for sea service, a 12-inch and 6-inch breech-loader weighing 40 tons and 3.92 tons respectively; also a 12.2-pounder boat-gun weighing 792 pounds, and for both land and sea service an 8-inch breech-loader weighing 8.754 tons, and an 8-inch breech-loading mortar, weighing 3.21 tons. These guns are all made of steel.

=Ordnance, Ammunition for.= For convenience in loading and safety in transportation, cannon ammunition is prepared in a peculiar manner and with great care. The ammunition so prepared is classified into field and mountain, siege and sea-coast ammunition.

_Ammunition for Field Service_ is composed of solid shot, shells, spherical case-shot, and canister-shot (see headings). In mountain service solid shot are omitted. A stand of ammunition is composed of the projectile, sabot, straps, cartridge-bag, cylinder, and cap. The projectile is secured by two tin straps, fastened at the ends with tacks driven into the sabot. The straps cross each other at right angles; for solid shot, one strap passing through a slit in the other; for hollow projectiles, both straps are fastened to a tin ring which surrounds the fuze-hole. A round of canister for the field service consists of a tin cylinder filled with cast-iron shot, which slips over the end of the sabot, to which it is secured with small nails. The materials of which cartridge-bags are made are flannel, wildbore, or serge; the fabric should be soft and closely woven, to prevent the powder sifting out. Fabrics of cotton and flax are not used, because the powder sifts through them, and they are more apt to leave fire in the gun than woolen stuffs. A cartridge-bag for the field service is made of two pieces,--a rectangular piece for the sides, and a circular piece for the bottom. The charge is determined by measurement. The cylinder and cap are made of stout paper. The cylinder is used to give stiffness to the cartridge at the junction of the sabot and bag; the cap covers the exposed portion of the bag, is drawn off before loading, and placed over the projectile, or thrown away. The cartridge-bag is attached to the projectile by tying it around the grooves of the sabot with twine.

_Fixed Ammunition._--Ammunition thus prepared is called fixed ammunition. It is used in the field and mountain service for smooth-bore guns and howitzers. For rifled guns the bag and projectile are carried separately. The term _strapped ammunition_ is applied when the projectile is attached to a sabot without grooves; and to give a proper form to the cartridge-bag, the mouth is closed with a cartridge-block, which resembles a sabot; hence the name strapped ammunition. This kind of cartridge is nearly obsolete.

_Packing, etc._--As soon as ammunition is finished it should be gauged, to see that it is of the proper caliber; it is afterwards packed in boxes containing 10 rounds each.

_Siege and Sea-coast Ammunition._--On account of the great weight of siege and sea-coast ammunition, the cartridge-bag and projectile are carried separately. The cartridge-bags for large charges of powder are made of two pieces of woolen stuff, or of a paper tube with a woolen cloth bottom. The former are preferred for rapid firing. For sea-coast howitzers the bag should fill the chamber; if the piece be fired with a reduced charge, a cartridge-block should be inserted into the bag to give it proper size. For mortars the bag is only used to carry the powder, and when the piece is loaded, the powder is poured into the chamber; bags of any suitable size will answer for this service. For hot-shot cartridges bags are made double, by putting one bag within another. Care should be taken to see that the bags are free from holes. For ricochet firing, or other occasions when very small charges are required, a cartridge-bag of inferior caliber may be used. In the siege and sea-coast services, solid shot are transported and loaded loosely, but hollow projectiles are strapped to sabots, to prevent the fuze from coming in contact with the powder of the charge. The sabots are made from thick plank, and the straps are fastened as in the field service.

=Ordnance, Carriages for.= The carriages for cannon may be classified from their use into field, mountain, prairie, and sea-coast carriages, and mortar-beds. (See particular headings.) They may be further divided into those required for the immediate service and transportation of cannon, as gun-carriages and mortar-beds, and those employed for the transportation of ammunition, implements and materials for repairs, as caissons, mortar-wagons, forges, and battery-wagons. The field-, mountain-, prairie-, and siege-carriages being required for the transportation of their pieces are similar in their construction; those for sea-coast purposes differ materially from the others.

_Nomenclature of Artillery Carriage._--The principal parts of the field-carriage and of all artillery carriages, other than the sea-coast, are: stock, of squared wood in two pieces, which serves to connect the gun-carriage with the limber, and to direct the piece; it includes the head, to which the sponge-bucket ring is attached; groove, trail, or curved part of the stock, which rest on the ground when the piece is unlimbered; rounding of the trail, trail-plate, a piece of iron fastened to the end of the trail and terminated by a very strong ring, called the lunette, which receives the pintle-hook by which the limber is attached; pointing-rings, large and small, which receive the hand-spike; trail-handles, on each side of the stock for the purpose of raising it; prolonge-hooks, on which the prolonge is coiled; wheel-guard plates, lock-chain, used to keep the wheel from turning; it is on the side of the carriage, and has an eye-plate and bolt; sponge and rammer stop, sponge-chain and hasp, ear-plate for sponge-chain and hasp; ear-plate to support worm; key-chain and key; elevating-screw; the latter has a handle with four prongs; elevating-screw box, elevating-screw bed, rondelles, which connect cheeks and stock; cheeks, two pieces of wood between which the gun rests; washer-hooks for handspike, washer-hook for lock-chain, under-strap, right sponge-hook, sponge and worm-hook, handspike-rings, trunnion-plates, into the beds or depressions of which the trunnions fit; cap-squares, cap-square chain, key-chain and key. Axle, including axle-body, of wood; axle-tree, of iron, axle-arm, the rounded extremities of the axle-tree on which the wheels revolve; linch-pin, linch-pin washer and hook. Wheels; each includes nave, nave-bands, nave-box, spokes, felloes, tire. In the new model for field service, cannoneers’ seats are on the axle between the cheeks and wheels; each consists of an iron chair supported on a rectangular bar inserted in a vertical iron socket, and resting on a strong steel spring; the socket is supported by two brass braces fastened to the axle by axle-straps; to an iron cross-piece at the top of the socket are attached two iron braces, which help to support the iron foot-rest attached to the brass braces. The chair has arms and faces to the trail. This refers to the carriage proper, considered only in relation to the fire of the piece, or as a two-wheeled carriage. To suit it to the easy and rapid transportation of its load it must be converted into a four-wheeled carriage, which is done by attaching it to another two-wheeled carriage called a limber.

The _limber_ consists of a similar axle-body, axle, and two wheels, and on these rests a frame-work, to receive the tongue. On top of the whole is an ammunition-box, the top of which forms a seat for three cannoneers. In rear of the axle-tree is a pintle-hook to receive the lunette of the trail. Connected with the frame-work in front is a fixed splinter-bar with four hooks, to which are attached the traces of the wheel horses. At the extremity of the tongue are placed two pole-chains, by which the tongue or pole is held up, and a pole-yoke with two movable branches, to prevent, as much as possible, the pole from oscillating and striking the horses. The principal parts of a field-limber are: pole, including pole-pad; pole-straps, by which the pole is guided when the team is hitched; pole-strap iron, pole-yoke, muff and collar, pole-yoke branches, to which are attached sliding-rings; splinter-bar, to which the horses are hitched by four trace-hooks; end-bands, middle-bands, pole-prop, including socket, ferrule, and chain; hounds, pieces of wood upon which the chests rest, connecting the axle-body with the splinter-bar; forks, pieces of wood between the hounds, forming an opening in which the pole is placed; fork-strap, foot-boards, foot-board brackets, chest, chest-handles, cover, of wood; cover-plate, of copper; turnbuckle, hasp, back-stay, front-stay, stay-pins, stay-pin keys, under strap, pintle-hook, on rear part of axle-tree, which attaches the limber to the carriage; pintle-hook key, axle, wheels. The field-carriages employed in the U. S. service are three, one for the 3-inch rifle carriage (which, with slight modifications, is adapted to the 1-inch mitrailleur), one for the 12-pounder, and one for the ¹⁄₂-inch and .45-inch mitrailleur. The corresponding parts of these carriages differ only in their dimensions. All limbers are similar.

_Mountain-Carriage._--The mountain-carriage differs in construction from the field-carriage inasmuch as the stocks and cheeks are formed of the same piece by hollowing out the head of the stock, the wheels are smaller and the axle-tree is made of wood, the arms being protected from wear by skeans. It is arranged for draught by attaching a pair of shafts to the trail. The pack-saddle and its harness are constructed to carry severally the howitzer and shafts, the carriage, or two ammunition-chests; or it enables an animal to draw the carriage with the howitzer mounted upon it.

_Prairie-Carriage._--The prairie-carriage is designed to carry the mountain howitzer, and is similar to the mountain-carriage in form; but being exclusively for draught, the axle-tree is of iron, and the wheels are made higher and the distance between them greater than in the mountain-carriage. It has a limber and is drawn by two horses abreast, as in field-carriages. The ammunition is packed in mountain ammunition-chests, two of which are carried on the limber.

_Siege-Carriages._--There are three different kinds of siege-carriages used in the U. S. service, one for the 4¹⁄₂-inch rifle, another on which the 30-pounder Parrott is mounted, and a third for the 8-inch howitzer, being the old 12-pounder, 18-pounder, and 24-pounder siege-carriages modified; these are all constructed in the same manner, and differ only in their dimensions. Siege-carriages are similar to the field-carriage in construction (see FIELD-CARRIAGE), the principal difference being in the manner in which they are joined to the limbers. Projecting upwards from the limber and in rear of the axle-tree is placed a pintle, which enters a hole made in the trail from the under side, and a lashing chain and hook keep the two parts together when once in position; the weight of the stock bearing on the rear of the limber relieves the horses of the weight of the pole, which is long and heavy. On the upper surface of the cheeks near the rear ends are placed two projecting bolts, which with the curve of the cheeks form resting-places for the trunnions, when the piece is in position for transportation. They are called traveling trunnion-beds. When the piece is in this position the breech rests upon the bolster, which is a curved block of wood bolted to the upper side of the stock.

_Sea-Coast Carriages_ are divided into barbette front-pintle and barbette centre-pintle carriages, casemate, and flank-defense carriages; depending upon the part of the work in which they are mounted. The casemate-carriage differs from the barbette in being much lower. Sea-coast carriages are now chiefly made of wrought iron. All are composed of two principal parts, viz.: the gun-carriage and chassis. The gun-carriage is composed of two cheeks, held together by two plates of boiler-iron, called the front and rear transoms respectively. Each cheek is formed of two pieces of boiler-iron cut to a triangular shape, separated at the edges by interposing the vertical portion or web of a T-shaped bar. The horizontal branches project over each side to form a double rim, which gives stiffness to the cheeks. Flat bars of iron are also placed between the plates at suitable intervals to stiffen the cheeks in the direction in which the weight and recoil of the piece bear upon them. All these parts are held together by screw-bolts. The motion to and from battery is regulated in the 8- and 10-inch carriages by a pair of eccentric truck-wheels, called manœuvring-wheels, which work on an axle-tree placed underneath and a little in front of the centre of the trunnions. When it becomes necessary to check the recoil of the gun-carriage, the wheels are thrown out of gear by means of a handspike inserted in the socket attached to the end of the axle-tree, and the carriage moved on sliding friction. When the gun is to be moved into battery, the wheels are thrown into gear in a similar manner, and the front of the carriage moves on rolling friction. The manœuvring-wheels mentioned above are fixed on the projecting ends of the axle-tree, the axis of the wheel being eccentric with the axis of the axle-tree. These eccentrics are so arranged that when the centres of the wheels are at their lowest points, the surfaces of the wheels bear on the rails of the chassis, and raise the gun-carriage from it; and when the centres are at their highest points, the surfaces of the wheels do not touch the rails, and the gun-carriage is in contact with them. In case there is no socket connected with the end of the axle-tree, the wheel is thrown into or out of gear, that is, made to bear on the rail of the chassis, or relieved from it, by turning the axle-tree with a wrench placed on the hexagonal end. In the 15-inch carriage there are two pairs of manœuvring-wheels, one pair being placed in front as above described, and the other pair near the rear end of the carriage. In all sea-coast carriages except the flank casemate the elevation and depression are given by a lever, the point of which works in a ratchet cut in the breech of the piece. The fulcrum (ratchet-post) is made of cast iron and rests on the rear transom of the gun-carriage. It has several notches for adjusting the position of the elevating bar. The chassis is a movable railway on which the gun-carriage moves to and from battery. It is composed of two wrought-iron rails inclined 3° to the horizon, and united by transoms as in the gun-carriage. In addition to the transoms, there are several diagonal braces to give stiffness to the chassis. For the 10-inch and smaller carriages, the chassis-rails are single beams of rolled iron, 15 inches deep; for all calibers above, the rails are made of long rectangular pieces of boiler-plate and T-iron, in a manner similar to that of the cheeks of the gun-carriage. In order to move the carriage horizontally in the operation of aiming the piece, the chassis is supported on traverse wheels, which roll on circular plates of iron, fastened to a bed of solid masonry, called the traverse circles. The motion of the gun-carriage is checked front and rear, by pieces of iron bolted to the top of the rails, called hurters and counter-hurters; and it is prevented from slipping off sideways by friction rollers and guides, which are bolted to the cheeks and transoms. In a late modification of the 15-inch carriage, the front eccentric axle is replaced by an ordinary one, dispensing with axle-pawls and friction-bands, the handspike pawls are made double instead of single, with a spring to keep them out of the ratchets, the front set of transoms and diagonal braces are removed from the chassis, and pneumatic or hydraulic buffers to check the recoil are put in with thick braces. When the rear manœuvring-wheels are out of gear, the top carriage touches the rails of the chassis and moves on sliding friction, and when they are in gear the front wheels are also made to touch the rails and the top carriage moves on rolling friction. To prevent the rear manœuvring-wheels from working out of gear while the gun is being run from battery, or jumping in gear when the gun is fired, pawls are provided for locking the rear axle. When no pawls are provided for locking the eccentric axle, it is often necessary for one cannoneer to remain embarred in the axle-socket to prevent the axle from flying out of gear. The 15-inch carriage allows an elevation of about 32° and a depression of about 6°, unless when fitted with pneumatic buffers, when no more than 25° elevation can be given. With the hydraulic buffer which passes along the centre of the chassis and is little used in the U. S. service the elevation is still further diminished. The 10-inch rifle and 13-inch smooth-bore are used with the 13-inch carriage, and the 12-inch rifle and 15-inch smooth-bore on the 15-inch carriage; the 20-inch gun has a separate carriage. The flank-casemate carriage is adapted to the mounting of the 24-pounder iron howitzer in the flanks of casemate batteries. Several modifications have been introduced into the carriages for the experimental rifled guns. For the largest calibers the chassis-rails are deeper in rear than in front. The pintle, set in a heavy flanged block of cast iron, is in front of the chassis, to which it is attached by a strap or heavy plate of iron. The top carriage is manœuvred by chain-gearing worked by a capstan near the rear of the chassis. The elevation is given by a wheel with projecting spokes on the side of the top carriage, which is geared to work a toothed arc attached to the breech of the gun, the reading being given by a pointer on a dial-plate above the wheel. Rubber buffers are placed at the rear transom of the chassis to assist the cylinders to take up the recoil. Friction-plates attached by india-rubber ends to the rear transom take the place of cylinders in certain smaller carriages. In some cases the traverse-wheels are made to relieve the pintle of part of the strain by grooving them to run on heavy traverse-rails and inclining them towards the pintle.

_Mortar-Beds._--Mortars are fired from a bed; in the U. S. service there are three kinds of mortar-beds in use in the siege service; the 8-inch, 10-inch, and the Coehorn; the first two differ only in dimensions. They are made of wrought iron and put together after the manner of the sea-coast gun-carriage. The different parts are the cheeks, which, like those of the gun-carriage, are triangular in shape, and two transoms connecting the cheeks together. At the end of each cheek are projections, called front and rear notches, underneath which the cannoneers embar with their handspikes to move the bed on the platform; there are also two front and two rear manœuvring-bolts for the same purpose. The elevation and depression are given as in the gun-carriage by embarring with the iron elevating bar through the fulcrum into the ratchets on the breech of the mortar. The Coehorn-bed is made of a block of oak wood, in one piece, or two pieces joined together with bolts. A recess for the trunnions and part of the breech is made in the top of the bed, and the trunnions are kept in their places by plates of iron bolted down over them. Two iron handles are bolted to the bed on each side, by which four men can carry the bed with the mortar in its place, the entire weight being only 296 pounds. Sea-coast mortar-beds are similar to those for siege purposes, but they have eccentric truck-wheels for manœuvring the mortar-bed on the platform and the manœuvring-bolts are omitted. The 13-inch sea-coast mortar is now mounted upon a centre pintle-carriage. The usual bed, now become the top carriage, is placed upon a chassis resting on a platform. The top carriage has a crane attached to the left cheek, and to the inside of the right cheek is attached a pawl worked from the front, for locking the eccentric axle in and out of gear, and the carriage is strengthened by an additional rear transom about 5 inches wide, the pipe being omitted. The chassis has the usual appliance for throwing this class of carriages into gear, and in addition an eccentric axle placed at right angles to and supported by a double front transom, and carrying a traverse wheel, by means of which motion is communicated to the chassis. The chassis is otherwise transomed and braced in accordance with the system. Heretofore nearly all sea-coast carriages were made of wood, but in consequence of the great difficulty of preserving this material from decay, especially when exposed to the dampness of casemates, they have nearly all been replaced by wrought iron. The carriages principally employed for the transportation of ammunition, implements, and materials for repairs, are caissons, mortar-wagons, forges, and battery-wagons.

_The Caisson._--Caissons are used for conveying ammunition for a field-battery; all are similar in form. It is a four-wheeled carriage, consisting of two parts, one of which is a limber similar to that of the gun-carriage, and connected in a similar way by a wooden stock and lunette. On the axle-body of the rear part and parallel to the stock are placed three rails, upon which are fastened two ammunition-chests, one behind the other, and similar to the one on the limber; so that the caisson has three ammunition-chests, which will seat 9 cannoneers. The interior compartments of the ammunition-chests vary according to the nature of the ammunition with which they are loaded. In rear of the last chest is placed a spare-wheel axle of iron, with a chain and toggle at the end of it. On the rear end of the middle rail is placed a carriage hook similar to a pintle-hook, to which the lunette of a gun-carriage whose limber has become disabled may be attached, and the gun carried off the field. The caisson has the same turning capacity and mobility as the gun-carriage, so that it can follow the piece in all its manœuvres, if necessary. It also carries a spare-wheel, spare-pole, etc. The principal parts of the caisson are: stock, or middle-rail; it has an iron lunette on its front end; side-rails, front foot-board, rear foot-board, middle-chest, rear-chest, spare-wheel axle; it has a body, two ribs, and a chain and toggle to secure the wheel; there are also two stays for the axle; lock-chains, fastened to lock-chain bridles under the front ends of the side-rails, and held up by lock-chain hooks fastened to the outside of the side-rails; spare-pole, spare-pole key, key-plate, chain, and pin; the key-plate is fastened to the under side of the lunette; the key is attached to the left side of the stock by a chain and eye-pin; carriage-hook, for attaching a carriage that has lost its limber; wheel-guard plates, spare-pole ring, held by the axle-strap; ring-bolt for spare hand-spike, key-plate and key, on the right side of the middle-rail; key-plate, chain, and key for the shovel-handle, on the inside of the right side-rail; middle assembling-bar, of iron; it has two ears in the middle to serve as stay-plates for the middle-chests, and a slot for the axe on the right of the middle-rail; rear assembling-bar; it supports the spare-wheel axle, and has a slot for the pickaxe on the left of the middle-rail. Axle, the axle-body, being notched to receive the middle-rail and tenoned to fit into the notches in the side-rails; staples for tool-handles; they are driven into the top of the axle-body in front of the iron axle-tree, one for the shovel-handle near the right side-rail, the other for the handle of the pickaxe on the left of the middle-rail. Wheels of all artillery carriages are similarly constructed; they differ, however, in the size and strength of certain parts, depending on the size of the carriage to which they are attached. The principal parts are: the nave, the nave-bands, the nave-box, the spokes, the felloes, and the tire. The nave constitutes the central portion of the wheel, and distributes the pressure of the axle-arm to the spokes. It is generally made of a single piece of wood, and strengthened by four iron bands called the nave-bands. It is also pierced with a conical hole for the axle-arm; and to diminish wear and friction, it is lined with a box of brass or cast iron, called the nave-box. The spokes serve to transmit the pressure of the load to the rim of the wheel. In all artillery carriages there are seven felloes and fourteen spokes. The felloes are the wooden segments which form the rim, and are joined together at their ends by wooden pins, or dowels. The tire is a strong band of iron, shrunk tightly around the felloes, to hold them together, and protect the rim from wearing away by contact with the ground.

_Mortar-wagons_ are designed for the transportation of siege-mortars and their beds, or of guns or large shot, and shells. A limber similar to the one for siege-gun carriages is used with it. The body consists of a platform of rails and transoms resting on an axle-tree. The stock is formed by prolonging the two middle-rails. The side-rails projecting to the rear form supports for the pivots of a windlass-roller. This roller is used to load guns and mortars on the wagon by drawing them up the stock. A muzzle-bolster on the stock near the limber, and a breech-hurter near the hind part of the wagon, are provided and used when long pieces are transported on it. Mortars are usually carried mounted on their beds.

The _traveling-forge_ is a complete blacksmith’s establishment, which accompanies a battery for the purpose of making repairs and shoeing horses. It consists of a body, upon which is constructed the bellows-house, etc., and the limber, which supports the stock in transportation. The body is composed of two rails, a stock, and an axle-tree. The bellows-house is divided into the bellows-room and iron-room. Attached to the back of the house is the coal-box, and in front of it is the fireplace. From the upper and front part of the bellows an air-pipe proceeds in a downward direction to the air-box, which is placed behind the fireplace. The vise is permanently attached to the stock, and the anvil, when in use, is supported on a stone or log of wood, and when transported is carried on the hearth of the fireplace. The remaining tools are carried in the limber-chest. When in working order the point of the stock is supported by a prop. Nomenclature of the traveling-forge body: Lunette, prop, vise, stock, wheel-guard plates, stock-stirrup, fireplace, back of fireplace, air-back, wind-pipe, bellows, ribs, hinges, hook, fulcrum, hook and staple, roof of bellows-house, bows, studs, girders, end-boards, bottom-boards, side-rail, lock-chain hook, coal-box, lid or roof, handles, hinges, turnbuckle, and hasp. A new pattern of field-forge has been proposed by Col. Laidley, U. S. Ordnance Corps.

The _battery-wagon_ is employed to transport the tools and materials for repairs. Among the tools are those for carriage-makers, saddlers, armorers, and laboratorians’ use, scythes and sickles for cutting forage, and spare implements for the service of the piece. The body of the battery-wagon is a large, rectangular box, covered with a roof of painted canvas; and to the back part is attached a rack for carrying forage. The bottom of the body is formed of one middle- and two side-rails, resting on a stock and axle-tree, as in the traveling-forge. The tools and materials of the battery-wagon are carefully packed in the manner prescribed by the Ordnance Manual, in order that no difficulty may be experienced in finding a particular article when wanted. The smaller articles are carried in boxes properly lettered and numbered. The traveling-forge and battery-wagon are not confined to the service of field-batteries, but are used with siege and sea-coast carriages as occasion may require. Nomenclature of the battery-wagon body: Lunette, stock, wheel-guard plate, lock-chain, lock-chain bridle, lock-chain hook, studs, side-rails, upper rails, hinges, bows, cover-boards, cover-strap and turnbuckle, hasp, side-boards, stays, bottom-rails, bottom-boards, cross-bars, forage-rack, including chains, sides, and bars.

=Ordnance, Construction of.= The present condition of gun construction is mainly experimental. Iron in one form or another is the only material used for heavy artillery, but the particular form in which it is to be used, whether as cast, wrought, or steel, or whether in bars, coils, or ingots, or in combination,--as, for instance, steel or wrought iron interior and cast iron or wire-wrapped or hooped exterior,--is still undecided, and it is left for experiments which are still in progress, or to be made hereafter, to decide which is best. In the United States, cast iron is used for smooth-bore guns, and also for rifle guns, but as its use for the latter has not proved satisfactory, experiments are now being made with wrought iron lined and with wire-wrapped and other built-up guns, with fair prospect of success. In England, modern gun construction at one period inclined to the use of a steel or wrought iron interior tube, strengthened by an exterior casting of iron, which is the system of Palliser and Parsons. But the preference for the inventions of Sir William Armstrong, improved by those of Fraser, have resulted in the exclusive use, in that country at present, of the system of these two inventors. This method of gun construction is, in brief, a steel core (or body of the gun) strengthened by three or more exterior tubes of coiled wrought iron. This system is at present popularly known as the “Woolwich,” but sometimes called the “Elswick,” from the place where Sir William Armstrong’s works are now located. In Germany and Russia, and some other European nations, the Krupp system of heavy forgings of steel ingots is preferred. This last is by far the most expensive, and does not always produce the most durable guns. The question of breech- or muzzle-loading is still an undecided one. (See BREECH-LOADING and BREECH-MECHANISM.) The Germans prefer the first named, as do the French, Austrians, and Russians, for large calibers and for most small guns, while the English, after several years’ trial of the first, have of late abandoned its use and returned to the muzzle-loader, though the question has again been recently agitated. In the United States, experiments still going on have not yet demonstrated which principle is the best suited to the gun construction used in America. The advantages of loading at the breech with heavy guns are numerous and great; but the serious mechanical difficulties (see BREECH-MECHANISM) of perfecting the movable breech attachment have militated against its adoption, especially in a country committed like the United States to the use of cast iron. During the half-decade (1855-60), and the succeeding decade (1860-70), enormous strides were made in gun construction and in that of carriages and projectiles, and the manufacture of gunpowder.

_Cast Metal Guns._--The principles which govern the construction of homogeneous cast metal guns as established by long practice will be considered under the following heads:

_Exterior Form._--The exterior of cannon is generally divided into five principal parts, viz.: the breech, the first reinforce, the second reinforce, the chase, and the swell of the muzzle.

The _breech_ (see BREECH) is the thickness of metal in the prolongation of the axis of the bore, and should be at least equal to one and a quarter times the diameter of the bore; a less thickness has been found insufficient for heavy iron guns.

The _first reinforce_ (see REINFORCE) extends from the base-ring to the seat of the ball, and is the thickest part of the piece, for the reason that the pressure of the powder is found to be greatest before the projectile is moved far from its place. In shape this reinforce was formerly made slightly conical, under the impression that the pressure was greater at the vent than at the seat of the projectile; but it is now made cylindrical throughout. The thickness of bronze cannon at the seat of the charge is less than for iron guns.

The _second reinforce_ (see REINFORCE) connects the first reinforce with the chase. It is made considerably thicker than is necessary to resist the action of the powder, in order to serve as a proper point of support for the trunnions, and to compensate for certain defects of metal liable to occur in the vicinity of the trunnions of all cast cannon, arising from the crystalline arrangement and unequal cooling of the different parts.

_The Chase_ (see CHASE).--From the extremity of the second reinforce cannon taper more or less rapidly to the vicinity of the muzzle; this

## part called the chase constitutes the largest portion of the piece in

front of the trunnions. The thickness of metal in the chase should be sufficient to resist the striking of the ball against the side of the bore. This injury being greater in bronze and soft iron guns, their taper is less than in cast-iron cannon. In the construction of bronze guns, the thickness of metal at the neck or thinnest part is about five-elevenths of that at the first reinforce. All projections on the surface of cannon not absolutely necessary for the service of the piece are omitted in cannon of _late models_. This omission simplifies their construction, renders them easier to clean, and obviates certain injurious strains that would otherwise arise from unequal cooling in fabrication.

_Swell of the Muzzle._--The enlargement called swell of the muzzle was generally regarded as necessary, inasmuch as the metal situated immediately at the muzzle is supported only in rear, and it was thought necessary to increase its thickness in order to enable it to resist the

## action of the projectile at this point. At present, however, the

tendency is to reduce the size of the swell of the muzzle and to omit it entirely on all sea-coast cannon.

_Interior Form of Cannon._--The interior of a cannon may be divided into three distinct parts, viz.: the vent, or channel which communicates with the charge; the seat of the charge or chamber, if its diameter be different from the rest of the bore, and the cylinder, or that portion of the bore passed over by the projectile (see appropriate headings).

The _vent_ (see VENT) is perpendicular to the axis of the piece, and the interior orifice is at a distance from the bottom of the chamber equal to a quarter of its diameter, or at the junction of the sides of the chamber with the curve of the bottom. Experiment has shown this position to be the most favorable to the full development of the force of the charge, and to be least injurious to the piece. The size of the vent should be as small as possible, in order to diminish the escape of the gas and the erosion of the metal which results from it. In the U. S. service all vents are 0.2 inch in diameter. Experiment has, however, shown that the actual loss of force by the escape of the gas through the vent, as compared to that of the entire charge, is inconsiderable, and in practice may be neglected. In the U. S. service some pieces are made with two unbushed vents which are situated in two vertical planes on opposite sides of and parallel to the axis of the bore, and at a distance from it of one-half the radius of the bore. The left vent is bored entirely through, the other stops one inch short of the surface of the bore. When the open vent is too much enlarged by wear for further use, it is closed with melted zinc, and the other is bored out. Each vent is calculated to endure at least five hundred service rounds. In English guns of old model, the vent is placed four-tenths of the length of the cartridge from the bottom of the bore. In most breech-loaders, as well as many large modern muzzle-loaders, the vent is in the axis of the piece through the breech.

_Seat of the Charge._--The form of the seat of the charge, or that part of the bore of a fire-arm which contains the powder, will have an effect on the force of the charge and the strength of the piece to resist it. The considerations most likely to affect the force of the powder are the form of the surface and its extent compared with the inclosed volume. To obtain the full force of the charge it is necessary that the inflammation be nearly completed before the gas begins to escape through the windage, and the projectile is sensibly moved from its place, and as the tension depends much upon the heat evolved by the combustion, the absorbing surface should be a minimum compared with the volume. In cannon where the charge of powder is large, the form of the seat of the charge is simply that of the bore prolonged; this arrangement, when compared with the chamber, makes the absorbing surface of the metal a minimum and reduces the length of the charge, so that its inflammation will be as complete as possible before the gas escapes and the projectile is moved. To give additional strength to the breech, and to prevent the angle formed by the plane of the bottom and sides of the bore from becoming a receptacle for dirt and burning fragments of the cartridge-bag, it is rounded with the arc of a circle, whose radius is one-fourth the diameter of the bore at this point. Instead of being a plane bottom it is sometimes made hemispherical, tangent to the surface of the bore. In all United States cannon of the most recent model, the bottom of the bore is a semi-ellipsoid; this is thought to fulfill the condition of strength more fully than the hemisphere. With light pieces, in which it is necessary to use small charges of powder, if the charge were made into a cartridge of a form to fit the bore its length would be less than its diameter, and being ignited at the top, a considerable portion of the gas generated in the first instance of inflammation would pass through the windage, and a part of the force of the charge would be lost. To obviate this defect, to give the cartridge a more manageable form in loading, and to make the surface a minimum as regards the volume, the diameter of this part of the bore is reduced so as to form a chamber. The shape of the chambers of fire-arms is either cylindrical, conical, or spherical; the effect of these different forms of chambers on the velocity of the projectile will be modified by the size of the charge and the length of the bore. Up to a charge of powder equal to one-seventh of the weight of the projectile, and a length of bore equal to 9 or 10 calibers, experience shows that the presence of a chamber is advantageous, but beyond these it possesses no advantages to compensate for its inconvenience. For very small charges of powder and short lengths of bore, the cylindrical chamber gives better results than the conical chamber. For the same capacity, the conical chamber gives a shorter cartridge, and is therefore better suited to the rapid inflammation of a large charge of powder than the cylindrical chamber.

The Gomer chamber belongs to this class. (See GOMER CHAMBER.) The spherical chamber was formerly used particularly in mortars, but owing to the inconveniences which attend its construction and use, and its liability to deterioration, it is now entirely abandoned. In all the regulation guns of the U. S. land service, the bottom of the bore is a semi-ellipsoid. The adoption of this form simplifies the whole subject of chambers, and it is found to give increased ranges for small charges. No very careful experiments have been made to determine in a general way the effect of chambers on the strength of cannon; but late experience indicates that cylindrical chambers in heavy iron guns have an injurious effect on their endurance, and they have consequently been abandoned in these pieces.

_The Bore_ (see BORE).--The length of the bore has an important effect on the velocity of the projectile, and it was formerly supposed that the longest pieces gave the greatest ranges; this belief was in a great measure due to the slow rate of burning of mealed powder, which was originally used in cannon, but was entertained even after gunpowder received its granular form. When a gun is discharged, the accelerating force is due to the expansive effort of the inflamed powder, which reaches its maximum when the grains of the charge are completely converted into vapor and gas. This event depends on the size of the charge, and the size and velocity of combustion of the grains. With the same accelerating force, the point at which a projectile reaches its maximum velocity depends on its density, or the time necessary to overcome its inertia. The retarding forces are:

(1) The friction of the projectile against the sides of the bore; this is the same for all velocities, but different for different metals.

(2) The shocks of the projectile striking against the sides of the bore; these will vary with the angle of incidence, which depends on the windage and the extent of the injury due to the lodgment and balloting of the projectile.

(3) The resistance offered by the column of air in front of the projectile; this force will increase in a certain ratio to the velocity of the projectile and length of the bore. As the accelerating force of the charge increases up to a certain point, after which it rapidly diminishes as the space in rear of the projectile increases; and as the retarding forces are constantly opposed to its motion, it follows that there is a point where these forces are equal, and the projectile moves with its greatest velocity; it also follows that after the projectile passes this point its velocity decreases, until it is finally brought to a state of rest, which would be the case in a gun of great length. Elaborate experiments have been made in this country and abroad to determine accurately the influence which the length of the piece exercises on the velocity of its projectile. The experiments made by Maj. Mordecai of the U. S. Ordnance Department with a 12-pounder gun, show that the velocity increases with the length of the bore up to 25 calibers; but that the entire gain beyond 16 calibers, or an addition of more than one-half to the length of the gun, gives an increase of only one-eighteenth to the effect of a charge of four pounds. It follows from the foregoing that the length of bore which corresponds to a maximum velocity depends upon the projectile, charge of powder, and material of which the piece is made, and taking the caliber as a unit of measure, it is found that this length is greater for small-arms which fire leaden projectiles than for guns which fire solid iron shot, and greater for guns than for howitzers and mortars, which fire hollow projectiles. For the same charge of powder it may be said that the initial velocity of a projectile varies nearly with the fourth root of the length of the bore, provided the variation in length be small.

_Manufacture of Cannon._--Cannon for the U. S. service are made by private founders. The material and product of the casting are under the supervision of an ordnance officer, who receives the pieces only after they have satisfied all the conditions imposed by the regulations of the service. There are several foundries for making cast-iron cannon. Wrought-iron field cannon are principally made at the Phœnixville Iron-Works, Pa. There are also several private establishments where special cannon are made. The several operations of manufacturing cannon are, molding, casting, cooling, and finishing.

_Molding_, in general terms, is the process by which the cavity of the form of the gun is obtained by imbedding a wooden model in sand, and then withdrawing it. The wooden model is technically called the pattern, and the sand is confined in a box, which is divided into two or more parts for convenience in withdrawing the pattern. The pattern of the piece to be cast, somewhat enlarged in its different dimensions, is composed of several pieces of hard wood, well seasoned, or, for greater durability, of cast iron. The first piece of the model comprises the body of the piece from the base-ring to the chase-ring; the swell of the muzzle, and the sprue, or dead-head, are formed of the second piece; the breech, of the third; and the trunnions, of the fourth and fifth pieces. The sprue, usually called the “head,” is an additional length given to the piece, for the purpose of receiving the scoria of the melted metal as it rises to the surface, and furnishing the extra metal needed to feed the shrinkage. Its weight also increases the density of the lower portion of the piece. The breech is slightly lengthened in the direction of the knob of the cascabel, to form a square projection by which the piece can be held when being turned and bored. The best material for the mold is dry, hard, angular, and refractory sand, which must be moistened with water in which strong clay has been stirred, to make it sufficiently adhesive; when not sufficiently refractory, the sand is vitrified by the high temperature of the melted metal, and protuberances--not easily removed--are formed on the casting. When not sufficiently coarse and angular, the materials cannot be so united as to preserve the form of the molds. The mold is formed in a case of cast iron, and termed the “box,” or the “flask,” consisting of several pieces, each of which has flanges perforated with holes for screw-bolts and nuts, to unite the parts firmly. To form the mold, the pattern for the sprue and muzzle, previously coated with pulverized charcoal or coke, moistened with clay-water to prevent adhesion, is placed vertically on the ground, muzzle part up, and carefully surrounded by the corresponding parts of the jacket. When properly adjusted, the sand, prepared as above, is rammed around it. The model for the body of the piece is then placed on the top of this, and the corresponding parts of the jacket correctly secured, and filled in succession with the molding composition. The patterns for the trunnions and rimbases are bolted to the model of the piece, and when the sand is rammed firmly around these, the bolts are withdrawn, this part of the mold completed, and the end-plates screwed on. After completing the mold for the body of the piece, the model for the cascabel is properly adjusted and the mold completed. Care is taken to cover each portion of the model with the coke-wash mentioned above, and to sprinkle dry sand upon the top of the mold in each piece of the jacket, to prevent adhesion, so that the portions of the mold may be separated. In the body of the sand, a channel for the introduction of the metal is formed in the same manner as the mold cavity. It enters at the bottom of the mold, to prevent the bottom from being injured by the falling metal, and in an oblique direction, to give a circular motion to the metal as it rises in the mold, and thereby prevent the scoria from adhering to the sides. When the mold is completed, the parts of the flask are carefully taken apart, and the pieces of the model withdrawn from the mold contained in them. If any portions of the mold be injured in withdrawing the model, they are repaired, and the interior of the mold is covered with coke-wash; after which the several parts are placed in an oven to be gradually and perfectly dried. When this is accomplished, the parts are carried to a pit, where they are united and secured in a vertical position, with the breech below. Any portion of the sand broken off during the movements and adjustments should be replaced, and the whole of the interior covered with coke-wash. The object of coke-wash is to prevent the sand from adhering to the melted metal, which, when prepared, is made to flow in at the entrance of the side-channel. As the metal rises in the mold, a workman agitates it with a long pine stick, to cause the scoria and other impurities to rise to the surface, and brings them toward the centre of the mold, to prevent their entering the cavities for the trunnions.

_Cooling._--After the mold is placed properly in the pit, it is usual to surround the box with sand, at least as high as the trunnions of the gun. This is done to prevent rapid cooling. With guns as heavy as 24-pounders, this sand is not removed for three days, and as the gun is heavier the time is prolonged, and is from seven to eight days for the 10-inch columbiad. At the proper time the sand is removed, and the gun, still imbedded in the box and sand of the mold proper, is hoisted out, the box taken off, and when nearly cold, the gun cleaned of the sand.

_Boring and Turning._--A cannon is bored by giving it a rotary motion around its axis, and causing a rod armed with a cutter to press against the metal in the proper direction. The piece, supported in a rack, is carefully adjusted, with its axis horizontal, and made to revolve on this axis by machinery attached to the square knob on the cascabel. After adjustment, the sprue-head is first to be cut off. This is effected by placing a cutter opposite the point at which the section is to be made, and pressing it against the metal whilst the piece is turning. The head being cut off, and the cutter removed, the boring is commenced by placing the boring-rod, armed with the first cutter, called the piercer, in the prolongation of the axis of the piece, and pressing it against the metal. The piercer is used till it penetrates to the bottom of the chamber, after which a second cutter, or reamer, is attached to the boring-rod, and with this the boring is made complete to the round part of the chamber. The reamer is then removed and its place supplied by the chamber-cutter, which gives the necessary form and finish to that part of the bore. In hollow-cast cannon the piercer is dispensed with. Whilst the boring is taking place the workman contrives to finish the turning of all the exterior of the piece except the portion between the trunnions, which is afterwards planed off in another machine. These operations having been completed, the piece is placed in the trunnion-machine, and the trunnions are turned down to the proper size. Care is taken to make the trunnions of the same diameter, and perfectly cylindrical. Their axes should be in the same right line, perpendicular to the axis of the piece and intersecting it.

_Boring the Vent._--Whilst in the trunnion-lathe, the axis of the piece is inclined to the horizon at the angle the vent is to make with it. A drill is placed vertically over the point where the vent is to be bored, and pressed against the metal whilst a rotary motion is given to it by hand or machinery. The time required to finish a cannon, ready for inspection, depends upon its size, or from three to four weeks for a 24-pounder gun, and six weeks for an 11-inch gun.

_Cast Metal Guns, Modern Improvements in._--The first great step in this direction was taken by Gen. Rodman of the U. S. Ordnance Corps. It was his investigation into the crystallization of cast iron which led to the abolition of sharp angles or projections in the form of cannon. His reputation, however, rests mainly upon the principle of _hollow casting_. The general form of the old casting is that of a _solid_ frustrum of a cone; it is therefore cooled from the exterior, which causes the thin outer layer to contract first, and forces the hotter and more yielding metal within towards the opening of the mold. Following this the adjacent layer cools and tends to contract, but the exterior layer to which it coheres has become partially rigid and does not fully yield to the contraction of the inner layer. The result is, the cohesion of the particles of the inner layer is diminished by a force of extension, and that of the outer layer increased by a force of compression. As the cooling continues this operation is repeated, until the whole mass is brought to a uniform temperature, and the straining force is increased to an extent which depends on the size and form of the mass, the rapidity with which it is cooled, and the contractibility of the particular metal used. The foregoing considerations led Rodman to cast the gun hollow and to cool it from the interior, to reverse the strains by external cooling, and make them contribute to the endurance rather than to the injury of the piece. The method employed is to carry off the internal heat by passing a stream of water through a hollow core, inserted in the centre of the mold cavity before casting, and to surround the flask with a mass of burning coals, to prevent too rapid radiation from the exterior. Results show that cast-iron cannon made by this plan are not only stronger, but are less liable to enlargement of the bore from continued firing. All large American guns of cast iron, including the cases for the experimental rifles, are now cast on the Rodman plan. The plan has also been adopted by most of the nations of Europe that use cast-iron guns,--France, Sweden, Italy, etc.

For improvements in _bronze_, see the methods of Dean and Uchatius, ORDNANCE, METALS FOR.

The following are among the best known of cast metal homogeneous guns:

_Columbiad._--The columbiads are a species of sea-coast cannon containing certain qualities of the gun, howitzer, and mortar; they are long, chambered pieces capable of projecting solid shot and shells with heavy charges of powder, at high angles of elevation. The columbiad was invented by Col. Bomford, late of the U. S. service; the model was afterwards changed by lengthening the bore and increasing the weight of metal. (See ORDNANCE, HISTORY OF.) It was afterwards discovered that these pieces did not possess the requisite strength, and they were degraded to the rank of shell guns, and their places supplied by pieces of improved model. The change consisted in giving greater thickness of metal in the prolongation of the axis of the bore, which was done by diminishing the length of the bore itself; in substituting a hemispherical bottom to the bore, and removing the cylindrical chamber; in removing the swell of the muzzle and base-ring, and in rounding off the corner of the breech. In 1860 the model prepared by Capt. Rodman was adopted for all sea-coast cannon, and is essentially the same as the one described below.

_Paixhan Gun._--See ORDNANCE, HISTORY OF.

_Dahlgren Gun._--The guns constructed after the plan of Admiral Dahlgren of the U. S. navy, are used principally in the U. S. sea service. Those of large caliber are made of cast iron, solid, and cooled from the exterior. To produce uniformity in the cooling, the piece is cast nearly cylindrical, and then turned down to the required shape. The thickness of the metal around the seat of the charge is a little more than the diameter of the bore, as is true of nearly all the cast-iron guns. The chase, however, tapers more readily than in other cast-iron guns; they are smooth-bored, and the chamber is of the Gomer form. The principal guns of this system are of 9- and 11-inch caliber. A piece of 10-inch caliber has, however, been introduced into the navy for firing solid shot. The 15- and 20-inch naval guns are shaped exteriorly after the Dahlgren pattern, but are cast hollow, and have the elliptical chamber of the Rodman system.

_Napoleon Gun._--A bronze field-piece in the U. S. service. See NAPOLEON GUN.

_Rodman Gun._--The principal difficulty formerly experienced in manufacturing very large cast-iron cannon was the injurious strain produced by cooling the casting from the exterior. Gen. Rodman of the U. S. Ordnance Department developed a theory of the strains produced by cooling a casting like that of a cannon (see ORDNANCE, STRAINS UPON), and as a remedy for them proposed that cannon should be cast with a hollow core and cooled by a stream of water or air passing through it. This new mode of casting was afterwards adopted by the War Department. By this system of casting, guns of greatly-increased size and endurance are fabricated. The largest guns employed in the U. S. service (20-inch) are made on the Rodman plan, as well as the 15-inch, 13-, 10-, 8-inch, etc. The external form of Rodman guns is striking, as they are much larger at the seat of the charge than elsewhere. Their outline is made up of curved lines. This form has been almost universally adopted for U. S. guns. The Dahlgren, which preceded it, has nearly the same shape.

The great power demanded at the present day in heavy ordnance, however, cannot be attained by the use of cast iron alone. The difficulties of constructing homogeneous guns of the stronger metals--wrought iron and steel--have given birth in modern times to

_Built-up Guns._--The term “built-up” is applied to those cannon in which the principal parts are formed separately, and then united together in a peculiar manner. One object of this mode of manufacture is to correct the defects of one material by introducing another of opposite qualities, as for instance, trials have been made to increase the hardness, and therefore endurance, of bronze cannon by casting them around a core of steel which formed the surface of the bore. Built-up cannon are not necessarily composed of more than one kind of metal. Some of the most noted are made of steel or wrought iron alone. In this case the defects which we have seen accompany the working of large masses of wrought iron (crystalline structure, cracks, false welds) are obviated by first forming them in small masses, as rings, tubes, etc., of good quality, and then uniting them separately. The mode of uniting a built gun may be by welding the parts, by shrinking, or forcing one over the other, or by screwing them together.

In the _construction of built-up guns_, makers have aimed at the ideal gun which has its strength proportioned to the strain it is called upon to bear in all its parts. All parts of the sides of a cannon are not strained equally, and are therefore not brought to the breaking-point at the same time. Any arrangement of the parts by which the explosive strain is distributed equally over the entire thickness of the piece, necessarily brings a greater amount of resistance into play to prevent rupture. There are two general plans for accomplishing this, viz.: First, by producing a strain of compression on the metal nearest the surface of the bore. This is termed an “initial strain,” and is brought about by shrinking heated bands or tubes around the part to be compressed, or by slipping a tube into the bore, which has been slightly enlarged by heat. In either case it is apparent that the extent of the strain depends on the relative size of the fitting surfaces, and the amount of heat used to produce expansion. Sometimes the parts are forced together by hydraulic pressure after they have been carefully bored and turned to the proper size. The second plan is based on “varying elasticity,” and is accomplished by placing that metal which stretches most within its elastic limit around the surface of the bore, so that by its enlargement the explosive strain is transmitted to the outer parts. By the selection of suitable materials and their proper management, both of these plans may be combined in the same gun, and thereby give it increased strength. See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.

The best-known cannon of the _built-up_ class are:

_Ames Gun._--The rifled guns made by Mr. Horatio Ames, of Falls Village, Conn., are made of wrought iron on the built-up principle. The wrought iron is in the form of rings, made by bending a bar around a mandrel and welding the ends. After turning them in a lathe, two or more of these rings are fitted one within another to form a disk. These disks are welded in succession to a concave breech-piece. Some of these guns have shown remarkable endurance. They are weakest against longitudinal strains.

_Armstrong Gun._--Is so much like the _Woolwich_, which it preceded, that a separate description is unnecessary. See WOOLWICH GUN.

_Blakely Gun._--The most approved pattern of the gun invented by Capt. Blakely combines in its construction the principles of “initial tension” and “varying elasticity,” the object of which is to bring the strength of all the metal of the piece into simultaneous play to resist explosion. It is made of several tubes or barrels, the inner one of which is of low steel, having considerable but not quite enough elasticity. The next tube is made of high steel with less elasticity, and is shrunk on the barrel with just sufficient tension to compensate for the insufficient difference of elasticity between the two tubes. The outer cast jacket, to which the trunnions are attached, is the least elastic of all, and is put on with only the shrinkage by warming it over a fire. The steel tubes are cast hollow and hammered over steel mandrels under steam-hammers; by this process they are elongated, and at the same time the tenacity of the metal is increased, all the steel parts are annealed. Other combinations of iron and steel are used, except wrought iron, which is regarded as objectionable on account of its tendency to stretch permanently. Blakely guns were rifled with one-sided grooves, and are fired with expanding projectiles. This gun is no longer made under that name. As now made it is called the

_Vavasseur Gun_, and is manufactured by Messrs. J. Vavasseur & Co. of the London Ordnance-Works. It is made entirely of the best Sheffield cast steel, except the trunnions, which are wrought iron, and consists of an interior tube and outer tube and a number of hoops. The inner tube is forged from a solid ingot. It is rough bored and turned and then oil tempered. The outer tube and rings are cast hollow and hammered over steel mandrels. They are heated and shrunk on. Theoretically, it is difficult to pick a flaw in the construction of this gun. The rifling used is anomalous. It consists of three _ribs_ instead of grooves projecting into the bore. The projectile has corresponding grooves. These guns have found quite a market in the South American republics.

_Brooke Gun._--This gun was made after the plan of Capt. Brooke for the Confederate service; it resembles Parrott’s in shape and construction, except that the reinforcing band is made up of iron rings not welded together. The rifling is similar to that used in the Blakely guns.

_Fraser Gun._--See WOOLWICH GUN.

_Gatling Gun._--See GATLING GUN.

_Krupp Gun._--See KRUPP GUN.

_Lancaster Gun._--This gun is now little used; it was made of wrought iron. The bore was cut in a spiral form with an elliptical cross-section, and the projectile shaped to fit it, by which means a rotary motion was imparted.

_Palliser Gun._--Maj. Palliser of the British service is the inventor of a system which has been successfully applied in England to utilize smooth-bore cast-iron guns by converting them into rifles. By his plan the gun is first bored to a cylinder or finely tapering cone, then lined with a tube of coiled wrought iron, the breech end of which is shrunk on; the exterior of the barrel has a uniform diameter throughout. The tube is double at this part to obtain the benefit of the tension and to enable any fracture of the inner layer to be made known without bursting the gun. The bottom of the barrel is closed by a wrought-iron cup screwed in. The tube is inserted into the gun from the muzzle without the application of heat. A small amount of play is allowed between the barrel and the cast-iron body; this disappears, or is much reduced by a “setting up charge,” which expands the barrel against the cast iron. The end of the barrel is made to bear accurately against the cast-iron breech. A collar screwed into the muzzle secures the tube in position, and prevents it from being thrust forward by the compression of the metal by repeated firing. In front of the trunnions a pin is screwed in through the cast iron, to resist the tendency of the tube to be turned by the bearing of the projectile in the grooves. On the exterior of that portion of the inner tube that is covered by the second tube is cut a spiral gas channel; this communicates with a tell-tale hole drilled through the cast-iron breech, by which gas can escape and announce the fracture of the inner tube. The venting and rifling are similar to those employed in the Woolwich guns. In the larger guns Maj. Palliser proposes to use two or more concentric tubes, in some the exterior one to be of steel. This system is being applied in the United States with the most promising results in the conversion of 10-inch Rodman guns into 8-inch rifles. The rifles thus obtained, though giving to a projectile a less muzzle velocity than does the 10-inch smooth-bore, has, on account of the increased weight of shot, greater penetrating power at all ranges, being doubled at some and trebled at others. Its accuracy is three times greater, and the capacity of its shell twice that of the original gun.

_Parsons Gun._--The system upon which Mr. Parsons makes his guns is similar to that of Maj. Palliser. (See PALLISER GUN.) It depends upon the principle of varying elasticities, and is based upon the fact that wrought iron may be stretched three times as much as cast iron, and will offer three and a half to six times the resistance within the limit of its elasticity. These well-known gun constructions, known as _converting systems_, both consist in lining a cast-iron case with a wrought-iron or steel tube. In the Palliser or English method the tube is inserted from the muzzle. In the Parsons or American method, through the breech. In both nearly the whole of the longitudinal strain is transferred to the cast-iron case. Both systems were first perfected in England. Col. Crispin (U. S. Ordnance Corps) deserves the credit of introducing them into the U. S. service in constructing the new _experimental rifles_. The Parsons system is better adapted to constructing breech-loaders.

_Parrott Gun._--The Parrott rifled gun is a cast-iron piece of about the usual dimensions, strengthened by shrinking a coiled band or barrel of wrought iron over that portion of the reinforce which surrounds the charge. The body of the larger Parrott guns are cast hollow, and cooled from the interior on the Rodman plan. The barrel is formed by bending a rectangular bar of wrought iron spirally around a mandrel, and then welding the mass together by hammering it in a strong cast-iron cylinder, or tube. In bending the bar, the outer side being more elongated than the inner one, is diminished in thickness, giving the cross-section of the bar a wedge shape, which possesses the advantage of allowing the cinders to escape through the opening, thereby securing a more perfect weld. The barrel is shrunk on by the aid of heat, and for this purpose the reinforce of the gun is carefully turned to a cylindrical shape, and about one-sixteenth of an inch to the foot larger than the interior diameter of the barrel in a cold state. To prevent the cast iron from expanding when the barrel is slipped on to its place, a stream of cold water is allowed to run through the bore. At the same time, and while the band hangs loosely upon it, the body of the gun is rotated around its axis to render the cooling uniform over the whole surface of the barrel. The proof of the Parrott guns consists in firing each piece 10 rounds with service charges.

_Rodman Gun._--The principal difficulty formerly experienced in manufacturing very large cast-iron cannon was the injurious strain produced by cooling the casting from the exterior. Gen. Rodman of the U. S. Ordnance Department developed a theory of the strains produced by cooling a casting like that of a cannon (see ORDNANCE, STRAINS UPON), and as a remedy for them proposed that cannon should be cast on a hollow core and cooled by a stream of water or air passing through it. This new mode of casting was afterwards adopted by the War Department. By this system of casting, guns of greatly increased size and endurance are fabricated. The largest guns employed in the U. S. service (20-inch) are made on the Rodman plan, as well as many of the guns employed in the field service.

_Whitworth Gun._--These guns are made of a species of low steel; the smaller are forged solid, the larger are built up with coils or hoops; the hoops are forced on by hydraulic pressure, and for this purpose are made with a slight taper and with the design to secure initial tension. The ends of the hoops are joined by screw-threads. The hoops are first cast hollow, and then hammered out over a steel mandrel. Before receiving their final finish they are subject to an annealing for some three or four weeks, which makes the metal very ductile, but at the same time slightly impairs its tenacity. The system differs from Krupp’s in the smaller masses used and the greater number of hoops. The process for making the hoops is better calculated to develop their tensile strength. The breech-pin is made with offsets in such a way as to screw into the end of the barrel and the next two surrounding hoops. The cross-section of the bore of the Whitworth gun is a hexagon with rounded corners. The twist is very rapid and the projectiles are made very long.

_Woodbridge Gun_ (invented by Dr. Woodbridge, of Little Falls, New York).--The system of construction consists essentially of a thin steel barrel over which wire is wound, barrel and wire being subsequently consolidated into one mass by a brazing solder melted and poured into the interstices. The following brief description is extracted from one of the inventor’s letters to the chief of ordnance: “Square wire is wound upon a steel core somewhat longer than the intended bore of the gun, a sufficient number of wires being wound at once side by side to produce the required obliquity of the turns. The successive layers have opposite twists. When the mass has reached the required dimensions, it is inclosed in an air-tight case to protect it from oxidation, and is heated therein to a temperature somewhat above that required for the fusion of the soldering metal. The soldering metal having been melted is run in, filling all the interstices of the mass. When cooled the gun is bored and finished as usual.” The invention dates back to about 1850. A small gun made in this way was tested by Maj. Laidley (U. S. Ordnance Corps) in 1865. It endured 1327 rounds with excessive charges, when the attempt to burst it was abandoned on account of the breaking off of the trunnions. The only large gun ever made--a 10-inch gun--was fabricated at Frankford Arsenal. It was not entirely finished till April, 1876, soon after which it was displayed at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Certain defects in its manufacture prevent it from fairly representing the Woodbridge system.

_Woolwich Gun._--The Woolwich or Fraser gun is in its construction a modification of the Armstrong plan, which latter had been previously used in Great Britain; the principal difference is in substituting for a number of single coils and a forged breech-piece a few long double and triple coils, and in using a cheaper quality of wrought iron. The number of pieces employed in the construction depends upon the size of the gun; an 8-inch rifled gun is composed of the inner tube (barrel) of steel, the muzzle-coil (trousers), the breech-coil (jacket), and the cascabel-screw. The barrel is made from a solid forged cylinder of cast steel, drawn by heating and hammering; it is turned, bored, and chambered; then heated to a uniform temperature in a vertical furnace and plunged into a covered tank of rape-oil, where it cools and soaks. The muzzle-coil is constructed of two single coils welded together endways. Each coil is formed by heating a long bar and wrapping it about a mandrel; this is next heated in a reverberatory furnace and welded under a steam-hammer. Before being united the two cylinders are turned and bored. The breech-coil is composed of a triple coil, a trunnion-ring, and a double coil welded together. The double coil is formed by placing a single coil, when cold, on a mandrel and winding over it, but in the reverse directions to break joints, a second bar; if over this a third bar is immediately wound in the same direction as the first, a triple coil will result. These coils are welded by being heated and hammered on the end and on the sides. The trunnion-ring is made by welding slabs of iron together on the flat end of a bar, and gradually forming a ring by driving through the centre wedges and mandrels increasing in size; the trunnions, one of which comes from the bar, are at the same time hammered into shape. The coils and the ring having been turned and bored, the latter is placed on a shoulder of the triple coil, the double coil is dropped through the trunnion-ring on the triple coil, and the joints welded in this position. The cascabel is forged of good scrap-iron; the different parts having been formed are accurately turned and bored with a slight taper. The muzzle-coil tube being heated is dropped over the barrel, which is stood in a pit, a stream of cold water circulating through the bore. The half-formed gun is then placed on its muzzle, water forced through the bore, and the breech-coil heated and slipped into position. The cascabel is screwed into the breech-coil abutting against the barrel, great care being taken that the contact is perfect. A tell-tale hole is cut along the thread on the cascabel to give warning by the escape of gas should the barrel break in firing. The vent is bored through hardened copper; it enters near the centre of the service cartridge. This gives greater velocity, but also greater pressure. The large guns have from seven to ten grooves. The twist is uniformly increasing; the shape of the grooves is circular, with curved edges.

_Sutcliffe Gun._--This invention, by E. A. Sutcliffe of New York City, relates to a breech-mechanism for cannon. See BREECH MECHANISM.

_Griffin Gun._--Name sometimes given to the 3-inch rifled field-piece in the U. S. service. It is made of wrought iron. The method of fabrication is to wrap boiler-plate around a mandrel and to weld it.

=Ordnance, Metals for.= The only metals ordinarily used for cannon are cast and wrought iron, steel, and an alloy of copper and tin, or a combination of these metals. Cannon metals should be able to resist the corroding action of the atmosphere, the heat and the products of combustion of the powder; should be susceptible of being easily bored and turned, and should not be too costly. The qualities necessary in cannon metals are strength to resist the explosion of the charge, weight to overcome severe recoil, and hardness to endure the bounding of the projectile along the bore. The shape of the bore would otherwise be rapidly altered by the action of the projectile. This quality is

## particularly necessary in rifled cannon. The term strength as applied to

cannon metal is not confined to tensile strength alone, but embraces also elasticity, ductility, and crystalline structure, which affect its power to resist the enormous and oft-repeated force of gunpowder. (See ORDNANCE, STRAINS UPON.) Each discharge of a cannon, however small, impairs its strength, and repeated a sufficient number of times, will burst it; this arises from the fact that the feeblest strains produce a permanent elongation or compression of iron; this is technically known as the permanent set, and the same is probably true of all other metals. The property of ductility is of importance in enabling a metal to resist rupture after it has passed its elastic limit. The size and arrangement of the crystals of a metal have an important influence in its strength to resist a particular force. A metal will be strongest when its crystals are small, and the principal faces parallel to the straining force, if it be one of extension, and perpendicular to it, if it be one of compression. The size of the crystals of a particular metal depends on the rate of cooling; the most rapid cooling giving the smallest crystals.

_Cast iron_ is very generally employed, notably in the United States, in the fabrication of heavy cannon for siege and sea-coast purposes. It possesses the very important qualities of tenacity, hardness, and cheapness, and with proper care is not seriously affected by rust. Its principal defect is an almost entire want of elasticity, in consequence of which its tenacity is destroyed after a certain number of applications of the straining force. But little is known of the causes which affect the quality of the cast iron used for cannon metal. The amount of carbon, the state of its combination, together with the ore, fuel, and fluxes, and the process of manufacture, all materially affect the quality of the iron. All that is known is, that certain ores treated in a certain way make cast iron suitable for cannon, and the fitness of a particular kind of cast iron for artillery purposes can only be determined by submitting it to the tests of the service. After this is known, a knowledge of certain physical properties, such as tenacity, hardness, density, and color, form and size of crystals presented in a freshly fractured surface, will be useful in keeping the metal up to the required standard. The pig-iron from which cannon are made should be soft, yielding easily to the file and chisel; the appearance of the fracture should be uniform, with a brilliant aspect, dark gray color, and medium-sized crystals. When remelted and cast into cannon, it should have about sufficient hardness to resist the file and chisel, but not to be so hard as to be bored and turned with much difficulty; its color should be a bright gray, crystals small, structure uniform, close, and compact. The density of gun metal should be about 7.25, and its tenacity about 30,000. There are several varieties of cast iron differing from each other by almost insensible shades. The principal divisions are, however, gray and white. Gray iron is softer and less brittle than the white, is slightly malleable and flexible, and does not resist the file. It has a brilliant fracture of a gray or bluish-gray color. This iron melts at a lower temperature than white iron and becomes more fluid, contracts less and contains fewer cavities; it fills the mold well, the edges of a casting are short, and the surface smooth, convex, and covered with carburet of iron. Gray iron is the only kind suitable for making castings which require great strength, such as cannon. White iron is very brittle, resists the file and chisel, and is susceptible of high polish, the surface of a casting is concave, the fracture presents a silvery appearance. Its qualities are the reverse of those of gray iron; it is therefore unsuitable for ordnance purposes. Mottled iron is a mixture of white and gray; it has a spotted appearance, and flows well. The casting has a plane surface with edges slightly rounded. It is suitable for making shot and shells. Besides these general divisions, there are several other varieties of iron whose qualities depend upon the proportion of carbon, and the state in which it is found in the metal. The color and texture of cast iron depend greatly on the size of the casting and the rapidity of cooling. See ORDNANCE, STRAINS UPON.

_Wrought iron_ was among the earliest metals employed in the construction of cannon, but in consequence of the defects which almost invariably accompany the forging of large masses, it was superseded by bronze and cast iron to a great extent. Wrought iron is softer than cast iron, and, being pure iron, is more liable to be corroded by the action of the atmosphere and products of combustion of the powder; it possesses also considerable ductility. The tensile strength of wrought iron, which under the most favorable circumstances is double that of the best cast iron, depends on the character of the crystalline structure, and the manner of applying the tensile force, or in other words, wrought iron offers the greatest resistance to a force of extension when the structure is fibrous, and the force acts in the direction of the fibres. The practical difficulties of rapidly cooling large masses so as to form small crystals, and compressing them by hammering, rolling, or otherwise to develop and give a particular direction to the fibre, have not thus far been wholly surmounted. On the contrary, large masses are generally found to contain such internal defects as false welds, cracks, and a spongy and irregularly crystalline structure, arising from the more rapid cooling of the exterior surface.

_Steel_ is a compound of iron and carbon, in which the proportion of the latter seldom exceeds 1.7 per cent. It may be distinguished from iron by its fine grain, its susceptibility of hardening by immersing it when hot in cold water, and with certainty by the action of diluted nitric acid, which leaves a black spot on steel, and on iron a spot which is lighter colored in proportion as the iron contains less carbon. For the construction of cannon, steel may be divided into high and low steel, the difference being that the former contains more carbon than the latter. High steel is very hard and has great ultimate tenacity. It has but little extensibility within or without the elastic limit, and is therefore too brittle for use in cannon, unless used in such large masses that the elastic limit will not be exceeded by the explosive force of the powder. It melts at a lower temperature than wrought iron and is difficult to weld, as its welding temperature is but little less than that at which it melts. Low steel is often known as “mild steel,” “soft steel,” “homogeneous metal,” and “homogeneous iron,” and is made by fusing wrought iron with carbon in a crucible; after which it is cast into an ingot and worked under a hammer. As it contains less carbon than high steel, it has greater specific gravity. It can be welded without difficulty, although overheating injures it. It more nearly resembles wrought iron in all its properties, although it has much greater hardness and ultimate tenacity, and a lower range of ductility depending on its proportion of carbon. It has less extensibility within the elastic limit than high steel, but greater beyond it, or in other words, greater ductility. Its great advantage over wrought iron for general purposes is that it can be melted at a practicable heat, and run into large masses possessing soundness and tenacity. Its advantages for cannon are greater elasticity, tenacity, and hardness. Its tenacity when suitable for cannon is three times as much as cast gun iron, and one-half more than the best wrought iron. The principal varieties of steel are:

_Natural Steel._--This is made principally in Germany, and is used for making files and other tools. It is obtained by reducing the rich and pure kinds of iron ore with charcoal, and re-fusing the cast iron so as to bring it to a malleable state. The India steel, or Wootz, is a natural steel containing a small proportion of other metals.

_Blistered Steel._--This is prepared by exposing alternate layers of bar-iron and charcoal in a close furnace for several days. When taken out the bars are brittle in quality and crystalline in appearance. The purpose for which the steel is to be used determines the degree of carbonization. The best qualities of iron (Russian and Swedish) are used for the finest kind of steel.

_Tilted Steel._--This is blistered steel moderately heated and subjected to the action of a tilt-hammer, by which means its density and tenacity are increased.

_Shear Steel._--A blistered or natural steel refined by piling thin bars into fagots, and then rolling or hammering them into bars, after they have been brought to a welding heat in a reverberatory furnace. The quality is improved by a repetition of this process, and the steel is known accordingly by the names, half shear, single shear, double shear, etc.

_Cast Steel._--This is made by breaking blistered steel into small pieces, and melting it in close crucibles from which it is poured into iron molds. The ingot is then reduced to a bar by hammering or rolling with great care. Cast steel is the finest kind of steel, and is best adapted for most purposes; it is known by a very fine, even, and close grain, and a silvery homogeneous fracture. The most remarkable specimen of cast steel for tenacity which is on record was manufactured at Pittsburgh, Pa. It was tested at the Washington Navy-Yard, and found to sustain 242,000 pounds to the square inch. The strength of cast steel usually runs from 70 to 140,000 pounds.

_Bessemer Steel._--This steel is produced by forcing air into melted iron, by means of which the carbon and silicon of the crude cast iron is oxidized. The essential difference between this process and the ordinary puddling is mechanical, and consists in the intense and violent stirring of the Bessemerized iron, to which alone is due the production and maintenance of a temperature, without any other fuel than the carbon and silicon contained, that keeps the metal fluid so that it can be cast into homogeneous malleable ingots. When decarburation has been carried far enough, the current of air is stopped, and a small quantity of white pig-iron containing a large amount of manganese is dropped into the liquid metal. No very large cannon have yet been made wholly of Bessemer steel, but several small ones have, which have shown great endurance. Experiments at the Woolwich Arsenal have shown that the tenacity of this steel is more than doubled by hammering.

_Siemens-Martin._--In this process the ingredients of cast steel are melted together on the open hearth of a reverberatory furnace of special construction, and a certain proportion of manganese necessary to make a sound and practically malleable steel added. This steel is, however, little used in gun construction.

_Semi-Steel._--If in the process of puddling or decarbonizing cast iron the process be stopped at a particular time, determined by indications given by the metal to an experienced eye, an iron is obtained of greater hardness and strength than ordinary iron, to which the name of semi-steel, or puddled steel, has been given. The principal difficulty in its manufacture is that of obtaining uniformity in the product, homogeneity and solidity throughout the entire mass. It is much improved by reheating and hammering under a heavy hammer; but it has not been found a reliable material for even cannon of small caliber. The celebrated guns made by Mr. Krupp of Germany are of cast steel, made from puddled steel, and of peculiar character, combining great tensile strength with the property of stretching to a great extent without breaking. Sir Joseph Whitworth improves the qualities of steel for his more recent guns by casting it under hydraulic pressure.

_Chrome Steel._--An alloy of iron and chromium, which is not steel in the ordinary sense, but which possesses many of its characteristics. The tensile strength and resistance to crushing is much higher than ordinary cast steel. This material has been largely used in bridge-building, but has not yet been applied to cannon-making.

_Bronze_ for cannon (commonly called brass) consists of 90 parts of copper and 10 of tin, allowing a variation of one part of tin more or less; by increasing the proportion of tin, bronze becomes harder, but more brittle and fusible; by diminishing it it becomes too soft for cannon, and at the same time loses a part of its elasticity. Bronze is more fusible than copper, much less so than tin. It is harder, less susceptible of oxidation, and much less ductile than either of its constituents. Its fracture is of a yellowish color, with little lustre, a coarse grain, irregular, and often exhibiting spots of tin which are of a whitish color. The density and tenacity of bronze when cast into the form of cannon, are found to depend upon the pressure and mode of cooling. In consequence of the difference of fusibility of tin and copper, the perfection of the alloy depends much on the nature of the furnace and the treatment of the melted metal. By these means alone the tenacity of bronze has been carried up to 60,000 pounds. Bronze is but slightly corroded by the action of the gases evolved from gunpowder, or by atmospheric causes; but its tin is liable to be melted away at the sharp corners by the great heat generated in rapid firing. It is soft, and therefore liable to serious injury by the bounding of the projectile in the bore. This injury is augmented as the force of the rebound is increased by the elasticity of the metal. It was established by experiments of Maj. Wade of the U. S. Ordnance Corps more than twenty years ago that the tensile strength of bronze is related to its density. It has been discovered since that this density can be produced by artificial compression. Two men claim the honors of the invention--Gen. Uchatius of the Austrian army, and S. B. Dean, an American inventor. The methods are essentially the same. After the gun is cast, steel mandrels slightly conical in shape are driven through the bore by hydraulic pressure,--each being succeeded by one slightly larger,--thus enlarging the bore and compressing the metal surrounding it. It is claimed that the bronze is thus rendered harder and stronger, and the defects above cited in a large measure obviated. The term “steel bronze” or “bronze steel” has been applied to the metal so treated. Many guns have been made of it for the Austrian service,--the largest of which is a 6-inch breech-loader throwing a projectile of 85 pounds. This gun has proved itself slightly superior in power to the same sized Krupp gun of steel.

_Aluminium Bronze._--An alloy of 90 parts of copper and 10 of aluminium. It is harder than ordinary bronze; much stronger, being 100,000 pounds to the square inch; it does not tarnish readily. Its properties would seem to especially fit it for a gun metal. _Phosphor bronze_ is an alloy with very similar properties.

_Combined Metals._--Numerous trials have been made to improve the strength of cannon by combining two or more metals in such a way that the good qualities of one will counteract the defects of the others. But the only metals used to any extent are those described above. Steel is constantly gaining in favor as a cannon metal. It is now almost exclusively employed throughout Europe, and wherever the Krupp gun is used. The great perfection arrived at by Krupp and others in the manufacture of steel seems to place that metal above all others for gun construction, whilst the difficulty of handling large masses has been overcome by the enormous power of the machinery used. Steel is also sparingly employed both in the United States and England for converting smooth-bore guns into rifles according to the Palliser method, but experiments in the United States have shown that it is inferior to wrought iron for this purpose. See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.

Wrought and cast iron are much used in this way for cannon in both the United States and in England. In the former, all the larger cannon belonging to the official system (both siege and sea-coast) are made of the cast metal, whereas the Parrott gun and the new rifled pieces are a combination of both. (See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.) The metal chiefly employed in England is wrought iron, in combination with steel; the largest guns made at the Woolwich Arsenal are of this nature. Bronze, except as modified by the Austrians, has now nearly entirely gone out of use as a cannon metal. In France and the United States, field-pieces, mortars, and howitzers are still made of this material.

=Ordnance, Strains Upon.= The exterior form of cannon is determined by the variable thickness of the metal which surrounds the bore at different points of its length. In general terms, the thickness is greatest at the seat of the charge, and least at or near the muzzle. This arrangement is made on account of the variable action of the powder and projectile along the bore, and the necessity of disposing the metal in the safest and most economical manner. The pressure at different points may be approximately determined by calculation, or, more accurately, by experiment. In the latter method, the plan generally employed consists in boring a series of small holes through the side of a gun at right angles to its axis at known distances apart. A steel ball is projected from each hole in succession into a target, or ballistic pendulum, by the force of the charge acting through it, and the pressure at the various points is deduced from the velocities communicated to these balls. This method was adopted by Col. Bomford. Instead of the projectile a steel punch may be employed, which is pressed by the force of the charge into a piece of soft copper. (See PRESSURE-GAUGE.) The weight necessary to make an equal indentation in the same piece is then ascertained by a testing machine. The strains to which all fire-arms are subjected may be classified as follows: (1) The tangential strain which tends to split the piece open longitudinally, and is similar in its

## action to the force which bursts the hoops of a barrel. (2) The

longitudinal strain which acts to pull the piece apart in the direction of its length. Its action is greatest at or near the bottom of the bore, and least at the muzzle, where it is nothing; these two strains increase the volume of the metal to which they are applied. (3) A strain of compression which acts from the axis outward to crush the truncated wedges of which a unit of length of the piece may be supposed to consist; this strain compresses the metal and enlarges the bore. (4) A transverse strain which acts to break transversely by bending outward the staves of which the piece may be supposed to consist. This strain compresses the metal on the inner and extends it on the outer surface. It is known that rupture will take place due to the tangential strain alone, when three times the pressure upon a unit of surface of the bore is greater than twice the tensile strength. Due to the longitudinal strain alone, rupture will take place in the direction of the length, when the pressure is greater than twice the tensile strength; and if the transverse strain alone is considered, rupture will take place when twice the pressure is greater than three times the tensile strength. It therefore appears that the tendency to rupture is greater from the

## action of the tangential force than from any other, and for lengths

above two, or perhaps three calibers, the tangential resistance may be said to act alone, as the aid derived from the transverse resistance will be but trifling for greater lengths of bore; but for lengths of bore less than two calibers, this resistance will be aided by both the transverse and the longitudinal resistance. Every piece should therefore have sufficient thickness of breech to prevent splitting through the latter; after this point has been attained, any additional thickness of breech adds nothing to the strength of the piece. It therefore appears that a fire-arm is strongest at or near the bottom of the bore, and that its strength is diminished rapidly as the length of the bore increases to a certain point (probably not more than three calibers from the bottom); after which, for equal thickness of metal, its strength becomes sensibly uniform. The metals of which cannon are made being crystalline in structure, the size and arrangement of the crystals have an important influence on its strength to resist a particular force; and a metal will have the greatest strength with reference to a particular force when its crystals are small, and the principal faces are parallel to the straining force, if it be one of extension, and perpendicular to it, if it be one of compression. The position of the principal crystalline faces of a cooling solid is found to be perpendicular to the cooling surface; the result of this arrangement of crystals is to create planes of weakness where the different systems of crystals intersect. The effect of this law upon cannons, it has been discovered, is to render radial specimens more tenacious than those cut tangentially from the same gun. The manner and rapidity of cooling have also a great effect upon the ability of cannon to resist strains, and as all solid bodies contract their size in the operation of cooling, it follows that if the different parts of a cannon cool unequally, it will change its form, provided it be not restrained by the presence of a superior force. If it be so restrained, the contractile force will diminish the adhesion of the parts by an amount which depends on the rate of cooling of the different parts, and the contractibility of the metal. This is an important consideration in estimating the strength and endurance of cannon, particularly those made of cast iron. All such cannon cooled from the exterior (see ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF) are affected by two straining forces; the outer portion of the metal being compressed, and the interior extended, in proportion to their distances from the neutral axis or line composed of particles which are neither extended nor compressed by the cooling process. The effect of this unequal contraction may be so great as to crack the interior metal of cast iron even before it has been subjected to the force of gunpowder. The strain produced by the explosion of gunpowder is not distributed equally over the thickness of metal, but it varies inversely as the square of the distance from the centre; it therefore follows that the sides of a cannon are not rent asunder as by a simple tensile force, but they are torn apart like a piece of cloth, commencing at the surface of the bore. Hence it is that the effect of ordinary cooling is to diminish the strength and hardness of the metal of cannon at or near a point where the greatest strength and hardness are required, _i.e._, at the surface of the bore. The strains produced by unequal cooling increase with the diameter of the casting and the irregularity of its form. This explains the great difficulty found in making large cast-iron cannon proportionally as strong as small ones, and also how projections like bands, moldings, etc., injure the strength of cannon. It also explains why cannon made of “light” cast iron, or cast iron made more tenacious by partial decarbonization, are not so strong as cannon made of weaker iron; for it is well known that such iron contracts more than the latter in cooling, and therefore produces a greater strain of extension on the surface of the bore. Capt. Rodman of the U. S. Ordnance Department has proposed a plan for cooling cannon from the interior (see ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF), thereby reversing the strains produced by external cooling, and making them contribute to the endurance rather than to the injury of the piece. It is likely, however, that the strains produced by unequal cooling are modified by time, which probably allows the

## particles to accommodate themselves to a certain extent to their

constrained position. In confirmation of this, great endurance has been frequently found in _old_ solid cast guns, as in the old 42-pounders tested about the beginning of the war, 1861-65.

=Ordnance Department.= In the United States, was first established May 14, 1812, and was not provided for in the reduction of the army in 1815, but continued in the service. In 1821 the department was merged into the artillery, attaching to each regiment of artillery 1 supernumerary captain, and giving to each company 4 subaltern officers. The corps of ordnance was re-established April 5, 1832. The department consists of 1 brigadier-general, 3 colonels, 4 lieutenant-colonels, 10 majors, 20 captains, 16 first lieutenants, and 350 enlisted men. It is the duty of the senior officer of the ordnance department to direct the inspection and proving of all pieces of ordnance, shot, shells, small-arms, and equipments procured for the use of the armies of the United States; and to direct the construction of all cannon and carriages, and every implement and apparatus for ordnance, and all ammunition-wagons, traveling-forges, and artificers’ wagons; the inspection and proving of powder, and the preparation of all kinds of ammunition and ordnance stores. It is also the duty of the senior officer of the ordnance department to furnish estimates, and, under the direction of the Secretary of War, to make contracts and purchases for procuring the necessary supplies of arms, ordnance, and ordnance stores, etc. In the British service, the ordnance department was a distinct branch of the war department, originally for the supply of all warlike stores used in the naval or military service. The first master of ordnance was created in the time of Henry VIII., and the Tower of London was probably the depot of arms and military stores; Robert, earl of Essex, is said to have been the first master-general, in 1596. It does not appear that the ordnance department of the British service became especially military until the early part of the 18th century, after the organization of the Royal Artillery, in 1743, under the Duke of Montague as master-general. From this time the ordnance department was administered by a master-general and board, the latter being composed of a lieutenant-general of ordnance, surveyor-general, clerk of the ordnance, principal store-keeper, clerk of the deliveries, and treasurer. About 1763 the department became a construction board, with charge of all forts and fortresses, and directed the construction of all the fortifications and military store-houses, and barracks for the ordnance corps. The board was finally abolished as a separate department, the duties carried on by the commander-in-chief, and the various civil branches by separate offices under the secretary of state for war.

=Ordnance Office.= Before the invention of guns, this office was supplied by officers under the following names: the bowyer, the cross-bowyer, the galeater, or purveyor of helmets, the armorer, and the keeper of the tents. Henry VIII. placed under the management of a master-general, a lieutenant, surveyor, etc. The master-general was chosen from among the first generals in the service of the sovereign. The appointment was formerly for life; but since the restoration, was held _durante bene placito_, and not unfrequently by a cabinet minister. The letters patent for this office were revoked May 25, 1855, and its duties vested in the minister of war. The last master-general was Lord Fitzroy Somerset, afterwards Lord Raglan.

=Ordnance Projectile.= See PROJECTILE.

=Ordnance Sergeants.= In the U. S. service, are staff sergeants who are selected from the sergeants of the line of the army. Their duties consist in receiving and preserving the ordnance, arms, ammunition, and other ordnance stores at posts, under the direction of the commanding officer of the same. They must not be confounded with sergeants of ordnance, who are sergeants in the ordnance detachments at arsenals, etc.

=Ordnance Store-keeper.= In the British service, is a civil officer in the artillery who has charge of all the stores, for which he is accountable to the office of ordnance.

=Ordnance Store-keeper.= In the U. S. army, an officer of the ordnance department who holds the rank of captain. The grade has been abolished by act of Congress, and the duties appertaining to the office will be performed by other officers of the ordnance department.

=Ordnance Stores.= See ORDNANCE.

=Oregon.= One of the Pacific States of the American Confederacy. Oregon was the name formerly given to the whole territory north of the Rocky Mountains, and was first claimed by the Spanish government, and next by the government of the United States, as far as lat. 54° 40′ N. This latter claim was resisted by the British government, which asserted a right to the entire territory, and in 1818 a treaty was made, and renewed in 1827, giving joint occupation to the disputed territory. In 1846 a treaty was concluded, by which the boundary was settled on the 49th parallel. Previous to this latter treaty (1839) emigration from the United States, for the purpose of settlement, commenced, and it continued steadily until the opening of the gold mines in California, which attracted a great many emigrants. In 1849 it formed a Territorial government, and in 1859 it was admitted into the Union as a State. This State has been troubled greatly by Indians, and has been the scene of several wars in earlier days, notably, in 1853, on Rogue River; in 1855, when a general outbreak took place, of which the following is a brief summary: In 1855 a war broke out between the whites and the Indians of Washington Territory. The head and front of the outbreak on the part of the Indians was Kam-ai-a-kin. He took this stand from a fixed principle: that of resisting all encroachments on the part of the whites. He had seen the fate of the Indian race in the Willamette Valley, and he determined to anticipate such a result with regard to his own people, and, if possible, to prevent it. When Gov. Stevens made his arbitrary treaties with him, and left him no discretion but to sell his land; and when the miners began to traverse his country, he concluded that the hour had arrived to fight, and he called to his aid as many of the adjoining tribes as he could persuade into it. The manner in which the treaties on Puget Sound were conducted created great dissatisfaction among the Indians, and they were quite ready to join Kam-ai-a-kin. The war commenced by the killing of miners, who were picked off in the Yakama country as they were going to Fort Colville, scarcely a month after the council which was held at Walla Walla. The killing of the agent Bolen set the war in a blaze. The small detachment of troops sent to chastise them was driven back. This success on the part of the Klickatats encouraged the Sound Indians, who also took up arms, and in the absence of troops, fell upon and killed the inhabitants of White River; but the wholesale slaughter of women and children by a party under the command of Major Lupton on October 8, 1855, drove the Indians to desperation and caused them to commence the war in earnest; hostilities continued until the summer of 1856. Also, in later years, the Modoc war (1872), the Nez Pérces (1877), and the Bannock war (1878).

=Oreillere= (_Fr._). Oreillet, ear-piece of an ancient helmet, shaped like an oyster-shell, for protecting the ear and cheek.

=Oreillon= (_Fr._). Ear of a sword, languet, or small slip of metal on the hilt, which, when the sword is sheathed, extends along the scabbard.

=Organization.= The act of assigning and putting troops into such uniform state of discipline as may fit them to co-operate on any service. _Organization_ may be said to be begun by grouping those combatants who have the same mode of action. These groups are known as “arms of service.” An arm of service may be defined to be “a union of combatants having the same mode of action.” There are four of these arms in modern armies, viz.: _Infantry_, _Cavalry_, _Artillery_, and _Engineers_. These four arms form the principal part of a mobilized army, and as they or their representatives are always formed into a line of battle to resist the attack of an enemy, or to make an attack, they are generally known as the “line of the army” or “troops of the line,” to distinguish them from other bodies of men who form parts of an army. These _arms_ are subdivided into fractions for the purpose of instruction and of supply. The unit for instruction and the unit for supply may be the same or different. The unit of supply, as a general rule, is constant, and is also usually the unit of instruction in discipline. The unit of instruction in tactics will depend upon circumstances, and upon the kind of movements the commander desires to make. The common unit for the four arms, for supplying the men’s wants and for instruction in discipline, is the “company.” This unit receives, at other times, other names, depending upon circumstances. For instance, a _battery_ of artillery is the same as company; the term _squadron_ of cavalry frequently means a company, etc.

_A company_ consists of a given number of men commanded by a commissioned officer who has the rank of captain. Two, sometimes three, and even more commissioned officers of a grade below that of captain are appointed to assist the captain in the discharge of his duties. These officers have the grade of lieutenant. Their number and the number of men forming a company are fixed by law. A certain number are selected from the men and appointed non-commissioned officers, with the rank of sergeant or of corporal. These non-commissioned officers are used to instruct the men in their military duties and in discipline. The whole company should be divided into _squads_ of equal numbers, and each squad placed under the charge of a non-commissioned officer, who should be held responsible for the cleanliness of the men of his squad, not only as to their persons, clothing, and arms, but as to their tents or quarters. The _company_, with its size based on the theory that it must not be larger than one man on foot can thoroughly command in person, is the unit of organization. Two or three or more companies form a _battalion_. Four, and at the outside, five companies placed in line form, in these times, so extended a line that a single person in immediate and personal command of them will find difficulty in making himself heard and understood throughout the entire line. For this reason the battalion should not, as a rule, contain more than four companies.

_The battalion_ is the _tactical_ unit, both for instruction in tactics and in the execution of its movements. The battalion is sometimes made a unit of administration, and forms a complete organization under the command of a commissioned officer of the grade of major or lieutenant-colonel. The more usual rule is to increase the number of companies so as to have enough to form at least two battalions, and with these companies to form the organization known as a _regiment_.

_The regiment_ is always an _administrative_ unit, and is commanded by a commissioned officer who has the grade of _colonel_. The colonel is charged with the proper administration of the supplies for the regiment, and with preserving good order and promoting discipline. He takes every opportunity to instruct both the officers and men in the principles and details of all movements that ought in any case to be made by a battalion. Upon the organization of a regiment, the company officers are assigned to companies, and each company is designated by a letter of the alphabet. Upon the recommendation of the captains, the colonel appoints the non-commissioned officers of the companies. He appoints an adjutant from the lieutenants of the regiment, and a non-commissioned staff from the enlisted men, to assist him in his duties. He selects from the lieutenants a quartermaster, whose appointment is confirmed by the Secretary of War.

The elements of organization for the other three arms of service are practically the same, being that of a company or similar body of men under the command of a captain, and these units grouped together into a battalion or regimental organization for administrative purposes. This subdivision into companies and into regiments is most essential for instruction in discipline.

_Discipline_ is an indispensable condition for the existence of a good army. It imparts _cohesion_ and _flexibility_ to the armed mass. Without discipline an army is only an armed mob over which a commander would have no control, and upon which he could not rely in the execution of his plans. When the army is to be mobilized the regiments are brought together and organized into _brigades_ and _divisions_. Two or more regiments form a brigade; two or more brigades form a division. A general officer of the grade of _brigadier-general_ is assigned to the command of a brigade, and one of the grade of _major-general_ to the command of a division. These divisions and brigades may be composed entirely of one arm, or they may be composed of troops belonging to all four of the arms.

_The division_ is the unit of organization and administration of a mobilized army, and is also the _tactical_ unit of the general in command. When the army is very large, three or four divisions are joined together and form an _army corps_. The officer commanding an army corps should be of a higher grade than he who commands a division. This grade in the U. S. army would be that of _lieutenant-general_.

_An army corps_ is most generally composed of all arms of service, and is, to all intents and purposes, an army complete in itself. Two or more army corps or armies would be under the command of the _general_, or of a “general-in-chief.” There has arisen an organization forming an essential part of every army, known as the _general staff_, and divided into corps and departments to which are assigned special duties. In some cases, the term “general staff” is limited to include only those officers who are used by the general to communicate his orders, and to inform him of the general and particular conditions of the troops; and the term “staff department” or “supply department” is used to include those officers whose duties are confined to distinct branches of service having for their object the supply of troops. If the army is one of very great size, the general ordinarily attaches to his headquarters a representative of the three arms of artillery, cavalry, and engineers, giving them the position of staff-officers with the name of “chief of artillery,” “chief of cavalry,” etc. They are required to keep the general informed of the state of supplies, and whatever concerns their

## particular arm, in a similar manner to that required by the other

officers of the staff. The general also appoints from the subordinate officers belonging to his command a certain number of _aides-de-camp_. These officers are _ex officio_ adjutants-general, and receive orders from the general himself. They are confidential officers, who are supposed to be used only in delicate and difficult duties, where they may in a degree represent the general. Hence, they are intrusted to deliver verbal orders which cannot be intrusted with propriety to enlisted men or to the ordinary means of communication.

_Proportion of Arms of Service._--The mass of a modern army is composed of infantry. The amount of cavalry will depend upon the topographical features of the country, being in some cases as much as one-fourth of the infantry, and in others as little as one-tenth. The amount of light artillery depends upon the character of the country. There should be at least two guns to every thousand men. The quantity of heavy artillery, or number of siege-batteries, which enter the composition of an army, will depend to a great extent upon the plan of campaign and the probable use for which they may be intended. The circumstances of the case in each campaign will therefore decide as to the proportion to be employed. The number of engineer troops will depend both on the nature of the country and on the probable amount of work which will be required from this class of troops. Each division should contain at least one company of engineer troops. It is usual, if there be none, to detail one or more companies of infantry to act as engineer soldiers; they are designated as “pioneers.” These engineer troops, or troops acting in that capacity, marching in the advance, make the roads practicable for the command by repairing them, removing obstructions, etc. At the crossing of streams, where bridges are to be made, or where existing bridges are to be repaired to an extent requiring more knowledge of bridge construction than that usually possessed by the pioneer, another detachment of troops belonging to the engineer arm is brought forward to do the work. These troops are known as _pontoniers_, and have special charge of bridge construction for the army. They may be divided into two parts: one to have charge of construction of temporary bridges, especially of floating and trestle bridges, and construction of ferries; the other to have charge of repairs of bridges which have been broken or injured by the enemy, and where quick repair is of importance to an army’s movements. These troops charged with bridge construction usually form a part of the reserve, and are only attached to a division under peculiar circumstances. There should be also in the reserve several companies of sappers and miners; their number, like the heavy artillery, being dependent upon the nature of the campaign.

_The army_, as a machine, is now ready to be used by the general. The next step is to keep it in a condition so that it can be used; in other words, to _preserve_ the fighting condition of the army. The discipline and drill have been cared for, and with the organization just sketched out, the general can move the whole mass as a unit in accordance with his will. The army can be kept ready for use only by supplying all the actual and necessary wants of the soldier, and by keeping him in comfort and good health. To do this there must be ammunition, clothing, food, shelter, medicines, surgical attendance, hospital comforts, etc., provided for his use. Also a good system of recruiting must be adopted, by means of which the natural losses due to sickness and death may be made good.

_The transportation_ of the munitions, equipments, provisions, hospital supplies, tents, engineering tools, bridge equipage and boats, baggage, cooking utensils, etc., necessary for the use of an army moving against an enemy, requires the use of large numbers of wagons and a great number of draught animals, which of course should not exceed the absolute necessity of the service. These accompaniments to the army received from the Romans the name of _impedimenta_, for the reason that they hindered the movement of the army. These supply departments form important parts of the composition of a modern army, and the method of executing the duties assigned them constitutes an important branch of the “science and art of war.”--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Organize.= To arrange or constitute in parts, each having a special function, act, office, or relation; as, to organize an army, etc.

=Orgue= (Fr. _un orgue_). A term used to express that arrangement or disposition of a certain quantity of musket-barrels in a row, which, by means of a priming train of gunpowder, may be subjected to one general explosion. This machine has been found extremely serviceable in the defense of a low flank, a tenaille, or to prevent an enemy from crossing the ditch of a fortified place.

=Orgues.= Are beams of wood hanging perpendicularly over the entrance of a fortified town, which were formerly used as a portcullis, to be dropped in case of any emergency. They are not now used.

=Orient.= The east or eastern part of the horizon. In surveying, _to orient_ a plan signifies to make its situation or bearing with respect to the four cardinal points.

=Oriflamme=, or =Auriflamme=. A banner which originally belonged to the abbey of St. Denis, and was borne by the counts of Vexin, patrons of that church, but which, after the country of Vexin fell into the hands of the French crown, became the principal banner of the kingdom. It was charged with a saltire wavy or, with rays issuing from the centre crossways. In later times the oriflamme became the insignia of the French infantry. The name seems also to have been given to other flags; the oriflamme borne at Agincourt was an oblong red flag split into five parts.

=Orihuela.= A town of Spain, in Valencia, on the Segura, 31 miles southwest from Alicante. It was a place of some importance in the Moorish invasion, and was held in 713 successfully by Theodoric against Abd-el-Aziz after the battle of the Guadalete. It was conquered in 1265 by Don Jaime of Aragon for his father-in-law, Don Alonso, king of Castile. The city was sacked in 1520 in the civil war at that time raging, and again in the War of the Succession, 1706. It was held for some time in 1837 by the Carlist general Forcadell.

=Orillon.= This may be described as a projection at the shoulder of a bastion beyond the ordinary flank of a curved portion of rampart and parapet, the curve being convex to the ditch. The orillon, introduced during the 17th century, was generally used in conjunction with a retired flank, made ordinarily with a curve concave to the ditch. Both orillon and retired flank are now obsolete.

=Orissa.= An extensive province of Hindostan, in the Deccan. A race of Hindoo princes governed the country till 1592, when they were conquered by the viceroy of Akbar. The French, who had taken possession of a part of the country long known as the Northern Circars, attempted to drive the English (who had formed commercial settlements on the coast) out of India. The result of the contest for supremacy in India between the French and English is well known. The Mahrattas, who had seized a portion of Orissa in 1740, were forced to surrender it to the English in 1803. The soldiers of the East India Company were marched into Orissa at the commencement of the present century, and an engagement was subsequently entered into between the Company and the native chiefs and princes, by which the former bound themselves to perform certain services for the country (as maintaining the river-banks in good repair), while the latter engaged to pay a yearly tribute.

=Orizaba.= A town of Mexico, in the department of Vera Cruz, 60 miles southwest from Vera Cruz. It was occupied by Gen. Prim, in command of the Spanish troops that formed part of the expedition sent by England, France, and Spain to Mexico in March, 1862. A conference was held here shortly after the occupation of the town between the plenipotentiaries of the three powers, when the English and Spanish commissioners determined to withdraw their contingents from Mexico, in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Soledad, while the French on the other hand resolved to push on to the capital, to establish a settled government in the country in lieu of that of Juarez.

=Orkney Islands= (anc. _Orcades_). A cluster of islands in the North Sea, separated from the north coast of Scotland by the Pentland Firth. From an early period the Norsemen resorted to these islands as a convenient spot from which to make a descent on the Scotch and English coasts. In 876 Harald Haarfager conquered both them and the Hebrides; they were conquered by Magnus III. of Norway in 1499, and were ceded to James III. in 1469.

=Orle.= In heraldry, one of the charges known under the charge of sub-ordinaries, said to be the diminutive of a bordure, but differing from it in being detached from the sides of the shield. Or an orle gules was the coat borne by John Baliol. An orle of heraldic charges of any kind denotes a certain number (generally eight) of these charges placed in orle, as in the coat of the old Scottish family of Gladstanes of that Ilk; argent, a savage’s head couped, distilling drops of blood proper, thereon a bonnet composed of bay and holly leaves all proper, within an orle of eight martlets sable.

=Orléans.= An important town of France, capital of the department of Loiret, 75 miles south-southwest from Paris by railway. Orléans, originally called _Genabum_, afterwards _Aureliani_ (probably from the emperor Aurelian), was besieged by Attila in 451, but relieved by the Romans, who here defeated Attila. It afterwards passed into the hands of the Franks, was taken by the Northmen in 855, and again in 865. In 1428 it was besieged by the English under the Duke of Bedford, but was delivered from the besiegers by the inspiriting exertions of Joan of Arc, who on this account is also named the Maid of Orléans. In the civil wars of the 16th century it was besieged in 1563 by the Duke of Guise, who was assassinated before the walls. During the Franco-Prussian war, 1870-71, Orléans was occupied by the Germans, September 27, and evacuated November 10, 1870.

=Ormskirk.= A town of England, county of Lancaster, 12 miles north by east from Liverpool. Near this place, in 1644, the royalists were defeated by the Parliamentary troops with great slaughter.

=Ormus=, or =Ormuz=. A small island in the strait of the same name, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, and within 10 miles of the Persian coast. It is about 12 miles in circumference, and belongs to the sultan of Muscat. It was occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The town was demolished in 1622 by Shah Abbas, assisted by the English, and its trade was removed to Gombroon.

=Ornamental Fireworks.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Ornaments, Military.= Are those parts of the dress of a soldier which are more for appearance or distinction than for absolute use, as plates for belts, trimmings, etc.

=Orneæ.= An ancient town in Argolis, near the frontiers of the territory of Philius, and 120 stadia from Argus. It was originally independent of Argos, but was subdued by the Argives in the Peloponnesian war, 415 B.C.

=Orteil.= See BERME.

=Ortelsburg.= A town of East Prussia, in the government of Königsberg, 80 miles southeast of Königsberg. Several engagements took place here between the French and Russians in 1807.

=Orthez=, or =Orthes=. A town of France, in the department of the Lower Pyrenees, situated on the Gave de Pau, 25 miles northwest from Pau. It suffered much during the civil wars in France after the Revolution. Near this town the British and Spanish armies commanded by Wellington defeated the French under Soult, February 27, 1814.

=Ortona.= An ancient city of Latium, situated on the confines of the Æquian territory. It is twice mentioned during the wars of the Romans with the latter people: first in 481 B.C., when it was besieged and taken by the Æquians; and again in 457 B.C., when the Æquians by a sudden attack took Corbio, and after putting to the sword the Roman garrison there, made themselves masters of Ortona also; but the consul Horatius engaged and defeated them at Mount Algidus, and after driving them from that position, recovered possession both of Corbio and Ortona. No mention of it is found in later times, and it probably ceased to exist.

=Orvieto.= Called in the time of the Longobards _Urbs Vetus_, of which its present name is a corruption, a city of Italy, province of Perugia; is of Etruscan origin, but of its early history nothing is known. It has been a place of residence and retreat in turbulent times of upwards of thirty popes.

=Osage Indians.= A tribe of aborigines of Dakota stock who are located, to the number of about 2500, on a reservation in Indian Territory. They are divided into eight bands,--the Beavers, Big Chiefs, Big Hills, Black Dogs, Clammores, Half-Breeds, Little Osages, and White Hairs, and have made but little progress in civilization.

=Oschatz.= A town of Saxony, circle of Leipsic, 31 miles east-southeast from Leipsic. It was here that the treaty of peace was concluded between Frederick the Great and the empress Maria Theresa which put an end to the Seven Years’ War, in 1763.

=Osci=, or =Opici=. One of the most ancient tribes of Italy; they inhabited the centre of the peninsula, from which they had driven out the Siculi. Their principal settlement was in Campania, but we also find them in parts of Latium and Samnium. They were subdued by the Sabines and Tyrrhenians, and disappeared from history at a comparatively early period. They were called in their own language _Uskus_.

=Osnabruck=, or =Osnaburg=. A town in Hanover, 71 miles from Hanover. Here was concluded the peace of Westphalia in 1648.

=Ossun.= A town of France, in the department of the Upper Pyrenees, 7 miles southwest from Tarbes. A great battle was fought with the Saracens, in the 8th century, in its neighborhood.

=Ostend.= A fortified seaport town of Belgium, province of West Flanders, situated on the coast of the North Sea, 67 miles northwest from Brussels. During the war of the Dutch against Spain, Ostend sustained a memorable siege for more than three years (1601-4). So tremendous was the bombardment that the noise of the Spanish artillery is said to have been occasionally heard at London. At last, after a loss of 50,000 men on the part of the garrison, and 80,000 on that of the Spaniards, the town surrendered on honorable terms, and the Spanish general Spinola was put in possession of Ostend, now reduced to heaps of ruin. On the death of Charles II. of Spain, the French seized Ostend; but in 1706, after the battle of Ramilies, it was retaken by the allies. It was again taken by the French in 1745, but restored in 1748. In 1756 the French garrisoned this town for the empress queen Maria Theresa. In 1792 the French once more took Ostend, which they evacuated in 1793, but regained in 1794. The English destroyed the works of the Bruges Canal; but the wind shifting before they could re-embark, they surrendered to the French, May 19, 1798.

=Ostrolenka.= A town of Poland, on the Narew. Near here the French repulsed the Russians under Essen, February 16, 1807, and an indecisive and bloody engagement took place between the Poles under Skrzynecki and the Russians under Diebitsch, May 26, 1831.

=Ostrovno.= A village of Russia, in the government of Mohilev, 90 miles northwest from Mohilev. The Russians were defeated here in 1812 by the French.

=Oswego, Fort.= See FORT ONTARIO.

=Oswestry.= A town of England, in Shropshire, 15 miles northwest from Shrewsbury. Oswestry is said to derive its name (originally _Oswaldstree_) from Oswald, the king of Northumbria, who was slain here in the early part of the 7th century, in a battle fought with the ferocious Penda, king of Mercia.

=Otaheite=, or =Tahiti=. The largest of a cluster of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, that were frequently visited by Capt. Cook, and named by him the Society Islands. In 1799, King Pomare ceded the district of Matavai to some English missionaries. Queen Pomare was compelled to put herself under the protection of France, September 7, 1843. She retracted, and Otaheite and the neighboring islands were taken possession of by Admiral Dupetit-Thuars in the name of the French king, November, 1843. The French imprisoned Mr. Prichard, the English consul, March 5, 1844, but the act was censured in France.

=Otchakow.= A small town and seaport of South Russia, in the government of Kherson, 40 miles east-northeast from Odessa. During the Russian wars with Turkey in the 18th century, Otchakow was alternately the property of each, until it was taken by Potemkin in 1788, and definitively annexed to the Russian dominions.

=Otoes.= A tribe of Indians of Dakota stock who reside with the Missourias on a reservation in Nebraska. They are generally peaceful and industrious, and number with their kindred tribe about 450.

=Otomis=, or =Othomis=. An ancient tribe of Indians who are said to have inhabited the Valley of Mexico before the Aztecs. They are now scattered through different parts of the country, and having lost all tribal distinctions are become amalgamated with other Mexican races.

=Otricoli.= A town of Italy, 37 miles north of Rome. The Neapolitans were defeated by the French in its neighborhood in 1798.

=Ottawas.= A tribe of Algonkin Indians, who formerly resided on the shores of Lake Erie. They subsequently moved to Kansas, and in 1870 settled in Indian Territory, where they now prosper. They are well advanced in civilization. A number of this tribe settled in Canada, where their descendants may yet be found; some are also settled on Lake Michigan with the Chippewas.

=Otterburn= (or Chevy Chase), =Battle of=. Was fought in August, 1388; a fight which Froissart declares to have been the bravest and most chivalrous which was fought in his day. According to the ballad (named Chevy Chase) Percy vowed that he would enter Scotland and take his pleasure for three days in the woods of his rival, and slay the deer therein at will. Douglas, when he heard the vaunt, exclaimed, “Tell him he will find one day more than enough.” Accordingly, at the time of the hay harvest, Percy, with stag-hounds and archers, passed into the domains of his foe, and slew a “hundred fallow deer and harts of grice.” When the English had hastily cooked their game and were about to retire, Earl Douglas, clad in armor and heading his Scottish spears, came on the scene. Haughty challenge and defiance passed between the potentates, and the battle joined. In the centre of the fray the two leaders met. “Yield thee, Percy!” cried Douglas. “I will yield to no Scot that was ever born of a woman!” cried Percy. During this colloquy, an English arrow struck Douglas to the heart. “Fight on, my merry men!” cried he, as he died. Percy, with all the chivalrous feeling of his race, took the dead man by the hand, and vowed that he would have given all his lands to save him, for a braver knight never fell by such a chance. Sir Hugh Montgomery having seen the fall of Douglas, clapped spurs to his horse, dashed on Percy, and struck his spear through his body, a long cloth-yard and more. Although the leaders on both sides had fallen, the battle, which had begun at break of day, continued till the ringing of the curfew-bell. Scotsmen and Englishmen claim the victory. When the battle ended, representatives of every noble family on either side of the border lay on the bloody greensward.

=Oude=, or =Oudh=. A province of British India, separated on the north from Nepaul by the lower ranges of the Himalaya, whence it gradually slopes to the Ganges, which forms its boundary on the south and southwest. The people of this province are of a decidedly warlike disposition; they mainly supply the famous (or infamous) Sepoys of the Bengal army. Oude is believed by Sanscrit scholars to be the ancient Kosala, the oldest seat of civilization in India. The country was conquered by a Mohammedan army in 1195, and made a province of the Mogul empire. In 1753 the vizier of Oude, Saffdar Jung, rebelled against his imperial master, Ahmed Shah, and forced the latter to make the governorship hereditary in his family. When the mutiny of 1857 broke out, Oude became one of the great centres of rebellion. The country was subdued by the British.

=Oudenarde= (Fr. _Audenarde_). A town of Belgium, in East Flanders, 14 miles southwest from Ghent. The town was taken by the French, aided by an English force, in 1658; it was again besieged in 1674 by the stadtholder William (III. of England) of Orange; and in 1706 it was taken by Marlborough. An attempt made by the French to retake it brought on the famous battle of Oudenarde, one of Marlborough’s most celebrated victories, which was gained on July 11, 1708, with the aid of Prince Eugène, over a French army under the Duke of Burgundy and Marshal Villars. After this battle the French king made offers of peace, which were not accepted.

=Oulart= (Southeast Ireland). Here 5000 Irish insurgents attacked the king’s troops in small number, May 27, 1798. The North Cork militia, after great feats of bravery, were cut to pieces, 5 men only escaping.

=Ourique.= A town of Portugal, province of Alemtijo, 30 miles southwest of Beja. Hero Alfonso, count or duke of Portugal, is said to have encountered and signally defeated five Saracen kings and a prodigious army of Moors, July 25, 1139, and to have been hailed king on the spot. Lisbon, the capital, was taken, and he soon after was here crowned as the first king, the Moorish dominion being overthrown.

=Outbar.= To shut out by fortification.

=Outbrave.= To excel in bravery or boldness; to defy.

=Outfit.= In the British service, is the necessaries, uniform, etc., which an officer provides when he is gazetted to a regiment, or as proceeding to India. No allowance is made for an outfit, excepting in case of officers first promoted from the ranks, when £100 is granted to infantry and £150 to cavalry officers.

=Outflank.= To go beyond on the flank or side; to get the better of, as by extending one’s lines beyond or around that of one’s enemy.

=Outgeneral.= To exceed in generalship; to gain advantage over by superior military skill.

=Outguard.= A guard at a distance from the main body of an army; or a guard at the farthest distance; hence, anything for defense placed at a distance from the thing to be defended.

=Outline=, or =Tracing=. Is the succession of lines that show the figure of the works, and indicate the direction in which the defensive masses are laid out, in order to obtain a proper defense.

=Outlyers.= In the British service, formerly this term applied to men who were permitted to work, on condition that the whole of their pay was left in the hands of their captain for the time they were so employed. This sum the officer appropriated to his own use, to enable him to increase his pay and to keep a handsome table when he mounted guard. It was also a common practice to place on the muster-rolls the names of officers’ children, and instances have occurred of girls receiving men’s pay as outlyers.

=Outlying.= Lying or being at a distance from the main body; as, outlying pickets. Also, being on the exterior or frontier.

=Outmanœuvre.= To surpass in manœuvring.

=Outmarch.= To march faster than; to march so as to leave behind; as, the horse outmarched the foot.

=Outnumber.= To exceed in number; as, the French were outnumbered.

=Outpart.= At a distance from the main body.

=Out-pensioner.= A pensioner attached to a hospital, as Greenwich or Chelsea, England, who has liberty to live where he pleases.

=Outpost.= A post or station without the limits of a camp, or at a distance from the main body of an army. The troops placed at such a station.

=Outposts.= The term, _outposts_, is used at the present time to designate the particular detachments of troops and the method of arranging them, by means of which an army when in bivouac, in camp, or in cantonment, is protected _from surprise_ by an enemy.

=Outrank.= To take the precedence of, or be superior to, in rank; to rank.

=Out-sentry.= A sentry who guards the entrance or approach to a place; an outguard.

=Outside.= In fencing, that part which is to the right of the line of defense.

=Outside Guard.= A guard used with the broadsword and sabre, to defend the outside of the position.

=Outwall.= The exterior wall of a building or fortress.

=Outward Face.= A word of command for troops to face to the right and left from their centre.

=Outwing, To.= To extend the flanks of an army or line in action, so as to gain an advantageous position against the right or left wing of an enemy.

=Outworks.= In fortification, are minor defenses constructed beyond the main body of a work, for the purpose of keeping the enemy at a distance, or commanding certain salient points which it is undesirable that he should occupy. Such works are ravelins, lunettes, hornworks, crown-works, demi-lunes, tenailles, etc. They occur in certain necessary order, as a ravelin before the curtain and tenaille, a hornwork before a ravelin, and so on.

=Ovation.= See TRIUMPH.

=Ovens.= Are always provided in garrisons, so that the troops may bake their own bread. A large saving of flour is thus made, which is the most considerable element of the post fund. A brick oven large enough to bake 500 rations can be constructed in less than twenty-four hours. The cylindrical form is greatly to be preferred, as it is more easily made and requires less material than the ordinary forms. The want of brick for the arch and fireplace of ovens may be supplied in the field by two gabions of semicircular or semi-elliptical form. They are placed one above the other on the flat side, and form a cradle. The interior and exterior is plastered with clay, which must penetrate the interstices of the basket-work. The front and back parts are shut in the same manner, or with sods. The cradle is then covered with earth to retain the heat; and in order that the superincumbent weight may not cause it to give way, withes are attached to the top of the basket-work, passed vertically through the embankment, and then fastened to the longitudinal beam of a wooden horse straddled against the exterior curve. Ovens may also be made of wood or earth. To construct rapidly an earthen oven, dig a slope with a step, and on its prolongation dig the length of the oven in a trench separated from the step by a mass of earth, to be pierced later as the mouth of the oven. Then dig laterally portions of an elliptical arch so as to make the arch a given breadth. This work finished, pierce the mouth, and cover the trench with from three to five sods as arch stones, leaving a chimney-place at the bottom. Ovens for from 100 to 250 rations may be thus made. In some European armies they have very convenient portable ovens.

=Over.= Above in place, position, or authority; as, he was placed in command over Lord Monkton.

=Overcharge.= An excessive charge, as of a gun.

=Overcharge.= To fill with too much powder and ball, as a gun.

=Overcharged Mine.= A mine whose crater is wider at top than it is deep.

=Overlap.= Is to overspread any preceding object. In marching by echelon for the purpose of forming upon any given point, but particularly in wheeling from column into line, troops may lose their relative distances by not taking ground enough; when this occurs, the rear division, company, or section, unavoidably crowds upon its preceding one, and is then said to overlap.

=Overmarch.= To fatigue or wear out by too much marching.

=Overmatch.= To be too powerful for; to conquer; to subdue; to suppress by superior force. Also, one superior in power; one able to overcome.

=Overpower.= To vanquish by force; to subdue; to defeat.

=Overrun.= In a military sense, to ravage, to lay waste. A country which is harassed by incursions is said to be overrun.

=Overseer.= An officer in the ordnance department, who superintends the artificers in the construction of works, etc. He is also called a superintendent.

=Overshoot.= To shoot beyond the mark.

=Overslaugh.= To hinder or stop; as, by an overslaugh or unexpected impediment; as, to overslaugh a military officer, that is, to hinder or stop his promotion or employment by the appointment of another to his rank or duties.

=Overthrow.= Total defeat; discomfiture; rout.

=Overturn.= To overthrow; to conquer.

=Oviedo.= A town of Spain, capital of the province of the same name, 55 miles north-northwest of Leon. This city was twice plundered of its ecclesiastical and other treasures during the war of independence, first by Soult, and subsequently by Bonnet.

=Own, King’s= or =Queen’s=. A term which has been attached to some British regiments since the revolution in 1688. Thus the 4th Foot, which landed with William III., was called the 4th King’s Own.

=Owyhee=, or =Hawaii=. An island in the North Pacific Ocean, the most eastern, and by far the largest of the Sandwich Islands. It was on this island that the celebrated Capt. Cook fell a sacrifice to a misunderstanding, or sudden impulse of revenge on the part of the natives, on Sunday, February 14, 1779.

=Ox.= See BULLOCK.

=Oxford.= An ancient and famous city in England, the chief town of the county of Oxford, 55 miles west-northwest from London. The townsmen closed their gates against William the Conqueror, who stormed the town in 1067, and gave it to one of his followers, Robert d’Oyley, who built a castle here to overawe the disaffected Saxons. The paction that terminated the strife between Stephen and Henry II. was drawn up at Oxford. During the great civil war of the 17th century, it was for a while the headquarters of the royalist forces, and was conspicuous for its adherence to the cause of Charles I.

=Oxford Blues.= See HORSE GUARDS, ROYAL.

P.

=Pace= (Lat. _passus_). In its modern acceptation, is the distance, when the legs are extended in walking, between the heel of one foot and that of the other. Among disciplined men the pace becomes one of constant length, and as such is of the utmost value in determining military movements, the relative distances of corps and men being fixed by the number of paces marched, and so on. The pace varies in different countries; in the United States it is 28 inches direct step, and 33 double step; in Great Britain 30 inches direct step, and 33 double step. With the Romans the pace had a different signification; the single extension of the legs was not with them a pace (_passus_), but a step (_gradus_); their pace being the interval between the mark of a heel and the next mark of the same heel, or a double step. This pace was equivalent to 4.84 English feet.

=Pack and Draught Animals.= All animals which are used as beasts of burden and of draught, and all artillery horses are considered under this head. Taking the usual effect of a man’s daily labor as unity, a horse can carry a load on a horizontal plane 4.8 to 6.1 times, and a mule, 7.6 times greater than a man. Taking a man with a wheel-barrow as unity, a horse in a four-wheel wagon can draw 17.5, and in a cart, 24.3, and a mule in a cart, 23.3 times greater burden. On account of the peculiar build of a mule he is a superior pack-animal to the horse. There are from 91 to 130 draught horses required for a field-battery; for siege-train about 1900 (see SIEGE-TRAIN); and 8 for a siege-gun. The load allotted to a light artillery horse is 700 pounds; to a heavy field artillery horse, 800 pounds; and to a siege artillery horse, 1000 pounds, including weight of carriages. It is less than that drawn by a horse of commerce, in consequence of bad roads, bad forage, rapid movements, and forced marches. A team of four horses can draw, with useful effect, including the weight of carriage, 2400 pounds; six horses, 3000 pounds; eight horses, 3600 pounds; and twelve horses, 4800 pounds. It is usual to estimate the weight of a carriage exceeding 1200 pounds as part of the load. A pack-horse can carry 250 to 300 pounds 20 miles a day; and a draught horse, 1600 pounds 23 miles a day, weight of carriage included. Usually a horse can draw seven times as much as he can carry. An ordinary march is about 15 miles at 2¹⁄₂ miles per hour for six hours; this must depend upon the condition of the horses, state of the roads, and various other circumstances. Horses starting fresh, and resting after their work, may, on tolerable roads, perform 2 miles in half an hour; 4 miles in one and a half hours; 8 in four, and 16 in ten hours. The daily allowance of water for a horse is four gallons. For the daily ration of forage supplied to animals in the U. S. service, see FORAGE. An army requires to be accompanied by several thousand pack-animals, sometimes horses, but preferably mules; and in Asia, commonly camels, or even elephants. In battle, the immediate reserves of small-arm ammunition are borne in the rear of divisions by pack-animals; the heavy reserves being in wagons between the army and its base of operations.

_Buffalo._--An animal of the ox tribe, very important and useful to man. It is a native of the East Indies, where it has long been domesticated, and from which it was carried to Egypt and the south of Europe. It was introduced into Italy about the close of the 6th century A.D., is now very generally used as a beast of draught and of burden in that country, as it is also in India; it is also used in the latter country by the military as a beast of burden.

_Bullock._--This beast is admirable for slow draught, especially over rough roads, or through forests, or other places where there are no roads at all. Bullocks stand fire better than any other animals, and used to be employed in India for draught in field-batteries. They must not be hurried; their ordinary pace is from 2 to 2¹⁄₂ miles an hour. If used over hard roads, they require shoeing. They want but little care, and thrive well on poor food. They attain their prime at six years, age to be known by annular swelling on horns, allowing three years for first ring, and one for each of the others. They are used in many parts of India as pack-animals, when they carry a load of 200 pounds.

_Camels._--These animals are used in East India from three to sixteen years of age; about 7 feet high (to top of hump), about 8 feet long from nose to tail; pace about 2 miles an hour, kept up steadily for the longest marches; load for work on service about 400 to 450 pounds. They thrive well upon leaves of trees, and can go without water longer than any other animal. During temporary halts the laden camel can kneel down and rest. They are admirably adapted for carrying long articles, such as scaling-ladders, pontons, etc. The camel is at home in the desert and works well in the plains of India; it is unsuited for hilly countries. After rain in clay soil, and over rocks and stony places, they split up and are consequently useless there. They are good for fording rivers that are deep but not rapid, and where the bottom of the river is shifting sand, the passage of a number of camels over it renders it hard and firm. The average weight of the camel is about 1170 pounds.

_Elephant._--A gigantic animal of the order _Proboscidea_, is the largest and heaviest of existing quadrupeds, and is celebrated for sagacity and docility. The ancient Carthaginians and other nations employed elephants in war, not only as beasts of burden but as combatants. These animals formed part of the army which Hannibal led across the Alps, and they are said to have decided the victory at the battle of Trebia. For a long period the elephant was as important an arm of war as the artillery of modern nations. Seleucus is said to have had more than 100 elephants at the battle of Ipsus. The elephant is the king of beasts of burden, becoming fit for work at twenty years of age, and lasting well to fifty and even sixty years of age. The load for steady work varies from 1680 to 2240 pounds exclusive of the pad; pace from 3 to 3¹⁄₂ miles an hour; when laden can keep up well with infantry in their daily marches; full grown his height is from 10 feet to 11 feet; is most tractable in disposition, is invaluable during marches in countries flooded by rain for extricating carts, guns, and wagons that have stuck in the mud. They are now used in India for the draught of guns in siege-trains; before such guns are taken under fire it is necessary to have the elephants taken out and replaced by bullocks, as the former cannot be made to stand fire. The average weight of an elephant in India is about 6600 pounds. They are often used in hilly countries to carry mountain guns on their back.

_Lama_, or _Llama_.--Is a most useful South American quadruped of the family _Camelidæ_. It was in general use as a beast of burden on the Peruvian Andes at the time of the Spanish conquest, and was the only beast of burden used by the natives of America before the horse and ass were introduced by Europeans. From the peculiar formation of its feet it can walk securely on slopes too rough and steep for any other animal. The burden carried by the lama should not exceed 125 pounds, and its rate of traveling is about 12 to 15 miles per day.

_Mule._--This is an excellent draught animal and almost rivals the horse for general military purposes. Their common load, including weight of pack-saddle, is from 200 to 250 pounds; height varies from 13 to 16 hands. They will eat almost anything, and require less careful management than the horse; the mule from the male ass and the mare is the best; their voices take after the sire. The real value of the mule is felt most strongly in mountainous countries.

=Packer.= A man whose duty it is to place and adjust the loads of pack-animals and to take charge of them upon the march. As packing requires long training and experience, packers are usually hired when needed.

=Packing.= Is the act of making up and adjusting the load of a pack-animal. It may be considered one of the arts.

=Pack-mule.= Mule used for carrying a pack.

=Pack-saddles= (Sp. _aparejos_). Are variously fitted, according to the objects to be carried; some for provisions or ammunition; others for carrying wounded men, tents, and, in mountain warfare, even small cannon. The one in general use in the U. S. army (called _aparejo_) is 4 feet 9 inches long by 2 feet wide.

To “set up” an aparejo.--Prepare straight, smooth sticks, from ¹⁄₂ to 1 inch in diameter (wild-rose stems are the best, but any tough elastic wood will answer), and the coarsest grass that can be obtained. The grass should be cut green, free from flower-stalks, and dried slowly in the shade. Place the aparejo upside-down; take four sticks 1 inch in diameter, cut them to fit tightly, two in the width and two in the length; place one in each end, and one in each side of the compartment. Then place sticks ¹⁄₂ to ³⁄₄ of an inch in diameter, cut to fit tightly, lengthwise of the compartment at intervals of 2 inches. Shake the grass thoroughly, and place layer after layer on the sticks without displacing them, until the compartment is as full as it can be stuffed with the hand. Great care is necessary to insure an equal distribution of the grass in the compartment. The corners are stuffed as hard as possible, a sharp stick being used for the purpose. When the aparejo is stuffed, it should be put on the mule for which it is intended, and the crupper adjusted.

An _aparejo cincha_ is canvas, 72 inches long and 20 wide, folded so as to bring the edges in the centre of the cincha. A semicircle of strong leather pierced with two holes is stitched on one end, and two loops of strong leather on the other.

The _latigo strap_ is strong bridle leather, 72 inches long, 1¹⁄₂ inches wide at one end and tapering to ¹⁄₂ inch at the other. The wide end has holes punched in it. The aparejo cincha and latigo strap are used to tighten the aparejo.

Under the aparejo is placed a saddle-blanket, and a corona, or upper saddle-blanket; the latter is made by stitching two or three folds of old blanket or other woolen cloth together. It is the same size as the saddle-blanket and used over it.

The _hammer-cloth_ is made of matting or canvas, of a size to exactly cover the aparejo. Two pieces of hard wood 20 inches long, 2 inches wide, 1¹⁄₂ inches thick, flat on one side, round on the other, and beveled to an edge at the ends, are placed 6 inches from the ends of the cloth. They have leather caps stitched over their ends. The hammer-cloth is used over the aparejo and under the aparejo cincha.

The _sling-rope_ is of half-inch rope, 16 feet long.

The _lash-rope_ is of one and a fourth inch hemp rope, 32 to 36 feet long; one end spliced to the cincha ring, the other end served.

The _cincha_ is strong canvas, 33 inches long by 11 inches wide; two rectangular pieces of strong leather 8 inches long by 5¹⁄₂ inches wide are stitched on one end, one on either side; in one of these pieces of leather there is a slit through which a hard-wood hook is passed and firmly fastened with a leather thong. There is a ring 3 inches in diameter securely stitched in the other end of the cincha.

There is also a pack-cover made of canvas, 5 feet square; and a blind made of leather, with strings and loop of the same material. The aparejo when securely placed on the pack-animal is a very serviceable pack-saddle, and cannot readily be displaced.

=Pack-train.= A number of loaded pack-animals with their drivers. Pack-trains are employed in mountainous countries or regions impassable for vehicles to carry supplies for armies. The mule is more generally serviceable in this work than the horse.

=Padua= (anc. _Patavium_, It. _Padova_). A town of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. It is surrounded by walls and ditches, and is fortified by bastions. Patavium was founded by the Trojan chief Antenor, and according to Strabo, it could send an army of 120,000 men into the field. The Patavians were constantly at war with, and successfully withstood, the Cisalpine Gauls; and in 301 B.C. they also defeated Cleonymus the Lacedæmonian, who had unexpectedly landed at the mouth of the _Medoacus_ (the modern Brenta), and attacked them. Patavium fell eventually under the power of Rome, though it seems to have retained a semblance of independence. In 452 its prosperity came suddenly to an end, when it was taken and destroyed by Attila; and in 601 it was again taken and burnt to the ground by Agilulf, king of the Longobards. It rose, however, from its ashes, and in the 10th century it had already become, as it has continued, one of the most important cities of Upper Italy. In 1164 Padua formed, with Verona, Vicenza, and Treviso, a league for the protection of their liberties against Frederick I. (Barbarossa); in 1167 it joined the great Lombard League; and by the peace of Constance in 1183 had at length its liberties acknowledged. In 1239, Eccelino da Romano made himself master of it, and after having practiced unheard-of cruelties, in 1256 he was driven out and defeated by a crusade formed against him by most of the towns in Upper Italy. After a period of stormy independence, Padua in 1337 fell under the sway of the house of Carrara, who held it till the year 1405, when it was taken by the republic of Venice, with which, in 1797, it passed into the hands of Austria, by the treaty of Campo Formio. In 1866 it was ceded to Napoleon III., and by him transferred to the kingdom of Italy.

=Pæones.= A powerful Thracian people, who in early times were spread over a great part of Macedonia and Thrace. Their country was called Pæonia. The Pæonian tribes on the lower course of the Strymon were subdued by the Persians, 513 B.C.; but the tribes in the north of the country maintained their independence. They frequently invaded and plundered the territories of the Macedonian monarchs; but they were eventually subdued by Philip, the father of Alexander the Great. After the conquest of Macedonia by the Romans, 168, the part of Pæonia east of the Axius formed the second, and the part of Pæonia west of the Axius formed the third of the four districts into which Macedonia was divided by the Romans.

=Pæstum= (anc. _Posidonia_, It. _Pesto_). Anciently a Greek city of Lucania, in the present Neapolitan province of Principato Citeriore, on the _Sinus Pæstanus_, now the Gulf of Salerno. It was founded by the Trœzenians and the Sybarites some time between 650 and 610 B.C. It was subdued by the Samnites of Lucania, who named it Pæstum, and slowly declined in prosperity after it fell into the hands of the Romans, who established a colony here about 273 B.C. In 210 B.C. it furnished ships to the squadron with which D. Quintus repaired to the siege of Tarentum; and in the following year it was among the eighteen colonies which still professed readiness to furnish supplies to the Roman armies. In the 10th century it was burnt by the Saracens, and the site is now occupied by the modern village of Pesto.

=Pageant.= In ancient military history, a triumphal car, chariot, or arch, variously adorned with colors, flags, etc., carried about in public shows, processions, etc. Also gorgeous show or spectacle.

=Pagræ= (now _Pagras_, _Bagras_, _Bargas_). A city of Syria, on the eastern side of Mount Amanus, at the foot of the pass called by Ptolemy the Syrian Gates, on the road from Antioch to Alexandria, the scene of the battle between Alexander Balas and Demetrius Nicator, 145 B.C.

=Pah.= The name of the stockaded intrenchments of the New Zealanders.

=Pah-Ute Indians.= A tribe of aborigines of Shoshone stock, who, to the number of 2000, reside on two reservations in Nevada. (See INDIANS AND THEIR AGENCIES.) They are a peaceable race, but are low down in the scale of civilization.

=Pailler= (_Fr._). An ancient body of French militia. The soldiers belonging to it were probably so called either from the circumstance of their wearing straw in their helmets, in order to know one another in

## action, or because they were accustomed to set fire to the habitations

of their enemies with bundles of straw, which they always carried with them for that purpose.

=Paladin= (_Fr._). A name given to those ancient knights who were either what the French call _comtes du palais_, “counts of the palace,” or princes lineally descended from Charlemagne and other old kings.

=Paladin.= A term originally derived from the counts Palatine, or of the palace, who were the highest dignitaries in the Byzantine court, and thence used generally for a lord or chieftain, and by the Italian romantic poets for a knight-errant.

=Palæsta= (now _Palasa_). A town of Epirus, on the coast of Chaonia, and a little south of the Acroceraunian Mountains. Here Cæsar landed his forces when he crossed over to Greece to carry on the war against Pompey.

=Palæstra.= In Grecian antiquity, a public building where the youth exercised themselves in the military art, wrestling, running, etc.

=Palais Royal.= A heterogeneous mass of buildings on the eastern side of the Rue Richelieu, in Paris, composed of a palace, theatres, public gardens, shops, cafés, etc. The old palace was built between 1624 and 1636 on the site of the Hôtel Rambouillet by Cardinal Richelieu, who, at his death, bequeathed it to Louis XIII. It was taken possession of by the republican government, and used for the sittings of the tribunes during the Reign of Terror. The palace was sacked by the mob during the revolution of 1848.

=Palanka.= A species of permanent intrenched camp attached to Turkish frontier fortresses, in which the ramparts are revetted with large beams, rising 7 or 8 feet above the earthwork, so as to form a strong palisade above.

=Palanquin= (Hind. _palki_). A vehicle commonly used in Hindostan, China, Japan, and other Asiatic countries by travelers. The palanquin in use in Hindostan is a wooden box, about 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 4 feet high, with wooden shutters, which can be opened or shut at pleasure, and constructed like Venetian blinds for the purpose of admitting fresh air, while, at the same time, they exclude the scorching rays of the sun and the heavy showers of rain so common in that country. At each end of the palanquin, on the outside, two iron rings are fixed, and the _hammals_, or palanquin-bearers, of whom there are four, two at each end, support the palanquin by a pole passing through these rings. Traveling in this mode is continued both by day and night, and the palanquin is accompanied by a train of attendants, who carry the traveler’s clothes and whatever articles he may not immediately need. Similar modes of traveling have been at various times in use in Western Europe, but only for short distances. The Roman _lectica_ (“litter”), the French _chaise à porteurs_, and the English sedan-chair were the forms of vehicles most in use, and the two latter were in general use in towns till they were superseded by coaches, etc. The Roman litter was one of the criteria of its owner’s wealth, the rich man generally exhibiting the prosperous condition of his affairs by the multitude of the bearers and other attendants accompanying him.

=Palatinate, The= (Ger. _Pfalz_). A name applied to two German states, which were united previously to the year 1620. They were distinguished as the Upper and Lower Palatinate. The Upper now forms apart of the kingdom of Bavaria, and the Lower a part of Rhenish Prussia, situated on both sides of the Rhine, between Worms and Carlsruhe. By the peace of Lunéville (1801), the Duke Maximilian of Zweibrücken was compelled to cede a portion of the Rhenish Palatinate to France, a part to Baden, a part to Hesse-Darmstadt, and a part to Nassau. Treaties of Paris of 1814 and 1815 re-assigned the Palatinate lands beyond the Rhine to Germany, Bavaria receiving the largest share, and the remainder being divided between Hesse-Darmstadt and Prussia.

=Palatine.= A town of Montgomery Co., N. Y., on the north side of the Mohawk River. Near here, at Stone Arabia, an engagement took place October 18, 1780, between the Tories under Johnson and the Continental militia under Col. John Brown, in which the latter were defeated and their leader slain.

=Pale.= In heraldry, one of the figures known as ordinaries, consisting of a horizontal band in the middle of the shield, of which it is said to occupy one-third. Several charges of any kind are said to be “in pale” when they stand over each other horizontally, as do the three lions of England. A shield divided through the middle by a horizontal line is said to be “parted per pale.” The pallet is the diminutive of the pale, and is most generally not borne singly. Three pallets gules were the arms of Raymond, count of Provence. When the field is divided into an even number of parts by perpendicular lines, it is called “paly of” so many pieces. When divided by lines perpendicular and bendways crossing, it is called “paly bendy.” An endorse is a further diminutive of the pallet, and a pale placed between two endorses is said to be endorsed.

=Pale.= In Irish history, means that portion of the kingdom over which the English rule and English law were acknowledged. There is so much vagueness in the meaning of the term, that a few words of explanation appear necessary. The vagueness arises from the great fluctuations which the English authority underwent in Ireland at various periods, and from the consequent fluctuation of the actual territorial limits of the Pale. The designation dates from the reign of John, who distributed the portion of Ireland then nominally subject to England into twelve counties palatine, Dublin, Meath, Kildare, Louth, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, and Limerick. To this entire district, in a general way, was afterwards given the designation of the Pale. But as it may be said that the term is commonly applied by the writers of each age to the actual English territory of the period, and as this varied much, care must be taken to allude to the age of which the name Pale is used. Thus at the close of the reign of Edward III., the English law extended only to the four counties of Dublin, Carlow, Meath, and Louth. In the reign of Henry VI., the limits were still further restricted. In a general way, however, the Pale may be considered as comprising the counties of Dublin, Meath, Carlow, Kilkenny, and Louth. This, although not quite exact, will be sufficient for most purposes.

=Paleagas.= See POLYGARS.

=Palembang.= A Dutch province in the island of Sumatra, comprehending the former kingdom of that name. In 1811 the Dutch had merely a commercial factory at Palembang, when the sultan began hostilities against them; and in order to insure their entire destruction, under pretense of conveying them safely to Batavia, sunk during the night the ships in which they had embarked by means of holes previously made. The Dutch regained Palembang in 1816. The Dutch factory was cannonaded by the sultan’s forces in 1818, and the country remained in rebellion until 1821, when it was entirely conquered by the Dutch. The sultan still retains his title, but the supreme power is exercised by a Dutch regent, who resides at Palembang, the capital.

=Palermo= (anc. _Panormus_). A fortified city of Sicily, situated on the north side of the island. Palermo is of Phœnician origin, and is first brought into notice in 480 B.C., when the Carthaginians under Hamilcar made it their headquarters against Himera. How it came into their hands we have no means of knowing; but it continued for a long time to be their principal naval station, and the capital of their possessions in Sicily. With the exception of a short time, about 276 B.C., when it was taken by the Greeks, it continued to be the headquarters of the Carthaginians, until it was taken by the Romans during the first Punic war (254 B.C.). When Sicily was conquered by the Goths, Palermo, along with the rest of the island, fell into their hands; but it was recovered by Belisarius, and the Byzantine empire retained possession of it till 855 A.D., when it was taken by the Saracens, and made the capital of their Sicilian possessions. The Vandals and afterwards the Arabs made it the capital of the island, and after the Norman conquest it continued to be the seat of the king of Sicily. It still remained the royal residence under the Aragonese kings; but the court was removed (1269) after Sicily became united to the kingdom of Naples. In 1860 the inhabitants flocked to the standard of Garibaldi, and in the same year the city was annexed to the new kingdom of Italy.

=Palestine=, or =Holy Land=. A country of Asia, lying along the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and occupying the southwestern part of Syria, which is included within the limits of the Turkish empire. It now forms the modern pashalic of Beirut or Beyrout, and part of the pashalic of Damascus. This is the country in which the principal events recorded in Scripture took place. When it was conquered by the Israelites, Joshua divided this and a portion of the country to the east of the Jordan among the twelve tribes. It was conquered, however, by the kings of Assyria, who carried captive, first Israel and then Judah, into the eastern provinces of their empire. After the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, the Jews were allowed to return to their country, to rebuild their temple, and re-establish their ecclesiastical constitution. Judæa thus continued a province of Persia until Asia was invaded by Alexander the Great, to whom it submitted without resistance. The Jews were again exposed to oppression from some of the Ptolemies, who attempted to enforce the adoption of the idolatrous worship of the Greeks on the Jewish people. The Jews, however, under the guidance of the Maccabees, offered a most determined resistance to the Egyptian monarch who sought to deprive them of the exercise of their own religion, and Judæa once more became an independent country. It subsequently fell under the dominion of Rome, which established the Herods as tributary kings. It was at this crisis that Judæa became the theatre of those great events which form the foundation of the Christian faith. The Jews, however, having repeatedly rebelled against the authority of the Romans, Titus entered Judæa with a large force in 70, and after a long siege, during which the Jews endured terrible hardships and privations, he took Jerusalem, and razed it to the ground. The temple which had been twice rebuilt, after having been burnt by Nebuchadnezzar and plundered by Antiochus, was again destroyed. More than 1,100,000 Jews perished in the siege and destruction of the city, and about sixty-five years after the Jewish people were banished from Judæa by a decree of the emperor Hadrian. The country continued to form a part of the Roman empire until it was divided into the Eastern and Western empires, when Palestine became a province of the former. Although it was frequently invaded by the Parthians, Persians, and Saracens, it was held by the emperors of Constantinople until it was wrested from them by the last-named people in 638. It then fell under the sway of the Mohammedans, in whose power the land remained until 1099, when the Holy Land was recovered by the Crusaders, and erected into a Latin kingdom under Godfrey de Bouillon. This kingdom lasted till 1187, when it was conquered by Saladin, on the decline of whose kingdom it passed through various hands, till, in 1517, it was finally swallowed up in the Turkish empire.

=Palestrina= (anc. _Præneste_). An episcopal city of the present kingdom of Italy, built upon the site of one of the most ancient as well as powerful cities of Latium. We first hear of Præneste as member of the Latin League; but in 499 B.C. it quitted the confederacy and joined the cause of the Romans. In 380 B.C. the Prænestines, having rejoined their ancient allies, waged war against Rome; but were completely routed on the Allia by T. Quintus Cincinnatus, and beaten back to their own gates. They took a prominent part in the famous Latin war, 340 B.C. Having given shelter to the younger Marius in the year 82 B.C., this city was besieged by the forces of Sulla, and on its being taken, all the inhabitants were put to the sword. A military colony was then established in their place, and soon the city began to flourish anew. The town became the stronghold of the family of Colonna in the Middle Ages; but was given to the Barberini family by Urban VIII.

=Palestro.= A village of Piedmont, 12 miles southwest from Novara. It is famous as the scene of a battle between the Sardinians and Austrians in May, 1859. On May 30 the Piedmontese drove the Austrians from this village, and on May 31 defended it with great bravery against an Austrian attack. The Piedmontese in the battle of May 31 were assisted by 3000 French Zouaves, and on that occasion the Austrians lost 2100 men killed and wounded, 950 prisoners, and 6 pieces of cannon. On July 1 the allies entered Novara.

=Palgaut.= A city of India, in the south of Hindostan, captured by the British in 1790.

=Palisade.= To surround, inclose, or fortify with stakes or posts.

=Palisades.= Are strong palings 6 or 7 inches broad on each side, having about one foot of their summits sharpened in a pyramidal form. They are frequently placed at the foot of slopes as an obstacle to the enemy. A large beam or lintel, sunk about 2 or 3 feet, is often used to unite them more firmly. Their tops should be a foot above the crest of the parapet behind which they stand, and in field fortifications they form a very good obstruction, if protected from artillery. An expeditious mode of planting them is to sink a small ditch, about 2 feet 6 inches deep and the same breadth, and to nail the ends of the palisades to a piece of timber, or the trunk of a tree laid on the bottom of it, and then fill in the earth, and ram it well. The palisades should be 9 or 10 feet long, so that when finished, the ends shall be at least 7 feet above the ground. They may be made out of the stems of young trees of 6 or 8 inches diameter; but stout rails, gates with the ends knocked off, planks split in half, cart-shafts, ladders, and a variety of such things will come into play, where more regular palisades are not to be had. If the materials are weak, a cross-piece must be nailed to them near the top, to prevent their being broken down, and they must not be placed so close together as to cover an enemy.

=Palliser Gun.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.

=Palmyra.= The name given by the Greeks to an ancient city of Upper Syria. It occupied a fertile oasis, 140 miles east-northeast from Damascus. Palmyra was, in the time of Solomon, a bulwark of the Hebrew kingdom against the wandering hordes of Bedouins. After the fall of Seleucia, it became a great commercial centre, and greatly increased both in wealth and magnificence after the time of Trajan, who subjected the whole country to the Roman empire. In the 3d century, Odonathus, a Syrian, founded here an empire, which, after his murder, rose to great prosperity under his wife, Zenobia, and included both Syria and Mesopotamia; but this was not of long duration, for the Roman emperor Aurelian conquered it in the year 275, and the city was soon after almost entirely destroyed in revenge for the slaughter of a Roman garrison. It never recovered from this blow, although Justinian fortified it anew. The Saracens destroyed it in 774, and in 1400 it was plundered by Tamerlane. A village called Tedmor, inhabited by a few Arab families, now occupies its site.

=Palo Alto.= A noted battle-field, situated near the southern extremity of Texas, between Point Isabel and Matamoras, about 9 miles northeast of the latter. Here, on May 8, 1846, the Americans, numbering 2111, under Gen. Taylor, defeated 6000 Mexicans, commanded by Gen. Arista. The loss of the former was 32 killed (among whom was the brave Maj. Ringgold), and 47 wounded; that of the latter, 252 killed.

=Paludamentum.= Was a garment worn by the Romans, and differing little, if at all, from the chlamys. It was worn by the officers and principal men in time of war, who were therefore called _paludati_, and this distinguished them from the common soldiers, who, because they wore the _sagum_, were called the _sagati_. The _paludamentum_, which was generally white or red, came down to the knees, or lower, was open in front, hung loosely over the shoulders, and was fastened across the chest by a clasp.

=Paly.= In heraldry, divided into four or more equal parts by perpendicular lines, and of two different tinctures disposed alternately.

=Pamphylia.= An ancient district on the south coast of Asia Minor, with Cilicia on the east and Lycia on the west. It was originally bounded on the inland or northern side by Mount Taurus, but was afterwards enlarged, so as to reach the confines of Phrygia. The inhabitants--a mixed race of aborigines, Cilicians and Greek colonists--spoke a language the basis of which was probably Greek, but which was disfigured and corrupted by the infusion of barbaric elements. Along with Phrygia and Lycia, it fell to the share of Antigonus on the partition of the Macedonian empire. It afterwards passed successively into the hands of the Græco-Syrian princes, the kings of Pergamus, and the Romans.

=Pamplona=, or =Pampeluna=. A fortified town of Spain, the capital of the province of Navarre, on the Arga, 39 miles southeast from St. Sebastian. Pamplona was called by the ancients _Pompeiopolis_, from the circumstance of its having been rebuilt by the sons of Pompey in 68 B.C. It was taken by Euric the Goth in 466, by the Franks under Childebert in 542, and again under Charlemagne in 778, who dismantled it. It was subsequently for a time in possession of the Moors, who corrupted the name Pompeiopolis into Bambilonah, whence the modern Pamplona. In the 11th century the three districts of the town were separately fortified. The continual intestine contests of these three fortresses caused Carlos III., in the beginning of the 15th century, to destroy the interior walls and strengthen the common bulwarks; he also erected a citadel, in the defense of which, against André de Foix, in 1521, St. Ignacio was wounded. It was taken by a stratagem by the French under D’Armagnac, and remained in their power until recaptured after a blockade by Wellington in 1813. In the civil war that followed the death of Ferdinand VII., Pamplona was the strong place of the liberals. The citadel was seized and held for a short time by O’Donnell in September, 1841.

=Pan.= That part of the lock of a musket, pistol, etc., which holds the priming powder, the necessity of which is superseded by the use of percussion-caps.

=Pan.= The distance which is comprised between the angle of the epaul and the flanked angle in a fortification.

=Pan.= A name well known among the shepherds of antiquity, and frequently used by modern writers in their rural fictions. In military history it signifies a man who was lieutenant-general to Bacchus and his Indian expedition. He is recorded to have been the first author of a general shout, which the Grecians practiced in the beginning of their onsets in battle.

=Pan Coupé.= The short length of parapet by which the salient angle of a work is sometimes cut off.

=Panache= (_Fr._). A plume worn upon the crest of an ancient helmet; military plume or feather.

=Pancarte= (_Fr._). An ancient exercise or tournament, which was performed in the Roman amphitheatre, when strong athletic men were opposed to all sorts of enraged animals.

=Pandoor.= See PANDOUR.

=Pandosia= (now _Castel Franco_). A town in Bruttium (which see) near the frontiers of Lucania. Lævinus, the Roman consul, was defeated at Pandosia by Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, 280 B.C.

=Pandour= (from _Pandur_, a mountainous district of Hungary). The name has been applied to that portion of the light-armed infantry in the Austrian service which is raised in the Slavonian districts on the Turkish frontier. The Pandours originally fought under the orders of their own proper chief, who was called Harun-Basha, and rendered essential service to the Austrians during the Spanish War of Succession, and afterwards in the Seven Years’ War. They originally fought after the fashion of the “free lances,” and were a terror to the enemy, whom they annoyed incessantly. Their appearance was exceedingly picturesque, being somewhat oriental in character, and their arms consisted of a musket, pistol, a Hungarian sabre, and two Turkish poniards. Their habits of brigandage and cruelty rendered them, however, as much a terror to the people they defended as to the enemy. Since 1750 they have been gradually put under a stricter discipline, and are now incorporated with the Austrian frontier regiments.

=Panic.= A sudden fright; especially, a sudden fright without real cause, or terror inspired by a trifling cause, or misapprehension of danger; as, the troops were seized with a panic; they fled in a panic. These terrors are attributed to Pan, as some say, because when Osiris was bound by Typho, Pan and the satyrs appearing, cast him into a fright; or because he frightened all the giants that waged war against Jupiter; or, as others say, that when Pan was Bacchus’s lieutenant-general in his Indian expedition, being encompassed in a valley by an army of enemies far superior to them in number, he advised the god to order his men to give a general shout, which so surprised the enemy that they immediately fled from their camp. And hence it came to pass that all sudden fears impressed upon men’s spirits without any just reason were, by the Greeks and Romans, called _panic_ terrors.

=Panic-stricken.= Struck with a panic or sudden fear; as, the troops were panic-stricken.

=Paniput=, or =Paneeput=. A town of British India, capital of a district of the same name in the territorial division of Delhi, Northwest Provinces, 78 miles north of Delhi, and 965 miles northwest of Calcutta. The neighborhood of Paniput, lying in the great military highway between Eastern India and Afghanistan, has been at various times the field of great battles. The _first_ great battle of Paniput was fought in 1526, and gained by Mirza Baber, the ex-ruler of Ferghana, at the head of 12,000 Mongols, over Ibrahim, the emperor of Delhi, whose unwarlike array numbered 100,000 men, with 1000 elephants. This victory seated Baber on the throne of Hindostan as the first of the “Great Mogul” dynasty. The _second_ great battle was fought in 1556 by the Mongols under Akbar, grandson of Baber, and third of the Mogul emperors, against Hemu, an Indian prince, who had usurped the throne of Delhi. Hemu’s army was defeated with great slaughter, and himself slain. The _third_ battle was fought on January 14, 1761, between Ahmed Abdalli, ruler of Afghanistan, and the till then invincible Mahrattas. The Jats, who had been forced to join the Mahrattas, deserted to the Afghans at a time when victory seemed to be declaring for the former; and this act of treachery, together with the loss of their leaders, threw the Mahrattas into confusion, and in spite of their most resolute valor they suffered a total defeat. They left 50,000 slain on the field of battle, including all their leaders except Holkar, and 30,000 men were killed in the pursuit, which was continued for four days. It was at Kurnaul, a town a little to the north of Paniput, that Nadir Shah of Persia, in 1739, won the celebrated battle over the Mogul emperor, which placed Northwestern India at his feet.

=Pannels.= Are the carriages upon which mortars and their beds are conveyed upon a march.

=Pannier.= A shield of basket-work formerly used by archers, who set them up in their front. Also a basket, usually slung in pairs over the back of a beast of burden to carry a load. The term is also applied to leather bags to be used in the same way, and especially to cases for carrying medicines.

=Pannonia.= A province of the ancient Roman empire, bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by the mountains of Noricum, and on the south reaching a little way across the Save; and thus including part of modern Hungary, Slavonia, parts of Bosnia, of Croatia, and of Carniola, Styria, and Lower Austria. The Pannonians (Pannonii) were a brave, warlike people. They maintained their independence of Rome till Augustus, after his conquest of the Illyrians (35 B.C.), turned his arms against them; they were shortly afterwards subdued by his general Vibius. In 7, the Pannonians joined the Dalmatians and the other Illyrian tribes in their revolt from Rome, and were with difficulty conquered by Tiberius, after a desperate struggle, which lasted three years (7-9). The dangerous mutiny (14) of the Roman troops which were garrisoned in Pannonia was with difficulty quelled by Drusus. Fifteen legions had to be assembled against the Pannonians, who mustered 200,000 warriors. Great numbers of the Pannonian youth were drafted into the Roman legions, and proved, when disciplined, among the bravest and most effective soldiers in the imperial army. Pannonia was subsequently divided into Upper and Lower Pannonia. Upper Pannonia was the scene of the Marcomannic war in the 2d century. In the 5th century it was transferred from the Western to the Eastern empire, and afterwards given up to the Huns. After Attila’s death, in 453, the Ostrogoths obtained possession of it. The Longobards under Alboin made themselves masters of it in 527, and relinquished it to the Avari upon commencing their expedition to Italy. The Magyars, or Hungarians, took it in the end of the 9th century.

=Panonceau= (_Fr._). An ancient name for an ensign or banner.

=Panoply.= Complete armor, or harness.

=Papagos.= A tribe of Indians closely allied to the Pimas, who reside on a reservation on the Santa Cruz River, in Arizona. They were converted to Christianity by Spanish missionaries at an early date, and are a peaceable and industrious race.

=Papal States=, or =States of the Church=. A territory, or rather group of states in Central Italy, formerly united into one sovereignty, with the pope for its head. The Papal States were bounded on the north by the Po, on the south by Naples, on the east by the Gulf of Venice and Naples, and on the west by Modena, Tuscany, and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Detached portions, as Benevento and Pontecorvo, lay within the Neapolitan territory. About 720, Gregory III. having quarreled with the emperor Leo the Isaurian, declared the independence of Rome. In 726, Pepin le Bref compelled the Lombard king to hand over Ravenna, Rimini, Pesaro, Fano, Cesena, Urbino, Forli, Comacchio, and fifteen other towns to the pope, who now assumed the state of a temporal sovereign. Pepin’s example was followed by his son Charlemagne. In the 11th century the Normans greatly aided to increase the papal temporal authority, and in 1053 the duchy of Benevento was annexed. In 1278 the emperor Rodolf I. confirmed the popes in the acquisitions thus obtained, defined the boundaries of the Papal States, and absolved their inhabitants from their oath of allegiance to the empire. Sixtus IV. in the end of the 15th century annexed the Romagna to his dominions. By the victory of the French at Marignan (1515), the very existence of the papal power was threatened. In 1598 the possessions of the house of Este, viz.: Ferrara, Comacchio, and a part of the Romagna, were seized by Pope Clement VIII.; and the Papal States received their final additions in Urbino (1623), Ronciglione, and the duchy of Castro (1650). The Romagna was seized by Napoleon in 1797, and incorporated in the Cisalpine Republic; and in the following year Rome was taken by the French, and the Papal States erected into the _Roman Republic_. Pius VII., in 1800, obtained possession of his states, but they were almost immediately retaken by the French. In 1814, the pope returned to his dominions, and was formally reinstated by the treaty of Vienna. In 1830, the people of Ancona and Bologna rose in rebellion; they were put down by the aid of an Austrian army. The Bolognese again rebelled; and this revolt supplied Austria with a pretext for occupying the northern Legations, and the French at the same time garrisoned Ancona. Occasional risings took place from time to time up to 1846. In 1848, the people rose, and Pius IX. fled to Gaeta, whilst Rome was proclaimed a republic. He was restored and his subjects reduced to submission by the arms of France, Austria, Naples, and Spain. The Austrians held the Legations in subjection to the pope’s authority till 1859; the French occupied Rome in his behalf till 1870. In July, 1859, the four northern Legations (the Romagna) taking advantage of the withdrawal of the Austrian troops, threw off the papal authority, and proclaimed their annexation to Sardinia, which was formally acknowledged by Victor Emmanuel in March, 1860. The pope now raised a large body of troops, appointing Lamoricière, an eminent French general, to command them, for the purpose of resisting any further encroachments on his dominions; but the news of Garibaldi’s success in Sicily and Naples produced revolt in the Legation of Urbino and in the Marches, the people proclaiming Victor Emmanuel. The Sardinians accordingly marched into the Papal States, defeated Lamoricière, who retired into Ancona, where he was compelled to surrender with his whole army. The revolted provinces of Umbria, Urbino, and the Marches, and part of Frosinone were annexed to Sardinia. In September, 1870, the remaining states were occupied by the Italian troops, and the pope was removed from temporal power. On October 2, 1870, the people pronounced their annexation to the kingdom of Italy, with which the territory of the States of the Church was incorporated by decree of October 9, and Gen. Marmora appointed governor of the new provinces.

=Papegai= (_Fr._). A popinjay; a bird made of wood or pasteboard, stuck upon a lance, and used as a mark when practicing with the bow, cross-bow, musket, etc.

=Paper Shell.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Paper Time-fuze.= See LABORATORY STORES.

=Paphlagonia.= Was a country of Asia Minor, separated from Pontus on the east by the river Halys (_Kizil Ermak_), and from Bithynia on the west by the river Parthenius (_Bartan-Su_), and bounded on the north by the Euxine, and on the south by Galatia. Its limits, however, were somewhat different at different times. The Paphlagonians are supposed to have been of Syrian, or at least of Semitic origin, and were a wild and warlike people. Crœsus made Paphlagonia a part of the kingdom of Lydia, and Cyrus united it to Persia; it subsequently became part of the empire of Alexander the Great, and afterwards of the kingdom of Pontus, was included in the Roman province of Galatia, and in the 4th century of the Christian era was made a separate province by Constantine.

=Papilio= (_Fr._). A square Roman tent for eight men.

=Parachute Light Ball.= A thin shell, the upper half of which is blown off by the charge at a certain height. The lower half filled with composition, which is kindled by the explosion, is kept floating in the air by means of a small parachute, which is set free when the upper half of the shell flies off.

=Parade.= Signifies in its original sense a prepared ground, and was applied to the court-yard of a castle, or to any inclosed and level plain. From the practice of reviewing troops at such a spot, the review itself has acquired the name of parade.

=Parade.= To assemble troops in a uniform manner for the purpose of regular muster, exercise, and inspection. The parades are general, regimental, or private (troop, battery, or company), according to the strength of the force assembled.

=Parade.= In camp, is that spot of ground in the front of each encampment, between the camp colors, on the right and left wings.

=Parade, Dress.= A parade which takes place in the U. S. army at the troop or retreat on each evening, when the soldiers appear in full uniform and under arms.

=Parade, Evening.= The hour generally fixed for the evening parade is at sunset. When troops are encamped, the signal for evening parade is given from the park of artillery, by the discharge of a piece of ordnance called the evening gun.

=Parade Guard Mounting.= The parading of the soldiers who are to go on guard.

=Parade, Morning.= In every garrison town, fortified place, and camp, as well as in every town through which soldiers pass, or occasionally halt, a certain hour in the morning is fixed for the assembling of the different corps, troops, or companies, in regular order.

=Parade Officer.= An officer who attends to the minutiæ of regimental duty, but who is not remarkable for military science.

=Parade Rest.= A position of rest for soldiers, in which, however, they are required to be silent and motionless, used specially at parade; also, the command for the position.

=Parade, Troop.= Morning parade (which see).

=Parade-ground.= The piece of ground on which soldiers are paraded.

=Parados.= An elevation of earth which is effected behind fortified places, to secure them from any sudden attack that may be made in reverse.

=Parætonium=, or =Ammonia=. Formerly an important city on the northeast coast of Africa. It was a strong fortress; restored by Justinian, and continued a place of some consequence till its complete destruction by Mehemet Ali in 1820.

=Paraguay.= A republic in South America, discovered by Sebastian Cabot in 1526; conquered by Alvarez Nuñez in 1535, and civilized by the Jesuits, who in 1608 commenced their missions there, and established an exclusive government, which they held until their expulsion in 1768. Paraguay rose against the Spanish yoke in 1811, and achieved its independence. Paraguay was recognized as an independent state by the Argentine Confederation in 1852, and by Great Britain in 1853. On November 11, 1864, hostilities between Paraguay and Brazil began, when a Brazilian steamer was captured as an intruder on Paraguayan waters; in the same year Brazil was invaded by the Paraguayans, and on April 14, 1865, Lopez (president of the republic) invaded the territories of the Argentine Republic, which immediately made alliance with Brazil. In September, 1865, the army of Lopez was defeated. The war continued almost without intermission until 1870, when Lopez was killed. Since that time Paraguay, though nominally independent, has been almost completely under control of Brazil.

=Parallels.= Are trenches cut in the ground before a fortress, roughly parallel to its defenses, for the purpose of giving cover to the besiegers from the guns of the place. The parallels are usually three, with zigzag trenches leading from one to another. The old rule used to be to dig the first at 600 yards’ distance; but the improvements in artillery have rendered a greater distance necessary, and at Sebastopol the allies made their first trench 2000 yards from the walls. The third trench is very near to the besieged works, and from it saps and zigzag approaches are directed to the covert way. See SIEGE.

=Paramount.= The highest in rank or order; the chief.

=Parapets= (Ital. _parapetto_, “breastguard”). In fortifications, are breastworks, walls, or bulwarks of earth, brick, wood, iron, stone, or other material. The battlement around a flat roof, or the railing of a bridge is also called a parapet. The parapets of field-works are always made of earth, which is also largely used in permanent fortifications. Earth has great advantages for this purpose, being readily obtained, easily handled, and affords good cover on account of the absence of splinters and flying fragments when struck by a shot. The presence of rock or large gravel in the earth is objectionable for this reason. Of the different earths, sand, hard clay, tufa, etc., resist penetration better than rich soils. The profile of the parapet is determined by its location and purpose. The earth to form it is taken from the ditch, which is sometimes in front and sometimes in rear. In inclosed works, or works built at leisure, the ditch is always on the outside, leaving the natural surface for the parade. Works built hastily, or under fire, have the ditch on the inside. In this way cover is more rapidly obtained. This form of parapet is used in all the trenches in siege operations and the temporary lines thrown up on the field of battle. The _command of a parapet_ is the height of the interior crest above the site. For isolated works the command should be at least 8 feet, as the chances of a successful resistance increase with the command. The profile of a parapet is a section taken at right angles to its length. In infantry parapets the _banquette_ is the bank of earth in rear of the parapet, on which the troops stand to deliver their fire. This is usually about 4 feet wide, and about 4 feet 3 inches below the interior crest. The height of the banquette depends upon the command of the parapet. The _interior slope_ of the parapet, against which the soldier leans in firing, has a slope of 3 on 1. To support the earth at this inclination a revetment of sand-bags, fascines, gabions, sod, pisa, or plank, is used. The _superior slope_ of the parapet is usually 1 on 6. It should be steep enough to give a fire just above the farther edge of the ditch, but not so steep as to weaken the parapet. The _exterior slope_ is 1 on 1, or the natural slope of the earth. If it is made steeper than this it will be beaten down by the projectiles of the enemy; if less steep, it will offer a less obstacle to open assault. The _berme_, or space between the foot of the exterior slope and the edge of the ditch, is objectionable, in offering a breathing-place to the enemy in the assault, but it is usually necessary to prevent the weight of the parapet from crushing in the scarp. The dimensions of the ditch are regulated by the amount of earth necessary to form the parapet. The scarp and counterscarp are made as steep as the stiffness of the soil will allow. As a general rule, the depth of the ditch should not be less than 6 feet, and its width should not be less than 12. The greatest width is regulated by the superior scope of the parapet, the line of which produced should not pass below the crest of the counterscarp. In excavating near a salient it will be found that more earth is furnished than in re-enterings. On this account the width of the ditch is usually made variable, being less at the salients than elsewhere.

The thickness of a parapet is the horizontal distance between the interior and exterior crests. This thickness should be one-half greater than the penetration of the projectiles it is designed to resist. As the rifled guns now in use have much greater penetration than the smooth-bores of former times, a proportionate increase in the dimensions of parapets has become necessary. The parapets of semi-permanent field-works are usually calculated to resist the fire of siege-guns; those of permanent works to resist the most powerful ordnance in use. The trenches so much used in modern times to cover operations of armies in the field are shallow ditches, with the earth thrown outwards.

=Parasang.= A Persian military measure, sometimes assumed as a league, but equal to about 4 English miles.

=Parbuckle.= To hoist or lower by means of a parbuckle.

=Parbuckles.= Are 4-inch ropes, 12 feet long, with a hook at one end and a loop at the other. To parbuckle a gun, is to roll it in either direction from the spot in which it rests. To do this, place the gun on skids, and if it is to be moved up or down a slope, two 4¹⁄₂-inch ropes are made fast to some place on the upper part of the slope, the ends are carried under the chase and breech of the gun respectively, round it and up the slope. If the running ends of these ropes are hauled upon, the gun ascends; if eased off, it descends. If the ground is horizontal, handspikes only are necessary to move the gun.

=Parcourir= (_Fr._). In a military sense, to run over the ground during an action. This word is particularly applicable to those movements which are made by general officers, officers commanding brigades, etc., for the purpose of encouraging their soldiers in the heat of an engagement.

=Pardon and Mitigation of Sentences.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 112.

=Parga.= A town of European Turkey, eyalet of Yanina, stands on a rocky peninsula on the shore of the Mediterranean, and is defended by a citadel which is nearly impregnable. It has played a part of some importance in history since the beginning of the 15th century. It maintained its independence, under the protection of Venice, from this period till the fall of the Venetian power in 1797, when it was for a short time garrisoned by the French. Ali Pasha, the governor of Yanina, obtained command of it in 1800, and in 1814 besieged it, on account of the inhabitants refusing to submit to his rule; and as the French would not defend them, the inhabitants applied for aid to the British, who took possession of the citadel. Parga was finally given up to Turkey by the treaty of 1819; but the inhabitants, not wishing to come under the Ottoman sway, migrated to the Ionian Islands, and the town was then occupied by the Turks.

=Paris= (anc. _Lutetia Parisiorum_). The metropolis of France, and after London, the most populous city in Christendom, is situated on both sides of the Seine, and is surrounded by walls and a strong line of fortifications. When Cæsar conquered Gaul, he rebuilt Lutetia, which had been nearly destroyed through the obstinacy of the Celtic tribe who here had their stronghold, and it rose to be a place of considerable importance during the 500 years of Roman dominion. In the beginning of the 5th century it suffered much from the northern hordes, and ultimately fell into the hands of the Franks, headed by Clovis, who, having embraced Christianity, made it his residence in 508. In 845 the city was ravaged by the Normans, and in 845 and 920 suffered from famine; in 885 it was gallantly defended by the Count Eudes and the Bishop Goslin against the Danes; in 1231 it was rebuilt; and in 1411-18 suffered by the factions of the Armagnacs and Burgundians; taken by the English in 1420, and retaken by the French in 1436; on August 24, 1572, the massacre of St. Bartholomew occurred; in 1589-90 Henry IV. vainly besieged it, and he entered it in March, 1594; surrendered to the allies on March 30, 1814. Paris was the scene of many revolutions from July, 1830, to February 22, 1848. The following are the great treaties of Paris: Between England, France, Spain, and Portugal, cession of Canada to Great Britain by France, and Florida by Spain, on February 10, 1763; between France and Sardinia; the latter ceding Savoy, May 15, 1796; France and Sweden, whereby Swedish Pomerania and the island of Rugen were given up to the Swedes, who agreed to adopt the French prohibitory system against Great Britain, January 6, 1810; on April 11, 1814, Paris capitulated, and Napoleon renounced the sovereignty of France; the convention of Paris, between France and the allied powers, the boundaries of France to be the same as on the first day of January, 1792; peace of Paris ratified by France and all the allies on May 14, 1814; convention of St. Cloud, between Marshal Davoust, Wellington, and Blücher, for the surrender of Paris, July 3, 1815, and the allies entered it on July 6; treaty of Paris, between Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, styling Napoleon the prisoner of those powers, and confiding his safeguard to England on August 2, 1815; establishing the boundaries of France, and stipulating for the occupation of certain fortresses by foreign troops for three years, on November 20, same year, and the treaty of Paris, confirming the treaties of Chaumont and Vienna, same day; treaty between Russia and Turkey, England, France, and Sardinia, March 30, 1856; another between England and Persia, March 4, 1857; the treaty between the European powers, Prussia, and Switzerland, respecting Neufchâtel, May 26, 1857; and the convention between France and Italy for withdrawal of French troops from Rome, September 15, 1864. In the late war with Prussia the armies of France having been defeated by the Germans, on August 7, 1870, Paris was declared in a state of siege. On September 4, a republic was proclaimed and a “provisional government of national defense” instituted under the presidency of Gen. Trochu. On September 20, Paris was invested by the Germans, and communication was kept up with the outer world by means of pigeons and balloon mails. On October 30, riot reigned in Paris, and the members of the provisional government were arrested and held prisoners for several hours. On November 28, 300,000 troops supported by 700 field-pieces, divided into three corps, were concentrated at points around the city under Gen. Trochu as commander-in-chief. Early in January the bombardment was begun, and continued most of the month without serious injury. The city, nearly reduced to starvation and threatened with intestine commotion, surrendered on January 28, with 1900 pieces of artillery, 180,000 prisoners, a forced contribution of 200,000,000 francs having been levied by the enemy. The National Assembly having ratified the preliminaries of peace on February 28, the German troops, who, to the number of 30,000, had occupied a quarter of Paris, quietly withdrew. The terms of peace proving distasteful to the populace, Paris was soon plunged into political chaos, and sanguinary conflicts followed between the government of the Commune, or Red Republicans, and the Versailles government under the presidency of Thiers.

=Park.= The space occupied by the animals, wagons, pontons, and materials of all kinds, whether of powder, ordnance stores, hospital stores, provisions, etc., of an army when brought together; as, a park of wagons; a park of artillery; a park of provisions; engineer park, and the like.

=Park.= To bring together in a park, or compact body; as, to park the artillery, etc.

=Parley.= An oral conference with an enemy. It takes place under a flag of truce, and usually at some spot--for the time neutral--between the two armies. _To beat a parley_, is to give a signal for such a conference by beat of drum or sound of trumpet.

=Parma.= A kind of round buckler used by the velites in the Roman army. It was 3 feet in diameter, made of wood and covered with leather. Its form was round, and its substance strong; but Servius on the Æneid, and even Virgil, say that it was a light piece of armor in comparison with the clypeus, though larger than the pelta.

=Parma.= A city of Italy, situated on a river of the same name, about 72 miles southeast of Milan. It is supposed to be of Etruscan origin, but is first mentioned as a Roman colony, having become of considerable importance in the time of the republic. It took a prominent part against Antony in 43 B.C., and was in consequence taken by that general and plundered by his troops. Under Augustus it received a fresh colony, and it again rose to be one of the principal towns of this populous and flourishing part of Italy. In 377 a colony of Goths was settled in the territory of Parma by order of Gratian; Attila devastated and plundered it; and it was taken by Narses in his wars against the Goths and their allies. In 1247, Frederick II. besieged it without success. It subsequently became a prey to feudal lords, and afterwards fell into the hands of the popes. Parma is now part of the province of Æmilia, in the kingdom of Italy, to which it was annexed March 18, 1860.

=Parma, Battles of.= An indecisive engagement took place at Parma, June 29, 1734, between the confederated armies of England, France, and Spain and the Austrians; and on June 19, 1799, the French under Macdonald were routed by the Russians under Suwarrow, with a loss of 4 generals and 10,000 men.

=Paroi= (_Fr._). A stout wooden frame having long, sharp-pointed stakes driven into it horizontally; it is placed upon the parapet to oppose scaling parties.

=Parole.= A watch-word differing from the countersign (which see) in that it is only communicated to officers of guards, while the countersign is given to all the members. The parole is usually the name of a person, generally a distinguished officer, while the countersign is the name of a place, as of a battle-field. It is also the declaration made on honor by an officer, in a case in which there is no more than his sense of honor to restrain him from breaking his word. Thus, a prisoner of war may be released from actual prison on his parole that he will not go beyond certain designated limits; or he may even be allowed to return to his own country on his parole not to fight again during the existing war against his captors. To break _parole_ is accounted infamous in all civilized nations, and an officer who has so far forgotten his position as a gentleman ceases to have any claim to the treatment of an honorable man, nor can he expect quarter should he again fall into the hands of the enemy he has deceived.

=Paros.= One of the larger islands of the Grecian archipelago, situated west of Naxos. In ancient times, it is said to have been colonized by Cretans, and was very wealthy and powerful. It submitted to the Persians; and after the battle of Marathon was assailed ineffectually by Miltiades, who received here the wound of which he soon after died. After the death of Xerxes, Paros came under the supremacy of Athens, and shared the fate of the other Cyclades.

=Parrain= (_Fr._). In military orders, the person who introduces or presents a newly-elected knight. The term is also used to signify the comrade who is selected by a soldier who is condemned to be shot to bind the handkerchief over his eyes.

=Parrott Gun.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.

=Parrott Projectile.= See PROJECTILE.

=Parry.= To ward off; to stop or to put or turn off; to prevent; as, to parry a thrust, a blow, or the like, or anything that means or threatens harm.

=Parry.= A defensive movement in sword and bayonet exercises; also a command; as, _tierce parry_, _quarte parry_, etc.

=Parrying.= The action of warding off the push or blow aimed at one by the other.

=Parsees=, or =Guebres=. The followers of Zerdusht, dwelt in Persia till 638, when, at the battle of Kadseah, their army was decimated by the Arabs, and the monarchy annihilated at the battle of Náhárand in 641. Many submitted to the conquerors (and their descendants are termed Guebres), but others fled to India, and their descendants still reside at Bombay (where they are termed Parsees), where they numbered 114,698 in 1849.

=Parsons Gun.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.

=Parsonstown= (anc. _Birr_). A considerable inland town on the river Brosna, in King’s Co., Ireland, 69 miles west-southwest from Dublin. Birr was the scene of many important events, both in the Irish and in the post-invasion period. The castle, which was anciently the seat of the O’Carrols, was granted by Henry II. to Philip de Worcester; but it frequently changed masters, and even alternated between English and Irish hands. Through the entire period of the civil wars it was constantly disputed, until after 1690, when the Parsons family was finally established in possession of the castle and adjoining lands. Parsonstown is a large military station.

=Partheniæ.= A word derived from the Greek, signifying children born of unmarried women. The name was applied to a particular class of citizens in Sparta after the Messenian war, whose origin was ascribed to the following circumstances: The Spartans having been at war with the Messenians for twenty years, and having by that means very much depopulated their country, and apprehending that if the war continued it might eventually strip Sparta of all its male inhabitants, they sent some of their young men from the army into the city, with license to be familiar with as many unmarried women as they would; and the children begotten by them in this manner were called _partheniæ_, on account of the uncertainty as to who were their fathers. At the end of the war, this brood were deemed bastards, and were denied the bearing of any office in the government, etc. This unjust exclusion enraged them so much that they conspired with the slaves to destroy all the nobility; but, on the discovery of their plot, they were driven out of the city; after which, being headed by Phalantus, a bold and enterprising son of chance, they traveled into Magna Grecia in Italy, and built Tarentum.

=Parthenopean Republic.= Was the name given to the state into which the kingdom of Naples was transformed by the French republicans, January 23, 1799, and which only lasted till the following June, when the invading army was forced to retreat.

=Parthia.= Anciently a country of Western Asia, lying at the southeast end of the Caspian Sea, from which it was separated by a narrow strip, known as Hyrcania, now forms the northern portion of Khorassan, and is an almost wholly mountainous region. The original inhabitants are believed to have been of Scythian race, as shown by their language as well as by their manners, and to belong to the great Indo-Germanic family. The Parthians, during the time of the Roman republic, were distinguished by primitive simplicity of life and extreme bravery, though, at the same time, much given to bacchanalian and voluptuous pleasures. They neglected agriculture and commerce, devoting their whole time to predatory expeditions and warfare. They fought on horseback, and after a peculiar fashion. Being armed solely with bows and arrows, they were rendered defenseless after the first discharge, and, to gain time for adjusting a second arrow to the bow, turned their horses, and retired, as if in full flight; but an enemy incautiously pursuing was immediately assailed by a second flight of arrows; a second pretended flight followed, and the conflict was thus carried on till the Parthians gained the victory, or exhausted their quivers. They generally discharged their arrows backwards, holding the bow behind the shoulder; a mode of attack more dangerous to a pursuing enemy than to one in order of battle. The Parthians first appeared in history as subject to the great Persian empire. After the death of Alexander the Great, Parthia formed part of the Syrian kingdom, but revolted under Antiochus II., and constituted itself into an independent kingdom under the _Arsacidæ_, 250 B.C., a race of kings who exercised the most completely despotic authority ever known. The Parthian dominion rapidly became a most powerful and flourishing empire. In spite of repeated attacks on the part of the Romans, the Parthians maintained their independence; and though Trajan, in 115-116, seized certain portions of the country, the Romans were soon compelled to abandon them. In 214, during the reign of Artabanus IV., the last of the Arsacidæ, a revolt headed by Ardshir, son of Babegan, broke out in Persia, and the Parthian monarch, beaten in three engagements, lost his throne and life, while the victor substituted the Persian dynasty of the Sassanidæ for that of the Arsacidæ. Some scions of the Parthian royal family continued for several centuries to rule over the mountainous district of Armenia, under the protection of the Romans, and made frequent descents upon Assyria and Babylonia.

=Partiality.= An unequal state of judgment or leaning in favor of one of two parties. Every member of a court-martial is sworn to do justice, without partiality, favor, or affection. A previous opinion expressed by a member, before the court is sworn, is deemed a good and sufficient cause of challenge by either the prisoner or prosecutor, and the individual cannot sit on the trial and judgment of the case.

=Partisan.= The name given to small corps detached from the main body of an army, and acting independently against the enemy. In partisan warfare much liberty is allowed to partisans. Continually annoying the flanks and rear of columns, they intercept convoys, cut off communications, attack detachments, and endeavor to spread terror everywhere. This kind of warfare is advantageously pursued only in mountainous or thickly-wooded districts. In an open country, cavalry very readily destroys partisans. The Spanish race make active partisans. The party is called _guerrilla_, the partisan a _guerrillero_.

=Partisan.= A term formerly applied to a pike or halbert.

=Partition Lines.= In heraldry, lines dividing the shield in directions corresponding to the ordinaries. According to the direction of the

## partition lines, a shield is said to be party or parted per fess, per

pale, per bend, per chevron, per saltire; a shield divided by lines in the direction of a cross is said to be quartered; and a shield parted at once per cross and per saltire is said to be gironné of eight. The

## partition lines are not always plain; they may be engrailed, invected,

embattled, wavy, nebuly, indented, dancetté, or raguly.

=Partridges.= In artillery, were very large bombards, formerly in use at sieges and in defensive works.

=Parts, Bridges By.= See PONTONS.

=Party.= A small detachment of men, horse or foot, sent upon any kind of duty; as, into an enemy’s country, to pillage, to take prisoners, and oblige the country to come under contribution.

=Party.= In heraldry, parted or divided;--used with reference to any division of a field or charge.

=Party, Firing.= Are those who are selected to fire over the grave of any one interred with military honors.

=Party, Recruiting.= Is a certain number of men, under an officer or non-commissioned officer, detached from their respective regiments for the purpose of enlisting men.

=Party, Working.= See WORKING PARTY.

=Pas de Sours= (_Fr._). Steps leading from the bottom to the top of a ditch in permanent fortification.

=Pasha=, or =Bashaw= (from the Persian _padishah_, “powerful ruler”). A title applied in the Ottoman empire to governors of provinces, or military and naval commanders of high rank. The distinctive badge of a pasha is a horse-tail, waving from the end of a staff crowned with a gilt ball; in war, this badge is always carried before him when he goes abroad, and is at other times planted in front of his tent. There are three grades of pashas, which are distinguished by the number of horse-tails on their standards; those of the highest rank are pashas of three tails, and include, in general, the highest functionaries, civil and military. All pashas of this class have the title of vizier. The pashas of two tails are the governors of provinces, who are generally called by the simple title “pasha.” The pashas of one tail, the lowest rank of pashas, are provincial governors. See HORSE-TAIL.

=Pass.= A straight, difficult, and narrow passage, which, well defended, shuts up the entrance to a country.

=Pass.= A certificate of leave of absence given to a soldier for a short period.

=Pass of Arms.= In ancient chivalry, a bridge, road, etc., which the knights undertook to defend, and which was not to be passed without fighting the person who kept it. He who was disposed to dispute the pass touched one of the armories of the other knight who held the pass, that were hung on pales, columns, etc., erected for the purpose; and this was a challenge which the other was obliged to accept. The vanquished gave the conqueror such prize as was agreed on.

=Pass, To.= Is to march in review by open order of columns, for the purpose of saluting.

=Passable.= Capable of being passed, traveled, traversed, or the like; as, the roads are not passable for troops.

=Passade=, or =Passado=. In fencing, a push or thrust; also, a sudden movement to the front.

=Passage.= A pass or encounter; as, a passage at arms.

=Passage of Ditches.= In siege operations the passage of a dry ditch consists in the _descent_ (which is by a blindage, if the ditch is not too deep, or a blindage and gallery for deep ditches) and a full sap, which leads from the outlet of the _descent_ to the bottom of the breach. The passage of a wet ditch is more difficult, and specially perilous if the besieged can produce sudden freshets by flood-gates or other contrivance. The method usually followed is to build a dike or bridge of fascines and hurdles across the ditch. The abutment for this bridge is formed by excavating a grand gallery behind the counterscarp and throwing the earth taken from it into the ditch through the outlet of the _descent_. The dike is carried forward from this abutment by sappers, who work on a raft carrying a musket-proof mask on the side of the enemy. A gabionade parapet on the exposed side of the dike serves to protect the men in bringing forward the fascines, hurdles, etc., to extend the dike.

=Passage of Rivers.= The passage is effected by surprise or by main force, and detachments are thrown by one means or the other upon the enemy’s bank of the river before proceeding to the construction of bridges. The passage by force ought always to be favored by diversions upon other points. Infantry cross bridges without keeping step. Cavalry dismount in crossing, leading their horses. Wagons heavily loaded pass at a gallop.

=Passages.= Are openings cut in the parapet of the covered way, close to the traverses, in order to continue the communication through all parts of the covered way. See TRAVERSES.

=Passandeau= (_Fr._). An ancient 8-pounder gun, which was 15 feet long, and weighed about 3500 pounds.

=Passant.= A heraldic term, used to express the attitude of an animal in a walking position, with his head straight before him.

=Passarowitz.= A well-built town of European Turkey, in the province of Servia, 5 miles south of the Danube, and 15 miles east of Semendria. The town is chiefly noteworthy for the treaty which was signed here by Prince Eugène and the grand viziers, July 21, 1718. By this treaty, which put an end to the war undertaken by the Turks against Venice in 1714 for the conquest of the Morea, a truce of twenty-five years was established, and the Banat of Temesvars, the western portion of Wallachia and Servia, the town and territory of Belgrade, and a part of Bosnia, were secured to the house of Austria.

=Passau.= A picturesque, fortified, frontier town of Bavaria, at the confluence of the Inn and the Ilz with the Danube, 90 miles east-northeast from Munich. Fort Oberhaus, on the left bank of the Danube, stands on steep wooded cliffs, at an elevation of upwards of 400 feet, and commands the passage of both the Inn and Danube, besides which the town is further defended by the castle of Niederhause, and by ten detached forts. The treaty whereby religious freedom was established, was ratified here between the emperor Charles V. and the Protestant princes of Germany, July 31, 1552.

=Pass-box.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Passegardes.= In ancient armor, were ridges on the shoulder-pieces to turn the blow of a lance.

=Passe-Mur.= An ancient 16-pounder gun, 18 feet long, weighing 4200 pounds.

=Passes-Balles= (_Fr._). Boards or machines made of iron or brass, used in disparting cannon, and fitted to every species of caliber.

=Passion Cross.= A cross of the form on which our Saviour suffered, with a long stem and a short traverse near the top. It is of occasional occurrence as a heraldic charge, though less frequent than many other varieties of cross. A passion cross, when elevated on three steps or degrees (which have been said by heralds to represent the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity), is called a Cross Calvary.

=Passive Operations.= Are operations the object of which is solely to repel an attack of the enemy and thus prevent his advance.

=Pass-parole.= An order passed from front to rear of an army by word of mouth.

=Passport.= A document given by the competent officer of a state, which permits the person therein named to pass or travel from place to place by land or water. Also a license granted in time of war for the removal of persons and effects from a hostile country; a safe-conduct.

=Pataremo.= A sort of small swivel artillery, having a movable chamber.

=Patavium= (now _Padova_, or _Padua_). An ancient town of the Veneti in the north of Italy, on the Medoacus Minor, and on the road from Mutina to Altinum. In 302 B.C. it was powerful enough to drive back the Spartan king Cleomenes with great loss when he attempted to plunder the surrounding country. It was plundered by Attila; and in consequence of a revolt of its citizens, it was subsequently destroyed by Agilolf, king of the Longobards, and razed to the ground.

=Patay.= A town of France, department of Loiret, 14 miles northwest of Orleans, where John of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, was present, when the Earl of Richemont signally defeated the English, June 18, 1429. Talbot was taken prisoner, and the valiant Fastolfe was forced to fly. In consequence, Charles VII. of France entered Rheims in triumph, and was crowned July 17, following year, Joan of Arc assisting in the ceremony in full armor, and holding the sword of state.

=Patched-up Peace, The.= In French history, the name given to a treaty of peace between the Duke of Orleans and John of Burgundy, in 1409.

=Paté= (_Fr._). In fortification, a sort of horseshoe, that is, a platform or terre-plein, irregularly built, yet generally constructed in an oval form. It is surrounded by a parapet, without anything to flank it, and having no other defense than what is front or fore right. _Patés_ are usually erected in marshy grounds to cover the gate of a fortified town or place. Also an iron or earthen pot filled with powder and grenades for throwing against besiegers; some were used at Lille in 1708.

=Patereros.= Were small pieces of ordnance, now obsolete, worked on swivels; most commonly used on board of ships, where they were mounted on the gunwale, and discharged showers of old nails, etc., into hostile boats. The French called them Pierriers, from loading them with stones.

=Patience.= The power or faculty of suffering; endurance; the power of expecting long, without rage or discontent; the power of supporting faults or injuries, without revenge; long suffering. In military life, patience is an essential requisite. Without patience half the toils of war would be insupportable; with patience there are scarcely any hardships but what coolness, courage, and ability may overcome. It is one of the greatest virtues, indeed, in an officer or soldier patiently to support, not only the rigor of discipline, but the keen and vexatious circumstances of disappointment.

=Patna=, or =Pattana=. A town of British India, capital of a district of the same name, in the presidency of Bengal, on the right bank of the Ganges, 10 miles east of Dinapore, and 377 miles northwest of Calcutta. Factories were established here at an early period by the British. In 1763 disputes began to arise between Meer Cossim, the nawaub of Bengal and Behar, and the servants of the East India Company, about the transit dues levied on native traders, from which the English claimed exemption. The nawaub for some time refused to accede to these demands; but finally he abolished all the imposts, both on British and native goods, a step which was not desired by the Company, and which must have greatly diminished his revenues. In revenge for this injury, he proceeded in various ways to annoy the British; and at length went so far as to seize some of their boats on the Ganges. On this Mr. Ellis, the chief of the factory at Patna, made an attack on the city and took possession of it, although Meer Cossim soon afterwards recovered it, and forced the British to take refuge in the factory. For four months hostilities continued between the two parties, in the course of which the nawaub was several times defeated, until he became so exasperated at the loss of the city of Monghyr, that he ordered the murder in cold blood of 200 prisoners. On November 6, in the same year, Patna was taken by the British; and in May, 1764, Meer Cossim’s troops were totally defeated under the walls. Since that time the place has remained undisturbed in the hands of the British.

=Patomemeter.= An instrument for measuring the force of currents.

=Patonce, Cross.= In heraldry (Lat. _patens_, “expanding”), a cross with its terminations expanding like early vegetation or an opening blossom.

=Patoo-patoo.= A formidable weapon with sharp edges, used by the Polynesian Islanders and New Zealanders as a sort of battle-axe to cleave the skulls of their enemies.

=Patræ= (now _Patras_). One of the twelve cities of Achaia, was situated west of Rhium, near the opening of the Corinthian Gulf. The town was chiefly of importance as the place from which the Peloponnesians directed their attacks against the opposite coast of Ætolia. Patræ was one of the four towns which took the leading part in founding the second Achæan League. Patræ assisted the Ætolians against the Gauls in 279 B.C.

=Patriarchal Cross.= A cross which, like the patriarchal crosier, has its upright part crossed by two horizontal bars, the upper shorter than the lower. A cross patriarchal fimbriated or was a badge of the Knights Templar.

=Patrick, St., Order of.= A national order of knighthood for Ireland, established by George III. on February 5, 1783, and enlarged in 1833. As originally constituted, it consisted of the sovereign, the grand master (who was always the lord-lieutenant of Ireland for the time being), and 15 knights. By the statutes of 1833 the number of knights was increased to 22. The collar of the order (of gold) is composed of roses alternating with harps, tied together with a knot of gold, the roses being enameled alternately white within red, and red within white, and in the centre is an imperial crown surmounting a harp of gold, from which the badge is suspended. The _badge_ or _jewel_ is of gold, and oval; surrounding it is a wreath of shamrock proper on a gold field; within this is a band of sky-blue enamel charged with the motto of the order, _Quis Separabit_ MDCCLXXXIII. in gold letters; and within this hand a saltire gules (the cross of St. Patrick) surmounted by a shamrock or trefoil slipped vert, having on each of its leaves an imperial crown or. The field of the cross is either argent or pierced, and left open. A sky-blue _ribbon_, worn over the right shoulder, sustains the badge when the collar is not worn. The _star_, worn on the left side, differs from the badge only in being circular in place of oval, and in substituting for the exterior wreath of shamrocks eight rays of silver, four rays of which are larger than the other four. The _mantle_ is of rich sky-blue tabinet, lined with white silk, and fastened by a cordon of blue silk and gold with tassels. On the right shoulder is the _hood_, of the same materials as the _mantle_. The order is indicated by the initials K.P.

=Patriot.= A sincere and unbiased friend to his country; an advocate for general civilization, uniting in his conduct through life, moral rectitude with political integrity. Such a character is seldom found in any country; but the specious appearance of it is to be seen everywhere, most especially in Europe. It is difficult to say how far the term can be used in a military sense, although it is not uncommon to read of a citizen soldier, and a _patriot_ soldier. Individually considered the term may be just, but it is hardly to be understood collectively.

=Patrol.= To go the rounds in a camp or garrison; to march about and observe what passes as a guard. To pass round as a sentinel; as, to patrol the city.

=Patrolling.= Performing the duties of a patrol.

=Patrols.= A patrol is a detachment which is employed to obtain information respecting the enemy’s movements and position, and relating to the nature of the country over which the army has to move, and to keep open the communications between the different portions of a command. Patrols are generally composed entirely of cavalry, although they are sometimes composed of infantry and cavalry; and in very much broken and obstructed ground, it might be necessary that they contain only infantry.

=Patte= (_Fr._). A term used in mining; when a well or excavation is made in loose or crumbling earth, and it becomes necessary to frame it in, the rafters must be laid horizontally to support the boards in proportion as the workmen gain depth. The ends of the rafters that are first laid run 10 or 12 inches beyond the border of the well, for the purpose of sustaining the platform. These supports are called _oreilles_; consequently, that every frame may be supported the second is attached or made firm to the first by means of the ends of boards which are nailed together. In this manner the third is joined to the second, and the fourth to the third. These ends are called _pattes_, or handles.

=Pattée, Cross=, or =Cross Formeé= (Lat. _patulus_, “spreading”). In heraldry, a cross with its arms expanding towards the ends, and flat at their outer edges.

=Patte d’Oie= (_Fr._). A term used in mining to describe three small branches which are run out at the extremity of a gallery. They are so called from their resemblance to the foot of a goose.

=Pattern Regiment.= A phrase of distinction which is applied to a corps of officers and soldiers who are remarkable for their observance of good order and discipline.

=Paulus Hook.= A point on the Jersey shore which ran into the Hudson River near where the Pavonia ferries now are. The first settlement was made here in 1633. A British fort erected at this point was taken on the morning of August 19, 1779, by the Americans under Maj. Harry Lee, who made a descent on it by way of the Point of Rocks, and captured 179 prisoners, a number of guns, and a quantity of stores.

=Pavade.= Formerly a short dagger was so called in Scotland.

=Pavecheur=, or =Pavesier=. An ancient militia who carried the (_pavois_) shield.

=Pavia= (anc. _Ticinum_). A city of Northern Italy, capital of the province of the same name, on the left bank of the Ticino, 20 miles south of Milan, and 3 miles above the confluence of the Ticino and the Po. Pavia was founded by the Ligurii; it was sacked by Brennus and by Hannibal; burned by the Huns; conquered by the Romans, and became a place of considerable importance at the end of the Roman empire. Then it came into the possession of the Goths and Lombards, and the kings of the latter made it the capital of the kingdom of Italy. It became independent in the 12th century, then, weakened by civil wars, it was conquered by Matthew Visconti in 1345. Since that period, its history is merged in that of the conquerors of Lombardy. Here, in 1525, the French were defeated by the Imperialists, and their king taken prisoner; but in 1527, and again in the following year it was taken and laid waste by the French. It was stormed and pillaged by Napoleon in 1796, and came into the possession of Austria by the peace of 1814. Since 1859 it has been included within the reorganized kingdom of Italy.

=Pavilion.= A tent raised on posts; a flag, colors, ensign, or banner; in heraldry, a covering in form of a tent, investing the armories of kings.

=Pavilion, To.= To furnish or cover with tents; to shelter with a tent.

=Pavise= (written also _Pavais_, _Pavese_, and _Pavesse_). A large shield covering the whole body, having an inward curve, managed by a pavisor, who with it screened an archer.

=Pavisor.= In military antiquity, a soldier who managed a pavise.

=Pavon.= An ancient military flag shaped like a right-angled triangle.

=Pawnees.= A warlike tribe of Indians who formerly resided in Nebraska, but are now located in Indian Territory. Their numbers have been greatly reduced, owing to their wars with the Sioux, with whom they maintained a hereditary warfare. They now number about 2000 souls, and are divided in four bands.

=Pay.= Is the stipend or salary allowed for each individual serving in the army.

=Pay Bills.= In the British service, accounts regularly tendered by captains of troops or companies of the money required by them for the effectives of such troop or company.

=Pay, Colonial.= In the British service is a certain allowance which is made to troops serving in the colonies.

=Pay Department.= Is that department of a government which takes charge of all matters relating to the pay of the army. In the U. S. army the pay department consists of 1 paymaster-general, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a brigadier-general; 2 assistant paymaster-generals, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of colonels of cavalry; 2 deputy paymaster-generals, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of lieutenant-colonels of cavalry; and 50 paymasters, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of majors of cavalry.

=Pay, Half-.= Sec HALF-PAY.

=Pay, Full.= See FULL PAY.

=Pay, Staff.= Is the pay and allowances which are made to officers serving on the staff of an army, or in any particular division or department.

=Paymaster-General.= In the U. S. army, is the chief officer of the pay department, with the rank of brigadier-general. Under the direction of the Secretary of War, the paymaster-general assigns paymasters to districts; he receives from the treasurer all the moneys which are intrusted to him for the purpose of paying the pay, the arrears of pay, etc., appertaining to the army. He is also charged with all necessary instructions to his subordinates in reference to the supply and distribution of funds for the payment of the army, and all other things appertaining to the financial duties of his department and the accountability of its officers. In these and all other matters having relation specially to the internal administration of the pay department, the correspondence and orders is direct between the paymaster-general and his subordinates, and between the department and district chiefs and their subordinates.

=Paymasters.= Are officers appointed in the army for the purpose of keeping its pay accounts, and the disbursing of moneys in payment of troops. In the U. S. service it is the duty of paymasters to pay all the regular and other troops; and to insure punctuality and responsibility, correct reports shall be made to the paymaster-general once in two months, showing the disposition of the funds previously transmitted, with accurate estimates for the next payment of such regiment, garrison, or department, as may be assigned to each. In the British service a paymaster is attached to each regiment.

=Paymaster-Sergeant.= In the English army, a non-commissioned officer who assists the paymaster.

=Pay-roll.= A roll or list of persons entitled to payment, with the sums which are to be paid on them. In the U. S. army, commanders of companies are required to prepare at each regular muster, beside one muster-roll, three copies of the “muster- and pay-roll,” two for the paymaster, and one to be retained in the company files. When the paymaster’s rolls have been computed and returned to the company for examination and signature, the calculations thereon will be transcribed on the triplicate muster- and pay-roll, under the direction of or by the company commander, who is responsible for the correct performance of this duty.

=Pay-Sergeant.= In the British service, a sergeant who, on the responsibility of the captain of a troop, battery, or company, keeps the men’s accounts. He is generally, but not invariably, the color-sergeant in the infantry, or the troop or battery sergeant-major in the cavalry or artillery.

=Pea Ridge.= A range of hills in Benton Co., Ark., which gives its name to the battle fought here March 6-8, 1862, between the Union forces under Gen. Curtis and the Confederates under Van Dorn, in which the latter were defeated with loss of over 2500 killed, wounded, and captured.

=Peabody-Martini Rifle.= A breech-loading rifle invented by an American--Peabody--and improved by a Swiss. It is called _Martini-Henry_ in England, in which country it is the official arm. More than half a million of these rifles were manufactured for the Turkish government during the late Russo-Turkish war by the Providence Tool Company of Rhode Island. The gun has a great reputation on account of its long range.

=Peace.= Freedom from war, exemption from, or cessation of, hostilities. This condition of affairs is effected and maintained by treaties between independent powers.

=Peace Establishment.= The reduced number of effective men in the army during a period of peace.

=Peal.= A long sound, or a succession of long sounds, as of cannon, etc.

=Pean= (Old Fr. _pannes_, “furs”). One of the furs borne in heraldry, differing from ermine only in the tinctures,--the ground being sable and the spots of gold.

=Pea-rifle.= A rifle of small bore carrying a ball of the size of a pea.

=Peasants’ War.= In German history, the name given to that great insurrection of the peasantry which broke out in the beginning of the year 1525. The oppression of the peasants had gradually increased in severity, as the nobility became more extravagant and the clergy more sensual and degenerate. The example of Switzerland encouraged the hope of success, and from 1476 to 1517 there were risings here and there among the peasants of the south of Germany. A peasant rebellion, called from its cognizance, the _Bundschuh_ (laced shoe), took place in the Rhine countries in 1502, and another called the “League of Poor Conrad,” in Würtemberg, in 1514, both of which were put down without any abatement of the grievances which occasioned them. The Reformation, by the mental awakening which it produced, and the diffusion of sentiments favorable to freedom, must be reckoned among the causes of the great insurrection itself. The Anabaptists, and in particular Münzer, encouraged and excited them, and a peasant insurrection took place in the Hegau in 1522. Another known as the “Latin War” arose in 1523 in Salzburg, against an unpopular archbishop, but these were quickly suppressed. On January 1, 1525, the peasantry of the abbacy of Kempten, along with the towns-people, suddenly assailed and plundered the convent; this event proved the signal for a general rising of the peasantry on all sides throughout the south of Germany. They organized themselves into bands of from 9000 to 30,000, and destroyed convents and castles, murdered, pillaged, and were guilty of the greatest excesses, which must indeed be regarded as partly in revenge for the cruelties practiced against them. In May and June, 1525, they sustained a number of severe defeats from the regular forces under Truchsess von Waldburg, in which large bodies of them were destroyed. The landgraf Philip of Hesse was also successful against them in the north of Germany. The peasants after they had been subjugated were everywhere treated with terrible cruelty; a great body of them were massacred; multitudes were hanged in the streets, and many were put to death with the greatest tortures. It is supposed that more than 150,000 persons lost their lives in this war. The lot of the defeated insurgents became harder than ever.

=Pebble Powder.= See GUNPOWDER.

=Pecq, Le.= A village of France, on the right bank of the Seine, about half a mile east from St. Germain en Laye. The allied forces crossed the Seine at this spot in 1815.

=Pectoral= (Fr. _pectorale_). A breastplate. Among the Romans the poorer soldiers, who were rated under 1000 drachmas, instead of the _lorica_, or brigantine (a leathern coat of mail) wore a pectoral, or breastplate of thin brass, about twelve fingers square. Some modern troops, such as the cuirassiers, etc., wear pectorals for the direct purposes of defense and bodily protection; but in general small ornamental plates with clasps have been substituted.

=Peculation.= A term used in a military sense for embezzling public moneys, stores, arms, or ammunition. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 60.

=Pedro.= An early gun of large caliber for throwing stone balls.

=Peel.= To strip; to plunder; to pillage; as, to peel a province or conquered people.

=Peel.= A small tower or fort.

=Peel-house.= A small fortified place.

=Peel-towers.= The name given to the towers erected on the Scottish borders for defense. They are square, with turrets at the angles, and the door is sometimes at a height from the ground. The lower story is usually vaulted, and forms a stable for horses, cattle, etc.

=Peep o’ Day Boys.= Were insurgents in Ireland, who visited the houses of their antagonists at break of day, in search of arms. They first appeared July 4, 1784, and for a long period were the terror of the country.

=Pegu.= A British province of Eastern India, is bounded on the north by the Burmese empire, east by the Tenasserim provinces, south by the Gulf of Martaban, and west by the Bay of Bengal and the province of Arracan. It was discovered by the Portuguese in 1520. The early history of Pegu consists of little more than a narrative of barbarous and cruel contests between that country and the kingdom of Ava, in which the latter was finally successful, and reduced Pegu to a province of that kingdom, or, as it is generally called, the Burman empire. Pegu, the capital, was taken by Maj. Cotton, with 300 men, in June, 1852, without loss; and afterwards abandoned. It was again occupied by the Burmese and strongly fortified, with a garrison of 4000 men. It was recaptured by Gen. Godwin with 1200 men and 2 guns, in two hours, with the loss of 6 killed and 32 wounded. The province was annexed to the British possessions, by proclamation, December 20, 1852, and has since prospered. In February, 1862, it was united with Arracan and Tenasserim as British Burmah.

=Pei-ho.= A river of China, which rising on the confines of Tartary, traverses the northern part of the province of Chih-le or Pe-chih-le, and falls into the Gulf of Pe-chih-le, in about 38° 30′ N. lat. The attack on the escort of the British and French ambassadors whilst ascending the Pei-ho to Pekin (June, 1859), led to the war with China of 1860, in which year the Taku forts on this river were taken by the British.

=Peishwa.= The title of the military governor of the Mahrattas, whose office became hereditary in the family of Balajee Biswanath, its first possessor, who fixed his residence at Poonah.

=Peking=, or =Pekin=. The capital of the Chinese empire, situated between the Pei-ho and Hoen-ho, 100 miles northwest from the mouth of the Pei-ho River. About 5 miles north from the city the famous Yuen-ming-yuen palaces are situated, which were sacked and destroyed by the allies in October, 1860; these were 30 in number. Here had been heaped up for centuries all the movable riches and presents of the emperors of China. At the approach of the allies Hien-fung fled in haste; and when Lord Elgin learned that it was in those grounds that the British and French prisoners, captured by treachery, had been tortured, he gave the order to sack and destroy this favorite residence of the emperor’s, as it could not fail to be a blow to his pride as well as his feelings; and it became a solemn act of retribution. Peking has thus been rendered memorable by this march of the British and French forces (1860) to the walls of the city, on which the British and French flags were raised. The provisions of the treaty of Tien-tsin (1858) were subsequently ratified and supplemented by the convention of Peking, which was signed in the English and French languages at Peking, October 24, 1860.

=Pelican.= An ancient name for a 6-pounder culverin, 9 feet long and weighing 2400 pounds.

=Pelican.= In heraldry, the pelican is drawn with her wings endorsed, and wounding her breast with her beak. When represented in her nest feeding her young with her blood, she is called a pelican in _her piety_.

=Peligni.= A brave and warlike people of Sabine origin, in Central Italy, bounded southeast by the Marsi, north by the Marrucini, south by Samium and the Frentani, and east by the Frentani likewise. They offered a brave resistance to the Romans, but concluded a peace with the republic along with their neighbors the Marsi, Marrucini, and Frentani, in 304 B.C. They took an active part in the Social war (90, 89). They were subdued by Pompeius Strabo, after which time they are rarely mentioned.

=Pelinna=, or more commonly =Pelinnæum= (now _Gardhiki_). A town of Thessaly, in Hestiæotis, on the left bank of the Peneus, was taken by the Romans in their war with Antiochus.

=Pellene.= A city in Achaia, bordering on Sicyonia, the most easterly of the twelve Achæan cities, was situated on a hill 60 stadia from the sea, and was strongly fortified. Its port-town was Aristonautæ. In the Peloponnesian war Pellene sided with Sparta. In the later wars of Greece between the Achæan and Ætolian leagues, the town was several times taken by the contending parties.

=Pellet.= An old word for shot or bullet.

=Pellet=, or =Ogress=. In English heraldry, a roundle sable.

=Pell-mell.= In utter confusion; with disorderly mixture; with confused violence; as, the battle was a confused heap, the ground unequal, men, horses, chariots, crowded pell-mell.

=Peloponnesian War.= One of the most celebrated and important of the wars carried on between the different states of Greece; the particulars of which are related in the writings of Xenophon and Thucydides. It existed for twenty-seven years, during which time the Athenians and the inhabitants of the Peloponnesus, the most southern peninsula of Greece, were the principal belligerents. After the Athenians had sustained immense losses, it was at best agreed that to establish the peace the fortifications of the Athenian harbors should be demolished, and all their ships, except twelve, be surrendered to the enemy. They were to resign every pretension to their dominions abroad; to follow the Spartans in war, and in time of peace to frame their constitutions according to the will and prescription of their Peloponnesian conquerors. Their walls and fortifications were instantly leveled to the ground; and the conquerors observed that in the demolition of Athens, succeeding ages would fix the era of Grecian freedom. This memorable event happened about 404 years before the Christian era; and thirty “tyrants” were appointed by Lysander over the government of the city.

=Pelta.= A small light shield, sometimes attributed to the Amazons, but used by numerous nations of antiquity, such as the inhabitants of Thrace, Spain, and Mauritania, before its general introduction among the Greeks. It consisted mainly of a frame of wood or wicker-work covered with skin or leather, without the metallic rim, and of a great variety of shapes. It was sometimes round, as in the special case of the _cetra_, sometimes elliptical, sometimes variously situated round the rim, sometimes even quadrangular, but most commonly crescent-shaped or lunated, as alluded to in the “_Amazonidum lunatis agmina peltis_” of Virgil. Soldiers bearing the _pelta_ were called _peltastæ_.

=Pelusium.= The Greek name of an ancient Egyptian city situated on the northeastern angle of the Delta, and important as the key of Egypt on the Asiatic side. Pelusium is called _Sin_ in the Old Testament. It first figures in semi-authentic history as the scene of Sennacherib’s defeat, when (according to the Egyptian tradition, as reported by Herodotus) the camp of the Assyrians was invaded at night by a host of field-mice, who gnawed their bow-strings and shield-straps, so that in the morning, when the Egyptians fell upon them, they were defenseless. In 525 B.C., Cambyses overthrew, near Pelusium, the forces of Pharaoh-Psammetichus. It surrendered to Alexander in 333 B.C. The city was also taken by the Persians in 309 B.C.; and in 173 B.C., it was the scene of the defeat of Ptolemy Philometor by Antiochus Epiphanes. Mark Antony captured it 55 B.C., and it opened its gates to Octavian after his victory at Actium, 31 B.C. It was taken after a protracted resistance by Amrou, the Saracen, in 618.

=Pembroke.= A seaport town of South Wales, on a navigable creek of Milford Haven, 210 miles west of London. In 1648 its castle was beleaguered by Cromwell, and taken after a siege of six weeks.

=Penalba=, or =Penalva=. A village of Spain, province of Huesca, 18 miles northwest of Mequinenza. During the War of the Succession the troops of Philip V. were here defeated in a bloody battle by the army of the Archduke Charles, August 15, 1710.

=Penalty.= In a military sense, signifies forfeiture for non-performance, likewise punishment for embezzlement, etc.

=Pencel.= A small flag or streamer which was formerly carried at the top of a lance;--called also _pennoncel_.

=Pend d’Oreilles=, or =Kalispels= (_Calispels_). A tribe of partially civilized Indians, divided into several bands aggregating about 2000, who reside in Washington, Idaho, and Montana Territories. A few of this tribe are also to be found in British Columbia.

=Pendant.= In heraldry, a part hanging from the label, resembling the drops in the Doric frieze.

=Pendulum, Ballistic.= See BALLISTIC PENDULUM.

=Pendulum Hausse.= See HAUSSE, PENDULUM.

=Penetrating.= Having the power of entering or piercing another body.

=Penetration of Spherical Projectiles.= Their penetration when of the same size, with different velocities or charges, is nearly as the squares of the velocities; when of different sizes the penetration will be proportionate to their diameters multiplied by the density, and inversely as the tenacity of the medium. The depth of penetration of a projectile fired from field-pieces at the distance of 500 or 600 yards, is from 4¹⁄₂ to 6 feet in parapets recently constructed, and will traverse walls of ordinary construction; but a 12-pounder is necessary to make a breach in walls of good masonry and of 4 feet in thickness, and in this case the position of the battery must be favorable, and the operation a slow one. The depth of penetration of projectiles fired from the 4¹⁄₂-inch siege-gun, is about the same as that of projectiles fired from the 30-pounder Parrott gun, namely, 12 feet. Sand, sandy earth mixed with gravel, small stones, chalk, and tufa, resist shot better than the productive earths. Shells may be considered as round shot of a lower specific gravity, and their penetrations are therefore proportionally less. A bank of earth, to afford a secure cover from heavy guns, will require a thickness from 18 to 24 feet. In guns below 18-pounders, if the number of the feet in thickness of the bank be made equal to the number of pounds in the weight of the shot by which it is to be assailed, the requisite protection will be obtained. Earth possesses advantages over every other material. It is easily obtained, regains its position after displacement, and the injury done to an earthen battery by day can be readily repaired at night. Where masonry is liable to be breached, it should be covered with earth. Wrought-iron plates 4¹⁄₂ inches in thickness will withstand the effects of 32-pound shots, and of all inferior calibers at short ranges, as 400 yards. Plates of this thickness, however, are soon destroyed by 68-pound shots, and afford little protection from the elongated shots of the new rifled ordnance. To resist successfully the fall of heavy shells, buildings must be covered with arches of good masonry, not less than 3 feet thick, having bearings not greater than 25 feet, and these must be again protected by a covering of several feet of earth. Iron plates half an inch thick, oak planks 4 inches thick, or a 9-inch brick wall, are proof against musketry or canister at a range of 100 yards. Iron plates 1 inch thick, oak from 8 to 10 inches thick, a good wall a foot thick or a firm bank of earth 4 feet thick, will afford secure cover from grape-shot, from any but the largest guns at short ranges. The common musket will drive its bullet about a foot and a half into well-rammed earth, or it will penetrate from 6 to 10 half-inch elm boards placed at intervals of an inch. The penetration of the rifled musket is about twice that of the common musket. A rope matting or mantlet 3¹⁄₂ inches thick is found to resist small-arm projectiles at all distances; it may therefore be employed as a screen against riflemen.

=Peninsular War.= A war which had for its theatre the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal, and in which England, Spain, and Portugal fought against France. It lasted from March, 1808, until May, 1814, when the former powers were completely victorious.

=Pennetière=, or =Panetière= (_Fr._). A pocket or small bag in which slingers carried stones and leaden balls.

=Pennon= (_Fr._). Formerly a copper wing of a long, light arrow (_vireton_), substituted for a feather.

=Pennon.= In former times was something like a banner, but with the addition of a triangular point, charged with arms, and borne before knights-bachelors.

=Pennsylvania.= One of the Middle States of the Atlantic slope, the second in population in the Union, and one of the thirteen of the original confederacy. The earliest settlements were made in 1627 by a colony of Swedes and Finns, who established themselves on the Delaware River, going as far northward as the locality of Philadelphia. In 1665 a Dutch expedition from New Amsterdam took formal possession of the country. The Dutch in their turn were superseded by the English after the capture of New York in 1664; and in 1681 the territory was granted by Charles II. to William Penn, who with his co-religionists of the Society of Friends established a Christian government “founded on peace, reason, and right.” Having purchased the lands of the Indians, and conciliated them by kindness and good will, he secured their friendship during seventy years. Previous to the French and Indian war in 1755, the contests waged between the French and English colonists had not reached Pennsylvania; but in that year occurred the disastrous defeat of Braddock, near Pittsburgh, in which Washington, then a young man, distinguished himself. Pennsylvania took an active part in the Revolutionary contest, and on her soil occurred the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, September and October, 1777, the massacres of Wyoming and Paoli, and the suffering winter encampment at Valley Forge in 1777-78. The most prosperous of the colonies, and in a central position, it became the seat of the congress held by the colonies both before and after the decision of the struggle. Independence was proclaimed here, and it remained the seat of the general government until 1800. No State in the confederacy has been more loyal to the Constitution. During the war of 1812 she promptly furnished her quota of troops, and during the civil war she sent nearly 400,000 men into the field. During this trying period her territory was three times invaded: in 1862, when Chambersburg (which see) was captured, and in 1864, when it was burned; and in 1863, when it was invaded by Lee, and the battle of Gettysburg fought on its soil.

=Penobscots.= A tribe of Indians, of Algonkin stock (numbering about 500), who reside on an island in the Penobscot River, about 8 miles north of Bangor, Me. They were allies of the colonists in the war of the Revolution, and received for their services a large tract of land, the greater part of which has been from time to time disposed of.

=Penon de Velez.= A fortified town, built on a high and steep rock, lying off the north coast of Morocco, 75 miles southeast from Ceuta. It belongs to Spain, and was founded by Pedro of Navarre in 1508. It was taken by the Moors in 1522; but recovered by the Spaniards in 1664.

=Penrith.= A town of England, county of Cumberland, 282 miles north-northwest of London. On a knoll to the west of the town stand the ruins of a castle, which was built by the Nevilles during the wars of the Roses, and dismantled in the civil war by the Parliamentary party. The town is a place of considerable antiquity, and it formerly played a conspicuous part in the border warfare. It was taken by the Scots several times in the 14th century, and in 1715 and 1745 was occupied by the insurgents.

=Pensacola.= City and capital of Escambia Co., Fla., situated on the west shore of Pensacola Bay, about 10 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, has an excellent harbor, and is one of the safest in the Gulf. Pensacola was settled by the Spaniards, occupied by the British in 1814, and acquired by the United States in 1821. It contains a navy-yard, and is defended by Forts Pickens and McRae. During the civil war, 1861-65, it was the scene of several military and naval operations. The navy-yard was surrendered to the Confederates in 1861, but was recovered by the Union forces in the following year.

=Pension.= Specifically, a stated allowance to a person in consideration of past services; payment made to one retired from service, for age, disability, or other cause; especially a yearly stipend paid by government to retired officers, disabled soldiers, the families of soldiers killed, etc.

=Pensioner.= In the British army, is a soldier maintained in Chelsea Hospital.

=Pensioner, Out-.= In the British army, is a soldier receiving a pension, but not maintained in Chelsea Hospital. Those who are capable of bearing arms are available for military service when required.

=Pensioners, Gentlemen.= See GENTLEMEN-AT-ARMS.

=Penstock.= A machine composed of timber, which, by means of a movable board, enables the defenders of a fortress to allow such a rush of water from the batardeaux as to inundate and destroy the works which the enemy may have constructed in the ditch.

=Pentagon.= In fortification, a figure bounded by five sides, which form so many angles, capable of being fortified with an equal number of bastions. It also denotes a fort with five bastions.

=Pentathlon.= The five exercises performed in the Grecian games, namely, leaping, running, quoiting, darting, and wrestling.

=Penthouse.= A shed hanging forward in a sloping direction from the main wall of a place.

=Pentland Hills.= A range of hills in Scotland, commencing about 4 miles west from Edinburgh. Here the Scotch Presbyterians, since called Cameronians, who had risen against the government, on account of the establishment of Episcopacy, were defeated by the royal troops, November 28, 1666.

=Pentri.= One of the most important of the tribes in Samnium; were conquered by the Romans along with the other Samnites, and were the only one of the Samnite tribes who remained faithful to the Romans when the rest of the nation revolted to Hannibal in the second Punic war.

=Peons.= East Indian municipal foot-soldiers. These men are chiefly employed to assist in collecting the revenues, and carry a pike or staff. Most persons in India keep servants, who wear a belt with their master’s name on it. These are called _peadahs_.

=Peoria Indians.= A tribe of aborigines who formerly resided in Illinois, but are now settled on the Quapaw agency, in Indian Territory, in confederation with the Kaskaskias and other tribes. They are but few in number, the northern tribes having nearly exterminated them in 1769, in revenge for the murder of Pontiac.

=Pequots=, or =Pequods=. A tribe of Indians of Algonkin stock, closely allied to the Mohegans, who resided in Eastern Connecticut. The tribe was nearly exterminated by the colonists in the Pequot war (1637).

=Perclose=, or =Demi-Garter=. In heraldry, the lower half of a garter with the buckle.

=Percussion.= Is the impression which a body makes in falling or striking against another, or the shock of two moving bodies. It is either direct or oblique.

=Percussion, Centre of.= That point wherein the shock of the percutient bodies is the greatest.

=Percussion, Direct.= Is where the impulse is given in the direction of a right line perpendicular to the point of contact.

=Percussion, Oblique.= Is where the impulse is given in the direction of a line oblique to the point of contact.

=Percussion-bullet.= A bullet made by placing a small quantity of percussion powder in a copper envelope in the point of an ordinary rifled-musket bullet.

=Percussion-caps.= See CAPS, PERCUSSION-.

=Percussion-fuze.= See FUZE.

=Percussion-lock.= A lock of a gun in which gunpowder is exploded by fire obtained from the percussion of fulminating powder.

=Percussion-match.= A match which ignites by percussion.

=Percussion-powder.= Powder composed of such materials as to ignite by slight percussion; fulminating powder.

=Percutient.= That which strikes or has power to strike.

=Perdu.= A word adopted from the French, signifying to lie flat and closely in wait. It likewise means employed on desperate purposes; accustomed to desperate enterprises.

=Pered= (Hungary). Here the Hungarians under Görgey were defeated by Wohlgemuth and the Russians, June 21, 1849.

=Perekop.= An isthmus 5 miles broad, connecting the Crimea with the mainland. It was called by the Tartars Orkapou, “gate of the Isthmus,” which the Russians changed to its present name, which signifies a barren ditch. The Tartar fortress of the same name, which was situated on this isthmus, was taken and destroyed by the Russian marshal Münich in 1736, by assault, although it was defended by 1000 Janissaries and 100,000 Tartars. It was again strongly fortified by the khan, but was again taken by the Russians in 1771, who have since retained it.

=Peremptory.= Whatever is absolute and final, not to be altered, renewed, or restrained. _Peremptory execution_, what takes place immediately.

=Perfidious.= Treacherous; false to trust; guilty of violated faith; hence a perfidious foe. War, however melancholy in its effects, and frequently unjustifiable in its cause and progress, is nevertheless, among civilized nations, so far governed by certain principles of honor as to render the observance of established laws and customs an object of general acquiescence. When two or more countries are engaged in a hostile contest, whatever belligerent party grossly deviates from those rules is deservedly stamped with infamy, and justly called a _perfidious_ foe.

=Perfidy.= Want of faith; treachery.

=Perforated Cake Powder.= See GUNPOWDER.

=Périgueux.= A town of France, capital of the department of Dordogne, 296 miles south-southwest from Paris. Périgueux occupies the site of the ancient Vesunna, which was at the time of the Roman invasion the capital of the Petrocorii. Under the empire, it was a place of no small importance, as it stood at the junction of five roads, and was strongly fortified. It was ceded, along with Aquitaine, to the English by Louis IX. After having been recovered by the French, the town was again lost; but it was finally taken from the English by Charles V. During the civil wars of the Reformation, it was a stronghold of the Protestants till the year 1581; and it was not till 1653 that it came into the power of the crown.

=Peril.= Instant or impending danger; risk; hazard; jeopardy; exposure to injury, loss, or destruction.

=Peril.= To expose to danger; to hazard; to risk, etc.

=Perim.= A small island belonging to Great Britain, situated in the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, at the entrance to the Red Sea, about 1 mile distant from the Arabian, and about 13 miles from the African coast. On its southwest side is an excellent harbor, capable of accommodating 40 men-of-war. Fortifications have been erected on the island, and the guns command the strait on both sides. It was first occupied by the English in 1799, and held by them as a check upon the designs of the French, who were then in Egypt. It was abandoned in 1801, but was reoccupied by Great Britain in February, 1857, with a view to the protection of her Indian possessions, which were thought to be exposed to some chance of danger from the opening of the Suez Canal.

=Perjury.= False swearing; the act or crime of willfully making a false oath, when lawfully administered; or the crime committed when a lawful oath is administered, in some judicial proceeding, to a person who swears willfully, absolutely, and falsely in a matter material to the issue. For punishment of persons convicted of perjury, see APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 60 and 62.

=Perkernucka.= Petty officers are so called in India.

=Perm.= A government of Russia, situated partly in Russia in Europe and

## partly in Russia in Asia. It was invaded and ruined by the Mongols in

the 13th century.

=Permanent Fortification.= See FORTIFICATION.

=Permanent Rank.= A rank in the military service which does not cease with any particular service, or locality of circumstances; in opposition to local or temporary rank.

=Péronne.= A town of France, in the department of Somme, 30 miles east of Amiens. Louis XI. of France, having placed himself in the power of the Duke of Burgundy, was forced to sign the treaty of Péronne, confirming those of Arras and Conflans, with several humiliating stipulations, October 14, 1468. Louis XI. had promised Champagne and Brié as appanages to his brother Charles, duke of Berry, not intending to keep his word, apprehending that those provinces, being so near Burgundy, would prove a fresh source of broils and disputes. Péronne was a place of much importance in the Middle Ages, and bore the name of _La Pucelle_ (“The Maiden City”), as it was never captured till Wellington took it eight days after the battle of Waterloo.

=Perpendicular Direction.= In the march of a line, is the direction at right angles to the line which each man should take in a direct movement to the front. Without the strictest attention is paid to this essential principle in all movements, the greatest irregularity, and ultimately the greatest confusion, must ensue. Perpendicular and parallel movements constitute, indeed, the whole system of good marching. When several columns, divisions, or companies advance, the lines and directions of marching must be strictly perpendicular and parallel to each other, otherwise the distance will be lost, and the ultimate object of forming a correct line must be defeated.

=Perpendicular Fortification.= Owes its origin to the Marquis de Montalembert, a distinguished French general, who published his works upon the subject in 1776. Vauban had, it was admitted, rendered the art of attack superior to that of defense. Montalembert strove to reverse this relation, and in his endeavors, rejected entirely the bastion system of the older engineers. Instead of the occasional bastions, with intervening curtains, with which they surrounded their _enceinte_, he broke the whole polygon into salient and re-entering angles, the latter being generally at right angles. Before the connected redans thus formed were counterguards of low elevation and ravelins, to which the approaches were through casemated _caponnieres_. In the salient angle of each redan he built a brick tower, 40 feet in diameter, twelve-sided, and four stories high. The second and third tiers were built for heavy guns, and the upper loop-holed for musketry. In the centre of the tower was a circular _reduit_, intended as a last refuge for the garrison. Montalembert maintained that from these towers every possible approach could be commanded, which to a great extent is true; but it must be also remembered that the greater space a gun commands, by so much the more is it raised above the plain, and rendered visible. These towers would have little chance against the rifled ordnance of the present day. Montalembert’s system was violently attacked by the French engineers, but Carnot subsequently adopted it, with some modifications, and it enters largely into the modern German defensive works. The system has never, however, found favor with British engineers.

=Perpendicular, Gunner’s.= See GUNNER’S LEVEL.

=Perpignan.= A town of France, in the department of the Eastern Pyrenees, situated on the Tet, 35 miles from Narbonne. It commands the passage by the Eastern Pyrenees from Spain into France, and is defended on the south by a citadel and by ramparts flanked with bastions, and protected by raised works. Perpignan now ranks as one of the first strongholds in France. In 1474 the town was taken by Louis XI. of France, but having been restored to Spain, it was again taken by Louis XIII. in 1642, and, along with the province of Roussillon, finally ceded to France by the treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. In 1793 a battle was fought in its neighborhood between the Spaniards and the French, in which the former were defeated.

=Perrhæbi.= A powerful and warlike Pelasgis people, who, according to Strabo, migrated from Eubœa to the mainland, and settled in the districts of Hestiætos and Pelasgiotis in Thessaly. The Perrhæbi were members of the Amphictyonic League. At an early period they were subdued by the Lapithæ; at the time of the Peloponnesian war they were subject to the Thessalians, and subsequently to Philip of Macedon; but at the time of the Roman wars in Greece they appear independent of Macedonia.

=Perrières.= A kind of short mortars formerly much used for throwing stone shot.

=Persepolis.= An ancient city, the capital of Persia at the time of the invasion of Alexander the Great, and the seat of the chief palaces of the Persian kings. The city is said to have been burned by Alexander, and is not subsequently mentioned in history except in the second book of the Maccabees, where it is stated that Antiochus Epiphanes made a fruitless effort to plunder its temples. In the later times of the Mohammedan rule, the fortress of _Istakhr_ seems to have occupied the place of Persepolis.

=Persia= (Per. _Iran_). A country of Asia, which may be considered as the most opulent and powerful of any that lie to the west of India; it is bounded on the west by Turkey in Asia, north by Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, and Asiatic Russia, east by Afghanistan and Beloochistan, and south by the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. The Persians, as a nation, first rose into notice on the ruins of the great empires founded on the Euphrates. Babylon was taken by Cyrus in 638 B.C., and soon after he extended it more widely than any that had been previously established in the world. It comprised, on one side, the west of India, and on the other, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt; and the valor, indeed, with which the Greeks defended their small territory, alone prevented him from annexing a considerable part of Europe to his domains. After a feeble struggle, it succumbed to the brave and disciplined armies of Alexander, who won the entire empire of Darius Codomanus for his own by force of arms, in 331. After his death, his immense possessions were divided among his generals; but Greeks and Greek sovereigns continued during several centuries to reign over Western Asia. About 2 B.C. Artaxerxes founded the monarchy of the Parthians; and in 3 A.D. the dynasty of the Sassanidæ arose, who restored the name, with the religion and laws, of ancient Persia. They were overthrown by the Mohammedan invaders, who suffered in their turn from the successive invasions of the country by the descendants of Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, and the Turks, who entirely changed the aspect of Western Asia. At length, in 1501, a native dynasty again arose, under Ismael Shah, who placed himself on the throne. After the reign of Abbas the Great, who died in 1628, the princes of the Safi dynasty became enervated by luxury and dissipation, and Persia, in the beginning of the last century, was overrun by the Afghans, who carried fire and sword throughout the whole country, and reduced its proudest capitals to ashes. The atrocities of the Afghans were avenged, and the independence of Persia vindicated, by Nadir Shah; but though the victories of this daring chief threw a lustre on his country, it was almost torn to pieces after his death by civil war, till the fortune of arms gave a decided superiority to Kerim Khan. His death gave rise to another disputed succession, with civil wars as furious as before. At length Aga-Mohammed, a eunuch, raised himself in 1795 by crimes and daring to the sovereignty, and not only held it during his lifetime, but transmitted it to his nephew, who assumed the title of Feth Ali Shah, and subdued the rebellious tribes in Khorassan, but was dragged into a war with Russia, in which he lost the power of Derbend and several districts on the Kur. In 1848, Nasr-ed-Din, the great-grandson of Feth Ali, succeeded to the throne, and in consequence of the capture of Herat by the Persians in 1856, war was declared against them by Great Britain. Bushire was occupied, and the Persian troops were twice defeated by Gen. Outram at Kooshab and Mohammerah in the following year. These victories were followed by the conclusion of a treaty of peace, April, 1857, and the evacuation of Herat by the Persians in the month of July.

=Personnel= (_Fr._). All the officers and men, military and civil, composing an army, or any part of one, as opposed to _matériel_.

=Personnel of a Battery.= All officers and men necessary for the manœuvre, management, and care of a battery.

=Perspective.= Is the art of drawing the resemblance of objects on a plane surface, as the objects themselves appear to the eye, etc.

=Perth.= The principal town of Perthshire, and formerly the metropolis of Scotland, situated on the Tay, which is crossed here by a fine stone bridge, 33 miles from Edinburgh. It is one of the most ancient towns of Scotland. It is a generally received opinion that Perth was built and fortified by Agricola, who erected a citadel to maintain his conquests, and check the wild spirit of the savage natives. In 1298, after the battle of Falkirk, Edward I. fortified Perth and rebuilt the walls in the strongest manner. The worthy burgesses of this town seem to have been men of mettle in those days, and on various occasions sallying forth from behind their walls, set fire to the castles of their haughty neighbors, when the latter had forbidden their vassals to carry provisions to the city. In the year 1311, Robert Bruce laid siege to the town, but was obliged to withdraw his troops, after various unsuccessful attempts to take it; but subsequently, choosing a dark night, he led a selected band of determined men against it, scaled the walls, and carried the town sword in hand, the king himself being the second man who entered the place. About the beginning of the 14th century, the famous combat between the Clan Chattan and the Clan Quhele, or Clan Kay, took place on the North Inch, and was decided in favor of the former,

## partly by the bravery of a citizen or burgess called Harry Wind, whom

the chief of the Clan Chattan had engaged on the spot to supply the place of one of his men who had failed to appear. In 1544, the regent, at the instigation of Cardinal Bethune, turned Lord Ruthven, provost of the town, out of his office, and conferred it upon Chartres of Kinfauns. The citizens, however, resisted the attempt, and repulsed, in a smart skirmish, the cardinal’s nominee, who came to enter upon his duties at the head of an armed force. In 1559, after a riotous insurrection, during which the Catholic churches were demolished, the queen determined to inflict the severest vengeance on the Reformers. Both parties took the field; negotiations ensued; Perth was thrown open to the queen, and occupied by a French garrison. Relief from the insolence and exactions of the garrison was only obtained after a regular siege by the Reformers. On June 26, Lord Ruthven attacked the town on the west, and Provost Halyburton of Dundee fired into it from the bridge, and speedily obliged the garrison to capitulate. Subsequently, Argyle, and Stewart, prior of St. Andrews, marched out of Perth with 300 citizens, resolved to prosecute the Reformation, or perish in the attempt. The people joined them everywhere as they proceeded, and before they reached Stirling their numbers had increased to 5000. The gates of Stirling and every other town in their way were thrown open to receive them. They, without violence, took possession of Edinburgh, cast the images out of its churches, and placed in them ministers of the Reformation.

=Peru.= A republic of South America, formed out of the former Spanish viceroyalty of the same name. The first information received of the country by the Spaniards was obtained from a young cacique in the neighborhood of the Isthmus of Darien about the year 1511. In 1513, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa crossed the mountains which separated the two oceans, and took possession of the Pacific in the name of the king of Castile. He extended his discoveries many leagues southward, but appears not to have reached the territory of Peru. In 1525, Francisco Pizarro, a soldier of mean birth but of daring spirit, who had accompanied Balboa in the previous expedition, embarking at Panama with about 100 men, landed in Peru, and spent three years in exploring the country. Having returned to Spain with presents of gold and jewels for the king, he was sent out with orders to effect the conquest of the newly-discovered country. Recrossing the ocean with 180 men and 27 horses, he again set sail from Panama, and receiving some further reinforcements at Puerto Viejo and Puna, now considered himself in a fit position to enter upon the proper scene of his labors. He accordingly crossed over to Tumbez, and there learned that the country had for some time been distracted by a civil war between Huascar and Atahuallpa, two sons of the late inca. Pizarro saw at once the importance to him and his cause of this state of the country. After some time spent in reconnoitring, he fixed upon a fertile spot in the rich valley of Tangarala as a site for a settlement. Here he established a town which he called San Miguel. On September 24, 1532, leaving 50 men as a guard for this new settlement, he started out with 167 men, 67 of whom were cavalry, to meet the inca Atahuallpa, who now victorious over his brother was encamped with his army about ten or twelve days’ journey off. His force was everywhere received with kindness; an envoy from the inca was sent with presents to meet and invite him to an interview at Caxamarca. The Spaniards arrived here November 15, 1532, and treacherously prepared to use the unsuspecting kindness of the Peruvians as the means of their destruction. When at the appointed time the inca accompanied by his nobles and retinue was proceeding to the place of interview, he and his followers were assailed by the Spaniards who were concealed in the neighboring buildings, thousands of the unsuspecting and unarmed natives were slain, and Atahuallpa himself taken prisoner. An immense ransom was offered for him; it was accepted by Pizarro, who, however, basely refused to give up his prisoner, but after a mockery of a trial put him to death. For many years the country was in a state of war and anarchy, resulting finally in Pizarro becoming master of Peru in 1546, and it became a viceroyalty of Spain. In its subsequent history there is matter of little interest till the war of independence, which was proclaimed in 1821 by Gen. San Martin, and successfully terminated by Bolivar, who, after a succession of engagements, the most notable of which was that of Ayacucho (which see), finally drove the Spaniards from Callao, their last stronghold, July 29, 1826. The country has since on several occasions been the scene of those insurrections to which the states of Spanish America have been subject. In 1879 war was proclaimed between Peru and Chili, which has recently terminated in a complete victory for the latter.

=Perugia= (anc. _Perusia_). A city of Central Italy, 10 miles east of the lake of the same name, and 85 north of Rome. It formed in ancient times one of the twelve Etrurian republics. In conjunction with other cities of Etruria, it long resisted the power of the Romans, but was finally ruined by the latter, having been defeated in two engagements, 309 and 295 B.C., and becoming subject to Rome in 294. It is memorable in the civil wars as the refuge of L. Antonius, the brother of the triumvir, when unable to oppose the progress of Octavianus. It was held by the latter for some months and was compelled to surrender through famine, and burned to the ground in 40 B.C. It was afterwards rebuilt by Augustus, and was captured by the Goths under Totila at the fall of the Western empire. It was afterwards united to the Papal States, and in 1860 became part of the kingdom of Italy.

=Perugia, Lake of.= See TRASIMENUS LACUS.

=Perusia.= See PERUGIA.

=Pescara.= A town of Italy, province of Chieti. It was formerly strongly fortified, and has stood many sieges.

=Peschiera.= A frontier town and fortress of Italy, in Lombardy, at the south extremity of the Lake of Garda, 20 miles north-northwest from Mantua. Peschiera commands the right bank of the river Mincio. During the French republican war, it was a simple pentagon. Its fortifications, however, have been greatly strengthened by the Austrians. It is defended by walls and by forts, lunettes, fosses, and a covered way; and the purpose which it is mainly intended to serve, besides that of forming an intrenched camp capable of accommodating a considerable number of troops, is to harass an army attempting to cross the Mincio by Goito or Valeggio. It has been taken frequently by siege, by the French in 1796; by the Austrians and Russians, 1799; by the French again, 1801; given up by them, 1814; taken by the Sardinian troops under Charles Albert, May 30, 1848; retaken by Radetzky, 1849. It was invested by the Sardinians in June, 1859, after the battle of Solferino. The conclusion of the treaty of Villafranca, however (July 11, 1859), relieved Peschiera from a siege, and it was included in the kingdom of Italy by treaty of Vienna, 1866.

=Peshawur.= A city of British India, capital of the province of Peshawur (or Peshawer), about 18 miles east of the eastern extremity of the Khyber Pass. It was founded by the Mogul emperor Akbar. Runjeet Singh took it after his victory over the Afghans at Noushera, and destroyed many of its finest buildings.

=Pesth.= A city of Hungary, situated on the Danube, opposite to Buda, with which it is connected by a bridge of boats three-quarters of a mile in length. It was repeatedly taken and besieged in the wars of Hungary,

## particularly in the long contests with the Turks. The great

insurrection broke out here September 28, 1848. Buda-Pesth was taken by the Imperialists, January 5, 1849. The Hungarians afterwards defeated the Austrians, who were obliged to evacuate it April 18, 1849; but the latter, under Gen. Hentzi, occupied Buda, and a severe contest began between the two parties. On May 4, Görgei, with an army of 40,000 Hungarians, occupied the heights above Buda, and began to bombard that town; while the Austrians in their turn directed their artillery against the lower city of Pesth. On May 16, the Hungarians made an unsuccessful attack on Buda, but on the 20th the place was taken by assault, after an obstinate and bloody struggle.

=Pestle.= An instrument used in the fabrication of gunpowder.

=Petards.= Are instruments used for blowing open gates, demolishing palisades, etc. They consist of a half-cone of thick iron, filled with powder and ball; they are usually fastened to a plank, and the latter is provided with hooks to allow of its being attached securely to a gate, etc. The petard has been almost universally superseded by the use of powder-bags.

=Petardeer=, or =Petardier=. One who manages petards.

=Petelia=, or =Petilia= (now _Strongoli_). An ancient Greek town on the eastern coast of Bruttium; founded, according to tradition, by Philoctetes. It was situated north of Croton, to whose territory it originally belonged, but it was afterward conquered by the Lucanians. It remained faithful to the Romans when the other cities of Bruttium revolted to Hannibal, and it was not till after a long and desperate resistance that it was taken by one of Hannibal’s generals.

=Peterero=, or =Pedrero=. A short piece of chambered ordnance was formerly so called.

=Petersburg.= A city of Dinwiddie Co., Va., on the south bank of the Appomattox River, about 25 miles from Richmond. The city is one of historic interest. It was twice occupied by the British forces as headquarters during the Revolutionary war; but it is principally noted as the scene of several sanguinary encounters during the civil war, and for the obstinate and bloody defense which it made. On June 15-16, 1864, two formidable assaults were made on it by the Army of the Potomac under Gen. Grant, but they were repulsed with heavy loss. It was then determined to invest the city, which was done a few days later. On July 30, another attempt was made to take it by storm, but without success. The siege was prolonged with many indecisive operations until April 3, 1865, after a week’s bombardment it was evacuated by Gen. Lee, who surrendered six days later.

=Petersburg, St.= The capital and most populous city of the Russian empire, at the mouth of the Neva in the Gulf of Finland, 16 miles east of Cronstadt, and 400 miles northwest of Moscow. It was founded by Peter the Great, May 27, 1703. The peace of St. Petersburg, between Russia and Prussia, the former restoring all her conquests to the latter, was signed May 5, 1762. Treaty of St. Petersburg for the partition of Poland, August 5, 1772. Treaty of St. Petersburg, led to a coalition against France, September 8, 1805. Treaty of Alliance, signed at St. Petersburg, between Bernadotte, prince royal of Sweden, and the emperor Alexander; the former agreeing to join in the campaign against France, in return for which Sweden was to receive Norway, March 24, 1812.

=Peterwalden= (Germany), Convention of. Between Great Britain and Russia, by which a firm and decisive alliance between these powers was made against France and the course of action against Napoleon Bonaparte was planned, signed July 8, 1813. This alliance led to the overthrow of Bonaparte in the next year.

=Peterwardein=, or =Varadin=. The capital town of Slavonia, Austria, and the strongest fortress on the Danube, is situated on a scarped rock, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite Neusatz, with which town it is connected by a bridge of boats, defended by a strong _tête-de-pont_, 44 miles northwest of Belgrade. It is the residence of the general commandant of the Slavonian military frontier, and of several subordinate military authorities. It derives its present name from Peter the Hermit, who here marshaled the soldiers of the first Crusade. Peterwardein was taken by the Turks, July, 1526. In 1688, the fortifications were blown up by the Imperialists, and the town was soon after burned to the ground by the Turks; but at the peace of Passarowitz, on July 21, 1718, it remained in the possession of the emperor. It was here that, on August 5, 1716, the Austrians, under Prince Eugène, obtained a great victory over the Turks under Grand Vizer Ali; the latter then lost their last footing in Central Europe.

=Petra.= The _Sela_ of the Old Testament, the chief town of Arabia Petræa, once the capital of the Idumeans, and subsequently of the Nabatæi. It was subdued by A. Cornelius Palma, a lieutenant of Trajan’s, and remained under the dominion of the Romans a considerable time, and its destruction is supposed at length to have been wrought by the Mohammedans.

=Petra.= An ancient town of Colchis, in the land of the Lazi, founded by Joannes Tzibus, a general of Justinian, to keep these people in subjection. It was situated on a rock near the coast, and was very strongly fortified. It was taken by Chosroes in 541 A.D., and its subsequent siege by the Romans is described by Gibbon as one of the most remarkable actions of the age. The first siege was relieved; but it was again attacked by the Romans, and was at length taken by assault, after a long protracted resistance, in 551 A.D. It was then destroyed by the Romans, and from that time disappears from history.

=Petra.= An ancient and strong fortress in Sogdiana, held by Arimazes when Alexander attacked it.

=Petronel= (Fr. _petrinal_, or _poitronal_). A piece between a carbine and a pistol (with a wheel-lock), which was used by the French during the reign of Francis I.; it was held against the breast when fired. To prevent any injury from its recoil, the soldier who used it was provided with a pad.

=Petropaulovski.= A fortified town on the east coast of Kamtschatka, was attacked by an English and French squadron August 30, 1854. They destroyed the batteries, and a party of 700 sailors and marines landed to assault the place, but fell into an ambuscade, and many were killed. After this the Russians greatly strengthened their defenses, but on May 30, 1855, the allied squadron in the Pacific arriving here found the place deserted. The fortifications were destroyed, but the town was spared.

=Pettah.= In Southern India, a term applied to the _enceinte_ of a town, as distinguished from the fortress by which it is protected.

=Pettman Fuze.= See FUZE.

=Pfaffendorf and Liegnitz.= See LIEGNITZ.

=Pfedersheim.= A town of Germany, in Hesse-Darmstadt, 4 miles northwest from Worms. A battle was fought here, in 1555, which brought the “Peasants’ war” to a termination.

=Phalanx.= The ancient Greek formation for heavy infantry, which won for itself a reputation of invincibility. It may be described as a line of parallel columns, rendered by its depth and solidity capable of penetrating any line of troops. The oldest phalanx was the Lacedæmonian, or Spartan, in which the soldiers stood 8 deep, but this was reduced to 4 men by Miltiades, in order to increase his front at the battle of Marathon, 480 B.C. The Macedonian phalanx, as the latest form that organization assumed, and as the shape in which the phalanx encountered the military skill of the West, is deserving of description. The line was 16 deep: a grand-phalanx comprising 16,384 men, composed of four phalanxes or divisions, each under a general officer, called a _phalangarch_; his command was divided into two brigades, or _merarchies_, each of these comprising two regiments, or _chiliarches_, of four battalions, or _syntagmata_, each, and each syntagma of 16 men each way, making a perfect square. The Roman legion was far superior to the phalanx.

=Phalsbourg.= A strong town of Alsace, department of La Meurthe, Northeast France. It was ceded to France in 1661, and its fortress erected by Vauban, 1679. It checked the progress of the victorious allies both in 1814 and 1815, and withstood the Germans from August 16 to December 12, 1870, when it capitulated unconditionally.

=Pharax.= One of the council of ten appointed by the Spartans in 418 B.C. to control Agis. At the battle of Mantinea in that year, he restrained the Lacedæmonians from pressing too much on the defeated enemy, and so running the risk of driving them to despair. In 396 B.C. he laid siege with 120 ships to Caunus, where Conon was stationed, but was compelled to withdraw by the approach of a large force.

=Pharsalus= (now _Fersala_, or _Pharsalia_). Anciently a town of Thessaly, to the south of Larissa, on the river Enipeus, a branch of the Peneus (now the Salambria), and historically notable mainly for the great battle fought here between Cæsar and Pompey, August 9, 48 B.C. Pompey had about 45,000 legionaries, 7000 cavalry, and a great number of light-armed auxiliaries. Cæsar had 22,000 legionaries and 1000 German and Gallic cavalry. The battle-cry of Cæsar’s army was “_Venus victrix_” that of Pompey’s “_Hercules invictus_.” Cæsar’s right wing began the battle by an attack on the left wing of Pompey, which was speedily routed. Pompey fled into the camp, and his army broke up; Cæsar’s troop stormed his camp about mid-day, and he himself, awaking as from stupefaction, fled to Larissa, whither Cæsar followed him next day. Cæsar lost about 1200 men. On Pompey’s side about 6000 legionaries fell in battle, and more than 24,000 who had fled, were taken, whom Cæsar pardoned and distributed among his troops.

=Pheon.= In heraldry, the barbed iron head of a dart; used also as a royal mark, to denote crown property, and termed the _broad_, or _broad arrow_.

=Philadelphia.= A city and metropolis of Pennsylvania, situated between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. The city was settled and planned by William Penn in 1682, and its name (City of Brotherly Love) given through the Society of Friends, of whom he was the great leader in America. It had a prominent position in the Revolution, and was in possession of the British troops after the disastrous battles of Brandywine and Germantown, until 1778. Being the second city of the United States in wealth and importance, it has been ever forward in promoting her interests.

=Philibeg.= See FILLIBEG.

=Philiphaugh.= Near Selkirk, Southern Scotland, where the Marquis of Montrose and the royalists were defeated by David Leslie and the Scotch Covenanters, September 13, 1645.

=Philippi.= A city of Macedonia. It was named after Philip II. of Macedon, who conquered it from Thrace. Here Antony and Octavianus, in two battles, defeated the republican forces of Cassius and Brutus, who both committed suicide, October, 42 B.C.; this ended the republican government of Rome.

=Phocæa.= The most northern of the cities of Ionia, was situated about 25 miles northwest from Smyrna. It was founded by a colony of Phocians, led by two Athenians, Philogenes and Damon. Its citizens are said to have been the first among the Greeks who extended their commercial voyages to great distances; and its inhabitants abandoned their city rather than submit to the Persians, 544 B.C. They settled in Italy, and founded Velia. Massilia in France, and Alalia in Corsica, were colonies of the Phocæans.

=Phocis.= A province of Greece Proper, or Hellas, bounded on the north by the Ozolian Lokri, on the north by Doris, on the east by the Opuntian Lokri, and on the south by the Gulf of Corinth. During the Peloponnesian war, the Phocians were close allies of the Athenians. In 357 B.C. they seized Delphi, and commenced the second Sacred war. They were opposed by Thebes and other states, and were utterly subdued by Philip II. of Macedon in 346.

=Phœnicia.= Is the name given by the Greeks and Romans to a certain territory situated about 34°-36° N. lat., bounded by the Mediterranean on the west, by Syria to the north and east, and Judæa to the south. Its length may be said to have been about 200 miles, while its breadth never exceeded 20 miles. The natives were the most eminent navigators and traders of antiquity; their cities or allied states being Tyre, Sidon, Berytus, Tripolis, Byblos, and Ptolemais, or Acre. From the 19th to the 13th century B.C., they established colonies on the shores or isles of the Mediterranean, Carthage, Hippo, Utica, Gades, Panormus, and are said to have visited the British Isles. Phœnicia was conquered by Cyrus, 537 B.C.; by Alexander, 332; by the Romans, 47; and after partaking of the fortunes of Palestine, was added to the Ottoman empire, 1516.

=Phous-dan.= An East Indian term for a commander of a large body of forces.

=Phrygia.= A country of Asia Minor. According to the division of the provinces under the Roman empire, Phrygia formed the eastern part of the province of Asia, and was bounded on the west by Mysia, Lydia, and Caria, on the south by Lycia and Pisidia, on the east by Lycaonia (which is often reckoned as a part of Phrygia) and Galatia (which formerly belonged to Phrygia), and on the north by Bithynia. The kingdom of Phrygia was conquered by Crœsus, and formed part of the Persian, Macedonian, and Syro-Grecian empires; but, under the last, the northwestern part was conquered by the Gauls; and a part west of this was subjected by the kings of Bithynia; this last portion was the object of a contest between the kings of Bithynia and Pergamus. The whole of Phrygia was assigned by the Romans to the kingdom of Pergamus, after the overthrow of Antiochus the Great in 190 B.C.

=Piacenza= (anc. _Placentia_). A city of Northern Italy, in the province of the same name, on the right bank of the Po, 2 miles below the confluence of the Trebbia. It is of an oblong form, surrounded by ancient walls and ditches, and defended by a citadel, which was garrisoned by the Austrians till 1859. Piacenza is first mentioned in 219 B.C., when a Roman colony was settled there. In 200 B.C. it was plundered and burned by the Gauls, but rapidly recovered its prosperity, and was long an important military station. It was the western terminus of the great Æmilian road, which began at Ariminum on the Adriatic. In later history, it plays an important part as one of the independent Lombard cities.

=Pianosa.= An island in the Mediterranean, about 10 miles south-southwest of Elba. Pianosa was annexed to Elba and granted to Napoleon I. after his first abdication.

=Pibroch= (Gael. _piobaireachd_). A wild, irregular species of music, peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland. It is performed on a bagpipe, and adapted to excite or assuage passion, and particularly to rouse a martial spirit among troops going to battle.

=Picador= (_Sp._). A horseman armed with a lance, who commences the exercises of a bull-fight by attacking the animal without attempting to kill him.

=Picardy.= An ancient province in the north of France, was bounded on the west by the English Channel, and on the east by Champagne. The name does not occur till the 13th century. It was conquered by the English in 1346, and by the Duke of Burgundy in 1417, to whom it was ceded by the treaty of Arras, September 21, 1435, and annexed to France by Louis XI., 1463.

=Picaroon.= A pillager, one who plunders; one who violates the laws.

=Picentia= (_Picentinus_; now _Acerno_). A town in the south of Campania, at the head of the Sinus Pæstanus, and between Salernum and the frontiers of Lucania, the inhabitants of which were compelled by the Romans, in consequence of their revolt to Hannibal, to abandon their town and live in the neighboring villages. Between the town and the frontiers of Lucania, there was an ancient temple of the Argive Juno, said to have been founded by Jason, the Argonaut. The name of Picentia was not confined to the inhabitants of Picentia, but was given to the inhabitants of the whole coast of the Sinus Pæstanus, from the promontory of Minerva to the river Silarus. They were a portion of the Sabine Picentes, who were transplanted by the Romans to this part of Campania after the conquest of Picenum, 268 B.C., at which time they founded the town of Picentia.

=Picentines= (_Picentes_). A Sabine tribe, subdued by the Romans, and their capital, Asculum, taken, 268 B.C. They began the Social war in 90, and were conquered in 89 B.C.

=Picenum.= An ancient province of Italy, was bounded on the north by the Galli Senones, on the west by the Umbrians and Sabines, on the south by the Vestini, and on the east by the Adriatic Sea. The Picentes, its inhabitants, remained long in undisturbed tranquillity, while the neighboring tribes were vainly struggling against the all-usurping ambition of Rome. That power condescended in 299 B.C. to enter into an alliance with them. Even when they were at length obliged, in 268 B.C., to bow before the resistless destinies of the Romans, they suffered little injury. It was not until the outbreak of the Social war, in 90 B.C., that the Picentes appear to have experienced the toils and calamities of a great struggle. Then they assumed an active and zealous

## part in the general revolt against Rome. Their capital city, Asculum,

gave the signal of insurrection, by assassinating the Roman proconsul. Their armies kept the Roman general Cn. Pompeius Strabo for a long time at bay. Nor when the tide of battle began to turn against them did their courage waver. They continued to fight until 89 B.C., and were put down by sheer force.

=Pichegru’s Conspiracy.= See GEORGES CONSPIRACY.

=Pickeer.= To pillage; to pirate. To skirmish, as soldiers on the outpost of an army, or in pillaging parties.

=Picker.= A small, pointed brass wire, which was formerly supplied to every infantry soldier for the purpose of cleaning the vent of his musket.

=Picket.= A detachment composed of cavalry or infantry, whose principal duty is to guard an army from surprise and oppose such small parties as the enemy may push forward for the purpose of reconnoitring.

=Picket.= A sharp stake used for securing the fascines of a battery, or fastening the tent-ropes of a camp, etc.

=Picket.= To fortify with pickets or pointed stakes. Also, to fasten to a picket, as a horse while grazing.

=Picket, Inlying.= See INLYING PICKET.

=Picket, Outlying.= Is a detachment of troops, sometimes with light guns, posted on the front and flanks of an army in the field, in order to guard against surprise, and to keep reconnoitring parties at a proper distance.

=Picket-guard.= A guard of horse and foot, always in readiness in case of alarm.

=Picket-line.= A rope to which horses are secured when groomed.

=Picket-line.= A position held and guarded by small bodies of men placed at intervals.

=Picket-pin.= An iron pin with a ring at the top. It is driven in the ground and the lariat is attached to it to secure a horse while grazing.

=Pickets, Tracing.= See TRACING PICKETS.

=Picqueering=, =Pickering=, or =Pickerooning=. A little flying skirmish, which marauders make when detached for pillage, or before a main battle.

=Picrate.= See EXPLOSIVES.

=Picric Acid.= See EXPLOSIVES.

=Picric Powder.= See EXPLOSIVES.

=Picts= (_Picti_). The ancient inhabitants of the northeast provinces of Scotland. The Pictish territory extended along the whole sea-coast from the Firth of Forth to the Pentland Firth. It was bounded on the west by the country of the Scots, which extended along the western coast from the Firth of Clyde to the modern Ross-shire; but the precise line between the two nations cannot be ascertained. The country of the Picts was bounded on the south by the Firth of Forth and the province of Lothian, then possessed by the English; while the country of the Scots had for its southern boundaries the Firth of Clyde and the kingdom of Cumbria, held by the independent Britons. In the middle of the 7th century, a portion of the southern province of the Pictish territories was subdued by Oswy, king of Northumbria. Egfrid, Oswy’s son and successor, seems to have contemplated the subjugation of the whole Pictish kingdom. He advanced northwards with his army; Brude, son of Bili, king of the Picts, retreating before him. The English sovereign passed the Tay, and the Picts made a stand at Nechtansmere, supposed to be Dunnichen, in Anchus; the English were utterly defeated, and their king slain, May 20, 685. The most active of all the Pictish sovereigns was Hungus, son of Urgust, who succeeded, in 730, and reigned for thirty years. He was in constant wars with the Scots, the Britons, and the English, in which he was generally victorious. After his death the kingdom began to decline. Between 838 and 842, the Scots under Kenneth II. totally subdued the Picts, and seized all their kingdom. Their incursions in England led to the Saxon invasion.

=Picts’ Wall.= One of the barriers erected by the Romans across the northern part of England to restrain the incursions of the Picts (which see).

=Piece.= A general name for any kind of ordnance or musket.

=Piece.= In heraldry, an ordinary or charge; as, the fesse, the bend, the pale, the bar, the cross, the saltire, the chevron, are called honorable _pieces_.

=Piece, Battering-.= See BATTERING-PIECES.

=Piece, Field-.= See FIELD-PIECE.

=Piedmont.= An Italian principality, which now forms the northwest part of the kingdom of Italy. In 1796 it was seized by the French, and parceled out into six departments, five being incorporated with France, and one with the kingdom of Italy, but after the fall of Napoleon, the house of Savoy recovered possession of it. Since 1860 the name Piedmont, as a provincial designation, has been disused; and in the new division of Italy into provinces, the boundaries of Piedmont as a distinct country have been disregarded.

=Piegans.= A tribe of Blackfeet Indians, numbering about 2000, who reside in Montana, and were frequently at war with the Shoshones, Flat Heads, and Gros Ventres. Like the majority of nomadic tribes, they at various times make raids on the settlers, and as a natural result require the correctionary discipline of the military forces. In 1870 they were severely punished by Col. Baker, and, owing to disease and pestilence, they will probably soon cease to exist.

=Pierced.= In heraldry, a term used to indicate that a charge is perforated so as to show the field beneath it. The aperture is presumed to be circular, unless some other form, as square-pierced or lozenge-pierced, be specified in the blazon.

=Piercer.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF, BORING AND TURNING.

=Pieria.= A narrow slip of country on the southeastern coast of Macedonia, extending from the mouth of the Peneus in Thessaly to the Haliacmon, and bounded on the west by Mount Olympus and its offshoots. The inhabitants of this country, the Pieres, were a Thracian people, and are celebrated in the early history of Greek poetry and music. After the establishment of the Macedonian kingdom in Emathia in the 7th century B.C., Pieria was conquered by the Macedonians, and the inhabitants were driven out of the country.

=Pierrier.= Was a term originally applied to an engine for casting stones; then to a small kind of cannon; now to a mortar for discharging stones, etc.

=Piers.= The columns upon which a bridge is erected.

=Pies= (_Fr._). Counts palatine who were created in 1560, by Pope Pius IV., and who had precedence at Rome over knights of the Teutonic order and order of Malta.

=Pike=, =Pikeman=. Previously to the use of the bayonet, infantry of the line--that is, the heavy-armed troops--were from the earliest times armed with pikes or spears. The Macedonians carried pikes 24 feet long; those of modern warfare averaged 12 or 14 feet. They were of stout wood, and tipped with a flat iron spear-head, which sometimes had cutting edges. As a defense against cavalry, the pike, from its length and rigidity, was of great value; but though it long survived the introduction of gunpowder, that event was really fatal to it. For success with the pike, especially in offensive war, a depth of several men was essential, and this depth rendered the fire of artillery peculiarly fatal. The pike is now superseded by the bayonet on the end of the musket.

=Pikestaff.= The wooden pole or handle of a pike.

=Pile.= A beam of wood driven into the ground to form a solid foundation for building. Also a heap, as a pile of balls. Balls are piled according to kind and caliber, under cover if practicable, in a place where there is a free circulation of air, to facilitate which the piles should be made narrow if the locality permits; the width of the bottom tier may be from twelve to fourteen balls, according to the caliber. Prepare the ground for the base of the pile by raising it above the surrounding ground so as to throw off the water; level it, ram it well, and cover it with a layer of screened sand. Make the bottom of the pile with a tier of unserviceable balls buried about two-thirds of their diameter in the sand; this base may be made permanent; clean the base well and form the pile, putting the fuze-holes of shells downwards, in the _intervals_, and not resting on the shells below. Each pile is marked with the number of serviceable balls it contains. The base may be made of bricks, concrete, stone, or with borders and braces of iron. Grape- and canister-shot should be oiled or lackered, put in piles, or in strong boxes, on the ground-floor, or in dry cellars; each parcel marked with its kind, caliber, and number.

=Pile.= In heraldry, one of the lesser ordinaries, having the form of a wedge, usually placed pale-wise, with the broadest end uppermost, resembling a pile used in laying the foundations of buildings in watery places, whence it has its name.

=Pile.= The head of an arrow was formerly so called.

=Pile Arms, To.= To place three guns together in such a manner that they may stand upright steadily. Also called _stack arms_.

=Pile-bridge.= A bridge of which the piers are built with piles. These may be either temporary wooden structures, in which wooden piles, driven into the ground, serve also as piers, or they may be permanent bridges, with iron cylinders forming the piles below the surface, and piers above.

=Piletus.= A kind of arrow formerly used, having a knob upon the shaft, near the head, to prevent it from penetrating the object aimed at too deeply.

=Piling Balls.= See PILE.

=Pillage.= The act of plundering. Also that which is taken from another by open force, particularly and chiefly from enemies in war; plunder; spoil.

=Pillage.= To strip of money or goods by open violence; to plunder; to spoil; as, troops pillage the camp or towns of an enemy.

=Pillnitz=, or =Pilnitz=. A palace and ordinary summer residence of the royal family of Saxony, in a beautiful situation 7 miles southeast of Dresden. Pillnitz acquires a historic interest from the meeting of princes held in the castle in August, 1791, when the Declaration of Pillnitz was framed, according to which Austria and Prussia agreed to declare the circumstances of the king of France (then a prisoner in the Tuileries, after his ineffective flight to Varennes) to be a matter of common interest to the sovereigns of Europe, and to express the hope that common cause would be made for his restoration. The convention of Pillnitz took place between the emperor Leopold and the king of Prussia, July 20, 1791. On August 27, 1791, the treaty of Pillnitz, or as some style it, the Partition Treaty, was finally agreed upon at Pavia by the courts in concert. It was to the effect “that the emperor should retake all that Louis XIV. had conquered in the Austrian Netherlands, and uniting these provinces to the Netherlands, give them to his serene highness the elector palatine, to be added to the palatinate; Bavaria to be added to Austrian possessions,” etc.

=Pillow, Fort.= See FORT PILLOW.

=Pilon= (_Fr._). A half-pike, 7 feet long exclusive of the iron, which was 18 inches. It consisted of a fir tube covered with parchment and varnished. Marshal Saxe proposed to draw up an army four deep, the two front ranks armed with muskets, and the two rear with pilons and muskets too.

=Pilum.= A missile weapon, used by the Roman soldiers, and in a charge darted upon the enemy. Each man of the legionary soldiers carried two of these pila.

=Pimas=, or =Névomes=. A tribe of aborigines, about 4000 in number, who are located on a reservation along the Gila River, in Pima and Maricopa Counties, Arizona. They are an active, athletic race, cultivate the soil and pursue a few crude industries, and are at hereditary enmity with the Apaches.

=Pin.= See ORDNANCE.

=Pincers, Gunner’s.= See GUNNER’S PINCERS.

=Pindarees.= In the East Indies, are plunderers and marauders, who accompany a Mahratta army. The name is properly that of persons who travel with grain and merchandise; but war affording so many opportunities and creating so many necessities, the merchants, as it is all over the world, become plunderers and the worst of enemies.

=Pinerolo=, or =Pignerol=. A town of Northern Italy, province of Turin. It is surrounded by a wall of no great strength, and though originally a part of Piedmont, was in possession of France from 1631 till the peace of Utrecht in 1713. It was once very strongly fortified; but its defenses were blown up by the French in 1713.

=Ping.= The whistle of a shot, especially the rifle-bullets in their flight.

=Pinion.= To bind the hands or arms of a person so as to prevent his having the free use of them.

=Pinkie= (near Edinburgh). Here the English under the Earl of Hertford, protector, totally defeated the Scots, September 10, 1547. About 10,000 of the Scots were slain, and about 1500 taken prisoners. The English loss was scarcely 200.

=Pintle=. In artillery, is the vertical bolt around which the chassis is traversed. In the centre-pintle carriage it is the centre of the chassis, but in the front-pintle carriage it is in the centre of the front transom. It is a stout cylinder of wrought iron inserted in a block of stone, if the battery be a fixed one; or it is secured to cross-pieces of timber bolted to a platform firmly imbedded in the ground, if it be of a temporary nature. In casemate batteries the pintle is placed immediately under the throat of the embrasure, and the chassis is connected with it by a stout strap of iron, called the tongue.

=Pintle-hole.= An oval-shaped aperture made in the trail transom of a field-carriage, wider above than below, to leave room for the pintle to play in.

=Pintle-hook.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, NOMENCLATURE OF ARTILLERY CARRIAGE.

=Pintle-plate.= Is a flat iron through which the pintle passes, and is nailed to both sides of the bolster.

=Pintle-washer.= An iron ring through which the pintle passes, placed close to the bolster for the trail to move upon.

=Piombino.= A town of Italy, province of Pisa, opposite the island of Elba. Here is a large metallurgic establishment for the manufacture of Bessemer steel and military projectiles of great hardness and perfection.

=Pioneer Sergeant.= In the British service, the non-commissioned officer who commands the pioneers.

=Pioneers.= Are soldiers sometimes detailed from the different companies of a regiment and formed under a non-commissioned officer, furnished with saws, felling axes, spades, mattocks, pickaxes, and bill-hooks. Their services are very important, and no regiment is well fitted for service without pioneers completely equipped. In European armies there are a certain number of pioneers to each regiment.

=Pipe of Peace.= See CALUMET.

=Pipe-clay.= A composition which soldiers use for the purpose of keeping their buff cross-belts, etc., clean.

=Piquichins= (_Fr._). Irregular and ill-armed soldiers, of which mention is made in the history of the reign of Philip Augustus. They were attached to the infantry.

=Piquier= (_Fr._). A pikeman, or one who is armed with a pike.

=Pirmasens=, or =Pirmasenz=. A town of Rhenish Bavaria. Here Moreau and the French were defeated by the Duke of Brunswick and the Prussians, September 14, 1793.

=Pirogue.= American Indian canoe, dug out, formed out of the trunk of a tree; or two canoes united. A term also applied in the United States to a narrow ferry-boat carrying two masts and a leeboard.

=Pisa= (anc. _Pisæ_). One of the oldest and most beautiful cities of Italy, and, till lately, the capital of the now extinct grand duchy of Tuscany, on the banks of the river Arno. Pisæ was one of the twelve cities of Etruria; it is frequently mentioned in the Ligurian wars as the headquarters of the Roman legions. Early in the 11th century, Pisa had risen to the rank of a powerful republic. Its troops took part in all the great events of the Holy Land; and its fleet in turn gave aid to the pope in Southern Italy, to the emperor in Northern France, chastised the Moors, and exacted its own terms from the Eastern emperors. In their wars with the Saracens of Sardinia, the Pisans had conquered Sardinia, Corsica, and the Balearic Islands, and for a time maintained their ground against their hereditary enemies, the Genoese; but having sided with the Ghibellines in the long wars which desolated the empire, Pisa suffered severely at the hands of the victorious Guelphic party. Indeed, the rivalry of the Guelphic cities of Florence, Lucca, and Siena nearly brought Pisa to the brink of ruin at the close of the 13th century; and after struggling for more than a hundred years against external foes and the internal dissensions between the democratic mob and the Ghibelline nobles, without losing their character for indomitable valor, the Pisans finally threw themselves under the protection of Galeazzo Visconti of Milan. It became subject to Florence after a long siege, 1405-6. In 1494, Pisa became independent under the protection of Charles VIII. of France. When the French left Italy, the old struggle was renewed; and after offering a desperate resistance, the Pisans, in 1509, were compelled by hunger to surrender the city to the Florentine army besieging the walls.

=Pisidia.= A district of Asia Minor, originally included within Pamphylia, or Phrygia, was constituted a separate province in the division of the Roman empire under Constantine the Great. It was bounded north and west by Phrygia and Lycia, and south by Pamphylia, and east by Cilicia and Isauria. The inhabitants were a lawless and freebooting people, spurning the advance of civilization, and daring any invader to follow them into their rugged fastnesses. Rome conquered them only to find that their spirit of independence was not broken. They would not brook the establishment of a single garrison or colony. It was only their towns that paid tribute. They carried their invincible dispositions down to modern times; and under the appellation of _Karamanians_ they still continue to be wild, rapacious, and suspicious of strangers.

=Pistol.= Is the smallest description of fire-arm, and is intended to be used with one hand only. Pistols were first used by the cavalry of England about 1544. They vary in size from the delicate saloon-pistol, often not 6 inches long, to the horse-pistol, which may measure 18 inches, and sometimes even 2 feet. They are carried in holsters at the saddle-bow, in the belt, or in the pocket. Every cavalry soldier should have pistols, for a fire-arm is often of great service for personal defense, and almost indispensable in giving an alarm or signal. Of late years pistols have been made with revolving cylinder breeches, in which are formed several chambers for receiving cartridges, and bringing them in succession into a line with the barrel ready for firing. See REVOLVERS.

=Pistol-carbine.= A horseman’s pistol with a detachable gun-stock.

=Pistolet.= A little pistol.

=Pistol-grip.= A shape given to the small of the stock in shot-guns and rifles, to give a better hold for the hand.

=Pistolier= (_Fr._). Soldier armed with a pistol; a good pistol shot.

=Pitan Nabobs.= Certain chiefs in India are so called, namely, of Cudapa, Carroul, and Savanare.

=Pitans=, or =Patans=. A tribe in the East Indies, who are supposed to be the descendants of the northern Indians, and who were early converted to Mohammedanism. They are very fierce, and have been reckoned among the best troops in India.

=Pitaux= (_Fr._). This word is sometimes written petaux, and was formerly used to distinguish those peasants that were pressed into the service, in contradistinction to soldiers who were regularly enlisted.

=Pitch.= To fix firmly; to plant; to set in array; as, to pitch a tent; to pitch a camp.

=Pitched Battle.= A battle in which the hostile forces have firm or fixed positions, in distinction from a skirmish.

=Pitched Fascines.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Pitch-field.= A pitched battle.

=Pittsburgh.= A city and port of entry of Alleghany Co., Pa. Pittsburgh was first settled in 1754, a stockade having been erected here which was occupied by the French as a trading-post, and given the name of Fort Duquesne. An English expedition against this fort under Gen. Braddock was defeated by the French and Indians, July 9, 1755. In 1758 another English expedition marched against this post, which was then regarded by the youthful Washington as the key of the West. An advanced detachment under Capt. Grant having encamped on what is still called Grant’s Hill, was attacked and defeated by a party of French and Indians from Fort Duquesne. But on the approach of Gen. Forbes, with a force of 6200 men, the disheartened garrison set fire to the fort and descended the Ohio River. The victorious troops, on entering, November 25, by general acclamation called the place Pittsburgh, in honor of William Pitt, then prime minister of England. The town of Pittsburgh was incorporated as a borough in 1804, and chartered as a city in 1816.

=Pivot.= That officer or soldier upon whom the company wheels.

The _pivot flank_ in a column is that which when wheeled up preserves the proper front of divisions of the line in their natural order. The opposite flank of the column is called the reverse flank.

=Pivot-gun.= A cannon which turns on a pivot in any direction.

=Pivot-man.= The same as pivot (which see).

=Pizzo.= A city of Italy, in the Neapolitan province of Calabria Ultra II., situated on the Gulf of Santa Euphemia, 6 miles northeast from Monteleone. It was at Pizzo that Murat, the ex-king of Naples, landed with a few followers, October 8, 1815, with the view of recovering his kingdom, He was immediately taken prisoner and shot in the castle of Pizzo on the 13th. In 1860 it was taken by Garibaldi.

=Placage= (_Fr._). In fortification, a kind of revetment, which is made of thick plastic earth laid along the talus of such parapets as have no mason-work, and which is covered with turf.

=Place.= In fortification, signifies, in general terms, a fortified town, a fortress; hence we say it is a strong place.

=Place Basse= (_Fr._). In fortification, the lower flanks according to certain systems are so called.

=Placed, To be.= This expression is frequently used in military matters, to signify the appointment or reduction of officers. Hence, _to be placed_ upon full or half-pay. It is more generally applicable to the latter.

=Placentia.= See PIACENZA.

=Places of Arms.= This term has various significations, although it uniformly means places which are calculated for the rendezvous of men in arms, etc. When an army takes the field, every stronghold or fortress which supports its operations by affording a safe retreat to its depots, heavy artillery, magazines, hospitals, etc., is called a _place of arms_. In offensive operations, those lines are called _places of arms_, or parallels, which unite the different means of attack, secure the regular approaches, etc., and contain bodies of troops who either do duty in the trenches, protect the workmen, or are destined to make an impression upon the enemy’s outworks. There are _demi-places of arms_ between the _places of arms_. These are more or less numerous in proportion to the resistance made by the besieged. See RE-ENTERING PLACES OF ARMS.

=Plain.= A field of battle.

=Plan.= A scheme devised; a method of action or procedure expressed or described in language; a project. A plan of campaign (says Napoleon) should anticipate all that an enemy may do, and combine within itself the means necessary to baffle it. Plans of campaign are modified by circumstances, the genius of the chief, the nature of the troops, and topography. There are good and bad plans of campaign, but sometimes the good fail from misfortune or mismanagement, while the bad succeed by caprices of fortune.

=Plan of a Work.= A plan shows the tracing; also the horizontal lengths and breadths of the works; the thickness of the ramparts and parapets; the width of the ditches, etc. It exhibits the extent, division, and distribution of the works; but the depth of the ditches and the height of the works are not represented in a plan.

=Plane of Comparison.= In the plan of a fortress, and of the surrounding country, are expressed the distances of the principal points from a horizontal plane, imagined to pass through the highest or lowest points of ground, in the survey. This imaginary plane is called a _plane of comparison_.

=Plane of Defilade.= Is a plane supposed to pass through the summit or crest of a work, and parallel to the plane of site.

=Plane of Fire.= See POINTING.

=Plane of Sight.= See POINTING.

=Plane of Site.= The general level of the ground or ground line, upon which the works are constructed, is called the _plane of site_, whether that plane be horizontal or oblique to the horizon.

=Plane Table.= A surveying instrument, consisting of a table or board and arrangements for leveling and traversing it. It is much used in military surveys and in gunnery in getting the ranges of projectiles by the method of intersections.

=Plant, To.= In a military sense, to place; to fix; as, to plant a standard. It likewise signifies to arrange different pieces of ordnance for the purpose of doing execution against an enemy or his works; hence, to plant a battery. Some authors apply this word to the act of directing a cannon properly.

=Plantagenet.= The surname of a dynasty of English kings who ruled from 1154 to 1485. Henry II. was the founder, and Richard III., who was killed at Bosworth, the last of the line. They were generally warlike and ambitious rulers, being engaged in contests at home (see ROSES, WARS OF THE) and in France. The name belonged to the house of Anjou, and is said to have been derived from the circumstance of the first count of this house having caused himself to be scourged with branches of broom (_planta genista_) as a penance for some crime. The name passed to the English line of kings through the extinction of the old Norman dynasty in the male line in the person of Henry II., and the marriage of Matilda, his daughter, to Geoffrey, count of Anjou, their son succeeding to the throne.

=Plassey.= A village of British India, in the district of Nuddea, presidency of Bengal, on the left bank of the Hooghly, 96 miles north of Calcutta. It is memorable as the scene of the victory that laid the foundation of the British-Indian empire. On June 23, 1757, Clive, with a force of 900 Europeans and 2100 Sepoys, crossed the river to attack 68,000 men under Sooraj-oo-Dowlah, soubahdar of Bengal. After much cannonading on both sides, Meer Jaffier, who was in the interest of the British, advised the soubahdar to retreat. Clive immediately advanced, routed the army, and took the camp of the soubahdar, who was dethroned to make way for the traitor Meer Jaffier.

=Plastron= (_Fr._). Stuffed pad or cushion, formerly worn at the shoulder to sustain the recoil of heavy muskets and other fire-arms, still used by fencers upon the right side; also a breastplate or half cuirass. In the old French service, the gens d’armes, the heavy cavalry, the light horse, etc., were obliged to wear them on all occasions, at reviews, etc.

=Platæa= (more commonly _Platææ_). An ancient city of Bœotia, on the northern slope of Mount Cithæron, on the frontiers of Attica. At an early period, the Platæans deserted the Bœotian confederacy, and placed themselves under the protection of Athens; and when the Persians invaded Attica in 490 B.C., they sent 1000 men to the assistance of the Athenians, and had the honor of fighting on their side at the battle of Marathon. Ten years afterwards (480 B.C.) their city was destroyed by the Persian army under Xerxes at the instigation of the Thebans. It was the site of the battle between Mardonius, commander of the army of Xerxes of Persia, and Pausanias, commanding the Lacedæmonians and Athenians, 479 B.C.; the same day as the battle of Mycale. Of 300,000 Persians, scarce 3000 escaped with their lives. The Grecian army, about 110,000, lost but few men. The Greeks obtained immense plunder, and were henceforth delivered from the fear of Persian invasions. In the third year of the Peloponnesian war (429), the Thebans persuaded the Spartans to attack Platæa, and after a siege of two years at length succeeded in obtaining possession of the place (427). Platæa was then razed to the ground, but was again rebuilt after the peace of Antalcidas (387 B.C.). It was destroyed the third time by its inveterate enemies, the Thebans, in 374 B.C. It was rebuilt by Philip II. of Macedon, after his victory at Chæronea, 338 B.C.

=Plate.= Metallic armor composed of broad pieces, and thus distinguished from mail.

=Plate.= To arm with plate or metal for defense. “Why plated in habiliments of war?”

=Plate-armor.= Armor of strong metal plates for protecting fortifications and the like; also mail consisting entirely of metallic plates, formerly worn to protect the person.

=Platform.= Is a strong flooring upon which a piece of ordnance, mounted on its carriage, is manœuvred when in battery. Its object is to facilitate the service of heavy guns and mortars, and to insure accuracy of fire. Fixed platforms are used for casemate and barbette batteries in fortifications, and are constructed with the works; siege-platforms for guns and howitzers; and siege-platforms for mortars; the other kinds are the rail-platform, the ricochet-platform, and the platforms for sea-coast mortars. Platforms should possess strength and portability, and the pieces composing them should be constructed of the same dimensions, viz.: 9 feet long, 5 inches wide, and 3¹⁄₂ inches thick. The weight of each piece in a platform is about 50 pounds; and in a siege-platform for guns and howitzers, there are 49 pieces, 1 being used as a _hurter_ on the front part of the platform to prevent the carriage from running too far forward, and 12 for sleepers. The weight of this platform complete is 2601¹⁄₂ pounds. This platform is laid with an elevation to the rear, of 1¹⁄₂ inches to the yard, or 4¹⁄₂ inches in the whole length. This elevation is given to diminish the recoil of the piece and to permit the water to run off. The length of this platform is 15 feet by 9 feet. The platform for a siege-mortar is composed of only 6 sleepers and 21 deck-planks. It is laid level, and the front and rear deck-planks are connected by eye-bolts to every sleeper. This platform is about 9 feet deep by 9 feet wide, and weighs 1220 pounds. The rail-platform for siege-mortars consists of 3 sleepers and 2 rails for the cheeks of the mortar-bed to slide on, instead of the deck-plank, and is very strong, and easily constructed and laid. For method of laying platforms for siege-gun or howitzer, and for mortars, see “Hand-book of Artillery,” by Roberts, pages 143-47.

=Platform Wagon.= A sort of wagon used for transporting heavy ordnance.

=Platoon.= Probably from the French _peloton_, a “ball of thread,” a “knot,” was a term formerly used in the English service to designate a body of men who fired together. In U. S. tactics, it is now a recognized subdivision of a company, being one-half.

=Plattsburg.= A township and capital of Clinton Co., N. Y., situated on both banks of the Saranac River, at its entrance into Lake Champlain. In the bay was fought the naval battle of Champlain, in which the British flotilla, under Commodore Downie, was defeated by the American commodore McDonough, September 11, 1814; while the land forces amounting to 14,000 men, under Sir George Prevost, were defeated by Gen. Macomb.

=Play.= Is occasionally applied to a military action; as, the guns played upon the enemy.

=Plea.= That which is alleged by a party in support of his cause; in a stricter sense, an allegation of fact in a cause, as distinguished from a demurrer; in a still more limited sense, and in modern practice, the defendant’s answer to the plaintiff’s declaration and demand. That which the plaintiff alleges in his declaration is answered and repelled or justified by the defendant’s _plea_.

=Plevna.= A town of Bulgaria, which became important in a military sense through the battles which took place around it during the Russo-Turkish war. The first battle took place July 15-16, 1877, resulting in the capture of Nikopolis. The second took place July 30, with considerable loss to both sides, but without any decisive results. The third took place September 11.

=Plombée= (_Fr._). An ancient war-club, whose head was loaded with lead.

=Plongée.= In artillery and fortification, means a slope toward the front. Thus, in speaking of the course of a shell through the air, its plongée is from the point of greatest altitude to the point at which it strikes the earth. So, in fortification, the plongée is the top of the parapet, sloping gently toward the front. This depression varies from one-fourth to one-sixth of the thickness of the parapet.

=Ploy.= To form a column from a line of battle on some designated subdivision.

=Ployments.= A general term for all tactical movements by which a column is formed from line upon a designated subdivision.

=Pluck.= Spirit; perseverance under opposition or discouragement; indomitableness; courage.

=Plume.= A large and handsome feather worn as an ornament on a helmet, on a military hat, and the like.

=Plummet.= In gunnery, is a simple line and bob for pointing mortars. A plummet is also used for regulating the march of infantry. It is made by means of a musket-ball, suspended by a silk string, upon which the required lengths are marked; the length is measured from the point of suspension to the centre of the ball. The different lengths of these plummets are as follows: for common time, 90 steps in a minute, 17.37 inches; quick time, 110 steps in a minute, 11.6 inches; double time, 165 steps in a minute, 5.17 inches.

=Plunder.= To take the goods of another by force; to take from by robbery; to spoil; to strip; to rob; as, to plunder a place. Also to take by pillage or open force; as, the enemy plundered all the goods they found.

=Plunder.= That which is taken from an enemy; pillage; spoil.

=Plunging Fire.= See FIRE, PLUNGING.

=Pluteus.= A kind of wicker helmet covered with raw ox-hide, worn by the ancient Greeks when engaged in sapping walls. Others were made of hurdles, covered in the same way, running upon three wheels, and affording cover to 7 or 8 miners.

=Plymouth.= A seaport town in England, county of Devon, on the east side of a peninsula, between the rivers Plym and Tamar, at the head of Plymouth Sound, 37 miles southwest of Exeter. Prior to the time of the Norman conquest it was called _South Town_, or _Sutton_; under the Saxon dynasty it was called _Tamerweorth_. The growing prosperity of the town excited the jealousy of France; and in 1339 a force from thence landed, and attempted to burn it. They succeeded in burning a portion, but were ultimately repulsed, with the loss of 500 men, by Hugh Courtenay, earl of Devon, aided by a number of “knights and men of the countrie.” A similar attempt was made in 1377, but with no great result; and after each, the fortifications were extended and strengthened. In 1335 the Black Prince embarked from Plymouth for France, and on his return to England he landed here with his prisoner, King John of France, who had been captured at the famous battle of Poitiers. During the civil war between Charles I. and the Parliament, Plymouth was held by the troops of the latter party, who, though besieged, and almost reduced by famine, resisted for three years every effort of the royalists. After the restoration the citadel was erected, and in the reign of William III. the dock-yard and the naval arsenal were established toward the west, upon the eastern shore of Hamoaze.

=Plymouth.= A town of Washington Co., N. C., on the south bank of Roanoke River about 8 miles from its mouth, where it empties into Albemarle Sound. During the civil war it was held for some time by the Union troops as a key to the river, and was strongly fortified. On April 17, 1864, a Confederate force under Gen. Hoke attacked this place, and after four days’ severe fighting, being five times repulsed with great slaughter, succeeded in capturing it, by the powerful assistance of an ironclad ram and a floating sharpshooter battery.

=Pocket Ledger.= In the British service, is a small book in the possession of each soldier, containing the result of the monthly settlement of pay, the state of his savings-bank account, the date of his enlistment, his services, wounds, decorations, date of birth, next of kin, a summary of the regulations which affect him, and many other useful particulars.

=Podoll= (Bohemia). The site of a severe conflict between the Austrians and a part of the army of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, June 26, 1866, in which the latter had the advantage.

=Point.= In heraldry, a triangular figure issuing from the dexter and sinister base of the shield. It is common in French and German heraldry, and occurs in the shield of Hanover, which was a part of the royal arms of Great Britain from the accession of George I. till that of the present sovereign. A shield charged with a point is in heraldic drawing hardly distinguishable from one parted per chevron.

=Point d’Appui.= Any particular given point or body, upon which troops are formed, or by which they are marched, in line or column. _Points d’appui_ also signify the different advantageous posts, such as castles, fortified villages, etc., which the general of an army takes possession of in order to secure his natural position.

=Point of Alignment.= The point which troops form upon and dress by.

=Point of Formation.= A point taken, upon which troops are formed in military order.

_Perpendicular points_, the points upon which troops march in a straight-forward direction.

_Relative points_, the points by which the parallelism of a march is preserved.

=Point of Honor.= See HONOR, POINT OF.

=Point of War.= A loud and impressive beat of the drum, the perfect execution of which requires great skill and activity. The point of war is beat when a battalion charges.

=Point-blank.= The second point at which the line of sight intersects the trajectory of a projectile. See POINTING.

=Point-blank.= Directed in a line toward the object aimed at; aimed directly toward the mark.

=Point-blank Range.= Is the distance from the muzzle of the piece to that point in a projectile’s trajectory where it cuts the prolongation of the natural line of sight, a second time, the natural line of sight being horizontal. The British define point-blank range as, “the distance from the muzzle to the first graze when the axis of the piece is parallel to the horizontal plane upon which the carriage stands.” This definition is being adopted in the U. S. service.--See POINTING.

=Point-blank Shot.= The shot of a gun pointed directly toward the object to be hit.

=Pointing.= To point or aim a fire-arm is, to give it such direction and elevation that the projectile shall strike the object.

_Definitions._--The _axis of the piece_ is the centre line of the bore.

The _line of fire_ is the axis of the piece prolonged.

The _plane of fire_ is a vertical plane through the line of fire.

The _line of sight_ is the right line from the eye to the object to be hit, passing through the front and rear sights.

The _plane of sight_ is a vertical plane through the line of sight.

The _angle of sight_, or the _elevation_, is the vertical angle included between the line of sight and the plane containing the axis of the piece and a horizontal line at right angles to it.

The _natural line of sight_ is the line of sight nearest to the axis of the piece. In guns without rear sights it is the right line through the highest point of the base-ring and swell of the muzzle or top of the front sight when there is one. It is sometimes called the _line of metal_, as in mortars. For convenience and accuracy the _natural line of sight_ is usually parallel to the axis of the piece. When special breech-sights are used, it passes through the zero of the scale, which in the _pendulum hausse_ and other vibrating scales coincides with the axis of vibration. All other lines of sight are called _artificial lines of sight_.

_Point-blank_, in small-arms, is the second point in which the natural line of sight (when horizontal) cuts the trajectory. In artillery, it is the point where the projectile first strikes the horizontal plane on which the gun stands, the axis of the piece being horizontal.

_Pointing Guns and Howitzers._--In pointing old model guns and howitzers under ordinary angles of elevation, the piece is first directed toward the object, and then elevated to suit the distance. The accuracy of the aim depends: (1) On the fact that the object is situated in the plane of sight; (2) That the projectile moves in the plane of fire, and that the planes of sight and fire coincide, or are parallel and near to each other; and (3) On the accuracy of the elevation. The first of these conditions depends on the eye of the gunner, and the accuracy and delicacy of the sights; the errors under this head are of but little practical importance. When the trunnions of the piece are horizontal, and the sights are properly placed on the surface of the piece, the planes of sight and fire will coincide; but when the axis of the trunnions is inclined, and the natural line of sight is oblique to the axis of the bore, the planes are neither parallel nor coincident, but will intersect at a short distance from the muzzle, and the aim will be incorrect. If the natural line of sight be made parallel to the line of fire, by making the height of the front sight equal to the dispart of the piece, the planes of sight and fire will be parallel. Field-guns of the present day have special breech-sights or pendulum-sights. The zero of the scale and top of front sight are in a line parallel to the axis of the piece, and in pendulum-sights this zero coincides with the pivot at which the scale vibrates. Siege and sea-coast cannon are generally fired from fixed platforms, which renders the axis of the trunnions horizontal; they are, therefore, not furnished with pendulum-sights, but usually with breech-sights set in sockets at the breech. In the absence of a breech-sight the piece can be pointed with a natural line of sight so as to strike objects not situated at point-blank distance. Owing to the shape and size of the reinforce of sea-coast cannon, the natural line of sight is formed by affixing a front sight to the muzzle, or to a projection cast on the piece between the trunnions. Although the latter arrangement does not give quite so long a distance between the sights as is desirable, it permits the use of a shorter breech-sight, and the front sight does not interfere with the roof of the embrasure, when the piece is fired under high elevation.

_Errors in Pointing._--When the platform or ground upon which the gun stands is not level there is an error in pointing (except when compensating sights such as the _pendulum hausse_ are used), which varies in direction with the circumstances of the pointing and in amount with the elevation of the piece.

If the _natural line of sight_ is pointed upon the object and the elevation then given by a gunner’s quadrant or other device, the shot will go to the side of the lower wheel. If the gun be depressed, it will go to the side of the upper wheel.

If the _tangent scale_ or old pattern _breech-sight_ is used with the ordinary fixed muzzle-sight, and it be placed on a chalk-mark just determined, the shot will fall on the side of the upper wheel. If the scale is placed on the permanent mark, the contrary will hold.

If a _socket or fixed breech-sight_ is used, the shot will fall on the lower or upper side according as the gun is elevated or depressed.

_Pointing Mortars._--In pointing mortars, the piece is first given the elevation, and then the direction necessary to attain the object. Mortars are generally fired from behind epaulements, which screen the object from the eye of the gunner. The elevation is first given by a gunner’s quadrant, and the direction is given by moving the mortar-bed with a handspike, so as to bring the line of metal into the plane of sight, which passes through the object and the centre of the platform. The plane of sight may be determined in several ways; the method prescribed is to plant two stakes, one on the crest of the epaulement, and the other a little in advance of the first, so that the two shall be in a line with the object, and the gunner standing in the middle of the rear edge of the platform; a cord is attached to the second stake and held so as to touch the first stake; a third stake is driven in a line with the cord, in rear of the platform, and a plummet is attached to this cord so as to fall a little in rear of the mortar. The cord and plummet determine the required plane of sight into which the line of metal of the mortar must be brought. With the 13-inch mortar mounted upon centre-pintle chassis, the plane of sight must be so determined as to pass through the pintle to obtain perfect accuracy. One of the best methods of pointing mortars so mounted, is to place on the crest of the parapet in line with the axis of the platform a goniometer, the alidade of which can be directed upon the object,--the angle is read from the vertical plane containing the axis of the platform. The traverse circle is similarly graduated from the axis of the platform. A pointer attached to the chassis enables the gunner to lay the mortar very nearly in the vertical plane passing through the object,--the error being the perpendicular distance from the pintle to the plane of sight. This is the method of Lieut. A. B. Dyer, 4th U. S. Artillery. Gen. Abbot of the U. S. Engineer Corps used a similar principle during the late war, 1861-65. The usual angle of fire of mortars is 45°, which corresponds nearly with the maximum range. The advantages of the angle of greatest range are: (1) Economy of powder; (2) Diminished recoil, and strain on the piece, bed, and platform; (3) More uniform ranges. When the distance is not great, and the object is to penetrate the roofs of magazines, buildings, etc., the force of fall may be increased by firing under an angle of 60°. The ranges obtained under an angle of 60° are about _one-tenth_ less than those obtained with an angle of 45°. If the object be to produce effect by the bursting of the projectile, the penetration should be diminished by firing under an angle of 30°. When the object is not on a level with the piece, the angle of greatest range is considered in practice to be 45° increased or diminished by one-half the angle of elevation or depression of the object. The angle of fire being fixed at 45° for objects on the same level with the piece, the range is varied by varying the charge of powder. Stone-mortars are pointed in the same manner as common mortars; the angle of fire for stones is from 60° to 72°, in order that they may have great force in falling; the angle for grenades is about 33°, in order that their bursting effect may not be destroyed by their penetration into the earth.

_Night-firing._--Cannon are pointed at night by means of certain marks, or measurements, on the carriage and platform, which are accurately determined during the day.

_Pointing Small-arms._--The rear-sights of small-arms are graduated with elevation marks for certain distances, generally every hundred yards; in aiming with these as with all other arms, it is first necessary to know the distance of the object. This being known and the slider being placed opposite the mark corresponding to this distance, the bottom of the rear-sight notch, and the top of the front-sight, are brought into a line joining the object and the eye of the marksman. The term _coarse-sight_ is used when a considerable portion of the front-sight is seen above the bottom of the rear-sight notch; and the term _fine-sight_, when but a small portion of it is seen. The graduation marks being determined for a fine-sight, the effect of a coarse-sight is to increase the true range of the projectile.

_Graduation of Rear-sights._--If the form of the trajectory be known, the rear-sight of a fire-arm can be graduated by calculation; the more accurate and reliable method, however, is by trial.

_Distance of Objects._--Various instruments have been devised to determine the distance of objects, based on the measurement of the visual angles subtended by a foot or cavalry soldier, of mean height, at different distances, and upon other principles. (See RANGE-FINDER.) The range being known, the proper elevation (or charge of powder in mortars) and length of fuze is given by tables of fire obtained from calculation or experiment. The ranges for guns of position are determined by thorough surveys of the surrounding country or harbor channels, by which the distances of all prominent points in the route of an approaching enemy are fixed beforehand. The ranges in field artillery are usually obtained by trial shots at the enemy. For small-arm and field-gun firing, the importance of at once getting the range cannot be overvalued; hence the importance of _estimating distances_ without instrumental aid. The soldier is guided by his experience of aerial perspective, by the apparent size of known objects, and numerous other aids too delicate for enunciation. The art can be acquired to a high degree of perfection by _practice_, which now forms a very important part of the soldier’s training.

=Pointing-board.= See BOARD, POINTING.

=Pointing-cord.= Cord used in pointing mortars (which see). See POINTING-STAKES.

=Pointing-rings.= See ORDNANCE.

=Pointing-stakes.= Are used in pointing mortars, and by them one of the fixed points is established upon the crest of the parapet or at the foot of the interior slope, and another in rear of the piece. Then by a cord called the _pointing-cord_, stretched between these two points, with the plummet suspended from it, a vertical plane is determined with which the line of metal is made to coincide. Mortars are also pointed by means of _pointing-wires_.

=Pointing-wires.= Are wires which are used in directing mortars. The two fixed points required in directing a mortar are determined by planting two wires upon the epaulement, one upon its crest, and the other about a yard in advance of it, both as nearly as possible in the vertical plane passing through the centre of the platform and the object. The points being thus established, the direction is thus given to the mortar, by causing a plummet held in rear of it to cover the wires and the line of metal. This method is defective both in accuracy of aim and the liability of the wires being deranged by the shots of the enemy or by other causes.

=Points of Passing.= The ground on which one or more bodies of armed men march by a reviewing general.

=Points of the Escutcheon.= In heraldry, in order to facilitate the description of a coat of arms, it is the practice to suppose the shield to be divided into nine points, which are known by the following names: The dexter chief point, the middle chief, the sinister chief, the collar, or honor point, the fess point, the nombril, or navel point, the dexter base point, the middle base point, and the sinister base point. The dexter and sinister sides of the shield are so called, not in relation to the eye of the spectator, but from the right and left sides of the supposed bearer of the shield.

=Poitiers=, or =Poictiers=. A town of France, capital of the department of Vienne, on the Clain, 58 miles south-southwest of Tours. In the vicinity of Poitiers, Alaric II., the Visigoth, was defeated and slain by Clovis in 507. Somewhere between Poitiers and Tours a great battle took place on October 10, 732, between the Franks under Charles Martel and the Saracens under Abder-Rahman. The Saracens were routed with enormous slaughter,--357,000 of them (according to one old chronicler, and supposed to be exaggerated) being left dead on the field. Near here was fought the battle between Edward the Black Prince and John, king of France, September 19, 1356, in which Edward, with some 12,000 or 14,000 Englishmen and Gascons, defeated 60,000 of the troops of King John, and took the monarch himself and one of his sons prisoners. See TOURS.

=Poitou.= A former province of Western France, now mainly comprised in the departments of Deux Sèvres, Vendée, and Vienne. It became an English possession in 1152. In 1204, Philip Augustus regained it by conquest from England, and in 1295 it was formally ceded to France. It again reverted to England in 1360 by the peace of Bretigny, but was retaken by Charles V., and incorporated with the French crown.

=Poitrel= (_Fr._). Armor for the breast of a horse.

=Pokanokets.= See MASSACHUSETTS INDIANS.

=Poland.= Called by the natives _Polska_, “a plain,” a former kingdom of Europe,--renowned, in mediæval history, as the sole champion of Christendom against the Turks, and more recently, and at present, an object of general and profound sympathy throughout Western Europe, from its unprecedented misfortunes. The natives belong to the great Slavonic family. The word Pole is not older than the 10th century. Poland first took rank as one of the political powers of Europe, when Micislas I. (962-992) occupied the throne and became a convert to Christianity. Boleslas I. (992-1025) surnamed “the Great,” reunited the separate portions of the kingdom (which had been divided by Micislas among his sons) and extended it beyond the Oder, the Carpathians, and the Dniester, and sustained a successful war with the emperor Henry II. of Germany, conquering Cracovia, Moravia, Lusatia, and Misnia. He also took

## part in the dissensions among the petty Russian princes. Boleslas was

recognized as “king” by the German emperors. After a period of anarchy he was succeeded by his son, Casimir (1040-1058), whose reign, and that of his warlike son, Boleslas II. (1058-1081), though brilliant, were of little real profit to the country. Boleslas III. (1102-1139), an energetic monarch, annexed Pomerania, defeated the pagan Prussians, and defended Silesia against the German emperors. A division of the kingdom among his sons was productive of much internal dissensions, under cover of which Silesia was severed from Poland; ultimately, Casimir II. (1177-1194) reunited the severed portions, with the exception of Silesia. His death was the signal for a contest among the various claimants for the throne, which was speedily followed, as usual, by a division of the country, and during this disturbance Pomerania emancipated itself from Polish rule. About the same time the Teutonic Knights were summoned by the Duke of Masovia to aid him against the pagan Prussians, but they soon became as formidable enemies to Poland as the Prussians; and conquered a great part of Podlachia and Lithuania. The Mongols swept over the country in 1241, reducing it to the verge of ruin, and defeating the Poles in a great battle near Wahlstatt. From this time Poland began to decline; various districts were ceded to the markgrafs of Brandenburg, while many districts began to be colonized by Germans. Ladislaus (1305-1333), surnamed _Lokietek_, “the Short,” again restored unity to the country. In conjunction with Gedymin, grand duke of Lithuania, a vigorous war was carried on against the Teutonic Knights, on returning from which the aged monarch (he was now seventy years old) experienced a triumphant reception from his subjects, who hailed him as the “father of his country.” His son, Casimir III. the Great (1333-1370), greatly increased the power and prosperity of Poland. In the latter part of his reign he was compelled to defend sundry new acquisitions against the Tartars, Lithuanians, and Wallachians, which he did successfully. With Casimir, the Piast dynasty became extinct. Jagello (Ladislaus IV.), grand duke of Lithuania, the son-in-law of Louis the Great, king of Hungary, founded the dynasty of the Jagellons (1386-1572), and for the first time united Lithuania and Poland. Casimir IV. (1444-1492) recovered West Prussia from the Teutonic Knights. The Wallachian invaders carried off 100,000 Poles, and sold them to the Turks as slaves, 1498. Sigismund I. (1506-1548) surnamed “the Great,” raised the country to the utmost pitch of prosperity; he was forced into a war with Russia, in which he lost Smolensk. Sigismund II., Augustus, was a successor worthy of him; Lithuania was finally joined indissolubly to Poland. Livonia was conquered from the Knights Sword-bearers. (See SWORD-BEARERS, KNIGHTS.) Stephen Battory (1575-1586), voivode of Transylvania, the second elective monarch, a man of energy and talent, carried on war successfully against the Russians, pursued them into the very heart of their own country, and compelled the czar to sue for peace; he also subdued the semi-independent Cossacks of the Ukraine. His successor, Sigismund III. (1586-1632), who was succeeded by his sons, Ladislaus VI. (1632-1648) and John Casimir (1648-1672), was of the Vasa family, and was the crown prince of Sweden. These three monarchs were most unworthy successors of Poland’s ablest king. They were always quarreling with their neighbors, declaring war with Russia, Sweden, or Turkey, in the most imprudent and reckless manner, and often without valid pretext. But the Polish armies, though as little fostered and cared for as the other portion of the nation, were everywhere victorious; the Swedish and Muscovite armies were successively annihilated; Moscow was taken, and the Russians reduced to such an abject condition that they offered to make Sigismund’s son, Ladislaus, their czar. Sweden made a similar offer to another son of the Polish monarch; but the latter’s absurd behavior lost for Poland this rich result of her great victories; and the foolish policy of the whole three not only rendered fruitless all the lavish expenditure of Polish blood and treasure, but lost the country many of her richest provinces, and left her without a single ally. During the reign of this dynasty Wallachia and Moldavia were snatched by the Turks from under the Polish protectorate; Livonia with Riga was conquered (1605-1621), along with a part of Prussia (1629) by Sweden; and Brandenburg established itself in complete independence. The Cossacks rose in rebellion to a man, put themselves under the protection of Russia, and ever afterwards proved themselves the most inveterate enemies of the Poles. In the reign of John Casimir, Poland was attacked simultaneously by Russia, Sweden, Brandenburg, the Transylvanians and the Cossacks; the country was entirely overrun; Warsaw, Wilna, and Lemburg taken; but Czarniecki, after defeating Poland’s enemies in detail, ignominiously expelled them from the country. But in subsequent treaties Ducal or East Prussia was given up to Brandenburg; almost all Livonia to Sweden, and Smolensk, Severia, or Tchernigov, and the Ukraine beyond the Dnieper were given to Russia. During the reign of Michael Wisniowiecki (1668-1674) a war with Turkey, concluded by an ignominious peace, was the chief event. But the senate rejected the shameful treaty, the Polish army was reinforced, the Polish monarch resigned the command to John Sobieski, and the Turks were routed with great slaughter at Choczim (1673). After the reign of Sobieski, Augustus II. of Saxony entered Poland at the head of a Saxon army, and succeeded in obtaining the throne. His war with the Turks restored to Poland part of the Ukraine and the fortress of Kaminiec; but that with Charles XII. brought nothing but misfortune. Augustus returned after the battle of Poltava; his rival retired without a contest; a close alliance was formed with Russia, and the Russian troops which had campaigned in Poland against the Swedes were, along with his Saxon army, retained. The Poles demanded their extradition, but in vain; and the Russian cabinet interfered (1717) between the king and his subjects, compelling both parties to sign a treaty of peace. This was the commencement of Poland’s dependence on Russia and her consequent decline. By the instigation of Peter the Great, the Polish army was reduced from 80,000 to 18,000. For the massacre of Protestants at Thorn see MASSACRE. Civil war so weakened the kingdom that it fell an easy prey to Russia, Austria, and Prussia, in 1772, when the first partition was effected. Catherine II. of Russia, on various pretexts, advanced her army into Poland (1792), and the fruitless resistance to the united Prussians and Russians, headed by Joseph Antony Poniatowski and Kosciusko, was followed by a second partition (1793) between Russia and Prussia, which the diet were forced to sanction at the point of the bayonet. A general rising took place (1794); the Prussians were compelled to retreat to their own country; the Russians were several times routed; but an Austrian army advanced, compelling the Poles to retreat; and fresh hordes of the Russians arriving, Kosciusko at the head of the last patriot army, was defeated; and the sack of Praga, followed by the capture of Warsaw, finally annihilated the Polish monarchy. The third and last partition (1795) distributed the remainder of the country between Russia, Prussia, and Austria. King Stanislaus resigned the crown, and died broken-hearted at St. Petersburg in 1798. Napoleon I. established the duchy of Warsaw (1807), chiefly out of the Prussian share of Poland, with the elector of Saxony at its head. The division of Poland was re-arranged by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. On November 30, 1830, Constantine (brother of the czar and military governor) and his Russians were driven out of Warsaw, and a general insurrection of the people, headed by the aristocracy, took place; and military leaders, as Radzivil, Dembinski, Bem, etc., were soon found. From January, 1831, till September 8 of the same year, a series of bloody conflicts were fought, in which the Prussians and Austrians, with pitiable subservience, aided the czar. At first, the Poles were successful; but the taking of the capital by Paskievitch soon ended the war, which was followed, as a matter of course, by imprisonment, banishment, confiscation, and enforced service in the Russian army. From this time, the independence of Poland was suppressed, and in 1832 it was declared to be an integral part of the Russian empire, and the most severe and arbitrary measures taken to Russianize the people. The outbreaks of 1833 and 1846 were punished by the gallows. Simultaneous disturbances (1846) in the Prussian and Austrian portions of Poland were summarily suppressed; their leaders in Prussia were imprisoned, and only saved from death by the revolution of March, 1848, at Berlin; and those in Austria were butchered by the peasantry, who preferred the Austrian to a national government. On November 6, 1846, the republic of Cracow was incorporated with Austria. In 1861 another insurrection broke out, and Poland was declared (in October) in a state of siege; the country continued in a state of commotion without any very decided outbreak; and on January 13, 1863, Lithuania and Volhynia were also put in a state of siege. In February, 1863, Mieroslavski raised the standard of insurrection in the northwest, on the Posen frontier, and many districts of Augustovo, Radom, Lublin, Volhynia, and Lithuania, were speedily in insurrection. It was a mere guerrilla war, and no great or decisive conflicts took place, but the whole populations of villages were put to the sword by the Russians; while murders and assassinations marked the reign of terror of the National Committee. At last, with the officious assistance of Prussia, and the secret sympathy and support of Austria, the czar’s troops succeeded in trampling out (1864) the last embers of insurrection. In 1868 the government of Poland was absolutely incorporated with that of Russia.

=Polans.= Knee-pieces in armor.

=Pole.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, NOMENCLATURE OF ARTILLERY CARRIAGE.

=Poleaxe.= An axe fixed to a pole or handle; or rather, a sort of hatchet with a handle about 15 inches in length, and often a point or claw bending downward, or projecting from the back of its head. It was formerly used by mounted soldiers.

=Polemarch.= In Grecian antiquity, was originally the commander-in-chief, but afterwards, a civil magistrate who had under his care all strangers and sojourners in the city.

=Pole-pad.= A pad placed on the end of the pole in field-gun carriages to prevent injury to the horses.

=Pole-prop.= A short stick attached to the under side of the pole in field-gun carriages.

=Pole-strap.= See ORDNANCE, LIMBER.

=Pole-yoke.= See ORDNANCE, LIMBER.

=Pole-yoke Branches.= See ORDNANCE, LIMBER.

=Polibole=, or =Palintonne= (_Fr._). A ballista which was capable of throwing both arrows and stones.

=Police.= The cleaning of a camp or garrison; the state of a camp in regard to cleanliness.

=Police Guard.= An interior guard having care of the arms, property, and prisoners of the regiment; also charged with the regulation of the camp in regard to order and cleanliness. A guard for prisoners occupied in cleaning the camp.

=Police, Military.= This word has two significations: (1) The organized body employed within an army to preserve civil order, as distinct from military discipline. (2) A civil police with a military organization. The police of an army commonly consists of steady intelligent soldiers, who act under the orders of the provost-marshal, and arrest all persons out of bounds, civilians not authorized to pass the lines, disorderly soldiers, etc.; they also attend to sanitary arrangements. As in all military matters, the police of an army possess summary powers, and a sentence of the provost-marshal is carried out immediately after it is pronounced. Of civil police with military organization may be instanced, as specimens, the gendarmerie of France, the sbirri of Italy, and, in an eminent degree, the Irish constabulary.

=Police Party.= A working party engaged in cleaning the camp or garrison.

=Police Sergeant.= A sergeant specially charged with cleaning the camp.

=Polkownick.= Colonel of a Polish regiment.

=Pollentia= (now _Polenza_, Northern Italy). A town of the Statielli in Liguria, at the continence of the Sturia and the Tanarus, and subsequently a Roman municipum. In its neighborhood Stilicho, the imperial general, defeated Alaric the Goth, March 29, 403.

=Polotzk=, =Polotsk=, or =Polock=. A town of Russian Poland, 60 miles west-northwest of Vitebsk, at the continence of the Dwina and the Polota. It was taken by the Russians from the Poles in 1579, and again in 1655. The French under Marshal Oudinot were here defeated by the Russians under Gen. Wittgenstein, July 30-31, 1812, the next day the Russians were defeated. After several smaller actions with various results, Polotzk was stormed by the Russians, and retaken October, 1812.

=Polron.= That part of the armor which covered the neck and shoulders.

=Poltava=, or =Pultowa=. A town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name, situated on the Vorskla, about 934 miles south-southeast from St. Petersburg. Here Charles XII. of Sweden was defeated by Peter the Great of Russia, July 8, 1709.

=Polygars=, or =Paleagas=. Chiefs of mountainous and woody districts in the peninsula of India, who pay only a temporary homage.

=Polygon.= The name applied to the many-angled forms in which the outer walls of all fortified places are built.

=Polygon.= A school of practice for artillery is so called in Japan.

=Polyorcetes.= Taker of cities; a name applied by the Greeks to a very successful general.

=Polytechnic School.= See MILITARY ACADEMIES.

=Pomada.= An exercise of vaulting the wooden horse, by laying one hand over the pommel of the saddle.

=Pomerania.= A province of Prussia, bounded north by the Baltic, east by West Prussia, south by Brandenburg, and west by the Mecklenburg duchies. It was held by the Poles, 980, and by Denmark, 1210; made an independent duchy, 1479; occupied by the Swedes in the Thirty Years’ War, and divided between Sweden and Brandenburg, 1648. The Swedish part, awarded to Denmark in 1814, was given up to Prussia for Lauenburg, 1815.

=Pomerium.= In ancient architecture, that space of ground which lay between the walls of a fortified town and the inhabitants’ houses. The term is still used among modern architects, particularly by the Italians, to describe the breadth of the terre-plein of the rampart, its inward talus, and the vacant space which is usually left between this talus and the houses of the town.

=Pomfret.= See PONTEFRACT.

=Pomme.= In heraldry, a bearing or device representing, or in the form of, an apple.

=Pommee.= In heraldry, having the ends terminating in rounded protuberances resembling apples;--said of crosses.

=Pommel.= The knob on the hilt of a sword. Also the protuberant part of a saddle-bow.

=Pommeled=, or =Pommelled=. In heraldry, furnished or mounted, with one or more pommels, as a sword, dagger, or the like.

=Pommelion.= The cascabel, or hindmost knob of a cannon.

=Pompon.= A tuft of wool, sometimes worn by soldiers on the top of the hat in front, instead of a feather.

=Poncho.= A Spanish-American garment, consisting of a piece of woolen cloth, 5 to 7 feet long, 3 to 4 feet broad, having in the middle a slit through which the wearer passes his head, so that the poncho rests upon the shoulders and hangs down before and behind. In the U. S. army mounted troops are issued a waterproof poncho, consisting of painted cotton or rubber cloth.

=Pondicherry.= A maritime town, and the capital of the French settlements in India, on the Coromandel coast, 83 miles south-southwest from Madras. Pondicherry was first settled by the French in 1674, they having purchased the town two years before from the rajah of Bejapoor. The Dutch took the town in 1693; but by the treaty of Ryswick it was restored to the French in 1697. In 1748 it was besieged by the English under Admiral Boscawen, who, two months later, was compelled to raise the siege. In 1758, Count de Lally became governor-general, and attacked the English settlement of Fort St. David, which surrendered, and was totally destroyed. In 1761 it was taken by the English, under Col. Coote. By the peace of Paris, Pondicherry was restored to the French in 1763 with reduced territory. It was again taken by the English under Sir Hector Monro in 1778, and restored in 1783. In 1793 the English again repossessed themselves of Pondicherry, but the treaty of Amiens in 1802 again restored it, but only till the following year. From this time it was held by the English till, by the treaties of 1814 and 1815, it was for the last time restored to France, reduced to the narrow limits assigned by the treaty of 1783.

=Poniard.= A pointed instrument for stabbing; borne in the hand, or at the girdle, or in the pocket; a small dagger.

=Poniard.= To pierce with a poniard; to stab.

=Pont à Noyelles.= At this place near Amiens, France, took place a fierce indecisive conflict lasting from 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. between the Germans under Manteuffel and the French Army of the North under Faidherbe, December 23, 1870. Both sides claimed a victory.

=Pontefract=, or =Pomfret=. A town of England, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, near the river Aire, and 21 miles southwest from York. Its castle, which was finished in 1080, was taken after three successive and desperate sieges, by the Parliamentary army, and demolished by order of the Parliament.

=Pontia= (now _Ponza_). A rocky island off the coast of Latium, opposite Formiæ, which was taken by the Romans from the Volscians, and colonized, 313 B.C. Under the Romans it was used as a place of banishment for state criminals. There is a group of smaller islands round Pontia which are sometimes called Insulæ Pontiæ.

=Pontianak.= The capital of the kingdom of the same name on the west coast of Borneo, is situated near the junction of the Landak and Kapuas. There has been constant war on the southeast coast of the kingdom since 1859. The interior of the kingdom was very much disturbed in 1864.

=Pontifical States.= See PAPAL STATES.

=Pontones.= Ancient square-built ferry-boats for passing rivers, as described by Cæsar and Aulus Gellius.

=Pontonier=, or =Pontonnier=. A soldier having the charge of constructing bridges.

=Pontons.= A kind of portable boats specially adapted for the formation of floating bridges required by armies. They are constructed in various ways, of wood, metal, or prepared canvas, stretched over frames made for the purpose (the latter it is said are much in favor), and have the necessary gear placed with them for transport. The ponton used in the U. S. army is constructed as follows:

The _ponton frame_ is composed of two side frames, of twelve narrow and of two wide transoms. The former are strengthened at the ends by iron straps, which are countersunk and perfectly smooth; all the edges of the frame and transoms are well rounded to prevent chafing the canvas. The wide transoms are of 10-inch by 1¹⁄₂-inch plank, provided with tenons to fit the mortises in the frame. The narrow transoms are of 4-inch by 2¹⁄₂-inch scantling. The articles of each of the above classes are made exactly alike, so that they may be interchanged. Two of the narrow transoms are provided with an iron mooring becket.

The frame when assembled is held together by a rope passed through the rings in the ends of the side frame, and tightened with a rack-stick.

The _ponton cover_ is of 0000 cotton duck, double-seamed, with the border double for 1¹⁄₂ inches in width. The clew-line eyelets are of metal. The lashings are of 1-inch rope 18 feet in length, and looped at one end, and the cable used is of 3-inch Manilla rope, 30 fathoms long.

_Bridge Equipage._--The United States bridge equipage is composed of reserve and of advance-guard trains. The former are intended to accompany large bodies of troops in the field, and are provided with the material necessary for the construction of bridges of sufficient capacity to pass large armies with their heaviest trains over rivers of any size and rapidity.

The advance-guard equipage is intended for the use of light troops, such as advance-guards, cavalry expeditions, etc. It is organized, both as regards material and carriages, with a view to rapidity of movement. At the same time, it is capable of furnishing a bridge which will fulfill all the requirements of troops engaged on such service.

_Organization._--The reserve equipage is divided into trains, each of which is composed of four ponton divisions and one supply division. Each division is accompanied by tool-wagon and traveling-forge.

Each _ponton division_ is complete in itself, containing all the material necessary for constructing a bridge of eleven bays, or 225 feet in length.

Each of these divisions is subdivided into four sections, two of which are ponton and two abutment sections; the former contain three ponton-wagons and one chess-wagon; the latter, one ponton-, one chess-, and one trestle-wagon each.

The ponton section contains the material for three bays, and should never be subdivided. The division may be increased or diminished at pleasure, by the changing the number of its ponton sections.

The carriages are loaded as follows: Each ponton-wagon contains 1 ponton, 7 long balks, 1 anchor, 1 cable, 5 oars, 2 boat-hooks, 20 lashings, 6 rack-sticks, 1 scoop-shovel, 2 small scoops, 1 axe, 1 hatchet, 1 bucket, and 20 pounds of spun yarn.

Each trestle-wagon (identical with ponton-wagon) contains 7 long balks, 7 trestle balks, 1 trestle complete, 2 abutment sills, 2 coils of 3-inch rope.

Each chess-wagon contains 60 chess.

The forge is identical with forge A furnished by the ordnance department.

Each tool-wagon contains 50 axes, 20 shovels, 20 spades, 15 picks, 25 hatchets, 4 broad-axes, 4 adzes, 4 cross-cut saws, 12 augers (assorted), 2 crow-bars, 2 calking-irons, 12 tin lanterns, 2 monkey-wrenches, 1 sledge, 1 steel square, 1 grindstone, 1 spirit-level, 1 coil telegraph wire, 1 coil 3-inch rope, 1 coil 1-inch rope, 1 coil spun yarn, 50 pounds iron (assorted), 25 pounds paint, 6 paint-brushes, 1 dozen chalk lines, 1 pound red chalk, 4 pounds white chalk, 6 sail-needles, 1 palm, 6 balls twine, 50 pounds 6-inch spikes, 100 pounds 6-, 8-, 10- and 20-penny nails, 2 sets blocks and falls, 2 gross each of 1-, 2- and 5-inch screws, 1 roll canvas, 20 pounds calking cotton. Also 4 boxes of carpenters’ and saddlers’ tools nearly identical with those furnished by the ordnance department for battery-wagon C. If desirable, extra stores to the amount of 500 pounds may be added to the load.

The _supply division_ is provided with articles necessary to replace material lost or worn out, such as balk, chess, spare parts of carriages, a few complete carriages, etc.

The carriages of this division consist of ponton-, chess-, and tool-wagons, and of forges. Their number and proportion will be determined by the nature of the country in which the army is operating, and by the proximity of the main depot.

The ponton-wagon contains 17 long and 7 trestle balks. The chess-wagon, 60 chess. Tool-wagon No. 1 carries the same load as that attached to a ponton division. Tool-wagon No. 2 contains 80 rack-collars; of 6-, 8-, 10-, and 20-penny nails, 2 kegs each; of 4- and 6-inch spikes, 2 kegs each; of 1-, 2-, and 5-inch screws, 4 gross each; of 1- and 3-inch rope, 2 coils each.

The loads may be increased to the extent that circumstances will permit, by adding spare parts of carriages.

The forges are of the patterns A and B issued by the ordnance department.

_Advance-guard Equipage._--The trains of this equipage are composed of 4 ponton divisions, each of which consists of 8 ponton-, 2 chess-, and 2 trestle-wagons.

The load of the _ponton-wagon_ consists of 7 balks, 16 chess, 2 side frames, 1 cable, 1 anchor, and a ponton-chest containing 1 ponton cover, 14 transoms, 5 paddles, 2 scoops, 2 mallets, 20 lashings, 2 boat-hooks, 1 scoop-shovel, and 8 rack-sticks.

The _chess-wagon_ contains 50 chess and 2 spare ponton covers.

The trestle-wagon carries 14 balks, 1 trestle complete, 1 abutment sill, and 1 coil of 3-inch rope and 1 of 1-inch rope.

The forge is forge A of the ordnance department.

When necessary, this load may be reduced by transferring a part of the tools and coal to a forage-wagon.

The ponton-wagon carries all the material necessary for constructing a complete bay. The division may, therefore, be increased or diminished by one or more ponton-wagons without disorganizing it. When a forced march is to be made, and it is desirable to lighten the loads, the chess may be removed from the ponton-wagons, the rope from the trestle-wagons, and the load of the chess-wagons may be reduced to 40 chess. The number of the latter wagons in this case must be increased to five.

The tool-wagon is loaded with the necessary tools, materials, etc., suitable to the advance-guard equipage.

There are four methods of constructing a ponton-bridge: by successive pontons; by parts; by rafts; and by conversion.

_By Successive Pontons._--The location of the bridge having been selected, the ponton-wagons are brought as near the river-bank as practicable, with the rear of the carriage toward the stream. The pontons are unlashed and slid from the wagon-bed into the water; cables are attached to the anchors; one of the former is coiled in the bow of each ponton with its anchor on the top, the flukes projecting over the gunwale.

Those pontons which cast up-stream anchors are moored above the approach to the bridge, and the others below.

A trench about 1 foot in width and depth is excavated to receive the abutment sill; this should be laid horizontally, and exactly perpendicular to the axis of the bridge; it is secured by four pickets, two driven in front and two in rear, about 8 inches from each end. A ponton is brought up opposite to the abutment, and close to the shore. The ponton is then pushed off and adjusted in its place by means of shore-lines, which are made fast to mooring-posts.

As soon as the first set of balks is laid, a chess is placed on edge in the trench above mentioned, and in contact with the ends of the balks. Its upper edge should be 1¹⁄₂ inches above the balks. Earth is rammed behind it, crowding it firmly against the balks. The chess is then laid on.

The ponton which has cast the first up-stream anchor, having dropped down to the head of the bridge, is entered by the pontoniers. Five balks are then brought up and delivered to the lashers in the second ponton, which is pushed off; the shore ends of the balks are delivered to the lashers in the first ponton, who place them on the down-stream side, and in contact with those of the first set, their cleats against the outside of the interior gunwale. They lash the balks firmly together and to the lashing-hooks at both gunwales, and then step into the third ponton.

When a bay is covered with chess, the side-rails are laid. They are placed directly over the outside balks, to which they are lashed at three points,--at the middle and immediately over the axis of each ponton, at which point the two side-rails and balks of two bays lap and are all lashed together.

In constructing a ponton-bridge there are two points that require

## particular attention: the anchorage, and the lashing; the men who are

intrusted with their execution should be selected from the most intelligent and experienced pontoniers in the command.

_The Anchorage._--The distance of the anchor from the bridge should be at least ten times the depth of the stream; with a less distance the bows of the ponton would sink too deeply in the water.

The direction of the cable when made fast to the bridge must coincide with that of the current,--_i.e._, a ponton in the bridge must have the same position which it would assume if riding freely at anchor. It will be remembered that the cable is not finally made fast to the ponton which casts its anchor, but to the one following it in the bridge; and due allowance must be made for this in selecting the place for casting anchor.

The number of anchors required will depend somewhat on the strength of the current. It is generally sufficient to cast an anchor up-stream for every alternate ponton, and half that number down-stream; but where the current is very rapid it may be necessary to anchor every up-stream boat, especially near the middle of the bridge. The number of anchors cannot be much diminished, however moderate the current, as the anchorage has a very marked effect in checking the horizontal oscillation to which bridges are subject when troops are marching over them.

_The Lashings._--With respect to the lashings, the corresponding balks of adjacent bays lap each other by 6 feet, and are lashed together and to the gunwales at two points about 5 feet apart. Thus a strong splice is formed, making five continuous beams running the entire length of the bridge. The stability of the bridge is further increased by the manner of placing and securing the side-rails.

_By Parts._--The abutment bay is formed as in the previous method. The parts are constructed at suitable points along the shore above the bridge, and for each is required the material for three bays. They are constructed as follows:

A ponton is moored bow and stern close to the shore, and five chess are temporarily laid from the bank to its interior gunwale, for the convenience of the pontoniers during the construction of the part.

The other two pontons are brought up in succession, and two bays are constructed in the ordinary manner, except that six chess are omitted from the roadway at both ends. Twenty-six chess and seven balks are loaded on the parts thus formed, which is then pushed off and conducted to the line of up-stream anchors, where it casts its anchor and drops down to its place in the bridge.

The first part is connected with the abutment bay by the pontoniers on shore, who construct one length of bridge flooring in the usual manner, to join the abutment ponton with the first ponton of the part.

The other parts are united as they come in position, by bays formed from the balks and chess with which they are loaded.

The down-stream anchors are cast by separate pontons provided for the purpose; and it may sometimes be necessary to cast the up-stream anchors in the same way, as the parts are not easily managed in a rapid current.

When the current is moderate, the parts may be constructed below as well as above the bridge.

_By Rafts._--The abutment bay is laid in the same manner as in the last method, and the rafts differ from the parts only in having the roadway completed,--that is, the six chess at each end are not omitted. The rafts are not loaded with extra balks and chess, but are provided with two false balks, 6 feet 9 inches by 5 feet 5 inches, and with four rack-collars and wedges.

The rafts cast their up-stream anchors, and drop down to their places in the bridge. The outer pontons of the adjacent rafts are in contact, and are lashed together bow and stern by their mooring-posts. False balks are laid over the side-rails of the two rafts at their junction; and two rack-collars embrace each false balk, and the side-rails and balks under them. These collars are placed on each side, and 2 feet from, the junction of the side-rails. The wedges are driven between the false balks and the tops of the collars.

_By Conversion._--The position of the bridge having been determined, and the width of the stream accurately measured, a suitable place at some distance above the position of the abutment is selected for the construction of the bridge. This place may be at a considerable distance from that which the bridge is to occupy; it is frequently on some tributary of the stream to be bridged, out of sight of the enemy’s shore.

The bridge is constructed parallel to the shore; side-rails are lashed on all except the extreme bays. The balks, chess, etc., for the abutment bay on the enemy’s side, are embarked on the next to the last bay of the bridge; a ponton is lashed to the last ponton in the bridge; this contains, in addition to the articles necessary for constructing the abutment, two strong pickets. The up-stream anchors are deposited in the bows of the boats on the wheeling flank, 10 or 15 yards of their cables coiled, the remainder stretched along the bridge. Two strong spring-lines are extended and lashed, the one over the bows, the other over the sterns of all the pontons; these lines should be considerably longer than the bridge, and the ends coiled on the platform. The bridge is then allowed to float down to within 15 yards of the first abutment.

The material for the first abutment and bay is brought down in a ponton. Two strong pickets are planted to receive the spring-lines and two to receive the shore-lines, which are coiled on the platform between the first and second pontons.

The wheeling flank is pushed off, and men are stationed in the bow and stern of each ponton with oars and boat-hooks to increase or retard the progress of their ponton, as may be necessary. A detachment is stationed at the first abutment to manœuvre the spring-lines; another to prevent the pivot flank from touching shore; a turn of the shore-line is also taken around the mooring-post of the ponton, and this line is eased off, as the case may require. The anchors are cast as the pontons in which they are carried come in their proper places, and their cables are shifted to the pontons to which they are to be attached. The progress of the bridge is checked when it arrives opposite the abutments, which should be constructed during the conversion of the bridge, if the force be strong enough.

The down-stream anchors are cast by the spare pontons, as in the bridge by successive pontons.

_Flying Bridge._--This term is applied to any floating support anchored to a fixed point (usually in the stream), and driven from shore to shore by the oblique action of the current on its sides.

Although these bridges do not afford a continuous communication, yet they possess some decided advantages, viz.:

They are readily established, even over the most rapid streams.

They require but little material for their construction.

They may be worked by very few men.

They permit the passage of troops of all arms, and of the heaviest carriages.

The entrance to and exit from them is easy.

They do not interrupt navigation; and they are not liable to be injured by floating bodies which, either by accident or design, are carried down-stream by the current.

The current should not be less than one yard per second.

_To Construct the Raft._--The raft is formed of six pontons. Two pontons are lashed stern to stern, and to these a third, breaking joints. A second set similar to the above are placed at a distance from the first of 26 feet from set to set. The two sets are connected by six balks over which four courses are lashed. Then fifteen balks in a manner suitable for receiving chess. The extreme chess are nailed down, and the outer courses secured by side-rails. The length of the cable should be at least one and a half times the width of the river. One, two, or three anchors are used, depending on the strength of the current. The cable is supported by pontons. The boat nearest the anchor is the largest; the distance between the boats should be such that the cable shall not touch the water between the first boat and the raft; each boat is fitted with a staging, composed of two short balks, and a supporting block, on which the cable rests and to which it is lashed. The cable is also connected with the bow of the boat by a line of such length that the boat is allowed to turn just enough to keep parallel with the raft. After the raft is attached to the cable it is passed from shore to shore once or twice, using a stern veering-line if necessary, until the anchors are firmly imbedded and the cable is stretched; the two abutments are then constructed; these do not differ from the first bay of the ordinary bridge.

The proper angle for the axis of the boat to make with the current is about 55°. This angle is gradually increased on nearing the shore, until the way of the raft is diminished sufficiently to prevent it from striking the abutment with a shock.

_Trail Bridges._--When the river is not more than 150 yards wide, a sheer-line may be used in place of the anchor and cable; the sheer-line must be taut enough to keep above water.

If the banks are not high enough, the sheer-line should be elevated at each shore by passing it over a frame formed by three poles, arranged like an artillery gin. Upon this line a pulley is fixed, so that it can run freely from shore to shore; through the eye of the pulley-block a line is passed, one end of which is attached to the bow of the first, and the other to the bow of the second, boat forming the raft. The raft is manœuvred in the same manner as the flying bridge; or one end of a line may be made fast to the running-block on the sheer-line, while the other passes through a snatch-block near the stern of the raft on the up-stream side; by hauling in or letting out this line the proper direction is given to the raft.

_Rope-ferries._--The rope-ferry is used when the velocity of the current is not sufficient to propel the raft. It consists of a raft or flat, provided with a standard near each end on the up-stream side. These standards are forked on top to receive the sheer-line, which is stretched across the stream in the same manner as for the trail bridge. The raft is propelled across the stream by men on its deck hauling on the sheer-line.

_Prairie Raft._--It frequently occurs in the Western country that expeditions, unaccompanied by regular ponton-trains, are compelled to cross streams so situated that it is impossible to obtain timber or other material suitable for the construction of rafts or bridges. Under these circumstances, a raft may be constructed of two canvas pontons, by means of which loaded wagons may readily be ferried over the stream. All the material required for such a raft is easily carried in one ponton-wagon. The construction is as follows: The wagon to be floated is backed into the stream until the rear wheels stand in about one foot of water. A canvas ponton is placed on each side of the wagon, parallel to and one foot from it. A balk is placed against the tail-board of the wagon, and resting upon the gunwales of the pontons. A second balk is similarly placed against the front-board of the wagon. On each side of the wagon a strong rope is made fast to the front balk, passed under the axle-trees round the rear balk, and thence back to the starting-point, where it is made fast. The raft and wagon are pushed into the stream, and, as soon as the latter is clear of the bottom, the balks are lashed to the gunwales of the pontons. A line is attached to the wagon-pole, and coiled in the bow of one of the pontons. This raft may be conveyed across the stream either by rowing, or in the manner of a trail bridge. On approaching the opposite shore, it should be turned with the wagon-pole toward the bank. As soon as the wagon grounds, the balks are removed and the wagon is drawn on shore by means of the rope attached to its pole. A single hinged canvas ponton, which is readily packed in an ordinary quartermaster wagon, will suffice for the crossing, if the wagons are unloaded and taken apart.

_Box Pontons._--In localities where plank and boards can be conveniently procured, pontons may be constructed very expeditiously, by placing ten

## partitions of 2-inch plank, each 5 feet long, and 2¹⁄₂ inches high, in

parallel positions, on the top and sides of which boards are nailed: the box thus formed to be covered with pitched canvas, as described in the mode of constructing crib pontons.

_Wagon-body Pontons._--Ordinary wagon-bodies, covered with pitched canvas or india-rubber blankets, may be used either as boats or pontons. The small capacity of the wagon-body requires such pontons to be placed more closely to compensate for it.

=Ponton-train.= See PONTONS, BRIDGE EQUIPAGE.

=Pontus.= An ancient kingdom in the northeast of Asia Minor, which derived its name from its being on the _Pontus Euxinus_ (Black Sea), extending from the river Colchis in the east to the river Halys in the west. In early times, its various parts were designated after the tribes which inhabited them. The most important of those tribes are,--the Leucosyri, Tibareni, Chalybes, Mosynœci, Heptacometæ, Drilæ, Bechires, Byzeres, Colchi, Macrones, Mares, Taochi, and Phasiani. From the middle of the 7th century B.C., many of those tribes inhabiting the coast rose to great power and opulence, spreading Greek culture and civilization around them; while many of those of the interior were extremely savage and wild. According to tradition, it was conquered by Ninus, founder of the Assyrian empire; and it was certainly under the Persian dominion after the time of Cyrus the Great. In the reign of Artaxerxes II., Ariobarzanes conquered several of the Pontian tribes, and laid the foundation of an independent kingdom. Mithridates II. succeeded him 337 B.C., who by availing himself of the disputes of the successors of Alexander, considerably enlarged his dominions. Under Mithridates VI., from 120 to 63 B.C., the kingdom of Pontus rose to its highest dignity. In his war with the Romans his kingdom was dismembered by Pompey in 65 B.C., who annexed the western part of the nation, and gave the remainder to the native chiefs. In 63 A.D. Pontus was made a Roman province, and in the changes which transpired under Constantine the province was divided into two parts.

=Pontvalent.= A kind of light bridge, used in sieges, for surprising a post or outwork which has but a narrow moat; a flying bridge.

=Poor Knights of Windsor.= See KNIGHTS, MILITARY.

=Port Royal.= In Beaufort Co., S. C., noted as one of the earliest settlements made by the Spaniards within the present limits of the United States, and for important events during the war of the Rebellion.

=Portable Forge.= A light and compact blacksmith’s forge, with bellows, etc., that may be moved from place to place; used frequently in the quartermaster’s department.

=Portate.= In heraldry, borne not erect, but athwart an escutcheon; as, a portate cross.

=Portcullis.= Is an assemblage of several large pieces of wood, joined across one another like a harrow, and each pointed with iron at the bottom. They are sometimes suspended over the gateway of old fortified towns and castles, ready to be let down in the case of surprise, when the gates cannot be shut.

=Portcullis.= In heraldry, the portcullis is represented with rings at its uppermost angles, from which chains depend on either side. It was a badge of the Beaufort family, and borne in virtue of their Beaufort descent by their Tudor sovereigns. Portcullis is the title of one of the pursuviants belonging to the English College of Arms, whose office was instituted by Henry VII.

=Port-fire.= See LABORATORY STORES.

=Portfolio.= A portable case for keeping loose papers in. Hence, also, the office and functions of a minister of state or member of the cabinet; as, to receive the portfolio of war.

=Portglave.= An ancient name for a sword-bearer.

=Portland Isle.= An island off the coast of Dorset, England, which was fortified before 1142.

=Porto= (or =Puerto=) =Bello=. A seaport town of South America, on the north coast of the Isthmus of Darien.

=Porto Novo.= A seaport of British India, in the Presidency of Madras, at the mouth of the Vellaur. It suffered severely in the wars of the British government against Mysore, and fell into a state of decay. At Porto Novo, Hyder Ali, with an immensely superior army, was totally defeated by the British under Sir Eyre Coote in 1791.

=Porto Rico.= A Spanish possession, one of the group of West India Islands called the Great Antilles. Porto Rico was invaded in 1509 by Spaniards from Hayti, and the natives were soon exterminated by them. Towards the end of the 17th century the island was captured by the British, but was abandoned by them soon afterwards. In 1820 a revolution took place in Porto Rico, which was finally put down in 1823.

=Portugal= (anc. _Lusitania_). A kingdom in the southwest of Europe, forming the western part of the Spanish peninsula. After nine years’ struggle, under Viriathes, a brave and able leader, the Lusitanians submitted to the Roman arms about 137 B.C. In the 5th century the Suevi, Vandals, and Visigoths became possessors of the country. In the beginning of the 8th century Portugal shared the fate of Spain, and was overrun by the Moors. After a long struggle, during which many battles were fought, and many illustrious deeds achieved, the Portuguese monarchy was formally established by the Cortes at Lamego in 1143, with Alfonso I. (of the Burgundian house) as king. The immediate successors of Alfonso I. were engaged in many severe struggles with the clergy, who were always ready to combine against the sovereign; but on the whole, the dignity of the kingdom was well maintained by the representatives of this family, who are, moreover, distinguished as the promoters and upholders of the maritime glory of Portugal. Alfonso, surnamed “the Brave,” ascended the throne in 1325, and his reign was almost wholly occupied in wars with the Castilians and the Moslems. With his grandson, Ferdinand I., the legitimate branch of the Burgundian house became extinct in 1383. During the reign of John II., the Azores, Madeira, Cape de Verde, and other islands were seized. The discovery of Brazil and the settlements made there and on the western coast of India increased the maritime power and fame of Portugal, which were further extended under John III., who ascended the throne in 1521, and during whose reign the Inquisition was introduced. At this period Portugal ranked as one of the most powerful monarchies in Europe. Sebastian (grandson of John III.), urged by the Jesuits, entered upon a fatal expedition to Africa against the infidels. The defeat of the Portuguese, and the capture and death of their young king at the battle of Alcazar in 1578, and the extinction of the old Burgundian line in 1580, plunged the country into difficulties and misfortunes of every kind. Philip II. of Spain succeeded in securing to himself the crown of Portugal, and annexing the Portuguese kingdom to the Spanish monarchy. This event proved disastrous in the extreme to Portugal, involving it in all the ruinous wars of Spain in the Low Countries and in Germany, the greater part of the expenses of which it bore; while the Dutch, in retaliation for Spanish aggression at home, attacked the Portuguese settlements in Brazil, and almost completely deprived them of their possessions in the Indian Archipelago. In 1640, after a forced union of 160 years, Portugal was freed, by a bold and successful conspiracy of the nobles, from all connection with Spain, and the Duke de Braganza placed on the throne, under the title of John IV. The war with Spain, which was the natural result of this act, terminated in 1668, when by the treaty of Lisbon, the independence of Portugal was formally recognized by the Spanish government. For the next hundred years, Portugal vegetated in a state of inglorious apathy. It was invaded by the French in 1807,--a measure which gave rise to the Peninsular war. The victory of Vimeira, gained by the combined English and Portuguese army in 1808, freed the land from its French assailants. A revolution broke out in Lisbon in 1820. In 1832, Dom Pedro raised a fleet and made a landing at Oporto. Admiral Napier in the mean while operated on the coast of Algarve successfully in favor of the young queen Doña Maria de Gloria, whose cause, by these victories and the support of an alliance with the great powers, finally proved victorious. Doña Maria made her entry into Lisbon in 1833; and in the following year Dom Miguel (who had disputed the throne) signed the convention of Evora, by which he renounced all pretensions to the throne. During the reign of Doña Maria insurrections and counter-insurrections were of frequent occurrence, the troops were not to be depended on in moments of emergency; guerrilla bands scoured the country at will, and openly defied the queen’s authority. An armed intervention of the great powers in 1847 produced a partial abatement of the national disorders; but the queen’s partiality for her unpopular ministers, Count Thomar and his brother Cabral, led to the insurrection which, without bloodshed, made the national idol, the Marquis de Saldanha, _de facto_ military dictator of Portugal. The eldest son of the queen ascended the throne in 1853, as Pedro V., under the regency of the king-consort his father. The latter used his power discreetly, and the financial disorders were partially adjusted, and since that period the general condition of the nation is more promising.

=Positions, Military.= The sites occupied by armies, either for the purpose of covering and defending certain tracts of country, or preparatory to the commencement of offensive operations against an enemy. A position is considered as advantageously chosen when it is on elevated ground; when it is not commanded by eminences within the range of artillery; and when, from the existence of natural obstacles, as rivers or marshes, on the wings, it is incapable of being turned,--that is, the enemy cannot, without making an extensive movement, get to the rear of the army by which the position is occupied. In the event of such points of support being wanting, the position, whether it be a plain or an eminence, should have its flanks protected by villages, or by redoubts raised for the purpose. A village, or even a single building, on the ground occupied by the army, may become the key of the position; and as, not unfrequently, on the preservation of this point depends the field of battle, such point should be well supported by troops and artillery. The highest point of ground, particularly if near the lines of operation, may also constitute the key, and is usually strengthened by one or more redoubts. Artillery should always be placed where it can act with the most effect; and when the ground occupied by an army presents alternately salient and retired points along the front of the line, the batteries should be placed at such points. Infantry may occupy any kind of ground, but should, if possible, always form a close line. It is usually placed between the batteries; and if exposed to a distant cannonade, the troops may be drawn up in a trench, the earth from which will serve to cover them without preventing them from marching out in line to meet the enemy. Cavalry must be posted on a level plain, over which it may advance with regularity when a charge is to be made; if compelled to act on broken ground, it is formed in small detachments behind the infantry, through whose intervals it may pass at proper opportunities. The power of readily appreciating the character of ground for military purposes is what is called by foreign writers the military _coup d’œil_; and this can only be acquired by a profound knowledge of military tactics of war, joined to much experience in the practice of executing military surveys, and of contemplating the appearance of ground from all possible points of view.

=Posse Comitatus.= A sheriff or marshal, for the purpose of keeping the peace and pursuing felons, may command all the people of his county above fifteen years old to attend him, which is called the _posse comitatus_, or “power of the county.”--_Blackstone._

=Possession.= To take possession, is the act of occupying any post, camp, fortress, etc., which might facilitate the operations of an army, or which previously belonged to the enemy.

=Post.= Any sort of ground, fortified or not, where a body of men can be in a condition of resisting the enemy.

_Advance post_, a spot of ground seized by a party to secure their front, and the post behind them.

_Post_ is also the walk or position of a sentinel.

=Post.= In the British service, a bugle-sound. The first post is the bugling which precedes the tattoo; the last post that which follows it. Also, the piece of ground to which a sentinel’s walk is limited; any place or office assigned to a soldier or body of soldiers on duty.

=Post, Abandoning a.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 42.

=Post, Advantageous.= Every situation is so called which an enemy occupies in such a manner that not only mere force of arms, but great military skill, and many stratagems, are required to dislodge him.

=Post of Honor.= The advanced guard is a post of honor; the right of the two lines is the post of honor, and is generally given to the eldest corps; the left is the next post, and given to the next eldest, and so on. But the laws of military discipline forbid an inconvenient accordance with this practice, as the circumstances of the case may require a very different arrangement, which it would be wanton to oppose.

=Post, Sleeping Upon.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 39.

=Post, To.= In a military sense, means to station; as, to post a sentinel. _To be posted_, in military tactics signifies to be formed ready for action. Thus, when troops are brought up in column, and ordered to deploy, it frequently happens that some part of the line is refused, in order to flank an enemy, or to cover a weak position; the part that is aligned is said to be posted. To be posted also means, in a familiar sense, to be publicly announced as an infamous or degraded character. Hence, to post a man as a coward is to stick his name up in a conspicuous place, and to accuse him of want of spirit, etc.

=Postern=, or =Sally-port=. Is a passage usually vaulted, and constructed under the rampart, to afford a communication from the interior into the ditch. The passages from the covered way into the country are likewise called sally-ports, as they afford free egress and ingress to troops engaged in making a sally or sortie.

=Post-traders.= Traders are allowed in the American army at the rate of one to each military camp or post, who have the exclusive privilege to trade upon the military reserve to which they are appointed, and no other person will be allowed to trade or sell goods by sample or otherwise, within the limits of the reserve, except producers of fresh fruit and vegetables, by permission of the post commander. Post-traders are selected for the appointment by a council of administration, consisting of the three senior officers, next to the commanding officer, on duty at the post, and upon the recommendation of these officers, approved by the post commander, are appointed by the Secretary of War. The trader is authorized to keep on hand for sales to the troops, articles of wholesome food, such clothing as soldiers may be permitted to purchase, tobacco, blacking, etc., the prices to be regulated by the council of administration. At remote military posts in the United States, traders are authorized to keep on hand the necessary supplies for sales to miners, settlers, and emigrants. See CANTEEN, and SUTLER.

=Pot.= The paper cylinder forming the head of a signal-rocket and containing the decorations. To diminish the resistance of the air the pot is surmounted by a paper cone.

=Pot, Stink-.= See STINK-POT.

=Potence= (_Fr._). Troops are ranged _en potence_ by breaking a straight line, and throwing a certain proportion of it, either forward or backward, from the right or left, according to circumstances, for the purpose of securing that line. An army may be posted _en potence_ by means of a village, a river, or a wood.

=Potent Counter-potent.= In heraldry, one of the heraldic furs, in which the field is filled with crutch-shaped figures alternately of metal and color, those of opposite tinctures being placed base against base, and point against point. The metal and colors are understood to be argent and azure, unless they be specifically blazoned otherwise. Potent counter-potent is sometimes blazoned Vairycuppy.

=Potent, Cross.= In heraldry, a cross crutch-shaped at each extremity. It is also called a Jerusalem cross, from its occurrence in the insignia of the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem, which are, argent a cross potent between four crosslets or. This coat is remarkable as being a departure from the usual heraldic rule which prohibits the placing of metal upon metal.

=Potentee.= A heraldic line of division which takes the form of the outline of a succession of crutch-shaped figures.

=Potgun.= Formerly a short, wide cannon, formed like a pot.

=Potidæa.= A town in Macedonia, on the narrow isthmus of the peninsula Pallene, was a strongly fortified place, and one of considerable importance. It was a colony of the Corinthians, and was founded before the Persian wars. It afterwards became tributary to Athens, and its revolt from the latter city in 432 B.C. was one of the immediate causes of the Peloponnesian war. It was taken by the Athenians in 429, after a siege of more than two years, its inhabitants expelled, and their place supplied by Athenian colonists. In 356 it was taken by Philip of Macedon, who destroyed the city, and sold the inhabitants into slavery. Cassander, however, built a new city on the same site, to which he gave the name of _Cassandria_, and which he peopled with the remains of the old population, and the inhabitants of the surrounding towns. It was taken and plundered by the Huns, but was restored by Justinian.

=Potomac.= A river of the United States, formed by two branches, which rise in the Alleghany Mountains, and unite 20 miles southeast of Cumberland, Md., from which point the river flows in a generally southeasterly course, 400 miles, and falls into Chesapeake Bay, where it is 6 to 8 miles broad, 75 miles from the ocean. Line-of-battle ships ascend to Washington, 120 miles from its mouth. The Potomac forms the greater part of the boundary between Virginia and Maryland. During the civil war, both Federal and Confederate armies crossed several times the fords of the Upper Potomac, and severe actions were fought upon its banks. The largest army of the Union was named after it.

=Pottawatomies.= A tribe of Indians of Algonkin stock, who formerly occupied a great part of Michigan, where a few still remain. They fought against the settlers in the Pontiac war, and against the Americans in the war of the Revolution; and were allies of the British in the war of 1812, soon after which they removed to Kansas, where they now reside in a partial state of civilization, only about 500 of what is known as the Prairie band being located on a reservation.

=Pouch.= A case of strong leather, lined with tin divisions, for the purpose of carrying a soldier’s ammunition. It is covered by a flap to preserve the cartridges from wet. The leather cases containing primers, lanyard, etc., in field and heavy artillery, and those containing a gunner’s level, vent-punch, gimlet, etc., in heavy artillery, are also called pouches.

=Pounder.= The term used in describing the force of a cannon employed in firing solid shot; as, a 9-pounder field-gun, a 300-pounder Armstrong, etc.

=Powder.= See GUNPOWDER.

=Powder-cart.= A two-wheeled carriage covered with an angular roof of boards. To prevent the powder from getting damp, a tarred canvas is put over the roof; and on each side are lockers to hold shot, in proportion to the quantity of powder.

=Powdered=, or =Semée=. In heraldry, strewn with an indefinite number of small charges.

=Powder-magazine.= See MAGAZINE.

=Powder-measure.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Powder-mill.= See MILL, GUNPOWDER-.

=Power.= In military affairs as well as in all others, is knowledge--of human passions--of arms--of distance--of the skill and numbers of an enemy. To be in the _power_ of an enemy, is to have taken up, injudiciously, such a position as to expose you to a defeat whenever the enemy may think proper to attack you.

=Powerful.= Full of power; capable of producing great effects of any kind; as, a powerful army or navy.

=Powldron.= In heraldry, that part of armor which covers the shoulders.

=Powwow.= A priest or conjurer among the North American Indians. Also conjurations performed for the cure of diseases and other purposes, attended with great noise and confusion, and often with dancing.

=Poynado.= A poniard was formerly so called.

=Pozzuoli.= A city of Southern Italy, at the east of the Bay of Naples. It is first mentioned in history during the second Punic war, when it was surrounded by strong walls. In 214 B.C. it repulsed Hannibal, and subsequently became a place of importance. It was destroyed by Alaric, Genseric, and Totila. It was afterwards rebuilt by the Byzantine Greeks, but being exposed to new devastations, to earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, it sank into decay.

=Practicable.= A word frequently used in military matters to express the possible accomplishment of any object. Hence, a practicable breach.

=Practice, To.= In a military sense, to go through the manual and platoon exercises, or through the various manœuvres, etc., for the purpose of becoming thoroughly master of military movements. Practice is likewise used to signify the act of effecting or executing any military operation.

=Præliares.= Among the Romans, fighting days, on which they thought it lawful to engage in acts of hostility; for during the time of some

## particular feasts, they reckoned it a piece of impiety to raise, march,

or exercise men for war, or to encounter the enemy, unless first attacked.

=Prætorians.= Was, during the Roman republic, a select cohort that attended the prætor or commander of an army. They frequently decided the fate of battles. After the overthrow of the republic, Augustus formed them into nine cohorts, and fixed their station in the capital as body-guards. They became, in short, under the emperors, what “the guards” are to the monarchies of Europe. They, in addition to their military duties, frequently had the charge of state prisoners, and often acted the part of executioners. They were all picked men, chosen for the most part from Italy. Their power increased greatly under the empire until they frequently determined the fate of an emperor. Diocletian reduced their number, and Constantine disbanded them.

=Prætorium.= See PRETORIUM.

=Praga.= A town of Poland, on the Vistula, opposite to Warsaw, with which it communicates by a bridge of boats. In 1794 the Polish insurgents took refuge here, and it was stormed by Suwarrow, and given up to pillage and massacre, when about 20,000 were slain. In 1830 the Grand Duke Constantine of Russia was forced to retreat from this town with his troops, at the beginning of the Polish revolution in that year, which unfortunately proved unsuccessful.

=Prague.= A city of Austria, the capital of Bohemia, situated on the Moldau. Prague was conquered and almost destroyed by the Hussites in 1424; but after the subsequent defeat and submission of the Hussites, the city was rebuilt. In the Thirty Years’ War it suffered severely, and in 1620 the battle was fought at the White Mountain, near the city, in which Frederick V. (the “Winter King”), son-in-law of James I. of England, was completely defeated, and compelled to renounce his assumed crown, and to give up the town into the power of the emperor of Austria. Swedes and Imperialists successively gained possession of it during the war; and a century later, during the Seven Years’ War, it again fell into the hands of different victors, being compelled, in 1744, to capitulate to Frederick the Great of Prussia; but he was obliged to abandon it the same year. In 1757 the king of Prussia again besieged it, but his efforts to reduce it proved ineffectual. In 1848 it was bombarded, the inhabitants having risen against the Austrian government, when great cruelties were perpetrated by the Austrian troops. A treaty of peace between Austria and Prussia was signed at Prague, August 23, 1866.

=Praguerie, War of= (so named from Prague, then celebrated for its civil disorders). Was the name given to the revolt of the dauphin, afterwards Louis XI., against his father, Charles VII., aided by Alexander, the bastard, of Bourbon, and other nobles. It was soon quelled; Louis was exiled, and Alexander put to death by drowning, July, 1440.

=Prairie Raft.= See PONTONS.

=Prairie-carriage.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Prance.= To spring or bound, as a horse in high mettle. To walk or strut about in a showy manner, or with warlike parade.

=Precedence.= Priority in rank or precedence in military life, is regulated by the date of an officer’s commission, or the standing in the corps to which he may belong.

=Precedent.= Any act which can be interpreted into an example for future times, is called a precedent. Persons in high office are extremely scrupulous with respect to precedents, especially in military matters.

=Precision.= Exact limitation, scrupulous observance of certain given rules.

=Predal=, or =Predatory War=. A war carried on by plunder and rapine.

=Prefect= (Lat. _præfectus_). A Roman officer who was over, or who superintended, a particular command, charge, department, and the like. Of this class there were several, as the prefect of a camp, of a fleet, of the city guards, etc.

=Prefect Pretorian.= In Roman antiquity, was the commander of the pretorian guards.

=Preferment.= The state of being advanced to a higher post.

=Prejudice.= An opinion or decision of mind formed without due examination; prejudgment; a bias or leaning toward one side or the other of a question from other considerations than those belonging to it; an unreasonable predilection or prepossession for or against anything; especially, an opinion or leaning adverse to anything formed without proper grounds, or before suitable knowledge.

=Prejudicial to Military Discipline, Conduct.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 62.

=Prenzlow.= A town of Prussia, in the province of Brandenburg, 71 miles north-northeast from Berlin. Here, in October, 1806, a body of Prussians, 10,000 strong, under the Prince of Hohenlohe, surrendered, after the defeat of Jena, to the French under Murat.

=Prepare for Action.= A word of command used in the artillery.

=Preponderance.= In gunnery, is the excess of weight of the part in rear of the trunnions over that in front; it is measured by the lifting force in pounds, which must be applied at the rear of the base-ring, at the base-line, or at the bottom of the ratchet, to balance the piece when suspended freely on the axis of the trunnions. Preponderance was given to prevent the sudden dipping of the muzzle, in firing, and violent concussion on the carriage at the breech. Most of the heavy pieces of the late models have no preponderance, the axis of the trunnions intersecting the axis of the piece, at the centre of gravity.

=Presburg.= A town of Hungary, situated on the Danube, 36 miles east from Vienna. This town was once the capital of Hungary, and the emperors of Austria are still crowned here as kings of Hungary. It is noted for the treaty concluded there between France and Austria in 1805, when the Tyrol was given to Bavaria, and Venice to the French.

=Prescott= (Upper Canada). On November 17, 1838, the Canadian rebels were attacked by the British under Maj. Young, and (on the 18th) by Lieut.-Col. Dundas, who dispersed the insurgents, several of whom were killed, and many taken prisoners, the remainder surrendering. The troops also suffered considerably.

=Presence of Mind.= Ready conceptions of expedient, producing promptitude of action under difficult and alarming circumstances. A quality indispensable in a general.

=Present.= In the British service, means to level; to aim; to bring the musket to a horizontal position, the butt resting against the right shoulder for the purpose of discharging its contents at a given object.

=Present.= To offer openly; to exhibit; to give in ceremony; as, to present the colors.

=Present Arms, To.= In tactics is to bring the musket to a certain prescribed position, for the purpose of paying a military compliment.

=Preservation of Cannon and Ammunition.= See LACKER.

=President.= The President of the United States is commander-in-chief of the army, navy, and militia, called into service. His functions as such are assigned by Congress, but embrace of course whatever authority may be assigned to any military commander, on the principle that the authority of the greater includes that of the less. For the command, government, and regulation of the army, however, Congress has created a military hierarchy or range of subordination in the army with rights and duties regulated by Congress, and the commander-in-chief cannot make use of any other agents in exercising his command; and all orders issued by him must be according to the rules and articles made by Congress for the government of the army. In his capacity of chief magistrate of the Union, Congress has also invested the President with many administrative functions relating to military affairs; and for the performance of the latter duties the secretary of the department of war has been made his minister, upon matters connected with _matériel_, accounts, returns, the support of troops, and the raising of troops.

=President.= The president of a court-martial is the senior member. He preserves order in court; administers the oath taken by the judge-advocate, and the proceedings of the court are authenticated by his signature and that of the judge-advocate.

=Presidio= (_Sp._). A place of defense; a garrison or guard-house.

=Pressure-gauge.= Called also _pressure-plug_. An apparatus invented by Gen. Rodman for measuring the pressure exerted by the gases of exploded powder. It consists essentially of a steel plunger, on the head of which the pressure is exerted. The other end of the plunger is widened out into two cutting edges which meet at an obtuse angle. This point rests on a disk of copper, into which the cutter is driven by the pressure. The pressure is deduced from the length of the cut. Two forms of the instrument are used,--one is placed in a hole bored through the side of the gun. The other is complete in itself and is placed at the bottom of the cartridge-bag. Lieut. Metcalfe’s (U. S. Ordnance Corps) modification of the pressure-gauge has a cutter with a helicoidal edge. To measure the cut he uses a circular scale with a hole in the centre (in which the inducted copper is placed), and a radial arm to show the extent of the spiral cut. The English modification of Rodman’s instrument is called the _crusher-gauge_,--a short cylinder of copper is substituted for the disk,--the reduction in its length gives a measure of the pressure. The crusher-gauge is frequently attached to the base of the shot. A similar modification is used to test the power of the high explosives, such as dynamite, dualin, etc. A lead cylinder is crushed in this case. A very small charge is used. The reaction is obtained by placing a heavy cylindrical shot over the charge, which rests directly in a cavity on the top of the plunger.

=Preston.= A town of England, in Lancashire, on the north bank of the Ribble. This town was partially destroyed by Bruce in 1322; and after declaring for the king, it was taken by the forces of the Parliament under Gen. Fairfax. Here also ended the ill-fated Jacobite rising of 1715, when, after a brave resistance, the insurgents were compelled to surrender.

=Prestonpans.= A village of Haddingtonshire, 8 miles east of Edinburgh. In the vicinity, on September 21, 1745, was fought the famous battle of Prestonpans, between the royal troops under Sir John Cope and the Jacobites under Prince Charles, in which the latter, with a loss of only about 10 officers and 120 men in killed and wounded, routed the royal forces with great slaughter, and captured their cannon, baggage, and military chest.

=Pretence, Escutcheon of=, or =Escutcheon Surtout=. In heraldry, a small shield placed in the centre of the field of another shield. The husband of an heiress may bear the arms of his wife in an escutcheon of pretence, instead of impaling them. Feudal arms are also sometimes placed on an escutcheon of pretence, particularly in the insignia of elective sovereigns, who have been in use of bearing their own proper arms in surtout over those of the dominions to which they are entitled.

=Pretorian.= Appertaining to pretor; also the general’s guard among the ancient Romans.

=Pretorium.= The hall or court where the pretor lived and administered justice. It also denoted the tent of the Roman general, in which councils of war were held. The place where the pretorian guards were quartered or lodged, was likewise called pretorium.

=Prevesa.= A fortified town of European Turkey, in Albania, on the north shore of the Gulf of Arta, 58 miles south-southwest of Yanina. Prevesa belonged to the Venetians from 1684 until the fall of that republic in 1797. It was then held by the French for a time, but was afterwards taken by the Turks.

=Prey.= Anything, as goods, etc., taken by force from an enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder.

=Pricker.= A light horseman was formerly so called.

=Pricker.= A priming-wire (which see).

=Pride.= In heraldry, a peacock or other bird, when the tail is spread out in a circular form, and the wings drooped, is said to be “in his pride.”

=Priest-cap.= In fortification, a work so named from its shape; called also _swallow-tail_. See REDAN.

=Prime.= To charge with the powder, percussion-cap, or other device for communicating fire to the charge, as a fire-arm.

=Primer.= A wafer, cap, tube, or other device for communicating fire to the charge of powder in a cannon. The cap or tube usually contains a friction- or percussion-powder. The _friction-primer_ is generally used in the land service. (See FRICTION-PRIMER.) For service on shipboard, a quill filled with rifle-powder, having on the top a capsule of fulminate of mercury, is generally employed. The capsule is exploded by a blow from the lock-hammer. The _tape-primer_, used sometimes in blasting, is formed of long, flexible strips of paper or fabric containing fulminate or other quick-burning substance. The _electric primer_ is used to fire simultaneous discharges, both in ordnance and blasting. In firing wet gun-cotton, the small charge of dry gun-cotton used in conjunction with the _detonating exploder_ is called a _primer_. In _small-arms_ the term is specially applied, at the present time, to the percussion-caps used in reloading metallic cartridge-cases. The cap is set in a recess in the head of the shell. When the firing-pin strikes the outside end of the cap, the fulminate is exploded by being driven against a perforated cone called the _anvil_. This _anvil_ is usually a part of the shell. In the _Winchester primer_, recently invented, the anvil is a part of the primer itself, being inserted upon the fulminate. A shoulder in the recess holds the anvil when the cap is struck.

=Priming.= The powder, percussion-cap, or other device used to communicate fire to the charge in a fire-arm.

=Priming-tubes.= See LABORATORY STORES.

=Priming-wire.= A pointed wire, used to penetrate the vent of a piece, for examining the powder of the charge, or for piercing the cartridge.

=Primipilarii=, =Primopilarii=, or =Primipilares=. Among the Romans, were such as had formerly borne the office of primipulus of a legion. The banner was intrusted to his care. Among other privileges which the primipilarii enjoyed, they became heirs to what little property was left by the soldiers who died in the campaign.

=Primipilus.= The centurion belonging to the first cohort of a legion. He had charge of the Roman eagle.

=Princeton.= A town of Mercer Co., N. J., about 40 miles northeast of Philadelphia. This place was the scene of an important engagement during the Revolutionary struggle, although the numbers engaged were comparatively small. On hearing of the English reverse at Trenton (which see), Gen. Howe immediately ordered Cornwallis, who was in New York, to proceed with his forces to Princeton. Leaving a part of his troops at this place, he proceeded towards Trenton with the intention of giving battle to the Americans, and arrived with his vanguard on January 1, 1777. Washington, learning that only three regiments were left at Princeton, by a circuitous night march arrived there by daybreak of January 3, surprised and completely routed the enemy with a loss of 200 killed and wounded, and as many prisoners. The American loss did not exceed 30. This event greatly aroused the drooping spirits of the colonists, who had been previously disheartened by a series of reverses.

=Principes.= In the Roman armies, were the infantry, who formed the second line in the order of battle. They were armed like the _hastati_, with this difference, that the former had half-pikes instead of whole ones.

=Principles, Military.= The basis or ground-work upon which every military movement is made, and by which every operation is conducted.

=Prismatic Compass.= A surveying instrument, much used on account of its convenient size and form in military sketching, and for filling up the details of a map where great accuracy is not required.

=Prismatic Powder.= See GUNPOWDER.

=Prisoners.= Are persons under arrest or in custody, whether in prison or not. Whenever any officer is charged with a crime, he is to be arrested and deprived of his sword by the commanding officer; and soldiers charged with crimes are to be confined until tried by a court-martial, or released by proper authority. (See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 65 and 66.) When brought into court, a prisoner should be without irons, or any manner of shackles or bands, unless there is danger of an escape, and then he may be secured with irons.--_Blackstone._

=Prisoners of War.= Are soldiers captured during an engagement, siege, or continuance of hostilities, who are deprived of their liberty until regularly exchanged.

=Prisons, Military.= Are buildings constructed for the retention of prisoners of war, or for the safe-keeping and punishment of offenders against military law. Sometimes during war forts and other strong buildings are utilized for these purposes. The following were noted prisons during the civil war, 1861-65, for the retention of Federal prisoners of war:

_Andersonville_ (which see).

_Belle Isle._--An island in the James River near the city of Richmond, Va. The unfortunate prisoners taken were placed on this island without shelter of any kind to protect them from the scorching rays of the sun during the day or the chilly cold mists of the night, until death or exchange released them from their sufferings.

_Castle Thunder._--A fort in Charleston harbor, S. C., which was used for the same purpose.

_Libby._--An old tobacco warehouse in Richmond, Va., which was temporarily converted into a military prison; and for cruelty and torture to the Union prisoners this place was second only to Andersonville.

_Salisbury._--A town in North Carolina, which had another depot for prisoners.

There were also prisons established for the retention of Confederate prisoners at Camp Douglas, Chicago, Camp Chase, Ohio, Elmira, N. Y., Point Lookout, Md., and Rock Island, Ill.

At _Fort Leavenworth_, Kansas, a permanent military prison was established in accordance with an act of Congress passed March 3, 1873, in which soldiers of the U. S. army are confined for serious offenses against military law.

At _Dartmoor_, a desolate region in England, a prison was constructed in 1809 for the confinement of French prisoners of war which deserves a passing notice, inasmuch as Americans were confined there during the war of 1812. It comprised 30 acres, inclosed with double walls, with seven distinct prison-houses with inclosures. In 1812 there were 6000 American prisoners of war within its walls who were treated with much cruelty, and, in consequence of the appearance of mutinous intentions of some of the prisoners on account of the tardiness of the English officials in releasing them after the treaty of peace was ratified, they were fired upon by the English soldiers, which resulted in the killing of 5 and wounding of 33 prisoners. This act was regarded in America as a wanton massacre.

=Privas.= A town of France, capital of the department of Ardèche, 26 miles southwest from Valence. In the civil wars of the 16th and 17th centuries in France, Privas, which was then a strongly-fortified town, played a conspicuous part, being always favorable to the Protestant party. In 1629 it was bravely defended by a small garrison under St. André de Montbrun against Louis XIII., but after a siege of two months had to be abandoned. Montbrun being soon afterwards taken was hanged, and the fortifications of Privas were leveled to the ground.

=Private.= The title applied in the British army to a common soldier of the cavalry and infantry; the corresponding rank in the artillery being gunner or driver, and in the engineers, the sapper. A private in the cavalry is sometimes called a trooper. In the U. S. army all the soldiers who are below the grade of non-commissioned officers are called privates.

=Privy-coat.= A light coat or defense of mail, concealed under the ordinary dress.

=Prize.= That which is taken from another; a thing seized by force, stratagem, or superior power. Hence, specifically, anything captured by a belligerent using the right of war.

=Prize.= The application of a lever to move any weighty body, as a cask, cannon, or the like.

=Prize Agent.= In the British service, a person appointed for the distribution of such shares of money as may become due to officers and soldiers after battle, siege, or capture.

=Prize-bolt.= A manœuvring-bolt of a mortar-bed.

=Prize-money.= The proportion which is paid to the troops who are present at the capture or surrender of a place, etc., which yields booty.

=Prizing.= The same as _prize_, which see.

=Proclamation.= The act of publishing abroad; conspicuous announcements; official or general notice; publication; that which is put forth by way of public notice; an official public announcement or declaration; a published ordinance; as, the proclamation of a king. A proclamation may be issued to declare the intention of the head of a government to exercise some prerogative or enforce some law which has for a long time been dormant or suspended. In time of war, the head of the government by a proclamation may lay an embargo on shipping, and order the ports to be shut. But the most usual class of proclamations are admonitory notices for the prevention of offenses, consisting of formal declarations of existing laws and penalties, and of the intention to enforce them. Proclamations are only binding when they do not contradict existing laws, or tend to establish new ones, but only enforce the execution of those which are already in being, in such manner as the head of the government judges necessary.

=Proconsul.= In Roman antiquity, an officer who discharged the duties of a consul without being himself consul; a governor of a province, or a military commander under a governor. He was usually one who had previously been consul, and his power was nearly equal to that of a regular consul.

=Prodd.= A cross-bow, used for throwing bullets in ancient times.

=Profile.= A section of a parapet or other work in fortification.

=Projectile.= A body projected or impelled forward by force, especially through the air. In a limited military sense the term is applied to a body intended to be projected from a cannon by the force of gunpowder, or other explosive agent, to reach, strike, pass through, or destroy a distant object. The materials of which projectiles are usually composed are lead, wrought or cast iron, each possessing advantages according to the circumstances under which they are fired. But the material which combines in a greater degree than any other the essential qualities of hardness, strength, density, and cheapness, is cast iron, which is exclusively used in the U. S. service for large projectiles. Compound projectiles are sometimes made, so as to combine the good and correct the bad qualities of different metals. To obviate the serious results that may arise from the wedging of the flanges of a cast-iron projectile in the grooves of a rifle-cannon, it is frequently covered with a coating of lead or other soft metal. Cast and wrought iron have also been combined with success, and also cast iron and soft metal in such a manner as to attain the strength of one metal and the softness and expansibility of the other. Other metals, such as brass, are also used in projectiles of special construction. Projectiles are generally classified, according to their form, into spherical, or smooth-bore, and oblong, or rifle projectiles.

_Spherical Projectiles_ are fired mainly from smooth-bore guns. They are solid shot, shells, spherical case or shrapnel, grape, canister, carcasses, grenades, light- and fire-balls. The advantages which they possess over the oblong are their uniformity of resistance to the air, presenting the least extent of surface for a given weight, the coincidence of their centres of form and inertia; they are less liable to wedge in the bore, as they touch the surface at only one point; and they are best adapted for rolling and ricochet fire on account of the regularity of their rebounds. Solid shot are usually made of cast iron, and are designated by the diameter of the bore of the piece in which they are to be used, or by their weight. Shells are cast with a core of sand (greater or less according to the thickness required), which is afterwards removed. The mortar-shell has the thinnest walls, and contains the greatest bursting charge for the same caliber; the gun-shell is thicker, and the battering-shell is nearly as strong as the solid shot. Shells are usually designated by the weight of the solid shot of the same diameter.

_Oblong Projectiles_ are fired principally from rifled pieces, and have been adopted on account of the increase of range and accuracy which can be obtained with them. For this purpose it is necessary that the projectile should move through the air in the direction of its length. Though experience would seem to show that the only sure method of effecting this is to give it a rapid rotary motion round its axis by the grooves of the rifle, numerous trials have been and are now being made to produce the same effect with smooth-bored guns. One of the simplest plans for this purpose is to place the centre of gravity or inertia in advance of the centre of figure. Another is to make the projectile very long, with its rear portion of wood, and its point of lead or iron, somewhat after the manner of an arrow; but these plans do not seem to be of much practical utility. The system by which the desired result is obtained with the greatest certainty is the rifle system.

_Rifle System._--Spiral grooves are cut into the bore of the piece, or it is ribbed with spiral bands, and the projectile is so formed or prepared as to follow them as it passes along the bore of the piece. The principal question which now occupies the attention of those engaged in improving this species of cannon is to obtain the safest and surest means of effecting this object. Various plans have been tried to obtain the proposed object; nearly all may be ranged under the following heads:

1. _The Flanged System._--This comprises all projectiles which have certain flanges or projections to fit into the grooves of the gun in loading. These are usually deep and few in number, rounded at their bottom edges so as to cause the flanges or studs to pass up the inclined side when rotation is imparted. This is the system at present adopted in England. Though this plan affords a certain means of communicating the rifle motion, it has not always been found a safe one, probably from the wedging of the flanges in the grooves. Besides, the dirt from the burning of the powder collects in the grooves; and as it is difficult to clean them by the usual means, the projectile is liable to meet with obstruction in loading. To obviate these difficulties, the flanges are sometimes made of softer metal than the body of the projectile. Guns for flanged or studded projectiles usually have from 3 to 9 grooves, 0.15 to 0.25 inch deep.

2. _The Compressive System._--By this system the projectile is forced by the action of the powder through the bore of a piece whose diameter without the grooves is less than the diameter of the projectile. Such are the projectiles for the breech-loading Krupp and Broadwell guns. These usually consist of cast iron or steel, and are covered with a coating of lead or other soft metal having horizontal ribs or corrugations, which is secured by a chemical solder, or cast into undercuts in the body of the shot. As the projectile is forced through the bore, an impression of the rifling is cut out of the ribs, the lead thus displaced finding room in the grooves between. This system has been found to work satisfactorily in breech-loading guns. The rifling should be shallow and consist of numerous grooves, slightly narrowing towards the muzzle. Large guns usually have from 20 to 76, from .05 to .08 inch deep. Experiments are now being made, with prospects of success, to substitute bands of soft copper encircling the projectile for the lead coating.

3. _The Expansive System._--This system has been so exclusively used in the United States that it has frequently been called the American system. It embraces all projectiles which are loaded without regard to the rifling, but which are fitted with an expanding portion of some softer metal, as pewter, copper, wrought iron, or _papier-maché_, which is forced into the grooves by the discharge. This system requires for its rifling fewer grooves than the compressive, but a somewhat greater number than the flanged system. Among the projectiles of this class used during the civil war were the Blakely, Dyer, Hotchkiss, James, Parrott, Reed, Schenkle, and Stafford. The principal objections to an expanding or compound projectile are its want of strength to resist a charge of powder proportionately as large as that employed for a simple projectile, and the danger of its breaking and wedging in the bore of the piece. Of late years, however, marked improvements have been made, and projectiles of this class can now be safely fired with double their former charges. The large projectiles of this description now used in the United States consist of the usual cast-iron body having a sabot, or ring of brass or copper either cast or screwed to its base. This ring is divided into an upper and lower flange or lip by an annular groove. When the gun is fired, the gases enter this groove, forcing the lower flange down upon the projectile and the upper or outer into the rifling of the gun, where it is kept during its passage through the bore.

_Armstrong Projectile._--But one kind of projectile is used in the Armstrong breech-loading guns for the field service, and this is so constructed as to act as a shot, shell, or case-shot at pleasure. It consists of a very thin cast-iron shell, inclosing 42 segment-shaped pieces of cast iron built up so as to form a cylindrical cavity in the centre, which contains the bursting charge and the concussion-fuze. The exterior of the shell is thinly coated with lead, which is applied by placing the shell in a mold and pouring it in a melted state. The lead is also allowed to percolate among the segments, so as to fill up the interstices, the central cavity being kept open by the insertion of a steel core. In this state the projectile is so compact that it may be fired without injury, while its resistance to a bursting charge is so small that less than one ounce of powder is required to burst it. When the projectile is to be tired as a shot, it requires no preparation; but the expediency of using it otherwise than as a shell is doubted. To make it available as a shell, the bursting tube, the concussion- and time-fuzes, are all to be inserted; the bursting tube entering first and the time-fuze being screwed in at the apex. If the time-fuze be correctly adjusted, the shell will burst when it reaches within a few yards of the object; or failing in this, it will burst by the concussion-fuze when it strikes the object, or grazes the ground near it. If it be required to act as a canister-shot upon an enemy close to the gun, the regulation of the time-fuze must be turned to the zero of the scale, and then the shell will burst on leaving the gun. The Armstrong projectiles for the muzzle-loading guns have rows of brass or copper studs projecting from their sides to tit into the grooves of the gun, which are constructed on the _shunt_ principle. The projectile is made of wrought iron, or low steel, with very thick sides. There is no fuze, the explosion resulting from the heat generated by the impact, and the crushing in of the thin cap which closes the mouth of the powder-chamber. The sides and bottom of the shell being thick enough to resist crushing by the impact, and also to resist the explosive force of the bursting charge, its effect will, after penetration, be expended on the backing of the armor, or the decks which the armor is intended to screen. Such projectiles are called “blind shells.”

_Blakely Projectile._--Capt. Blakely’s projectile has an expanding cap attached to its base by means of a single tap-bolt in the centre. It is prevented from turning by radial grooves cast on the surface of the bottom of the projectile, into which the cup is pressed by the charge. The angle between the curved sides of the cup and the bottom of the projectile is filled with a lubricating material. On the forward part of the body are soft metal studs, more numerous than the grooves of the bore of the piece, that some of them may always form a bearing surface for the projectile against the lands. The driving sides of the grooves are deeper than the others.

_Dyer Projectile._--The Dyer projectile is composed of a cast-iron body, and a soft metal expanding cup, attached to its base. The adhesion of the cup is effected by tinning the bottom of the projectile, and then casting the cup on to it. The cup is composed of an alloy of lead, tin, and copper, in certain proportions. This projectile, as improved by Mr. Taylor at the Washington Arsenal, gives good results for even as large a caliber as 12 inches.

_French Projectile._--The projectile used in the French field service is made of cast iron, and has 12 zinc studs on its sides, arranged in pairs, so as to fit the 6 grooves of the gun. For the larger cannon projectiles, but 3 studs are used, and these are cast on the projectile, nearly opposite to its centre of gravity; the bearing sides of the studs are faced with white metal to diminish friction against the grooves of the bore. The shape of the grooves is such as to centre the projectile. The latter projectile is used with increasing, the former with grooves of uniform twist. Russian, Austrian, and Spanish artillery projectiles belong to the studded, or button class, but differ from each other in the details of their construction.

_Hotchkiss Projectile._--The Hotchkiss projectile is composed of three parts: the body, the expanding ring of lead, and the cast-iron cup. The

## action of the charge is to crowd the cup against the soft metal ring,

thereby expanding it into the rifling of the gun. The time-fuze projectile has deep longitudinal grooves cut on its sides to allow the flame to pass over and ignite the fuze. The last rifle projectile submitted by Mr. Hotchkiss has an expanding cup of brass attached to its base in a peculiar manner. The cup is divided into four parts by thin projections on the base of the projectile. This arrangement is intended to facilitate the expansion of the cup and to allow the flame to pass over to ignite the fuze.

_James Projectile._--The expanding part of the James projectile consists of a hollow formed in the base of the projectile, and eight radial openings, which extend from this hollow to the surface for the passage of the flame of the charge, which presses against and expands into the grooves of the bore, an envelope or patch, composed of paper, canvas, and lead. In a later pattern of this projectile, the internal cavity and radial openings are omitted, and the outside is furrowed with longitudinal grooves which increase in depth towards the base of the projectile, forming inclined planes, up which the outer covering of lead and canvas is moved by the force of the charge and expanded into the rifling of the piece.

The first projectile used in Parrott guns was invented by Dr. Reed of Alabama, in 1856 or 1857, and was made at Parrott’s foundry. It consisted of a soft wrought-iron cup, slightly swedged to fit the grooves, upon which was cast the body of the shot.

_Palliser Projectile._--This is the most formidable armor-piercing projectile in use. It owes its efficiency to the material used,--chilled cast iron. In the later forms the head only is chilled, the body being cast in sand. Both shot and shell are cast with a core. The shell is “blind.” The curve of the ogival head is struck with a radius of one and one-half times the diameter of the projectile.

_Parrott Projectile._--Capt. Parrott’s projectile, as now made, is composed of a cast-iron body with a brass ring cast into a rabbet formed around its base. The flame presses against the bottom of the ring and underneath it so as to expand it into the grooves of the gun. To prevent the ring from turning in the rabbet, the latter is recessed at several points of its circumference. _Parrott’s incendiary shell_ has two compartments formed by a partition at right angles to its length. The lower and larger space is filled with a burning composition, the upper one is filled with a bursting charge of powder, which is fired by a time- or concussion-fuze. The burning composition is introduced through a hole in the bottom of the shell, which is stopped up with a screw-plug.

_Sawyer Projectile._--The Sawyer projectile has upon its sides six rectangular flanges or ribs to fit into corresponding grooves of the bore. To soften the contact with the surface of the bore, the entire surface of the projectile is covered with a coating of lead and brass-foil. The soft metal at the corner of the base is made thicker than at the sides to admit of being expanded into the grooves, and thereby closing the windage. In the latest pattern of Sawyer projectiles, the flanges are omitted, and the projectiles are made to take the grooves by the expansion of the soft metal at the base, which is peculiarly shaped for this purpose.

_Schenkle Projectile._--Schenkle’s projectile is composed of a cast-iron body, the posterior portion of which is a cone. The expanding portion is a _papier-maché_ sabot or ring, which is expanded into the rifling of the bore by being forced on to the cone by the action of the charge. On issuing from the bore the wad is blown to pieces, leaving the projectile unencumbered in its flight. A great difficulty has been found in practice in always getting a proper quality of material for the sabot, and in consequence, these projectiles have not been found to be reliable.

_Scott Projectile._--The shell devised by Commander Scott of the British navy, for firing molten iron, has three ribs cast upon it, which fit grooves so constructed as to centre it in the bore of the gun when fired. The interior of this shell is lined with loam to prevent the heat of the charge from penetrating through to the bursting charge. It is supposed to be broken and its contents diffused on striking the object.

_Whitworth Projectile._--The cross-section of the bore of the Whitworth gun is a hexagon with the corners slightly rounded. The projectile is first formed so that its cross-section is a circle, and its sides taper towards both ends. The middle portion is then carefully planed off to fit the bore of the gun. The Whitworth blind shell for firing against armor-plates, is made of tempered steel, and each end is closed with a screw. To prevent the heat of impact from acting too soon on the bursting charge, it is surrounded by one or more thicknesses of flannel. A 7-inch shell of this kind has been found to have sufficient strength and stiffness to penetrate 5 inches of wrought iron before bursting.

_Confederate Projectiles._--The rifle projectiles used by the Confederates in the late war belonged, with a few exceptions, to the expanding class. Besides the above there are three kinds of projectiles much used in the U. S. service, viz.:

_Absterdam Projectile._--The best form is cast in a single piece, and has an expanding ring of brass which projects three-eighths of an inch beyond the base of the projectile.

_Eureka Projectile._--Consists of a cast-iron body in one piece, with a brass sabot; the sabot is an annular disk intended to move on the frustum of a cone with an expanding cup in rear to take the grooves.

_Ordnance Projectile._--Consists of a cast-iron body, with a sabot composed of an alloy of lead and tin, which is cast on the base of the projectile, and is held in position by undercuts and dovetails, the

## action of the charge being to force the sabot on the cast-iron body and

to make it take the grooves.

Projectiles of special construction were formerly much used for

## particular purposes, as:

_Bar-shot_, which consisted of two hemispheres or spheres connected by a bar of iron either rigidly or in such a manner as to traverse its length; these were useful in cutting the masts and rigging of ships.

_Chain-shot._--This differed from bar-shot only in the mode of connection, which was a chain instead of a bar.

_Chain-ball._--To arrest the motion of rotation of an oblong projectile thrown under high angles, and with a moderate velocity, it has been proposed to attach a light body to its posterior portion by means of a cord, or chain, which will offer a resistance to the flight of the projectile, and cause it to move with its point foremost.

_Nail-ball._--A round projectile, having a projecting pin to prevent it from turning in the bore of the piece.

_Grooved Ball._--An oblong projectile, having spiral grooves cut along its base, by means of which the action of the charge produces rotation about the longer axis of the projectile. Sometimes these grooves are cut in the forward part of the projectile for the action of the air. Neither of these plans has succeeded in practice.

_Bullets._--A bullet is a leaden projectile discharged from a musket, fowling-piece, pistol, or similar weapon.

_Spherical Bullets._--When smooth-bore muskets alone were used the bullets were chiefly spherical in form and made by casting; at present, however, spherical bullets are manufactured by a compressing machine invented by Mr. George Napier. They are denominated by the number contained in a pound. In consequence of the great improvements that have been made of late in small-arms, the spherical bullet is now very little employed for military purposes, its use being chiefly confined to case-shot.

_Oblong Bullets._--Are denominated by their diameter and weight. About 1600, when rifles began to be used as a military weapon, spherical bullets were fired; in the early part of the 18th century, however, it was found that good results could be obtained by the use of oblong projectiles of elliptical form. The great difficulty, however, of loading the rifle, which was ordinarily accomplished by the blows of a mallet on a stout iron ramrod, prevented it from being generally used in regular warfare. The foregoing plan was afterwards improved by making the projectile a little smaller than the bore, and wrapping it with a patch of cloth greased to diminish the friction in loading. The improvements which have been made in the last thirty years have entirely overcome this difficulty, and rifles are now almost universally employed, although until 1855 the mass of the American infantry was armed with smooth-bored muskets. The first person to overcome the difficulty of loading rifles was M. Delavigne, an officer of the French infantry. His plan, proposed in 1827, was to make the projectile small enough to enter the bore easily and to attach it to a sabot, which, when in position, rested upon the shoulder of a cylindrical chamber formed at the bottom of the bore to contain the powder. In this position the projectile was struck two or three times with the ramrod, which expanded the lead into the grooves of the barrel. The method of Delavigne was afterwards improved by Thouvenin and Minié, both officers of the French service. The projectiles suggested by them were elongated in form and the metal of the projectile was forced into the grooves of the rifling by means of a plug or cup driven into the base of the projectile, which was cast hollow for that purpose. The cup used in the Minié bullet wits made of sheet-iron. Mr. Greener of England appears to have been the first person to utilize this expanding or dilating action. Various other bullets have been invented, of greater or less usefulness, as the Whitworth, Pritchett or Enfield, and those used in the French, Austrian, and Swiss services. In the British service, the Enfield bullet is employed; this has a perfectly smooth exterior, and a conical boxwood plug inserted into a cavity at the base; they are made by machinery which draws in a coil of leaden rod, unwinds it, cuts it to the required length, stamps out the bullets with steel dies, drops them into boxes, and conveys them away.

_United States Bullets._--The bullets used in the U. S. service are of two kinds, one for the rifle and carbine ball-cartridge weighing 405 grains, the other for the revolver cartridge weighing 230 grains. The metal used is an alloy of 16 parts of lead and 1 part of tin. The bullet in shape is a cylinder surmounted by a conical frustum terminating in a spherical segment. It has three rectangular cannelures which contain the lubricant. This latter is protected by the case which covers more than half the length of the bullet. A dished cavity is made in the base of the bullet to bring it to the proper weight.

=Projectiles, Theory of.= Is the investigation of the path, or _trajectory_ as it is called, of a body which is projected into space. A body thus projected is acted upon by two forces, the _force of projection_, which, if acting alone, would carry the body onwards forever in the same direction and at the same rate; and the _force of gravity_, which tends to draw the body downwards towards the earth. The force of projection acts only at the commencement of the body’s motion; the force of gravity, on the contrary, continues to act effectively during the whole time of the body’s motion, drawing it farther and farther from its original direction, and causing it to describe a curved path, which, if the body moved in a vacuum, would be accurately a parabola.

_Trajectory in Vacuo._--This general theory is not the object of the present discussion, but simply the theory of projectiles as far as it relates to fire-arms. The path that the centre of gravity of a projectile would describe in _vacuo_ would be a parabola, and the greatest range given by an angle of fire of 45°. Under the same angles of fire the range would be proportional to the squares of the velocities, the velocity least at the summit of the trajectory, and the velocities at the two points in which the trajectory cuts the horizontal plane equal. The time of flight would be given for an angle of 45° by the formula:

_T_ = ¹⁄₄√_X_

In which _T_ represents the time of flight, and _X_ the range expressed in feet. These results are found to answer in practice for projectiles which experience slight resistance from the air, or for heavy projectiles moving with low velocities, as is usually the case with those of mortars and howitzers, for which, within certain limits, the above results are sufficiently accurate in practice.

_Trajectory in Air._--A body moving in air experiences a resistance which diminishes the velocity with which it is animated. Thus it has been shown that certain cannon-balls do not range one-eighth as far in the air, as they would if they did not meet with this resistance to their motion, and small-arm projectiles which have but little mass are still more affected by it. This resistance is expressed by the formula:

( _v_) _P_ = _A_{p}R_²(1 + ---)_v_²; ( _r_)

in which _P_ represents the resistance in the terms of the unit of weight, _v_ the velocity, and _pR_² the area of a cross-section of the projectile, _A_ the resistance in pounds on a square foot of the cross-section of a projectile moving with a velocity of one foot, _r_ is a linear quantity depending on the velocity of the projectile. For all service spherical projectiles _A_ is .000514, and for all service velocities _r_ is 1.427 feet; the value of _A_ for the rifle-musket bullet is .000358; hence, the resistance of the air is about one-third less on the ogival than on the spherical form of projectile. _A_ being a function of the density of air, its value depends on the temperature, pressure, and hygrometric condition. It has been demonstrated that the final velocity of a projectile falling in the air is directly proportional to the product of its diameter and density, and inversely proportional to the density of the air; the retarding effect of the air is less on the larger and denser projectiles, and for the same caliber an oblong projectile will be less retarded by the air than one of spherical form and consequently with an equal, perhaps less, initial velocity, its range will be greater. It has also been shown that great advantage in point of range is obtained by using large projectiles instead of small ones, solid projectiles instead of hollow ones, leaden projectiles instead of iron ones, and oblong projectiles instead of round ones. The ogival form, or the form of the present rifle-musket bullet, experiences less resistance in passing through the air than any other known. In consequence of the variable nature of the resistance of the air, it has been found impossible to find an accurate expression for the trajectory. Capt. Didion, of Metz, has, however, found an approximate solution; he states that all cases of the movement of a projectile may be divided into three classes: 1st. When the angle of projection is slight or does not exceed 3°, as in the ordinary fire of guns, howitzers, and small-arms,--for slight variations of the angle of projection above or below the horizontal, the form of the trajectory may be considered constant, and when the object is but slightly raised above or depressed below the horizontal plane, it may be considered as in this plane. 2d. When angles of projection do not exceed 10° or 15°, as in the ricochet fire of guns, howitzers, and mortars. 3d. When the angle of projection exceeds 15°, as is the case in mortar fire. For each of these cases he has deduced formulæ, by means of which the range, time of flight, etc., can be determined. As a projectile rises in the ascending branch of its trajectory, its velocity is diminished by the retarding effect of the air, and the force of gravity, in consequence of the resistance of the air alone, the velocity continues to diminish to a point a little beyond the summit of the trajectory, where it is a minimum, and from this point it increases, as it descends, under the influence of the force of gravity, until it becomes uniform, which event depends on the diameter and weight of the projectile, and the density of the air.

The inclination of the trajectory decreases from the origin to the summit, where it is nothing, it increases in the descending branch from the summit to its termination, and if the ground did not interpose an obstacle, it would become vertical at an infinite distance. An element of the trajectory in the descending branch has a greater inclination than the corresponding element of the ascending branch. Strictly speaking, therefore, the trajectory of a projectile in air is not a parabola, but is an exponential curve with two asymptotes, the first the axis of the piece, which is tangent to the trajectory when the initial velocity is infinite, the second a vertical line toward which the trajectory approaches, as the horizontal component of the velocity diminishes and the effect of the force of gravity increases. The curvature of the trajectory increases in the ascending branch to a point a little beyond the summit. The point of greatest curvature is situated nearer the summit than the point of minimum velocity. In the fire of mortar-shells, under great angles of projection, the trajectory may be considered as an arc, in which the angle of fall is slightly greater than the angle of projection. In the formulæ deduced by Didion, in consequence of considering the inclination of the trajectory as constant, the resistance of the air is slightly underestimated in the more inclined portions of the trajectory or at the beginning and end, and slightly overestimated in the less inclined portions or about the summit. It follows that the calculated trajectory will at first rise above the true one, then pass below it and again pass above it; the calculated ranges are therefore slightly in excess of the true ones.

_Trajectory of Oblong Projectiles._--From the law of inertia, a rifle projectile moves through the air with its axis of rotation parallel to the axis of the bore. Hence it follows that an oblong projectile, fired under a low angle of projection, presents a greater surface toward the earth, and less parallel to it, than a round projectile of the same weight, consequently the vertical component of the resistance of the air is greater, and the horizontal component less, in the first case than in the second. The effect of this will be to give an oblong projectile a flatter trajectory and longer range than a round one.

_Deviation of Projectiles._--The path described by the centre of inertia of a projectile, moving under the influences of gravity and the tangential resistance of the air, is called the _normal trajectory_. In practice, various causes are constantly at work to deflect a projectile from its normal path. All deviating causes may be divided into two classes,--those which act while the projectile is in the bore of the piece, and those which act after the projectile has left it. The first class includes all the causes which affect the initial velocity, and give rotation to the projectile; the second includes the action of the air.

_Causes which affect Initial Velocity._--The principal causes which affect initial velocity are variations in the weights of the powder and projectile, the manner of loading, the temperature of the piece, and the balloting of the projectile along the bore. _Rotation._ The principal cause of the deviation of a projectile is its rotation combined with the resistance of the air. _By balloting._ If the projectile be spherical and homogeneous, rotation is produced by the bounding or balloting of the ball in the bore, arising from the windage. In this case the axis of rotation is horizontal, and passes through the centre of the ball; the direction of rotation depends on the side of the projectile which strikes the surface of the bore last. The velocity of rotation from this cause depends on the windage, or depth of the indentations in the bore, the charge being the same. _By eccentricity._ If, from the structure of the ball, or from some defect of manufacture, the centre of gravity does not coincide with the centre of figure, rotation generally takes place around the centre of gravity. This arises from the fact that the resultant of the charge acts at the centre of figure, while inertia, or resistance to motion, acts at the centre of gravity. For the same charge the velocity of rotation passes through the centre of gravity, and is perpendicular to a plane containing the resultant of the charge and the centres of figure and gravity. For the same charge, the velocity of rotation is proportional to the lever arm, or the perpendicular, let fall from the centre of gravity to the resultant of the charge. Knowing the position of the centre of gravity of the ball in the bore, it is easy to foretell the direction and velocity of rotation. In general terms the front surface of the projectile moves toward the side of the bore on which the centre of gravity is situated, and the velocity of rotation is greatest when the line joining the centres of gravity and figure is perpendicular to the axis of the bore.

_The Effect of Rotation._--The effect of rotation in producing deviation may be discussed under three heads: 1st. When the projectile is spherical and concentric; 2d. When it is spherical and eccentric; and, 3d. When it is oblong. If a projectile be spherical and concentric, rotation takes place from contact with the surface of the bore around a horizontal axis, and the effect will be to shorten or lengthen the range, as the motion of the front surface is downward or upward. If the projectile be eccentric, the motion of the front surface is generally toward the side on which the centre of gravity is situated, and the deviation takes place in this direction. The extent of the deviation for the same charge depends on the position of the centre of gravity; the horizontal deviation being the greatest when the centres of gravity and figure are in a horizontal plane, and the line which joins them is at right angles to the axis of the piece; the vertical deviation will be the greatest when these centres are in a vertical plane, and the line which joins them is at right angles to the axis of the piece. If the axis of rotation coincide with the tangent to the trajectory throughout the flight, all points of the surface have the same velocity in the direction of the motion of translation, and there will be no deviation. This explains why it is that a rifle projectile moves through the air more accurately than a projectile from a smooth-bored gun. In accurate firing, therefore, it is important to know the true position of the centre of gravity. In ricochet firing over smooth water, the number of grazes may be increased or diminished by placing, in loading, the centre of gravity above or below the centre of figure.

_Deviation of Oblong Projectiles._--The cause of the deviation of an oblong rifle projectile is quite different from one of spherical form. An oblong projectile moving in the air is acted upon by two rotary forces, viz.: one which gives it its normal rotary motion around its axis of progression, and another the resistance of the air, which, in consequence of the deflection of the axis of progression from the tangent to the trajectory by the action of gravity, does not pass through the centre of inertia, but above or below it; depending on the shape of the projectile. From a law of mechanics, a body thus circumstanced will not yield fully to either of the forces that thus act upon it, but its apex will move off with a slow uniform motion to the right or left of the vertical plane, depending on the relative direction of the two rotary forces. If the action of these forces be continued sufficiently long, it will be seen that the axis of the projectile before referred to describes a cone around a line passing through the centre of inertia and parallel to the direction of the resistance of the air. Owing to the short duration of the flight of an ordinary projectile, it is only necessary to consider the first part of this conical motion. If the projectile rotates in the direction of the hands of a watch to the eye of the marksman, and the resultant of the resistance of the air pass above the centre of inertia, as it does in the service bullet with a conoidal point, then the point of the projectile will move to the right, which brings the left side of the projectile obliquely in contact with the current of the air. The effect of this position with reference to the air will be to generate a component force that will urge the projectile to the right of the plane of fire. This peculiar deviation was called by the French officers that first observed it, “_derivation_,” or “_drift_.”

_Summary of Deviating Causes._--The following summary may be considered as embracing nearly all the causes of deviation of cannon and small-arm projectiles: 1st. _From the construction of the piece._ These causes are, wrong position of the sight; bore not of the true size; windage, etc. 2d. _From the charge of powder._ Improper weight; form of grain and variable quality of the powder, etc. 3d. _From the projectile._ Not of the exact size, shape, or weight; disfiguration in loading, or on leaving the bore; eccentricity. 4th. _From the atmosphere_, _etc._ The effect of wind; variations in the temperature, moisture, and density of the air; position of the sun as regards the effect on the aim; difference of level between the object and the piece; and rotation of the earth. It is found that a projectile will deviate to the right of the object in the northern hemisphere whatever may be the direction of the line of fire, and at a distance from it, depending on the latitude of the place, and on the time of flight and the range of the projectile.

=Projectiles, Effects of.= The effects of projectiles, and particularly that of penetration, depend on the nature of the projectile, its initial velocity, and the distance of the object. The effects of the various kinds of projectiles upon iron and steel plates are not yet thoroughly understood, and experiments are still being made, particularly in England, to determine the best combinations of wrought and cast iron, and steel, to resist the penetration of the enormous projectiles of the present day. Their effects upon wood, earth, etc., are, however, better understood.

_Effect on Wood._--The effect of a projectile fired against wood varies with the nature of the wood and the direction of the penetration. If the projectile strikes perpendicular to the fibres, and the fibres be tough and elastic, as in the case of oak, a portion of them are crushed, and others are bent under the pressure of the projectile, but regain their form as soon as it has passed by them. In consequence of the softness of white pine, nearly all the fibres struck are broken, and the orifice is nearly the size of the projectile; for the same reason the effects of the projectile do not extend much beyond the orifice; pine is therefore to be preferred to oak for structures that are not intended to resist cannon projectiles, as block-houses, etc.

_Effect on Earth._--Earth possesses advantages over all other materials as a covering against projectiles; it is cheap and easily obtained, it offers considerable resistance to penetration, and to a certain extent regains its position after displacement. It is found by experience that a projectile has very little effect on an earthen parapet unless it passes completely through it. Wherever masonry is liable to be breached, it should be masked by earthworks with natural slopes. Gen. Gillmore states that the powers of resistance of pure, compact, quartz sand to the penetration of projectiles very much exceed that of ordinary earth, or mixture of several earths. The size of the openings formed by the passage of a projectile into the earth is about one-third larger than the projectile, increasing, however, towards the outer orifice. Rifle projectiles especially are easily deflected from their course in earth, hence their penetration is variable. Unless a shell be very large in proportion to the mass of earth penetrated, its explosion will produce but little displacement,--generally, a small opening is formed around an exploded shell by the action of the gas in pressing back the earth. Time-fuzes, being liable to be extinguished by the pressure of the earth, are inferior to percussion-fuzes, which produce explosion when the projectile has made about three-fourths of its proper penetration. The penetration in earth of oblong, compared to round projectiles, when fired with service charges, and at a distance of about 400 yards, is at least _one-fourth greater_. This difference, however, is less at short and greater at long distances. The penetrations of similar projectiles into a given substance, are proportional to the squares of the velocities of impact and to the diameters and densities of the projectiles.

_Penetration in Water._--The penetration of a rifle projectile in water depends much on the direction of its axis with respect to penetration; for instance, penetration rapidly diminishes at long distances, as the axis of the projectile strikes the surface of the water under a diminished angle.

_Effect on Masonry._--The effect of a projectile against masonry is to form a truncated conical hole, terminated by another of a cylindrical form. The material in front of and around the projectile is broken and shattered, and the end of the cylindrical hole even reduced to powder. The exterior opening varies from four to five times the diameter of the projectile, and the depth varies with the size and density of the projectile, and its velocity. When a projectile strikes against a surface of oak, as the side of a ship, it will not stick if the angle of incidence be less than 15°, and if it do not penetrate to a depth nearly equal to its diameter. Solid cast-iron shot break against granite, but not against freestone or brick. Shells are broken into small fragments against each of these materials.

_Breaching._--Formerly stone projectiles were much used for breaching, but from the want of sufficient hardness in these projectiles, the besiegers were forced to commence battering at the top of the wall where the least resistance was offered, and gradually to lower the shot until the breach reached the wrecks already formed at the base of the wall. Iron projectiles superseded stone, and then more rapid modes of effecting a practicable breach were suggested. The easiest manner of making the cut is to direct the shots upon the same line, and form a series of holes a little greater than a diameter apart, and then to fire a second series of shots, directed at the intervals between the first, and so on, until an opening is made completely through the wall. If the portion of the wall between the vertical cuts should not be overthrown by the pressure of the earth behind, it must be detached by a few volleys of solid shot, fired at its centre.

_Breaching with Rifle-cannon._--The foregoing has reference particularly to breaching masonry with smooth-bored guns. The same principle is applicable to rifled guns, the only difference being that, from their superior penetration and accuracy, the latter are effective at much longer distances. The most destructive projectile against masonry is the elongated percussion shell.

_Effect of Bullets._--From experiments made in Denmark, the following relations were found between the penetration of a bullet in pine and its effects on the body of a living horse, viz.: 1st. When the force of the bullet is sufficient to penetrate 0.31 inch into pine, it is only sufficient to produce a slight contusion of the skin. 2d. When the force of penetration is equal to 0.63 inch, the wound begins to be dangerous, but does not disable. 3d. When the force of penetration is equal to 1.2 inch, the wound is very dangerous. A plate of wrought iron three-sixteenths of an inch thick, is sufficient to resist a rifle-musket bullet at distances varying from 20 to 200 yards. Iron of thickness, however, will not resist bullets of the present day. That a rope mantlet may give full protection against rifle-musket bullets, it should be composed of five layers (three vertical and two horizontal) of 4¹⁄₂-inch rope.

=Projection.= In mathematics, the action of giving a projectile its motion. It is also used to signify a scheme, plan, or delineation.

=Proking-spit.= A large Spanish rapier.

=Prolongation.= An extension of leave of absence, or a continuation of service.

=Prolongation of the Line.= Is effected by parallel movements at the right or left of any given number of men on a front division.

=Prolonge.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Prolonge-hooks.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, NOMENCLATURE OF ARTILLERY CARRIAGE.

=Promotion.= This word signifies, in military matters, the elevation of an individual to some appointment of greater rank and trust to the one he holds.

=Promulgation.= The act of promulgating; publication; open declaration; as, the promulgation of the sentence of a court-martial.

=Proof.= A term applied to the testing of powder, and also of ordnance, which are always fired with a regulated charge of powder and shot, to test their strength and soundness.

=Proof.= Conclusive evidence.

=Proof.= Capable of withstanding; as, bomb-proof, shot-proof.

=Propel.= To drive forward; to urge or press onward by force; to move or cause to move; balls are _propelled_ by the force of gunpowder.

=Proper.= A term which serves to mark out a thing more especially and formally. Thus, the _proper form of a battalion_ is the usual continuity of line given to the formation of a battalion, and which remains unaltered by the wheelings of its divisions; or if altered, is restored by the same operation. _Proper right_, is the right of a battalion, company, or subdivision, when it is drawn up according to its natural formation. _Proper pivot flank_, in column, is that which, when wheeled up to, preserves the division of the line in the natural order, and to their proper front. The other may be called the _reverse_ flank.

=Proper.= In heraldry, a charge borne of its natural color, is said to be _proper_. An object whose color varies at different times and in different examples, as a rose which may be white or red cannot be borne proper.

=Prosecute.= To carry on; to continue; as, to prosecute the war. Also, to accuse of some crime or breach of law, or to pursue for punishment before a legal tribunal; to proceed against judicially.

=Prosecutor.= In courts-martial the judge-advocate is usually the prosecutor; but if an officer prefers a charge, he sometimes appears to sustain the prosecution. No person can appear as prosecutor not subject to the articles of war, except the judge-advocate.--_Hough._

=Proveditor.= One employed to procure supplies for an army; a purveyor.

=Proving-ground.= Ground used for testing powder or ordnance.

=Provision.= Properly to victual; to furnish with provisions.

=Provost.= The temporary prison in which the military police confine prisoners till they are disposed of.

=Provost Cells.= Also called regimental or garrison cells, in the British service are those certified cells under a provost or acting provost-sergeant, in which court-martial prisoners may be imprisoned up to forty-two days.

=Provost-Marshal.= In the army, is an officer appointed to superintend the preservation of order, and to be, as it were, the head of the police of any particular camp, town, or district. He has cognizance of all camp-followers, as well as members of the army. His power is summary, and he can punish an offender, taken _flagrante delicto_, on the spot, according to the articles of war.

=Provost-Sergeant.= Is a sergeant who is charged with the military police of a corps. He is generally given one or two non-commissioned officers as assistants. In the British service he also is charged with the custody of all prisoners in the cells.

=Prowess.= Valor; bravery in the field; military gallantry.

=Prowlers.= Are persons who steal within the lines of a hostile army for the purpose of robbing, killing; or destroying bridges, roads, mails, or other means of communication. Such persons are not entitled to the privileges usually accorded to prisoners of war.

=Prussia.= A kingdom of the new German empire. The people of Prussia first appear in history in the 10th century, under the name of Borussi; from these the country derives its name. Some historians, however, derive the name from _Po_, signifying near, and _Russia_. The Prussians were subjected by Boleslaus of Poland in 1018; they made a successful stand against Boleslaus IV. of Poland in 1161, and for a time maintained a rude and savage kind of independence. The Teutonic Knights were engaged in war for half a century with the people,--winning lands and souls by hard fighting,--until at length, in 1283, they found themselves undisputed masters of the country, having almost exterminated the pagan population. During this period the knights founded many cities and repeopled the country with German colonists. In 1454 the municipal and noble classes, with the co-operation of Poland, rose in open rebellion against the knights, who were forced to cede West Prussia and Ermland to Poland. Albert (or Albrecht) of Brandenburg was acknowledged duke of East Prussia in 1525; his son-in-law, John Sigismund, created elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia in 1608. The reign of John Sigismund’s successor, Georg-Wilhelm (1619-1640), was distracted by the miseries of the Thirty Years’ War, and the country was alternately the prey of Swedish and imperial armies. The electorate was raised by the genius of Frederick William, the great elector, to the rank of a great European power. His successor, Frederick III. (1688-1713), was proclaimed king of Prussia by the title of Frederick I. in 1701. During the reign of Frederick William IV., Prussia co-operated powerfully in putting down the insurrections in Poland and Baden. In the war of the Schleswig-Holstein duchies, the Prussians acted in concert with the disaffected against their sovereign, the king of Denmark, occupying the ducal provinces in the name and on behalf of the diet. A treaty of peace was concluded between Prussia and Denmark, on July 2, 1850. In 1863 the allied Prussian and Austrian armies entered the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein and defeated the Danes; the duchies were separated from Denmark. Warm disputes with Austria respecting Schleswig-Holstein arose in the beginning of 1866. The vote of the majority of the diet of the Germanic Confederation supported Austria; Prussia announced her withdrawal from the confederation, and its dissolution; the diet declared itself indissoluble, and continued its functions, June 14, 1866. War was declared by Prussia, June 18, 1866, which ended in the total defeat of Austria and her allies. A treaty of peace between Austria and Prussia was signed at Prague on August 23, 1866. By its articles Austria consented to the breaking up of the Germanic Confederation, and to Prussia’s annexing Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, and Frankfort-on-the-Main, and gave up Holstein and her political influence in North Germany. For further history, see FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR.

=Pruth.= A river of Europe, which rises in the Carpathian Mountains. It forms a portion of the boundary-line between Russia and Turkey, and by crossing it, in 1853, the Russians gave rise to the war with Turkey and the subsequent Crimean war.

=Psiloi.= Among the Greeks, were light-armed men who fought with arrows and darts, or stones and slings, but were unfit for close fight. They were in honor and dignity inferior to the heavy-armed soldiers.

=Publish.= To make known. In a garrison orders are published by being read at parade. Orders are also published by circulating written copies.

=Puebla=, or =La Puebla de los Angeles=. Capital of the department of Puebla, in Mexico, 80 miles southeast from the city of Mexico. It was taken by the French on May 17, 1863, after a siege of several weeks’ duration, the Mexican general Ortega, with 18,000 men, surrendering to Gen. Forey. This event threw open the road to Mexico, and was the immediate precursor of the overthrow of the government of Juarez.

=Pueblo Indians= (Sp. _pueblo_, “village”). An interesting class of semi-civilized Indians in New Mexico and Arizona, so called from their remarkable residences, a description of some of which may be found under MOQUIS INDIANS. They are divided into several tribes speaking different languages. Their internal administration is patriarchal, each pueblo or village being ruled by its governor and council of three elders.

=Pulk.= A tribe; a particular body of men. This word is chiefly used in Russia; as, a pulk of Cossacks.

=Pultowa.= See POLTAVA.

=Pultusk.= A town of Poland in the government of Plock, situated on the Narew, 35 miles north-northeast from Warsaw. Here on December 26, 1806, was fought one of the battles of the campaign of Eylau, between the Russians and the French. The field was most obstinately contested, but the victory, which, however, was claimed by both armies, inclined in favor of the French.

=Pummel.= The hilt of a sword, the end of a gun, etc.

=Puncto.= The point in fencing.

=Punic Wars.= The name of three celebrated contests, in which the Romans and Carthaginians were engaged from the year 264 to 146 B.C., and which finally terminated with the destruction of Carthage. It was in the second war, which began in 218, that the Carthaginian commander Hannibal rendered himself so distinguished by his victories over the Romans. The illustrious Scipio was eventually the conqueror of Hannibal and the victor of Carthage. _Punic faith_ is a reproachful term in frequent use, derived from _Punici_, or Carthaginians, because they were considered by the Romans a perfidious race.

=Punishment, Military.= In a military sense, is the execution of a sentence pronounced by a court-martial upon any delinquent. The Romans punished crimes committed by the soldiery with the utmost rigor. On the occurrence of a mutiny, every tenth, twentieth, or hundredth man was sometimes chosen by lot, but generally only the ringleaders were selected for punishment. Deserters and seditious persons were frequently, after being scourged, sold for slaves; and occasionally the offender was made to lose his right hand, or was bled nearly to death. Among the nations of Western Europe, the punishments for military offenses were, till lately, no less severe than they were among the Romans. Besides the infliction of a certain number of lashes with cords, soldiers convicted of theft, marauding, or any other breach of discipline which was not punishable with death, were sentenced to run the gantlope. (See GANTLOPE.) In Russia the knout was extensively used. (See KNOUT.) It is often necessary to punish to maintain discipline, and the rules and articles of war provide ample means of punishment, but not sufficient rewards and guards against errors of judgment. In the French army degrading punishments are illegal, but soldiers may be confined to quarters or deprived of the liberty of leaving the garrison; confined in the guard-room, in prison, or in dungeon; required to walk or to perform hard labor; and officers may be subjected to simple or rigorous arrests. Every officer who inflicts a punishment, must account for it to his superior, who approves or disapproves, confirms, augments, or diminishes it. If an inferior is confined to the guard-room, he cannot be liberated except upon application to a superior. Any officer who has been subjected to punishment, must, when relieved, make a visit to him who ordered it. The French code has, in a word, been careful to provide for both the security of its citizens and the strength of authority. The punishments established by law or custom for U. S. soldiers by sentence of court-martial, are embodied in the Articles of War. (See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR.) It is regarded as inhuman to punish by solitary confinement, or confinement on bread and water exceeding fourteen days at a time, or for more than eighty-four days in a year, at intervals of fourteen days.

=Punitz.= A town of Prussia in the province of Posen. A battle was fought here in 1706, between the Saxons and the Swedes, in which the latter were victorious.

=Punjab=, or =Five Rivers=. An extensive river of Hindostan, situated chiefly in the province of Lahore, but including Moultan, and comprising the country traversed by the “five great waters,” or rivers, of which the Indus is the most westerly, and the Sutlej the most easterly. This region was traversed by Alexander the Great in 327 B.C.; and again by Tamerlane in 1398. The wars with the Sikhs began here on March 29, 1849, when the Punjab was annexed to the British possessions in India.

=Punkah.= A swinging fan used in the hot districts of India.

=Purchasing.= Any person purchasing from any soldier his arms, uniform, clothing, or any part thereof, may be punished by any civil court having cognizance of the same, by fine in any sum not exceeding $300, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year.--_Act of March 16, 1802._

=Purpure.= In heraldry, the color purple, expressed in engravings by lines in bend sinister. It is of unfrequent occurrence in British heraldry.

=Pursuit.= The act of following or going after; a following with haste, either for sport or hostility; as, the pursuit of an enemy.

=Pursuivant.= The third and lowest order of heraldic officers. The office was instituted as a novitiate, or state of probation, through which the offices of herald and king-at-arms were ordinarily to be attained, though it has been held that a herald or king-at-arms may be made _per saltum_. For the present titles of the several British pursuivants, see HERALD. In ancient times any great nobleman might institute his own pursuivant with his own hands and by his single authority. The dukes of Norfolk had a pursuivant called _Blanch-lyon_, from the white lion in their arms; the pursuivant of the dukes of Northumberland was styled _Espérance_ from the Percy motto, and Richard Nevil, earl of Salisbury, had a pursuivant called _Egle vert_.

=Purveyor.= A person employed to make purchases, or to provide food, medicines, and necessaries for the sick.

=Push.= To press against with force; to drive or impel by pressure; as, to push back an enemy.

=Push.= An assault or attack; a forcible onset; a vigorous effort.

=Put to the Sword, To.= To kill with the sword; to slay.

=Puteoli= (the modern _Puzzuoli_). A celebrated seaport town of Campania, was situated on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Baiæ. A colony from the neighboring Greek city of Cumæ founded it in 521 B.C., under the name of Dicæarchia. In the second Punic war the Romans fortified it, and changed its name into that of Puteoli. It was destroyed by Alaric in 410, by Genseric in 455, and also by Totila in 545, but was on each occasion speedily rebuilt. In the 9th century the Lombard dukes of Benevento reduced it.

=Putteeala.= A town of British India, capital of a dependent native state of the same name, in Sirhind, on the Kosilla, 1023 miles northwest of Calcutta. It was taken possession of by the British in 1809, but the rajah retains the sovereignty, on condition of furnishing a certain number of troops in case of war to the British government.

=Puzzuoli=, or =Pozzuoli=. See PUTEOLI.

=Pydna= (now _Kitron_). A town of Macedonia, in the district Pieria, was situated at a small distance west of the Thermaic Gulf, on which it had a harbor. It was originally a Greek colony, but was subdued by the Macedonian kings, from whom, however, it frequently revolted. Toward the end of the Peloponnesian war it was taken after a long siege by Archelaus. It again revolted from the Macedonians, and was subdued by Philip, who enlarged and fortified the place. It was here that Olympias sustained a long siege against Cassander, 317-16 B.C. It is especially memorable on account of the victory gained under its walls by Æmilius Paulus over Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, 168 B.C.

=Pylos=, or =Pilus=. In the southwest of Messenia, was situated at the foot of Mount Ægaleos on a promontory at the northern entrance of the basin, now called the Bay of Navarino, the largest and safest harbor of Greece. In the second Messenian war the inhabitants of Pylos offered a long and brave resistance to the Spartans; but after the capture of Ira, they were obliged to quit their native country with the rest of the Messenians. It again became memorable in the Peloponnesian war, when the Athenians under Demosthenes built a fort on the promontory Coryphasium, a little south of the ancient city, and just within the northern entrance of the harbor (425 B.C.). The attempts of the Spartans to dislodge the Athenians proved unavailing; and the capture by Cleon of the Spartans, who had landed in the island of Sphacteria, was one of the most important events in the whole war.

=Pyramids, Battle of the.= So called from having taken place close to the large pyramids in the plain of Mummies, at Waardam, within a few miles of Grand Cairo. A previous engagement had been fought on July 15, 1799, between the Mamelukes under Murad Bey and the French army, commanded by Bonaparte in person. On July 21, 1799, the second battle, called the “battle of the Pyramids,” was fought, when Bonaparte defeated the Mamelukes under Murad Bey and thus subdued Lower Egypt.

=Pyrenees, Battle of the.= The Pyrenees are a chain of mountains which separate Spain from France, and are nearly 75 miles broad. Towards the close of the Peninsular war, in 1813, these mountains were the scene of many severe conflicts between the British troops under the Duke of Wellington and the French forces under Marshal Soult. After the defeat of Joseph Bonaparte at Vittoria, Soult took the command of the French armies as _lieutenant de l’empereur_; and after addressing the beaten soldiery in language that proved fatally unprophetic, he hastened to relieve the beleaguered fortresses, and the result was “the battles of the Pyrenees.” Pampeluna, Roncesvalles, Maya, Orthez, etc., were the seats of the principal struggles. For nine days the armies had been in each other’s presence; and in severe operations and desperate fighting these days were unexampled. The allied casualties exceeded 7000 men,--and those of the French might be safely set down at 15,000.

=Pyrgi.= Movable towers, used by the Greeks in scaling the walls of besieged towns. They were driven forward upon wheels, and were divided into different stories, capable of carrying a great number of soldiers and military engines.

=Pyroboli.= Fireballs, used both by the Greeks and Romans. They seem to have been the very same as the malleoli.

=Pyrometer.= An instrument for determining the pressure of fired gunpowder by the registered compression of oil,--invented by Dr. W. E. Woodbridge, and used by him and Maj. Mordecai (U. S. Ordnance Department) in experiments at Washington Arsenal, 1854-55. It consists of a small hollow steel cylinder filled with oil and a piston which is pressed inwards upon the oil by the powder gases. The piston has a small stem projecting inwards, which is guided by a tube in the bottom of the cylinder. A steel point presses against the stem and scratches a line upon it, when the piston is moved. The pyrometer is received by a hollow screw-plug placed in the side of the gun at the point where the pressure is to be taken. This instrument is probably the most accurate and delicate one ever invented for the purpose. In the experiments it recorded certain vibrations in the column of gases, which have been generally neglected by theorists on the subject, but which are of great importance to the life of the gun. It seems unfortunate that an instrument which promised so much should have been allowed to fall into disuse, if not almost oblivion.

=Pyrotechny.= Is the art of preparing ammunition and fireworks for military and ornamental purposes. (See AMMUNITION.) Military fireworks comprise preparations for the service of _cannon ammunition_, and for _signal_, _light_, _incendiary_, and _defensive_ and _offensive_ purposes. The term composition is applied to all mechanical mixtures which, by combustion, produce the effects sought to be attained in pyrotechny. The preparations for the service of ammunition are _slow-match_, _quick-match_, _port-fires_, _friction-tubes_, and _fuzes_.

_Slow-match_ is used to preserve fire. It may be made of hemp or cotton rope; if made of hemp, the rope is saturated with acetate of lead, or the lye of wood-ashes; if made of cotton, it is only necessary that the strands be well twisted. Slow-match burns from 4 to 5 inches in an hour.

_Quick-match_ is made of cotton-yarn (candle-wick) saturated with a composition of mealed powder and gummed spirits; after saturation, the yarn is wound on a reel, sprinkled (dredged) with mealed powder and left to dry. It is used to communicate fire, and burns at the rate of one yard in thirteen seconds. The rate of burning may be much increased by inclosing it in a thin paper tube called a _leader_.

_Port-fire_ is a paper case containing a composition, the flame of which is capable of quickly igniting primers, quick-match, etc. A port-fire is about 22 inches long, and burns with an intense flame for ten minutes.

_Friction-tube_ is at present the principal preparation for firing cannon; it has the advantage of portability and certainty of fire. It is composed of two brass tubes soldered at right angles. The upper, or short tube contains a charge of friction-powder, and the _roughed_ extremity of a wire loop, the long tube is filled with rifle-powder, and is inserted in the vent of the piece. When the extremity of the loop is violently pulled by means of a lanyard, through its hole in the long tube, sufficient heat is generated to ignite the friction-powder which surrounds it, and this communicates with the grained powder in the long tube. The charge of grained powder has sufficient force to pass through the longest vent, and penetrate several thicknesses of cartridge-cloth.

_Fuzes._--See FUZE.

_Fireworks for Signals._--The preparations for signals are _rockets_ and _blue-lights_.

_Signal-Rockets._--The principal parts of a signal-rocket are the _case_, the _composition_, the _pot_, the _decorations_, and the _stick_. The _case_ is made by rolling stout paper around a former. The vent is formed by choking one end of the case.

_Composition._--A variety of compositions are employed for signal-rockets; a mixture of nitre 12 parts, sulphur 2 parts, charcoal 2 parts, is frequently used. The _pot_ is formed of a paper cylinder, slipped over and pasted to the top of the case; it is surmounted with a paper cone, filled with tow. The object of the pot is to contain the decorations which are scattered through the air by the explosion which takes place when the rocket reaches the summit of its trajectory; the explosion is produced by a small charge of mealed powder. The _decorations_ of rockets are _stars_, _serpents_, _marrons_, _gold rain_, _rain of fire_, etc.

_Stars._--The compositions for stars are, for _white_: nitre 7 parts, sulphur 3 parts, mealed powder 2 parts; for _red_: chlorate of potassa 7 parts, sulphur 4 parts, lampblack 1 part, nitrate of strontia 12 parts; _blue_: chlorate of potassa 3 parts, sulphur 1 part, ammoniacal sulphate of copper 1 part; _yellow_: chlorate of potassa 4 parts, sulphur 2 parts, sulphate of strontia 1 part, bicarbonate of soda 1 part.

_Serpents._--The case of a serpent is similar to that of a rocket; the composition is driven in, and the top is closed with moist plaster of Paris. The composition is nitre 3 parts, sulphur 3 parts, mealed powder 16 parts, charcoal ¹⁄₂ part.

_Marrons._--Marrons are small paper shells, or cubes, filled with grained powder, and primed with a short piece of quick-match.

_Stick._--The stick is a tapering piece of pine, about nine times the length of the case.

_Blue Light._--A very brilliant bluish light may be made of the following ingredients, viz.: nitre 14 parts, sulphur 3.7 parts, realgar 1 part, mealed powder 1 part; the brilliancy depends on the purity and thorough incorporation of the ingredients.

_Incendiary Fireworks._--Incendiary preparations are _fire-stone_, _carcasses_, _incendiary-match_, and _hot shot_.

_Fire-stone_ is a composition that burns slowly, but intensely; it is placed in a shell, along with the bursting charge, for the purpose of setting fire to ships, buildings, etc. It is composed of nitre 10 parts, sulphur 4 parts, antimony 1 part, rosin 3 parts.

_Carcass._--A common shell may be loaded as a carcass by placing the bursting charge at the bottom of the cavity, and covering it with carcass composition, driven in until the shell is nearly full, and then inserting four or five strands of quick-match. This projectile, after burning as a carcass, explodes as a shell. See CARCASS.

_Incendiary-match._--Is made by boiling slow-match in a saturated solution of nitre, drying it, cutting it into pieces, and plunging it into melted fire-stone. It is principally used in loaded shells.

_Hot Shot._--See HOT SHOT.

_Fireworks for Light._--The preparations for producing light are _fire-balls_, _light-balls_, _tarred-links_, _pitched-fascines_, and _torches_.

_Fire-ball._--A fire-ball is an oval-shaped canvas sack filled with combustible composition. It is intended to be thrown from a mortar to light up the works of an enemy, and is loaded with a shell to prevent it from being approached and extinguished. The composition for a fire-ball consists of nitre 8 parts, sulphur 2 parts, antimony 1 part. The bottom of the sack is protected from the force of the charge by an iron cup called a culob, and the whole is covered and strengthened with a net-work of spun-yarn or wire, and then overlaid with a composition of pitch, rosin, etc.

_Light-ball._--These are made in the same manner as fire-balls, the shell being omitted.

_Tarred-links._--Tarred links are used for lighting up a rampart, defile, etc., or for incendiary purposes. They consist of coils of soft rope placed on top of each other, and loosely tied together; they are immersed in a composition of 20 parts of pitch, and one of tallow; when dry, they are plunged into a composition of equal parts of pitch and rosin, and rolled in tow or sawdust.

_Pitched-fascines._--Fagots of vine twigs or other very combustible wood, about 20 inches long and 4 inches in diameter, tied in three places with iron wire. They may be treated in the same manner and used for the same purposes as tarred-links.

_Torches._--A torch is a ball of rope impregnated with an inflammable composition, and is fastened to the end of a stick, which is carried in the hand.

_Offensive and Defensive Fireworks._--The principal preparations of this class, employed in modern warfare, are _bags of powder_ and _light-barrels_.

_Bags of Powder._--Bags or cases of powder may be used to blow down gates, stockades, or form breaches in thin walls. The petard was formerly employed for these purposes, but it is now generally thrown aside. The effect of the explosion may be much increased by making three sides of the bag of leather, and the fourth of canvas, which should rest against the object.

_Light-barrel._--A light barrel is a common powder barrel pierced with numerous holes, and filled with shavings that have been soaked in a composition of pitch and rosin; it serves to light up a breach, or the bottom of a ditch.

_Fireworks._--Ornamental fireworks are divided into fixed pieces, movable pieces, decorative pieces, and preparations for communicating fire from one part of a piece to another. The different effects are produced by modifying the proportions of the ingredients of the burning composition, so as to quicken or retard combustion, or by introducing substances that give color and brilliancy to the flame. The fixed pieces are _lances_, _petards_, _gerbes_, _flames_, etc.

_Lances._--These are small paper tubes filled with a composition which emits a brilliant light in burning. See LANCE A FEU.

_Petard._--Petards are small paper cartridges filled with powder.

_Gerbe._--Gerbes are strong paper tubes or cases filled with a burning composition. The ends are tamped with moist plaster of Paris or clay. The movable pieces are _sky-rockets_, _tourbillions_, _Saxons_, _jets_, _Roman candles_, _paper shells_, etc.

_Sky-rocket._--Sky-rockets are the same as the signal-rockets before described, except that the composition is arranged to give out a more brilliant train of fire. Composition: 122 parts mealed powder, 80 parts nitre, 40 parts sulphur, and 40 parts cast-iron filings.

_Tourbillion._--The tourbillion is a case filled with sky-rocket composition, and which moves with an upward spiral motion.

_Saxon._--The Saxon is similar to the tourbillion; it has the appearance of a revolving sun.

_Jets._--Jets are rocket-cases filled with a burning composition; they are attached to the circumference of a wheel, or the end of a movable arm, to set it in motion.

_Roman candles._--A Roman candle is a strong paper tube containing stars, which are successively thrown out by a small charge of powder placed under each star. A slow-burning composition is placed over each star to prevent its taking fire at once.

_Paper Shell._--This piece is a paper shell filled with decorative pieces, and fired from a common mortar. It contains a small bursting charge of powder, and has a fuze regulated to ignite it when the shell reaches the summit of its trajectory.

_Decorative Pieces._--Decorative pieces are _stars_, _serpents_, _marrons_, etc., described under the head of ROCKETS.

_Preparations for communicating fire_ from one piece to another are _quick-match_, _leaders, ort-fires_, and _mortar-fuzes_. The leader is a thin paper tube containing a strand of quick-match. See QUICK-MATCH, etc.

=Pyroxyline=, or =Pyroxyle=. Gun-cotton (which see).

=Pyrrhic Dance.= The most famous of all the war-dances of antiquity; is said to have received its name from Pyrrhus, or Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, and was a Doric invention. According to Plato, it aimed to represent the nimble motions of a warrior either avoiding missiles and blows, or assaulting the enemy; and in the Doric states it was as much a piece of military training as an amusement. Elsewhere in Greece, it was purely a mimetic dance, in which the parts were sometimes represented by women. It formed part of the public entertainments at the Panathenaic festivals. Julius Cæsar introduced it at Rome, where it became a great favorite.

Q.

=Quadi.= A powerful and warlike German tribe, belonging to the Suevic race, whose territories were situated between the Danube, the Bohemian mountains, and the river Marus. They make their first appearance in history in the 1st century as formidable foes of the Romans. Their bodies were covered with mail, consisting of plates of horn; their weapons were long spears; and each man had three swift horses for his use in battle. Thus equipped, they commenced the practice of making rapid and sweeping raids into Pannonia, Mœsia, and other neighboring provinces. Sometimes they routed the imperial forces which tried to check their inroads. At all times they returned home with their predatory spirit unbroken. No reverses in fact, however frequent, could daunt those wild border troopers of the Danube. The emperors Marcus Aurelius, Probus, Carus, and Valentinian I., defeated them without subduing or crushing them. The last glimpse that we get of them in history shows them in company with other barbaric hordes, in 407, overrunning Gaul, and reveling in boundless havoc and slaughter.

=Quadrant.= An instrument for measuring altitudes, variously constructed and mounted for different specific uses in astronomy, surveying, gunnery, etc., consisting commonly of a graduated arc of 90°, with an index or vernier, and either plain or telescopic sights, together with a plumb-line or spirit-level for fixing the vertical or horizontal direction.

=Quadrant, Gunner’s.= See GUNNER’S QUADRANT.

=Quadrat.= Or to quadrat a gun, is to see it duly placed on its carriage, and that the wheels be of an equal height.

=Quadriga.= In antiquity, a car or chariot, drawn by four horses harnessed abreast. This chariot was used in battle and in triumphal processions.

=Quadrilateral.= In military language, an expression designating a combination of four fortresses, not necessarily connected together, but mutually supporting each other; and from the fact that if one be attacked, the garrisons of the others, unless carefully observed, will harass the besiegers, rendering it necessary that a very large army should be employed to turn the combined position. As a remarkable instance, and a very powerful one, may be cited the celebrated quadrilateral in Venetia, comprising the four strong posts of Mantua, Verona, Peschiera, and Legnago. These form a sort of outwork to the bastion which the southern mountains of the Tyrol constitute, and divide the north plain of the Po into two sections by a most powerful barrier. Napoleon III., in 1859, even after the victories of Magenta and Solferino, hesitated to attack this quadrilateral.

=Quadrille= (_Fr._). Small parties of horse richly caparisoned, etc., in tournaments and at public festivals. The quadrilles were distinguished from one another by the shape or color of the coats which the riders wore.

=Quadruple Alliance.= Between Great Britain, France, and the emperor of Germany (signed at London, July 22, 1718); it obtained its name on the accession of the states of Holland, February 8, 1719. It guaranteed the succession of the reigning families of Great Britain and France, settled the partition of the Spanish monarchy, and led to war.

=Quadruple Treaty.= Concluded in London, April 22, 1834, by the representatives of Great Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal, which guaranteed the possession of her throne to Isabella II., the young queen of Spain.

=Quaker-guns= (Fr. _passe-volans_). Were wooden pieces of ordnance which were made to resemble real artillery. They subsequently were used in other countries, and placed in the embrasures of forts, in order to deceive an enemy.

=Quarrel=, or =Quarry=. An arrow with a square head, for a cross-bow, was so called.

=Quarrels.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 24.

=Quarte.= In tactics, a word of command given in the bayonet exercise; as, quarte parry, to thrust in quarte.

=Quarter.= A fourth part of anything.

=Quarter.= To furnish with shelter or entertainment; to supply with the means of living for a time; especially to furnish shelter to; as, to quarter soldiers.

=Quarter.= In heraldry, one of the divisions of a shield, when it is divided into four portions by horizontal and perpendicular lines meeting in the fesse point; especially either of the two divisions thus made. Also, to bear as an appendage to the hereditary arms. “The coat of Beauchamp ... quartered by the Earl of Hertford.”

=Quarter.= In war, signifies the sparing of the life of a vanquished enemy, which by the laws of war is forfeit to the victor. The expression seems to be derived from the use of the word “quarter” to designate the lodging of the particular warrior; to _give quarter_ to a prisoner being to send him to his captor’s quarter for liberation, ransom, or slavery. The refusal of quarter is a terrible aggravation of the horrors of war, and is only at all justifiable towards an enemy who has been guilty of atrocious cruelty himself, or of some flagrant breach of faith.

=Quarter Arms, To.= In heraldry, to place the arms of other families in the compartments of a shield, which is divided into four quarters, the family arms being placed in the first quarter. When more than three other arms are to be quartered with the family arms, it is usual to divide the shield into a suitable number of compartments; and still the arms are said to be _quartered_.

=Quarter Guard.= The guard which is stationed in front of the centre of the camp of each corps, at about 80 paces from it.

=Quarter of Assembly.= The place where the troops meet to march from in a body, and is the same as the place of rendezvous.

=Quarter Upon, To.= Is to oblige persons to receive soldiers, etc., into their dwelling-houses, and to provide for them. In the United States no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

=Quarter-block.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Quartering.= In heraldry, the division of a shield containing many coats. See QUARTER.

=Quarterly.= In heraldry, in quarters or quarterings; as, to bear arms quarterly.

=Quartermaster.= A regimental staff-officer, of the relative rank of lieutenant, whose duty is to look after the assignment of quarters, the provision of clothing, forage, fuel, and all other quartermaster’s supplies; and when on the march he sees to the marking out of the camp. He is appointed by the colonel of the regiment, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War. He vacates his staff position when promoted to the rank of captain, or at the discretion of the colonel. In the British service the regimental quartermaster rises, with scarcely any exception, from the ranks. He has no further promotion to look forward to; but after thirty years’ service in all--including ten as an officer--he may retire with the honorary rank of captain.

=Quartermaster-General.= A staff-officer in the U. S. army, who has the rank of brigadier-general, and is at the head of the quartermaster’s department.

=Quartermaster’s Department.= This department provides the quarters and transportation of the army, except that, when practicable, wagons and their equipment are provided by the ordnance department; storage and transportation for all army supplies; army clothing; camp and garrison equipage; cavalry and artillery horses; fuel, forage, straw, and stationery. The incidental expenses of the army (also paid through the quartermaster’s department) include per diem to extra-duty men; of the pursuit and apprehension of deserters; of the burials of officers and soldiers; of hired escorts; of expresses, interpreters, spies, and guides; medicines for horses; and of supplying posts with water; and, generally, the proper and authorized expenses for the movements and operations of an army not expressly assigned to any other department. The present organization of the quartermaster’s department consists of 1 quartermaster-general, with the rank of brigadier-general; 3 assistant quartermaster-generals, with the rank of colonels; 8 deputy quartermaster-generals, with the rank of lieutenant-colonels; 14 quartermasters, with the rank of majors; and 30 assistant quartermasters, with the rank of captains.

=Quartermaster-Sergeant.= A non-commissioned officer who assists the quartermaster. He ranks among the regimental non-commissioned staff, and is appointed by the colonel of a regiment upon the recommendation of the quartermaster.

=Quarters.= In military affairs, are, generally, the positions assigned to persons or bodies of men. In a more special sense, the quarters in the army are the places of lodging assigned to officers or men when not actually on duty.

=Quarters.= The encampment on one of the principal passages round a place besieged, to prevent relief and intercept convoys.

=Quarters, Choice of.= In the U. S. service, when officers arrive in a garrison they shall have choice of quarters according to rank; but the commanding officer may direct the officers to be stationed near their troops. The commanding officer of a post cannot be displaced by his senior who does not command, though assigned to the same post. An officer who has made his choice of quarters cannot again displace a junior, unless himself displaced by a senior.

=Quarters, Intrenched.= A place fortified with a ditch and parapet to secure a body of troops.

=Quarters of Refreshment.= The place where the troops that have been much harassed are put to recover themselves, during some part of the campaign.

=Quarters, Out of.= Beyond the prescribed limits. For punishment of soldiers sleeping out of quarters, see APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 31.

=Quarter-sights.= In gunnery, are divisions marked on the upper quarters of the base-ring, commencing where it would be intersected by a plane parallel to the axis of the piece, and tangent to the upper surface of the trunnions. These sights are used for giving elevations up to three degrees; but especially for pointing a piece at a less elevation than the natural angle of sight. Quarter-sights are not used in the U. S. service.

=Quarter-staff.= Formerly a favorite weapon with the English for hand-to-hand encounters; was a stout pole of heavy wood, about 6¹⁄₂ feet long, shod with iron on both ends. It was grasped in the middle by one hand, and the attack was made by giving it a rapid circular motion, which brought the loaded ends on the adversary at unexpected points.

=Quasi Officers.= See SURGEONS, ACTING-ASSISTANT.

=Quatre Bras.= See WATERLOO.

=Quatrefoil.= A heraldic bearing meant to represent a flower with four leaves. It is not represented with a stalk unless blazoned as _slipped_, in which case the stalk joins the lower leaf.

=Quebec.= The capital of the province of Quebec, formerly Canada East, is situated on a steep promontory at the junction of the rivers St. Lawrence and St. Charles, and its citadel is the most impregnable fortress on the continent of America. The site of Quebec, originally occupied by an Indian village named Stadacona, was discovered by Jacques Cartier in 1535; but the city was founded by Champlain in 1608. It was taken from the French by the English in 1626, restored in 1632, and fortified in 1690. It remained in the possession of the French till 1759, when in consequence of the victory of Wolfe, it was surrendered to the British, and finally confirmed to them by the treaty of Paris in 1763. Quebec was attacked by the American republicans in 1775, but the siege was raised in the following year. Since then its capture has not been attempted.

=Queen Anne’s Pocket-piece.= An ancient 18-pounder cannon at Dover, England. See ORDNANCE, HISTORY OF.

=Queen’s Color.= In the British service, the one which is carried on the right of the two colors of a battalion of infantry. It is, in the line, the great union or union-jack, with the imperial crown in the centre and the number of the regiment in gold Roman characters below the crown. In the Guards the queen’s color is crimson, with various devices on it.

=Queen’s County.= An inland county of the province of Leinster, Ireland. Queen’s County anciently formed part of the districts of Leix and Ossory; and after the English invasion, on the submission of the chief O’More, the territory retained a qualified independence. Under Edward II., the O’Mores became so powerful, that for a long series of years an unceasing contest was maintained by them with the English, with various alternations of success. In the reign of Edward VI., Bellingham, the lord-deputy, succeeded in re-annexing the territory of the O’Mores to the Pale; and in Mary’s reign it was reduced to a shire.

=Queenstown.= A town of Upper Canada. It was taken by the U. S. troops October 13, 1812; but was retaken by the British forces, who defeated the Americans with considerable loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, on the same day. Queenstown suffered severely in this war.

=Quell.= To crush; to subdue; to put down; to reduce; as, the military were called out to quell the riot.

=Quentin, Saint-.= See SAINT-QUENTIN.

=Queretaro.= An important town of Mexico, capital of a state of the same name, situated on a hilly plateau, 110 miles northwest of the city of Mexico. The peace between Mexico and the United States was ratified here by the Mexican congress in 1848. The town was besieged and taken (through the treachery of Lopez) by the Liberal general Escobedo, May 15, 1867. The emperor Maximilian, and his generals Miramon and Mejia, were taken prisoners, and after trial, were shot on June 19 following.

=Quesnoy.= A fortified town of France, in the department of Nord. It was taken by the Austrians, September 11, 1793, but was recovered by the French, August 16, 1794. It surrendered to Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, June 29, 1815, after the battle of Waterloo.

=Queue.= A tail-like twist of hair formerly worn at the back of the head by soldiers.

=Queues d’Hironde= (_Fr._). In fortification, lines composed of projecting tenailles, or works, which, from the facility with which an enemy can enfilade their long branches, are considered extremely defective, and consequently are seldom employed.

=Quiberon.= A town of France, in the department of Morbihan, situated on a long and narrow peninsula of the same name, which, with some islands, forms one of the largest bays in Europe, 20 miles southwest from Vannes. A body of French emigrant royalists, under D’Hervilly and Puisaye, landed here from an English fleet, on June 27, 1795, and endeavored to rouse the people of Brittany and La Vendée against the Convention, but were defeated, in July, and driven into the sea by Gen. Hoche. A large number of prisoners taken were shot, by order of the Convention. During the war of the Austrian Succession, an English force attempted a landing here (1746), but was repulsed.

=Qui Vive? Qui va La? Qui est La?= (_Fr._) Literally means, Who is alive? Who goes there? and Who is there? These terms are used by the French sentinels when they challenge, and are equivalent to the English challenge, Who comes there?

=Quick Time.= In tactics, the length of the direct step in quick time is 28 inches, measured from heel to heel; the cadence is at the rate of 110 steps per minute, or 2 miles 1613 yards in an hour.

=Quick-match.= See LABORATORY STORES.

=Quickstep.= A lively, spirited march generally played by military bands.

=Quiloa=, or =Keelwa=. A seaport town of Zanguebar, on the east coast of Africa, 225 miles north of Mozambique. It was taken and burned by the Portuguese, in 1505, but abandoned by them soon after.

=Quincunx.= Forming a body of men checkerwise.

=Quintain=, or =Quintin=. An instrument used in the ancient practice of tilting. It consisted of an upright post, on the top of which a cross post turned upon a pivot; at one end of the cross post was a broad board, and at the other a bag of sand. The practice was to ride against the board with a lance, at such speed as to pass by before the sand-bag could strike the tilter on the back.

=Quinte.= The fifth guard in fencing.

=Quirites.= In ancient Rome the citizens were so called as distinguished from the soldiery.

=Quischens.= The old term for _cuisses_, the pieces of armor which protected the thighs.

=Quit.= To leave; to abandon. _To quit your post or ranks_, is to retire, without having received any previous order for that purpose, from a station intrusted to your care, or a position in which you may be. For punishment inflicted upon persons quitting their posts, see APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 40.

=Quiver.= A case or sheath for arrows.

=Quoin.= In gunnery, is a wedge used to lay under the breech of a gun to elevate or depress it.

=Quota.= A proportional part or share; or the share, part, or proportion assigned to each. “Quota of troops and money.”

R.

=Raab=, or =Nagy-Gyor=. A town of Hungary, 67 miles west-northwest of Buda. A battle was fought under its walls in June, 1809, in which Napoleon totally defeated the disorderly force of the Hungarian nobles.

=Rabinet.= A small piece of ordnance formerly in use. It weighed but 300 pounds, and fired a small ball of 1³⁄₈ inch diameter; with a very limited range.

=Rachat des Cloches= (_Fr._). Redemption of bells. Formerly in France when a fortified place was taken, the bells became the property of the master-general of artillery, which were usually redeemed by the inhabitants at a certain price; it was necessary that the place should be attacked by artillery in order to secure this right over the bells.

=Rack, Forage.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, BATTERY-WAGON.

=Rack-stick and Lashing.= Consist of a piece of two-inch rope, about 6 feet long, fastened to a picket about 15 inches long, having a hole in its head to receive the rope. Rack lashings are used for securing the planks of a gun or mortar platform, between the ribbons and the sleepers.

=Radius.= In fortification, a term applied to a line drawn from the centre of the polygon to the extremity of the exterior side. There are the _exterior_, the _interior_, and the _right radii_.

=Radstadt.= See RASTADT.

=Raft.= A species of floating bridge for the passage of rivers, on which the soldiers and light artillery may be safely conveyed.

=Raft of Casks.= This raft may be constructed by forming a frame of timber to contain the casks.

The frame consists of four longitudinal pieces halved into four transoms. The long pieces must be at least 20 feet long, and their distance apart be a little less than the head diameter of the casks. The under edges are beveled so as to give them a good bearing on the casks.

In default of square timber, poles may be used in the construction of the frame. The string-pieces and transoms may be spiked or lashed at their points of junction.

The four exterior casks in the raft should be lashed to the frame, otherwise they may be carried off by the current when the raft lurches. For other kinds of rafts, see PONTONS.

=Raft, Prairie.= See PONTONS.

=Rafts, Timber.= Employ the largest and longest timber, giving at least 35 feet length to the raft. Shorter than this it will not have sufficient stability, but will be subject to dangerous oscillations, especially in a rapid stream. Squaring the timber will be worse than useless. Any irregularities, such as branches and knots, should be trimmed off. The raft must be built in the water. Select a place where there is little current, and where the bank slopes gently to the water.

The timber is then arranged in the position it is to have in the raft,--the butts alternately up and down the stream,--the upstream ends forming a right angle, salient up-stream.

Suppose the case of a raft to be composed of 20 logs, 47 feet long, and averaging 12 inches in diameter.

The first log is brought alongside the shore, and the end of a plank or small trunk of a tree is spiked to it, about 3 feet from each end; it is pushed off a little, and a second log is brought up, under the transoms and in close contact with the first.

The second log is spiked like the first, and so on for each of the remaining logs; care being taken to alternate the butts, placing the whistle ends up-stream with the bevel underneath, and to spike the transoms perpendicular to the logs. When the current of the river in which the raft is to be used is very gentle, the up-stream ends may be on a line parallel to the transom; but if rapid, they should form a right-angle salient upstream, the vertex being in the middle log.

When the bank is too steep to admit of this construction, the trees may be floated into their proper positions, lashed together, and the transoms spiked on; if the logs are nearly of the same size, the centre of gravity will be near the centre of the raft.

Two additional transoms are spiked at equal distances from the centre of gravity of the raft, and at a distance apart equal to the width of the roadway or platform.

The transoms should be about 8 inches wide by 6 inches thick, and should have a bearing on all the logs forming the raft. When a platform is to be constructed on the raft, intermediate transoms are laid, and at a distance apart depending on the strength of the planking. The size of the platform must be regulated by the buoyant power of the raft. A single course of logs will not have sufficient power to sustain troops enough to cover its whole surface. When the raft is to be used in a bridge the two intermediate transoms are separated by a distance a little less than the length of the chess, and placed at equal distances from a point somewhat astern of the centre of gravity of the raft, in order to correct the downward action of the cable on the bow.

For use in a bridge, a raft should be able to sustain at least 15,000 pounds. The same expedients are employed for the anchorage of rafts as boats.

Rafts are sometimes constructed for flying-bridges in the form of a lozenge, the acute angles being about 55°,--so that when two of the sides are parallel to the action of the current, the up-stream side, which in this form is the only one acted on by the current, is in the most favorable position.

=Raguled=, or =Ragguld=. In heraldry, jagged or notched in an irregular manner.

=Raguled, Cross.= One made of two trunks of trees without their branches, of which only the stumps appear.

=Raguly.= In heraldry, a term applied to an ordinary whose bounding lines are furnished with serrated projections.

=Ragusa.= A town of Austria, formerly the capital of an independent republic which now forms part of the kingdom of Dalmatia, on a peninsula on the east side of the Adriatic, and built in terraces on the side of Mount Sergio, the upper streets communicating with the lower by a flight of steps. It is strongly fortified with citadels, forts, and walls. It was taken by the Venetians in 1171, but became an independent republic, 1358; was taken by the French in 1806, and given up to Austria in 1814.

=Rahmanieh.= A town of Lower Egypt, situated at the junction of the Nile with the canal of Alexandria, 25 miles southeast from Rosetta. The French, during their occupation of Egypt, made it a fortified station. It was taken from them by the British in 1801.

=Raid.= A hostile or predatory incursion, especially an inroad or incursion of mounted men; a sudden and rapid invasion by a cavalry force.

=Raillon= (_Fr._). A quarrel; a short arrow.

=Rail-platform.= See PLATFORM.

=Rails.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, SEA-COAST CARRIAGES.

=Rain=, or =Rhain=. A town of Bavaria, 22 miles north from Augsburg, where the Austrian general Tilly received his mortal wound in 1632.

=Raise.= Armies are _raised_ in two ways: either by voluntary engagements, or by lot or conscription. The Greek and Roman levies were the result of a rigid system of conscription. The Visigoths practiced a general conscription; poverty, old age, and sickness, were the only reasons admitted for exemption. “Subsequently” (says Hallam), “the feudal military tenures had superseded that earlier system of public defense, which called upon every man, and especially upon every land-holder, to protect his country. The relations of a vassal came in place of those of a subject and a citizen. This was the revolution of the 9th century. In the 12th and 13th another innovation rather more gradually prevailed, and marks the third period in the military history of Europe. Mercenary troops were substituted for the feudal militia. These military adventurers played a more remarkable part in Italy than in France, though not a little troublesome to the latter country.” A necessary effect of the formation of mercenaries was the centralization of authority. Money became the sinews of war. The invention of fire-arms caused it to be acknowledged that skill was no less essential for warlike operations than strength and valor. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the power of princes was calculated by the number and quality of paid troops they could support. France first set the example of keeping troops in peace. Charles VII., foreseeing the danger of invasion, authorized the assemblage of armed mercenaries called _compagnies d’ordonnance_. Louis XI. dismissed these troops but enrolled new ones, composed of French, Swiss, and Scotch. Under Charles VIII., Germans were admitted in the French army, and the highest and most illustrious nobles of France regarded it as an honor to serve in the _gens d’armes_. Moral qualifications not being exacted for admission to the ranks, the restraints of a barbarous discipline became necessary, and this discipline divided widely the soldier from the people. The French revolution overturned this system. “Now” (says Decker) “mercenary troops have completely disappeared from continental Europe. England only now raises armies by the system of _recruiters_. The last wars of Europe have been wars of the people, and have been fought by nationalities. After peace armies remain national, for their elements are taken from the people by legal liberations. The institution of conscription is evidently the most important of modern times. Among other advantages, it has bridged the otherwise impassable gulf between the citizen and soldier, who, children of the same family, are now united in defense of their country. Permanent armies have ceased to be the personal guard of kings, but their sympathies are always with the people, and their just title is that of skillful warriors maintained as a nucleus for the instruction of their countrymen in the highest school of art.”

=Raise a Blockade, To.= To remove or break up a blockade, either by withdrawing the ships or forces employed in enforcing it, or by driving them away or dispersing them.

=Raise a Purchase, To.= To dispose instruments or machines in such a manner as to exert any mechanical force required.

=Raise a Siege, To.= To relinquish an attempt to take a place by besieging it, or to cause the attempt to be relinquished.

=Rajah=, or =Raja=. A hereditary prince among the Hindus belonging to the warrior caste, or the Kshattriya. In later times it became a title given by the British government to Hindus of rank, and is now not uncommonly assumed by the zemindars, or land-holders; the title of Maharajah, or “great Rajah,” being in these days generally reserved to the more or less independent native princes.

=Rajpoots=, or =Rajputs=. Is the name of various tribes in India which are of Aryan origin, and either descended from the old royal races of the Hindus, or from their Kshattriya, or warrior caste. They attained a high degree of power and renown just before the Mohammedan conquests in the 12th century. In 1193 and 1194 the Rajpoot chiefs sustained more than one defeat at the hands of the Mohammedans, and were deprived of all their possessions except the regions they now occupy. They came under the protection of the English, from about the beginning of this century, when the Rajpoots proved unable to defend their country against the Mahrattas.

=Rake.= To enfilade; to fire in a direction with the length of; as, to rake the enemy’s ranks.

=Rally.= To bring back to order troops that may have been dispersed, or have retreated in a panic.

=Rally.= To come into orderly arrangement; to renew order, as troops scattered or put to flight; to assemble; to unite.

=Ram.= To push home the charge of a gun; also, the corresponding word of command.

=Ram, Battering-.= See BATTERING-RAM.

=Ram Home, To.= To drive home the ammunition in a gun.

=Ramillies.= A village of Brabant, Belgium, 28 miles southeast of Brussels, is memorable as the place near which one of the most important battles of the War of the Spanish Succession was fought, May 23, 1706. In this conflict the French forces were under the command of Marshal de Villeroy and the elector of Bavaria, while the Duke of Marlborough led the troops of the allies. Villeroy, after a battle of three hours and a half, was defeated, with the loss of all his cannon, the whole of his baggage, and 13,000 men in killed and wounded. The great result of this victory was that the French were compelled to give up the whole of the Spanish Netherlands. About 4000 of the allies were slain in the engagement.

=Rammer.= See IMPLEMENTS, and INSPECTION OF CANNON.

=Rammer-head.= See IMPLEMENTS, and INSPECTION OF CANNON.

=Ramnuggur.= A walled town of the Punjab, on the Chenaub, 62 miles northwest of Lahore. Here the Sikh army was defeated by the British, October, 1848.

=Ramp.= An oblique or sloping interior road to mount the terre-plein of the rampart.

=Rampant= (_Fr._, literally, “raging”). In heraldry, an epithet applied to a lion or other beast of prey when placed erect on the two hind-legs, with only one of the fore-legs elevated, the head being seen in profile. When the face is turned toward the spectator, the attitude is called _rampant gardant_, and when the head is turned backwards, _rampant regardant_. A lion _counter-rampant_ is one rampant towards the sinister, instead of towards the dexter, the usual attitude. Two lions rampant contrariwise in saltire, are sometimes also said to be _counter-rampant_.

=Rampart.= To fortify with ramparts.

=Rampart-grenades.= Grenades used to defend a rampart. Shells of large size may be used, being rolled down the parapet. See GRENADE.

=Rampart-gun.= A large gun fitted for rampart use, and not used for field purposes.

=Ramparts.= In fortification, are broad embankments or masses of earth which surround fortified places. A rampart forms the _enceinte_, or body of the place, and on its exterior edge the parapet is placed, while towards the place it is terminated by the interior slope of the rampart, on which _ramps_ are made for the easy ascent of the troops and material. See BULWARK.

=Rampier.= The same as rampart.

=Rampire.= The same as rampart,--seldom used except in poetry.

=Ramps.= Are inclined planes of earth serving as a means of communication between two levels. A ramp for a field-gun is 8 feet wide, and for short distances it has a slope of one-fourth to one-sixth. When the distance is long the slope is increased to as much as one-twelfth.

=Ramrod.= The rod of iron formerly used in loading a piece to drive home a charge; but now used to clean the rifle.

=Ram’s Horns.= In fortification, a kind of low works made in the ditch of a circular arc, which serves instead of tenailles.

=Rancheros= (from the Spanish _rancho_, “comradeship”). Is the name given in Mexico to a mixed breed of Spanish and Indian blood, who inhabit the country, and may almost be said to live in the saddle from their youth; are splendid riders and hunters, and form the bravest part of the Mexican army,--its irregular cavalry. The importance of their services was seen in the wars between Mexico and the United States. The rancheros are lank in frame, with brown, weather-stained faces and muscular limbs, hardy, temperate, and always ready for the boldest enterprises.

=Rancon= (_Fr._). The name of an old weapon, consisting of a long stake with a sharp iron point at one end, and two blades or wings bent backwards, and extremely keen.

=Random.= Distance to which a missile is thrown or projected; range; reach; as, the farthest random of a missile weapon.

=Random Shot.= A shot not directed or aimed towards any particular object, or when the piece is elevated at an angle of 45° upon a level plane.

=Range.= In artillery, is the horizontal distance from the muzzle of the piece to the first graze of the projectile. The extreme range is the distance from the muzzle to where the projectile finally rests. The range of a projectile may be extended without increasing the charge of powder, in the modes, viz.: 1st, by raising the piece to a higher level; 2d, by giving its axis greater elevation; 3d, by _eccentric_ projectiles. Experiments have shown that if the centre of gravity be placed directly above the centre of figure, the range is greatly increased. The range increases with the angle of fire up to a certain limit, beyond which it diminishes. The greatest range in _vacuo_ is at an angle of 45°. A mortar is usually fired at an angle of 45°, and the charge is varied according to the range required. Mortars are sometimes fired at an angle of 60°, when the battery is situated very near the object assailed, and it is desired that the shells may fall upon the magazines of the besieged. It is evident that the higher projectiles are thrown, the greater the velocity they acquire in falling; besides, they strike the object more directly and with increased violence. Stone-mortars were sometimes fired at an angle of 75°, that, in falling from a great height, the stone might have the maximum force of percussion. Grenades should be thrown from mortars at an angle of 33°; otherwise they will be buried in the earth, and their fragments will not be sufficiently destructive. For tables of ranges, see Roberts’s “Hand-book of Artillery.”

=Range, Point-blank.= See POINT-BLANK RANGE.

=Range-finder.= An instrument for determining ranges. There are several different principles which may be used. The distance may be measured, 1st, by the visual angle subtended by objects of known height; 2d, by the velocity of sound; 3d, the instrument may furnish a base-line in itself and solve a triangle in which the base and two adjacent angles are given. The term is also applied to instruments used to solve a triangle, the base of which is obtained by outside means. Range-finders constructed on the visual angle principle have been known for many years. _Boulanger’s_ instrument uses the 2d principle. It consists of a glass tube closed at both ends filled with a liquid in which a small umbrella-shaped piece of metal is submerged. The tube is held vertically in the hand, the metal slowly sinks to the bottom. When the flash of the enemy’s gun is seen, the tube is inverted and the metal moves towards the other end. When the sound is heard, the tube is brought to the horizontal. The distance through which the piece of metal has moved gives the range by means of a scale on the side of the tube. _Berdan’s range-finder_ is an expensive instrument using the 3d principle. It is mounted on a wagon, and intended to accompany either foot-troops or artillery. It has found great favor in Germany. _Nolan’s range-finder_ consists of an instrument for automatically solving triangles. A similar thing was devised about 1870 by two American officers, Maj. Morgan of the 4th Artillery, and Capt. Lorain of the 3d Artillery. The most ingenious, complete range-finder has been proposed by Lieut. Gordon of the 4th Artillery. He uses two fixed angles and a variable base-line supplied by the instrument itself. The principal parts of Nolan’s range-finder are: Two instruments for measuring angles, one tape-line, and one reckoning cylinder. Each of the two instruments consist of two telescopes, which lie crosswise one above the other under an angle of about 90°; the smaller of the two has a long arm, with a vernier at one end; to the other a sector is fastened, which is divided up into degrees. By means of a screw, an angle of about 20° can be described by the upper or smaller telescope. The reckoning cylinder consists of a solid body and two rotating rings. The lower ring and the lower edge of the body are divided into 100 equal parts. On the upper ring are the logarithms of the figures, and on the upper edge of the body are the logarithms of the signs, from 6″ up to 2° 15′.

To find the range, the instruments on their tripods are arranged at the end of the assumed base-line, which is perpendicular to the range; or the instruments may be attached to the right and left guns of a battery. The long telescopes are turned toward the object whose distance is to be found; the smaller ones upon each other, and the cross-threads of each made to cover the cross-lines on the leather disk through which each small telescope points. The coincidence obtained by directing the longer telescope on the object, the two angles at the base are determined; the base-line being measured, one side and two angles of the triangle are obtained. With this data recourse is then had to the reckoning cylinder. The arrow marked “band” is set on the figure that corresponds with the distance between the instruments or base-line,--say 34 yards; then set the arrow on the lower ring on the figure corresponding with the angle found through the instrument,--say 18°; then find the figure for the number of degrees of the other angle,--say 42° on the lower ring. Just above that is the figure 60 on the other division of the lower ring; coinciding with this on the lower edge of the upper ring is the distance, 1320 yards. The bases used are from 30 to 40 yards for a range of 2000 yards and over.

_Watkins’s range-finder_ and _Gautier’s telemeter_ are instruments which require a measured base-line. See TELEMETER.

=Ranger.= One of a body of mounted troops, who were formerly armed with short muskets, and who ranged over the country around, and often fought on foot.

=Ranging.= The disposal of troops in proper order for an engagement, manœuvres, or march, etc.

=Rank.= Range of subordination, degree of authority. The relative situations which officers hold with respect to each other, or to military things in general. Questions as to the positive or relative rank of officers may often be of the greatest importance at law, in consequence of the rule, that every person who justifies his own acts on the ground of obedience to superior authority must establish, by clear evidence, the sufficiency of the authority on which he so relies. There may also be many occasions on which the propriety of an officer’s assumption of command, or his exercise of particular functions, or his right to share with a particular class of officers in prize-money, bounties, grants, and other allowances, may depend on the correctness of the view taken by himself or others of his rights to a specific rank or command; and an error in this respect may expose him to personal loss and damage in suits before the civil tribunals. The regulation of military rank is vested absolutely in Congress, which confers or varies it at pleasure. The will of Congress in this respect is signified by the creation of different grades of rank; by making rules of appointment and promotion; by other rules of government and regulation; or is by fair deduction to be inferred from the nature of the functions assigned to each officer; for every man who is intrusted with an employment is presumed to be invested with all the powers necessary for the effective discharge of the duties annexed to his office. Rank and grade are synonymous, and in their military acceptation indicate rights, powers, and duties, determined by laws, creating the different degrees of rank, and specifying fixed forms for passing from grade to grade and when rank in one body shall give command in another body; and also when rank in the army at large shall not be exercised. Rank is a right of which an officer cannot be deprived, except through forms prescribed by law. When an officer is on duty, the rank itself indicates his relative position to other officers of the body in which it is created. It is not, however, a perpetual right to exercise command, because the President may, under the 62d article of war, at any time relieve an officer from duty; or an officer may be so relieved by arrest duly made according to law; or by inability to perform duty from sickness, or by being placed by competent authority on some other duty. But whenever an officer is on duty his rank indicates his command.

=Rank.= A line of soldiers; a row of troops reckoned from side to side, or in breadth;--opposed to _file_. _The ranks_, the order of common soldiers; as, to reduce a non-commissioned officer to the ranks. _To fill the ranks_, to supply the whole number, or a competent number. _To take rank of_, to enjoy precedence over, or to have the right of taking a higher place than.

=Rank and File.= The body of soldiers constituting the mass of the army, and including corporals and privates. In a more extended sense, it includes sergeants also, excepting the non-commissioned staff.

=Rank, Brevet.= See BREVET.

=Rank, Double.= A rank composed of front and rear files.

=Rank, Honorary.= That which merely gives a title and precedence, without any command being attached to that rank.

=Rank, Insignia of.= Are badges or distinguishing marks of office of honor. In the army of the United States the rank of officers is determined by the insignia on the epaulettes and shoulder-straps, and is as follows:

“For the general commanding the army, two gold-embroidered stars of five rays, one on each side equidistant between the centre and the outer edge of the strap, and a gold-embroidered shield in the centre. For the lieutenant-general, three silver-embroidered stars of five rays, one star on the centre of the strap, and one on each side equidistant between the centre and outer edge of the strap; the centre star to be the largest. For the major-generals, two silver-embroidered stars, the centre of each star to be one inch from the outer edge of the gold embroidery on the outer ends of the straps, both stars of the same size. For a brigadier-general, the same as for a major-general, except that there will be but one star instead of two. For a colonel, the same as for a major-general, omitting the stars and introducing a silver-embroidered eagle; cloth of the strap as follows: for the general staff and staff corps--dark blue; artillery--scarlet; infantry--light or sky-blue; cavalry--yellow. For a lieutenant-colonel, the same as for a colonel, according to corps, omitting the eagle, and introducing a silver-embroidered leaf at each end. For a major, the same as for a colonel, according to corps, omitting the eagle, and introducing a gold-embroidered leaf at each end. For a captain, the same as for a colonel, according to corps, omitting the eagle, and introducing at each end two gold-embroidered bars. For a first lieutenant, the same as for a colonel, according to corps, omitting the eagle, and introducing at each end one gold-embroidered bar. For a second lieutenant, the same as for a colonel, according to corps, omitting the eagle. For a brevet second lieutenant, the same as for a second lieutenant.”

=Rank, Local.= See LOCAL RANK.

=Rank, Relative.= See RELATIVE RANK.

=Rank, Single.= A rank of single files.

=Rank, Substantive.= Is genuine rank, with all the command and authority, as well as precedence, attaching to the title. For instance, a regimental major possesses the substantive rank of major, while a captain and brevet major is only a substantive captain. It may be briefly described as being the reverse of brevet rank.

=Ranker.= One who ranks, or disposes in ranks; and one who arranges.

=Ransack.= To plunder; to pillage completely; to ravage; as, to ransack a city.

=Ransom of Prisoners.= A prisoner of war, being a public enemy, is the prisoner of the government, and not of the captor. No ransom can be paid by a prisoner of war to his individual captor, or to any officer in command. The government alone releases captives, according to rules prescribed by itself.

=Rapier.= Is said to have had distinct meanings at different times, and in ancient fencing to have been a long cutting broadsword; but for the last century, at least, the rapier has been a light, highly-tempered, edgeless, thrusting weapon, finely pointed and about 3 feet in length. At present, it is worn only on occasions of court ceremonial, and answers no other purpose than to incommode the wearer. In war a rapier could never have been of any service.

=Rapine.= The act of plundering; the seizing and carrying away of things by force; spoliation; pillage; plunder. Violence; force; also, to plunder.

=Rappahannock.= A river of Virginia, formed by the union of the North Fork and the Rapidan, 40 miles above Fredericksburg. On the Rappahannock and the Rapidan occurred some of the most sanguinary battles of the war of Secession, at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and the Wilderness.

=Rapparee.= A wild Irish plunderer, so called from his being generally armed with a _rapary_, or half-pike. The term was in common use in the 17th century.

=Rappel.= The beat of the drum to call soldiers to arms.

=Rarefaction.= The extension of the parts of a gas, by which it is made to take up more room than it did before.

=Rasaldar.= In the East Indies, the name applied to the commander of _rasallah_, which is 10,000 armed horsemen.

=Rasante.= A French term, applied to a style of fortification in which the command of the works over each other, and over the country, is kept very low, in order that the shot may more effectually sweep or graze the ground before them.

=Ras-el-Kyma.= A fortress in the Persian Gulf, and formerly the principal stronghold of the Joasmee pirates. This fortress was destroyed and the pirates thoroughly subdued by an English force under Sir W. Kier Grant in 1817.

=Rasgrad=, or =Hesarorad=. A town of Turkey in Europe, in Bulgaria, and about 215 miles northwest from Constantinople. The Turks were defeated here by the Russians in 1810.

=Rassova.= A fortified town of Turkey in Europe, on the right bank of the Danube, 38 miles east by north of Silistria. Rassova was occupied by the Russians for a short time in 1854.

=Rastadt=, =Radstadt=, or =Rastall=. A fortified town of the grand duchy of Baden, on the Murg, not far from its confluence with the Rhine. The peace of 1714, which put an end to the War of the Spanish Succession, was signed in the palace by Prince Eugène and Marshal Villars. A congress was held here in 1797-99, to negotiate a peace between France and the empire, after which the French ambassadors, Roberjot and Bonnier, were murdered on their return, only a short distance from the town. At Rastadt the insurrection in Baden in 1849 first broke out; and the insurgents, after a three weeks’ siege, were obliged to surrender at discretion to the Prussians.

=Ratchet-post.= A cast-iron post at the head of large Rodman guns to serve as a fulcrum for the bar used in elevating the gun. See FULCRUM.

=Ratchet-wheel.= A wheel with pointed and angular teeth, against which a ratchet abuts, used either for converting a reciprocating into a rotatory motion on the shaft to which it is fixed, or for admitting of its motion in one direction only.

=Rate of March.= See HORSES, PACK AND DRAUGHT HORSES, and QUICK TIME.

=Rathenow=, or =Rathenau=. A town of Prussia, in the province of Brandenburg, 45 miles west of Berlin. A victory was gained here in 1675 by the troops of Brandenburg under the elector Frederick William, over the Swedes.

=Rathlin, Island of.= An island off the north coast of Ireland, 3 miles northwest of Fairhead. It was the scene of more than one struggle in the Danish wars, and it afforded shelter, after his defeat in Scotland, to Robert Bruce. In 1558, the Scottish colony which then inhabited the island was attacked by the lord-deputy Sussex, and expelled from it with much slaughter.

=Rathmines.= A suburb of Dublin, on its south side, 1¹⁄₂ miles south of Dublin Castle. It is the site of a battle-field, where Col. Jones, governor of Dublin Castle, making a sally out, routed the Marquis of Ormond, killed 4000 men, and took 2517 prisoners, with their cannon, baggage, and ammunition, August 2, 1649.

=Ration.= A portion or fixed allowance of provisions, drink, and forage, assigned to a soldier in the army, or a sailor in the navy, for his daily subsistence, and for the subsistence of horses, etc.

The soldier’s ration in Europe is as follows:

AUSTRIA.

_Peace Ration._

Bread 31. ounces. Meat without bone 6.6 „ Suet .62 ounce. Vegetables 2.48 ounces. Salt .6 ounce. 22.37 ounces anhydrous food.

_War Ration._

Fresh pork 6.5 ounces. Or salt pork 6. „ Or fresh beef 6. „ Or bacon 6. „ Butter .14 ounce. Biscuit 3.5 ounces. Flour 25.2 „ Fresh vegetables 2.1 „ Beans 1.5 ounce. Beer and wine variable. 38.6 ounces anhydrous food.

ENGLAND.

In the home service the soldier receives from the government:

Bread 1 pound. Meat ³⁄₄ „

The soldier buys

Potatoes 16. ounces. Other vegetables 8. „ Milk 3.25 „ Sugar 1.33 ounce. Salt .25 „ Coffee .33 „

The whole being equivalent to 23.4 ounces of anhydrous food.

In time of war the ration is varied according to location, climate, and kind of service.

FRANCE.

During peace the soldier buys from the government his ration, paying 43 out of the 48 centimes which he receives per day, except in Paris, where he pays 51 out of 58 centimes. Meat is furnished 35 per cent. below market rates.

Munition bread 26.5 ounces. White bread 8.8 „ Meat 10.6 „ Vegetables, green 3.5 „ Beans 1.1 ounce. Salt and pepper .43 „ If meat is salt beef 8.8 ounces. If meat is salt pork 7. „ Biscuit in lieu of bread 19.4 „ Being equal to 24 ounces of anhydrous food.

_War Ration._

Meat without bone 8.4 ounces. Bread 35.3 „ Or biscuit 26.5 „ Beans 2.12 „ Salt .5 ounce. Sugar .7 „ Coffee .6 „ Or in lieu of coffee, wine 9. ounces. Or brandy 2.2 „ Being 24.56 ounces of anhydrous food.

PRUSSIA.

About one-half the daily pay is retained by the government for the soldier’s food.

_Peace Ration._

Garrison. Marching or Fatigue. Bread 26.5 ounces 26.5 ounces. Meat 6. „ 8.2 „ Rice 3.2 „ 4.22 „ Or groats 4.21 „ 5.28 „ Or peas or beans 8.22 „ 10.6 „ Or potatoes 53.8 „ 70.5 „ Salt .87 ounce .87 ounce. Coffee .468 „ .468 „ 26.57 oz. of anhydrous food. 28.26 oz. of anhydrous food.

_War Ration._

Bread 26.5 ounces. Or biscuit 17. „ One { Fresh beef 13. „ of { Salt beef 9. „ these. { Bacon 5.75 „ Rice 4.4 „ One { Groats 4.4 „ of { Beans 8.8 „ these. { Flour 8.8 „ Potatoes 50. „ Salt 8.7 „ Coffee, pure .7 ounce. Coffee, roasted 1. „ 40.2 ounces anhydrous food.

RUSSIA.

169 Fast Days. 196 Meat Days 117 days 52 days with schtschi schtschi and peas and and gruel. gruel. gruel. Meat 7. oz. Bread 42. oz. 42. oz. 42. oz. Sour-krout 14.5 fl. oz. 14.5 fl. oz. Chervil 1.1 oz. Peas 2.33 oz. Buckwheat 1.87 fl. oz. 1.87 fl. oz. 1.87 fl. oz. Oats .5 fl. oz. .7 fl. oz. .28 fl. oz. Flour .7 fl. oz. .7 fl. oz. Onions .2 fl. oz. .3 fl. oz. .5 fl. oz. Vegetable oil .25 fl. oz. Butter .6 oz. Lard .5 oz. .5 oz. Salt 1.86 oz. 1.86 oz. 1.86 oz. Pepper .07 oz. .07 oz. .07 oz. Bay leaves .07 oz. .07 oz. .07 oz. Water 70. fl. oz. 70. fl. oz. 70. fl. oz. (Buckwheat cooked into gruel.)

_Sepoy Ration._

Flour 16. ounces. Rice 16. „ Butter or vegetable oil 2. „ Peas 4.25 „ Salt 1.33 ounce. 34.9 ounces of anhydrous food.

=Ratisbon=, or =Regensburg=. A town of Bavaria, on the right bank of the Danube, 67 miles north-northeast of Munich. In 1524 the Roman Catholic powers of Germany assembled here, and formed a league against the Protestants; and near it, in 1809, Napoleon I. was wounded in a battle in which he forced the Austrians to retreat.

=Raucoux= (Belgium). Here Marshal Saxe and the French army totally defeated the allies, October 11, 1746.

=Ravage.= Desolation by violence; violent ruin or destruction; devastation; havoc; waste; ruin; as, the ravages of an army. Also, to lay waste by force; to desolate violently; to commit havoc or devastation upon; to plunder.

=Ravelin.= In fortification, is the work constructed beyond the main ditch, opposite the curtain, composed of two faces, forming a salient angle, and two demi-gorges, formed by the counterscarp. It is separated from the covered way by a ditch which runs into the main ditch. See DEMI-LUNE.

=Ravenna= (anc. _Ravenna_). An important city of Central Italy, 43 miles east-southeast from Bologna, 4¹⁄₂ miles from the Adriatic. Augustus made it a first-class seaport and naval station. It was taken by Odoacer, then by Theodoric, and by Totila; was subdued by the Lombards in 752, and their king, Astolphus, in 754, surrendered it to Pepin, king of France. In 1275, Guido da Polenta conquered it. Ravenna was afterwards taken by the Venetians, who kept it till 1509. Under the walls of Ravenna a battle was fought between the French under Gaston de Foix (duke of Nemours and nephew of Louis XII.) and the Spanish and Papal armies. The confederate army was cut to pieces. De Foix perished in the moment of his victory, and his death closed the good fortune of the French in Italy. Ravenna became a part of the kingdom of Italy in 1860.

=Ravine.= In field fortification, a deep hollow, usually formed by a great flood, or long-continued running of water; frequently turned to advantage in the field.

=Raw.= Unseasoned, unripe in skill, wanting knowledge in tactics.

=Raw Troops.= Are inexperienced soldiers, or men who have been little accustomed to the use of arms.

=Razant.= See RASANTE.

=Razed.= Works or fortifications are said to be razed when they are totally demolished.

=Razzia.= A plundering and destructive incursion.

=Readiness.= A state of alertness or preparation; thus, to hold a corps in readiness, is to have it prepared in consequence of some previous order to march at a moment’s notice.

=Reading.= A town of England, in Berkshire, on the Kennet, 36 miles west by south from London. In 871 it was in possession of the Danes, who, after resisting an assault of the West Saxons, were in the following year obliged to evacuate it. In 1006 they again made their appearance, and burned the town. In the civil war of the 17th century Reading was at different times in the possession of both parties, and suffered much during the contest.

=Ready.= In tactics, a word of command in firing, being a contraction of _make ready_.

=Reamer.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF, BORING.

=Rear.= In general acceptation, anything situated or placed behind another.

=Rear.= The direction opposite the enemy. The opposite of front.

=Rear Assembling-bar.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, THE CAISSON.

=Rear Foot-board.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, THE CAISSON.

=Rear Open Order.= An open order taken by moving the rear rank backwards.

=Rear-chest.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, THE CAISSON.

=Rear-front.= The rear rank of a body of troops when faced about and standing in that position.

=Rear-guard.= A detachment of troops whose duty it is to protect the rear of an army.

=Rear-line.= The line in the rear of an army.

=Rearward.= The last troop; the rear-guard.

=Rebel.= One who rebels; one who revolts from the government to which he owes allegiance, either by openly renouncing the authority of that government, or by taking arms and openly opposing it; one who defies and seeks to overthrow the authority to which he is rightfully subject; a revolter; an insurgent.

=Rebel.= Acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops.

=Rebel.= To revolt; to take up arms traitorously against the state or government; to renounce the authority of the laws and government to which one owes allegiance.

=Rebellion.= The act of rebelling; open and avowed renunciation of the authority of the government to which one owes allegiance; the taking of arms traitorously to resist the authority of lawful government; revolt; insurrection.

=Rebellious.= Engaged in or marked by rebellion; traitorously renouncing the authority and dominion of the government to which allegiance is due; violently resisting government or lawful authority; as, rebellious troops.

=Rebounding-lock.= A gun-lock in which the hammer rebounds to half-cock after striking the cap; specially used in sporting arms.

=Rebuffo= (_Fr._). A bastard cannon, or three-fourth carthoum (or karthaune), a 36-pounder of 15 calibers long; according to Ufano a 45-pounder.

=Recall.= A call on the trumpet, bugle, or drum, by which the soldiers are recalled from duty, labor, etc.

=Recaptor.= One who retakes; one who takes a prize which had been previously taken.

=Recapture.= The act of retaking; especially the retaking of a prize or goods from a captor. That which is captured back; a prize retaken.

=Recast.= To mold anew; to cast anew; to throw into a new form or shape; to reconstruct; as, to recast cannon.

=Receipt.= A voucher or acknowledgment, which should always be given when official papers are received. When flags of truce are the bearers of a parcel or a letter, the officer commanding an outpost should give a receipt for it, and require the party to depart forthwith.

=Receive.= In a military sense, to await the approach of a friend or foe. _To receive an enemy_, is to make the best disposition possible of your troops, for the purpose of meeting the attack of an advancing enemy.

=Recharge.= A renewal of the charge or attack.

=Rechaud= (_Fr._). A chafing-dish, or pan used for various purposes,

## particularly during a siege. Rechauds are filled with burning materials

and hung in different parts of the walls, so as to throw light into the ditches, and to prevent surprises.

=Rechute= (_Fr._). Literally means a second fall; but in fortification it signifies a greater elevation of the rampart in those parts where it is likely to be commanded.

=Recoil.= In gunnery, is the retrograde motion impressed upon cannon by the discharge. The gas produced by the ignition of the charge in the bore, expanding with equal force in every direction, finds only two ways of escape (the muzzle and the vent); the pressure upon these points will therefore cease while it will be proportionally increased upon the parts directly opposite, that is, the bottom of the bore and that portion directly opposite the vent, producing in the first case the recoil, and in the other, indirectly, the dipping of the muzzle. The distance of the recoil depends entirely upon the nature and inclination of the ground upon which the carriage stands, the situation of the trunnions, angle of elevation, comparative weight of the gun and carriage, and upon the strength of the charge. The recoil has no appreciable effect upon the flight of a projectile, the latter being expelled from the gun before it has recoiled a fraction of an inch.

The recoil of heavy guns fired with large charges is a serious consideration in gunnery. The recoil must be checked in a comparatively short space, and yet checked too suddenly the shock destroys the carriage as well as platform. Various methods have been tried. The truck-wheels upon which the top carriage runs in and out of battery are provided with eccentrics, which are thrown out of gear to produce sliding friction,--but this alone is not sufficient in most cases. Counter-mortars are sometimes clamped on the chassis-rail against the carriage, but this is objectionable, as it tends to destroy the chassis. Friction-plates, with clamping attachments to the carriage between them, and extending full length of the chassis, have also been tried, but the buckling of the plates soon ruined them. This plan has been recently revived, and the buckling prevented by interposing india-rubber between the rear ends of the plates and the transom of the chassis. For the most approved methods, see AIR-CYLINDERS and HYDRAULIC LOADING APPARATUS.

=Recommend.= To commend to the favorable notice of another. Non-commissioned officers of companies are appointed by the colonel upon the recommendation of company commanders. Recommendation of members of a court-martial in favor of the person being tried, is introduced after the finding and sentence are closed and authenticated. The recommendation should distinctly set forth the reasons which prompt it.--_Hough._

=Reconnoissance.= The reconnoitring or examination of any tract of country preparatory to the march of an army, in order either to take up quarters for the season, or commence operations against an opposing enemy.

The _military reconnoissance_ of a country is generally performed under the protection of an armed force. It is considered as one of the most essential operations connected with the tactics of the field, and serves as the basis of every movement or combination which it may be proposed to make. Those who are charged with this duty should be habituated to the performance of topographical surveys; in the first place, by the most accurate methods, and with the best instruments; and, secondly, by such methods as admit of being practiced rapidly, on foot or on horseback. In these cases a compass held in the hand must be used for observing the angles, and the distances must be obtained by pacing, or be merely estimated by the eye. The nature of the roads should be described with indications denoting that they are passable for artillery, for cavalry, or merely for infantry; and if defective, estimates should be made of the materials and time requisite for repairing them. In contemplating rivers and marshes as means of retarding an advance of the enemy, it should be ascertained and reported whether by being dry in summer, or frozen in winter, they may not at times cease to be obstacles. It should be also stated how, on a retreat, the roads may be blocked up, the fords rendered impassable, or the bridges destroyed.

=Reconnoitre.= To make oneself acquainted by personal inspection, as far as may be practicable, with the enemy’s position and movements; also, to survey, and draw in a rapid manner, ground of importance to operations of war, not represented in existing maps, with sufficient accuracy or minuteness; and likewise to particularize the banks of rivers, canals, streams, mountains, passes, positions, villages, forts, and redoubts.

=Record.= To preserve by committing to writing; to make official note of; as, to record the proceedings of a court.

=Record.= An authentic copy; a statement of the proceedings of a court or board; a written history; an official account or register.

=Recorder.= One who keeps a record; specifically, the officer who registers the proceedings of a board or minor court.

=Recover.= In tactics, a word of command in firing whereby the piece is brought from the position of aim to that of ready.

=Recreant.= Crying for mercy, as a combatant in the trial of battle; yielding; cowardly. Also, one who yields in combat, and cries craven; one who begs for mercy; a mean-spirited, cowardly wretch.

=Recruit.= To supply with new men, as an army; to fill up or make up by enlistment. Also, a person enlisted to make up deficiency in an army; a newly-enlisted soldier.

=Recruiting.= The act of obtaining men for service. The people of the United States and Great Britain resemble each other in their jealousy of large standing armies and their abhorrence of a system of universal service, as well as in their warlike spirit and self-sacrificing patriotism. The organization of the English army, based upon voluntary enlistment, has been pronounced by foreign officers of thorough education and acute observation as unworthy of scientific study,--that is, for home application, although the United States have borrowed a great deal from it,--in the writer’s opinion, to their detriment. In Great Britain the whole recruiting has been placed under the immediate direction of the adjutant-general since 1802. For this purpose, the country has been divided into recruiting districts, at the head of which is placed an inspecting field-officer with the duty of superintending all recruiting parties in his district, and of approving the recruits brought. Staff-officers and sergeants of the Pensioner Force are also occasionally intrusted with the obtaining of recruits. The United States recruiting service is conducted by the adjutant-general, under the direction of the Secretary of War. Recruiting officers consist generally of captains and lieutenants of the line, who must not permit any man to be deceived or inveigled into the service by false representations. If the recruit is a minor, his parents or guardians must, if possible, be informed of the minor’s wish to enlist, and their written consent obtained therefor. Any male person above the age of eighteen, and under thirty-five years, being effective, able-bodied, sober, free from disease, of good character and habits, with a competent knowledge of the English language, may be enlisted. No man having a wife or child can be enlisted in time of peace without special authority from the adjutant-general’s office. The Prussian system is based upon the theory that military service is not a trade or craft, to be followed by a portion of the population, but a duty owed by every male citizen to his country. For further particulars of this system, see LANDWEHR. The Prussian system has been adopted by all other states of the German empire, and also by most of the other European nations.

=Recruiting Flag.= See FLAG, STORM.

=Recruitment.= The act or business of recruiting or raising new supplies of men for an army.

=Recursant.= In heraldry, moving or coursing backward;--said of an eagle displayed with the back towards the spectator’s face.

=Red Hand.= In heraldry, a sinister hand erect, open, and couped, or the wrist gules, being the arms of the province of Ulster, was granted to the baronets of England and of Ireland as their distinguishing badge, on the institution of that order in 1611, and is borne by the baronets of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom. It is assumed into the armorial coat, and may be borne upon a canton, or on an escutcheon, which may be placed either in the middle chief or in the fess point, so as least to interfere with the charges composing the family arms.

=Red River Settlement.= Is in British North America, between Lakes Superior and Winnepeg. While the proposed transfer to the crown (1869-70) of the rights of the Hudson’s Bay Company was pending, it was the scene of much contention and violence. The hasty action of the Canadian authorities incensed the French-speaking population, who, led by Louis Riel, organized a force, imprisoned their opponents (English and Scotch), seized on Fort Garry, established a provisional government, robbed the strong-box, and dictated terms to the governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who was obliged to submit to them. In July, 1870, a military force suddenly appeared in the province, and Riel fearing capture, escaped, and thus closed the insurrection.

=Red Tape.= The tape used in public offices for tying up documents, etc.; hence, official formality.

=Redan.= Is the simplest work in field fortification. It consists of two parapets whose faces join in forming a salient angle toward the enemy, like a letter V, in which the apex is to the front. Regarded by itself, the redan is a work of very little strength, since there is no flanking fire to protect its faces, and nothing to prevent an enemy from forcing an entrance at the gorge; but redans are useful in many positions, and the rapidity with which they may be constructed renders them favorites with engineers and generals. A row of redans along an exposed front of an army adds much to its strength, the troops behind protecting the gorge, and the redans flanking each other. It forms an excellent defense for a bridgehead, the gorge being covered by the river. Redans figured largely in Wellington’s works for defending Lisbon in 1810. The redan of Sebastopol in 1855 was the principal point of the English attack, and the scene of two bloody repulses by the Russians in June and September.

=Redcoat.= A soldier who wears a red coat; an English soldier.

=Red-hot Shot.= Are cannon-balls heated to redness, and fired from cannon at shipping, magazines, wooden buildings, etc., to combine destruction by fire with battering by concussion. In modern warfare, shells containing molten iron are intended to be used in lieu of red-hot shot; but they have not yet been tested in actual practice, although a similar device was attempted unsuccessfully in 1863 by the U. S. forces when besieging Charleston.

=Redinha.= A village of Portugal, province of Estremadura, the scene of an affair between the British under Lord Wellington, and the French retreating army under Marshal Masséna, in 1811.

=Redoubt.= Is a small fort of varying shape, constructed for a temporary purpose, and usually without flanking defenses. The term is vague in its acceptation, being applied equally to detached posts and to a strong position within another fortress. Redoubts are made square, pentagonal, and even circular. Each redoubt has parapet, ditch, scarps, banquette, etc., as in regular fortification; but it is commonly rather roughly constructed, haste and unprofessional labor precluding mathematical accuracy. The entrance may be by a cutting through the parapet, the cutting being covered within by a traverse, or, preferably, by an excavated gallery leading into the ditch, and thence by a ramp through the counterscarp. For the sake of flanking the ditch, and preventing an assaulting party from forming in it, caponnières of timber, loop-holed, are sometimes formed; or, if the soil be stiff or chalky, a gallery may be cut behind the counterscarp, and loop-holed towards the ditch. In some modern redoubts, the line of each side is broken to afford flanking defense. Redoubts have the weak feature of not defending their own ditches, and of being approached at their salient angles with comparative impunity. They are therefore not adapted to a protracted defense, but as temporary field-works, or in war of posts, they are often of incalculable importance. Troops whose stability in open field is doubtful are especially strengthened by redoubts in their line. Redoubts are particularly useful in fortifying the tops of hills, or commanding passes, or where the object is to occupy a hostile territory, or to feel the way gradually through a wooded country.

=Redoubtable.= Formidable; to be dreaded; terrible to foes; as, a redoubtable hero; hence, valiant; often in contempt or burlesque.

=Redout Kalé=, or =Redoot Kalé=. A flourishing, fortified seaport of Russia, in Trans-Caucasia, stands on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, about 15 miles north of Poti. During the Crimean war, the Russian garrison at Redout Kalé, finding the fort invested by Sir Edmund Lyons, with several men-of-war, set fire to the town, May 19, 1854.

=Redressing Wrongs.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 29, 30.

=Reduce a Place.= Is to oblige the commander to surrender it to the besiegers, by capitulation. _To reduce the square_, is to restore or bring back a battalion or battalions, which have been formed in a hollow or oblong square, to their natural situation in line or column. _To reduce to the ranks_, is to degrade, as to reduce a non-commissioned officer, for misconduct, to the station of a private soldier.

=Reduce, To.= To degrade to a lower rank.

=Reduced.= In a military sense, is to be taken off the establishment, and to cease to receive pay as soldiers. When a regiment is reduced, the officers are generally put upon half-pay. Sometimes the corps are reduced, and the officers remain upon full pay. This happens at the close of a war, when the standing army of the country is confined to a certain number of battalions. Hence is derived the expression, _in_ and _out_ of the _break_. _In the break_, is the liability of being reduced. _Out of the break_, is the certainty of being kept upon the establishment.

=Reduit.= In fortification, is a central or retired work within any other work, intended to afford the garrison a last retreat, whence they may capitulate. It is commonly of masonry, loop-holed, and often circular. Many engineers doubt the use of reduits altogether, as blocking up the working space, being themselves inconvenient for the men, and incapable of protracted defense, while they frequently mask the fire of other works more to the rear.

=Re-embark.= To embark or go aboard of a ship again.

=Re-embattle.= To array again for battle; to arrange again in the order of battle.

=Re-engage.= To engage again; to enlist a second time.

=Re-enlist.= To enlist again. In the U. S. army any non-commissioned officer, musician, or private soldier, who re-enlists within one month after the date of discharge from first enlistment, receives $2 per month in addition to the monthly pay he was receiving prior to discharge; and also $1 per month additional after each subsequent re-enlistment so long as he shall remain continuously in the army.

=Re-enlistment.= A renewed enlistment.

=Re-entering Angle.= See ANGLE.

=Re-entering Place of Arms.= In fortification, is an enlargement of the covered way of the fortress, between a bastion and a ravelin; its rear coinciding with the counterscarp of the ditch, and its front consisting usually of two faces of the glacis, which are disposed at angles of about 100° with the glacis before the neighboring bastion and ravelin. It serves as a place for assembling troops previously to making sorties; and the fire from its faces serves to defend the approaches to the salient parts in front of the collateral works.

=Rees.= A town of Rhenish Prussia, 12 miles southeast from Cleves. This town was taken by the Dutch in 1614, and by the French in 1678.

=Reflection, Angle of.= Whether the instance be a ray of light or a cannon-ball, the angle of reflection will always be found equal to the angle of incidence.

=Re-form, To.= In a military sense is, after some manœuvre or evolution, to bring a line to its natural order by aligning it on some given point. Also, to restore order among broken troops.

=Reformado.= An officer was formerly so called, who for some disgrace was deprived of his command, but retained his rank, and perhaps his pay.

=Reformed Officer.= In the British army, one whose troop or company being broken up, is continued on full or half-pay. He preserves the right of seniority, and continues in the way of preferment by brevet.

=Re-fortification.= A fortifying anew, or a second time.

=Re-fortify.= To fortify anew.

=Refusal to Receive Prisoners.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 67.

=Refuse, To.= In a military sense, is to refuse a wing, to throw it back, or to keep it out of that regular alignment which is formed when troops are upon the point of engaging an enemy. _To refuse any part of the line in battle_, as the centre or a wing, to keep that part retired, while the remainder is advanced to fight.

=Regardant.= A term used in heraldry, with reference to an animal whose head is turned backwards. See PASSANT and RAMPANT.

=Regensburg.= See RATISBON.

=Reggio= (anc. _Rhegium_, which see). A city in Southern Italy which was taken by Garibaldi, August, 1860.

=Regillus Lacus.= A lake in Latium, memorable for the victory gained on its banks by the Romans over the Latins, 498 B.C.

=Regiment.= In all modern armies, is a colonel’s command, and the largest permanent association of soldiers. Regiments may be combined into brigades, brigades into divisions, and divisions into corps and armies; but these combinations are but temporary, while in the regiment the same officers serve continually, and in command of the same body of men. The strength of a regiment may vary greatly even in the same army, as each may comprise any number of battalions. French and Austrian regiments have ordinarily four to six battalions. Among British infantry the smallest regiments are those numbered from the 26th upwards (except the 60th), which, unless serving in India, have 1000 men each, composing one battalion. Regiments in India have 1200 to a battalion. The largest regiment is the Royal Artillery, comprising 34,713 officers and men. The strength of a regiment, however, is changed from time to time; usually by the addition or withdrawal of private soldiers. In the U. S. service the strength of cavalry regiments is about 1200 men each, artillery about 600, and infantry about 500 each. The regimental system could only exist where standing armies were maintained. Accordingly the Macedonian syntagmata and the Roman cohorts were evidently regiments in a strict sense. During the Middle Ages, feudal organization precluded the system, and its first appearance was in France. Francis I. formed legions of 6000 men each, which were divided into independent companies, the latter being, in fact, battalions, and each legion a regiment. The word regiment began to be applied to bodies of British troops in Elizabeth’s reign; regiments are spoken of at the time of the Armada, 1588, and as composing the force in Ireland, 1598. From that time forward the army and militia of Britain have been organized in regiments.

=Regimental.= Anything belonging to a regiment.

=Regimental Colors.= See COLORS.

=Regimental Court-martial.= Is a legal tribunal convened for the punishment of offenders in the army. It is composed of three members and a judge-advocate. See COURT-MARTIAL, JUDGE-ADVOCATE, and TRIAL.

=Regimental Courts-martial.= See COURT-MARTIAL.

=Regimental Inspection.= See INSPECTION.

=Regimental Necessaries.= See NECESSARIES.

=Regimental Orders.= See ORDERS, REGIMENTAL.

=Regimental Schools.= In Great Britain, are educational establishments maintained by the state in every regiment, for the instruction of soldiers and soldiers’ children. There is a schoolmaster for the soldiers and elder boys, and a trained schoolmistress--usually the schoolmaster’s wife--to teach the girls and infants of both sexes. Attendance at the schools is compulsory for the soldiers and optional for the children. Religious instruction takes place on Monday mornings, when children can be kept from school if their parents object to the instruction imparted. The girls’ school comprises an “industrial” section for needle-work, etc.

In France, _écoles primaires_ or _regimentaires_, “primary or regimental schools,” were founded in 1818, in which the soldiers were taught writing, reading, and arithmetic.

In Prussia, there are established garrison schools (_Garnisons Schulen_) for the instruction of soldiers’ children; and battalion schools (_Bataillons Schulen_), in which non-commissioned officers and privates are instructed in writing, reading, orthography, and arithmetic; also in making out reports and other official papers.

=Regimentals.= The uniform worn by the troops of a regiment.

=Register.= A list or roll; as, the army register; which is a list of the officers, with rank and date of commission, etc.

=Regulars.= Are those troops whose conditions of enrollment are not limited to time or place, in contradistinction to militia or volunteer corps; troops permanently in service.

=Regulation Sword.= A sword of the kind or quality prescribed by the official regulations. Also regulation cap, uniform, etc.

=Regulations.= Under the Constitution of the United States, rules for the government and regulation of the army must be made by Congress. Regulation implies regularity; it signifies fixed forms; a certain order; method; precise determination of functions, rights, and duties. (See MILITARY REGULATIONS.) A “regulation” of an executive department is a rule by the head of such department for its action, under a statute conferring such power, and has the force of law; a mere order of the President, or of the Secretary of the department, is not a regulation. The power of the Executive to establish rules and regulations for the government of the army is undoubted. The power to establish implies necessarily the power to modify or repeal, or to create anew. The Secretary of War is the regular constitutional organ of the President for the administration of the military establishment of the nation; and rules and orders publicly promulgated through him must be received as the act of the Executive, and as such be binding upon all within the sphere of his legal and constitutional authority. Such regulations cannot be questioned or defied, because they may be thought unwise or mistaken. But as it sometimes occurs that rights of rank, command, and pay, concerning which Congress has legislated, are subjects of dispute, and variable expositions of laws regulating those essentials of good government have been by different Executives, with an increasing tendency to invalidate rank created by Congress; there should be a law passed by Congress to enable cases to be brought before the Federal civil courts, in order that the true exposition of military statutes and authorities in dispute may be determined. With such a remedy, laws, however defective they may be, would at least be known, and rights, powers, and duties, established by law would be well determined.

=Regulators.= The popular name of a party in North Carolina, which arose in 1768, and had for its object the forcible redress of public grievances.

=Reigate.= A town of England, in the county of Surrey. Its castle was destroyed in 1648. Its church contains the tomb of Lord Howard, who commanded the English fleet against the Armada.

=Reign of Terror.= A term applied to a period of anarchy, bloodshed, and confiscation, in the history of the French revolution, during which the country was under the sway of the actual terror inspired by the ferocious measures of its governors, who had established it avowedly as the principle of their authority. It commenced after the fall of the Girondists, May 31, 1793, and extended to the overthrow of Robespierre and his accomplices, July 27, 1794. Thousands of persons were put to death during this short time.

=Reims.= See RHEIMS.

=Rein.= A crack or vein in a musket-barrel.

=Reinforce.= In gunnery, is the thickest part of the body of the gun, in front of the base-ring or base-line; if there be more than one reinforce, that which is next the base-ring or base-line is called the _first reinforce_; the other the _second reinforce_. See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF, MOLDING.

=Reinforce.= To strengthen with new force, assistance, or support; especially, to strengthen, as an army or a fort, with additional troops, or a navy with additional ships.

=Reinforce Band.= Is at the junction of the first and second reinforces.

=Reinforcement.= The act of reinforcing. That which reinforces; additional force; especially additional troops or force to augment the strength of an army, or ships to strengthen a navy.

=Reitres= (_Fr._). A body of armed horsemen, who came out of Germany and entered the French service during the reign of Henry III. They were incorporated with the carabineers.

=Rejoin.= To join again; to return; as, the officer rejoined his regiment.

=Rejoinder.= In military law, the defendant’s answer to the plaintiff’s replication. The weight of authority is against permitting a rejoinder on the part of the prisoner, unless evidence has been adduced in the reply of the prosecutor. But such evidence should not be permitted in reply, and there should be no rejoinder.--_Hough’s “Military Law Authorities.”_

=Relais= (_Fr._). A term used in fortification to signify a space, containing some feet in breadth, which is between the foot of the rampart and the scarp of the fosse. It serves as a convenient receptacle for the earth that occasionally crumbles off.

=Relative Rank.= Signifies the comparative rank, as regards precedence, etc. The following is the relative rank of officers in the army and navy of the United States:

Army. Navy. General Admiral. Lieutenant-general Vice-admiral. Major-general Rear-admiral. Brigadier-general Commodore. Colonel Captain. Lieutenant-colonel Commander. Major Lieut.-commander. Captain Lieutenant. First lieutenant Master. Second lieutenant Ensign.

The officers of the marine corps are of rank corresponding to that of those of the same titles in the army.

=Release of Prisoners.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 69.

=Relief.= A fresh detachment of troops, ordered to replace those already upon duty. Also, the body of men proceeding to take the places of, or _relieve_, the existing sentinels. Guards are usually divided into three _reliefs_. See GUARD, RUNNING.

=Relief.= In fortification, is the height to which works are raised above the bottom of the ditch. If the works are high and commanding, they are said to have a bold _relief_; but if the reverse, they are said to have a low _relief_. The _relief_ should provide the requisite elevations for the musketry and artillery, to insure a good defense.

=Relieve, To.= Is to take a man or a body of men off any kind of duty; as, to relieve a sentinel; to relieve the guard, etc.; also to succor, to deliver; as, to relieve a besieged town.

=Reliever.= An iron ring fixed to a handle, by means of a socket, so as to be at right angles to it. It serves to disengage the searcher of a gun, when one of its points is retained in a hole, and cannot be extracted otherwise.

=Relieving the Enemy.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 45.

=Reload.= To load anew, as a gun, etc.

=Reloading Implements.= Are implements used in reloading cartridge-shells,--to perform the various operations of measuring the powder, setting home the bullet or charge, removing exploded primer, recapping, etc.

=Remaining Velocity.= In gunnery, is the velocity of the projectile at any point of the flight.

=Remand.= To send back; as when a soldier who has been discharged from prison or the guard-house, for the purpose of being examined or tried, is sent back to await the final decision of his case.

=Remarks.= Army returns, regimental returns, guard reports, etc., have a column allotted for observations relative to extraordinary occurrences, and these are headed “remarks.” The word is also applied with reference to a reviewing officer’s observations on the verdict of a court-martial.

=Remblai.= Is the quantity of earth in the mass of rampart, parapet, and banquette.

=Remedy.= The rules and articles for the government of the army are defective in not providing sufficient remedies for wrongs. The army of the United States is governed by law. The law should therefore provide a sufficient remedy for cases in which the rights of officers are wrested from them by illegal regulations, purporting to interpret the true meaning of acts of Congress. In cases arising in the land and naval forces of the United States, where the true construction of any act of Congress is in dispute, legislation is wanted to enable an officer who thinks himself wronged by an illegal executive decision, to bring the matter before the Federal civil courts to determine the true exposition of the statute or authority in dispute.

=Remi=, or =Rhemi=. One of the most powerful people in Gallia Belgica. They formed an alliance with Cæsar when the rest of the Belgæ made war against him, 57 B.C.

=Remington Rifle.= See SMALL-ARMS.

=Remit.= To lessen; as, to remit a part of a soldier’s sentence.

=Remonstrate.= To make a representation of a case or cases wherein one or more may consider themselves to be aggrieved. Military men may remonstrate through their superior officers; but where the duty of the service is concerned, that duty must be first performed with cheerfulness and fidelity.

=Remount.= A supply of good and serviceable horses for the cavalry. _To remount the cavalry_, is to furnish them with horses in the room of those which have been either killed, disabled, or cast.

=Renchen.= A town of Baden, on the Rench, 8 miles northeast from Offenburg. The French defeated the Austrians here in 1796, and entered Suabia.

=Rendezvous.= A place appointed for a meeting; especially, the appointed place for troops, or for the ships of a fleet, to assemble; sometimes a place for enlistment. Also, to assemble or meet at a particular place, as troops, ships, etc.

=Rendsburg.= A fortified town of Holstein, on an island in the Eyder, at the commencement of the Kiel Canal. It was taken by the Imperialists in 1627; by the Swedes in 1643; and by the Prussians and confederate troops in 1848. It was reoccupied by the Danes in 1852, and taken by the Prussians after a serious conflict, July 21, 1864.

=Renegade.= One who deserts from a military or naval post; a deserter.

=Rennes= (anc. _Condate_). A town of France, capital of the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, 60 miles north of Nantes. After the fall of the Roman empire it fell into the hands of the Franks. In 1357, Rennes was unsuccessfully besieged by the Duke of Lancaster; and at the time of the revolution was the scene of some conflicts, being always firmly attached to the popular cause.

=Reorganize.= To organize anew; to reduce again to an organized condition; to cause to assume wonted or regular functions; as, to reorganize an army.

=Repair of Arms.= The keeping in constant good order the different fire-arms belonging to a troop or company, such as rifles, etc. In the British army, a half-yearly allowance is made to captains of troops and companies for this purpose. In the U. S. service the cost of repairs of damage done to arms, equipments, etc., through negligence of an officer or soldier, is deducted from the pay of said officer or soldier.

=Repeater.= A fire-arm that may be discharged many times in quick succession; especially, a form of fire-arm so constructed that the charges are successively introduced, by an action of the lock, from a chamber containing them, into the breech, and fired or are discharged from a revolving chamber at the breech. See REVOLVER and MAGAZINE GUN.

=Repel.= To drive back; to force to return; to check the advance of; to repulse; as, to repel an enemy or an assailant.

=Reply.= It is the duty of a court to prevent new matter from being introduced into the prosecution or defense, but a prisoner may urge in his defense mitigating circumstances, or examine witnesses as to character or services, and produce testimonials of such facts, without its being considered new matter. If any point of law be raised, or any matter requiring explanation, the judge-advocate may explain. No other reply to be admitted.--_Hough._

=Report.= Sound; loud noise, as that made by the discharge of a rifle or a cannon.

=Report.= A specific statement of any particular occurrences. Officers making written reports are required to sign them, specifying the regiment to which they belong, and their rank.

=Reporting Prisoners.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 68.

=Repose, In= (Fr. _en repos_). This term, which is manifestly taken from the French, applies to troops that are allowed to be stationary for any given period during an active campaign, either through sickness or from some other cause. Thus, the 5th regiment being in repose, the 24th was ordered to the front.

=Repository.= A place, or repertory, in which anything is preserved. Thus, the British repository at Woolwich contains models of every sort of warlike stores, weapons, and fortifications; whether invented by officers of the army or civilians, as well of other nations as of Britain, receipts being given to preserve the title to the inventor.

=Repress.= To press back or down effectually; to crush down or out; to quell; to subdue; as, to repress rebellion.

=Reprimand.= A reproof for some error or misconduct. A reprimand is sometimes publicly conveyed to officers, either in orders or at the head of a regiment, by direction of the President or a general officer in command. Non-commissioned officers and privates are sometimes reprimanded. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 52.

=Reprisal.= Is the retaking, from an enemy, goods which he has seized, or the capture from him of other goods, as an equivalent for the damage he has wrought.

=Reproachful or Provoking Speeches.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 25.

=Repulse.= To repel; to beat or drive back. The condition of being repelled or driven back. Also, the act of repelling or driving back.

=Requisitions.= Are forms prescribed for the demand of certain allowances, as forage, rations, etc. It also signifies the act of exacting either men or things for the public service. Requisitions are, however, an uncertain and unequal means of supply and only enable an army to live from hand to mouth, and although practicable in offensive wars, are only justifiable in rapid movements, where time does not admit the employment of more certain means of supply. The system is less odious than pillage. Bonaparte skillfully adopted another method, in harmony with the spirit of wars of invasion, and also more reliable as a means of support. He substituted himself in place of the supreme authorities of the invaded country, and exacted _pecuniary contributions_, paying, or promising to pay, for all provisions and other supplies needed for his army. This system was well executed by Marshal Suchet in Spain, and a similar system was also matured and published in orders by Gen. Scott while in Mexico. A treaty of peace, however, soon after was made, which put an end to military operations, and the system was therefore only partially executed. But with a sufficient army in a fertile country, the experience of the world has shown that if the inhabitants are protected from injuries, they will very generally sell to the best paymasters. It is therefore the interest of an invading army not to interfere with the ordinary avocations of citizens, and such is the modern usage.

=Rereward.= The part of an army that marches in the rear, as the guard; the rear-guard.

=Resaca de la Palma.= A ravine which crosses the Matamoras road about 3 miles north of that place; the position taken by the Mexican general Arista to resist the further advance of Gen. Taylor’s army. Although the latter was outnumbered three to one, the Mexicans were routed after a short conflict (May 9, 1846) and driven across the Rio Grande.

=Rescue.= The retaking by a party captured of a prize made by the enemy.

=Reservation, Military.= Land set aside from the public domain by the President of the United States for military purposes.

=Reserve.= In army affairs, is a body of troops held somewhere in the rear, generally out of fire, and kept fresh, in order that they may interfere with decisive force at any point where yielding troops require support, or an advantage gained needs powerful following up. The reserve of ammunition is a magazine of warlike stores, situated between an army and its base of operations, sufficiently retired from the front to be safe from sudden raids of the enemy, and at the same time advanced enough to allow of the supply actually in the field being speedily replenished.

=Reserve, Army.= In Great Britain, is divided into first and second class reserves. The first class consists of men who are serving or have served in the regular army, and whose past service has not exceeded their first term of enlistment. These men are liable to be called out for training for a period not longer than twelve days in a year, and to be permanently embodied for general service in case of imminent national danger or great emergency. The second class consists of out-pensioners of Chelsea Hospital, and persons enrolled in the force under the provisions of the 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th Victoria. The members of this force may be called out for training as if they were in the first class, but can only be permanently embodied in case of national danger or great emergency, for service in the United Kingdom. For army reserve in Prussia, see LANDWEHR.

=Reserve Equipage.= See PONTONS, BRIDGE EQUIPAGE.

=Ressaldar.= In the East Indies, is a native officer in a native cavalry regiment. He commands the right troop of a squadron, and on parade leads the squadron.

=Ressaldar Major.= In the East Indies, is the native commandant of a native cavalry regiment.

=Rest.= In tactics, a word of command whereby the men are brought to a position of rest; as, parade rest, in place rest.

=Rest on Arms.= A word of command which is used at military funerals.

=Retained Pay.= In the U. S. army, is pay that is retained from the soldier until the expiration of his term of service.

=Retainers.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 63.

=Retaliation.= This should never be resorted to as a measure of mere revenge, but only as a means of protective retribution, and, moreover, cautiously and unavoidably; that is to say, retaliation is only to be resorted to after careful inquiry into the real occurrence and the character of the misdeeds that may demand retribution.

=Retiarius.= A kind of gladiator who fought in the amphitheatre during the time of the Romans. He was dressed in a short coat, having a _fuscina_, or trident, in his left hand, and a net, from which he derived his name, in his right. With this he endeavored to entangle his adversary, that he might then with his trident easily dispatch him. On his head he wore only a hat tied under his chin with a broad ribbon.

=Retinue.= Applied strictly to the admiral’s suite or followers, though it means an accompanying train in general; whether military, naval, or civil.

=Retirade.= In fortification, a retrenchment, which is generally made with two faces, forming a re-entrant angle, and is thrown up in the body of a work, for the purpose of receiving troops, who may dispute the ground inch by inch.

=Retire.= Signifies to fall back a short distance. Also, a bugle-sound intimating to skirmishers that they are to fall back. This bugle-sound in the U. S. service is termed “to the rear.”

=Retired Flank.= In fortification, a flank having an arc of a circle with its convexity turned toward the place.

=Retired Full Pay.= See FULL PAY, RETIRED.

=Retired List.= Is a list of officers retired from the army or navy. In every service, to maintain a reasonably low age among the persons

## actively employed, it is essential that some scale should be fixed for

retirement of old and worn-out officers. In the British army, medical officers are allowed to retire after twenty-five years full-pay service; other officers after thirty years on full pay, or twenty-five years on half-pay. In the navy, officers are placed on the retired list at sixty years of age, with the rank they then hold. In most cases, in both services, the retiring officer is allowed a step of honorary rank; but this higher rank carries neither present nor prospective advantage. Officers of the U. S. army may be retired on their own application after thirty years’ service. If an officer has been borne on the army register for forty-five years, or if he has attained the age of sixty-two years, he may be retired at the discretion of the President. Officers retired from active service receive 75 per cent. of the pay of the rank upon which they were retired. Retired officers of the army may be assigned to duty as professors of colleges and at the Soldier’s Home, and shall not be assignable to any other duty. Any officer may be retired on account of disability contracted in the line of duty. When an officer has served forty years as a commissioned officer he shall, if he makes application therefor, be placed on the retired list. Officers retired shall be withdrawn from command and promotion. Officers may be wholly retired for disability not incident to the service and dropped from the rolls of the army with one year’s pay. Officers of the marine corps shall be retired in the same manner and with the same relative conditions as are provided for officers of the army.

=Retreat.= The retrograde movement of any army or body of men who retire from the enemy. It signifies a more prolonged and systematic movement to the rear than retire. _Full retreat_ is when an army retires with all expedition before a conquering enemy. The retreat is also a beat of the infantry drums, or sounding of the bugles or trumpets, which takes place every day at sunset, and at which troops fall in and the roll is called; the details for duty the following day, and orders, are published. _To retreat_ is to make a retrograde movement. An army or body of men are said to retreat when they turn their backs upon the enemy, or are retiring from the ground they occupied; hence, every march in withdrawing from an enemy is called a retreat.

=Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks.= The 10,000 Greeks who had joined the army of the Younger Cyrus in his revolt against his brother, Artaxerxes Mnemon, were victors, but Cyrus was defeated and slain at Cunaxa, 401 B.C. Artaxerxes having enticed the Greek leaders into his power and killed them, Xenophon was called to the command of his countrymen. Under continual alarms from sudden attacks, he led them across rapid rivers, through vast deserts, over the tops of mountains, till he reached the sea. The Greeks returned home after a march of 1155 parasangs, or leagues (3465 miles), which was performed in 215 days, after an absence of fifteen months.

=Retrench.= To furnish with a retrenchment; as, to retrench bastions.

=Retrenchment.= In fortification, is a defensive work, comprising at least ditch and parapet, within some other work of a fortress, and intended as a place of retreat for the defenders, whence they may prolong the defense, or capitulate after the faces of the work itself have fallen into the enemy’s hands. The retrenchment bears a considerable resemblance to the _reduit_, except that it is almost always of earth. Retrenchments are made in ravelins, and the re-entering _place d’armes_ at the time of constructing the works. A retrenchment is thrown across the gorge of a redan or bastion, or from shoulder to shoulder, when it is apprehended that the salient angle will fall into the possession of the besiegers; these retrenchments are usually made when wanted. Such a retrenchment across the interior of the Redan at Sebastopol caused the sanguinary repulse of the British on September 8, 1855.

=Return.= An official account, report, or statement, rendered to the commander or other superior; as, the return of men fit for duty; the return of the number of the sick; the return of provisions, etc. For punishment of officers making false returns, see APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 8.

=Returns of a Mine.= Are the turnings and windings of the gallery leading to the mine.

=Returns of a Trench.= Are the various turnings and windings which form the lines of the trench, and are, as near as they can be, made parallel to the place attacked, to avoid being enfiladed.

=Reveille.= The beat of the drum about break of day, to give notice that it is time for the soldiers to rise, and for the sentinels to forbear challenging.

=Reveil-matin= (_Fr._). A double cannon; an ancient 96-pounder.

=Revel=, or =Reval=. A strongly fortified seaport town of Russia, government of Esthonia, on a small bay on the south side of the Gulf of Finland, 200 miles west-southwest from St. Petersburg. It was long held by the Teutonic Knights; was made over to Sweden in 1562; bombarded by the Danish and Lübeck fleets in 1569; besieged by Peter the Great, and annexed to the Russian empire in 1710. In 1713 a naval harbor, in addition to the commercial harbor, was founded.

=Reverse.= A change for the worse, or partial defeat.

=Reverse Fire.= See FIRE, REVERSE.

=Reverse Flank.= See FLANK, OUTWARD.

=Reversed.= Upside down; as, arms reversed. Arms are said to be reversed when the butts of the pieces are slung, or held upwards.

=Reversed.= In heraldry, a term applied to a charge turned upside down.

=Revet.= In fortification, to face with masonry, wood, or material, as an embankment.

=Revetment.= In permanent fortification, is a retaining wall of masonry built for the purpose of holding back the earth of which works are composed. The most ordinary position of revetments is for the escarp and counterscarp of the ditch. The most important of these two is the escarp, which has to hold back the great mass of earth represented by the rampart, parapet, banquette, etc. It is usually of solid brick-work or stone, 5 feet thick at the top, and sloping outwards as it descends (on the ditch side only) to the extent of 1 in 6. Prior to Vauban’s time, the escarp revetment was commonly raised to the top of the parapet; but as in this case the artillery of a besieger played on the top of the wall, and ruined it soon after the siege commenced, that engineer adopted the principle--thenceforth followed--of raising it no higher than the crest of the glacis, or about 7 feet above the natural ground, leaving the parapet above of sloped earth only. When the main ditch is 24 feet deep, the scarp revetment will be about 30 feet high. Additional strength is imparted to the revetment wall by massive buttresses at every 15 feet, called _counter-forts_, and these again are sometimes connected and strengthened by masonry arches outside the revetment. The revetment forms a terrible barrier to an assaulting party. In field-works temporary revetments may be made of timber, turf, hurdles, or any other materials on hand.

=Review.= An examination or inspection of troops under arms, by a general or commander, for the purpose of ascertaining the state of their discipline, equipments, etc.

=Revision.= A re-examination for correction. Where an officer, who orders a court-martial, does not approve their proceedings, he may, by the custom of war, return them to the court for revision, and no additional evidence can be taken on such revision.--_Hough._

=Revocable.= That may be recalled. Nominations for appointments in the army are made by the President of the United States, subject to the concurrence of the Senate, who, if they disagree, revoke the appointment.

=Revolt.= To renounce allegiance or subjection; to rise against the government in declared rebellion.

=Revolution.= In politics, any extensive change in the constitution of a country suddenly brought about. The most important events in history known under this name are: The destruction of the Assyrian empire, and the foundation of that of the Medes and Persians by Cyrus the Great, 536 B.C.; the foundation of the Macedonian empire on the destruction of the Persian, by the defeat of Darius Codomanus, by Alexander the Great, 331 B.C.; the establishment of the Roman empire on the ruins of the republic by Julius Cæsar, 47 B.C.; the establishment of the empire of the Western Franks under Charlemagne, 800; the revolution in Portugal, by which the Portuguese threw off the Spanish yoke and placed John, duke of Braganza, on the throne, 1640; the English revolution of the 17th century, which began in the early part of the reign of Charles I., with the struggle between that king and his Parliament. In 1642, the struggle became a civil war, in which the Parliament obtained the ascendency, and brought Charles to the block in 1649. A republic followed, under the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, which was succeeded in 1660 by the restoration of monarchy in the person of Charles II.; but the arbitrary rule of James II. brought the king and people again into antagonism, and James having fled the country, William III. was called to the throne under such conditions and safeguards as secured the balance of the constitution. The revolutions in Russia, 1730 and 1762. The French revolution was a violent reaction against that absolutism which had come in the course of time to supplant the old feudal institutions of the country. It began with an outbreak of insurrectionary movements at Paris in July, 1789, including the destruction of the Bastile. On January 21, 1793, King Louis XVI. was beheaded. A disastrous reign of terror followed (see REIGN OF TERROR), which was brought to an end in 1794. The revolution in Sweden, 1772 and 1809; in Holland, 1795, and counter-revolution in 1813; in Poland, 1704, 1795, and 1830. The American Revolution of 1775, by which the United States threw off their dependence on Great Britain. The French revolution of 1830, which drove Charles X. into exile, and raised Louis Philippe, duke of Orleans, to the throne by the will of the people; as also the revolution of 1848, when France rose against Louis Philippe and adopted for a time a republican form of government; which was followed by the revolution of 1851. The revolutions in the Netherlands, and in Brunswick, 1830; in Brazil, 1831; in Hungary, 1848; in Rome, 1798 and 1848; in Italy, 1859-60, when the various minor sovereigns were driven into exile, and the whole of the peninsula, with the exception of the Roman and Venetian territory, became subject to the constitutional sway of Victor Emmanuel; in the United States, 1860-65; in the Danubian principalities, 1869; and the Papal States, suppressed, October, 1867.

=Revolutionary.= Tending or pertaining to a revolution in government; as, a revolutionary war.

=Revolutionary Tribunal.= The name specially given to the infamous court of judgment--the most extreme republican will scarcely affirm that it was a court of justice--instituted by the French Convention in March, 1793, on a motion made by Danton, who considered that such a court had become necessary, inasmuch as the recent disasters that had befallen the national armies on the frontiers had led to dangerous conspiracies against the revolutionary government. Its members were chosen from the various departments, and their appointment was ratified by the Convention. Their function was to sit in judgment on all persons accused of crimes against the state, and from their sentence, delivered with appalling promptitude, there was no appeal. During the “Reign of Terror” (which see), when Fouquier-Tinville was “public accuser,” it acquired a horrible notoriety, abolishing soon almost all forms of justice, neither hearing witnesses on behalf of the accused, nor allowing him an opportunity of defense, but blindly executing the orders of the “Committee of Public Safety,” which was merely a tool in the hands of Robespierre. In the provinces, similar tribunals, under the name of “Revolutionary Committees,” were established, the commissaries-general of which, as, for instance, Carrier, shot or drowned _suspects_ in crowds.

=Revolvers.= See SMALL-ARMS, REVOLVER.

=Revolving Light.= A light or lamp in a light-house so arranged as to appear and disappear at fixed intervals, either by being turned about an axis so as to show light only at intervals, or by having its light occasionally intercepted by a revolving screen.

=Reward.= A recompense given for the performance of a meritorious or gallant act; as, the soldiers were rewarded with medals for their gallantry. In the U. S. service a reward of $30 is paid for the apprehension of a deserter.

=Rezonville.= See GRAVELOTTE.

=Rhagæ= (ruins at _Rai_, southeast of _Tehran_). The greatest city of Media, lay in the extreme north of Great Media, at the southern foot of the mountains (Caspius Mons) which border the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. It was destroyed in the Parthian wars, but rebuilt by Arsaces; it was finally destroyed by the Tartars in the 12th century.

=Rhegium= (now _Reggio_). A celebrated Greek town on the coast of Bruttium, on the south of Italy, was situated on the straits which separate Italy and Sicily. Rhegium was founded about the beginning of the first Messenian war, 743 B.C., by Æolian Chalcidians from Eubœa, and by Doric Messenians, who had quitted their native country on the commencement of hostilities between Sparta and Messenia. Even before the Persian war Rhegium was sufficiently powerful to send 3000 of its citizens to the assistance of the Tarentines. Dionysius carried on war against the city for a long time, and after two or three unsuccessful attempts he at length took the place, which he treated with the greatest severity. The Rhegians having applied to Rome for assistance when Pyrrhus was in the south of Italy, the Romans placed in the town a garrison of 4000 soldiers, who had been levied among the Latin colonies in Campania. These troops seized the town in 279, killed or expelled the male inhabitants, and took possession of their wives and children. When Pyrrhus was driven out of Italy, the Romans took signal vengeance upon these Campanians, and restored the surviving Rhegians to their city.

=Rheims=, or =Reims=. A town of France, in the department of Marne, 82 miles east-northeast from Paris. The town was taken by the Russians in 1814, but before they had been in possession many hours Napoleon came down upon them, and gained here one of his last successes before victory deserted his standards. Gen. MacMahon was at Rheims with his army, including the remains of the corps of Failly and Canrobert, and marched from here in hopes of joining Bazaine; the crown-prince of Prussia started in pursuit, August 23, 1870. It was occupied by the Germans and the king, September 5, 1870.

=Rhin, Bas= and =Haut= (Lower and Upper Rhine). Recently departments of France, which formed the former French province of Alsace. See ELSASS.

=Rhine= (anc. _Rhenus_, Ger. _Rhein_). An important river in Germany, and one of the most noted in Europe, takes its rise in the Swiss canton of Grisons, and after a north-northwest course of about 800 miles, falls in the German Ocean. Cæsar was the first Roman general who crossed the Rhine; he threw a bridge of boats across it. It was fortified as the frontier of the Roman empire 298 and 369, and became the boundary of the French republic in 1776.

=Rhode Island.= One of the original thirteen United States of America, and the smallest, on the southern coast of New England, is about 47 miles from north to south, and 37 miles from east to west. It is bounded north and east by Massachusetts, south by the Atlantic, and west by Connecticut. Rhode Island is believed to have been the Vineland of the Norsemen, who are supposed by some antiquarians to have explored this coast in the 10th century. It was settled in 1636 by Roger Williams and his companions, Baptists, who were expelled for their religious opinions from the Puritan colony of Plymouth. The colony suffered from the Indian wars until the defeat and death of Philip, king of the Wampanoags. Rhode Island took a prominent part in the Revolutionary war, and in the late civil war (1861-65) she filled her quotas cheerfully for the cause of the Union, her soldiers winning distinction and honor in the field.

=Rhodes= (Lat. _Rhodus_, Gr. _Rhodos_.). An island of Asiatic Turkey, in the Mediterranean, off the southwest coast of Asia Minor, long an important, wealthy, and independent state of ancient Greece. At the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, Rhodes was one of those maritime states which were subject to Athens; but in the twentieth year of the war (412), it joined the Spartan alliance, and the oligarchal party, which had been depressed, and their leaders, the Eratidæ, expelled, recovered their former power under Dories. In 408 the capital, called Rhodus, was built. The history of the island now presents a series of conflicts between the democratical and oligarchal parties, and of subjection to Athens and Sparta in turn, till the end of the Social war, 355, when its independence was acknowledged. Then followed a conflict with the princes of Caria, during which the island was for a time subject to Artemisia. At the Macedonian conquest, they submitted to Alexander; but upon his death they expelled the Macedonian garrison. In the ensuing wars they formed an alliance with Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, and their city, Rhodus, endured a most famous siege by the forces of Demetrius Poliorcetes, who at length, in admiration of the valor of the besieged, presented them with the engines he had used against the city, from the sale of which they defrayed the cost of the celebrated Colossus. The state now for a long time flourished with great maritime power. At length they came into connection with the Romans, whose alliance they joined in the war against Philip III. of Macedon. In the ensuing war with Antiochus, the Rhodians gave the Romans great aid with their fleet. A temporary interruption of their alliance with Rome was caused by their espousing the cause of Perseus, for which they were severely punished, 168; but they recovered the favor of Rome by the important naval aid they rendered in the Mithridatic war. In the civil wars they took part with Cæsar, and suffered in consequence from Cassius, 42. They were at length deprived of their independence by Claudius. In 1309 the island came into the possession of the Knights of St. John (see SAINT JOHN OF JERUSALEM), who baffled every effort made by Mahomet II., the conqueror of Constantinople, to drive them from the island, and held it until they were compelled to evacuate it by Solyman the Great in 1522, after one of the most memorable sieges recorded in history.

=Rhoxolani=, or =Roxolani=. A warlike people in European Sarmatia, on the coast of the Palus Mæotis, and between the Borysthenes and the Tanais, usually supposed to be the ancestors of the modern Russians. They frequently attacked and plundered the Roman provinces south of the Danube; and Hadrian was even obliged to pay them tribute. They are mentioned as late as the 11th century. They fought with lances, and with long swords wielded with both hands; and their armies were composed chiefly of cavalry.

=Ribadoquin.= An ancient 1- or 1³⁄₄-pounder gun. Also, a powerful cross-bow for throwing long darts.

=Ribaud= (_Fr._). A soldier of the foot-guards of Philip Augustus of France; but afterwards this term was applied only to the most infamous characters.

=Ribaudaille= (_Fr._). A term of reproach formerly applied to cowardly soldiers. Philip of Valois thus called his Genoese mercenaries, who he thought had betrayed him.

=Ribaudequin= (_Fr._). A warlike machine or instrument which the French formerly used. It was made in the form of a bow, containing 12 or 15 feet in its curve, and was fixed upon the wall of a fortified town, for the purpose of casting out a prodigious javelin, which sometimes killed several men at once. According to Monstrelet, a French writer, _ribaudequin_, or _ribauderin_, signified a sort of garment which was worn by the soldiers when they took the field.

=Ribbon.= In heraldry, a diminutive of the ordinary called the _bend_, of which it is one-eighth in width.

=Ribbon Cockades.= In the British service, the cockades which are given to recruits, and are commonly called the _colors_.

=Richmond.= The capital of Virginia, on the left bank of the James River, at the head of the tide-water, 150 miles from its mouth, and 100 miles south of Washington. In June, 1861, it was selected as the Confederate capital, and from that period was the objective-point of a series of formidable military expeditions for its capture, under Gens. McDowell, McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, Meade, and Grant, and defended by Gen. Lee with a large army and formidable lines of fortifications, until the seizure of the lines of supply by Gens. Grant and Sheridan compelled its evacuation after a series of sanguinary battles, April 3, 1865. A considerable portion of the city was destroyed by the retreating Confederates.

=Rickarees=, =Arickarees=, or =Rees=. A tribe of Indians of the Pawnee stock living at Fort Berthold agency, on the Upper Missouri River; they warred with the Dakota tribes for a number of years, and were hostile to the whites; but were defeated and dispersed by U. S. troops in 1823; made a treaty in 1825; were driven up the Platte Valley, 1831; returned to the Missouri some years later. They numbered in 1876 about 700 souls.

=Ricochet.= In gunnery, the repeated rebounding of round-shot. By firing at a slight elevation, with small charges, in a direction enfilading the face of a work, shot are pitched over the parapet, and bound along the rampart from end to end, with most destructive effect on the guns and gunners occupying it.

=Ricochet Battery.= See BATTERY.

=Ricochet Firing.= See FIRE, RICOCHET.

=Rideau.= Is a rising ground, or eminence, commanding a plain, sometimes almost parallel to the works of a place. It is a great disadvantage to have rideaus near a fortification, which terminate on the counterscarp, especially when the enemy fire from afar; they not only command the place, but facilitate the enemy’s approaches.

=Rider.= In artillery carriages, a piece of wood, which has more height than breadth; the length being equal to that of the body of the axle-tree, upon which the side-pieces rest in a four-wheel carriage, such as the ammunition-wagon, block-carriage, and sling-wagon.

=Ridge.= In fortification, is the highest part of the glacis proceeding from the salient angle of the covered way.

=Riding-Master.= In the British service, in cavalry, artillery, and the army service corps, is an officer whose duty it is to instruct the officers and men in the management of their horses. He is most commonly selected from the ranks. The riding-master has the relative rank of lieutenant, and, after an aggregate service of thirty years, including at least fifteen years as riding-master, he has the right to retire on 10 shillings a day, with the honorary rank of captain. He is assisted in his duties by rough riders. (See ROUGH RIDER.)

=Riff, The.= A portion of the coast of Morocco which extends from Tangier on the west, to near the western frontier of Algeria. The name in the Berber language, which is that of the inhabitants, signifies a mountainous and rugged coast. The inhabitants of the Riff were formerly engaged in piracy. On account of the injuries inflicted by them on merchant vessels, most of the maritime states of Europe agreed to pay an annual sum of quit-money. However, in 1828, Austria declined further payment of the tax. A Venetian vessel was seized by the pirates in the harbor of Rabat, but the arrival of an Austrian fleet off the port produced restitution of the ship and its cargo, as well as the formal renunciation of all further claims. France followed the same course by declaring war against the sultan of Morocco, and obtained compensation in 1844, since which period piracy has much diminished. Its example was followed by the Spaniards in 1859.

=Rifle.= A fire-arm having a number of spiral grooves cut into the surface of its bore, for the purpose of giving the projectile a motion about a line coinciding with the direction of its flight. See ORDNANCE, SMALL-ARMS, MAGAZINE GUNS, and LYMAN’S MULTI-CHARGE GUN.

=Rifle Projectile.= See PROJECTILE.

=Rifled Cannon=, or =Rifle-cannon=. A cannon of which the bore is rifled.

=Rifled Musket.= A musket of which the bore is rifled.

=Riflemen.= A peculiar kind of light infantry, consisting of experienced marksmen, armed with the most improved rifles. In the British army there are two battalions of the rifle brigade and of the 60th Rifles, the Ceylon Rifles, and the Cape Mounted Riflemen.

=Rifle-pit.= A pit dug for the shelter of sharpshooters.

=Rifling.= The yielding nature of lead renders the application of the rifle principle of easy accomplishment in the case of rifle-muskets, but such is not the case with rifle-cannon where the projectiles are made of iron. The object of the most recent experiments is to determine the safest and surest means of causing the projectile to follow the spiral grooves as it passes along the bore of a rifled piece. For description of the manner of doing this, see PROJECTILE.

_Form of Groove._--The form of a rifle groove is determined by the angle which the tangent at any point makes with the corresponding element of the bore. If the angles be equal at all points the groove is uniform. If they increase from the breech to the muzzle, the grooves are called increasing; if the reverse, decreasing. The inclination of a rifle groove at any point is measured, accurately, by the tangent of the angle which it makes with the axis of the bore, which is always equal to the circumference of the bore divided by the length of a single revolution of the spiral, measured in the direction of the axis. Grooves are of two kinds,--_uniform_ and _variable_.

_Uniform Groove._--The comparative advantages of uniform and variable grooves depend on the means used to connect them with the projectiles. If the bearing of the projectile in the grooves be long, and the metal of which it is made be unyielding, it will be unsafe, if not impracticable, to employ variable grooves, and if the metal be partially yielding, a portion of the force of the charge will be expended in changing the form of that part of the projectile which projects into the grooves, as it moves along the bore.

_Variable Groove._--The variable groove may be used to advantage when the portion of the projectile in the grooves is so short that its form will undergo but slight alteration; the variable groove diminishes the friction of the projectile when it is first set in motion, and thereby relieves the breech of the piece of a portion of the enormous strain which is thrown upon it. If the twist be too rapid towards the muzzle there will be danger of bursting the piece in the chase.

_Width of Groove._--The width of a groove depends on the diameter of the bore and the peculiar manner in which the groove receives and holds the projectile. Wide and shallow grooves are more easily filled by the expanding portion of the projectile than those which are narrow and deep; and the same holds true of circular-shaped grooves when compared to those of angular form.

_Number of Grooves._--An increase in the number of grooves increases the firmness with which a projectile is held, by adding to the number of points which bear upon it. A large number of grooves, however, increase the difficulties of loading. For expanding projectiles an odd number of grooves is generally employed, for as this places a groove opposite to a land, less expansion will be required to fill them.

_Inclination of Grooves._--Experience has shown that, as the velocity of rotation depends upon the form and initial velocity of the projectile, the causes which retard it, and the time of flight, there is a

## particular inclination of grooves which is best suited to each caliber,

form of projectile, charge of powder, and angle of fire. The farther the centre of gravity of a projectile is in rear of the centre of figure, or resistance of the air, the greater must be the inclination of the grooves to resist deviation. It therefore follows that a conical projectile of the same length and diameter, requires a greater inclination of grooves than a cylindrical projectile, and the same will hold true for other forms as they approach one or the other of these extreme cases. The friction of the projectile as it passes along the grooves, increases with their inclination; its effect will be to diminish the range and increase the strain on the piece, and the inclination may be carried so far as to break the projectile, or rupture the piece.

_Centring._--In consequence of the windage necessary in all muzzle-loading guns, the axis of the projectile does not always coincide with that of the bore in firing. This leads to inaccuracy of fire. A projectile is said to be centred when the grooves of the rifling are so constructed as to bring the axis of the projectile on a line with that of the bore when the piece is fired. There are several ways of accomplishing this, among them Armstrong’s method called “Shunt rifling.” See ARMSTRONG GUN under ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF, the KRUPP, and others.

=Riga.= An important seaport of Russia, capital of Livonia, on the Düna, 312 miles southwest from St. Petersburg. Riga was founded in the beginning of the 13th century. The Teutonic Knights possessed it in the 16th century. In 1621 it was taken by Gustavus Adolphus, and in 1710, after a vigorous resistance, by Peter the Great. On the latter occasion more than half of the town was destroyed. In 1812 a French force was repulsed from the town.

=Rigodon= (_Fr._). Formerly a beat of drum while men who were shelled (a French punishment, the severest next to death) were paraded up and down the ranks previous to their being sent to their destination.

=Rimbases.= In gunnery, are short cylinders uniting the trunnions with the body of the gun. The ends of the rimbases, or the _shoulders_ of the trunnions, are planes perpendicular to the axis of the trunnions. Rimbases are for the purpose of strengthening the trunnions at their junction with the piece, and by forming shoulders, to prevent the piece from moving sideways in the trunnion-beds.

=Rimer.= A palisade in fortification.

=Rimini= (anc. _Ariminum_). A city of Central Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, about 28 miles east-southeast from Forli. It was founded by the Umbri; was conquered by the Romans; sacked by Sulla; plundered and destroyed several times by the barbarians; then given by Charlemagne to the church.

=Rimnik.= A town of Wallachia, on the Rimnik, 66 miles northeast from Bucharest. Here the Austrians and Russians, under Prince Coburg and Gen. Suwarrow, gained a great victory over the Turks, September 22, 1789.

=Ring-armor.= Armor composed of rings of metal.

=Ringleader.= The leader of a ring; especially, the leader of an association of men engaged in violation of law or an illegal enterprise, as rioters, mutineers, and the like.

=Ring-mail.= A kind of mail composed of small rings of steel sewed edgewise upon a strong garment of leather or of quilted cloth.

=Ring-wads.= See GROMMET.

=Rio Janeiro=, or =Rio de Janeiro=, often called simply Rio. The capital of Brazil, and the largest and most important city of South America. The harbor, which is strongly fortified, is one of the best in the world, and large enough for all its navies. The city of Rio was founded by the Portuguese in 1567. In 1831, it was the theatre of a revolution, in which 6000 armed citizens were joined by the troops of the line in their opposition to the government, and in consequence of which Dom Pedro abdicated the throne in favor of his son Pedro II.

=Riot and Tumult.= Sedition, civil insurrection, disturbance, etc. A breach of the peace committed by an assembled multitude. Some degree of violence is incidental to a riot, and a degree of intimidation to the neighborhood. According to law a riot cannot take place unless three persons act in concert. When a riot becomes formidable, it is usual for the authorities to take active measures to disperse it.

=Rioters.= Disturbers of the public peace; persons acting in open violation of good order; raising or creating sedition, etc.

=Ripon.= An ancient town of England, in Yorkshire, 23 miles northwest of York. It suffered much by the ravages of the Danes and the Normans (1069), and the Scots (1319 and 1323).

=Risban= (_Fr._). In fortification, a flat piece of ground upon which a fort is constructed for the defense and security of a port or harbor. It likewise means the fort itself.

=Risberme= (_Fr._). A work composed of fascines, such as is sometimes constructed at the bottom of a town-wall. A sort of glacis of fascine-work used in jetties, the sides of which, towards the sea, are so formed as to withstand its violence.

=Rise.= In a military sense, is to make hostile attack; as, the soldiers rose against their officers. It also means to obtain promotion. _To rise from the ranks_, is to obtain a commission by degrees, after having been in the ranks as a private soldier.

=Rising.= In heraldry, a term applied to a bird when represented opening his wings as if about to take flight.

=Riveting-plates.= In gun-carriages, are small, square, thin pieces of iron, through which the ends of the bolts pass, and are riveted upon them.

=Rivoli.= A town of Italy on the right of the river Dora, and 8 miles west of Turin. It possesses a royal castle, which was sacked by the French in 1690. In 1797 a battle was fought here between the French and Austrians, in which the former were victorious.

=Rizamedar.= In the East Indies, is an officer commanding a small body of horse.

=Roanoke.= A river of Virginia and North Carolina; empties into Albemarle Sound. In 1861, Albemarle Island, at its mouth, and Plymouth were taken by the Federal gunboats.

=Robinet.= An ancient military machine for throwing darts and stones.

=Rochelle, La.= A fortified seaport of France, capital of the department of Charente-Inférieure, on an inlet of the Bay of Biscay, 300 miles southwest of Paris by railway. It was taken from the English by the troops of the French king Louis XIII. in 1224; was ceded to England at the treaty of Bretigny in 1360; in the subsequent wars it was retaken by France, under whose sway it has remained since 1372. As a stronghold of the Huguenot party, it underwent various attacks and sieges during the religious wars of the Henries, in the latter half of the 16th century; and on its final and unconditional surrender to the royal troops in the time of Louis XIII., its old fortifications were destroyed, and new lines of defenses subsequently erected by the great Vauban.

=Rock Island.= An island in the Mississippi River, the southern extremity of which is nearly opposite the town of Rock Island, Ill. This island is about 3 miles in length, and presents a perpendicular front of limestone 20 or 30 feet high. During the Blackhawk war a garrison was kept on Rock Island, and a part of it was used during the late civil war (1861-65) as a military prison. The U. S. government has a splendid arsenal and armory here.

=Rocket.= A rocket is a projectile which is set in motion by a force residing within itself; it therefore performs the twofold function of piece and projectile. See PYROTECHNY.

_History._--Rockets were used in India and China for war purposes before the discovery of gunpowder; some writers fix the date of their invention about the close of the 9th century. Their inferior force and accuracy limited the sphere of their operations to incendiary purposes, until the year 1804, when Sir William Congreve turned his attention to their improvement. This officer substituted sheet-iron cases for those made of paper, which enabled him to use a more powerful composition; he made the guide-stick shorter and lighter, and removed a source of inaccuracy of flight by attaching the stick to the centre of the base instead of the side of the case. The advantages claimed for rockets over cannon are, unlimited size of projectile, portability, freedom from recoil, rapidity of discharge, and the terror which their noise and fiery trail produce on mounted troops.

_Structure._--A rocket is essentially composed of a strong case of paper or wrought iron, inclosing a composition of nitre, charcoal, and sulphur,--the same as gunpowder, except that the ingredients are proportioned for a slower rate of combustion. If penetration and range be required, its head is surmounted by a solid shot; if explosion and incendiary effect, by a shell or spherical case-shot, to which is attached a fuze, which is set on fire when it is reached by the flame of the burning composition. The base is perforated by one or more vents for the escape of the gas generated within, and sometimes with a screw-hole to which a guide-stick is fastened.

_Motion._--A rocket is set in motion by the reaction of a rapid stream of gas escaping through its vents. If it be surrounded by a resisting medium, the atmosphere, for instance, the particles of gas as they issue from the vent will impinge against and set in motion certain particles of air, and the force expended on the inertia of these particles will react and increase the propelling force of the rocket. It follows, therefore, that, though a rocket will move _in vacuo_, its propelling force will be increased by the presence of a resisting medium. Whether the effect will be to accelerate the rocket depends upon the relation between the resistance which the medium offers to the motion of the gas and that which it offers to the motion of the rocket.

_Vent._--As the rate of combustion of the composition is independent of the pressure of the gas in the bore, it follows, that if the size of the vent be contracted, the flow of gas through it will be accelerated. The strength of the case, and the friction of the gas, which increases as the vent diminishes, alone limit the reduction of the size of the vent. For vents of the same size, but of different shapes, that one which allows the gas to escape most freely will be most favorable to the flight of the rocket. A conical form of vent, with the larger orifice next to the bore, will allow the gas to escape more rapidly than one of cylindrical form.

_Bore._--As the composition of a rocket burns in parallel layers of uniform thickness, the amount of gas generated in a given time, or the velocity of its exit from the case, depends on the extent of the inflamed surface. Experience shows that to obtain the required surface of inflammation, it is necessary to form a long cavity in the mass of the composition. This cavity is called the bore. In all rockets the bore should be concentric with the case; its shape should be made conical to diminish the strain on the case near its head, by reducing the amount of surface where the pressure on the unit of surface is greatest.

_Nature of Movement._--Suppose the rocket in a state of rest, and the composition ignited; the flame immediately spreads over the surface of the bore, forming gas which issues from the vent. The escape is slow in the first moments, as the density of the gas is slight; but as the surface of inflammation is large compared to the size of the vent, the gas accumulates rapidly, and its density is increased until the velocity of the escape is sufficient to overcome the resistance which the rocket offers to motion. These resistances are, inertia, friction, the component of weight in the direction of motion, and, after motion takes place, the resistance of the air. The constant pressure on the head of the bore accelerates the motion of the rocket until the resistance of the air equals the propelling force; after this, it will remain constant until the burning surface is sensibly diminished. When the gas ceases to flow, the rocket loses its distinctive character, and becomes, so far as its movement is concerned, an ordinary projectile. The increase in the surface of combustion whereby more gas is developed in the same time, and the diminution in the weight of the remaining composition, cause the point of maximum velocity to be reached with increased rapidity. If the weight of the rocket be increased, the instant of maximum velocity will be prolonged, but the amount will remain the same. A change in the form of the rocket which increases the resistance of the air, will have the effect to diminish the maximum velocity.

_Guiding Principle._--The propelling force of a rocket changes its direction with the axis along which it acts; it follows, therefore, that without some means of giving stability to this axis, the path described will be very irregular, so much so, at times, as to fold upon itself; and instances have been known where these projectiles have returned to the point whence they started. The two means now used to give steadiness to the flight of a rocket are, rotation, as in the case of a rifle-ball, and the resistance of the air, as in an arrow.

_Hale’s System._--The first is exemplified in Hale’s rocket, where rotation is produced around the long axis by the escape of the gas through five small vents situated obliquely to it. In his first arrangement, the inventor placed the small vents in the base, surrounding the central vent, so that the resultant of the tangential forces acted around the posterior extremity of the axis of rotation. In 1855, this arrangement was changed by reducing the number of the small vents to three, and placing them at the base of the head of the rocket. The rocket thus modified is the one now used by the U. S. government for war purposes. A still later improvement in Hale’s rocket consists in screwing a cast-iron piece into the bottom of the case, which is perforated with three vents. A corresponding side of each vent is surrounded with a fence, the opposite sides being open. The gas in its efforts to expand after issuing from the vents, presses against the fences and rotates the rocket around its long axis.

_Congreve’s System._--A Congreve rocket is guided by a long wooden stick attached to its base. If any cause act to turn it from its proper direction, it will be opposed by resistances equal to its moment of inertia and the lateral action of the air against the stick. The effect of these resistances will be increased by placing the centre of gravity near the head of the rocket, and by increasing the surface of the stick. In signal-rockets, where the case is made of paper, the stick is attached to the side, and there is but one large vent, which is in the centre of the case. In war-rockets the stick is attached to the centre of the base, and the large central vent is replaced by several small ones near its circumference. The former arrangement is not so favorable to accuracy as the latter, inasmuch as rotation will be produced if the force of propulsion and the resistance of the air do not act in the same line.

_How Fired._--Rockets are generally fired from tubes or gutters; but should occasion require it, they may be fired directly from the ground, care being taken to raise the forward end by propping it up with a stick or stone. As the motion is slow in the first moments of its flight, it is more liable to be deviated from its proper direction at this time than any other; for this reason the conducting-tube should be as long as practicable.

_Form of Trajectory._--Take that portion of the trajectory where the velocity is uniform. The weight of the rocket applied at its centre of gravity, and acting in a vertical direction, and the propelling force

## acting in the direction of its length, are two forces the oblique

resultant of which moves the rocket parallel to itself; but the resistance of the air is oblique to this direction, and acting at the centre of figure, a point situated between the centre of gravity and extremity of the guide-stick, produces a rotation which raises the stick, and thereby changes the direction in which the gas acts. As these forces are constantly acting, it follows that each element of the trajectory has less inclination to the horizon than the element of an ordinary trajectory in which the velocity is equal. When the velocity is not _uniform_, the position of the centre of gravity has a certain influence on the form of the trajectory. To understand this, it is necessary to consider that the component of the resistance of the air which acts on the head of the rocket is greater than that which acts on the side of the stick. It is also necessary to consider that the pressure of the inflamed gas acts in a direction opposite to the resistance of the air, that is to say, from the rear to the front, and that the centre of gravity is near the rear extremity of the case. At the beginning of the trajectory, when the motion of the rocket is accelerated, its inertia is opposed to motion, and being applied at the centre of gravity, which is in rear of the vent, the point of application of the moving force, it acts to prevent the rocket from turning over in its flight. But when the composition is consumed, the centre of gravity is thrown farther to the rear, and the velocity of the rocket is retarded, the inertia acts in the opposite direction, and the effect will be, if the centre of gravity or inertia is sufficiently far to the rear, to cause it to turn over in the direction of its length. If the rocket be directed toward the earth, this turning over will be counteracted by the acceleration of velocity due to the weight, and the form of the trajectory will be preserved.

_Effect of Wind._--When the wind acts obliquely to the plane of fire, its component perpendicular to this flame acting at the centre of figure will cause the rocket to rotate around its centre of gravity. As the centre of figure is situated in rear of the centre of gravity, the point will be thrown toward the wind, and the propelling force acting always in the direction of the axis, the rocket will be urged toward the direction of the wind. To make an allowance for the wind in firing rockets, they should be pointed toward the opposite side from which the wind comes, or with the wind instead of against it. If the wind act in the plane of fire from front to rear, it will have the effect to depress the point, and with it the elements of the trajectory in the ascending branch, and elevate them in the descending branch; as the latter is shorter than the former, the effect of a front wind will be to diminish the range. The converse will be true for a rear wind.

_Kind Used._--The two sizes of Hale’s rockets in use in the American service are, the 2-inch (interior diameter of case), weighing 6 pounds, and 3-inch (interior diameter of case), weighing 16 pounds. Under an angle of from 4° to 5° the range of these rockets is from 500 to 600 yards. Under an angle of 47° the range of the former is 1760 yards, and the latter 2200.

=Rocroy=, or =Rocroi=. A small town of France, in the department of Ardennes, 15 miles northwest from Mézières. It is memorable for the victory gained by the great Condé (then duke of Enghien) over the Spaniards, May 19, 1643. The Spanish army was composed of veteran bands of Walloons, Spaniards, and Italians, and their general, Don Francisco de Mellos, was a commander worthy of his army. The French (22,000) were also good troops, but their general, Condé, was a young and inexperienced officer. At first the battle was unfavorable to the French, but at last the Spaniards were thrown into irretrievable rout. The Count of Fuentes, the commander of the redoubtable infantry, and 10,000 of his men were among the slain; and 5000 men, with all the cannon, many standards, and the baton of the Count de Mellos, were captured. But, far beyond all material losses, the renown of invincibility, first acquired by the Spanish infantry on the field of Pavia (1525), and confirmed at St. Quentin, Gravelines, and Prague, was destroyed.

=Rodman Gun.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.

=Roermond.= An old town in the Netherlands, province of Limburg, at the junction of the Roer and Maas. It has often endured the horrors of being besieged and taken.

=Rogue River Indians.= See INDIANS AND THEIR AGENCIES (Oregon).

=Rogue’s March.= Derisive music performed in driving away a person under popular indignation, or when a soldier is drummed out of a regiment.

=Rohilcund.= A region of Northeast India; was conquered by the Rohillas, an Afghan tribe, who settled here about 1747. After aiding the sovereign of Oude to overcome the Mahrattas, they were treated with much treachery by him, and nearly exterminated. Rohilcund was ceded to the British in 1801. After the great mutiny Rohilcund was tranquillized in July, 1858.

=Rohillas.= An East Indian tribe of Afghans inhabiting the country north of the Ganges, as far to the north as Oude.

=Roi d’Armes= (_Fr._). King-at-arms, an officer formerly of great authority in armies; he directed the heralds, presided at their chapters, and had the jurisdiction of armories.

=Roleia=, or =Rolica=. A village in Portugal, where on August 17, 1808, a British force under Sir Arthur Wellesley defeated a French army under Gen. Laborde.

=Roll.= A term of varied signification in reference to military matters. Thus, to _roll_ is to continue one uniform beat of the drum, without variations for a certain length of time.

=Roll, Long.= A prolonged roll of the drums, as a signal of an attack by the enemy, and for the troops to arrange themselves in line.

=Roll, Muster-.= See MUSTER-ROLL.

=Roll of Arms.= A heraldic record of arms, either verbally blazoned or illuminated, or both, on a long strip of vellum, rolled up, instead of being folded into leaves.

_Rolls of Arms_ are the most important and most authentic materials for the history of early heraldry. In England they go back to the reign of Henry III., the oldest being a copy of a roll of that reign, containing a list of the arms borne by the sovereign, the princes of the blood, and the principal barons and knights between 1216 and 1272, verbally blazoned without drawings.

=Roll, Squad.= Is a list containing the names of each particular squad in a company, etc.

=Roll, Size.= In the British service, is a list containing the names of all the men belonging to a troop or company, with the height or stature of each specifically marked.

=Roll-call.= The act or time of calling over a list of names; as, tattoo roll-call. _To call the roll_, to call off or recite a list or roll of names of soldiers belonging to a company or troop, in order to ascertain, from the responses, who are present and who are absent.

=Rollers, Friction.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, SEA-COAST CARRIAGES.

=Rolling Barrels.= See CAKING.

=Rolling Fire.= A discharge of musketry by soldiers in line, in quick succession, and in the order in which they stand. See FIRE.

=Rolling-hitch.= Pass the end of a rope round a piece of timber; take it round a second time, riding the standing part; then carry it across and up through the bight.

=Romagna.= A province of the Papal States, comprised in the legations of Forli and Ravenna. It was conquered by the Lombards; but taken from them by Pepin, and given to the pope, 753. Cæsar Borgia held it as a duchy in 1501, but lost it in 1503. In 1859 the Romagna threw off the temporal authority of the pope, and declared itself subject to the king of Sardinia, who accepted it in March, 1860. It now forms part of the kingdom of Italy.

=Romainville and Belleville=. Heights near Paris, where Joseph Bonaparte, Mortier, and Marmont were defeated by the allies after a vigorous resistance, March 30, 1814. The next day Paris capitulated.

=Roman Candles.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Roman Walls.= One was erected by Agricola (79 to 85) to defend Britain from the incursions of the Picts and Scots; the first wall extended from the Tyne to the Solway Frith (80 miles); the second from the Frith of Forth, near Edinburgh, to the Frith of Clyde, near Dumbarton (36 miles). The former was renewed and strengthened by the emperor Adrian (121) and by Septimus Severus (208). It commenced at Bowness, near Carlisle, and ended at Wallsend, near Newcastle. It had battlements and towers to contain soldiers. The more northern wall was renewed by Lollius Urbicus in the reign of Antoninus Pius, about 140. Many remains of these walls still exist, particularly of the southern one.

=Romans.= See ROME.

=Rome= (anc. _Roma_). The most celebrated city of the world, either in ancient or modern times, the capital of the Pontifical States, and the ecclesiastical metropolis of Catholic Christendom, is situated on the Tiber, 17 miles northeast of its mouth in the Mediterranean. Rome is said to have been a colony from Alba Longa and to have been founded by Romulus about 753 B.C.; it grew rapidly in size and power. Regal Rome ruled the whole Latin coast, and the treaties made with powerful Carthage, with Massilia, and with the Greeks of Southern Italy bear witness to the respect it enjoyed abroad. Royalty was abolished, and an aristocratical commonwealth established by the patricians, 509 B.C.; the Latins and the Tarquins declared war against the republic, 501; were defeated at the Lake Regillus, 496 B.C. Military tribunes were first created in 444 B.C. Rome was engaged in war with the Tuscans, 434 B.C.; the Æqui and Volsci were defeated by Tubertus, 431 B.C.; Veii was taken by Camillus after ten years’ siege, 396 B.C. In 390 B.C. Rome was captured and burned by the Gauls; the vigilance of Marcus Manlius saved the Capitol. Again and again in the course of the 4th century B.C. the Gallic hordes repeated their incursions, but never again returned victorious. In 367 B.C. Camillus defeated them at Alba; in 360 B.C. they were routed at the Colline Gate; in 358 B.C. by the dictator G. Sulpicius Peticus; and in 350 B.C. by Lucius Furius Camillus. By the middle of the 4th century B.C. the whole of Southern Etruria had submitted to the supremacy of Rome, and was kept in check by a Roman garrison; as was also the land of the Volsci. Becoming alarmed at the increasing power of Rome, the Latins and Hernicans withdrew from their league with Rome, and a severe and protracted struggle took place between them and their former ally. Nearly thirty years elapsed before the Romans succeeded in crushing the malcontents, and restoring the league of Spurius Cassius. In the course of this war the old Latin confederacy of the “Thirty Cities” was broken up, 384 B.C. Rome made a treaty with Carthage to repress Greek piracy, 348 B.C. Now commenced a tremendous struggle between the Samnites and the Romans; the former fighting heroically for the preservation of their national freedom,--the latter warring with superb valor for dominion. The Samnite wars, of which three are reckoned, extended over 53 years (343-290). The victory of the Romans at Sentinum (295 B.C.) virtually ended the struggle. At the close of the first Samnite war, an insurrection burst out among the Latins and Volscians, but the defeat inflicted on the insurgents at Trifanum (340 B.C.), by the Roman consul Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatos, almost instantly crushed it, and in two years almost the last spark of rebellion was extinguished. The famous Latin League was now dissolved. A mighty coalition was formed against Rome, consisting of Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls, in the north, and of Lucanians, Bruttians, and Samnites, in the south, with a sort of tacit understanding on the part of the Tarentines that they would render assistance by and by. In the course of a single year the whole north was in arms, and once more the power and even the existence of Rome were in deadly peril. An entire Roman army of 13,000 men was annihilated at Arretium (284 B.C.); but Publius Cornelius Dolabella marched into the country of the Senones at the head of a large force, and literally extirpated the whole nation, which henceforth disappears from history. Shortly afterwards, the bloody overthrow of the Etrusco-Boian horde at Lake Vadimo (283 B.C.) shattered to pieces the northern confederacy. The Lucanians were quickly overpowered (282 B.C.); Samnium, by its long and luckless struggle, and overawed by the proximity of a Roman army, could do nothing. The Tarentines invited Pyrrhus over from Epirus, and appointed him commander of their mercenaries; he arrived in Italy with a small army of his own, 280 B.C. The war between Pyrrhus and the Romans, which lasted only six years, ended in his being obliged to return to Epirus without accomplishing anything; this war led to the complete subjugation of Peninsular Italy by Rome. In 264 B.C. war was formally declared between Rome and Carthage, and it was incomparably the most terrible contest in which Rome was ever engaged. For details of the Punic wars, see CARTHAGE, NUMIDIA, and PUNIC WARS. The leading feature of the _first_ was the creation of a Roman navy, which, after repeated and tremendous misfortune, finally wrested from Carthage the sovereignty of the seas. A lapse of twenty-three years occurred before the _second_ Punic war, during which interval the Romans bullied their weak and exhausted rival into surrendering Sardinia and Corsica. In addition they had carried on a series of Gallic wars in Northern Italy (231-222 B.C.), the result of which was the extension of Italy to the Alps. The Romans vigorously suppressed Illyrian piracy, 219 B.C. The grand events of the second Punic war were the crossing of the Alps by Hannibal, the terrible disasters of the Romans at Lake Trasimene (see TRASIMENUS LACUS) and Cannæ (which see), and the final overthrow of Hannibal at Zama (which see), 202 B.C., by Scipio. The _second_ war virtually sealed the fate of Carthage, and the _third_ displayed only the frantic heroism of despair. The imperial supremacy of Rome was now as unconditional in the western Mediterranean as on the mainland of Italy. During 201-196 B.C. the Celts in the valley of the Po were thoroughly subjugated. The Boii were finally extirpated about 193 B.C.; the Ligurians were subdued 180-177 B.C.; and the interior of Corsica and Sardinia about the same time. The wars in Spain were troublesome and of longer duration, but they were not at all serious. The Romans suffered frequent defeats, but in the end the superior discipline of the legions always prevailed. The Romans felt it necessary to hold Spain by military occupation, and hence arose the first Roman standing armies. The most distinguished successes were those achieved by Scipio himself, by Marcus Cato, by Lucius Æmilius Paulus, by Caius Calpurnius, by Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, and by Tiberius Gracchus. The Macedonian wars were owing immediately to the alliance formed by Philip V. of Macedon with Hannibal after the battle of Cannæ. The Macedonian wars were three in number. The _first_ (214-205 B.C.) was barren in results; but the _second_ (200-197 B.C.) taught Philip that another, not he, must rule in Greece. The battle of Cynoscephalæ was followed by a treaty which compelled him to withdraw his garrisons from the Greek cities, to surrender his fleet, and pay 1000 talents toward the expenses of the war. A similar fate befell Antiochus of Syria. Next the Ætolians were crushed, and a little later the quarrels between the Achaians and Spartans led to a general Roman protectorate over the whole of Greece. The _third_ and last Macedonian war began 172 B.C.; the result of which, after four years’ fighting, was the utter destruction of the Macedonian army at Pydna (168 B.C.), and the dismemberment of the Macedonian empire. The last Greek and Punic wars came to an end in the same year (146 B.C.). The former was virtually closed on the destruction of Corinth by the consul Mummius. For the results of the former, see CARTHAGE. The Celtiberian and Numantine war began 153 B.C., and ended in the final overthrow of the undisciplined and uncivilized combatants, 133 B.C. Toward the conclusion of the Numantine war occurred the first of those horrible Social outbreaks known as “servile” or “slave” wars, which marked the later ages of the republic. The first slave insurrection broke out in Sicily, 134 B.C. The slaves overran the island, like demoniacs let loose, and routed one Roman army after another. In 132 B.C., the consul Publius Rupilius restored order. After a fierce struggle, the Romans obtained the kingdom of Pergamus, and formed it into the province of Asia, 129 B.C. In Africa, the overthrow of Jugurtha by the consul Marius added further to the renown and strength of the republic. In 105 B.C. a Roman army of 80,000 was annihilated at Arausio on the Rhone, by the Cimbri (see ARAUSIO and CIMBRI). Marius nearly exterminated the Teutones at Aqua-Sextiæ (Aix, in Dauphin), 102 B.C., and in 101 B.C. the Cimbri at the Campi Raudii near Vercellæ. (See CIMBRI and TEUTONIC.) In the same year a second insurrection of the slaves in Sicily was suppressed by the consul Marius Aquillius. Now followed the Social war, 90-88 B.C. Then followed the fearful years of the “civil wars” between the two chiefs, Sulla and Marius. In 87 B.C. Rome was besieged by four armies (viz.: those of Marius, Cinna, Carbo, and Sertorius) and taken. In 88 B.C. broke out the “Mithridatic wars,” which were three in number; begun by Sulla 88 B.C., they were brought to a successful close by Pompey, 65 B.C., although the general that had really broken the power of Mithridates was Lucullus. (See MITHRIDATIC WAR.) The result was the annexation of the sultanate of Pontus, which was formed into a Roman province. Then Pompey conquered Syria; reduced to a state of dependence Phœnicia, Cæle-Syria, and Palestine, 63 B.C. In the same year the conspiracy of Catiline was crushed by the consul Cicero. Then came the campaigns of Cæsar in Gaul (58-50 B.C.), by which the whole of the country was reduced to subjection; his rupture with Pompey; his defiance of the senate; the civil wars; his victory, dictatorship, and assassination; the second triumvirate, composed of Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian; the overthrow of the oligarchy at Philippi; the struggle between Antony and Octavian; the triumph of the latter, and his investment with absolute power for life as Augustus Cæsar, which put an end at least to civil dissensions that had raged so long. To keep the now enormous territory quiet which contained so many different races, an army of forty-seven legions and as many cohorts was maintained. The most notable incident during the reign of Tiberius was probably the concentration of the Prætorian guards in the vicinity of Rome, who, until their dissolution by Diocletian, were the real sovereigns of the empire. In Nero’s time Armenia was wrested from the Parthians; the Roman authority in England was likewise extended as far north as the Trent, and a great rebellion in Gaul, against Nero, headed by Julius Vindex, was crushed by T. Virginius Rufus, the commander of the Germanic legions. The chief military events from the days of Vespasian to those of Marcus Aurelius, are final conquests of Britain by Agricola, the final conquest of the Dacian monarchy, the victorious invasion of Parthia and Northern Arabia; and the conquest of the valley of the Nile, as far south as Upper Nubia, by Trajan; the chastisement of the Marcomanni, Quadi, Chatti, etc., by Marcus Aurelius. The reign of Alexander Severus is marked by the downfall of the Parthian dynasty of Persian kings, and the rise of the native Sassanidæ (which see), which proved far more formidable enemies than the Parthian rulers. After the assassination of Severus (235 A.D.) followed a period of confusion, bloodshed, and general mismanagement. The names of Maximin, Maximus, Balbinus, Gordianus, and Philip recall nothing but wretched quarrels, often ending in assassination. Then followed the “beginning of the end.” The whole of Europe beyond the Roman frontier--the mysterious North--began to ferment. The Franks appeared on the Lower Rhine, the Suabians on the Maine; while the Goths burst through Dacia, routed the forces of Decius, slew the emperor himself at Mount Hæmus, crossed the Euxine, and ravaged the whole northern coast of Asia Minor. A little later--during the reigns of Valerian, Gallienus, and the so-called Thirty Tyrants--the empire was nothing but a wild distracted chaos; Franks, Alemanni, Goths, and Persians rushing from their respective quarters like vultures scenting prey. The Goths swept over the whole of Achaia, while the Asiatic hordes of Sapor committed even greater havoc in Syria and Asia Minor. By Claudius Gothicus (268-270), and his successors, Aurelian, Probus, and Carus, the barbarians of the north and northwest, as well as the Persians in the East, were severely chastised. The division of the empire into East and West by Diocletian led to those labyrinthine confusions and civil wars, in which figure the names of Maximian, Constantius, Galerius, Maxentius, Maximin, Licinius, and Constantine, which were only brought to a close by the surpassing genius of the last mentioned. Julian’s efforts to repel the incessant incursions of the Franks and Alemanni displayed a fine valor and generalship, and were crowned with success. But after the death of Julian the signs of the approaching dissolution of the empire became more unmistakable. Swarms of ferocious Huns drove the Goths out of Dacia, and forced them to cross the Danube into the Roman territory, where they devastated the whole East from the Adriatic to the Euxine. They were subdued and disarmed by Theodosius. Hardly was Theodosius dead when they rose again, under their chief Alaric, against Honorius, emperor of the West. Three years earlier, hordes of Suevi, Burgundians, Alemanni, Vandals, and Alans burst into Gaul, which led to the invasion of Africa by Genseric. In the East the Huns had reduced vast regions to an utter desert; for nearly fifty years, indeed, the little ferocious demons had rioted in destruction. (See HUNS.) Eudoxia, the widow of Valentinian, to be revenged on Valentinian’s murderer and successor, Petronius Maximus, invited Genseric, the “scourge of God,” over from Africa, and exposed Rome to the horrors of pillage for fourteen days. Later, Odoacer, placing himself at the head of the barbarian mercenaries of the empire, overthrew the last, and the most ridiculous, occupant of the throne of the Cæsars (476), who, by a curious coincidence, bore the same name as the founder of the city,--Romulus. Rome was recovered for Justinian by Belisarius, 536; retaken by Totila the Goth, 546; recovered by Belisarius, 547; seized by Totila, 549; recovered by Narses and annexed to the Eastern empire, 553. Rome became independent under the popes about 728; was taken by Arnulf and the Germans, 896; taken by the emperor Henry IV., March, 1084. The pope removed to Avignon (1309-1377). Rome was then virtually left without a government, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, Neapolitan and German armies, and the noble families of the Orsini and the Colonna being alternately masters. Cola di Rienzi, a man of the people, made himself master of Rome, 1347; it was captured and pillaged by the Constable of Bourbon, 1527; it was harassed by the French, German, and Spanish factions from the 16th to the 18th centuries; the French proclaimed a Roman republic, March 20, 1798; was recovered for the pope by the Neapolitans, 1799; retaken by the French, 1800; was restored to Pope Pius VII., 1801, and annexed by Napoleon to the kingdom of Italy, 1808. It was restored to the pope, January, 1814. In 1848 the people rose in rebellion, drove out Pius IX., and established a republic under the triumvirate of Mazzini, Armellini, and Saffi. An appeal to France brought once more a French army to the gates of the city, and the siege was begun. Rome was taken after a brave resistance in July, 1849. For twenty years French troops garrisoned the Eternal City, and when they were at last withdrawn (1870) Italy had become one great nation. After a brief resistance from the foreign papal troops, stopped by order of the pope, the Italian troops under Cadorna made a breach, and entered Rome amid enthusiastic acclamation of the people, September 20, 1870.

=Rompu.= In heraldry, a term applied to a chevron when the upper part is taken off, and remains above it in the field.

=Roncesvalles= (Fr. _Roncevaux_). A small Spanish village, province of Navarre, in a narrow valley inclosed by lofty mountains, through which one of the principal roads leads from France across the Pyrenees into Spain. Here Charlemagne was attacked in 778 by the Basques, and his whole rear-guard destroyed. In honor of those who had fallen he built a chapel on the spot where the battle took place, and among the names enumerated in the inscription was that of Roland. In the modern French-Spanish wars, several bloody encounters (in 1793, 1794, and 1813) occurred in the same valley, and in 1833, Don Carlos was first proclaimed king here.

=Rondache= (_Fr._). In ancient armory, a circular shield carried by foot-soldiers to protect the upper part of the person, having a slit in the upper part for seeing through, and another at the side for the point of the sword to pass through.

=Rondel.= In fortification, a round tower, sometimes erected at the foot of a bastion.

=Rondelle= (_Fr._). A small round shield which was formerly used by light-armed infantry.

=Rondellier= (_Fr._). Archer or pikeman who carried the _rondelle_.

=Rondells.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, NOMENCLATURE OF ARTILLERY CARRIAGE.

=Ronfleurs= (_Fr._). Frederick the Great applied this name to some 12-pounders of 22 calibers, weighing 3200 pounds, which, before the battle of Leuthen, he had drawn from the neighboring fortress of Glogau. The charge for this gun was 5 pounds.

=Rope.= A large, stout, twisted cord, of not less, usually, than an inch in circumference. It differs from _cord_, _line_, and _string_ only in its size. Ropes are ranked under two descriptions, _cable-laid_ and _hawser-laid_; the former composed of nine strands, or three great strands, each consisting of three small ones; the latter made with three strands, each composed of a certain number of rope-yarns.

=Rope, Drag-.= See DRAG-ROPE.

=Rope-ferries.= See PONTONS.

=Rose.= In heraldry, is drawn in a conventional form, and never with a stalk, except when expressly directed by the words of blazon. Being sometimes argent and sometimes gules, it cannot be designated proper; but when blazoned “barbed and seeded proper,” it is meant that the barbs are to be green, and the seeds gold and yellow. The rose gules was the badge of the Plantagenets of the house of Lancaster, and the rose argent of that of York. The York rose was sometimes surrounded with rays as of the sun, and termed _rose en soleil_. As a mark of cadency, the rose has been used as the difference of the seventh son.

=Roses, Wars of the.= A disastrous civil contest which desolated England during thirty years, from 1455 to 1485, sacrificing 80 princes of the blood, and the larger proportion of the ancient nobility of the country. It was so called because the two factions into which the country was divided upheld the two several claims to the houses of York and Lancaster, whose badges were the white and red roses, respectively. After the house of Lancaster had possessed the throne for three generations (see PLANTAGENET), Richard, duke of York, whose title was superior to that of Henry VI., began to advance, at first somewhat covertly, his claim to the throne. In 1454, he was appointed protector of the realm during Henry’s illness, and on the king’s recovery he declined to give up his power, and levied an army to maintain it. The accession of Henry VII. may be said to have terminated the “wars of the roses,” although the reign of Henry was from time to time disturbed by the pretensions of Yorkist impostors.

=Rosetta.= A seaport city of Egypt, near the mouth of a branch of the Nile. It was built by one of the Saracen caliphs in the 9th century. In 1798 this place was taken by the French, and in 1807 it was besieged by the British, who were repulsed by the Turks. The battle of the Nile was fought near Rosetta, August 1, 1798.

=Rosettes.= Two small bunches of ribbons, that were attached to the loops by which the gorget of an officer was suspended on his chest.

=Roslin.= A village of Scotland, 7 miles south of Edinburgh, on the Esk. In this neighborhood the Scots gained three victories over the English on the same day in 1302.

=Ross, New.= A town of Ireland, situated partly in the county of Wexford, and partly in the county of Kilkenny, 27 miles northwest from Wexford. New Ross was taken by Cromwell in 1649, and in 1798 a severe battle was fought here between the king’s troops and the Irish insurgents.

=Rossbach.= A village of Prussian Saxony, in the government of Merseburg, celebrated for the victory here gained by the Prussians under Frederick the Great over the allied French and Austrian armies, November 5, 1757. The Prussians lost (according to a French account) only 300 men, while the loss of the allies was more than 1200 slain, 6000 prisoners, among whom were 11 generals and 300 officers, and 72 cannon, with many other trophies.

=Roster=, or =Rollster=. List of officers for duty. The principle which governs details for duty is from the eldest down; longest off duty first on duty. If an officer’s tour of duty for armed service, court-martial, or fatigue, happen when he is upon either duty, he is credited therewith. An officer returning from duty after sickness, takes the same place he had on the post roster before reporting sick; that being sick on the day of detail he gets the credit of the tour and awaits the return of his day, when, if well, he is again detailed. An officer returning from leave of absence is at once subject for detail. Customarily, an officer who returns from detached service is placed at the foot of the roster. The same rules should apply to non-commissioned officers and privates. A regiment or detachment detailed for any duty, receives credit for the duty when it marches off parade to perform the duty, but not if it is dismissed on parade. Officers on inlying pickets are subject to all details. In the British service, regiments proceed on foreign service according to the roster.

=Rotterdam.= An important commercial city in Holland, in the province of Southern Holland. Its importance dates from the 13th century; taken by the Spaniards by stratagem in 1572, and cruelly treated. It suffered much from the French revolutionary wars.

=Rouen.= A city in the north of France, the chief town of the department of the Lower Seine, and formerly the capital of Normandy, 68 miles northwest from Paris. It was held by the English till 1204; and was retaken by Henry V., January 19, 1419. Joan of Arc was burnt here, May 30, 1431. It was taken by Charles VII. of France in 1449; and by the Duke of Guise from the Huguenots, October, 1552, and in 1591.

=Rough Rider.= A non-commissioned officer in the British cavalry regiments, whose business it is to break in refractory horses, and assist the riding-master when required.

=Rouleaux.= Are round bundles of fascines, which are tied together. They serve to cover men when the works are pushed close to a besieged town, or to mask the head of a work.

=Round.= A general discharge of fire-arms by a body of troops, in which each soldier fires once. _Round of cartridges_, one cartridge to each man; as, to supply a regiment with a single round, or with twelve rounds.

=Round, Gentleman of the.= A gentleman soldier, but of low rank, only above the lance-pesade, whose office it was to visit and inspect the sentinels and advanced guards; also, one of a number of disbanded soldiers who had betaken themselves to the trade of begging.

=Round Robin.= This term is a corruption of _ruban rond_, which signifies a round ribbon. It was usual among French officers, when they signed a remonstrance, to write their names in a circular form, so that it was impossible to ascertain who signed first. Hence to sign a round robin against any person, was for any specific number of men to sign, one and all, a remonstrance against him.

=Round Table, Knights of.= Known in early English history as knights belonging to a celebrated order instituted by King Arthur, and whose exploits and adventures form the subjects of many ballads, and much of the early romantic poetry of England. The members of the order are said to have been 40 in number, and to have derived their name from their custom of sitting about a large, round, marble table, in order to avoid all distinction of rank.

=Roundel=, or =Roundelle=. Was a shield used by the Norman soldiers. The word is also applied to the semicircular bastions in early fortification, as introduced by Albert Dürer. This bastion consisted of a semicircle of masonry about 300 feet in diameter, containing roomy casemates for the troops, and for artillery and musketry, with which the ditch and curtains were flanked.

=Roundheads, The.= In English history, a nickname given, in the reign of Charles I., to the Puritans, or Parliamentary party, who were accustomed to wear their hair cut close to the head. They were so called in opposition to the Cavaliers, or Royalists, who wore their hair in long ringlets.

=Roundle=, or =Roundlet=. In heraldry, a general name given to charges of a circular form, which in English heraldry have more special names indicative of their tinctures. A roundle or is called a _Bezant_; a roundle argent, a _Plate_; a roundle gules, a _Torteaux_; a roundle azure, a _Hurt_; a roundle sable, an _Ogress_, or _Pellet_; a roundle purpure, a _Golpe_; a roundle sanguine, a _Guze_; a roundle tenney, an _Orange_. In the heraldry of Scotland and of the continent, it is, on the other hand, usual to design all roundles of metal bezants, and those of color, torteaux, adding the tincture. Thus the coat blazoned in England azure three plates, would be in the Scottish mode of blazon, azure three bezants argent.

=Rounds.= An officer or non-commissioned officer who, attended by one or more men, visits the sentinels in barracks, in order to ascertain whether they are vigilant. There are two sorts of rounds, _grand_ and _visiting_. Grand rounds are the rounds which are gone by general officers, commandants, or field-officers. When there are no officers of the day, the officer of the main guard may go the grand rounds. The grand rounds generally go at midnight; the visiting rounds at intermediate periods, between sunset and reveille. The grand rounds receive the parole, and all other rounds give it to the guards. In officers’ rounds the officer guarding is preceded by a drummer carrying a lantern, and followed by a sergeant and a file of men. Ordinary rounds consist of a sergeant and a file of men. Both ordinary and officers’ rounds are termed visiting rounds. The design of _rounds_ is not only to visit the guards, and keep the sentinels alert, but likewise to discover what passes in the outworks, and beyond them.

=Rout.= The confusion created in an army or body of troops when defeated or dispersed. _To put to the rout_, is to defeat and throw into confusion. The term expresses more than a defeat, because it implies a dispersion of the enemy’s forces; for a defeated enemy may retreat in good order; but when routed, order and discipline are at an end.

=Route.= An open road; the course of march of troops. Instructions for the march of detachments, specifying daily marches, means of supply, etc., are given from the headquarters of an army in the field, and are called marching routes.

=Route Step.= In tactics, is a style of march whereby the men carry their arms at will, keeping the muzzles elevated; they are not required to preserve silence, or to keep the step, but each man covers the file in his front. The ranks preserve the distance of 32 inches from each other. The route step is at the rate of from 2¹⁄₂ to 3 miles per hour.

=Routine.= This word has been adopted by us in the same sense that it is familiarly used by the French. It signifies capacity, or the faculty of arranging; a certain method in business, civil or military, which is as much acquired by habit and practice as by regular study and rule. We say familiarly the routine of business.

=Rowel.= The pointed part of a riding spur, which is made in a circular form, with rays or points like a star.

=Royal.= A small mortar which carries a shell whose diameter is 5.5 inches. It is mounted on a bed the same as other mortars.

=Royal.= In England, one of the soldiers of the first regiment of foot, called the _Royals_, and supposed to be the oldest regular corps in Europe.

=Rubicon.= A small stream of Central Italy, falling into the Adriatic, has obtained a proverbial celebrity from the well-known story of its passage by Cæsar, who by crossing this river--which, at the outbreak of the civil war between him and Pompey, formed the southern boundary of his province--virtually declared war against the republic. Hence the phrase to “cross the Rubicon” has come to mean, to take an irrevocable step.

=Rudiments.= The first principles, the elements of any particular science; as, the rudiments of war, which are the first principles or elements of war; as, marching, facing, wheeling; the drill, manual, and platoon exercises, manœuvres, etc.

=Ruffle.= Is a low vibrating sound, less loud than a roll, produced by drummers. It is used as a compliment to general officers and at military funerals.

=Rugen.= The largest of the islands of Germany, belongs to Prussia, and lies in the Baltic, off the coast of Pomerania. In 1169 it was conquered by the Danish king Waldemar I. By the peace of Westphalia it was ceded to Sweden, but in 1815 it was transferred to Prussia.

=Rules and Articles of War.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR.

=Run.= The greatest degree of swiftness in marching. It is executed upon the same principles as the _double-quick_, but with greater speed.

=Run the Gantlope.= See GANTLOPE.

=Running Fight.= A battle in which one party flees and the other pursues, but the party fleeing keeps up the contest.

=Running Fire.= A constant fire of musketry or cannon.

=Rupture.= This word signifies the commencement of hostilities between any two or more powers.

=Rusellæ= (_Rusellanus_; ruins near _Grosseto_). One of the most ancient cities of Etruria. It was taken by the Romans in 294 B.C., when 2000 of its inhabitants were slain, and as many more were made prisoners.

=Rush.= To move or drive forward with impetuosity, violence, and tumultuous rapidity; as, armies rush to battle. Also, a driving forward with eagerness and haste; as, a rush of troops.

=Russia.= The largest empire of the world, occupying about one-sixth of the firm land of our globe, bounded north by the Arctic Ocean, east by the Pacific, south by China, Independent Toorkistan, Persia, Asiatic Turkey, the Black Sea, and Roumania, and west by Austria, Prussia, the Baltic, and the Scandinavian peninsula. When the Greeks founded their commercial stations along the northern coast of the Black Sea, in the Crimea, and on the shores of the Sea of Azof, they found the interior occupied by roving tribes of a fierce and savage character. They called them Scythians and Sarmatians, and for about eight centuries these two nations continued to be mentioned in the history of Greece and Rome as inhabiting the same country, pursuing the same occupations, etc. Then came, during the migration of nations beginning in the 4th century, the Goths, Avars, Huns, Alans, etc., rolling over them wave after wave. In the 6th century the name of the Slaves first appears. They founded Kiev and Novgorod. The name of _Russians_ is first met with in the 9th century. Rurik, a Varangian chief, came to Novgorod in 862, not as a conqueror, but invited, and henceforth his family reigned in the country till it became extinct, and the people received the name of Russians. His successor, Oleg (879-912), conquered Kief, defeated the Khazars, and even attacked the emperor of Constantinople. In the beginning of the 13th century, the Mongols under Genghis Khan broke in from Asia; the Russians were unable to withstand them. Most of the princes were wholly subdued. The brilliant victories of Demetrius Donski, prince of Moscow, in 1378 and 1380, only caused the Mongols to return in larger hordes; in 1382, Moscow was burned to the ground and 24,000 of its inhabitants were slain. Ivan III. the Great (1462-1505), who united Novgorod, Perm, and Pskov to Moscow, refused to pay the tribute to the Mongols, defeated them when they attempted to enforce their claim by arms, and commenced extending the Russian power to the east, conquering Kazan in 1469, and parts of Siberia in 1499. Ivan IV., the Terrible (1533-84), conquered Astrakhan in 1554, the land of the Don Cossacks in 1570, Siberia in 1581, opened a road to Archangel in 1553, and organized in 1545 a body-guard, the famous _Streltzi_. With his son Feodor I. (1584-98) the house of Rurik ceased to exist, and after a protracted and severe struggle between Boris Godunoff, Basil V., and the two pseudo-Demetriuses, who were supported by the Poles, Michael Feodorovitch Romanoff, the founder of the present dynasty, ascended the throne in 1612. Some progress was made under each of his successors,--Catharine I. (1725-27), Peter II. (1727-30), Anne (1730-41), Elizabeth (1741-62). Catharine II. (1762-76) carried on successful wars with Persia, Sweden, and Turkey, conquering the Crimea; she also acquired Courland and half of Poland. (For history regarding Poland, see POLAND.) Under Alexander I. (1801-25) Russia appears not only as one of the great powers, but as the true arbiter in European politics. In the Napoleonic wars he sided first with Austria, and was beaten at Austerlitz; then with Prussia, and was beaten at Friedland. By the peace of Frederikshamn (1809) he obtained Finland from Sweden; by the peace of Bucharest (1812), Bessarabia and Moldavia from Turkey; and the war with Persia was successfully progressing when his friendship with Napoleon suddenly began to wane. A rupture took place, and now followed with fearful rapidity the invasion of Russia by Western Europe, the destruction of the grand army, and the overthrow of Napoleon. By the peace of Paris (1856) Russia lost its supremacy in the Black Sea. (See CRIMEA.) It only bided its time, however, and October 31, 1870, when neither England, France, nor Turkey was able to resist, Prince Gortschakoff informed the various cabinets that Russia felt compelled to deviate from the stipulations of the treaty of Paris, and keep a fleet of sufficient capacity in the Black Sea.

=Russo-German War.= The name given by German historians to the last stage of the great European war against Napoleon, beginning with the Russian campaign of 1812, and terminating on the field of Waterloo. For important battles, etc., see appropriate headings.

=Russo-Turkish War.= The name applied to the war which took place between Russia on one side, and Turkey, France, and Great Britain on the other; it commenced in 1853 and terminated in 1856. For important events of this war, see appropriate headings.

=Rustre.= In heraldry, one of the subordinaries, consisting of a _lozenge_ with a circular opening pierced in its centre. Ancient armor was sometimes composed of rustres sewed on cloth.

=Rustschuk.= A fortified town of Turkey in Europe, in Bulgaria, situated at the influx of the Kara Lom into the Danube, 67 miles southwest from Silitria. Giurgevo (which see) is almost immediately opposite. The Russians took these towns in 1711 and 1810, but were defeated by the Turks, before Giurgevo, in 1854.

=Rutuli.= An ancient people in Italy, inhabiting a narrow slip of country on the east coast of Latium, a little to the south of the Tiber. They were subdued at an early period by the Romans, and disappeared from history.

=Ryswick.= A village in the province of South Holland, where the celebrated treaty of peace was concluded between England, France, Spain, and Holland, and was signed by their representatives, September 20, and by the emperor of Germany, October 30, 1697.

S.

=Saalfeld.= A town of Germany, in the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, on the Saale, 23 miles south from Weimar. Here the Prussians under Prince Louis Frederick of Prussia were defeated and their leader slain by the French under Lannes, October 10, 1806.

=Saarbrück= (anc. _Augusti Mari_, or _Saræpons_). An open town on the left bank of the Saar, in Rhenish Prussia. It was founded in the 10th century, and was long subject to the bishops of Metz; it was afterwards ruled by counts (about 1237), and by the house of Nassau about 1380. It was captured by the French and retaken by the Germans, 1676; reunited to France, 1794-1814, and ceded to Prussia, 1815. On August 2, 1870, it was bombarded by the French under Frossard, and the Prussians in small force were dislodged, and the town occupied by the French general Bataille. The emperor Napoleon and his son were present during this bombardment. On August 6, the Prussian generals Goeben and Von Steinmetz, with the first army, recaptured Saarbrück, after a sanguinary conflict at the village of Spicheren. The heights taken by the French on the 2d are in Germany, those taken by the Germans on the 6th are in France, and both battles were fought between Saarbrück and the town of Forbach, which was captured and has given a name to the second conflict. The loss was great on both sides. The French general François was killed, and the 2d Corps under Frossard nearly destroyed. The French retreated to Metz. They were greatly superior in numbers at the beginning of the fight, but were badly commanded.

=Sabander.= The familiar of _shah-bander_, an Eastern title for captain or governor of a post.

=Sabantines.= Steel coverings for the feet; sometimes slippers or clogs.

=Sabbatons.= A round-toed armed covering for the feet, worn during a part of the 16th century.

=Sabini.= An ancient people of Central Italy, were generally supposed to have derived their name from Sabus, their chief tutelary deity. Their antiquity was very great. They were the parent-stock of many of the neighboring tribes, such as the Samnites, the Peligni, and the Picentes. The Sabini inhabited the mountain region lying to the northeast of Rome. They were a valiant warlike race, and at an early age of authentic history they issued from their mountain fastness and began a system of warlike aggression upon their neighbors. Gradually and by repeated attacks, their invading hordes subdued the aborigines, and advanced southward, occupying the land. At length, pushing their outposts to the very gates of Rome, they commenced to interfere with the affairs of that rising city. By victory or by compromise they gained admittance into the state upon very advantageous terms. They were not satisfied, but persisted in their encroachments upon the Roman territory, until defeated by Tullus Hostilius and by Tarquinius Priscus; however, they continued their raids until 449 B.C., when M. Horatius gave them a defeat which kept them quiet for more than a century and a half. They recovered in 290 B.C., only to be overthrown by Manlius Curius Dentatus with greater completeness than ever. They finally became a part of the Roman empire.

=Sable.= One of the tinctures in heraldry, implying black. In heraldic engravings, it is represented by perpendicular and horizontal lines crossing each other.

=Sabot.= Is a thick, circular disk of wood, to which, in fixed ammunition, the cartridge-bag and projectile are attached. For a spherical projectile, the sabot has a spherical cavity, and circular groove to which the cartridge-bag is tied; in the canister-sabot, the spherical cavity is omitted, and a circular offset is added. The effects of a sabot are: (1) To prevent the formation of a _lodgment_ in the bore. (2) To moderate the action of the powder on the projectile; and, (3) To prevent the projectile from moving from its place. In consequence of the scattering of the fragments, it is dangerous to use the sabot in firing over the heads of one’s own men. The term is also applied to the soft metal device attached to the base of rifled projectiles to take the grooves of the bore.

=Sabre.= A long curved or straight cavalry sword, with a broad and heavy blade, used for cutting and thrusting.

=Sabre.= To strike, cut, or kill with a sabre.

=Sabretache= (Ger. _Sabeltasche_, “sword-pocket”). A square pocket or pouch suspended from the sword-belt on the left side, by three slings to correspond with the belt. It is usually scolloped at the bottom, has a device in the centre, and a broad lace round the edge. The color of it always corresponds with that of the uniform. The sabretache is an appointment or part of accoutrement of hussars in European armies.

=Sabreur= (_Fr._). A blood-thirsty soldier; brave soldier.

=Sabugal.= A town of Portugal, on the Spanish frontier, where an affair took place between an English light division and the French, April 3, 1811, in which the latter were defeated.

=Sac and Fox Indians.= Two Algonkin tribes, who have always associated. They formerly dwelt in Canada, but afterward occupied a large tract of land on both sides of the Mississippi. The Sacs and Foxes often engaged in wars with the English, French, and Indians. They were gradually removed southwestward prior to 1849. There are now in the Indian Territory about 400 Sacs and Foxes. There are also about 200 Sacs and Foxes in Kansas, about 100 in Nebraska, and about 300 Sacs and Foxes in Iowa. See FOX INDIANS.

=Sacæ.= One of the most numerous and powerful of the Scythian nomad tribes, had their abodes in the steppes of Central Asia, which are now peopled by the _Kirghiz Khasaks_. They were very warlike, and excelled especially as cavalry, and as archers, both on horse and foot. Their women shared in their military spirit; and according to Ælian, they had the custom of settling before marriage whether the man or woman should rule the house, by the result of a combat between them. In early times they extended their predatory incursions as far west as Armenia and Cappadocia. They were made tributary to the Persian empire, to the army of which they furnished a large force of cavalry and archers, who were among the best troops that the kings of Persia had.

=Saccatoo=, or =Socoto=. A kingdom of Soodan, in Central Africa. Its inhabitants, the Fellatas, first made their appearance as conquerors, coming from the west, apparently from the Senegal; they profess the Mohammedan religion. Othman, or Danfodio, one of the Fellata chieftains, marshaled his countrymen under his colors for a crusade against the unbelievers. Though at first defeated in almost every encounter, yet the warlike spirit of fanaticism grew so high that Othman obtained for himself an extensive empire. Under Alin, who ascended the throne in 1837, great internal disturbance took place, which brought the country into a wretched condition.

=Sachem.= A chief of a tribe of the American Indians; a sagamore. See SAGAMORE.

=Sack.= The pillage or plunder, as of a town or city; the storm and plunder of a town; devastation; ravage. Also, to plunder or pillage, as a town or city; to devastate; to ravage.

=Sackage.= The act of taking by storm and pillage; sack.

=Sacker.= One who sacks; one who captures and plunders a town.

=Sackett’s Harbor.= A town in Jefferson Co., N. Y., on the south shore of Black River Bay, 8 miles east of Lake Ontario and 170 miles west-northwest of Albany, having a navy-yard, barracks, etc. In the war of 1812-15 it was an important port, where the frigate “Superior,” of 66 guns, was built in eighty days, and the “Madison” in forty-five days, from timber standing in the forest. It is a military post of the United States named Madison Barracks, which is generally garrisoned by artillery.

=Sacramento, St.= A Portuguese settlement in South America, claimed by Spain in 1680; but relinquished in 1713; was several times seized; ceded in 1777; acquired by Brazil in 1825.

=Sacramentum Militare= (_Lat._). The oath formerly taken by the Roman soldiers when they were enrolled. This oath was pronounced at the head of the legion, in an audible voice, by a soldier who was chosen by the tribune for that purpose. He thereby pledged himself before the gods to expose his life for the good and safety of the republic, to obey his superior officers, and never to absent himself without leave. The aggregate of the legion assented to the oath without going through the formal declaration of it.

=Sacred Battalion.= A band of infantry composed of 300 young Thebans, united in strict friendship and affection, who were engaged, under a

## particular oath, never to fly, but to defend each other to the last drop

of their blood. At the famous battle of Leuctra, in which the Spartans were signally defeated by Epaminondas, the Sacred Battalion was commanded by Pelopidas, and mainly contributed to the success of the day.

=Sacred Wars.= (1) Declared by the Amphictyons against Cirrha, near Delphi, for robbery and outrage to the visitors to the oracle, 595 B.C. Cirrha was razed to the ground, 586 B.C. (2) Between the Phocians and Delphians for the possession of the temple at Delphi, 448, 447 B.C. (3) The Phocians, on being fined for cultivating the sacred lands, seized the temple, 357. They were conquered by Philip of Macedon, and their cities depopulated, 346 B.C.

=Sacriportus.= A small place in Latium, of uncertain site, memorable for the victory of Sulla over the younger Marius, 82 B.C.

=Sacs and Foxes.= See SAC AND FOX INDIANS.

=Saddle.= The seat which is put upon a horse for the accommodation of the rider. In the earlier ages the Romans used neither saddles nor stirrups. Saddles were in use in the 3d century, and are mentioned as made of leather in 304; they were known in England about 600. _Boots and saddles_, is a sound on the trumpet which is the first signal for mounted drill, and for all other formations mounted; it is also the signal for the trumpeters to assemble.

=Saddle-bags.= Bags, usually of leather, united by straps, for transportation on horseback, one bag being placed on each side. In the U. S. service saddle-bags are issued to the cavalry as a part of the horse equipments.

=Saddle-cloth.= In the military service is a cloth under a saddle, and extending out behind; the housing.

=Saddler.= One whose occupation is to make and repair saddles. Each company of cavalry in the U. S. service is allowed one saddler. Saddlers are also employed in the cavalry service of European countries.

=Saddler Corporal.= In the British service, is a non-commissioned officer who has charge of the saddlers in the Household Cavalry.

=Saddler Sergeant.= Is a sergeant in the cavalry who has charge of the saddlers. In the U. S. service, saddler sergeants are non-commissioned staff-officers, and one is allowed to each cavalry regiment.

=Saddle-Tree Maker.= An artificer in the cavalry who makes and repairs saddle-trees.

=Sadowa.= A village of Bohemia, about 8 miles from Königgratz. Here, on the morning of July 3, 1866, the Prussians attacked the Austrians, and after a desperate struggle of seven hours, the latter were defeated and driven from the village by the 7th division of the Prussian infantry. This engagement formed the prelude to the decisive battle of Königgratz.

=Safe-conduct.= A passport granted, on honor, to a foe, enabling him to pass where it would otherwise be impossible for him to go with impunity. Safe-conducts are granted in war for the purposes of conference, etc.; and to violate the provisions of such a pass has always been esteemed a disgraceful breach of the laws of honor.

=Safeguard.= A protection granted by the general of an army for the safety of an enemy’s lands or persons, to preserve them from being insulted or plundered. For punishment of persons forcing a safeguard, see APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 57.

=Sagaie=, or =Zagie=. A dart or javelin used by the inhabitants of Madagascar.

=Sagamore.= The head of a tribe among the American Indians,--generally used as synonymous with _sachem_, but some writers distinguished between them, making the _sachem_ a chief of the first rank, and a _sagamore_ one of the second rank.

=Sagette= (_Fr._). An arrow; a bolt used in ancient times.

=Sagittarii.= In the Roman army, under the emperors, were young men armed with bows and arrows, who, together with the _funditores_, were generally sent out to skirmish before the main body. They constituted no part of the _velites_, but seem to have succeeded them at the time when the Socii were admitted into the Roman legions; for at that period the _velites_ were discontinued.

=Sagra.= A small river in Magna Græcia, on the southeast coast of Bruttium, on the banks of which a memorable victory was gained by 10,000 Locrians over 120,000 Crotoniats. This victory appeared so extraordinary that it gave rise to the proverbial expression, “It is truer than what happened on the Sagra,” when a person wished to make any strong asseveration.

=Sagum.= An ancient military garment or cloak, made of wool, without sleeves, fastened by a girdle around the waist, and a buckle. It was worn by the Greeks, Romans, and Gauls. The generals alone wore the _paludamentum_, and all the Roman soldiers, even the centurions and tribunes, used the _sagum_.

=Saguntum= (now _Murviedro_). A wealthy and warlike town of ancient Spain, in Hispania Tarraconensis. It was besieged and destroyed by the Carthaginians under Hannibal in 218 B.C. Having withstood the siege for the greater part of a year, against an army of about 150,000 men, the Saguntines, now most severely pressed by famine, concluded, with an act of heroic defiance and self-sacrifice, a resistance that had been characterized by the most brilliant valor. Heaping their valuable effects into one vast pile, and placing their women and children around it, the men issued forth for the last time against the enemy; and the women, setting fire to the pile they had prepared, cast themselves upon it with their children, and found in flames the fate their husbands met in battle. The destruction of Saguntum directly led to the second Punic war.

=Saikyr.= In the Middle Ages, was a species of cannon smaller than a demiculverin, much employed in sieges. Like the falcon, it derived its name from a species of hawk.

=Saint Augustine.= A city, port of entry, and capital of St. John’s Co., Fla., 160 miles south of Savannah. It has the distinction of being the oldest town in the United States. The Spanish abandoned it in 1763, upon its cession to the English. Sir Francis Drake destroyed it in 1586; and it was besieged and burned by the governor of the Carolinas in 1702. Saint Augustine was a British depot during the Revolutionary war. It was of some importance as a military station during the Florida war, 1835-42.

=Saint Bartholomew, Massacre of.= See BARTHOLOMEW, ST.

=St. Bernard, Mount.= See BERNARD, ST., THE GREAT.

=Saint-Cloud.= A town of France, department of Seine-et-Oise, 5¹⁄₂ miles west from Paris. Henry IV. was assassinated at Saint-Cloud by Jacques Clément in 1589. Bonaparte here broke up the assembly of 500, and caused himself to be proclaimed first consul on November 9, 1799; and here, in July, 1830, Charles X. signed the _ordonnances_ which cost him his throne.

=Saint-Dizier.= See DIZIER, ST.-.

=Saint Domingo.= See DOMINGO, SAN, and HAYTI.

=St. George, Grand Cross of.= A Russian military honor, conferred on officers in the army and navy for distinguished bravery. It was conferred on the officer who sunk the Turkish monitor in May, 1877.

=Saint-Germain-en-Laye.= A town of France, in the department of the Seine-et-Oise, 14 miles west-northwest from Paris. The town, as well as the royal chateau, was sacked by the English in 1346, in 1419, and in 1438.

=Saint Helena.= See HELENA, SAINT.

=Saint John of Jerusalem, The Order of the Knights Hospitallers of.= Also called the Knights of Rhodes, and afterwards of Malta, the most celebrated of all the military and religious orders of the Middle Ages. It originated in 1048 in a hospital dedicated to St. John the Baptist, which was built for the reception of the pilgrims from Europe who visited the Holy Sepulchre. The nurses were at first known as the Hospitaller Brothers of St. John the Baptist of Jerusalem. The Seljuk (Seljook) Turks, who succeeded the Egyptian and Arabian Saracens in Palestine, plundered the hospice, and on the conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusaders under Geoffroy de Bouillon in 1099, the first superior, Gérard, was found in prison. Released from durance, he resumed his duties in the hospice, and was joined by several of the Crusaders, who devoted themselves to the service of the poor pilgrims. By advice of Gérard, the brethren took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience before the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Pope Pascal II. gave his sanction to the institution in 1113. After Gérard’s death in 1118, Raymond du Pay succeeded as superior of the order, and to the former obligations of the order he added those of fighting against the infidels and defending the Holy Sepulchre. Various Hospices, called _commanderies_, were established in different maritime towns of Europe. The order having become military as well as religious, was recruited by persons of high rank and influence, and wealth flowed in on it from all quarters. On the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187, the Hospitallers retired to Margate, Phœnicia, whence the progress of infidel arms drove them first, in 1285, to Acre, and afterwards, in 1291, to Limisso, where Henry II., king of Cyprus, assigned them a residence. By the statutes of Raymond, the brethren consisted of three classes,--_knights_, _chaplains_, and _serving brothers_; these last being fighting squires, who followed the knights in their expeditions. The order was subsequently divided into eight languages,--Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon, England, Germany, and Castile. Each nation possessed several Grand Priories, under which were a number of commanderies. The chief establishment in England was the Priory of Clerkenwell, whose head had a seat in the upper house of Parliament, and was styled first baron of England. In 1310, the knights, under their grand master, Foulkes de Villaret, in conjunction with a party of Crusaders from Italy, captured Rhodes and seven adjacent islands from the Greek and Saracen pirates, by whom they were then occupied, and carried on from thence a successful war against the Saracens. In 1523, they were compelled to surrender Rhodes to the sultan Solyman, and retired first to Candia, and afterward to Viterbo. In 1530, Charles V. assigned them the island of Malta, with Tripolis and Gozo. The knights continued for some time to be a powerful bulwark against the Turks; but after the Reformation a moral degeneracy overspread the order, and it rapidly declined in political importance; and in 1798, through the treachery of some French knights and the cowardice of the grand master, D’Hompesch, Malta was surrendered to the French. The lands still belonging to the order were also about this time confiscated in almost all the European states; but though extinct as a sovereign body, the order has continued during the present century to drag on a lingering existence in some parts of Italy, as well as in Russia and Spain. Since 1801, the office of grand master has not been filled up; a deputy grand master has instead been appointed, who has his residence in Spain. The order at first wore a long black habit, with a pointed hood adorned with a cross of white silk, of the form called Maltese, on the left breast, as also a golden cross in the middle of the breast. In their military capacity, they wore red surcoats with a silver cross before and behind. The badge worn by all the knights is a Maltese cross, enameled white, and edged with gold; it is suspended by a black ribbon, and the embellishments attached to it differ in the different countries where the order still exists.

=Saint Louis.= A city of St. Louis Co., Mo., which stands on the right bank of the Mississippi, 18 miles below its confluence with the Missouri, and 174 miles above the mouth of the Ohio. In 1764, Saint Louis was the depot of the Louisiana Indian trading company; in 1768 it was captured by a detachment of Spanish troops; and in 1804 was ceded with the whole country west of the Mississippi to the United States. During the civil war a hostile camp of State militia was captured near the city, which enabled the Federals to secure the arsenal and a great store of arms, and eventual possession of the State of Missouri.

=St. Lucia.= An island in the West Indies, taken from the French in June, 1803, by the English troops under Gen. Greenfield.

=Saint-Malo.= See MALO, ST.

=Saint Petersburg.= See PETERSBURG, ST.

=Saint-Quentin.= A thriving town in the north of France, department of Aisne, is situated on the Somme, about 80 miles northeast of Paris. A battle was fought here August 10, 1557, between the Spaniards assisted by a body of English troops, and the French, in which the latter were severely defeated. A battle took place here between the French under Faidherbe and the Germans under Von Goeben on January 19, 1871, in which the former were defeated, and the latter occupied Saint-Quentin.

=Saint Regis.= Situated partly in Bombay township, Franklin Co., N. Y., and partly in St. Regis township, Huntingdon Co., Quebec, Canada, on the St. Lawrence River, opposite Cornwall, with which it is connected by ferry. It is inhabited by the St. Regis Indians, an Iroquois tribe speaking the Mohawk dialect. They are divided into two parties, the British and the American, and owe their allegiance not according to residence, but according to descent in the female line. Their reservation in the United States is 14,000 acres, and that in Canada rather larger. Their ancestors settled here in 1760. The American party number about 700 souls, and the British about 800.

=Saint Vincent, Cape.= See CAPE ST. VINCENT.

=Saintes.= A town of France, in the department of the Lower Charente, situated on the left bank of the Charente. The English were defeated here in 1242, by the French king Louis IX., afterwards Saint Louis.

=Saker= (Fr. _sacre_, _sacret_). An ancient 4- or 5-pounder of 13 feet, weighing from 2500 to 2800 pounds. According to Tartaglia, the _sacre_, in 1546, was a 12-pounder of 9 feet, and weighing 2150 pounds; it was similar to the _aspic_, but longer.

=Salade= (_Fr._). Helmet or kind of iron hat with a grated, movable visor, which was worn during the 15th century by foot-soldiers.

=Saladin.= At first the coat of arms was so called, because the Christians who conquered Palestine assumed it in imitation of the Turks, whose chief was at that time Saladin.

=Salahieh= (written also _Selahieh_). A town of Lower Egypt, 37 miles northeast of Belbeys. It was taken by the French in 1798, and again in 1800.

=Salamanca= (anc. _Salmantica_). A famous town of Spain, capital of the modern province of the same name, on the right bank of the Tormes, 50 miles east-northeast from Ciudad Rodrigo. It was taken by Hannibal. It was almost totally destroyed by the French in 1812. In its vicinity was won one of the most famous victories of the Peninsular war, by the British under Wellington against the French under Marmont, July 22, 1812.

=Salapia= (_Salapinus_; now _Salpi_). An ancient town of Apulia, was situated south of Sipontum. During the second Punic war it revolted to Hannibal after the battle of Cannæ, but it subsequently surrendered to the Romans and delivered to the latter the Carthaginian garrison.

=Salassi.= A brave and warlike people in Gallia Transpadana, in the valley of the Duria, at the foot of the Graian and Pennine Alps. They defended the passes of the Alps in their territory with such obstinacy and courage that it was long before the Romans were able to subdue them. At length in the reign of Augustus, the country was permanently occupied by Terrentius Varro with a powerful Roman force; most of the Salassi were destroyed in battle and the rest, amounting to 36,000, were sold as slaves.

=Salenckemen.= On the Danube; here a victory was gained by the Imperialists, under Prince Louis of Baden, over the Turks, commanded by the grand vizier Mustapha Kiuprigli, August 19, 1691.

=Salentini=, or =Sallentini=. A people in the southern part of Calabria, who dwelt around the promontory of Iapygium. They were subdued by the Romans at the conclusion of their war with Pyrrhus, and having revolted in the second Punic war, were again easily reduced to subjection.

=Salerno= (anc. _Salernum_). A town of Naples, capital of the province of Principato Citra, 30 miles southeast from Naples. It was captured during the Social war by the Samnite general Papius. After the fall of the Western empire Salerno rose to its height. It passed first into the hands of the Goths, then into those of the Lombards, from whom it was taken by the Saracens in 905; but fifteen years after, it was recovered by the Greek emperor, and subsequently reverted to the Lombards. In 1076 Salerno was taken, after a siege of eight months, by Robert Guiscard; and thenceforward became the capital of the Norman possessions south of the Apennines. In 1193 the town was destroyed by the emperor Henry VI.

=Salient.= In heraldry, an attitude of a lion or other beast, differing but slightly from rampant. He is supposed to be in the act of springing on his prey, and both paws are elevated. Two animals _counter-salient_ are represented as leaping in opposite directions.

=Salient Places of Arms.= In fortification, that part of the covered way which is opposite a salient of a bastion or demi-lune.

=Sallet.= The same as salade (which see).

=Sally.= A sudden offensive movement by the garrison of a fortified place, directed against the troops or works of the besiegers.

=Sally-port.= A gate or passage, by which the garrison of a fortress may make a sally or sudden attack on the besiegers. The name is applied to the postern leading from under the rampart into the ditch; but its more modern application is to a cutting through the glacis, by which a sally may be made from the covert way. When not in use, sally-ports are closed by massive gates of timber and iron.

=Salsette.= An island on the west coast of Hindustan, formerly separated from Bombay by a narrow channel 200 yards wide, across which a causeway was carried in 1805. Salsette formed part of the province of Aurungabad under the Mogul emperors; but fell into the hands of the Portuguese soon after their settlement in India. In 1739 it was conquered by the Mahrattas, and in 1774 it was taken by the British.

=Saltant.= In heraldry, in a leaping position, springing forward;--applied especially to the squirrel, weasel, rat, and also to the cat, greyhound, monkey, etc.

=Saltillo.= A city of Mexico, capital of the state of Coahuila, 250 miles west-southwest of Matamoras. Seven miles south is Buena Vista, famous for the battle fought there, February, 1847, when the Mexican forces were repulsed by an inferior U. S. army.

=Salting-boxes.= Were boxes of about 4 inches high, and 2¹⁄₂ inches in diameter, for holding mealed powder, to sprinkle the fuzes of shells, that they might take fire from the blast of the powder in the chamber.

=Saltire.= One of the ordinaries in heraldry. Its name is of uncertain etymology, representing a bend sinister conjoined with a bend dexter, or a cross placed transversely like the letter X. Like the other ordinaries, it probably originated, as Planché suggests, in the clamps and braces of the shield. The form of the saltire has been assigned to the cross on which St. Andrew is said to have been crucified; hence the frequency of this ordinary in Scotch heraldry. A saltire is subject to the variations of being engrailed, invented, etc., and may be _couped_. When two or more saltires are borne in a shield, they are couped, not at right angles, but horizontally; and as they are always so treated, it is considered superfluous to blazon them as couped. Charges disposed in the form of a saltire are described as placed _saltireways_, or _in saltire_. The former term is more properly applied to two long charges, as swords or keys, placed across one another (in which case the rule is, that the sword in bend sinister should be uppermost, unless otherwise blazoned); and the latter to five charges placed two, one, and two.

=Saltpetre.= Nitre, or nitrate of potassa, is composed of 54 parts nitric acid and 48 parts of potassa. It is spontaneously generated in the soil, and is a necessary ingredient of powder. It has occasionally been produced artificially in _nitre-beds_, formed of a mixture of calcareous soil with animal matter; in these, nitrate of lime is slowly formed, which is extracted by lixiviation and carbonate of potash added to the solution, which gives rise to the formation of nitrate of potassa and carbonate of lime; the latter is precipitated; the former remains in solution and is obtained in crystals by evaporation. Its great use is in the manufacture of gunpowder, and in the production of nitric acid. See GUNPOWDER.

=Salute.= A discharge of artillery in compliment to some individual; beating of drums and dropping of colors for the same purpose; or by earning or presenting arms according to the rank and position of an officer. A salute with cannon is a certain number of arms fired in succession with blank cartridges, in honor of a person, to celebrate an event, or to show respect to the flag of a country. The rapidity with which the pieces are discharged depends upon their caliber. Field-guns should have intervals of five seconds between discharges; siege-guns, eight; and guns of heavier caliber, ten. The minimum number of pieces with which salutes can be fired is 2 for field, 4 for siege, and 6 for sea coast guns.

Personages entitled to salutes, if _passing_ a military post, as also foreign ships of war, are saluted with guns of heavy caliber, the most suitable being the 10-inch smooth-bore. The United States _national_ salute is one for each State composing the Union; and the _international_ salute, or salute to the national flag, is 21 guns. The President of the United States and the sovereign or chief magistrate of a foreign state receive a salute of 21 guns, both upon arrival and final departure from a military post. Members of the royal family,--_i.e._, the heir-apparent and consort of the reigning sovereign of a foreign state,--21 guns. The Vice-President of the United States receives a salute of 19 guns. The following civil and diplomatic authorities receive salutes as follows: members of the Cabinet, the chief justice, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the governors within their respective States or Territories, a committee of Congress officially visiting a military post or station, the viceroy, governor-general, or governors of provinces belonging to foreign states, ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary, 17 guns; envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, 15 guns; ministers resident accredited to the United States, 13 guns; chargés d’affaires, or subordinate diplomatic agents left in charge of missions in the United States, 11 guns. A general-in-chief, field-marshal, or admiral receives a salute of 17 guns; a lieutenant-general, or vice-admiral, 15 guns; a major-general, or rear-admiral, 13 guns; a brigadier-general, or commodore, 11 guns. The officers of volunteers and militia, when in the service of the United States, receive the salute specified for their rank. Officers of foreign services visiting any military post, are saluted in accordance with their rank. Salutes are fired only between _sunrise_ and _sunset_, and, as a rule, never on Sunday. A national salute is to be fired at noon on the anniversary of the independence of the United States at each military post and camp provided with artillery and ammunition. The _international_ salute is the only salute that is returned, and this should be done as soon as possible; foreign ships of war, in return for a similar compliment, gun for gun on notice being officially received of such intention. If there be several forts in sight of or within 6 miles of each other, the principal only shall reciprocate compliments with ships in passing. The President of the United States, the sovereign or chief magistrate of a foreign country traveling in a public capacity, is saluted when _passing_ in the vicinity of a military post. Personal salutes at the same place and in compliment to the same person, whether civil, diplomatic, military, or naval, are never to be fired oftener than once in twelve months, unless such person has, in the mean time, been advanced in rank.

=Salvo.= Is a concentrated fire from a greater or less number of pieces of artillery. Against a body of men, a salvo is generally useless, as the moral effect is greater in proportion to the area over which devastation is spread; but with fortifications the case is otherwise. For the purpose of breaching, the simultaneous concussion of a number of cannon-balls on masonry, or even earthwork, produces a very destructive result. The effect of a salvo of modern artillery, with its enormous steel shot, against iron-plated ramparts, has never yet been tried in actual war. The concentrated fire of a ship’s broadside forms a powerful salvo.

=Samanide Dynasty.= Began with Ismail Samani, who overcame the army of the Safferides, and established himself in the government of Persia, 902; his descendants ruled till 999.

=Samarcand=, or =Samarkand= (anc. _Mazacanda_). The most celebrated city of Central Asia, khanate of Bokhara, but annexed to the dominions of the czar in 1868. It is situated at the foot of Mount Chobanata, and is 145 miles nearly east by north from Bokhara. It was seized by the Arabs, 707, and from this time belonged either to the califate or to some of the dynasties which were offshoots from it, till 1219, when it was taken by Genghis Khan. In 1359 it was captured by Timour, and ten years afterward became the capital of his empire. On the division of his empire after his death, it continued the capital of Turkestan till 1468, when the attacks of the Uzbeks put an end to its prosperity.

=Samaria.= Anciently a city of Palestine, the chief seat of the Ephraimitic Baal-worship, and, from the seventh year of Omri’s reign, the capital of the kingdom of Israel. It was twice besieged by the Syrians (901 and 892 B.C.), under Ahab and Joram, on both occasions unsuccessfully; but in 721 (720) B.C., it was stormed by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, after a three years’ siege, and the inhabitants carried off into captivity. Their place was supplied by colonists from Babylon and other places. It was subsequently captured by Alexander the Great, when the “Samaritan” inhabitants were driven out, and their place supplied by Syro-Macedonians. It was again taken (109 B.C.) by John Hyrcanus, who completely destroyed it. Soon rebuilt, it remained for fifty years in possession of the Jews; but Pompey, in his victorious march, restored it to the descendants of the expelled Samaritans, who had settled in the neighborhood, and it was re-fortified by Gabinius. Its name was changed to Sebaste by Herod the Great. In the 3d century it became a Roman colony; but its prosperity perished with the Mohammedan conquest of Palestine, and is at present only a small village called Sebustieh, an Arab corruption of Sebaste.

=Sambas.= A town on the west coast of Borneo. It was attacked in 1812 and 1813 by the British, who were repulsed in their first attempt, but succeeded in capturing the town at the second attack.

=Sambre.= A river of French Flanders, which has been the scene of many sanguinary conflicts at different periods. It arises in the Ardennes, between La Capelle and Chateaux-Cambressis; runs from southwest to northeast; washes Landrecy, a fortified town, which was taken by the Imperialists in 1793. In its vicinity is Troisville, where, in 1794, the French were defeated by the British under the Duke of York. Maubeuge is situated in advance of the forest of Mormal. It was fortified by Vauban, and has a manufactory of fire-arms, and a garrison of infantry and cavalry. It was vainly besieged by the allies in 1814. Near it is Wattignies, where Jourdan beat the Austrians in 1813, and compelled them to raise the siege of Maubeuge. From hence the Sambre flows out of France, and passing into Belgium, washes Charleroi, a fortified place, captured by the French in 1672, 1677, 1693, 1736, 1792, and 1794. It leaves upon the heights on its right bank, Fleurus, a place rendered famous by four remarkable battles,--that of 1622, gained by the Spaniards over the Protestants of Germany; that of 1690, gained by Luxemburg over the Imperialists; the battle of 1794, gained by Jourdan over the allies; and the battle of 1815 (also designated the battle of Ligny), gained by Napoleon over the Prussians. The battle of 1794 was preceded by the siege of Charleroi, during which the French had six times crossed the Sambre in vain, and had been repulsed in six battles, the most celebrated of which are those of Grandreng, of the Péchant, and of Marchienne.

=Sambuque= (_Fr._) An ancient musical instrument of the wind kind, resembling a flute. It was also the name of an ancient engine of war used by Marcellus in besieging Syracuse. Plutarch relates that two ships were required to carry it. A minute description of this engine may be seen in Polybius.

=Same=, or =Samos= (anc. _Cephallenia_). A town situated on the eastern coast, opposite Ithaca; was taken and destroyed by the Romans, 189 B.C.

=Samnites.= The people of ancient Samnium, a country of Central Italy. They were an offshoot of the Sabines, who emigrated from their country between the Nar and Tiber, and the Anio, before the foundation of Rome, and settled in Samnium. This country was at the time of their migration inhabited by Opicans, whom the Samnites conquered, and whose language they adopted. The Samnites were distinguished for their bravery and love of freedom. Issuing from their mountain fastnesses, they overran a great part of Campania; and it was in consequence of Capua applying to the Romans for assistance against the Samnites that war broke out between the two nations in 343 B.C. The Romans found the Samnites the most warlike and formidable enemies whom they had yet encountered in Italy, and the war, which commenced in 343, was continued with few interruptions for the space of fifty-three years. It was not until 290, when all their bravest troops had fallen, and their country had been repeatedly ravaged in every direction by the Roman legions, that the Samnites sued for peace and submitted to the supremacy of Rome. They, never, however, lost their love of freedom; and, accordingly, they not only joined the other Italian allies in the war against Rome (90), but, even after the other allies had submitted, they still continued in arms. The civil war between Marius and Sulla gave them hopes of recovering their independence; but they were defeated before the gates of Rome (82), the greater part of their troops fell in battle, and the remainder were put to death. Their towns were laid waste, the inhabitants sold as slaves, and their place supplied by Roman colonists.

=Samos.= An island on the west coast of Asia Minor, which was colonized by Ionians about 1043 B.C. Samos was taken by the Athenians, 440; and, with Greece, became subject to Rome, 146. It was taken by the Venetians, 1125; taken by the emperor Leo in the 13th century, and then successively fell into the hands of the Venetians, Genoese, and Turks. At the time of the Greek insurrection the Samians zealously embraced the side of liberty. They expelled the Turks from the island, which they put into a state of defense, establishing an independent government. Various attempts were made by the Turks to regain the island, but they were all foiled by the courage of the people and the vigilance of the Greek fleet. In the treaty, however, which secured the independence and defined the limits of Greece, Samos was still left to Turkey, and the subsequent efforts that she has made have only secured a partial freedom.

=San Antonio=, called also =San Antonio de Bexar=. A city of Texas, U. S., is built near the sources of the San Antonio River, 110 miles southwest of Austin. It is one of the oldest Spanish towns on the continent, and in the Texan revolution of 1836 was the scene of the massacre of the Alamo, when a garrison of 150 men, led by Col. Travis, and including David Crockett, was surrounded by several thousand Mexicans, and after a heroic resistance killed to the last man. It contains a national arsenal.

=San Jacinto.= A small village of Harris Co., Texas, on Buffalo Bayou, near its entrance into Galveston Bay, about 18 miles east of Houston. On April 21, 1836, the main Texan army under Gen. Houston met the Mexicans, who were double their number, near San Jacinto. Furiously the Texans rushed to battle, with the cry, “Remember the Alamo!” They fought at less than half-rifle distance, and in less than half an hour wholly routed the Mexicans, killing and wounding a number greater than the whole Texan force. Among the prisoners taken after the battle was Santa Anna himself. The result of this battle was the undisputed independence of Texas.

=San Salvador.= The smallest of the Central American republics, and consists of a strip of territory stretching along between Honduras and the Pacific, and bounded on the west by Guatemala, and on the east by Fonseca Bay. It was conquered after a long and obstinate contest by Pedro de Alvarado, a lieutenant of Cortez. In 1821 it threw off the yoke, and joined the Mexican Confederation, from which, however, it seceded in 1823. In 1863, a war broke out between San Salvador and Guatemala, in which Honduras joined the former and Nicaragua the latter. The result was the defeat of San Salvador.

=San Sebastian.= A seaport of Spain, capital of Guipuzcoa, one of the Basque provinces, on the shore of the Bay of Biscay, 42 miles north-northwest of Pampeluna. From its position and strength, it has long been a place of much importance, and has sustained several sieges. The most memorable of these was in 1813, when the British under Wellington took it by storm.

=San Severo.= A town of Naples, capital of a district in the province of Capitanata. The inhabitants in 1799 made a gallant but vain resistance to the French under Duhesme, in revenge for which an indiscriminate slaughter was begun, and the town was only saved from total destruction by the heroism of the women, who threw themselves between the victorious soldiery and their victims.

=Sandhurst Military College.= See MILITARY ACADEMIES (GREAT BRITAIN).

=Sangiac.= A situation or appointment of dignity in Turkey. The sangiacs are governors of towns or cantons, and take rank immediately after the _beglerbegs_. (See BEG.) The name is also applied to the banner which he is authorized to display, and has been mistaken for Saint Jacques.

=Sanjak.= A Turkish word signifying “a standard,” is employed to denote a subdivision of an _eyalet_, because the ruler of such a subdivision, called _sanjak-beg_, is entitled to carry in war a standard of one horse-tail. The sanjak is frequently called _liva_, and its ruler a _mirmiram_.

=Sanjak-Sherif.= See FLAG OF THE PROPHET.

=Sansculottes= (_i.e._, “without breeches”). Was the name given in scorn, at the beginning of the French revolution, by the court party to the democratic “proletaires” of Paris. The latter accepted this superfine reproach with sardonic pride, and the term soon became the distinctive appellation of a “good patriot,” more especially as such a one often made a point of showing his contempt for the rich by neglecting his apparel, and cultivating rough and cynical manners. Toward the close of the Convention, the name, connected as it had been with all the sanguinary excesses of the period, naturally fell into bad odor, and soon after totally disappeared.

=Santa Fé.= City and capital of the Territory of New Mexico, built among the Rocky Mountains, on a plain 7047 feet above the sea. It is an old Spanish Mexican town, about 20 miles east of the Rio Grande del Norte. The Spaniards were driven out of Santa Fé in 1680 by the Pueblo Indians; but it was recaptured by the former in 1694, and held by them till the occupation by Americans in 1846. It was occupied by the Confederates for several days in 1862.

=Santiago de Compostella.= An important and once famous city of Spain, formerly the capital of Galicia. It was sacked by the Moors in 995, and held by them till it was taken by Ferdinand III. in 1235. It was taken by the French in 1809, and held till 1814.

=Sap.= In military engineering, is a narrow ditch or trench, by which approach is made from the foremost parallel towards the glacis or covert way of a besieged place. The sap is usually made by four sappers, the leading man of whom rolls a large gabion before him, and excavates as he progresses, filling smaller gabions with the earth dug out, and erecting them on one or both sides to form a parapet. The other sappers widen and deepen the sap, throwing more earth on to the parapet. A sap is considered to advance in average ground about 8 feet per hour. From the nearness of the enemy’s works, running a sap is an extremely dangerous operation. When possible, therefore, it is carried on at night; in any case, the sappers are relieved at least every hour. When a sap is enlarged to the dimensions of a trench, it bears that name. When the fire of the enemy is slack, so that many gabions may be placed and filled at the same time, it is called a _flying sap_. If two parapets, one on each side of the trench, be formed, it is then called a _double sap_.

=Sap.= To pierce with saps; to execute saps. Also, to proceed by mining or secretly undermining.

=Sap-fagots.= Are fascines 3 feet long, placed vertically between two gabions, for the protection of the sappers before the parapet is thrown over.

=Sappers and Miners.= Are soldiers belonging to the engineer corps, and now called engineers, whose business it is to make gabions, fascines, hurdles, etc., to trace lines and trenches, to drive the various kinds of saps, to descend into and pass the ditch, to destroy the enemy’s obstacles, to drain the trenches, to put up the various kinds of revetments, to post and superintend working parties, and to serve in the mines when required. They are also taught to adjust and sod the slopes, to erect palisades, fraises, etc., and to repair the defenses of a place, as also to erect bridges, and throw pontons over rivers, to plant torpedoes, and in fact to perform all the duties appertaining to engineer soldiers. In marching near an enemy, every column should have with its advance-guard a detachment of sappers, furnished with tools to open the way or repair the road. Bonaparte considered the proper proportion of engineer soldiers to an army to be 1 : 40; but now in France it is 1 : 33; in England 1 : 34; in Prussia 1 : 36; and in the United States 1 : 60.

=Sapping.= The art of excavating trenches of approach, under the musketry-fire of the besieged.

=Sap-roller.= Consists of two large concentric gabions, 6 feet in length, the outer one having a diameter of 4 feet, the inner one a diameter of 2 feet 8 inches, the space between them being stuffed with pickets or small billets of hard wood, to make them musket-shot proof. Its use is to protect the squad of sappers in their approach from the fire of the place.

=Saracens.= A name variously employed by mediæval writers to designate the Mohammedans of Syria and Palestine, the Arabs generally, or the Arab-Berber races of Northern Africa, who conquered Spain and Sicily, and invaded France. At a later date it was employed as a synonym for all infidel nations against which crusades were preached, and was thus applied to the Seljuks of Iconium, the Turks, and even to the pagan Prussians.

=Saracen’s Head.= A not unfrequent bearing in heraldry. It is represented as the head of an old man with a savage countenance.

=Saragossa=, or =Zaragoza=. A city of Spain, the capital of a province of the same name, and formerly of the kingdom of Aragon. It is situated on the Ebro, which divides the city into two parts. It was a place of importance under the Romans, but there are few remains of the Roman city. It was taken by the Moors in the 8th century, and recovered from them in 1118, after a siege of five years, during which a great part of the inhabitants died of hunger. It was taken by the French in 1809, after a siege of eight months, and one of the most heroic defenses recorded in the history of modern warfare.

=Saratoga.= A township of Saratoga Co., N. Y., situated on the Hudson, 28 miles north from Albany. It is remarkable in American history as the place where Burgoyne surrendered to the Americans in 1777. From September 19 to October 7 frequent animated skirmishes occurred between the British and the Americans, but on the latter date the battle of Saratoga began. Gen. Gates drew up his army on the brow of a hill, near the river, his camp being in the segment of a large circle, the convex side towards the enemy. Gen. Burgoyne’s troops were drawn up with his left resting on the river, his right extending at right angles to it across the low grounds, about 200 yards, to a range of steep heights. The Americans attacked the British along their whole line, when the

## action became general. The efforts of the combatants were desperate.

Burgoyne and his officers fought like men who were defending, at the last cast, their military reputation; Gates and his army like those who were deciding whether themselves and their children should be freedmen or slaves. The invading army gave way in the short space of fifty-two minutes. The defenders of the soil followed them to their intrenchments, forced the guard and killed its commander. The works of the British were stormed, but darkness coming on, the Americans desisted, and rested on their arms upon the field which they had so bravely won, determined to pursue their victory with returning light. But Burgoyne, aware of the advantage which the Americans had gained, effected with admirable order a change of his ground. His entire camp was removed before morning to the heights. Gates was too wise to attack his enemy in his new position, but made arrangements to inclose them, which Burgoyne perceiving, put his army in motion at 9 o’clock at night and removed to Saratoga, 6 miles up the river, abandoning his sick and wounded to the humanity of the Americans. Burgoyne now made several efforts to effect a retreat; but in every way he had been anticipated. He found himself in a foreign and hostile country, hemmed in by a foe whose army, constantly increasing, already amounted to four times his own wasted numbers. His boats laden with supplies were taken, and his provisions were failing, and when he found he could not hold out any longer, his troops being in the utmost distress, he surrendered on October 17. The whole number surrendered amounted to 5752 men, which, together with the troops lost before by various disasters, made up the whole British loss to 9213 men. There also fell into the hands of the Americans 35 field-pieces and 5000 muskets. It was stipulated that the British should pile their arms at the word of command, given by their own officers, march out of their camp with the honors of war, and have free passage across the Atlantic; they, on their part, agreeing not to serve again in North America during the war.

=Sarawak.= A town and province of Borneo, on the northeast coast of the island. The Chinese inhabitants of this place rose in insurrection and massacred a number of Europeans, February 17 and 18, 1857; the rajah, Sir J. Brooke, raised a force and speedily chastised the insurgents, of whom 2000 were killed.

=Sarbacane= (_Fr._). A blow-pipe, or long tube of wood or metal, through which poisoned arrows were shot by blowing with the mouth.

=Sarceled.= In heraldry, cut through the middle.

=Sardar.= In the East Indies, a chief or leader is so called.

=Sardinia.= A former kingdom in the south of Europe, composed of the island of Sardinia, Piedmont, Savoy, and the territories of Genoa and Nice. It takes its name from the island of Sardinia, and was, in 1860, merged in the new kingdom of Italy. From 1798 to 1814 the continental part of Sardinia formed a portion of the French empire. In 1848, Charles Albert, the reigning monarch, encouraged the inhabitants of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, or Austrian Italy, in their attempts to throw off the Austrian yoke, and marched to their assistance, when they broke into open revolt. He gained many victories at first over the Austrians, but he was subsequently defeated by Radetzky, and resigned his crown to his son, Victor Emmanuel. In 1855 Sardinia took part with Britain and France against Russia. In 1859 a war broke out between Austria on the one hand, and France and Sardinia on the other, which resulted in the defeat of the Austrians and the annexation of Lombardy to the Sardinian crown.

=Sardinia, Island of.= The largest after Sicily, of the islands of the Mediterranean, lies directly south of Corsica, from which it is separated by the Strait of Bonefacio. It was called Sardo by the Romans, and was colonized at a very early period. The first really historical event is its conquest, about 480 B.C., by the Carthaginians. They were forced to abandon it to the Romans (238 B.C.), who gradually subdued the rebellious natives, and made it a province of the republic; but on three several occasions, formidable outbreaks required the presence of a consul with a large army to restore the authority of Rome. It fell into the hands of the Vandals and other barbarians, and was recovered by the Eastern empire in 534, but was finally separated from the Roman empire by the Saracens. They were driven out in their turn by the Pisans. Pope Boniface took upon him to transfer it to the king of Aragon, who subdued the Genoese, Pisans, and the rest of the inhabitants, and annexed it to his own dominions in 1324. It remained united to the crown of Spain till the allies made a conquest of it in 1708. It was allotted to the emperor of Germany at the peace of Utrecht, in 1713. The Spaniards recovered it in 1717, but were obliged to abandon it two years after, when it was conferred on the duke of Savoy in lieu of the kingdom of Sicily, in 1720. From 1798 to 1814 it was the only portion of the Sardinian dominions left in the power of its sovereign, the French occupying the other portion of the kingdom.

=Sardis=, or =Sardes=. Anciently the capital of Lydia, in Asia Minor, stood at the foot of Mount Tmolus, now called Bozdag, about 50 miles northeast from Smyrna; the citadel on a steep rock was almost impregnable, being fortified by three walls. It was thus enabled to hold out when the lower town was taken by the Cimmerians in the reign of Ardys. During the Ionian revolt, 501 B.C., the insurgents, aided by the Athenians, took the city. It was taken by the Turks in the 11th century, and suffered a severe blow from Tamerlane, who almost entirely destroyed it about 200 years later.

=Sarmatia.= The ancient name of the country in Asia and Europe, between the Caspian Sea and the Vistula, including Russia and Poland. The Sarmatæ, or Sauromatæ, troubled the early Roman empire by incursions; after subduing the Scythians, they were subjugated by the Goths in the 3d and 4th centuries. They joined the Huns and other barbarians in invading Western Europe in the 5th century.

=Sarno.= A city of Southern Italy, in the province of Principato Citra, on the river of the same name, 13 miles northwest of Salerno. In the plain near Sarno, Teias, king of the Goths, in a desperate battle with the Greeks, commanded by Narses, in 553, was vanquished and slain, and the reign of the Goths in Italy brought to a close.

=Sarrazine.= A rough portcullis.

=Sarre= (_Fr._). When artillery was first invented, this name was given to a long gun, of smaller dimensions than the _bombarde_.

=Sasbach.= A village of Baden, 28 miles southwest from Carlsruhe. Marshal Turenne was killed here by a random shot in 1675.

=Sash.= In the British army, is a military distinction worn on duty or parade by officers and non-commissioned officers. For the former, it is of crimson silk; for the latter, of crimson cotton. It is tied on the right side by the cavalry, and on the left side by the infantry. In Highland regiments, the sash is worn over the left shoulder and across the body. The sashes for the Austrian army are of crimson and gold; the Prussian army, black silk and silver; the Hanoverian wears yellow silk; the Portuguese, crimson silk, with blue tassels; the French have their sashes made of three colors,--white, pink, and light blue,--to correspond with the national flag. In the U. S. army, all general officers above the rank of brigadier-general may wear a sash of buff silk and gold-thread worn across the body; and for brigadier-generals, sashes of buff silk net, with silk bullion fringe ends, are worn around the waist.

=Sassanidæ.= A famous dynasty of Persia, which reigned from 226 to 651. They were the descendants of Artaxerxes or Ardishir, whose father, Babek, was the son of Sassan. Ardishir revolted against Artabanus, king of Parthia, and defeated him on the plain of Hormuz, 226, and re-established the Persian monarchy. The Roman armies could make no impression on the Persians under the Sassanidæ; but from time to time had to return defeated and humiliated from the Persian frontiers. Their last monarch, Yezdejerd, was defeated and the dynasty expelled in 652.

=Satellites.= Were certain armed men, of whom mention is made in the history of Philip Augustus, king of France. The satellites of Philip Augustus were men selected from the militia of the country, who fought on foot and horseback. The servants or batmen who attended the military knights when they went into action were likewise called satellites, and fought in their defense mounted or on foot.

=Sattara.= A town and capital of the province of the same name, in British India, in the Presidency of Bombay. In 1700 its fort offered a vigorous resistance for two months to Aurungzebe, who besieged it in person, but it was reduced by blockade; and in 1818 a few bomb-shells procured its surrender to the British.

=Saturn.= In heraldry, the black color in blazoning arms; sable.

=Saucisson=, or =Sausage=. Is a fascine of more than the usual length; but the principal application of the term is to the apparatus for firing a military mine. This consists of a long bag or pipe of linen, cloth, or leather, from 1 inch to 1¹⁄₂ inch in diameter, and charged with gunpowder. One end is laid in the mine to be exploded; the other is conducted to the galleries to a place where the engineers can fire in safety. The electric spark is now preferred to the saucisson.

=Saumur.= A town of France, in the department of Maine-et-Loire, 28 miles southeast of Angers. A striking event in the history of the town was its brilliant capture by Larochejaquelein and the Vendeans, June 10, 1793. In this action, the victors, with but a slight loss, captured 60 cannon, 10,000 muskets, and 11,000 republicans; it was a stronghold of the Protestants during the reign of Henry IV.

=Savages=, or =Wild Men=. In heraldry, are of frequent occurrence as supporters. They are represented naked, and also, particularly in the later heraldry, are usually wreathed about the head and middle with laurel, and often furnished with a club in the exterior hand. Savages are especially prevalent in the heraldry of Scotland. In more than one of the Douglas seals of the first half of the 15th century, the shield is borne in one hand by a single savage, who acts as sole supporter.

=Savan Droog=, or =Savendroog=. A strong hill fort of India, in the territory of Mysore, 19 miles west from Bangalore. It was stormed by the British in 1791; and after the fall of Tippoo Sahib in 1799, it was garrisoned by a native force.

=Savannah.= A city and port of Georgia, U. S., on the right bank of the Savannah River, 18 miles from its mouth. The city is surrounded by marshes and islands, and was defended by Fort Pulaski and Fort Jackson. Savannah was founded in 1733, by the English general Oglethorpe. In 1776 a British fleet, attempting to take the town, was repulsed after a severe action; but it was taken in 1778, and held in 1779 against the combined French and American forces. In the war of Secession, after many unsuccessful attacks by sea, it was taken by Gen. Sherman in February, 1865.

=Saverne= (anc. _Taberna_). A town of France, in the department of Bas-Rhin, on the Zorn, 19 miles northwest of Strasburg. It is a very ancient place, and was formerly fortified. It suffered very much during the Thirty Years’ War; and its fortifications were destroyed in 1696.

=Savigliano.= A fortified town of Northern Italy, in Piedmont, 28 miles south from Turin. The French defeated the Austrians here in 1799.

=Savona.= A maritime city of Northern Italy, in the province of Genoa, and 25 miles southwest from the city of that name. It is a very ancient city, and in the time of the Romans was called Sava; was destroyed by Rotharis (639), rebuilt by Ludovic the Pious (981), and was afterwards laid waste by the Saracens.

=Savoy.= Formerly a province in Northern Italy, east of Piedmont. It became a Roman province about 118 B.C. The Alemanni seized it in 395, and the Franks in 490. It shared the revolutions of Switzerland till about 1048. The French subdued Savoy in 1792, and made it a department of France under the name of Mont Blanc in 1800; it was restored to the king of Sardinia in 1814; but was once more annexed to France in 1860.

=Sawunt Warree.= A native state of India, in the Presidency of Bombay. The first treaty between Sawunt Warree and the British took place in 1730, and had for its object to suppress the piracies of the Angria family in the island of Kolabah. But the chieftains of Sawunt Warree, being themselves addicted to piracy, drew upon them the hostility of the British in 1765. A series of wars, treaties, and negotiations ensued, which ended in the subjugation of the state in 1819 by a British force. The sea-coast was then ceded to the British, and the native government restored. Rebellions were raised against the chiefs in 1828, 1832, and 1838. The most important event that has since occurred, was the dangerous rebellion which began in the autumn of 1844, and was put down after some months of hard fighting by Lieut.-Col. Outram in the beginning of the following year.

=Sawyer Projectile.= See PROJECTILE.

=Saxons.= A German people whose name is usually derived from an old German word, _sahs_, “a knife,” and are first mentioned by Ptolemy, who makes them inhabit a district south of the Cimbrian Peninsula. They are mentioned as brave and skillful sailors who often joined the Chauci in piratical expeditions against the coast of Gaul. In the 3d century they appear in England under Carausius, a Belgic admiral in the Roman service, who made himself “Augustus” in Britain by their help. They had firmly rooted themselves, at the beginning of the 5th century, in the present Normandy, and they fought against Attila in the Catalaunian Plain, 451. They also obtained a footing at the mouth of the Loire; but all the Saxons who settled in France disappeared before the Franks, or were probably incorporated with their more powerful kinsmen of Southern Germany. Along with the Franks, they destroyed the kingdom of the Thuringians in 531, and obtained possession of the land between the Harz and the Unstrut; but this district was in turn forced to acknowledge the Frankish sovereignty. From 719, wars between the Saxons and the Franks became constant; but the latter, after 772, were generally successful, in spite of the vigorous resistance offered by Wittekind, and in 804, the Saxons were finally subjugated by the arms of Charlemagne.

=Saxony, Kingdom of.= The second in importance and population of the minor German states, and a state of the new German empire. The earliest inhabitants of Upper Saxony, since the Christian era, were the Hermunduri; in the beginning of the 6th century their settlements were taken possession of by the Sorbs, a Slavic race. The Carlovingian rulers, dissatisfied with the ingress of those non-German tribes, erected “marks” to bar their progress; and Duke Otho the Illustrious of Saxony, and his celebrated son, Henry the Fowler, warred against them, the latter--subduing the Heveller, the Daleminzer, and the Miltzer--founded in their country the marks of Brandenburg Misnia (Meissen), and Lusatia (Lausitz), and planted colonies of Germans among the Sorbs. In 1090 the mark was bestowed on the house of Wettin, and was confirmed as a hereditary possession to that family in 1127. Frederick the Warlike (1381-1428) succeeded in uniting the severed portions of Saxony, to which were added various districts in Franconia, and in 1423 the electorate of Saxony. The Saxon elector was now one of the most powerful princes of Germany, but unfortunately the fatal practice of subdividing the father’s territories among his sons still continued; and during the reign of the elector, Frederick the Mild (1428-1464), a civil war broke out and was carried on for years. By a separate treaty of peace (1635), John George I. obtained Upper and Lower Lusatia, acquisitions confirmed by the treaty of Westphalia (1648). The reign of Frederick Augustus I. (1694-1733) well-nigh ruined the hitherto prosperous electorate. Frederick Augustus had been chosen king of Poland; and his attempt, in company with the czar and the king of Denmark, to dismember Sweden, brought down upon him and his two states the vengeance of the northern “fire-king.” Poland was utterly devastated, and Saxony exhausted in money and troops; the king was forced to sell many important portions of territory; Frederick Augustus II. (1733-1763), also king of Poland, took part in the war of the Austrian Succession against Maria Theresa, but finding the treaty of Berlin (1742) not so satisfactory for himself as he expected, he joined the empress in 1745. The country was atrociously ravaged during the Seven Years’ War, and a long time elapsed before it recovered its previous peaceful and prosperous state. In the conflict of 1866 the king of Saxony took the side of Austria, and his army fought in the battle of Königgratz, July 3. The Prussians entered Saxony June 18. Peace between Prussia and Saxony was signed October 21 (subjecting the Saxon army to Prussia), and the king returned to Dresden November 3. In 1870-71 the Saxon soldiers fought under the leadership of the crown-prince, afterward King Albert, as true allies by the side of the Prussians, and the interior development of the country has not only kept pace with, but in some respects even advanced beyond, that of the rest of Northern Germany.

=Scabbard.= Is the sheath for a sword or bayonet, at once to render the weapon harmless and to protect it from damp. It was usually made of black leather, tipped, mouthed, and ringed with metal, but is now generally made of bronzed steel. The cavalry wear scabbards of polished steel. These better sustain the friction against the horses’ accoutrements, but are objectionable from their noisiness, and the consequent impossibility of surprising an enemy. The sword-scabbard is suspended to the belt by two rings; the bayonet-scabbard hooks into a frog in connection with the waist-belt.

=Scalade= (from the Fr. _escalade_). A furious attack upon a wall or rampart, contrary to form, and with no regularity, frequently carried on with ladders, to insult the wall by open force.

=Scale.= To climb by a ladder, or as if by a ladder; to clamber up; as, to scale the ramparts.

=Scale-armor.= Consisted of small plates of steel riveted together in a manner resembling the scales of a fish. From the small size of the plates, it possessed considerable pliability, and was therefore a favorite protection for the neck, in the form of a curtain hanging from the helmet. Scale-armor is now obsolete, except, perhaps, among some Eastern potentates.

=Scaling.= Scaling a piece of artillery, is the flashing off of a small quantity of powder to clean out the bore; about one-twelfth of the shot’s weight. The practice is discontinued.

=Scaling-ladders= (Fr. _echelles de siege_). Are ladders used in scaling when a place is to be taken by surprise. They are made several ways; sometimes of flat staves, so as to move about their pins, and shut like a parallel ruler, for conveniently carrying them.

=Scamper.= To run away precipitately; said of troops.

=Scandinavia.= The ancient name of Sweden, Norway, and a great part of Denmark, whence proceeded the Northmen, or Normans, who conquered Normandy (about 900), and eventually England (1066). See NORMANS.

=Scarf.= In heraldry, a small ecclesiastical banner suspended from the top of a crozier.

=Scarp, To.= To cut down a slope so as to render it inaccessible. See COUNTERSCARP, and ESCARP.

=Scarpe.= In heraldry, a diminutive of the bend sinister, being half the breadth of that ordinary.

=Sceptre.= Originally a staff or walking-stick, hence in course of time, also a weapon of assault and of defense. At a very early period the privilege of carrying it came to be connected with the idea of authority and station. The sceptre of the kings of Rome, which was afterwards borne by the consuls, was of ivory, and surmounted by an eagle. Since that time there has been considerable variety in its form. The English sceptre now in use dates from Charles II.’s time, and is cruciform.

=Schaife.= In the Middle Ages, a quiver or bundle of arrows was so called.

=Schellenberg.= A village in the southeast of Upper Bavaria, 6 miles southwest from the Austrian town of Salzburg, near which occurred the first battle of the War of the Spanish Succession, in which the English took part. Maximilian Emmanuel, elector of Bavaria, had fortified the hill of Schellenberg to resist the progress of Marlborough; but on July 4, 1704, the work was attacked by the English, led on by Prince Ludwig, of Baden, and carried by storm after a bloody fight.

=Schenkle Projectile.= See PROJECTILE.

=Schierling.= A town of Germany, in Bavaria, 12 miles south from Ratisbon. The Austrians were defeated by the French in its vicinity in 1809.

=Schleswig=, or =Sleswick=. Formerly a duchy of Denmark. Its history is identical with that of Holstein (which see).

=Schliengen.= A town of Baden, 22 miles southwest from Mulheim. The Archduke Charles of Austria defeated the French near this place in 1796.

=Schmalkald, League of.= The name given to the defensive alliance concluded provisionally for nine years at Schmalkalden, February 27, 1531, between nine Protestant princes and eleven imperial cities, with whom other five princes and ten imperial cities subsequently made common cause; and the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse were appointed chiefs of the league, and empowered to manage its affairs. The object of this formidable alliance, which included the whole of Northern Germany, Denmark, Saxony, and Würtemberg, and portions of Bavaria and Switzerland, was for the common defense of the religious and political freedom of the Protestants against the emperor Charles V. and the Catholic states. The league was not rendered superfluous by the religious peace of Nürnberg in 1532, and on the rumor that the emperor was meditating new hostile measures against the Protestants, another meeting of the confederates was held December 24, 1535, which resolved to raise a permanent army of 10,000 foot and 2000 cavalry, and to prolong the league for ten years. The confederation was further consolidated by articles of guarantee, which were drawn up by Luther at Wittenberg in 1536, and being subscribed by the theologians present at the meeting of the league at Schmalkalden in February, 1537, were called the _Articles of Schmalkald_. Against the league the emperor, engaged as he was at the time in contests with the Turks and French, found himself unable to contend, though supported by the Holy League, a Catholic confederation formed in 1538, in opposition to the Protestant one. But impolitic management, mutual jealousies, and conflicting petty interests dissipated their energies, and prevented united action. The “War of Schmalkald” commenced by the advance of the army of the league, under Sebastian Schartlin, in Suabia, to bar the approach of the imperial army from Italy. Schartlin forced his way to the banks of the Danube, but the miserable jealousy of the Saxon princes paralyzed his action. The emperor, by a proclamation bearing date July 20, 1546, put the two chiefs of the league under the ban of the empire; Maurice, duke of Saxony, took possession of the electorate, by virtue of an imperial decree; and the Protestant army was forced to retreat. The elector of Saxony reconquered his electorate in the autumn of 1546, but meantime the imperial army subdued the northern members of the League of Schmalkald and advanced into Franconia to meet the combined armies of Saxony and Hesse. The latter were totally routed at Mühlberg, April 24, 1547, and both chiefs fell into the emperor’s hands. This defeat, which has been ascribed to treason, and was perhaps as much owing to this cause as to weakness, finished the war. The object of the league, the guarantee of the liberty of religion to the Protestants, was subsequently effected by Maurice, now elector of Saxony, who, by a brilliant feat of diplomacy and generalship, compelled the emperor to grant the treaty of Passau, July 31, 1552, by which this freedom was secured.

=Schoolmaster, Army.= In the English army, the schoolmaster is a non-commissioned officer of the first class, ranking next to a sergeant-major. His pay varies with length of service. He has an advantage over other non-commissioned officers in quarters and certain allowances. To become an army schoolmaster, it is necessary either to be a certificated schoolmaster, or to have served the apprenticeship as a pupil-teacher, and to pass through a course of training for one year at the Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea. After the completion of the training, the candidate is required to enlist as a common soldier for ten years’ general service, whereupon he is immediately promoted to the rank of schoolmaster. A few of the most deserving schoolmasters are promoted to be superintending schoolmasters, when they rank as ensigns. The duties of the schoolmaster are to teach the soldiers and their children the rudiments of general knowledge, to examine the girls’ school, and to deliver lectures to the soldiers. There were in 1865 214 army schoolmasters in the British service.

=Schoolmistress, Army.= In the British service, is a person attached to each regiment or corps for the purpose of instructing the daughters of soldiers and their sons, under eight years old, in the rudiments of English and in plain needle-work. She must be a certified schoolmistress, or a pupil-teacher who has served her apprenticeship. After admission to the service, she is specially trained for six months at one of four training institutions. This training is at the expense of the government. Proper provision is made for the quarters and supplies of the schoolmistress, whose somewhat anomalous position among rough men calls for the most circumspect behavior on her part.

=Schools of Artillery.= See ARTILLERY, SCHOOLS OF.

=Schultz’s Powder.= A powder for fire-arms invented by Capt. Schultz of the Prussian army, sometimes called _white gunpowder_, though this term is also applied to other powder. It is made by treating grains of wood with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids, by means of which a low form of nitro-cellulose is produced. The explosive power is heightened by steeping the prepared grains in a solution of nitre. _Dittman’s sporting powder_, manufactured in America, is believed to be a similar powder.

=Schumla=, =Shoomla=, or =Shumla=. A large fortified town of Turkey in Europe, in the province of Bulgaria, about 58 miles southwest from Silistria. The Russians have made several unsuccessful attempts to take it in their different wars with Turkey.

=Schuwalow Gun= (_Fr._). A gun named after the inventor, a Russian general. It differed from a common gun in having an oval bore; the greater diameter lay in a horizontal direction; it had also a long cylindrical chamber.

=Schweidnitz.= A town of Prussian Silesia, on the left bank of the Weistritz, 42 miles southeast of Liegnitz. It is in part fortified, and was besieged and taken four times within fifty years, the last time by the French in 1807, when the defenses were in great part destroyed.

=Schwytz.= One of the cantons of Switzerland. It was one of the three original cantons that formed the Confederation in 1308 against the Austrian power; and from its name the modern appellation of the entire country has been derived.

=Sciathus= (now _Skiatho_). A small island in the Ægean Sea, east of the Magnesian coast of Thessaly. It is frequently mentioned in the history of the invasion of Greece by Xerxes. It subsequently became one of the subject allies of Athens. Its chief town was destroyed by the last Philip of Macedonia.

=Science, Military.= See LOGISTICS, STRATAGEM, STRATEGY, TACTICS, and WAR.

=Scillus.= A town of Elis, on the river Selinus, south of Olympia. It was destroyed by the Eleans in the war which they carried on against the Pisæans, whose cause had been espoused by the inhabitants of Scillus. The Lacedæmonians subsequently took possession of the territory of Scillus; they gave it to Xenophon after his banishment from Athens.

=Scimeter.= See CIMETER.

=Scio=, =Chio=, or =Khio= (anc. _Chios_). An island belonging to Asiatic Turkey, lying in the Grecian Archipelago, off the coast of Asia Minor. Chios became a member of the Ionian confederation of twelve states on the Asiatic islands and coast. Its insular position protected it against the Lydian, and for a time against the Persian power. But in the Ionian revolt the Chians lent their assistance to their fellow-countrymen by furnishing ships to the fleet, which was totally defeated by the Persians off Miletus, 494 B.C. The conquerors in consequence landed on the island, and ravaged it with fire and sword. The battle of Mycale, in 479, liberated Chios from the Persian yoke, but only to become a dependency of Athens. To this power it remained faithful till after the outbreak of the Peloponnesian war; but as that disastrous contest proceeded, and the fortune of war began to prove adverse to Athens, the Chians attempted to assert their liberty. They suffered several defeats from the Athenians, who laid waste the island, but could not conquer the capital. At a later period Chios was again subject to Athens, and again revolted, and seems to have maintained its independence for some time. It gave assistance to the Romans in their war with Antiochus, 190 B.C.; and afterwards, when allied with Mithridates, that monarch, suspecting the people of a bearing towards the Romans, sent a lieutenant, who carried the inhabitants away from the island, 86 B.C. They were restored by the Romans; and, in consideration of this calamity, the island was made a free state and an ally of Rome. Early in the 14th century, the Turks conquered the capital, and perpetrated a general massacre of its inhabitants; but from 1346 to 1566 Scio was held by the Genoese. In the latter year it was conquered by Solyman the Magnificent; and since that time, with the exception of a short period when the Venetians possessed it, the island has belonged to the Ottoman empire. In 1822, during the Greek insurrection, a number of Samians landed in Scio, and persuaded or forced its peaceful inhabitants to rise against the Turks. They did not succeed in mastering the castle, and soon an army was landed from Asia, who renewed the ancient calamities of the island. The plunder and massacre that ensued was so unsparing that in a short time only 2000 Christians were left out of a population of 110,000.

=Scione.= The chief town in the Macedonian peninsula of Pallene, on the western coast. It revolted from the Athenians in the Peloponnesian war, but was retaken by Cleon, whereupon all the men were put to death, the women and children sold as slaves, and the town given to the Platæans.

=Scirtis.= A wild and mountainous district in the north of Laconia, on the borders of Arcadia, with a town called Scirus, which originally belonged to Arcadia. Its inhabitants, the Sciritæ, formed a special division of the Lacedæmonian army. This body, which, in the time of the Peloponnesian war, was 600 in number, was stationed in battle at the extreme left of the line, formed on march the vanguard, and was usually employed on the most dangerous kinds of service.

=Sconce.= In fortification, is a term applied to any small redoubt or fort, detached from the main works for some local object, as the defense of a pass or fort, etc. The word is not now often used.

=Scopetin= (_Fr._). A rifleman was formerly so called who was armed with the escopette.

=Scordisci.= A people in Pannonia Superior, who are sometimes classed among the Illyrians, but were the remains of an ancient and powerful Celtic tribe. They dwelt between the Savus and Dravus.

=Scorpion= (_Fr._). A small kind of catapult, or large cross-bow, which threw heavy arrows by means of a steel bow, which was bent by a double-handed roller turned by one man.

=Scorpion= (_Fr._). An ancient gun, whose dolphins represented the scorpion. Also the name of an implement used by the ancients for laying hold of the enemy’s battering ram.

=Scotch Brigade.= A brigade of Scotchmen, gentlemen, and others, who served under the elector of Bavaria in the reign of James I., and subsequently under Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years’ War.

=Scotland.= The northern division of the island of Great Britain. An account has been given under the article Picts (which see) of the early inhabitants of the country which has long been known by the name of Scotland. The original Scotia, or Scotland, was Ireland, and the Scoti, or Scots, at their first appearance in history were the people of Ireland. The original seat of the Scots in Northern Britain was in Argyle, which they acquired by colonization and conquest before the end of the 5th century, and from whence they spread themselves along the western coast from the Firth of Clyde to the modern Ross. The first prince of the British Scots mentioned in authentic annals was Fergus, son of Eric, who crossed over to Britain about the year 503. His great-grandson, Conal, was king of the British Scots when Columba began the conversion of the Northern Picts. His nephew, Aidan, who succeeded him was a powerful prince, and more than once successfully invaded the English border, but toward the end of his reign he received a severe defeat from the Northumbrian sovereign Ethelfrid at the battle of Degsestan. The history of Aidan’s successors is obscure. Their kingdom was overshadowed by the more powerful monarchy of the Picts, with which, as well as with its neighbors in the south,--the Britons of Cumbria,--it was engaged in almost unceasing conflict. The Scots were for some time under some sort of subjection to the English of Northumbria, but recovered their independence on the defeat and death of King Egfried in battle with the Picts at Nechtansmere in 685. In the middle of the 9th century, the Scots acquired a predominance in Northern Britain. Kenneth, son of Alpin, succeeded his father as king of the Scots. The Pictish kingdom was weakened by civil dissensions and a disputed claim to the crown. The Picts and Scots, each speaking a dialect of the Celtic tongue, gradually coalesced into one people. The reign of Constantine, son of Aodh, who succeeded in 904, was a remarkable one. Even before the establishment of the kingdom of the Picts and Scots in the person of Kenneth, Northern Britain had experienced the attacks of a new enemy, the Scandinavian invaders, generally spoken of under the name of Danes. Constantine resisted them bravely, but towards the end of his reign, he entered into an alliance with them in opposition to the English. A powerful army, composed of Scots, Picts, Britons, and Danes, disembarked on the Humber, and was encountered at Brunanburgh by Athelstan, king of England. A battle was fought there, the first of a series of unfortunate combats by Scottish princes on English ground. The confederate army was defeated, but Constantine escaped, and died 953. During the reign of Malcolm I., a portion of the Cumbrian kingdom was bestowed by Edmund, king of England, on the Scottish sovereign. The northern kingdom was still further increased in the reign of Kenneth, son of Malcolm, by the acquisition of Lothian and of Northern Cumbria, or Strathclyde. Alexander III. employed the period of his reign well; by a treaty with the king of Norway, he added to his kingdom Man and the other islands of the Western Sea. The reigns of David II. and his successors, Robert II. and Robert III., were the most wretched period of Scottish history. In the year 1411, half of the kingdom would have become barbarous if the invasion of the Lord of the Isles had not been repulsed at Harlaw (which see). The vigorous rule of James I. had restored a tranquillity to which his kingdom had long been unaccustomed; but strife and discord were again brought back on his assassination. The reigns of Charles II. and James VII. were more corrupt and oppressive than any which Scotland had experienced since the regencies in the minority of James VI.; the natural result was the revolution, which seated William and Mary on the throne. Under James VI., who succeeded to the throne of England, the kingdoms became united, from which period (1603) the annals of the two kingdoms became almost identical, though they both retained their independence, and continued to be ruled by separate titles till the Act of Union in 1707.

=Scots Fusileer Guards.= See GUARDS.

=Scots Grays.= The 2d regiment of dragoons in the British service is so named. They are considered a superior body of cavalry, and bear as their motto “Second to None.”

=Scott Projectile.= See PROJECTILE.

=Scotussa.= A very ancient town of Thessaly, in the district of Pelasgiotis, near the source of the Cynoscephalæ, where Flamininus gained his celebrated victory over Philip, 197 B.C.

=Scour, To.= This term is frequently used to express the act of discharging ordnance or musketry, rapidly and heavily, for the purpose of dislodging an enemy. Hence, to scour the rampart, or the covert way. It likewise signifies to clear, to drive away; as, to scour the seas; also to run about in a loose desultory manner; as, to scour the country. _To scour a line_, is to flank it, so as to see directly along it, that a musket-ball entering at one end may fly to the other, leaving no place of security.

=Scout.= A person sent out in the front or on the flank of an army to observe the force and movements of the enemy. He should be a keen observer, and withal fleet of foot, or well mounted.

=Scout-master-General.= A person, formerly so called, under whose direction all the scouts and army messengers were placed.

=Screw.= See ELEVATING SCREW.

=Screw-jack.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Scribe= (Heb. _Sofer_). Among the Jews, originally a kind of military officer, whose business appears to have been the recruiting and organizing of troops, the levying of war-taxes, and the like. At a later period, especially at the time of Christ, it had come to designate a learned man, a doctor of the law.

=Scutari.= A town of Asiatic Turkey, opposite Constantinople. It was anciently called _Chrysopolis_, “golden city,” in consequence, it is said, of the Persians having established a treasury here when they attempted the conquest of Greece. Near here Constantine finally defeated Licinius, 323. Scutari Hospital was occupied by the sick and wounded of the Anglo-French army in 1854-55, whose sufferings were much alleviated by the kind exertions of Miss Florence Nightingale and a band of nurses under her.

=Scutum.= A Roman buckler made of wood, the parts being joined together with little plates of iron, and the whole covered with a bull’s hide. In the middle was an _umbo_, or boss of iron, which jutted out, and was useful to glance off stones or darts. The _scuta_, in general, were 4 feet long, and different in size from the _clypei_, which were less, and quite round.

=Scythed.= Armed or furnished with scythes, as some of the ancient chariots were.

=Scythia.= A name employed in ancient times to denote a vast, indefinite, and almost unknown territory north and east of the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the Sea of Aral. This country was inhabited by a race of people who were called Scythæ, but who called themselves Scoloti. Only two important events in Scythian history are mentioned by Herodotus; the one is the invasion of Media by the Scythians, and the other that of Scythia by Darius. In 624 B.C. the Scythians entered Media, defeated Cyaxares, the reigning monarch, and occupied the land for twenty-eight years before they were expelled. It was at least ostensibly in revenge for this incursion that Darius Hystaspis determined to invade Scythia about 513 B.C. He formed a bridge across the Danube, and crossing that river obtained some advantages over the Scythians. But he was unable to effect any real conquest over these nomad tribes, and narrowly escaped having his retreat cut off by the destruction of the bridge.

=Sea-coast Carriage.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Sea-coast Artillery.= Is a species of artillery which is used for the defense of the sea-coast. In the United States it consists of 15-inch and 20-inch smooth-bores, 12-inch rifles, and 10-inch and 13-inch mortars. (See ORDNANCE.) The 24-pounder flank-defense howitzer, although no longer belonging to the system, is still employed in several of the forts on the sea-board. Sea-coast pieces are mounted on barbette, casemate, and flank-casemate carriages; and the carriage upon which the mortar is mounted is called its _bed_. These carriages do not subserve the purpose of transportation. The heaviest rifle-cannon should be placed on the salients and flanks of a fortification, having an enfilading fire on a channel. Heavy smooth-bore pieces should occupy the curtains and faces which bear, directly on the channel. The 24-pounder flank-defense howitzer is employed in the defense of ditches. Single- or double-shotted canister should be fired from it. The Gatling gun has been recommended as a desirable auxiliary in special cases. A 12-pounder field-piece may be usefully employed to prevent a landing, or to fire in close engagements at the rigging and boats of vessels. There are three kinds of fire generally employed,--_direct_, _ricochet_, and _plunging_. The first should be used when the surface of the water is rough, and the accuracy of the rebound cannot be depended on. In aiming at a vessel with _direct_ fire, the piece should be pointed at the water-line. The effective range of _direct_ fire is about one mile and a quarter. The intended effect of sea-coast mortars is to strike the decks of vessels, penetrating to the bottom and causing them to sink.

=Sea-coast Howitzer.= See SEA-COAST ARTILLERY.

=Sea-horse.= In heraldry, a fabulous animal, consisting of the upper part of a horse with webbed feet, united to the tail of a fish. A scalloped fin is carried down the back. The arms of the town of Cambridge are supported by two sea-horses, proper finned and maned or.

=Sea-lion.= In heraldry, a monster consisting of the upper part of a lion combined with the tail of a fish.

=Sealkote.= A town in the Punjab, near the left bank of the Chenab, 65 miles north-northeast from Lahore. All the European troops had been removed in July, 1857, to repress disturbances that had broken out elsewhere, and on the 9th of that month the native troops fired on their officers. A considerable number of Europeans were killed, and the survivors suffered great privations until the Sepoys, having plundered the station, started off in the direction of Delhi.

=Search a Country, To.= Is to examine minutely all the inlets and outlets, woods, rivers, etc., of a country through which an army is to advance.

=Searcher.= See INSPECTION OF CANNON.

=Seasoned Troops.= Are troops that have been accustomed to climate, and are not so liable to become the victims of any endemical disorder as raw men unavoidably are.

=Seat of War.= The country in which a war is being carried on.

=Sebastopol=, or =Sevastopol=. A Russian seaport, fortress, and arsenal in the Crimea, in the government of Taurida. It is situated near the southwest extremity of the Crimea, on the southern side of the magnificent harbor or roadstead of Sebastopol, one of the finest natural harbors in the world. The siege of Sebastopol by the allied English and French armies will rank among the most famous sieges in history; it lasted for eleven months, from October, 1854, to September, 1855. Immediately after the battle of the Alma, September 20, 1854, the allied army marched to Sebastopol, and took up its position on the plateau between it and Balaklava, and the grand attack and bombardment commenced October 17, 1854, without success. After many sanguinary encounters by day and night, and repeated bombardments, a grand assault was made on September 8, 1855, upon the Malakoff tower and the redans, the most important fortifications to the south of the town. The French succeeded in capturing and retaining the Malakoff. The attacks of the English on the great redan and of the French upon the little redan were successful, but the assailants were compelled to retire after a desperate struggle with great loss of life. The French lost 1646 killed, of whom 5 were generals, 24 superior and 116 inferior officers, 4500 wounded, and 1400 missing. The English lost 385 killed, 1886 wounded, and 176 missing. In the night the Russians abandoned the southern and principal part of the town and fortifications, after destroying as much as possible, and crossed to the northern forts. They also sank or burnt the remainder of their fleet. The allies found a very great amount of stores when they entered the place, September 9. The works were utterly destroyed in April, 1856, and the town was restored to the Russians in July.

=Second.= The next in order to the first; the next in place or station; as, a second lieutenant of the artillery service.

=Second Covert Way.= In fortification, is that beyond the second ditch.

=Second Ditch.= In fortification, is that made on the outside of the glacis, when the ground is low and there is plenty of water.

=Second Flank.= See FLANK, OBLIQUE.

=Second, To.= To aid or assist; to support.

=Secondary Bases.= The bases established at the beginning of a campaign and from which the first advances are made, are known as _primary bases_. An army carries with it ammunition only sufficient for one battle, and but a few days’ supply of food. Other supplies of ammunition and provisions must be brought from the base; and as an army advances, the difficulty of keeping it supplied increases. Unless some additional provision be made for its supply, the army cannot advance and is then said to be “tied to its base.” As the necessary supplies cannot be obtained in the theatre of operations in sufficient quantities for the daily needs of an army, depots and magazines must be organized near the army from which these supplies can be procured, and these together form what is known as a _secondary base_.

=Seconding.= In Great Britain, is a temporary retirement to which officers of Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers are subjected when they accept civil employment under the crown. After six months of such employment the officer is seconded, by which he loses military pay, but retains his rank, seniority, and promotion in his corps. After being seconded for ten years, he must elect to return to military duty or to retire altogether.

=Secrecy.= In military economy this quality is peculiarly requisite. It signifies fidelity to a secret; taciturnity inviolate; close silence. Officers, in particular, should be well aware of the importance of it, as the divulging of what has been confidentially intrusted to them, especially on expeditions, might render the whole project abortive. The slightest deviation from it is very justly considered a breach of honor, as scandalous conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. In official matters the person so offending is liable to the severest punishment and penalty.

=Secretary of War.= Is an officer of the executive department and member of the Cabinet, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and has charge of all duties connected with the army of the United States, fortifications, etc., issues of commissions, movement of troops, payment, commissary, etc., and engineering. The following is extracted from the law of the United States:

“There shall be at the seat of government an executive department to be known as the Department of War, and a Secretary of War, who shall be the head thereof.

“The Secretary of War shall perform such duties as shall from time to time be enjoined on or intrusted to him by the President relative to military commissions, the military forces, the warlike stores of the United States, or to other matters respecting military affairs, and he shall conduct the business of the department in such manner as the President shall direct.

“The Secretary of War shall have the custody and charge of all the books, records, papers, furniture, fixtures, and other property appertaining to the department.

“The Secretary of War shall from time to time cause to be collected and transmitted to him, at the seat of government, all such flags, standards, and colors as are taken by the army from enemies of the United States.

“The Secretary of War shall from time to time define and prescribe the kinds as well as the amount of supplies to be purchased by the subsistence and quartermaster departments of the army, and the duties and powers thereof respecting such purchases, and shall prescribe general regulations for the transportation of the articles or supply from the place of purchase to the several armies, garrisons, posts, and recruiting-places, for the safe-keeping of such articles, and for the distribution of an adequate and timely supply of the same to the regimental quartermasters, and to such other officers as may by virtue of such regulations be intrusted with the same, and shall fix and make reasonable allowances for the store rent and storage necessary for the safe-keeping of all military stores and supplies.

“The transportation of troops, munitions of war, equipments, military property, and stores, throughout the United States, shall be under the immediate control and supervision of the Secretary of War and such agents as he may appoint.”

The British secretary of war was formerly a high officer of the British ministry, having control of the financial arrangements of the army, and being the responsible medium for parliamentary supervision in military affairs. The formation of a war-office proper took place about 1620, the secretary of state having previously performed its duties. It was, however, limited to financial authority, neither the commander-in-chief nor the muster-general of the ordnance being subject to it. During the Russian war the evils of this divided authority led to the creation of a secretary of state for war, to control all the military departments. The secretaryship-at-war was merged in the superior office in 1855, and abolished by act of Parliament in 1863. See MINISTER.

=Section.= A certain proportion of a battalion or company, when it is told off for military movements and evolutions.

=Sector of Explosion.= At the moment that a gun is fired, there is a sort of spherical sector of fire formed in front of the piece, whose extremity presses against the bottom of the bore, while the external portion of it terminates in the air, which this sector compresses and drives in every direction; the air thus forming a support, the sector reacts with its full force upon the bottom of the bore and causes the recoil of the piece.

=Secure, To.= In a military sense, is to preserve, to keep, to make certain; as, to secure a plan; to secure a conquest. In the management of a musket, it signifies to bring it to a certain position, by which the lock is secured against rain. Hence, _secure arms_ is a word of command which is given to troops who are under arms in wet weather.

=Secuteur= (_Fr._). A gladiator who was armed with a helmet, shield, and sword, or leaden club, and who fought with the _Retiaire_.

=Sedan.= A town of France, department of Ardennes, on the Meuse; it is fortified, and contains an arsenal and several magazines. On July 6, 1641, a victory was gained at La Marfée, near Sedan, by the Count of Soissons and the troops of Bouillon and other French princes over the royal army supporting Richelieu. On August 29-31, 1870, a series of desperate conflicts took place here between the French Army of the North under MacMahon (about 150,000 men), and the greater part of the three German armies, under the king and crown-prince of Prussia and the crown-prince of Saxony (about 250,000 men), and was brought to a close on September 1, 1870. The battle began with attacks on the French right and left, about 5 A.M., and was very severe at 2 P.M. At 4 P.M. the Germans remained masters of the field, and the crown-prince of Prussia announced a complete victory, the chief part of the French army retreating into Sedan. The emperor Napoleon was present during the battle, and, it is said, stood at Iges, near Sedan, exposed for four hours to the German grenades. The impossibility of further resistance was then evident. The Germans had contracted their circle close around Sedan; their formidable artillery held all the heights, from which they could at pleasure wholly destroy the town and the army, and only 2000 men were in a condition to respond to their commander’s call, and to make a supreme effort to break through the enemy with the emperor, and escape to Montmédy. At first, Gen. de Wimpffen (called to the command when MacMahon was wounded), indignantly rejected the terms offered by the victor, and the emperor had a fruitless interview with Count Bismarck to endeavor to mitigate them. On September 2, 1870, a capitulation of Sedan and the whole army therein was signed by Gens. von Moltke and de Wimpffen, at the chateau of Bellevue, near Frenois. The conflict was principally carried on by the artillery, in which the Germans had the advantage, not only in number (600 to 500), but also in weight, range, and precision. The carnage was awful, and the field the next day was a mass of shattered bones, torn flesh, and colored rags. About 25,000 French prisoners were taken in the battle, and 83,000 surrendered the next day, together with 70 mitrailleures, 400 field-pieces, and 150 fortress guns. About 14,000 French wounded were found lying in the neighborhood, and about 3000 escaped into Belgium and laid down their arms. The great Army of the North ceased to exist. On September 1, the village of Bazeilles was stormed by the Bavarians and burnt, it was said, because the inhabitants fired on the ambulances; many women and children perished. The French denied the provocation. The place had been previously twice bombarded and stormed by the maddened combatants.

=Sedgemoor.= A wild tract of England, in Somersetshire, between Bridgewater and King’s Weston, where the Duke of Monmouth (the natural son of Charles II. by Lucy Walters), who had risen in rebellion on the accession of James II., was completely defeated by the royal army, July 6, 1685. The duke was made a prisoner in the disguise of a peasant, at the bottom of a ditch, overcome with hunger, fatigue, and anxiety.

=Sedition.= In a military sense, is to disobey orders, to cabal or form factions against the officer or officers in command; to loosen confidence; to resist or oppose orders, or to stir up mutiny. It is an offense in military law of the most fatal character, and always punished in a most exemplary manner.

=Sedusii.= A German people, forming part of the army of Ariovistus when he invaded Gaul, 58 B.C.; they are not mentioned at a later period, and consequently their site cannot be determined.

=See, To.= In a military sense, is to have practical knowledge of a thing; as, to see service. _To have seen a shot fired_ is a figurative expression in the British service, signifying to have been in action; also, to have been under fire.

=Seetabuldee.= A strong military position in Hindostan, near Nagpore, where a severe contest took place during the Mahratta war between the Boosla rajah and a small number of the British troops, in which the former were defeated.

=Segbans.= Are horsemen among the Turks who have care of the baggage belonging to cavalry regiments.

=Segesta.= A town situated in the northwest of Sicily, near the coast, between Panormus and Drepanum. Its inhabitants were constantly engaged in hostilities with Selinus; and it was at their solicitation that the Athenians were led to embark in their unfortunate expedition against Sicily. The town was taken by Agathocles, who destroyed or sold as slaves all its inhabitants, peopled the city with a body of deserters, and changed its name into that of Dicæopolis; but after the death of this tyrant, the remainder of the ancient inhabitants returned to the city, and it resumed its former name.

=Seistan= (formerly called _Segestan_). A khanat or principality of Asia, forming the southwest portion of Afghanistan. It was devastated by Tamerlane in 1383.

=Sejant=, or =Assis=. In heraldry, is the term of blazon applied to a beast in his usual sitting posture. A lion borne in full face, with his forepaws extended sideways, is blazoned _sejant_ affronté, as in the crest of Scotland.

=Sejour= (_Fr._). In a military sense, signifies a halting day.

=Selection.= The act of choosing in preference to others; hence, selection of officers to act upon the staff, etc.; to select quarters, etc. See QUARTERS, CHOICE OF.

=Seleucia ad Tigrin= (also called _Seleucia Babylonia_, _Seleucia Assyriæ_, and _Seleucia Parthorum_). A great city on the confines of Assyria and Babylonia, and for a long time the capital of Western Asia. It commanded the navigation of the Tigris and Euphrates. It was burned by Trajan in his Parthian expedition, and again by L. Verus, the colleague of M. Aurelius Antoninus. It was again taken by Severus.

=Seleucia Pieria= (ruins, called _Seleukeh_, or _Kepse_, near _Suadeiah_). A great city and fortress in Syria, founded by Seleucus in April, 300 B.C. In the war with Egypt, which ensued upon the murder of Antiochus II., Seleucia surrendered to Ptolemy III. Euergetes (246 B.C.). It was afterwards recovered by Antiochus the Great (219). In the war between Antiochus VIII. and IX., the people of Seleucia made themselves independent (109 or 108); afterwards they successfully resisted the attacks of Tigranes for fourteen years (84-70). The city had fallen entirely into decay by the 6th century of our era.

=Selictar.= A Turkish sabre.

=Seljuks=, or =Seljuk-Turks=. A small Turkish tribe which, at an early date, took possession of Bokhara and the surrounding country. They attracted the notice of Sultan Mahmoud, the founder of the dynasty of the Ghuznevides, who had advanced into Bokhara with his army, and was so impressed with the fine military qualities of their chief, that he induced them to cross the Oxus and to occupy the country of Khorassan. He had soon reason to repent of this fatal error. Like all those wandering hordes, the Turkomans were shepherds or robbers. They either molested the neighboring states by petty inroads, or, with the whole united force of the nation, they practiced robbery on a great scale, seizing on kingdoms and despoiling nations. The first migrations of these Eastern Turkomans is generally fixed in the 10th century. They became formidable to Mahmoud, and more especially to his successor, Massoud, who, from inability to resist their progress, was forced to grant them lands. He was afterwards defeated by them in a great battle; and the victorious Turks, under their leader, Togrul Beg, whom they now elected king, invaded Khorassan, and finally expelled the Ghuznevides, the descendants of Mahmoud, from the eastern provinces of Persia. They fled eastwards towards the Indus, and established the Ghuznian empire in the northwestern provinces of India. This empire was maintained with various success till about the year 1184, under the Ghuznian emperors, when they were superseded by that of the Afghan or Patan emperors, who completed the conquest of the greatest part of Hindustan Proper about 1210. Togrul Beg hastened to improve his victory over the Persian monarch. Turning his arms to the west, he invaded Irak, in the centre of Persia, and advancing westward of the Caspian Sea into Azerbijan, the ancient Media, he made his first approaches to the confines of the Roman empire. He afterwards proceeded to Bagdad, and by his conquest of that place, gained possession of the caliph. His successors Alp Arslan and Malek Shah extended the empire transmitted to them by Togrul Beg. They subdued the fairest portions of Asia. Jerusalem and the Holy Land were taken and pillaged by the Seljuks, and it was the vexation and rapine to which the Christian pilgrims were exposed in their journey to Jerusalem, that gave rise to those wild and warlike expeditions for the recovery of the Holy Land, known under the name of the Crusades. The empire under Malek Shah extended from the Mediterranean to the Chinese frontier, and from the Caspian to the Arabian Sea. Upon the death of Malek Shah the empire was divided up into petty sultanates, which finally caused the overthrow of the Seljuk empire. The Turkish dynasty of the Seljuks continued for 215 years, and with the overthrow of its dynasty in 1299, and on its ruins, arose the Turkish empire.

=Selkirkshire= (formerly called the _Ettrick Forest_). A small inland county of Scotland, in the Lowlands. Among the interesting historical scenes this county contains is the field of Philiphaugh, where the great Marquis of Montrose was defeated by the Covenanters under Gen. Leslie.

=Sell Out.= In the British service, was a term generally used when an officer was permitted to retire from the service, selling or disposing of his commission or commissions. It was the correlative word to _buy in_. Officers who purchased commissions were usually allowed to sell out.

=Sellasia.= A town in Laconia, north of Sparta, situated near the River Œnus, and commanded one of the principal passes leading to Sparta. Here the celebrated battle was fought between Cleomenes III. and Antigonus Doson, 221 B.C., in which the former was defeated.

=Selling Ammunition.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 16.

=Selymbria=, or =Selybria= (now _Selivria_). An important town in Thrace, on the Propontis. It was a colony of the Megarians. It was conquered by Philip, father of Alexander.

=Semaphore.= A machine for facilitating the internal communications of the country by means of telegraphic signals, especially between the government and the military or naval functionaries of the outposts; but its use has been entirely superseded by the introduction of the railways and the electric telegraph.

=Semé.= In heraldry, when a charge is repeated an indefinite number of times so as to produce the appearance of a pattern, the term semé (sometimes _aspersed_ or _powdered_) is applied to it. When a field is semé, it is treated as if it were cut out of a larger extent of surface, some of the charges being divided by the outline of the shield. The term _crusilly_ denotes semé of cross crosslets, and _billetty_ semé of billets.

=Semendria.= A frontier fortress of the principality of Servia, on the right bank of the Danube, 28 miles southeast of Belgrade. It has frequently been stormed by the nations who have contended for the Danube from the Middle Ages to the present century.

=Seminara.= A town of Naples, province of Calabria Ultra II. Near here Gonsalvo de Cordova, the great captain, was defeated by the French, in 1495; but defeated them April 21, 1503.

=Seminoles.= A tribe of Indians who formerly inhabited Central Florida, but now located on a reservation in the Indian Territory. During the time they were in Florida they became allies of the British in their incursions into Georgia during the Revolutionary war. They commenced a series of border-forays in 1794, when their numbers were largely increased by fugitive slaves and negroes; their force was also augmented by the Creeks in 1808. They invaded the frontiers of Georgia in 1812 and 1817, when they massacred a number of persons; but were speedily punished by Gen. Gaines and subsequently by Gen. Jackson. Florida was purchased by the United States in 1819, and the Seminoles made treaties with the United States a few years afterwards. The government resolved to move the Seminoles to a reservation beyond the Mississippi, in conformity with a treaty signed in 1832, but the Indians, headed by Osceola, their chief, resisted, which gave rise to a prolonged bloody war, which began in December, 1835. This war cost the U. S. government $10,000,000 and 1500 lives. The greater portion of the Seminoles were subdued and transported beyond the Mississippi in 1842, only about 300 remaining in the Everglades of Florida, under their chief, Billy Bowlegs. The Seminoles on their new reservation in Indian Territory were divided in their sentiments during the civil war, some of them taking up arms for the South; a civil contest ensued, in which those remaining loyal to the Union were defeated with great slaughter in December, 1861. After the civil war the two bands were reunited and purchased a reservation from the Creeks, where they are now industrious and prosperous. In 1870 they numbered 2553.

=Semi-steel.= See ORDNANCE, METALS FOR, STEEL.

=Sempach.= A small town of Switzerland, in the canton of Lucerne, situated on the eastern shore of the Lake of Sempach. It was one of the outposts of the confederate cantons against their Suabian and Austrian assailants in the 14th century. Under the walls of Sempach took place the second great conflict of the confederate Swiss cantons with Austria, in which the nobles of Austria, in spite of their valor and overwhelming numbers, were slaughtered like sheep by the Swiss. The Swiss lost but 200 men, while the loss of the Austrians was ten times as great. The anniversary of this great victory is still celebrated by prayer and thanksgiving on the field of battle.

=Sena.= A town on the coast of Umbria, at the mouth of the small river Sena, was founded by the Senones, a Gallic people, and was made a colony by the Romans after the conquest of the Senones, 283 B.C. In the civil war it espoused the Marian party, and was taken and sacked by Pompey.

=Seneca Indians.= One of the tribes of the Six Nations, and the most numerous and warlike of that confederation. When they first became known they were located in the region between the Lakes of Cayuga, Seneca, Canandaigua, and Ontario. In the 17th century they waged successful wars against the Hurons and other tribes to the westward, and finally the defeated tribes were adopted by the Senecas, who by this means of recruiting their ranks became a powerful people. They were firm allies of the English, as was attested in several battles against the French, and took a valiant part in the memorable battle wherein Gen. Braddock was killed; they again suffered severely in the campaign led by Gen. Sullivan in 1779. They removed to Lake Erie in 1784. The Senecas were allies of the Americans in the war of 1812-14. In 1870 there were 240 Senecas on a reservation in Indian Territory, and 3017 on a reservation in the State of New York.

=Seneffe=, or =Senef=. A town in the province of Hainault, Belgium, about 11 miles northwest of Charleroi. Seneffe is notable for its proximity to the battle-field on which William of Orange (III. of England), at the head of the forces of the coalition against France, fought the French army under the great Condé, August 11, 1674. In William’s army there were four lieutenants,--Montecuculi, Duke Charles of Lorraine, the Prince of Waldeck, and the Prince of Vaudemont, the first three of whom subsequently attained prominence as military commanders. Of the allied forces of 60,000 men, the Dutch lost from 5000 to 6000 men, the Spaniards 3000, and the Imperialists 600; while the French army, which entered into the conflict 30,000 strong, could scarcely muster 20,000 after the battle. Under the walls of Seneffe, Moreau, in 1794, defeated the Austrians.

=Senegal.= French colonies on the river of that name in Senegambia, West Africa, settled about 1626; several times taken by the British, but recovered by the French, to whom they were finally restored in 1814.

=Seneschal.= In the origin of the office, probably an attendant of the servile class, who had the superintendence of the household of the Frankish kings. In the course of time, however, the seneschalship rose to be a position of dignity, held no longer by persons of servile race, but by military commanders, who were also invested with judicial authority. The lieutenants of the great feudatories often took the title of seneschal. A similar office in England and Scotland was designated steward.

=Seniority.= Priority of rank and standing in the army. As regards regiments, this precedence is regulated by the number of the corps; among individuals, it is decided by the date of the commission. Where commissions of the same date interfere, reference is to be had to the dates of former commissions.

=Senones.= A powerful people in Gallia Lugdunensis, dwelt along the upper course of the Sequana (now _Seine_). A portion of this people crossed the Alps about 40 B.C., in order to settle in Italy; but the greater part of Upper Italy being already occupied by other Celtic tribes, the Senones were obliged to penetrate a considerable distance to the south, and took up their abode on the Adriatic Sea, between the modern Ravenna and Ancona. They extended their ravages into Etruria; and it was in consequence of the interference of the Romans while they were laying siege to Clusium, that they marched against Rome and took the city, 390 B.C. They were defeated by Camillus, 367 B.C. They defeated Metellus, the consul, at Arretium, 284, but were almost exterminated by Dolabella, 283. They invaded Greece in 279; were defeated by Antigonus Gonatus, 278, and sued for peace. See ROME.

=Sent to the Front.= A term applied to bodies of troops or individual soldiers when ordered from camp or garrison to the scene of active hostilities.

=Sent to the Rear.= A term applied to bodies of troops or individual soldiers when ordered from the immediate scene of active hostilities to the rear of the command in which they are serving, so as to be out of immediate danger.

=Sentence.= Decision, determination, final judgment. There is an appeal allowed from the sentence of a regimental court-martial to the opinion of a general one.

=Sentinel=, or =Sentry= (from the Lat. _sentire_, “to feel or perceive,” through the Ital. _sentinella_). A private soldier, marine, or sailor, posted at a point of trust, with the duty of watching the approach of an enemy, or any person suspected of hostile intentions. Sentinels mount guard over dépots of arms, the tents of commanding officers, etc. During the night, each sentinel is intrusted with the “word,” or countersign; and no person, however exalted in position, may attempt to approach or pass him without giving that as a signal. In such case, the sentinel is bound to arrest the intruder, and if necessary to shoot him. It has happened before now that the commander-in-chief of an army has been prisoner in the hands of one of his own sentinels. When an army is in the field, the sentinels are its eyes, for they guard the approaches in every direction some distance in front of the main body of troops. In the event of an attack, they give the alarm, and retire slowly on their supports. There is usually an agreement, tacit or expressed, between commanders that their outlying sentinels shall not fire upon one another, which would only be productive of useless bloodshed. Under martial law, death is the penalty to a sentinel sleeping on post. Sentinels will present arms to general and field-officers, to the officer of the day, and the commanding officer of a post; to all other officers they will carry arms. Staff-officers above the rank of captain are entitled to the same compliments from sentinels as are given to field-officers.

=Sentinum, Battle of.= See ROME.

=Sentry.= The same as sentinel. “Sentry go,” is the warning given by the sentry at the guard-room or tent that it is time to relieve sentries.

=Sentry-box.= A box to cover a sentinel at his post, and shelter him from the weather.

=Sepadar.= Is an East Indian term for an officer of the rank of brigadier-general.

=Sepahi.= An East Indian term for a feudatory chief, or military tenant; a soldier.

=Sepoy.= Corrupted from the Indian word _sipahi_, “a soldier.” This word sipahi, in its more familiar form of _spahis_, is known in most Eastern armies; and is itself derived from _sip_, “a bow and arrow,” the ordinary armament of an Indian soldier in ancient times. The word Sepoy now denotes a native Hindoo soldier in the British army in India. The Sepoys consist of Mohammedans, Rajpoots, Brahmans, and men of other castes, besides Sikhs, Ghoorkas, and men of various hill-tribes. They are generally officered by Europeans.

=Septembrizers.= In the French revolution a dreadful massacre took place in Paris, September 2-5, 1792. The prisons were broken open and the prisoners butchered, among them an ex-bishop, and nearly 100 non-juring priests. Some accounts state the number of persons slain at 1200, others at 4000. The agents in this slaughter were named Septembrizers.

=Sepulchre, Knights of the Holy.= A military order, established in Palestine about the year 1114. Those of this class chose Philip II., king of Spain, for their master, in 1558, and afterwards his son; but the grand master of the order of Malta prevailed on him to resign; and when afterwards the Duke de Nevers assumed the same quality in France, the same grand master, by his interest and credit, procured a like renunciation by him, and a confirmation of the union of this order to that of Malta.

=Sequani.= A Celtic nation of ancient Gaul. Before the conquest of Gaul by Cæsar, the Arverni and Ædui, the two most powerful nations of that country, were in a state of hostility; and the Sequani allied themselves with the former. In order more effectually to crush their enemies, these two nations hired a large body of Germans, under Ariovistus, from over the Rhine. With their assistance they totally defeated the Ædui; but the Germans seized for themselves a third part of the territory of the Sequani, and would have made further encroachments, had not Cæsar defeated them, and expelled them from the land.

=Serakhur, Serang.= In the East Indies are non-commissioned officers who are employed in the artillery and on board ships of war. In the artillery the former title answers to that of sergeant; in the naval service the latter to that of boatswain.

=Seraphim, or Jesus, Order of The.= An ancient Swedish order of knighthood, instituted in 1334; but dormant from the period of the Reformation until 1748. The number of knights, besides the king and members of the royal family, is limited to 24.

=Seraskier=, or =Seri-Asker= (_Pers._ “head of the army”). The name given by the Turks to every general having the command of a separate army, and, in particular, to the commander-in-chief or minister of war. The seraskier, in the latter sense, possesses most extensive authority, being subordinate only to the sultan and grand vizier. He is selected by the monarch from among the pashas of two or three tails.

=Seraskur= (_Ind._). This word is sometimes written _seraskier_, and signifies the commander-in-chief of a Turkish army.

=Serdans.= Colonels in the Turkish service are so called.

=Seregno.= A town in the province of Milan, Italy, 13 miles north from Milan. It is noted for the heroic resistance which the women of the city made against the conscription, and which ultimately induced Bonaparte to rescind his order for the bombardment of the place. The Austrians, in 1848, severely chastised Seregno for its patriotism.

=Sergeant.= A non-commissioned officer in a company, battery, or troop, usually selected from among the corporals on account of his general intelligence and good conduct. He is vested with the command of small detachments, and sometimes with his company in the absence of his superior officers.

=Sergeant, Armorer-.= In the British service, is a trained artificer who repairs the arms of a corps.

=Sergeant, Band-.= In the British service, is a non-commissioned officer who is responsible for the discipline of the band, as is the bandmaster for instruction. In the United States service a principal musician performs this duty.

=Sergeant, Color-.= See COLOR-SERGEANT.

=Sergeant, Cook.= In the British service, is a non-commissioned officer who superintends the cooking for the corps.

=Sergeant, Covering.= Is a non-commissioned officer, who, during the exercise of a battalion, regularly stands or moves behind each officer commanding or acting with a platoon or company.

=Sergeant d’Armes= (sergeant of arms), Fr. Philip Augustus, fearing to be assassinated on the instigation of the sheik of the mountain, during his stay in Palestine, organized for the protection of his person a corps of _sergeants d’armes_, consisting of gentlemen, which he armed with bronze war-clubs, and bows and arrows, whose duty it was to accompany him everywhere.

=Sergeant, Drill-.= See DRILL-SERGEANT.

=Sergeant, Hospital.= In the British service, is a non-commissioned officer who carries out the orders of the surgeon as regards discipline in a hospital.

=Sergeant Instructor in Fencing.= In the British service, is a sergeant who performs the duties implied by his title in regiments of cavalry.

=Sergeant Instructor in Gunnery.= A sergeant of artillery who aids the officer instructor in teaching gunnery.

=Sergeant, Lance-.= Is a corporal who acts as a sergeant in a company, but only receives the pay of a corporal.

=Sergeant-Major.= The chief non-commissioned officer in a regiment, and, from the nature of his duties, in a great degree an assistant to the adjutant. He must be master of every point connected with the drill, interior economy, and discipline of a regiment. It is his duty, on receiving the orders from the adjutant, to assemble the orderly sergeants, and issue the orders and details correctly. He is to keep a regular duty roster of the sergeants and corporals, and to proportion the number of men to be furnished for duty according to the strength of their respective companies. Finally, it is always expected that he should set an example to the non-commissioned officers by his activity, zeal, and personal appearance. In the British cavalry service this non-commissioned officer is termed regimental sergeant-major, the chief non-commissioned officer of a troop being styled troop sergeant-major. Similarly in the artillery there are the brigade sergeant-major and the battery sergeant-major.

=Sergeant, Orderly.= See ORDERLY SERGEANT.

=Sergeant, Pay-.= See PAY-SERGEANT.

=Sergeant, Paymaster-.= See PAYMASTER-SERGEANT.

=Sergeant, Pioneer.= See PIONEER SERGEANT.

=Sergeant, Quartermaster.= See QUARTERMASTER SERGEANT.

=Sergeant, White.= Is a term of ridicule in the British service, applied to those ladies who, taking advantage of the weakness of their husbands, neglect their domestic concerns to interfere in military matters.

=Seringapatam= (anc. _Sri-Rungaputtun_, “City of Vishnu”). A celebrated fortress of South India, and under Hyder Ali and Tippoo Sahib, the capital of Mysore, at the west angle of the island of the Cavery (Kaveri). Seringapatam was besieged by Lord Cornwallis in 1791, and again in 1792, when Tippoo purchased a peace by ceding half his dominions and paying 330 lacs of rupees to the British and their allies. It was again besieged in 1799 and taken by storm on May 3 (4), on which occasion Tippoo was killed, and the dynasty of Hyder terminated; the ancient Rajpoot line being restored to the sovereignty of Mysore.

=Serjeant.= See SERGEANT.

=Serpenteau= (_Fr._). A round iron circle, with small spikes, and squibs attached to them. It is frequently used in the attack and defense of a breach. It likewise means a fusee, which is filled with gunpowder, and is bent in such a manner, that when it takes fire, it obtains a circular rapid motion, and throws out sparks of light in various directions.

=Serpentine= (_Fr._). An ancient wall-piece, with a matchlock, carrying an 8-ounce leaden ball, with a charge of 4 ounces of powder. It was 6 or 7 feet long, and weighed from one to two hundred-weight.

=Serpentix= (_Fr._). Cock of the ancient matchlock, also the lock itself. Also, an ancient 24-pounder gun, of 13 feet, weighing 4360 pounds, whose dolphins represented the figures of serpents.

=Serre-demi File= (_Fr._). That rank in a battalion which determines the half of its depth, and which marches before the demi-file. Thus a battalion standing six deep, has its _serre-demi file_ in the third rank, which determines its depth.

=Serre-file= (_Fr._). The last rank of a battalion, by which its depth is ascertained, and which always forms its rear. When ranks are doubled, the battalion resumes its natural formation by means of the serre-files. _Serre-file_ literally signifies a “bringer up.”

=Servans d’Armes=, or =Chevaliers Servans= (_Fr._). Were persons belonging to the third class of the order of Malta. They were not noblemen, although they wore the sword and the cross.

=Servants.= In the British service, regimental and staff officers are allowed the indulgence of a steady and well-drilled soldier for a servant; and field-officers, keeping horses, two each. These soldiers are to take their share of any duty on which the officer to whom they are attached is employed, and they must fall in with their respective troops and companies at all reviews, inspections, and field-days. In the U. S. service, officers are not permitted to employ soldiers as servants.

=Serve.= To be in service; to do duty; to discharge the requirements of an office or employment; and, specifically, to act as a soldier, seaman, etc. _To serve a piece_, in the artillery, is to load and fire with promptitude and correctness. _To serve the vent_, to stop it with the thumb.

=Servia.= One of the Danubian principalities, nominally included in the Ottoman empire, but in reality only tributary to that power. It is bounded on the north by Austria, on the east by Wallachia and Bulgaria, on the south by Rumli and Bosnia, and on the west by Bosnia. In the earliest times of which we have any record, Servia was inhabited by Thracian or Illyrian races; shortly before Christ it was subjugated by the Romans, and formed part of the province of Illyricum, whose fortunes it shared during the vicissitudes of the empire. Overrun successively by the Huns, Ostrogoths, Longobards, etc., it reverted to the Byzantine rulers about the middle of the 6th century, but was wrested from them by the Avars in the 7th century, who in turn were routed by the Serbs, and compelled to give up the country. They were converted to Christianity in the 9th century, but this did not in the least abate their ardor for battle, and for nearly 200 years they were almost constantly at war with the neighboring Bulgarians,--the inveterate enemies of their Byzantine liege lord. In 1043, however, the royal governors were expelled, and they became an independent kingdom. For the next 100 years the Serbs had to fight hard to maintain their independence, and the struggle terminated in their favor; and in 1165, Stephen Nemanja founded a dynasty which lasted for two centuries, during which period the kingdom of Servia attained the acmé of its power and prosperity. Eventually the progress of the Turks, however, was fatal to its welfare, and in 1389 King Lazar fell in the disastrous battle at Kossovapolje. Sultan Bajazet divided the country between Lazar’s son and son-in-law, compelled them to pay tribute and follow him in war. Gradually the Serbs sunk more and more under the Turkish yoke, until, in 1459, Servia was thoroughly subjugated by the sultan Mahmoud. It was uniformly the theatre of the bloody wars between Hungary and Turkey, and frequently suffered the uttermost horrors of devastation. Prince Eugène’s brilliant successes for a moment flashed a ray of hope into the miserable hearts of the long-suffering Serbs, and by the treaty of Passarowitz (1718), a considerable portion of the country was made over to Austria; but in 1739 it reverted to Turkey, and for the next sixty years the cruelty and oppressions of the pashas and their Janissaries surpass all belief. At length the unhappy people could endure the tyranny of their foreign masters no longer, and in 1801 an insurrection broke out, headed by George Czerny, which, by the help of Russia, ended in the triumph of the patriots, and in the election of Czerny by the people as prince of Servia. The invasion of Russia by France, however, left the Serbs at the mercy of their late rulers and the war again broke out. Czerny was forced to flee, and the tyranny of the Turks became more ferocious than ever. Again the people flew to arms under the leadership of Milosch Obrenovitch, and were a second time successful in winning back their liberties. Milosch ruled as prince of Servia until 1839, when he was forced to abdicate; but in 1858 he was restored to his former dignity. In the war between Russia and Turkey in 1876, the Servians took the side of the former, but were not actively engaged.

=Service.= In a military sense is the art of serving the state in war. All studies, acts, and efforts of the profession of arms have this end in view. To belong to the army and to belong to the land service, are the same thing. In a more restricted sense, service is the performance of military duty. In its general sense, service embraces all details of the military art. But in its restricted sense, actual service is the exercise of military functions. _To see service_, is a common expression denoting actual collision with an enemy. _To retire from service_, to quit the army, or resign.

=Service, Foreign.= See FOREIGN SERVICE.

=Service, Home.= See HOME SERVICE.

=Service, Secret.= Any service performed by an individual in a clandestine secret manner. It likewise means intelligence or information, given by spies when countries are engaged in war, for which they receive pecuniary compensation.

=Serviceable.= Capable of performing all military duty, or of being used in the military service.

=Servile or Slave War.= See ROME.

=Session.= The actual sitting of a court, council, etc., or the actual assembly of the members of such a body for the transaction of business. Hence, also the time, period, or term during which a court, council, and the like, meet daily for business; or the space of time between the first meeting and prorogation or adjournment.

=Sestus.= A town in Thrace, situated at the narrowest part of the Hellespont, opposite Abydos in Asia, from which it was only seven stadia distant. It was always reckoned a place of importance in consequence of its commanding, to a great extent, the passage of the Hellespont. It was for some time in possession of the Persians, but was retaken by the Greeks, 478 B.C., after a long siege. It subsequently formed part of the Athenian empire.

=Set.= A word used in a military sense in various combinations; as, to set a sentinel, is to place a soldier at any particular spot for its security. To _set on_, is to attack. To _set at defiance_, is to defy, to dare to combat, etc. To _set up_, is to make a man fit for military movements and parade.

=Seteef=, or =Setif= (anc. _Sitipha_, or _Sitifi_). A town of Algeria, distinguished by the obstinate resistance it made against the Saracens, when Northern Africa was overrun by that fierce and warlike people. The old city is now in ruins.

=Setendy.= In the East Indies, the militia is so called.

=Setia.= An ancient town of Latium, in the east of the Pontine Marshes; originally belonged to the Volscian confederacy, but was subsequently taken by the Romans and colonized. It was here that the Romans kept the Carthaginian hostages.

=Setter.= In gunnery, a round stick, to drive fuzes, or any other compositions, into cases of paper.

=Sevastopol.= See SEBASTOPOL.

=Seven Weeks’ War.= The war declared by Prussia, on June 18, 1866, which ended in the total defeat of Austria and her allies. See PRUSSIA.

=Seven Years’ War.= This was the third, last, and by far the longest and most terrible of the contests for the possession of Silesia. This long and desperate war was maintained by Frederick II. of Prussia against Austria, Russia, and France, from 1756 to 1763. It made no change in the territorial distribution of Europe, but it increased tenfold the moral power of Prussia, and gave its army a prestige it retained till the battle of Jena. It cost Europe 1,000,000 lives, and prostrated the strength of almost all the powers who had engaged in it.

=Seville=, or =Sevilla= (anc. _Hispalis_, or _Hispal_). A famous city of Spain, capital of the province of the same name, on the left bank of the Guadalquiver, 60 miles north-northeast of Cadiz. It was captured by Julius Cæsar, 45 B.C. It surrendered to the Moors at once, after the defeat of Don Roderick on the Guadalete, and it continued its allegiance to the caliph of Damascus until 756; it surrendered to Ferdinand III. of Castile on November 23, 1248, when 300,000 Moors left for Granada and Africa. In 1810 it was taken and ravaged by Soult. It was taken by assault by the British and Spaniards, August 27, 1812. It capitulated to Espartero in 1843. The peace of Seville between England, France, and Spain, and also a defensive alliance to which Holland acceded, was signed November 9, 1729.

=Sevir.= A captain of cavalry among the Romans was so called.

=Sextant.= An instrument of reflection for measuring angular distances between objects. It is constructed on the same optical principle as Hadley’s quadrant, but usually of metal, with a nicer graduation, telescopic sight, and its arc the sixth, and sometimes the third part of a circle.

=Seymeny-bassy.= Appellation given to the lieutenant-general of Janissaries in the Turkish service.

=Shabrack=, or =Shabraque.= A Hungarian term, generally used among cavalry officers, to signify the cloth furniture of a troop-horse.

=Shaft.= A body of a long, cylindrical shape; a stem, stalk, trunk, or the like. Hence, the stem of an arrow, upon which the feather and head are inserted; hence, an arrow; a missile weapon. Also, the handle of a weapon; as, the shaft of a spear. It likewise means a perpendicular excavation into the earth for the purpose of mining.

=Shafted.= In heraldry, borne on a shaft;--applied to a spear-head.

=Shaftesbury.= A town of England, in Dorsetshire, 95 miles southwest of London. It was destroyed by the Danes both before and after 888, but each time it was afterwards restored.

=Shag-bush.= An old term for a hand-gun.

=Shahporee=, or =Shapuree.= An island of British Burmah, lying off the coast of Aracan. The capture of this island by the Burmese led to the first British war with that nation, in 1824.

=Sham.= False; counterfeit; pretended; as, a sham fight.

=Shamaka=, =Shamachi=, or =Shemakha=. A town of Russia in Asia, Transcaucasia, 207 miles east-southeast from Tiflis. It was taken and sacked by Nadir Shah in 1734.

=Shambrie.= In the manège, is a long thong of leather, made fast to the end of a cane or stick, for the purpose of animating a horse, or of punishing him if he refuses to obey the rider.

=Shang-hae=, or =Shanghai=. A seaport city of China, in the province of Kiangsu, on the river Woo-sung, one of the five ports opened for European commerce. It was captured by the British, June 19, 1842, by the Taeping rebels, September, 1853; retaken by the imperialists, 1855. The rebels were defeated near here by the English and French, allies of the emperor, March 1, 1862.

=Sharp.= Fierce; ardent; fiery; violent; impetuous. “In sharp contest of battle.”

=Sharps Rifle.= One of the oldest of successful breech-loading rifles. The chamber of this piece is fixed, and the barrel closed by a vertical sliding breech-piece, which moves nearly at right angles to the axis of the piece. The fire-arm is loaded by depressing the lever, or trigger-guard, which withdraws the slide and opens the breech for the insertion of the cartridge. Originally a paper cartridge was used, the rear end of which was broken open by the breech-piece in closing; this was superseded by a linen cloth cylinder to contain the powder, one end of which overlaps and is gummed to the base of the bullet; the other is closed with a layer of thin bank-note paper. The flame of the percussion-cap penetrates through this paper and ignites the powder. The linen case is carried out with the bullet and drops to the ground a short distance in front of the piece. A metallic cartridge is now used.

=Sharpsburg.= See ANTIETAM CREEK.

=Sharpshooters.= An old term applied in the army to riflemen.

=Sharp-shooting.= A shooting with great precision and effect.

=Shawnees.= A tribe of American Indians, which were first known on the banks of Fox River, Wisconsin, in 1648. They were a warlike tribe, and waged war with the Iroquois. The Shawnees eventually became a scattered race, and dispersed to several parts of the country; we find a part of them afterwards taking part with the French in their wars in America; joined in Pontiac’s conspiracy, but were subdued by Col. Boquet. They took a prominent part in the Western wars, especially against the expeditions of Harmer, Wayne, etc.; but made peace at Greenville in 1795. They afterwards effected an alliance with some tribes of Northwestern Indians, and under their celebrated leader Tecumseh gave battle to the whites under Gen. Harrison, at Tippecanoe, but were defeated. Tecumseh, with a band of Shawnees, proceeded to Canada at the outbreak of the war of 1812, and made an alliance with the English, who gave him a brigadier-general’s commission; he was killed while leading the right wing at the battle of the Thames in 1813. Since then the Shawnees have again reunited and are now upon reservations in Indian Territory, and numbered in 1870 about 800.

=Sheaf.= A bundle of arrows.

=Sheathe.= To put into a sheath, case, or scabbard; to inclose or cover with a sheath or case. _To sheathe the sword_, to put an end to war or enmity; to make peace.

=Sheeting.= The term sheeting is applied to the coarse hempen cloth used for making tarpaulins.

=Sheffield.= A large town of England in the West Riding of Yorkshire, at the confluence of the Sheaf and Don, 43 miles southwest from York. During the civil wars in the time of Charles I., the castle sustained a long siege for the king, but scarcely a vestige of it can now be discerned.

=Shell.= To throw shells or bombs upon; to bombard; as, to shell a town.

=Shell Extractor.= An instrument for extracting headless cartridge-cases from breech-loading small-arms.

=Shell-hooks.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Shelling.= The act of bombarding a fort, town, or position.

=Shell-jacket.= An undress military jacket.

=Shell-plug Screw.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Shell-proof.= Capable of resisting bomb-shells.

=Shells.= Hollow projectiles; also, the cases of metallic cartridges for use in small-arms. See PROJECTILES.

=Shelter.= In a military sense, that which protects the troops in the field. There are various means resorted to for this purpose. A common arrangement is as follows: A cross-bar is supported by two uprights; against this cross-bar a number of poles are made to lean; on the back of the poles abundance of fir branches are laid horizontally; and lastly, on the back of the fir branches is another set of leaning poles, in order to make all secure by their weight. A cloth of any kind is made use of to give shelter by an arrangement of this kind. The corners of the cloth should be secured by a simple hitch in the rope, and not by a knot. The former is sufficient for all purposes of security, but the latter will jam, and you may have to injure both cloth and string to get it loose again. It is convenient to pin a skewer in the middle of the sides of the cloth, round the ropes.

_Shelter-tents_ affording an excellent protection for 6 soldiers may be made as follows: Three tent-sticks are fixed into the ground, whose tops are notched; a light cord is then passed round their tops, and fastened into the ground with a peg at each end. Two sheets are then buttoned together and thrown over the cord, then two others, which are buttoned to the previous ones. Lastly, another sheet is thrown over each of the slanting cords, and buttoned to the others. The sides of the tent are, of course, pegged to the ground. There are many modifications in the way of pitching these tents. For want of sticks muskets can be used.

_Huts_ are also frequently used as a means of protection by troops, as there is scarcely any place which does not furnish materials for their construction.

_Walls._--Those principally in use are as follows: Skins, canvas, felt, tarpaulin, bark, reed mats, reed walls, straw walls, wattle-and-dab, log huts, fascines or fagots, boards, etc., fastened by malay-hitch, brick, sunburnt or baked, turf, stones, gabions, bags or mats filled with sand or shingle, snow huts, underground huts, tents over holes in earth.

_Roofs._--Many of the above list would be perfectly suitable for roofs; in addition may be mentioned slating with flat stones, thatch, sea-weed, and wood shingles.

_Straw walls_ of the following kind are very effective, and they have the advantage of requiring a minimum of string (or substitute for string) in their manufacture. The straw or herbage of almost any description is simply nipped between two pairs of long sticks, which are respectively tied together at the two ends, and at a sufficient number of intermediate places. The whole is neatly squared and trimmed. A few of these would help in finishing the roof or walls of a house. They can be made movable so as to suit the wind, shade, and aspect. Even the hut door can be made on this principle.

_Malay hitch_ is the name given to a wonderfully simple way of attaching together wisps of straw, rods, laths, reeds, planks, poles, or anything of the kind into a secure and flexible mat; the sails used in the far East are made in this way, and the movable decks are made of bamboos joined together with a similar but rather more complicated stitch.

=Shenandoah.= A river of Virginia, United States, the largest tributary to the Potomac, drains the beautiful and fertile valley between the Blue Ridge and the principal range of the Alleghanies. In the war of 1861-65, this valley was the scene of numerous conflicts, was successively occupied by the opposing armies, and finally laid waste by Gen. Sheridan in the autumn of 1864.

=Shield.= A piece of defensive armor, borne on the left arm, to ward off the strokes of the sword and of missiles. It has been constantly used from ancient times, through the Middle Ages, till the invention of fire-arms. The large shield worn by the Greeks and Romans (_clipeus_) was circular, and often ornamented with devices. Another form of shield (_scutum_) was used by the Roman heavy-armed infantry, square, but bent to encircle the body. The early shield or knightly escutcheon of the Middle Ages was circular in outline, and convex, with a boss in the centre; the body generally of wood, and the rim of metal. There were many other kinds of shields, made of leather, wood, basket-work, etc., employed up to the introduction of fire-arms, when they became practically useless, although some savage nations employ shields at the present time.

=Shield.= To cover, as with a shield; to cover from danger; to defend; to protect; to secure from assault or injury.

=Shift.= In a military sense, to change place or station. Hence, to shift quarters.

=Shiloh.= A locality in Tennessee, a few miles from Pittsburg Landing, situated on the Tennessee River. Here on April 6-7, 1862, a great battle was fought between the Union troops under Grant and the Confederate army under Albert Sydney Johnston and Beauregard. The Confederates began the attack, taking the Union forces by surprise, who, after a brave resistance during the first day, were compelled to retire before the victorious Confederates, who, however, lost their gallant chief, Gen. Johnston. The Federals having been reinforced during the night, commenced the attack on the 7th, along the whole of the rebel line, which was resisted gallantly, and the field was stubbornly contested until about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, when the Union army regained their lines of the day before, and drove the enemy off the field. The Confederates retreated to Corinth. The loss of the Confederates was 1735 killed, about 8000 wounded, and 960 missing. Grant’s loss was estimated at something under this number.

=Shirvan=, or =Shirwan=. A province of Russia in Asia, in the country of the Caucasus. Shirvan formed until the 6th century a part of the monarchy of Armenia; but was afterwards conquered by the Persians, and made a part of that empire under Khosroo Nooshirvan, who called this country after his name. The rulers of Shirvan carried on many wars with Persia, over which country they repeatedly gained great advantages. Finally, in the end of the 15th century, it was completely brought under Persian sway. The Russians gradually invaded the country, and it was ceded to them in 1812.

=Sholapore.= Capital of the collectorate of the same name, in British India, in the Presidency of Bombay. It is strongly fortified, and was taken by escalade by a British force under Gen. Pritzter.

=Shoomla.= See SCHUMLA.

=Shoot.= To let fly or cause to be driven with force, as an arrow or bullet;--followed by a word denoting the missile, as an object. Also, to discharge, causing a missile to be driven forth;--said of the weapon or instrument, as an object; as, to shoot a gun and the like.

=Shooter.= One who shoots; an archer; a gunner; a shot. Also, that which shoots; as, a five-shooter.

=Shooting-iron.= A fire-arm is sometimes so called.

=Shoshones=, or =Snakes=. A tribe of North American Indians inhabiting the country between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains, and from Idaho southward into Utah. They have generally been peaceable; but they collided with the whites on several occasions, which resulted disastrously for them, several of their bands being almost annihilated. Treaties were formed with them on several occasions between 1863 and 1868, and attempts have been made to place them upon reservations. All the property of a dead Shoshone is buried with him, and formerly his favorite wife and horse were killed over the corpse. In 1870 they numbered about 4000 souls.

=Shot.= See PROJECTILE.

=Shot.= The act of shooting; discharge of a missile weapon. Also, the flight of a missile weapon, or the distance which it passes from the engine; as, a cannon-shot; a musket-shot, etc. Also, a marksman; one who practices shooting; as, an excellent shot.

=Shot.= To load with shot over a cartridge; as, to shot the guns.

=Shot, Canister-.= See CANISTER-SHOT.

=Shot, Case-.= See CASE-SHOT.

=Shot, Chain-.= See CHAIN-SHOT.

=Shot, Grape-.= See GRAPE-SHOT.

=Shot-belt.= A belt having a pouch for carrying shot.

=Shot-gauge.= An instrument for measuring the diameter of round-shot.

=Shot-tower.= A lofty tower for making shot, by dropping from its summit melted lead, which cools in the descent, and is received into water or other liquid.

=Shoulder.= The upper part of a blade of a sword. Also, the salient angle of the flank of a bastion. _To shoulder_, to lay on the shoulder, or to rest anything against it. Hence, to shoulder arms, a word of command in the manual exercise.

=Shoulder-belt.= See BELTS.

=Shoulder-knot.= An ornamental knot of gold cord on cloth of the same color as the facings of the arm to which the officer belongs, with insignia of rank and number of regiment embroidered on the cloth ground. They are worn on the shoulder by commissioned officers of the army, and are sometimes embroidered. A kind of epaulette.

=Shoulder-strap.= A narrow strap, 1³⁄₈ inches wide by 4 inches long, bordered with an embroidery of gold ¹⁄₄ inch wide. It is worn on the shoulder of a commissioned officer in the army, indicating by a suitable device the rank he holds in the service. See RANK, INSIGNIA OF.

=Shrapnel.= See PROJECTILE, SMOOTH-BORE PROJECTILES.

=Shrewsbury.= An ancient town of England, in Shropshire, on the Severn. It was the scene of many military events, the inhabitants always taking an active share in the various contests of the most turbulent period of English history, from the conquest to the civil war. It was taken by Llewellyn the Great, prince of North Wales, in 1215, during the disturbances between King John and the barons. The famous battle of Shrewsbury, in which Henry IV., then prince of Wales, first distinguished himself in the field, and the fiery Hotspur was slain, was fought in 1403.

=Shropshire, Battle of.= In which the Britons were completely subjugated, and Caractacus, the renowned king of the Silures, became, through the treachery of the queen of the Brigantes, a prisoner to the Romans.

=Shunt Gun.= A rifled fire-arm having two sets of grooves, down one of which the shot is passed in loading, and along the other of which it passes out when fired, having been shunted from one set to the other, when at the bottom, by turning upon its axis.

=Shuternaul.= In the East Indies, is a sort of arquebuse, which is fixed upon the back of a camel.

=Siberia=, or =Siberi=. A vast territory in Northern Asia, belonging to Russia, and including all the Russian possessions in that continent, with the exception of the Transcaucasian and Armenian provinces. Siberia seems to have been first made known to the Russians by a merchant named Anika Stroganoff; and soon after the conquest of West Siberia was effected by the Cossack Vassili Yermak, an absconded criminal, at the head of a numerous band of wild followers. After Yermak’s death, in 1554, the Russians pursued their conquests eastward, founding Tomsk in 1604, and though they often experienced serious reverses, their progress was rapid, the Sea of Okhotsk being reached in 1639, and Irkutsk founded in 1661. Frequent disturbances have occurred between the Russians and the Chinese and Tartars, which have resulted in the extension southward of the Siberian boundary into Manchuria and Turkestan.

=Sicarii= (_i.e._, _Assassins_). The name given by the Romans to certain savage mountain tribes of the Lebanon, who were, like the _Thugs_ of India, avowed murderers by profession. In the same mountains there existed, at the time of the Crusades, a branch of the fanatic sect called “Assassins,” whose habits resembled those of the Sicarii, and whose name the Crusaders imported into Europe; but these were of Arabian origin.

=Sicilian Vespers.= The name given to the massacre of the French in Sicily, on the day after Easter (March 30), 1822, the signal for the commencement of which was to be the first stroke of the vesper-bell. On the evening of Easter Monday, the inhabitants of Palermo, enraged (according to the common story) at a gross outrage which was perpetrated by a French soldier on a young Sicilian bride, suddenly rose against their oppressors, the French, and put to the sword every man, woman, and child, and did not even spare those Italians and Sicilians who had married Frenchmen. This example was followed by Messina and other towns, and the massacre soon became general over the island. The French were hunted like wild beasts, and dragged even from the churches, where they vainly thought themselves secure. More than 8000 of them were slain by the Palermitans alone. This event was the final overthrow of Charles of Anjou’s domination in Sicily.

=Sicily= (anc. _Sicilia_). The largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, situated between Italy and the coast of Africa, and separated on the northeast from Naples by the Strait of Messina; it is a province of the kingdom of Italy. It was successively occupied by the Phœnicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans. For history of the Carthaginians in Sicily, see CARTHAGE. The western part of Sicily was made a Roman province in 241 B.C.; but after the revolt of Syracuse in the second Punic war, and the conquest of that city by Marcellus, the whole island was made a Roman province. On the downfall of the Roman empire, Sicily formed part of the kingdom of the Ostrogoths; but it was taken from them by Belisarius in 536, and annexed to the Byzantine empire. In the 8th and 9th centuries the Saracens succeeded in conquering it. The Normans conquered the island in the 11th century under Roger Guiscard, duke of Apulia. It passed successively into the hands of France (see SICILIAN VESPERS), Germany, and Spain. By the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, it was given to the Duke of Savoy; was added to the kingdom of Naples in 1720. The war of 1734, however, carried on by France and Spain against Austria, transferred the crown of Naples, or, as it was subsequently termed, of the Two Sicilies, to a branch of the royal family of Spain; it remained in their hands until the French revolution led, in 1799, to the expulsion of the royal family from Naples. In 1815, Ferdinand IV. of Naples assumed the title of Ferdinand I. of the Two Sicilies. In 1847, 1848, and 1849, the Sicilians made several attempts, in common with the Neapolitans, to rid themselves of their obnoxious monarch, Ferdinand II., but without success. The Bourbons were, however, driven from the throne by Garibaldi in 1860, and in the same year Sicily was united to the new kingdom of Italy. See NAPLES.

=Sick and Hurt.= A board so called, to which the agents, commissaries, etc., belonging to the several military hospitals in Great Britain were responsible.

=Sick Call.= A military call which is sounded on the drum, bugle, or trumpet, whereby the sick men are warned to attend the hospital.

=Sick-flag.= The yellow quarantine flag hoisted to prevent communication; whence the term of the yellow flag and yellow admirals. There are two others,--one with a black ball, the other with a square in the centre,--denoting plague or actual diseases.

=Sick Report Book.= A book in which the names of the men who are sick in a company, troop, etc., are entered, also the names of their diseases, and probable cause of same. This book is signed by one of the company officers to which the men belong, and the attending surgeon.

=Sicyonia.= A small district in the northeast of Peloponnesus. Its chief town was _Sicyon_, which was destroyed by Demetrius Poliorcetes. In the Persian war the Sicyonians sent fifteen ships to the battle of Salamis, and 300 hoplites to the battle of Plætæ. In the interval between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars the Sicyonians were twice defeated and their country laid waste by the Athenians,--first under Tolmides in 456 B.C., and again under Pericles in 454 B.C. In the Peloponnesian war they took part with the Spartans.

=Side-arms.= Such arms as are suspended by the side and attached to the person, such as a bayonet or sword.

=Sidon=, or =Zidon= (now _Saida_, or _Seida_). For a long time the most powerful, and probably the most ancient, of the cities of Phœnice. It was the chief seat of the maritime power of Phœnice until eclipsed by its own colony, Tyre. It submitted to Shalmanezer at the time of the Assyrian conquest of Syria. In the expedition of Xerxes against Greece the Sidonians furnished the best ships in the whole fleet. Sidon received the great blow to her prosperity in the reign of Artaxerxes III. (Ochus), when the Sidonians, having taken part in the revolt of Phœnice and Cyprus, and being betrayed to Ochus by their own king Tennes, burned themselves with their city, 351 B.C. It was rebuilt. On September 27, 1840, the town was taken from the pasha of Egypt by the troops of the sultan and of his allies, assisted by some ships of the British squadron, under Admiral Sir Robert Stopford and Commodore Charles Napier.

=Siege= (Fr. _siege_, “a seat, a sitting down”). Is the sitting of an army before a hostile town or fortress with the intention of capturing it. With certain elements, the success of a siege is beyond doubt; the result being merely a question of time. These elements are: First, the force of the besiegers shall be sufficient to overcome the besieged in actual combat, man to man. If this be not the case, the besieged, by a sortie, might destroy the opposing works and drive away the besiegers. The second element is, that the place must be thoroughly invested, so that no provisions, reinforcements, or other aliment of war can enter. The third element is, that the besiegers be undisturbed from without. For this it is essential that there shall not be a hostile army in the neighborhood; or if there be, that the operations of the besiegers be protected by a covering army able to cope with the enemy’s force in the field. The ancients executed gigantic works to produce these effects. To complete the investment they built a high and strong wall around the whole fortress; and to render themselves secure from without they built a similar wall, facing outwards, beyond their own position. The first was circumvallation, the second contravallation. It was thus that Cæsar fortified himself while besieging Alexia, and maintained 60,000 men within his ring. In modern warfare it is considered preferable to establish strong posts here and there round the place, and merely sentinels and videttes between. Let us now assume that a fortress of great strength has to be reduced, and that the force of the enemy in the vicinity has been either subdued or held in check by a covering army. By rapid movements the place is at once invested on all sides. This step constitutes merely a blockade; and if time be of little importance, it is a sufficient operation, for hunger must sooner or later cause the fortress to surrender; but if more energetic measures are required, the actual siege must be prosecuted. Advantage is taken of any hidden ground to establish the park of artillery and the engineer’s park; or, if there be none, these parks have to be placed out of range. The besieging force is now encamped just beyond the reach of the guns of the fortress; and their object is to get over the intervening ground and into the works without being torn to pieces by the concentrated fire of the numerous pieces which the defenders can bring to bear on every part. With this view, the place is approached by a series of zigzag trenches so pointed that they cannot be enfiladed by any guns in the fortress. In order to accommodate the forces necessary to protect the workers, the trenches at certain intervals are cut laterally for a great length, partly encircling the place, and affording safe room for a large force with ample battering material. These are called _parallels_, and they are generally three in number. The distance of the first parallel will increase as small-arms become more deadly; but with smooth-bore muskets it has been usual to break ground at 600 yards from the covered way of the fortress, while in the case of Sebastopol, ground was broken at 2000 yards. The engineers having, by reconnoissances, decided the locality of the parallel, and taken advantage of any inequalities of surface, a strong body of men is sent to the spot soon after nightfall. The attention of the garrison is distracted by false alarms in other directions. Half the men are armed _cap-a-pie_, and lie down before the proposed parallel; while the other half, bearing each a pick and shovel, and two empty gabions, prepare for work. Each man deposits the gabions where the parapet of the trench should be. He then digs down behind them, filling the gabions with the earth dug out, and after they are filled, throwing it over them, to widen and heighten the parapet. Before daylight the working party is expected to have formed sufficient cover to conceal themselves and the troops protecting them. During the day, they--being concealed from the garrison--widen and complete their parallel, making it of dimensions sufficient to allow of wagons and bodies of troops with guns passing along. During the same night other

## parties will have been at work at zigzags of approach from the depots

out of range to the first parallel, which zigzags will be probably not less than 1000 yards in length. As a rule, the defenders will not expend ammunition on the first parallel, for its extent (often several miles) will render the probability of doing material damage extremely small. For this reason also, the dimensions of the parapet and its solidity are of far less importance in the first parallel than in the more advanced works of attack. The first parallel being completed, the engineers select points near its extremities, at which they erect breastworks to cover bodies of cavalry, who are kept at hand to resist sorties from the garrison. The length of the parallel is usually made sufficient to embrace all the works of two bastions at least. Sites are then chosen for batteries, which are built up of fascines, gabions, sand-bags, and earth. They are placed at points in the parallel formed by the prolongation of the several faces of the bastions, ravelins, and other works of the fortress, which faces the batteries are severally intended to enfilade by a ricochet fire. Other batteries will be formed for a vertical fire of mortars. By these means it is hoped that the traverses on the hostile ramparts will be destroyed, the guns dismounted, and the defenders dispersed, before the final approaches bring the assailants to the covered way. The sappers will now commence their advance towards the points, or salient angles, of the two bastions to be attacked. If, however, the trench were cut straight towards the fortress, its guns could easily destroy the workmen, and enfilade the approach. To prevent this, it is cut into short zigzags, the direction always being to a point a few yards beyond the outmost flanking-works of the garrison. The side of each trench nearest the fortress is protected by gabions and sand-bags, as in the case of the parallel. At intervals short spurs of trench, incipient parallels, are cut, to contain infantry, to act as guards to the sappers. The second parallel is about 300 yards from the enemy’s works, and has to be more strongly formed than the first. It often terminates in a redoubt to hold some light artillery, and a strong force of infantry, who could assail any sortie in flank; or it may run into the first parallel, giving easier access for troops than through the zigzags. The second parallel is revetted with sand-bags, in which loop-holes are left for musketry. After passing the second parallel, the angles of the zigzags become more acute, to prevent enfilading. At about 150 yards, certain demi-parallels are cut, and armed with howitzer-batteries to clear the covered way, while riflemen also act from it. The third parallel is at the foot of the glacis. Thence the place, after being sufficiently battered, is taken by a storming party, who make their way over the glacis; or the covered way is topped by the double sap, which is a safer plan for the array generally, though much more deadly to the sappers. When the crest of the covered way has thus been reached, batteries of heavy artillery will be there established, for the purpose of breaching the walls of the ravelin and bastion; while at the same time miners will first seek to destroy the defenders’ countermines (which would otherwise be likely to send these batteries into the air), and then will excavate a tunnel to the ditch at the foot of the counterscarp. If the breach becomes practicable, a storming party will emerge from this tunnel or gallery, and seek to carry the opposite work by hard fighting. If inner works still subsist, which would tear assailants to pieces, the double sap may be continued across the ditch, if a dry ditch, right up the breach, that counter-batteries may be formed. If the ditch be wet, means must be adopted for a causeway or a bridge. By these means, however obstinate may be the defense, if the besieging force be sufficiently strong, and aid do not arrive from without, the ultimate success of the attack becomes certain. Vauban raised attack to a superiority above defense, first by the introduction of ricochet fire, which sweeps a whole line; and secondly by originating parallels. Before his time, the whole attack was conducted by zigzag approaches, in which the troops actually in front could be but few, and were therefore unable to withstand strong sorties of the garrison, who, in consequence, frequently broke out and destroyed the works of the besiegers, rendering a siege an operation of the most uncertain character.

=Siege and Sea-coast Ammunition.= See ORDNANCE, AMMUNITION FOR.

=Siege Artillery.= Is heavy ordnance used for battering purposes, and of too weighty a character to take the field. A siege-train of guns and their ponderous ammunition is usually maintained in the rear of an army, ready to be brought up for use when required. See ARTILLERY.

=Siege Carriages.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Siege-train.= The number and kind of pieces composing a siege-train must altogether depend on circumstances; but the following general principles may be observed in assigning the proportion of different kinds and calibers, and the relative quantity of other supplies, for a train of 100 pieces:

_Guns_, about three-fifths the whole number (60); _howitzers_, one-fourth (25); _mortars_, 10-inch siege, one-eighth (12), 8-inch siege, 3; _Coehorn mortars_, in addition to the 100 pieces, 6. Total number of guns, 106.

_Carriages_, for guns and howitzers, one-fifth spare, 102; for 10-inch mortars, one-sixth spare, 14; for 8-inch mortars, 4.

_Mortar-wagons_, one for each 10-inch mortar and bed, and for three 8-inch mortars and beds, 14.

_Wagons_, for transporting implements, intrenching and miners’ tools, laboratory tools and utensils, and other stores, each loaded with about 2700 pounds,--say 140.

_Carts_, carrying balls, etc., on the march, 50.

_Park battery-wagons_, fully equipped, 28.

_Park forges_, fully equipped, 8.

_Sling-carts_, large, 5.

_Sling-carts_, hand, 4.

Total number of carriages, 369.

_Draught-horses_, for each gun and howitzer, with its carriage, 8; for each spare gun-carriage, 6; for each mortar-wagon, 8; for each battery-wagon, 6; for each forge, 6; for each cart, 2; for each sling-cart, large, 2; spare horses, one-tenth. Total, about 1900 horses.

=Siemens-Martin Steel.= See ORDNANCE, METALS FOR, STEEL.

=Siena=, or =Sienna=. A city of Central Italy, about 30 miles southeast from Florence. In the Middle Ages, Siena became one of the powerful city republics of Italy. It embraced the Ghibelline cause, and in conjunction with the forces of Pisa, defeated the Tuscan Guelfs, in the memorable battle of Monte Aperto (1206). Through intestine quarrels it was subjugated by the emperor Charles V., and given to his son in 1555, who ceded it to Cosmo of Tuscany, 1557. It was incorporated with France, 1808-14.

=Sierra Leone.= A district of Western Africa, situated on the Atlantic. The British settlement of Sierra Leone was established in 1787, when 400 negroes, with 60 wives, mostly women of bad character, were removed to it from London. The settlement was attacked by the French in September, 1794, and by the natives in February, 1802.

=Sight.= A small piece of brass or iron fixed to a cannon or a musket, to serve as a point of direction, and to assist the eye in aiming the piece.

=Sight.= To give the proper elevation and direction to by means of a sight; as, to sight a rifle or cannon. _To take sight_, to take aim; to look for the purpose of directing a piece of artillery, or the like.

=Sight, Angle of.= See POINTING.

=Sight, Breech-.= See BREECH-SIGHT.

=Sight, Buckhorn-.= A form of rear-sight much used in sporting rifles, which takes its name from the curved form of the notch used. This form of notch is now attached to the Springfield rifle in use by U. S. troops.

=Sight, Coarse.= An aim of a piece in which a considerable portion of the front-sight covers the object.

=Sight, Elevating.= The rear-sight of a small-arm, arranged to give varying heights of sight for different ranges. There are a variety of forms. The _leaf-sight_ has a number of hinged leaves of different lengths. The one now used in the U. S. army has one hinged leaf. Up to 500 yards, the elevation is given by moving the sighting-piece up a curved incline. Above 500 yards, the leaf is turned up to the perpendicular.

=Sight, Fine.= An aim in which only the summit of the front-sight is used to get the line of sight.

=Sight, Front-.= The sight nearest the muzzle of a cannon or small-arm. In military arms, it is set on a short projection which is used also as the bayonet-stud. In cannon of old model, using the _tangent scale_, or pendulum hausse, the height of the front-sight is made equal to the dispart, making the _natural line of sight_ parallel to the axis of the piece. See DISPART.

=Sight, Line of.= See POINTING.

=Sight, Peep-.= A form of rear-sight for small-arms in which the marksman looks through a small hole.

=Sight, Plane of.= See POINTING.

=Sight, Quarter-.= The quarter-sights of a cannon are divisions marked on the upper quarters of the base-ring, commencing where it would be intersected by a plane parallel to the axis of the piece, and tangent to the upper surface of the trunnions; used for giving elevations up to three degrees, and especially for pointing at a less elevation than the natural angle of sight. Now obsolete.

=Sight, Rear-.= The sight nearest the breech of a cannon or small-arm. The term is specially applied to small-arms.

=Sight, Telescopic.= An apparatus for sighting a cannon or small-arm, consisting of a telescope so mounted as to give varying angles of sight; used especially for long ranges. Rifles with such an attachment are sometimes called telescopic rifles.

=Sight, Trunnion.= A front-sight fixed on or near the trunnions of a gun.

=Sign.= An indication or token. In astronomy, one of the twelve divisions of the zodiac.

=Sign.= To affix a signature; to subscribe.

=Sign Language.= A pantomimic system of communicating ideas, extensively used by North American Indians. The range of its use is not exactly known, but it is common among all the tribes of the plains and many of those beyond the Rocky Mountains. It is in one sense the court language of the Indians, being the only means of communication between tribes not speaking a common dialect. According to Gen. Marcy, it is accurately used and perfectly understood by all the Indians from the Gila to the Columbia. The same author tells a remarkable story, which seems to show that the system is very nearly, if not exactly, the same as that used in teaching mutes in deaf and dumb asylums.

=Signal.= Any sign made for marching, fighting, etc. Signals are likewise given by the drum, bugle, and trumpet, during the exercise of a battalion. See SIGNAL SERVICE.

=Signal Code.= See SIGNALING.

=Signal Equipments.= See EQUIPMENTS, SIGNAL.

=Signal Service.= In the U. S. army there is one chief signal-officer of the army, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a brigadier-general, and 400 enlisted men. The chief signal-officer is assisted in his duties by commissioned officers detailed from the line for that purpose. In war times the Signal Service of the U. S. army is equipped to maintain communications by telegraph, signals, etc., between different sections of an army or armies, or between land and sea forces. The enlisted men are thoroughly drilled in the art of field telegraphy. In peace times the Signal Service has a corps of observers stationed in large towns, and important commercial centres, to give timely warning of the approach of storms, rise of rivers, and all other important weather news for the guidance of merchants and others.

=Signaling.= Is of remote origin. A rude code of signals addressed to the eye is common among the savage races of the present day, and doubtless existed from the earliest times among the historical races. The Indians of the great plains of North America avail themselves for night-signals of fires lighted on elevated points, and of dense clouds of smoke made by suddenly heaping green brush upon a fire for day-signals. Gen. Marcy, in his “Army Life on the Border,” shows that similar signals can be used in this region with great advantage by troops engaged in Indian campaigning. Messages exchanged in this way must be preconcerted. This method of signaling dates from a remote antiquity. Alphabetical signaling--a system in which a written language is conveyed by means of its elements--is first described by Polybius, about 260 B.C., and seems to have been devised, or at least greatly improved by him. He formed a code by arranging the letters of the Greek alphabet in several columns. A given letter was represented by a number of lanterns or torches or other signals, which gave the number of the column, and a second set of signals giving the number of the letter in the column. Capt. John Smith, of Virginia fame, is said to have used the system of Polybius during the siege of Vienna. Alphabetical signaling thus early adopted remained without improvement, and too cumbersome for general application till recent times. _Message signaling_ by torches, flags, and rockets has been generally used, especially at sea, where it has a wide application both in war and commerce. The signals usually represented numbers, which were referred to printed codes. The invention of the magnetic telegraph led to the Morse alphabet, which crystallized the hitherto vague idea of representing letters by the combination and arrangement of a few simple elements. In the _general service code_ of the United States, there are used two elements. These can readily be represented by sounds, motions, numbers, colors, etc. The ordinary method of signaling is by waving a flag by day and a torch at night. See also TELEGRAPH, FIELD.

=Sikh Wars.= Two brief but desperate contests waged between the British power in India and the Sikhs in 1845-46, 1848-49, which resulted in the destruction of the latter as an independent nation. The first had its origin in the dissensions which convulsed the Sikh country after the death of Runjeet Singh, and which necessitated the exercise of wary regard on the part of the Calcutta authorities. At length an army of Sikhs, flushed with their triumph over all lawful authority in their own country, crossed the Sutlej, and extended their ravages over British territory; but their advanced guard was met by Sir Henry Hardinge, the governor-general, at the head of four regiments of infantry and one of dragoons, and routed at Mudki with heavy loss. Three days after, the main body, which had in the mean time crossed the river and intrenched itself at Feroze-Shah, was attacked by a larger force of British under Gough and Hardinge, and after a bloody conflict, which lasted two days, also routed. Still undismayed by these reverses, they again intrenched themselves at Sobraon; but a fresh body which had just crossed the Sutlej at Aliwal 19,000 strong with 68 pieces of cannon, was wholly routed and driven across the river by Sir Harry Smith, at the head of 7000 men, with 32 guns; and their main body was soon after similarly dispersed at Sobraon (which see). The British then crossed the river, took Lahore, and restored the authority of the young Maharajah from whom they took the territory between the Beas and the Sutlej; the treaty confirming this settlement being made at Lahore, March 9, 1846. But the internal disturbances in the kingdom of Lahore soon became as active as before, and induced the Maharajah’s prime minister to put the country under the Company’s protection; and a residency with a guard of regular troops was then established in the capital. On April 20, 1848, two British officers were murdered by a Sikh chief, the dewan of Moolraj of Multan; and as it was found to be but a premonitory symptom of a general outbreak, a small force of British under Lieut. Edwardes, aided by a body of Sikhs, under the rajah of Bhawalpur, gallantly attacked the army of Moolraj, which, after a desperate conflict of nine hours, they defeated on June 18, and, both sides in the mean time having received reinforcements, again on July 1; Multan was then laid siege to, but the defection of 5000 auxiliary Sikhs under Shere Singh (the son of the Sirdar Chuttur Singh, the governor of Hazara, who had been for some time in revolt, and had driven the British from his district), compelled the British to retreat. For some time, the British authorities in the Punjab were hampered by a want of military force, and though the Maharajah and much of his army still opposed the Sikh rebels, little reliance could be placed upon most of it. Shere Singh now succeeded in raising his army to 40,000, but was defeated by Lord Gough at Ramnuggur (November 22). The inconsiderate haste of Gough at Chillianwalla, January 13, nearly lost him that great battle, which was saved only by the extreme valor of his soldiers; but amends for this fault were made at Gujerat, where the power of Shere Singh and his allies was completely broken. Meanwhile, the fortress of Multan had, after a protracted bombardment, been captured, and the Company, seeing no other mode of protecting their territories from annoyance by these warlike fanatics, annexed the Punjab, March 29, 1849, and thus terminated the existence of the Sikhs as an independent nation.

=Sikhs.= The term Sikh, a corruption of the Sanscrit _s’ishya_, signifying “disciple,” is applied to a community of which the Punjab, in Northern India, constitutes, substantially, the confines. Less commonly, even among themselves, the members of this community are also known as Sinhs (vulgarly Singhs), that is, “Lions,” a title given them by Govind, the last and most influential of their hierarchs. Every name of a Sikh male now terminates with the word Sinh. Originally a body of mere religionists, the Sikhs, from the energy which they developed under repression, and the inducements which they offered as proselytizers, grew by degrees, in strength and numbers, and ended in a formidable nationality. Their originator, Nanak, was born in 1469, in the vicinity of Lahore, and died in 1539, not far from the place of his nativity.

=Silence.= To cause to cease firing by a vigorous cannonade; as, to silence the batteries of an enemy.

=Silesia.= A province of the kingdom of Prussia, included in the limits of the new German empire, lies south of the provinces of Brandenburg and Posen. Formerly a province of Poland; was invaded by John of Bohemia in 1325; ceded to him, 1355. In 1740, Frederick II. of Prussia, taking advantage of the helpless condition of Maria Theresa of Austria, laid claims to certain portions of Silesia; and without declaring war, marched into and took possession of the province, maintaining his hold despite the utmost efforts of Austria in 1740-1742, and 1744-1745, called the _first_ and _second_ Silesian wars. After the _third_ Silesian war, better known as the _Seven Years’ War_ (which see), it was finally ceded (1763) to Prussia. It was overrun by the French in 1807.

=Silistria.= A strongly fortified town of Bulgaria, in Turkey in Europe, on the right bank of the Danube. Here in 971, the Byzantine emperor, John Zimisces, routed the Russians under Sviatoslav. It was taken by the Russians, June 30, 1829, and held some years by them as a pledge for the payment of a large sum of money by the Porte, but was eventually returned. In 1854 it was again besieged by the Russians (30,000 strong), under Prince Paskewitsch, and many assaults were made. The Russian general was compelled to return in consequence of a dangerous contusion. On June 2, Mussa Pasha, the brave and skillful commander of the garrison, was killed. On June 9, the Russians stormed two forts, which were retaken. A grand assault took place on June 13, under Prince Gortschakoff and Gen. Schilders, which was vigorously repelled. On the 15th, the garrison assumed the offensive, crossed the river, defeated the Russians, and destroyed the siege-works. The siege was thus raised, and the Russians commenced their retreat as Omar Pasha was drawing near. The garrison was ably assisted by two British officers, Capt. Butler and Lieut. Nasmyth, the former of whom, after being wounded, died of exhaustion. They were highly praised by Omar Pasha and Lord Hardinge, and Lieut. Nasmyth made a major.

=Sill.= In fortification, the inner edge of an embrasure.

=Silladar Horse.= Indian irregular cavalry, raised and maintained on the principle of every man furnishing and maintaining his own horse, arms, equipments, etc., in return for his pay.

=Sillon.= In fortification, a work raised in the middle of a ditch, to defend it when it is too wide. It has no particular form, and is sometimes made with little bastions, half-moons, and redans, which are lower than the works of the place, but higher than the covert way. It is more frequently called an _envelope_.

=Silures.= A powerful people in Britain, inhabiting South Wales, who long offered a formidable resistance to the Romans, and were the only people in the island who at a later time maintained their independence against the Saxons.

=Silver Stick.= Is the title given to a field-officer of the Life Guards, when on duty at the palace. The _silver stick_ is in waiting for a week, during which period all reports are made through him to the _gold stick_ (which see), and orders from the _gold stick_ pass through to the brigade. In the absence of the _gold stick_ on levees, and drawing-room days, he goes to the royal closet for the parole.

=Simancas.= A town of Spain, province of Valladolid. Near it Ramirez II. of Leon and Fernando of Castile gained a victory over Abderahman, the Moorish king of Cordova, August 6, 938. The archives of Castile are kept in the fortress of this place, and many valuable documents and records were burnt by the French troops quartered in the town in 1809.

=Simonoseki.= A town of Japan, at the southwestern extremity of the island of Nipon, and at the entrance of the island sea Suonada. In 1863 three vessels belonging to the American, Dutch, and French governments were fired into from batteries on the shore of Simonoseki Strait; this assault was subsequently returned by French and American war-vessels. In 1864 a combined fleet of Great Britain, France, Holland, and the U. S. men-of-war bombarded and destroyed Simonoseki. The Japanese government had to pay an indemnity of $3,000,000.

=Simulation.= The vice of counterfeiting illness or defect, for the purpose of being invalided.

=Sinalunga.= A town of Central Italy, in the province of Sienna. Here Garibaldi was arrested in 1867, whilst attempting to cross into the Papal territory to take command of the volunteers who intended to march upon Rome.

=Sinde=, or =Scinde=. (Called also _Sindh_, or _Sindia_, and _Sinday_, from _sindhoo_, or _sindhu_, “a collection of waters.”) An extensive territory of British India, included in the presidency of Bombay, comprising the lower course and delta of the Indus. It was traversed by the Greeks under Alexander, about 326 B.C.; conquered by the Persian Mohammedans in the 8th century; tributary to the Ghaznevide dynasty in the 11th century; conquered by Nadir Shah, 1739; reverted to the empire of Delhi after his death, 1747. After various changes of rulers, Sinde was conquered by the English. Sir Charles James Napier, the British envoy, at the head of a considerable military force, marched against the enemy, totally routed them at Meeanee (February 17, 1843), and by defeating the ameers of Mirpur, at Dubba, near Hyderabad (March 24), completed the subjugation of Sinde. For two years afterwards, Napier was

## actively employed in reducing the marauding tribes of the west, who

pillaged the province; and so successful was the “Sheitanka bhai” (Devil’s Brother), as the robber tribes named him, that they were completely rooted out of their fastnesses, and most of them transported to distant regions.

=Sine Die= (“without day”). When the court or other body rise at the end of a session or term they adjourn _sine die_. In law this does not preclude further proceedings by the same court.

=Single Combat.= A contest in which no more than two are engaged.

=Single-stick.= A cudgel used in fencing or fighting. Also, a game at cudgels, in which he who first brings blood from his adversary’s head is pronounced victor.

=Sinister.= In heraldry, the left-hand side of a shield. As shields are supposed to be carried in front of the person, the sinister side is that which covers the bearer’s left side, and therefore, lies to the spectator’s right. See POINTS OF THE ESCUTCHEON.

=Sinopé= (Turk. _Sinub_). A town of Asiatic Turkey, province of Anatolia, on the southern side of a little promontory running eastward into the Black Sea, 80 miles northwest of Samsun. Ancient Sinopé was the most important of all the Greek colonies on the shores of the Euxine. Having been destroyed in the invasion of Asia by the Cimmerians, it was restored by a new colony from Miletus, 632 B.C. It remained an independent state till it was taken by Pharnaces I., king of Pontus. After an obstinate resistance to the Romans under Lucullus, it was taken and plundered, and proclaimed a free city. The bay of Sinopé, which affords the finest anchorage for ships along the whole northern coast of Asiatic Turkey, was the scene of a bloody naval engagement, or rather massacre, November 30, 1853, when a Turkish squadron of 13 ships was suddenly attacked and destroyed (except one vessel which conveyed the tidings to Constantinople) by a Russian fleet of 6 sail of the line, 2 sailing-vessels, and 3 steamers; 4000 lives were lost by fire or drowning, and Osman Pasha, the Turkish admiral, died at Sebastopol of his wounds. In consequence of this event, the Anglo-French fleet entered the Black Sea, January 3, 1854.

=Sinople.= In heraldry, the same as _Vert_ (which see).

=Sinuessa.= An ancient town of Italy, on the shore of the Mediterranean, near the confines of Latium and Campania. It was colonized by the Romans in 296 B.C. It suffered much during the invasion of Hannibal, who, in 217, carried his devastations up to the very gates.

=Sioux Indians.= See DAKOTA INDIANS.

=Sir.= The title of a knight or baronet, which, for distinction’s sake, is always prefixed to the knight’s or baronet’s Christian name, either in speaking or in writing to him.

=Siraceni=, =Siraci=, or =Siraces=. A powerful people of Sarmatia Asiatica, dwelt in the district of Siracene, east of Palus Mæotis, as far as the river Rha (now Volga). The Romans were engaged in a war with them in 50.

=Sirmium= (now _Mitroviz_). An important city in Pannonia Inferior, was situated on the left bank of the Savus. It was founded by the Taurisci, and under the Romans became the capital of Pannonia, and the headquarters of all their operations in their wars against the Dacians and the neighboring barbarians. It contained a large manufactory of arms, a spacious forum, an imperial palace, etc. It was the residence of the admiral of the first Flavian fleet on the Danube, and the birthplace of the emperor Probus.

=Siscia.= An important town in Pannonia Superior, situated upon an island formed by the rivers Savus Colapis and Odra. It was a strongly-fortified place, and was conquered by Tiberius in the reign of Augustus, from which time it became the most important town in all Pannonia.

=Sissopoli=, or =Sizeboli=. A town of Turkey in Europe, 80 miles northeast from Adrianople. It was taken by the Russians in 1829.

=Sistova=, or =Schistab=, called also =Shtab=. A town of Turkey in Europe, in Bulgaria, on the right bank of the Danube, 24 miles east-southeast from Nicopolis. A treaty of peace (“peace of Sistova”) was signed here between Austria and Turkey in 1791.

=Sit.= In a military sense, to take a stationary position; as, _to sit before a fortification_, to lie encamped for the purpose of besieging it.

=Sitka.= Called by the Russians New Archangel, is the most important settlement in Alaska. It is situated on the west side of Baranoff Island, in lat. 57° 3′. The population is mainly composed of Indians and Russian half-breeds. A census taken in 1875 made the total number, excluding Indians, 502. For many years Sitka was the headquarters of the Russian American Company. Upon the transfer of the Territory, in 1867, to the United States, Sitka became the headquarters of the military department of Alaska. It remained an army post till 1877, when the garrison was withdrawn. The inhabitants are at present protected from the Indians by a naval vessel.

=Sixain.= In the Middle Ages, was an order of battle, wherein six battalions being ranged in one line, the second and fifth were made to advance, to form the vanguard; the first and sixth to retire, to form the rear-guard; the third and fourth remaining on the spot, to form the corps or body of the battle.

=Six-shooter.= A pistol with six barrels, or capable of firing six shots in quick succession; especially a six-barreled or six-chambered revolver.

=Size, To.= In a military sense, to take the height of men for the purpose of placing them in military array, and of rendering their relative statures more effective.

=Skalitz.= A small town of Austria, in the northwest of Hungary, near the borders of Moravia, on the left bank of the March. It was stormed by the Prussian general Steinmetz, June 28, 1866; whereby the junction of the divisions of the Prussians was greatly facilitated.

=Skean=, =Skeen=, or =Skeine=. A Celtic word which signifies a knife. It was a weapon in the shape of a small sword or knife, which was worn by the Irish in ancient times.

=Skedaddle.= To betake one’s self to flight; to run away with precipitation, as if in a panic; to withdraw, as an army, or part of an army, from the presence of an enemy, especially in a hasty or secret manner.

=Skeleton.= A word applied to regiments that have become reduced in their number of men.

=Sketch, Military.= The delineation of a small portion of ground for military purposes. The scale is generally larger than that of a map.

=Skid.= In military language, is any timber which is used as a base to keep one object from resting on another. Thus, a row of cannon in store will be kept from the ground by skids. The term is also applied to the drag which is put on the wheels of carriages in going up hills, to prevent rolling backwards.

=Skierniwice.= A town of Russia, situated on the Bzura, 38 miles southwest from Warsaw. The French were defeated here, in 1809, by the Russians.

=Skinners.= A name assumed by a predatory band in the Revolutionary war, who, professing allegiance to the American cause, but influenced by a desire to plunder, roamed over the “neutral ground” lying between the hostile armies, robbing those who refused to take the oath of fidelity.

=Skipton.= A town of England in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 38 miles west of York. The old castle of Skipton was founded in the time of William the Conqueror; it was a place of great strength in the 17th century, and held out for three years against the Parliamentary forces. In 1649 it was dismantled, but subsequently rebuilt by the Countess of Pembroke.

=Skirmish.= A slight fight in war; a light combat between detachments from armies which are yet at a considerable distance from each other, or between detached and small parties.

=Skirmish.= To fight slightly or in small parties; to engage in a skirmish; to act as skirmishers.

=Skirmisher.= One who skirmishes; one of such troops as are sent forward in advance, or move deployed in loose order on the flanks of a marching column, to discover and intercept hostile forces.

=Skiver.= A dirk to stab with.

=Skottefer.= Formerly a name applied to an archer.

=Sky-rocket.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Slash.= A cut; a wound; also, a cut in cloth. It was formerly used to express the pieces of tape or worsted lace which were placed upon the arms of non-commissioned officers, in order to distinguish them from privates.

=Slash.= To strike violently and at random with an edged instrument; to lay about one indiscriminately with blows.

=Slashed.= Cut in stripes or lines. Hence, slashed sleeves and pockets, which are peculiar to the British cavalry, when the officers or men wear long coats.

=Slaughter.= The extensive and unnecessary destruction of human life; carnage. Also, to visit with great destruction of life; to kill; to slay in battle.

=Slavonia=, or =Sclavonia= (called by the native _Slavonska_). A territory or province of the Austrian empire, formerly incorporated with Hungary, but now forming part of the kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia. The country anciently formed part of the province of Pannonia. During the barbarian migrations, the land was overrun, now by one and now by another tribe, and at length remained in the possession of the Avars. These, however, were conquered about the end of the 8th century by Charlemagne, who settled in their place a tribe of Slavonians from Dalmatia. When, in the 10th century, the Hungarians conquered Pannonia, they also made themselves masters of the whole of Slavonia, except Syrmia, which still remained subject to the Eastern emperors. It was, however, the object of contention, and the scene of bloody conflicts between the Greeks and the Hungarians, until, after various vicissitudes, it was finally ceded to the latter in 1165. From 1526, when it was conquered by the Turks, Slavonia remained in their possession till it was restored to Hungary by the peace of Carlowitz in 1699. In 1734 its size was diminished by the formation of the Military Frontier, and in 1848 it was separated from Hungary.

=Slavonians=, or =Slaves= (native name _Slowene_, or _Slowane_). The general name of a group of nations belonging to the Aryan family, whose settlements extend from the Elbe to Kamtschatka, and from the Frozen Sea to Ragusa on the Adriatic, the whole of Eastern Europe being almost exclusively occupied by them. The original names of the Slavic tribes seem to have been Winds, or Wends (_Venedi_), and Serbs. The latter of these names is spoken of by Procopius as the ancient name common to the whole Slavic stock. The Slavonians proper are a handsome, tall, and slender race.

=Sleepers.= Small joists of timber, which form the foundation for the platform of a battery, and upon which the boards for the flooring are laid. Also, the undermost timbers of a gun or mortar.

=Sleets.= The parts of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions, to strengthen that part.

=Sleeves, Gunner’s.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Sliding-rings.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, NOMENCLATURE OF ARTILLERY CARRIAGE.

=Sligo.= A maritime county in the northwest of Ireland, and the province of Connaught. It formed part of the kingdom of Connaught previously to the arrival of the English, in the reign of Henry II. Subsequently it came into the possession of one of the family of the O’Connors, kings of Connaught, who was called O’Connor Sligo. After a protracted struggle between the natives and the English, it fell into the hands of the De Burgos, who either by force or treaties had made themselves masters of the greater part of the ancient kingdom of Connaught. It became the theatre of several conflicts in the war against O’Neil, chieftain of Tyrone, in the latter part of Elizabeth’s reign. The most remarkable of these was that with Sir Conyers Clifford, who in attempting to pass into the country from Roscommon with a body of from 1500 to 2000 men, in order to relieve Belleek, was attacked in a defile of the Curlew Mountains by O’Roark, chieftain of Breffney, was himself killed and his troops were driven back with considerable loss. During the civil wars of 1641, the Irish kept possession of the open country until nearly its close, when they were reduced to submission by the Parliamentary forces under Ireton. In the subsequent war of 1688 this country was held by the forces of King James for some time, but ultimately yielded to the victorious arms of William III. The French force which landed at Killalla under Gen. Humbert in 1798, had a severe skirmish at Coloony with the Limerick militia, commanded by Col. Vereker, afterwards Viscount Gort, which ended in the retreat of the latter.

=Sligo.= The chief town of the above county, and a seaport, situated on the mouth of the river Garrogue. In 1641, it was taken without opposition, by the Parliamentarians, under Sir Charles Coote, who was afterwards attacked by a force collected by the Roman Catholic archbishop of Tuam, which retreated in consequence of an alarm being spread that a large force was approaching to relieve the town. When retiring they were attacked by the Parliamentarian forces, the archbishop killed, and on his person was found the important document exposing the secret communications which took place between Charles I. and the Irish Catholics. Coote subsequently evacuated the town, which thence continued in possession of the royalists till the termination of the war. In 1688 it was taken for King William by the Enniskilleners, who, in turn, were driven out by Gen. Sarsfield; but the place ultimately surrendered to the Earl of Granard.

=Sling.= A weapon much in use before the introduction of fire-arms, consisted of a piece of leather, with a round hole in the middle, and two cords of about a yard in length. A round pebble being hung in the leather by cords, the latter were held firmly in the right hand, and swung rapidly round. When the stone had attained great speed, one string was disengaged, on which the stone flew off at a tangent, its initial velocity being the same as it had at the last moment of revolution. This velocity gives far greater range and force than could be imparted in mere throwing. The men who used this weapon were called _slingers_.

=Sling.= A leather strap attached to a musket, serving to support it across the soldier’s back, as occasion may require.

=Sling-cart.= See HAND SLING-CART.

=Slingers.= See SLING.

=Slope Arms.= A word of command in the British service, for placing the musket upon the shoulder with the butt advanced. In marches, soldiers are almost invariably permitted to slope arms.

=Slope, Interior.= See INTERIOR SLOPE.

=Slopes.= The approaches to the crest of heights are by slopes, which may be either gentle or steep. When these slopes are gentle, the fire from the crest can be made an effective one by reason of its “grazing

## action.” Especially will it be so with artillery fire when properly

directed. When slopes are quite steep, the fire will be a plunging one, and will be apt to pass over the heads of the attacking troops. Especially will this be the case with the fire of artillery.

=Sloping Swords.= In the British service, is a position of the sword among cavalry, when the back of the blade rests on the hollow of the right shoulder, the hilt advanced.

=Slow Time.= The same as common time, by which troops on foot march at the rate of ninety steps per minute.

=Slow-match.= See LABORATORY STORES.

=Slugs.= Cylindrical or cubical pieces of metal, discharged from a gun.

=Slur-bow.= A species of cross-bow formerly used for discharging fire and arrows.

=Smalcald.= See SCHMALKALD, LEAGUE OF.

=Small-arms.= Are portable fire-arms known as muskets, rifles, carbines, pistols, etc., and were first invented about the middle of the 14th century. At first they consisted simply of a tube of iron or copper, fired from a stand or support. They were loaded with leaden balls, and were touched off by a lighted match held in the hand. They weighed from 25 to 75 pounds, and consequently two men were required to serve them. The difficulty of loading these weapons, and the uncertainty of their effects, as regards range and accuracy, prevented them from coming rapidly into use, and the cross-bow was for a long time retained as the principal projectile weapon for infantry. The difficulty of aiming hand-cannon, arising from their great weight, was in a measure overcome by making them shorter, and supporting them on a tripod, by means of trunnions which rested on forks. This arm was called an _arquebuse_ (which see). The next improvement in the arquebuse was to make it lighter, and inclose it in a piece of wood called the _stock_, the butt of which was pressed against the left shoulder, while the right hand applied the match to the vent. It was still very heavy, and in aiming, the muzzle rested in the crotch of a fork placed in the ground. To give steadiness to the aim while applying the match to the priming, a species of lock was next devised, which consisted of a lever holding at its extremity a lighted match. In firing, the lever was pressed down with the finger until the lighted end of the match touched the priming. This apparatus, known as the _serpentine_, continued in use until it was replaced by the _wheel-lock_, which was invented in Nuremburg, in 1517. (See WHEEL-LOCK.) The _petronel_ was a wheel-lock arquebuse of larger caliber and lighter weight than its predecessors. See PETRONEL.

_Musket._--The musket was first introduced by the Spaniards, under Charles V. The original caliber of the musket was such that 8 round bullets weighed a pound; the piece was, consequently, so heavy that it was necessary to fire it from a forked rest inserted in the ground. The size of the bore was finally reduced to 18 bullets to the pound; and from this arm was derived the late smooth-bored rifle.

_Rifle._--It is generally stated that the rifle was invented by Gaspard Zoller, of Vienna, and that it first made its appearance at a target-practice at Leipsic, in 1498. The first rifle-grooves were made parallel to the axis of the bore, for the purpose of diminishing the friction of loading forced or tightly-fitting bullets. It was accidentally discovered, however, that spiral grooves gave greater accuracy to the flight of the projectile, but the science of the day was unable to assign a reason for this superiority, and the form, number, and twist of the grooves depended on the caprice of individual gunmakers. About 1600, the rifle began to be used as a military weapon for firing spherical bullets. In 1729, it was found that good results could be attained by using oblong projectiles of elliptical form. The great difficulty, however, of loading the rifle, which was ordinarily accomplished by the blows of a mallet on a stout iron ramrod, prevented it from being generally used in regular warfare. The improvements which have been made of late years have entirely overcome this difficulty, and rifles have now superseded the smooth-bored arms.

_Muzzle-loading Guns._--The following are among the most prominent muzzle-loading guns in use prior to 1860:

_The Lancaster Elliptic Rifle._--So called, although the elliptical rifle is very old. The bore in this rifle is slightly oblate; the twist found, by experience, to be most advantageous is one turn in 52 inches, the approved diameter of the bore .498 inch, the length of the barrel being 32 inches. An eccentricity of .01 inch in half an inch is found sufficient to make the bullet spin on its axis to the extreme verge of its flight. The length of the bullet found to answer best with these rifles is 2¹⁄₄ diameters in length, with a windage of four- or five-thousandths of an inch.

_Nuthall’s Rifle._--In the ordinary mode of grooving rifles, sharp angles are left between the groove and “land” (those parts of the smooth-bore left in their original state after the process of grooving has been completed). These create great friction with the projectile, both in loading and discharging. Maj. Nuthall removes these objections by rounding off the “lands” into the grooves, that is, making them a series of convex and concave curves, the bore assuming a beautiful appearance to the eye, for the smoothness and evenness with which the lands and grooves blend into each other.

_Enfield Rifle._--This rifle has three grooves, taking one complete turn in 78 inches, firing a bullet resembling the Minié, except that a wooden cup was substituted for one of iron. Its diameter is .577 of an inch, its bullet weighs 530 grains, and ranges with great accuracy for 800 yards, and fairly up to 1100. There are also Gen. Boileau’s rifle, and some others which our space will not admit of our noticing. The extraordinary efficacy of the breech-loading principles, especially in combination, have, however, only been very prominent during the wars of the last few years, and notably in the Prussian campaign of 1864 against Denmark, and of 1866 against Austria. The successes of the Prussian arms were attributed in no small degree to the rapidity with which their troops could fire as compared with the enemy. They had in greater or less numbers borne these same rifles since 1835, but these were the first opportunities of using them in warfare. To all other powers, whose men still carried muzzle-loading rifles, and who had debated, without practical result, for years past the question of armament with breech-loaders, soldiers thus armed appeared irresistible. From July, 1866, to the present moment, the hammer and the anvil have been busy throughout the civilized world in making the weapons of death yet more deadly. Scarcely two countries seem to have adopted the same plan: each nation has elaborated a system from among its own inventors. Those possessing no great reserve of rifles have prepared new arms, but the majority of governments have been content, in the first instance, to convert their existing stock into needle-firing breech-loaders of as good a construction as circumstances would permit. The advantage of breech-loading is obvious: to be able to insert the charge at the head of the barrel instead of at its mouth, is to save time and avoid exposure to hostile fire during the operation of loading and ramming home, which of necessity involves considerable outstretching of the limbs. The great condition of success is, that the bullet shall be propelled with equal force and with equal safety to the rifleman, as from the muzzle-loader. When a charge is ignited the constituents of the gunpowder, assuming a gaseous condition under the heat engendered, expand into a volume of light gas many times greater in bulk than the powder before occupied. On the amount of this expansion, and its sudden

## action on the projectile, the force of the shot depends. Any joint in

the breech-piece through which a portion of this gas can escape, without having imparted its thrust to the ball, tends, therefore, to lessen the range and penetration; while the shock of the explosion falling more severely on this than on any other part of the barrel, tends yet more to dislocate the breech-piece and diminish the closeness of the joint’s fit. In weapons which do not call for a long range, as revolvers and pistols, a perceptible interval is left between the chamber and barrel, through which much gas escapes; but in rifles, which have range and penetration as principal objects, there is _prima facie_ ground for preferring a muzzle-loader. The gas, however, is far from pure as generated in the barrel, for much water is produced and held in suspension, while there is also a solid residuum consisting of unburned materials of the powder. In the muzzle-loader, these clog (or, technically, foul) the barrel, filling the grooves and rendering the ramming home of succeeding charges more and more difficult. The effect is, that a solid mass of unburned matter is gradually forced by ramming into the head of the barrel, destroying the accuracy and usefulness of the weapon. In the breech-loader, this solid deposit must be provided against both ways. The backward throw on firing (for, of course, the charge explodes with equal power in every direction) tends to force it into the mechanism of the joints, preventing their proper fit, and continually augmenting the escape of gas. On the other hand, the deposit is prevented from accumulating in the barrel by the fact that succeeding charges are inserted behind it, and, by their explosion, force the solid matters out at the muzzle. Thus, in the matter of fouling, if the gases can be prevented from blocking up the breech-apparatus, the breech-loader has a great advantage over the muzzle-loader. This protection of the breech-apparatus is the problem which inventors have had to solve. The following are the most notable among breech-loading arms:

The American _Springfield_, model of 1873. The barrel is of “low steel,” caliber .45 inch, rifled with three concentric grooves of equal widths with the lands, and of the uniform depth of .005 of an inch, and uniform twist of one complete turn in 22 inches. The _lock-plate_ is 0.175 inch thick, and let in flush. The exterior metal-work is browned. An open swivel is attached to the upper band, for stacking arms, instead of locking bayonets, us heretofore; also a “trowel bayonet” and “intrenching tool.” Length of rifle-barrel including receiver, 36 inches; carbine, 25.4 inches. Length of rifle-bayonet, 18 inches; crook of stock, 2¹⁄₂ inches, and distance from butt to trigger, 13¹⁄₂ inches. Total length of rifle, without bayonet, 51.9; of carbine, 41.3 inches; weight of rifle without bayonet, 8.38 pounds; of carbine, 6.87 pounds. Trigger adjusted to pull at 6 to 8 pounds.

_Remington._--This is a magazine-gun, and belongs to that system in which a fixed chamber is closed by a bolt, by direct action, and in which the lock is concealed. The magazine is in the tip-stock, and carries 8 cartridges, which are brought into the chamber by the action of the trigger; the mechanism is so arranged that no more than one cartridge can enter the chamber at the same time. The magazine is loaded from below, and in any position of the bolt.

_Sharps._--See SHARPS RIFLE.

_Spencer._--A magazine-gun, holding 7 cartridges which are brought one by one into the chamber by a movement of the trigger-guard as a lever, which at the same time throws out the shell of the exploded cartridge. A new magazine can be inserted whenever the cartridges have been exhausted, or the magazine may be shut off and the rifle used as a single breech-loader.

_Winchester._--Same pattern as the Spencer.

_Snider Rifle._--So called from its inventor, the essential features of which are that the breech-block revolves around an axis on the right of and parallel to the axis of the bore, and the firing-pin passes obliquely from the nose of the hammer, through the breech-block, to the centre of the base of the cartridge. This was the first form of breech-loaders adopted by the British government, which in 1866 directed that the old Enfield muzzle-loaders should be altered to breech-loaders upon this system.

_Martini-Henry._--Adopted by the British government, has a breech-loading apparatus on the Martini system united to a barrel rifled on the system of Henry, a gunmaker of Scotland. Martini, a Swiss, derived his system of breech-loading from the Peabody system of the United States by dispensing with the independent outside lock and substituting therefor a spiral-spring firing-bolt or striker, inclosed in the breech-block; the number of grooves is seven; in shape they are flat at the bottom; the lands are narrow, having the appearance of sharp ribs, which are designed to take a firm hold of the bullet. It is understood that these grooves are made somewhat deeper at the breech than at the muzzle. The twist is one turn in 22 inches. There is a brass collar around the head of the ramrod to prevent injury to the bore in wiping out. The weight of the rifle is 8¹⁄₂ pounds; of bayonet 14¹⁄₂ ounces. The weight of rifle with bayonet attached 9 pounds 11 ounces.

_Mauser Rifle._--This rifle is used in Prussia, and is a modification of the Chassépot system, by which it is adapted to the use of the metallic gas-check cartridge. It was invented in 1871. The mechanism of this gun is much simpler than the needle-gun, and has a longer range.

_Chassépot Rifle._--The Chassépot rifle is used in France, and was introduced shortly after the Austro-Prussian war of 1866. In its principal features it resembled the Prussian needle-gun, inasmuch as the breech was closed with a sliding-bolt, and it fired a self-primed paper-case cartridge, which was ignited by a needle impelled by a spiral spring. Unlike the needle-gun, however, it was provided with a gas-check, which was of the form of a thick india-rubber disk or packing, attached to the end of the breech-bolt, and it possessed the modern improvements of reduced caliber and rapid twist of the rifle-grooves for obtaining great range and accuracy of fire. The Chassépot was the principal arm used by the French army during the German war. Since that time efforts have been made to adapt it to fire the modern metallic-case cartridge. The plan of alteration to this end adopted by the French authorities is that submitted by Capt. Gras of the French artillery committee. The length of the bore, including the chamber, is 32.28 inches; the length of the complete arm, without sabre-bayonet, is 50.8 inches; and with the bayonet it is about 72.0 inches. The weight with the bayonet is 10.3 pounds; without the bayonet, 8.9 pounds. The grooves are four in number, and of a width equal to that of the lands; the depth of the grooves is 0.0118 inch; the twist is one turn in 21.6 inches, and is from right to left instead of from left to right, according to the usual practice. The pull on the trigger is thought to disturb the aim by carrying the muzzle of the arm slightly to the right; the object of grooving the barrel to the left is to correct this disturbance by the drift which follows the direction of the twist. The initial velocity is stated to be 420 metres (about 1377 feet), and the effective range extends to 1700 yards, about one mile. The rapidity of fire is 15 times per minute. The Russian army is armed with two patterns of _Berdan_ breech-loaders. One lot of 30,000, in which the breech-block swings upward and forward, was manufactured by the Colt’s Patent Fire-Arms Company, Hartford, Conn., and a second lot of 30,000 on a sliding breech-bolt system made in Birmingham, England. The latter-named arm was adopted for the entire Russian army. The following are the principal dimensions: Diameter of bore (caliber), 0.42 inch; length of barrel, 30.43 inches; total length of arm without bayonet, 50.38 inches; length of arm with bayonet, 70.38 inches; number of grooves, 6; twist, one turn in 20 inches; weight of arm with bayonet, 9.75 pounds.

_Vetterlin Rifle._--Is a repeating rifle used in the Swiss service, and is a Swiss invention, the peculiarity of which is the union of a cartridge magazine with a sliding-bolt-breech system. The following are the principal dimensions: Caliber, 0.41 inch; number of grooves, 4; depth of grooves, 0.0086 inch; width of grooves, 0.0177 inch; twist of grooves, 26 inches; length of barrel, 33.14 inches; length of arm without bayonet, 51.18 inches; length of arm with bayonet, 70.08 inches; weight of arm without bayonet, 10.14 pounds; with bayonet, 11.02; weight of rifle with magazine filled, 12.12 pounds; initial velocity, 1341 feet.

_Werndl Rifle._--Adopted in the Austrian service in place of the alteration of Wanzl, is the invention of Joseph Werndl, a gun manufacturer of Styria, and is applied to muskets, carbines, and pistols. The breech-block in this system vibrates around an axis parallel to and below the axis of the bore prolonged to the rear of the chamber. The barrel of the musket is made of cast steel. Its length is 33.14 inches, including the chamber, which is 2.07 inches. Its weight is 3.83 pounds. The rifle-grooves are six in number, and their depth is 0.007 inch. The lands are 0.07 inch wide, and the grooves 0.15 inch. The twist is one turn in 28.5 inches. The total length of arm, including sabre-bayonet, 73.0 inches, while its weight, including the bayonet, is about 11.5 pounds; without the bayonet the length is 50.5 inches, and the weight 9.85 pounds. The barrel, bands, and sights are browned.

_Werder Rifle._--Adopted in 1869 for the Bavarian army, is the invention of J. L. Werder of Nuremberg, and is known as the Werder system. It belongs to the class of falling breech-blocks, of which the Peabody may be considered the exponent in this country. It differs, however, from this and most other guns of this class, as the breech-block is opened and closed by the hammer instead of the lever-guard, giving, as claimed, greater safety and ease of manipulation, especially when the soldier loads lying on the ground. The rifle-grooves are four in number, their depth is 0.0075, and twist is one turn in 22 inches. The diameter of the bore is 0.435; the length of the barrel, including chamber, but exclusive of breech-frame, is 35.0; the weight of the arm without bayonet, 9.75 pounds. The breech-loaders with and without the needle-arrangement are too numerous to mention, but the most notable are given above. See MAGAZINE GUNS, and LYMAN’S MULTI-CHARGE GUN.

_Revolver._--In fire-arms, is a weapon which, by means of a revolving breech, or revolving barrels, can be made to fire more than once without reloading. The invention is very far from new, specimens, with even the present system of rotation, being still in existence, which were manufactured at the beginning of the 17th century. Probably the first revolver to suggest itself was one in which several barrels were mounted on an axis, and made to revolve by the action of the trigger, so that their powder-pans came successively under the action of the lock. This principle was never entirely abandoned, and in the reign of George IV. was produced a pistol called the “Mariette,” which had from 4 to 24 small barrels bored in a solid mass of metal, made to revolve as the trigger was drawn back. At close quarters, such a pistol would doubtless have been useful; but its great weight and cumbrous mechanism rendered aim extremely unsteady. Contemporaneously from the first with the revolving barrels, went the formation of a revolving chamber or breech, pierced with several cylindrical apertures to receive the charges. Being made to revolve, each motion brought a chamber into line with the one barrel, common to all, whereupon the weapon was ready for use. Numerous patents for this principle have been taken out, including one by the celebrated Marquis of Worcester in 1661. Various improvements were made, especially in the mode of causing revolution; an American patented such a weapon in the United States and England about 1818. In 1835, Col. Samuel Colt brought to a conclusion experiments of some years’ standing, and patented his world-renowned Colt’s revolver, which was a great advance on all previous attempts, and is substantially still in use. The fame attached to Colt’s revolvers renders them so well known as to require but little introduction necessary. This make is now extensively used in the United States, and indeed in almost every country of the world, and seems not to lose favor anywhere. The barrel is rifle-bored. The lever-ramrod renders wadding or patch unnecessary, and secures the charge against moisture, or becoming loose by rough handling or hard riding. The hammer, when at full cock, forms the sight by which to take aim, and is readily raised at full cock by the thumb, with one hand. The movements of the revolving chamber and hammer are ingeniously arranged and combined. The breech, containing six cylindrical cells for holding the powder and ball, moves one-sixth of a revolution at a time; it can only be fired when the chamber and the barrel are in a direct line. The base of the cylinder being cut externally into a circular ratchet of six teeth (the lever which moves the ratchet being attached to the hammer); as the hammer is raised in the act of cocking, the cylinder is made to revolve, and to revolve in one direction only; while the hammer is falling the chamber is firmly held in position by a lever fitted for the purpose; when the hammer is raised the lever is removed, and the chamber is released. So long as the hammer remains at half-cock, the chamber is free and can be loaded at pleasure. Col. Colt has improved on this patent. Revolvers made by Remington, Smith & Wesson, Daw, Adams & Dean, and others, are mostly on the same principle as the Colt.

=Smart-money.= In England, the money which was paid by the person who had taken the enlisting money, in order to get released from an engagement entered into previous to a regular enlistment. Also, money allowed to soldiers or sailors in the British service for wounds or injuries received.

=Smite.= To destroy the life of by beating, or by weapons of any kind; to slay by a blow; to kill; as, to smite one with the sword, or with an arrow or other weapon. Also, to beat or put to rout in battle; to destroy or overthrow by war.

=Smoke-ball.= Is a hollow sphere similar to a light-ball, and filled with a composition which emits a dense, nauseous smoke; it is employed to suffocate the enemy’s miners when at work, or to conceal one’s own operations; it burns from 25 to 30 minutes.

=Smolensk.= A fortified town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name, 250 miles west-southwest from Moscow. The French in a most sanguinary engagement here were three times repulsed, but ultimately succeeded in entering Smolensk, and found the city which had been bombarded burning and partly in ruins, August 16-17, 1812. Barclay de Tolly, the Russian commander-in-chief, incurred the displeasure of the emperor Alexander because he retreated after the battle, and Kutusoff succeeded to the command.

=Smooth-bore Projectile.= See PROJECTILE, SPHERICAL PROJECTILES.

=Smyrna.= One of the most ancient and important cities of Asia Minor, and the only one of the Greek cities on the western coast which has retained its name and importance to the present day. At an early period it fell into the hands of the Ionians of Colophon; it became a member of the Panionic Confederacy. Its early history is obscure; but thus much is clear, however, that at some period the old city of Smyrna, which stood on the northeast side of the Hermaean Gulf (now the Gulf of Smyrna), was abandoned, and that it was succeeded by a new city, on the southeast side of the same gulf (the present site), which is said to have been built by Antigonus. It had a magnificent harbor, the largest ships could lie alongside the quays. In the civil wars it was taken and partly destroyed by Dolabella, but it soon recovered. In the successive wars under the Eastern empire it was frequently much injured, but always recovered. After various vicissitudes during the Middle Ages, the city fell finally into the hands of the Turks, in whose possession it has since remained.

=Snaffle-bit.= A kind of slender bit, having a joint in the part to be placed in the mouth.

=Snaphance.= An old musket of the 17th and first half of the 18th centuries, called also _asnaphan_. See GUN.

=Snare-drum.= The smaller, common military drum, as distinguished from the bass-drum;--so called because (in order to render it more resonant) there is stretched across its lower head a catgut string, or collection of strings.

=Snick and Snee.= A combat with knives such as the Dutch carry.

=Snider Rifle.= See SMALL-ARMS.

=Soanes.= A powerful people of the Caucasus, governed by a king who could bring 200,000 soldiers into the field. They are also called Suani and Suanocolchi.

=Sobraon.= A town of Northwest India, on the left bank of the Sutlej, 25 miles east-northeast of Ferozpur (or Ferozepoore), near which, on February 10, 1846, a most obstinate battle was fought between the British army under Sir Hugh Gough and a Sikh force numbering about 35,000. The Sikhs were strongly intrenched, and vigorously resisted the attacks of their opponents, but the courage and perseverance of the latter ultimately gave them the mastery; the various earthworks were captured in succession, and the Sikhs driven across the Sutlej, with a loss in killed, wounded, and drowned of 13,000. Gough immediately followed up his victory by crossing into the Punjab in pursuit of the fleeing enemy.

=Social War.= A celebrated contest between the Socii of Italy and the city of Rome, which lasted from 91 B.C. till 89, and was the most formidable war ever carried on in Italy during the dominion of the Romans. It arose from the desire of the Italians to be placed on a footing of equality with the Romans. Nearly 300,000 lives were sacrificed in the contest, and numerous towns destroyed. The senate of Rome were at length compelled to grant the franchise and all other privileges, which they at first absolutely refused to the Italians.

=Socket.= Generally means any hollow pipe that receives something inserted.

=Socket of a Bayonet.= The round hollow near the bent or heel of a bayonet, into which the muzzle of a fire-arm is received when the bayonet is fixed.

=Sogdiana.= The northeastern province of the ancient Persian empire, separated on the south from Bactriana and Margiana by the upper course of the Oxus; on the east and north from Scythia by the Sogdii Comedarum and Oxii Mountains, and by the upper course of the Iaxartes, and bounded on the northwest by the great deserts east of the Sea of Aral. It was conquered by Cyrus, and afterwards by Alexander. After the Macedonian conquest it was subject to the kings, first of Syria and then of Bactria, till it was overrun by the barbarians. The natives of the country were a wild, warlike people of the great Arian race, resembling the Bactrians in their character and customs.

=Soissons= (anc. _Noviodunum_, subsequently _Augusta Suessonum_). A town of France, in the department of Aisne, on the banks of the river Aisne, about 65 miles northeast of Paris. It was subdued by Julius Cæsar, 57 B.C.; held by Syagrius, after his father Ægidius, till his defeat by Clovis, 486.

=Solaks.= Were bowmen or archers belonging to the personal guard of the grand seignor. They were always selected from the most expert bowmen that were among the Janissaries. Their only arms were the sabre, bow, and arrows.

=Soldan.= The title of the lieutenant-generals of the caliphs, which they bore in their provinces and armies. These officers afterwards made themselves sovereigns. Saladin, general of the forces of King Noureddin of Damascus, was the first that took upon him this title in Egypt, 1165, after having killed the caliph Caym.

=Soldier.= Is one who enters into an obligation to some chieftain or government to devote for a specified period his whole energies, and even if necessary his life itself, to the furtherance of the policy of that chief or government. The consideration may be immediate pay, or prospective reward; or the contract may be merely an act of loyal devotion. The acknowledgment of the service by the employer constitutes the man a recognized soldier, and empowers him to take life in open warfare, without being liable to the penalties of an assassin and a robber. The fact of being mercenary--that is, of receiving wages for killing and being killed--does not render a soldier’s trade less honorable. He bears arms that others may be able to do without them; he is precluded by the exigencies of military training from maintaining himself by peaceful occupation; and it is therefore but fair that those whom he protects should support him, and give him, over and above actual maintenance, reasonable wages for the continual risk of his life. If a man willingly enlist himself as a soldier in what he believes to be an unrighteous cause, it is an act of moral turpitude; but when once enlisted, the soldier ceases to be morally responsible for the justice or iniquity of the war he wages; that rests with his employer. Obedience, implicit and entire, is his sole virtue. The maxim is, “The military force never deliberates, but always obeys.” _Brother soldier_ is a term of affection which is commonly used by one who serves under the same banners, and fights for the same cause, with another. In a more extensive signification, it means any military man with respect to another.

=Soldier of Fortune.= During the frequent wars which occurred in Italy, before the military profession became so generally prevalent in Europe, it was usual for men of enterprise and reputation to offer their services to the different states that were engaged. They were originally called _condottieri_, or leaders of reputation. They afterwards extended their sphere of action, and under the title of _soldiers of fortune_, sought for employment in every country or state that would pay them.

=Soldiering.= The estate of being a soldier; the occupation of a soldier.

=Soldierly.= Like, or becoming, a real soldier; brave; martial; heroic; honorable.

=Soldiers’ Friend.= A term in the military service which is generally applied to such officers as pay the strictest attention to their men; granting them reasonable indulgences without injuring the service; seeing their wants relieved; and, above all things, enforcing just dealings and the most prompt settlements. There is much confidence in the multitude when they are justly dealt by, and every soldier fights well under the guidance of a soldiers’ friend.

=Soldiers’ Homes.= In the United States, are homes of a permanent character established by the general government for the benefit of old soldiers, or men who were disabled in the military service of their country. The “Soldiers’ Home,” which is situated about 3¹⁄₂ miles from the Capitol of Washington, was founded in compliance with provisions of act of Congress dated March 3, 1851. It contains about 470 acres, some of which is cultivated for garden produce, flowers, etc., and the remainder forms a magnificent park. In 1848, Gen. Scott forwarded to the Secretary of War the sum of $118,791.19, levied on Mexico during the war with that country, for the benefit of the soldiers of the U. S. army, and he requested that this amount might be set aside for the construction of an army asylum. The following funds are also set apart for the maintenance of the “Soldiers’ Home”: All stoppages or fines adjudged against soldiers by sentence of courts-martial, over and above any amount that may be due for the reimbursement of government or individuals; all forfeitures on account of desertion; and all moneys belonging to the estate of deceased soldiers, which are now or may hereafter be unclaimed for the period of three years subsequent to the death of said soldier or soldiers, to be repaid by the commissioners of the institution, upon the demand of the heirs or legal representatives of the deceased; also the sum of 12¹⁄₂ cents per month is stopped from every non-commissioned officer, musician, artificer, and private of the U. S. army. The following persons, members of the “Soldiers’ Home,” are entitled to the rights and benefits of the institution, viz.: Every soldier of the army of the United States who has served, or may serve, honestly and faithfully, twenty years in the same, and every discharged soldier, who has suffered by reason of disease or wounds incurred in the service and in the line of his duty, rendering him incapable of further military service, if such disability has not been occasioned by his own misconduct. No deserter, mutineer, or habitual drunkard is received into the institution without such evidence of subsequent service, good conduct, and reformation of character as the commissioners may deem sufficient to authorize his admission. There are three commissioners designated to administer the affairs of the asylum, namely, the commissary-general of subsistence, the surgeon-general, and the adjutant-general, whose duty it is to examine and audit the accounts of the treasurer quarter-yearly, and to visit and inspect the “Home” at least once in every month. The officers of the institution consist of a governor, a deputy governor, and a secretary and treasurer, who, with a medical officer, are detailed from the active or retired list of the army. Inmates of this institution receive a small allowance of pocket-money per month, and they are also paid for any labor they can perform. About $8 per month is allowed to old soldiers, who, having families, are permitted to live elsewhere than at the “Home.” There was also incorporated by the act of Congress dated March 3, 1865, “the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers,” which consists of the central asylum, at Dayton, Ohio, the eastern branch at Augusta, Me., and the northwestern branch at Milwaukee, Wis. This asylum is kept up by annual appropriations of Congress. There are similar institutions for old and disabled soldiers in Europe. See ASYLUM, ROYAL MILITARY, and HÔTEL DES INVALIDES.

=Soldiers’ Thigh.= When tight breeches were worn in the British army, the term had its peculiar military application, from the notorious poverty of army men. _Soldiers’ thigh_ figuratively meant an empty purse; or speaking familiarly, a pair of breeches that sit close and look smooth, because the pockets have nothing in them.

=Soldiership.= A term which is rarely used; it means military qualities; military character or state; martial skill; behavior becoming a soldier.

=Soldiery.= A body of soldiers collectively considered; the military. “A camp of faithful soldiery.”

=Solduriers= (_Fr._). A term anciently used among the French, to signify those persons who attached themselves to some particular general or military knight, whose fortunes they followed, in consequence of being paid and supported by him.

=Sole.= The bottom or lower surface of an embrasure.

=Solferino.= A village of Northern Italy, province of Brescia, 20 miles northeast from Mantua. Here, in 1796, the French conquered the Austrians, and on June 24, 1859, it was again the scene of an overwhelming victory obtained by the French and Italians over the Austrians.

=Soli.= An ancient town of Asia Minor, on the coast of Cilicia. In the war between Mithridates and the Romans, Soli was destroyed by Tigranes, but subsequently rebuilt by Pompey, who settled there many of the pirates whom he had captured, and called the town after himself, Pompeiapolis.

=Solicinium.= A town in Roman Germany, on the mountain Pirus, where Valentinian gained a victory over the Alemanni in 369, probably in the neighborhood of the modern Heidelberg.

=Solid Shot.= See PROJECTILE.

=Solid Square.= A square body of troops; a body in which the ranks and files are equal.

=Sollerets= (_Fr._). Armor for the feet.

=Somma.= A town of Italy, Lombardy, not far from the Tecino, near the foot of Lake Maggiore, 27 miles northwest of Milan. It was near Somma that Hannibal gained his first victory on Italian ground, completely defeating the Romans under Scipio, 218 B.C.

=Somnauth=, or =Somnath-Putten=. A town of Guzerat, in Hindostan, is situated on the southwest coast of the peninsula of Kattywar. In 1024, Mahmud of Ghizni, the zealous idol-destroyer, appeared before Somnauth, drove its defenders to take refuge in the temple, where they defended themselves with such valor that Mahmud’s army was forced to retreat; but the subsequent rout of two Hindu armies which had advanced to the aid of the sacred city so dispirited the defenders, that Somnauth was immediately surrendered, the idol destroyed, and the enormous wealth of the temple carried off, along with the gates of the temple.

=Songhay.= A former kingdom of Africa. In 1468-1469 the ruler of Songhay marched upon Timbuctoo, and conquered the town and surrounding state. Under Háj Mohammed Askia, who came into power at the end of the 15th century, and who was perhaps the greatest sovereign that ever ruled over Negroland, the Songhay empire extended from Hausa almost to the shores of the Atlantic, and from lat. 12° N. to the confines of Morocco. After many years of revolution and civil war, this great empire became a province of Morocco in 1607.

=Sonthals.= A tribe of Northern India, brought to Bengal about 1830, where they prospered, till, partly from the instigation of a fanatic, and partly from the exactions of money-lenders, they broke out into rebellion in July, 1855, and committed fearful outrages. They were quite subdued early in 1856, and many were removed to the newly-conquered province of Pegu.

=Sooloo=, or =Suluk Islands=. A group of the East Indian Archipelago. The sultan of Sooloo and his subordinate chiefs were formerly notorious for their piracy, and kept up a large fleet for that purpose; but their power was entirely broken by the Spaniards in 1851.

=Sora.= A town of Naples, in the province of Terra di Lavoro, 15 miles east-northeast from Frosinone. Sora was originally a Volscian city; was seized by the Romans in 345 B.C., and subsequently made a colony; but in 315 the inhabitants rose against the Romans, and joined their enemies, the Samnites. It was not finally secured as a Roman colony till the end of the second Samnite war in 303.

=Sorn.= Formerly a servile tenure in Scotland, by which a chieftain might, with his followers, live upon his tenants at free quarters.

=Sorties= (Fr. _sortir_). In a siege, parties who sally out of a town secretly to annoy the besiegers, and retard their operations.

=Sottiates=, or =Sotiates=. A powerful and warlike people in Gallia Aquitanica, on the frontiers of Gallia Narbonensis, were subdued by P. Crassus, Cæsar’s legate, after a hard-fought battle. The modern _Sos_ probably represents the ancient town of this people.

=Sound.= The velocity of sound in the air, at the temperature of 32° Fahr., is about 1090 feet in a second. It is increased or diminished 1.07 feet for each degree of temperature above or below 32°. The distance of an object can be ascertained by the report of fire-arms, by observing the number of seconds that elapse between the flash and the report of a gun, and multiplying the number by the velocity of sound in air.

=Sound, To.= To betoken or direct by a sound; as, to sound the retreat; sound the assembly, etc.

=Sourabaya=, =Soerabaya=, =Soorabaya=, or =Surabaya=. A large seaport town of Java, on the northeast coast. When the French had possession of Java, the French government resolved to make Sourabaya a port of consequence. Gen. Daendels expended large sums in the construction of works for the defense of the harbor, and was proceeding in his plans when the island was taken by the British.

=South Carolina.= An Atlantic State of the American Union, of a triangular form, with North Carolina and Georgia on its inland sides. It is said to have been discovered by Sebastian Cabot in 1498, or by De Leon in 1512, and to be permanently settled by the English about 1660. The province was divided into North and South in 1729. The Carolinas were slave States. Great excitement prevailed in them in November, 1860, on account of Mr. Abraham Lincoln’s election to the presidency of the United States, he being strongly opposed to slavery. South Carolina began the secession from the United States December 20, 1861. The State was restored to the Union in June, 1868. This State took an active part in the civil war (1861-65), on the Confederate side. See CHARLESTON, COLUMBIA, MORRIS ISLAND, MOULTRIE, FORT SUMTER, etc.

=Southern Confederacy.= See CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.

=Sow.= A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping or mining the wall, and the like. It had its name from its being used for rooting up the earth like swine, or because the soldiers therein were like pigs under a sow.

=Sowar.= A trooper in an Indian cavalry regiment.

=Space.= A quantity or portion of extension; the interval between any two or more objects; as, the space between ranks.

=Spadroon.= A sword much lighter than a broadsword, and made both to cut and thrust.

=Spahis.= Were the cavaliers furnished by the holders of military fiefs to the Turkish army, and formed the _élite_ of its cavalry. The Spahis along with the Janissaries owe their organization primarily to Orchan, the second of the Ottoman sultans, finally to Sultan Amurath I., and when levied _en masse_ could number 140,000, but such a levy was very seldom called for. In the field they were divided into two classes, distinguished by the color (red and yellow) of their standards. One class had pistols and carbines, the other bows and arrows, and both carried a sabre, lance, and _jerid_, or javelin. They were excellent irregular troops; but when European organization was introduced into the Turkish army, they were replaced (1826) by regular horse. At the present time the French have numerous regiments of Spahis, raised from among the native tribes of Algeria and from France in about equal proportions; the dress, especially of the indigenous soldiers, partakes very much of the Arab character. The natives are allowed to rise to any grade below that of captain; but all the superior officers are of French descent.

=Spain.= A kingdom of Europe, occupying the larger portion of the great peninsula which forms the southwestern corner of the European continent, reaching farther south than any other European country, and farther west than any except Portugal. Spain, the _Spania_, _Hispania_, and _Iberia_ of the Greeks, and known to the Romans by the same names, was inhabited at the period at which it first receives historical mention, by a people deriving their origin from different races. It is supposed to have been originally inhabited by a distinct race called Iberians; upon whom, however, a host of Celts are supposed to have descended from the Pyrenees. In the earliest times of which we have any record, these two races had already coalesced and formed the mixed nation of the Celtiberians. The Phœnicians and Carthaginians successively planted colonies on the coasts of Spain about 360 B.C.; and the Romans conquered the whole country, 206 B.C., which they erected into a Roman province, consisting of two political divisions,--_Hispania Citerior_ (Hither Spain) and _Hispania Ulterior_ (Farther Spain). From the time of the complete supremacy of the Romans till the death of Constantine, the condition of Spain was eminently prosperous. In 409, hordes of barbarians, Alans, Vandals, and Suevi, crossed the Pyrenees, and swept over and desolated the peninsula; about 412, the Visigoths invaded the country, and their king, Athaulf, who acknowledged a nominal dependence on the Roman emperor, established the Gothic monarchy in Catalonia. The battle of Xerxes in 711 gave the Moors almost undisputed mastery of nearly the whole of Spain, as well as of the outlying Gothic province of Septimania (Languedoc) in Franco. The Moors held Spain, for the first few years of their rule, as a dependency of the province of North Africa; but, after the downfall of Muza and his son Abd-el-aziz, who had been the deputy-governor of Spain, the country was governed (1717) by emirs appointed by the caliph of Damascus. The favorite scheme pursued by the Spanish emirs was the extension of their conquests into Gaul, to the neglect of the rising power of the Goths in Asturias; they also took the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Corsica, and part of Apulia and Calabria; but their northward progress was signally checked on the plain of Tours by Charles Martel. Anarchy and bloodshed were prominent features of the first forty years of Mohammedan rule in Spain. Within this period of forty years, no fewer than twenty emirs had been called to the direction of affairs; but a revolution at Damascus, which unseated the Ommiades, and placed the Abbasides in possession of the caliphate, put an end to this state of misrule in Spain. The Moors at length suffered a great defeat at Tarifa, by Alfonso XI. of Castile in 1340, and nearly the whole Christian dominions of Spain were united in one monarchy in 1479; but the power of the Moors was not finally extirpated until 1492, when Spain was consolidated into one empire from the Pyrenees to the Strait of Gibraltar. But the expulsion of the Moors and Jews was productive of the direst results, and the decline of the splendid Spanish empire may be said to have had its origin in the event which raised the country to the height of its magnificence. In the reign of Charles I., Mexico and Peru were added to the possessions of Spain. Philip II., by his enormous war expenditure and maladministration, laid a sure foundation for the decline of the country; and the reigns of Philip III. and Philip IV. witnessed a fearful acceleration in the decline of Spain by the contests with the Dutch, and with the German Protestants in the Thirty Years’ War, the intermeddling in the affairs of Northern Italy, the rebellion of the Catalans, the wars with France, and the rebellion of Portugal (1640), which had been united to Spain by Philip II. That of Charles II. was still more unfortunate, and the death of the latter was the occasion of the War of the Spanish Succession. (See SUCCESSION WARS.) During the inglorious reign of Charles IV. (1788-1808), a war broke out with Britain, which was productive of nothing but disaster to the Spaniards, and by the pressure of the French another arose in 1804, and was attended with similar ill success. Charles abdicated in favor of his eldest son, the prince of the Asturias, who ascended the throne as Ferdinand VII. Forced by Napoleon to resign all claims to the Spanish throne, Ferdinand became a prisoner of the French in the year of his accession, and in the same year Joseph, the brother of the French emperor, was declared king of Spain. But an armed resistance was organized throughout the whole country, and the supreme junta, that of Seville, declared war against Napoleon and France on June 6, 1808. In July, England, on solicitation, made peace with Spain, recognized Ferdinand VII. as king, and sent an army to aid the Spanish insurrection. This war lasted until the beginning of 1814, when the allied armies of England, Spain, and Portugal were thoroughly victorious. For important events which took place during this war, see appropriate headings in this work. Ferdinand VII. treated the subjects who had shown him devoted loyalty with infamous ingratitude, and subsequently obtained the aid of France to establish despotism. The reign of his daughter Isabella II. was disturbed by the Carlist rebellion in 1834-39, in which the British aided the queen with an army under Sir De Lacy Evans. The next events of importance were the contest between Espartero, the regent, and Queen-dowager Christina, for the supreme power during the minority of the queen; Espartero’s flight before O’Donnell and Narvaez (1843); his restoration in 1847; banishment of Queen Christina (1854); formation of the O’Donnell ministry (1858); war with Morocco and annexation of St. Domingo (1861); war with Peru and Chili (1864-65), and permanent truce in 1871; Prince Amadeus of Savoy declared king in December, 1870; abdication, February, 1873; insurrection of Don Carlos, 1873-76, when Prince Alfonso, son of Queen Isabella, became king. For more specific history of provinces and cities of Spain, see appropriate headings.

=Spancelled.= In heraldry, a term applied to a horse, two of whose legs are fettered by a log of wood.

=Spandau.= A fortified town of Prussia, in the province of Brandenburg, 7 miles west from Berlin. It was taken by the Swedes in 1631, and by the French in 1806.

=Spanish Fury, The.= A name given, in history, to the attack upon Antwerp by the Spaniards, November 4, 1576, which resulted in the pillage and burning of the place, and a monstrous massacre of the inhabitants.

=Spanish War of Succession.= See SUCCESSION WARS.

=Spare-pole.= See ORDNANCE.

=Spare-pole Key.= See ORDNANCE.

=Spare-pole Ring.= See ORDNANCE.

=Spare-wheel Axle.= See ORDNANCE.

=Sparta.= Also called Lacedæmon, the capital of Laconia and the chief city of Peloponnesus, was situated on the right bank of the Eurotas (now _Iri_), about 20 miles from the sea. Sparta was never surrounded by walls, since the bravery of its citizens and the difficulty of access to it were supposed to render such defense needless. In the mythical period, Argos was the chief city in Peloponnesus, and Sparta is represented as subject to it. The Dorian conquest of Peloponnesus, which, according to tradition, took place eighty years after the Trojan war, made Sparta the capital of the country. The oldest inhabitants of the country maintained themselves at Amyclæ, which was not conquered for a long time. From various causes the Spartans became distracted by intestine quarrels, till at length Lycurgus gave a new constitution to the state. This constitution laid the foundation of Sparta’s greatness. She soon became aggressive, and gradually extended her sway over the greater part of Peloponnesus. In 743 B.C. the Spartans attacked Messenia, and after a war of twenty years subdued this country. In 685 the Messenians again took up arms, but at the end of seventeen years were again completely subdued, and their country from this time forward became an integral part of Laconia. After the close of the second Messenian war, the Spartans continued their conquests in Peloponnesus. They defeated the Tegeans, and wrested the district of Thyreæ from the Argives. At the time of the Persian invasion they were confessedly the first people in Greece; and to them was granted by unanimous consent the chief command in war. But after the final defeat of the Persians, the haughtiness of Pausanias, king of Sparta, disgusted most of the Greek states, and led them to transfer the supremacy to Athens (477). From this time the power of Athens steadily increased, and Sparta possessed little influence outside of the Peloponnesus. The Spartans made several attempts to check the rising greatness of Athens, and their jealousy of the latter led at length to the Peloponnesian war (431). This war ended in the overthrow of Athens, and the restoration of the supremacy of Sparta over the rest of Greece (404). But the Spartans did not retain this supremacy more than thirty years. Their decisive defeat by the Thebans, under Epaminondas, at the battle of Leuctra (371), gave the Spartan power a shock from which it never recovered; and the restoration of the Messenians to their country two years afterward completed the humiliation of Sparta. Thrice was the Spartan territory invaded by the Thebans, and the Spartan women saw for the first time the watch-fires of an enemy’s camp. The Spartans now finally lost their supremacy over Greece; and about thirty years afterward the greater part of Greece was obliged to yield to Philip of Macedon. The Spartans, however, kept haughtily aloof from the Macedonian conqueror, and refused to take part in the Asiatic expedition of his son, Alexander the Great. The power of Sparta continued to decline until the beginning of the reign of Cleomenes III. (236), whose reforms for a time infused new blood into the state, and for a short time he carried on war with success against the Achæans. But Aratus, the general of the Achæans, called in the assistance of Antigonus Doson, king of Macedonia, who defeated Cleomenes at the decisive battle of Sellasia (221), and followed up his success by the capture of Sparta. Sparta now sank into insignificance, and was ruled by a succession of native tyrants, till at length it was compelled to abolish its peculiar institutions, and to join the Achæan League. Shortly afterward it fell, with the rest of Greece, under the Roman power. The Spartans were a race of stern, cruel, resolute, rude, and narrow-minded warriors, capable of a momentary self-sacrificing patriotism, but utterly destitute of the capacity for adopting or appreciating a permanently noble and wise policy.

=Spartans.= See SPARTA.

=Sparthe.= An Anglo-Saxon term for a halbert or battle-axe.

=Sparum.= A kind of dart, which was used by the ancients in war, and was shot out of a cross-bow. The wound it occasioned was extremely dangerous, as its point was triangular. Several of these darts were discharged in a volley.

=Spatterdashes.= Were a kind of covering for the legs of soldiers, made of cloth, or coarse linen waxed over, and buttoned tight, by which the wet was kept off.

=Spatts.= Were a kind of spatterdashes, that reached only a little above the ankle.

=Spayade.= In heraldry, a stag in his third year; a spay.

=Spear.= A lance or long weapon with a sharp point, formerly used as a manual or missile weapon. Pliny ascribes the invention of the spear to the Etolians. The spear of the Greeks was generally of ash, with a leaf-shaped head of metal, and furnished with a pointed ferrule at the butt, with which it was stuck in the ground; a method used, according to Homer, when the troops rested on their arms, or slept upon their shields. The cross spear-heads of the Britons were all pyramidal, narrowing at the base. The heads of the Anglo-Saxon spears were exceedingly long, and sometimes dreadfully barbed.

=Spear-hand.= The hand in which a horseman holds a spear; the right hand.

=Spear-head.= The pointed end of a spear.

=Spearman.= One who is armed with a spear.

=Special Duty.= Soldiers may be employed on duties not strictly military, when the exigencies of the service require it, for the reason that they are incident to the operations of an army; as, mechanics, laborers, cooks, and attendants in hospitals, clerks, scouts, etc. Soldiers when detailed on these duties are generally reported on special or extra duty, but are required to attend the regular inspections and musters, and if not proficient in drill, should be required to attend drills until they know their duties as soldiers. Officers when placed on duty which temporarily relieves them from duty with their companies, as

## acting commissaries and quartermasters, or on court-martial duty, etc.,

are reported on special duty.

=Special Orders.= See ORDERS, SPECIAL.

=Specific Gravity.= See GRAVITY.

=Specification.= The designation of particulars; particular mention; as, the specification of a charge against a military officer. A written statement containing a minute description or enumeration of particulars, as of charges against officers or soldiers.

=Speen.= A parish of England, in Berkshire, 2 miles from Newbury, in which the second battle of Newbury was fought, October 27, 1646.

=Spencer Rifle.= See SMALL-ARMS, and MAGAZINE GUNS.

=Spend.= This term is sometimes used in military matters to express the consumption of anything; as, to spend all your ammunition.

=Spent Ball.= A ball shot from a fire-arm, which reaches an object without having sufficient force to penetrate it.

=Speyer=, also =Speier=. The capital of Rhenish Bavaria (the former Palatinate), and one of the oldest towns in Germany, stands at the influx of the Speyerbach in the Rhine 23 miles north of Carlsruhe. During the Orleans Succession war--well called by the Germans the _Mordbrenner Krieg_--the whole Palatinate was savagely wasted, Speyer was taken by the French, its inhabitants driven out, and the city blown up with gunpowder and burned to the ground. Only the cathedral resisted the barbarous efforts to mine it. In 1794, it was wasted by the French under Custine, and has never recovered from these calamities.

=Spherical Bullets.= See PROJECTILE.

=Spherical Case-Shot.= A spherical case-shot consists of a thin shell of cast iron, containing a number of musket-balls, and a charge of powder sufficient to burst it; a fuze is fixed to it as in an ordinary shell, by which the charge is ignited and the shell burst at any particular instant. A spherical case-shot, when loaded ready for use, has about the same specific gravity as a solid shot, and therefore, when fixed with the service charge of powder, its range, and its velocity at any point in its range, is about equal to that of a solid shot of the same caliber. The spherical case mostly used for field service is the 12-pounder, and contains, when loaded, 90 bullets. Its bursting charge is 1 ounce of powder, and it weighs 11.75 pounds. Its rupture may be made to take place at any point in its flight, and it is therefore superior to grape or canister. The attrition of the balls with which it is loaded, formerly endangered the firing of the bursting charge. This is now obviated, in making one mass of the balls, by pouring in melted sulphur. It is also prevented by Capt. Boxer’s improved spherical case-shot, of which there are two forms. In one form the bursting charge of powder is contained in a cylindrical tin box, attached to a brass socket which receives the fuze, and which is screwed into the shell. In the other, the part of the shell containing the bursting charge is separated from that containing the bullets by a diaphragm of sheet-iron, cast into the shell (_i.e._, the shell is cast on to the diaphragm which is inserted into the core). The bullets are introduced into the shell by a second orifice, and are kept in their places by a composition afterwards poured in. The present 12-pounder spherical case-shot, fixed with a charge of 2¹⁄₂ pounds of powder, is effective at 1500 yards. The proper position of the point of rupture varies from 50 to 130 yards in front of, and from 15 to 20 feet above, the object. The mean number of destructive pieces from a 12-pounder spherical case-shot, which may strike a target 9 feet high and 54 feet long, at a distance of 800 yards, is 30. The spherical case-shot from rifle-cannon is said to be effective at over 2000 yards. Spherical case should not be used at a less distance than 500 yards.

=Spicheren=, or =Speicheren=. See SAARBRUCK.

=Spike Cannon, To.= Is to drive into the vent a jagged and hardened steel spike with a soft point, or a nail without a head; break it off flush with the outer surface and clinch the point inside by means of a rammer. A gun may be unspiked if the spike is not screwed in or clinched, and the bore is not impeded, by putting in a charge of powder one-third of the weight of the shot, and ramming junk-wads over it; laying on the bottom of the bore a slip of wood, with a groove on the under side containing a strand of quick-match, by which fire is communicated to the charge. In a brass gun, take out some of the metal at the upper orifice of the vent, and pour sulphuric acid into the groove, and let it stand some hours before firing. If this method, several times repeated, is not successful, unscrew the vent-piece if it be a brass gun; and if an iron one, drill out the spike, or drill a new vent.

Artillery can be rendered unserviceable by other methods besides spiking, as follows: (1) Wedge a shot in the bottom of the bore by wrapping it with felt, or by means of iron wedges, using the rammer or a bar of iron to drive them in. (2) Cause shells to burst in the bore of bronze guns. (3) Fire broken shot from them with large charges. (4) Fill the piece with sand over the charge, to burst it. (5) Fire a piece against another, muzzle to muzzle, or the muzzle of one to the chase of the other. (6) Light a fire under the chase of a bronze gun, and strike on it with a sledge, to bend it. (7) Break off the trunnions of iron guns; or burst them by firing them at a high elevation, with heavy charges and full of shot.

To drive out a shot wedged in the bore: unscrew the vent-piece if there be one, and drive in wedges so as to start the shot forward; then ram it back again in order to seize the wedge with a hook; or pour in powder, and fire it after replacing the vent-piece. In the last resort, bore a hole in the bottom of the breech, drive out the shot, and stop the hole with a screw. When a shot is jammed in a gun and cannot be rammed home to the cartridge, destroy the charge by pouring water down the vent and muzzle until the ingredients are dissolved, and cleared out of the bore; then introduce a small quantity of powder through the vent and blow out the shot.

=Spin Hay, To.= Is to twist it up in ropes, very hard, for an expedition; by which means it is less bulky, and less troublesome for the cavalry to carry behind them. An expert horseman can spin five days’ forage into a very narrow compass.

=Spingard.= A kind of small cannon.

=Splay.= The divergence outwards from the line of fire of the lines which mark the bottom of the sides of an embrasure.

=Splinter-bar.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Splinter-proof.= Strong enough to resist the splinters of bursting shells.

=Spoils.= Whatever is taken from the enemy in time of war. Among the ancient Greeks, the spoils were divided among the whole army, only the share given to the general was the largest; but among the Romans the spoils belonged to the republic.

=Spoleto= (anc. _Spoletium_). A city of Central Italy, province of Umbria, is situated on a rocky hill, 61 miles north-northwest of Rome. During the second Punic war, Hannibal is said to have been repulsed by the colonists in an assault which he made on the town (217 B.C.), after the battle of Thrasymene. In 1860 it was taken by the Italians from a body of Irish mercenaries in the service of the pope, and now forms part of the kingdom of Italy.

=Sponge.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Sponge and Rammer-stop.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Sponge-bucket.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Sponge-chain.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Sponge-hook.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Spontoon.= A weapon bearing resemblance to a halberd, which, prior to 1787, was borne instead of a half-pike by officers of British infantry. It was a medium for signaling orders to the regiment. The spontoon planted in the ground commanded a halt; pointed backwards or forwards, advance or retreat; and so on.

=Sporting Powder.= Gunpowder used in sporting arms,--usually finer grained than that for military arms.

=Sporting Rifle.= A rifle made especially for hunting. There is no invariable feature distinguishing it from other rifles. Ordinarily the rear sight is not elevating.

=Spottsylvania Court-house.= A village in Spottsylvania Co., Va., situated on the river Po, 65 miles north from Richmond. A series of desperate battles took place in the neighborhood of this village between the Federals and Confederates, from May 8 to 21, 1864, in which the former compelled the latter, after much carnage, to retreat to the North Anna River, which ultimately resulted in the battle of Cold Harbor (which see).

=Spread-eagle.= In heraldry, an eagle, or the figure of an eagle, with its wings elevated and its legs extended;--often met as a device in heraldry, upon military ornaments, and the like.

=Springfield.= A post-town, capital of Greene Co., Mo., 130 miles southwest of Jefferson City. Near here was fought the desperate battle of Wilson’s Creek, in which the Federals had the advantage over the Confederates, but lost their brave general, Nathaniel Lyon, August 10, 1861.

=Springfield.= A city of Massachusetts, on the east bank of the Connecticut River, 98 miles west by south of Boston. The national armory is located here, which repaired and altered in 1869 upwards of 25,000 rifles and muskets. The present U. S. breech-loader, model of 1873, is made here.

=Springfield Rifle.= See SMALL-ARMS.

=Sprue.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF, MOLDING.

=Spur.= An apparatus fastened to the heel of a horseman, for goading the horse. It is much less used than formerly. All cavalry soldiers wear spurs; but their use, except in the heat of an actual charge, is discouraged as much as possible. In the days of chivalry, the use of the spur was limited to knights, and it was among the emblems of knighthood. To win his spurs, was for a young man to earn knighthood by gallant conduct. The degradation of a knight involved the hacking off of his spurs; and the serving before a knight of a pair of spurs on a dish, was a strong hint by his host that he had outstayed his welcome.

=Spurs, Battle of the.= See COURTRAI.

=Spy.= In war, is a useful but not highly honored auxiliary, employed to ascertain the state of an enemy’s affairs, and of his intended operations. Spies have been used in all wars from the time when Moses sent Joshua on such a purpose to the present time. Their employment is quite recognized by the law of nations as interpreted by Grotius, Vattel, and Martens; nor is it held to be any dishonor to a general to avail himself of their services. On the other hand, the spy himself is looked upon as an outlaw, and one devoid of honor. If taken by the enemy, he is put to death ignominiously and without mercy. As, however, the calling is so dangerous, and so little redounds to honor, it is never permissible for a general to compel by threats any person, whether of his own or the hostile party, to act as a spy; but he is at liberty to accept all such services when proffered. A spy is well paid, lest he betray his employer. In the British army, spies are usually controlled by the quartermaster-general. Martial law, though distinct enough in ordering the death of a spy, is not clear in defining what constitutes a spy. A man--not of the enemy--within the enemy’s lines, and in the enemy’s uniform, would presumably be a spy. If in civil dress, and unable to give a good account of himself, his chance of hanging would be considerable; but if found in one camp in the uniform of the opposite side, he may not be treated otherwise than as a prisoner of war, or at least as a deserter from the enemy. Both as regards honor and penalties, it would seem that spies ought in fairness to be divided into two classes,--first, those who betray their own country to an enemy; secondly, those who, being enemies, contrive surreptitiously to obtain information by penetrating into the opposing army. The first class are traitors of a deep dye, for whom no ignominious death is too bad; but the second class are often brave men, who dare much in the service of their country. It is unfair to accord them the same treatment as the traitors.

=Squad.= A small portion of a company, troop, or battery, placed in the especial charge of an officer or non-commissioned officer for purposes of inspection and supervision. In the infantry it corresponds with a section. It also signifies a small number of men drilled together. The term _awkward squad_ is applied to those soldiers who, on account of clumsiness or want of attention, are sent back to the lowest squad to be re-drilled.

=Squad Book.= In the British service, is the roll of a squad, containing, besides the names, the trades and other particulars of the men.

=Squad-bags.= In the British service, are black canvas bags, which are issued at the rate of one to every 25 men, and are intended to contain those articles of a man’s kit which are not comprised in the “service kit.” They are only used when a regiment is in the field or on the line of march. In India, where knapsacks are never carried, a small squad-bag is issued to each soldier.

=Squadron.= In military language, denotes two troops of cavalry. It is the unit by which the force of cavalry with an army is always computed. Three or four squadrons constitute a regiment. The actual strength of a squadron ranges from 120 to 200 sabres.

=Squall.= A sudden and violent gust of wind, often attended with rain or snow. _Black squall_, a squall attended with dark, heavy clouds. _Thick squall_, a black squall accompanied by rain, hail, sleet, etc. _White squall_, a squall which comes unexpectedly, without being marked in its approach by the clouds.

=Square.= In military evolutions, is the forming of a body of men into a rectangular figure, with several ranks or rows of men facing on each side. With men of ordinary firmness, a square should resist the charges of the heaviest horse. The formation is not new, for a Grecian _Syntagma_ was a solid square of 16 men in every direction; but in modern warfare, the solid square having been found cumbrous, has been abandoned for the hollow square, with officers, horses, colors, etc., in the centre. The front rank kneels, and the two next stoop, which enables five ranks of men to maintain a rolling fire upon an advancing enemy, or to pour in a murderous volley at close quarters.

=Square-pierced.= In heraldry, a term used to designate a charge perforated with a square opening, so as to show the field. A cross square-pierced is often improperly confounded with a cross quarter-pierced, where the intersecting part of the cross is not merely perforated, but entirely removed.

=Squire.= An attendant on a warrior was formerly so called.

=Stab.= To pierce with a pointed weapon; as, to be stabbed by a bayonet, dagger, etc.

=Stabiæ= (now _Castella Mare di Stabia_). An ancient town in Campania, between Pompeii and Surrentum; was destroyed by Sulla in the Social war.

=Stable Guard.= In each squadron, the stable guard generally consists of a corporal and one man for every 20 horses. It is their duty to feed the horses, watch over their safety during the night, and attend to the general police of the stables, being assisted by an additional detail at the hours of stable call.

=Stable Horse.= A name formerly applied to that part of the Tippoo Sahib’s cavalry which was best armed, accoutred, and most regularly disciplined.

=Stack Arms.= To set up muskets or rifles together, with the bayonets crossing one another, and forming a sort of conical pile.

=Stack of Arms.= A number of muskets or rifles set up together, with the bayonets crossing one another, forming a sort of conical pile.

=Stacket.= A stockade.

=Stadia.= A very simple aid in estimating distances, consists of a small stick, held vertically in the hand at arm’s length, and bringing the top of a man’s head in line with the top of the stick, noting where a line in the eye of the observer to the feet of the man cuts the stick or _stadia_, as it is called. To graduate the stadia, a man of the ordinary height of a foot-soldier, say 5 feet 8 inches, is placed at a known distance, say 50 yards, and the distance on the stick covered by him when it is held at arm’s length is marked and divided into eight equal parts. If the distance is now increased until the man covers only one of these divisions, we know he is at a distance equal to 50 × 8 = 400 yards. This instrument is not very accurate, except for short distances. A much more accurate stadia is constructed by making use of a metal plate having a slit in it in the form of an isosceles triangle, the base of which, held at a certain distance from the edge, subtends a man (5 feet 8 inches), say at the distance of 100 yards. A slider moves along the triangle, being always parallel to the base, and the length of it comprised between the two sides of the triangle represents the height of men at different distances, which are marked in yards on the side of the triangle, above or below, according as the object looked at is a foot-soldier or horseman. In order to keep the stadia always at the same distance from the eye, a string is attached to the slider, the opposite end having a knot tied in it, which is held between the teeth while using the instrument, which is held in the right hand, the slider being moved with the left-hand finger. The string should always be kept stretched when the instrument is used, and the line in a vertical position. It must be graduated experimentally by noting the positions in which the slider represents the height of the object. The instrument used is not, however, reliable. Its uncertainty increases in an equal ratio with the distance of the object observed. At the extreme ranges it is quite useless. At the school for firing, at Vincennes, therefore, they rely entirely on the eye alone for the judgment of distances, and great pains by careful practice and instruction is taken to perfect that judgment. A simple instrument by which distances can be determined is, therefore, still a great desideratum.

=Staff.= The staff of an army consists of a body of skilled officers whose duty it is to combine and give vitality to the movements and mechanical action of the several regiments and drilled bodies composing the force. The distinction between an officer on the staff of an army and a regimental officer is that the latter is concerned with his own regiment alone, while the former deals with his army (of course under the orders of his commanding officer), or section of an army, and regulates the combined action of the several arms and bodies of men. A good staff is all-important to the success of a military enterprise. In the British service the _general staff_ of an army comprises the general in actual command, with the subordinate generals commanding the several divisions and brigades; as assistants to these the officers of the adjutant-general’s department,--_i.e._, the adjutant-general, his deputy, assistants, and deputy-assistants, if the army be large enough to require them all. Similarly, the officers of the quartermaster-general’s department; the brigade-major; the provost-marshal, and the judge-advocate.

In the U. S. service the general staff consists of the officers of the several military bureaux, such as of the adjutant-general’s department, the quartermaster’s department, etc. For the officers comprising these corps, see appropriate headings throughout this work.

The _general staff_ of the British army consists at present of a field-marshal commanding-in-chief, whose headquarters are at London; under him, of a lieutenant-general commanding-in-chief in Ireland. This command includes, of course, the general officer commanding in each military district of the United Kingdom and in each colony; each of these generals having the usual subordinate staff subject to his orders. India forms a nearly independent command, under a commander-in-chief, whose headquarters are at Bengal. There are subordinate commanders-in-chief in Bombay and Madras; and in each presidency there are several military divisions.

The _personal staff_ consists of the aides-de-camp and military secretaries to the respective general officers. These officers, who are treated of separately in this work, are appointed within certain limits by the generals whom they serve, and their appointments expire on those generals ceasing to command.

The _garrison staff_ consists of the officers governing in fortresses and garrisons; as commandants, fort-majors, town-majors, fort-adjutants, and garrison-adjutants.

The _civil_ or _department staff_ includes those non-combatant officers who have to provide for the daily requirements of the troops. These are the commissaries, barracks, medical, chaplains, purveyors, store, and veterinary departments.

The _recruiting staff_ consists of inspecting field-officers, district paymasters, district adjutants, and superintending officers.

The _pensioner staff_ includes only the staff-officers of the enrolled force.

_Regimental Staff._--(See OFFICERS, STAFF-.) Staff-officers should carry in their heads all general information regarding the army with which they are serving; the composition and distribution of corps, divisions, brigades, etc.; they should remember as accurately as possible the strength of each battalion in their immediate division, and the names of the respective commanding officers. Officers of the headquarters staff should know the position of every division or detachment each night; their composition and strength, and the names of their commanders, etc.

In communicating orders to others, staff-officers must speak and write in the name of their generals. They must remember that they have no power of themselves to confer favors, and that all patronage rests with the general. In theory they are merely his agents, and, although, in practice, officers of importance have much in their power, they should be careful to prevent its being generally known. Their commander must never be ignored, even when they know him to be a fool. It is not that you injure an individual by slighting him, but that by doing so you deprive of that general confidence which for the public good it is essential he should possess.

In delivering verbal orders, and in their dealings with superior officers, the staff should be most respectful. A staff-officer should feel bound by his position, if not by his breeding, to treat every one with the courtesy due from one gentleman to another. The motto for the staff should be “affability and reticence.”

=Staff, Cylinder.= See INSPECTION OF CANNON.

=Stafford.= A town of England, in Staffordshire, 123 miles northwest by west from London. In the civil war of the 17th century, it was occupied by the king’s forces, after the capture of Lichfield by their adversaries. An indecisive battle was fought at Hopton Heath, in the vicinity, in 1643, and at a later period the town was taken by the Roundheads, under Sir William Brereton. The castle was also taken shortly after, and at the close of the war was entirely demolished.

=Stakes, Pointing-.= See POINTING-STAKES.

=Stalwart.= Brave; bold; strong; redoubted; daring.

=Stamford.= An ancient town of England, in Lincolnshire, 12 miles northwest from Peterborough. The Britons and Saxons here defeated the Picts and Scots in 449. Many of the Jews of Stamford were slain, and the whole community plundered in 1190 by those who had enlisted for the Crusade.

=Stand.= The act of opposing. Thus, troops that do not yield or give way, are said to make a stand.

=Stand, To.= To _stand one’s ground_, to keep the ground or station one has taken; to maintain one’s position; as, raw troops are not able to stand their ground against veteran soldiers. _To stand fire_, to receive the fire of arms from an enemy without giving way. _To make a stand_, to halt for the purpose of offering resistance to a pursuing enemy.

=Stand at Ease.= In the British service, is to be allowed, when in the ranks, a certain indulgence with regard to bodily position, with or without arms.

=Stand Fast.= Is the term used as a caution to some particular part of a line or column, to remain quiescent while the rest are moving.

=Stand of Arms.= See ARMS, STAND OF.

=Stand of Ammunition.= See AMMUNITION, STAND OF.

=Stand of Colors.= A single color, or flag.

=Stand to the Guns.= Is to prepare for action, by taking one’s station at the guns.

=Stand to your Arms.= Is a cautionary command, when soldiers are put upon the alert.

=Standard.= A measure by which men enlisted into the army have the regulated height ascertained.

=Standard.= In its widest sense, a standard is a flag or ensign under which men are united together for some common purpose. The use of the standard as a rallying-point in battle takes us back to remote ages. The Jewish army was marshaled with the aid of standards belonging to the four tribes of Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan; and the Egyptians had ensigns with representations of their favorite animals. The flag of Persia was white, and, according to Xenophon, bore in his time a golden eagle with expanded wings; it was fixed on a chariot, and thus conveyed to the field of battle. Æschylus, in enumerating the six chiefs who, headed by Polynices, set themselves in battle array against Thebes, describes the device on the standard of each. In the earliest era of Roman history, a bundle of hay or fern is said to have been used as a military standard, which was succeeded by bronze or silver figures of animals attached to a staff, of which Pliny enumerates five,--the eagle, the wolf, the minotaur, the horse, and the boar. In the second consulship of Marius, 104 B.C., the other animals were laid aside, and only the eagle retained, and down to the time of the later emperors, the eagle, often with a representation of the emperor’s head beneath it, continued to be carried with the legion. On the top of the staff was often a figure of Victory or Mars. Each cohort had also an ensign of its own, consisting of a serpent or dragon woven on a square piece of cloth, and elevated on a gilt staff with a cross-bar. Under the Christian emperors, the _Labarum_ was substituted for the imperial standard. Standards or ensigns among the Greeks were of different kinds; some had the representations of different animals, bearing some relation to the cities they belonged to. Among the earlier Greeks the standard was a piece of armor at the end of a spear; though Agamemnon, in Homer, uses a purple vail to rally his men, etc. Afterwards the Athenians bore the olive and owl; the Thebans, a sphinx; the other nations, the effigies of their tutelary gods, or their particular symbols, at the end of a spear. The Corinthians carried a pegasus, the Messenians their initial Μ, and the Lacedæmonians Λ. But the most frequent ensign among the Greeks was a purple coat upon the top of a spear. The flag or standard elevated was a signal to begin the battle, and the standard depressed was a signal to desist. The Anglo-Saxon ensign was splendid. It had on it the white horse, the Danish being distinguished by the raven. Various standards of great celebrity occur in mediæval history, among which may be enumerated the Flag of the Prophet (which see); the standard taken from the Danes by Alfred of England; and the Oriflamme, originally belonging to the Abbey of St. Denis, and borne by the counts of Vexin, which eventually became the standard of the French kingdom. In the Middle Ages the ensigns of the army were the banderols, banners, guidons, pencels, and pennons, for which see appropriate headings. In strict language, the term standard is applied exclusively to a particular kind of flag, long in proportion to its depth, tapering towards the fly, and, except when belonging to princes of the blood royal, slit at the end. Each baron, knight, or other commander in feudal times, had a recognized standard, which was distributed among his followers. The length of the standard varied according to the rank of the bearer. A king’s standard was from 8 to 9 yards in length; a duke’s, 7 yards; a marquis’s, 6¹⁄₂ yards; an earl’s, 6 yards; a viscount’s, 5¹⁄₂ yards; a baron’s, 5 yards; a banneret’s, 4¹⁄₂ yards; and a knight’s, 4 yards. There was never a complete coat of arms on the standard; it generally exhibited the crest or supporter with a device or badge of the owner, and every English standard of the Tudor era had the cross of St. George at the head. Standards were registered by the heralds, and the charges on them selected and authorized by an officer-of-arms.

=Standard, Battle of the.= See NORTHALLERTON.

=Standard Hill.= A hill in England, so called because William the Conqueror upon it set his standard, before he gave battle to Harold.

=Standard-bearer.= An officer of an army, company, or troop, who bears a standard; an ensign of infantry or a cornet of horse.

=Standard-rule.= See INSPECTION OF CANNON.

=Standing.= Settled, established, not temporary. _Standing army_, is an army which is kept up by a country, and is liable to every species of duty, without any limitations being fixed to its service.

=Standing.= Rank; condition. It likewise signifies length of time; as, such an officer is of very old standing in the army.

=Stanford Bridge.= In Yorkshire, England. In 1066, Tostig, brother of Harold II., rebelled against his brother, and joined the invading army of Harold Hardrada, king of Norway. They defeated the northern earls and took York, but were defeated at Stanford Bridge by Harold, September 25, and both were slain.

=Stang-ball.= A projectile consisting of two half-balls united by a bar; a bar-shot.

=Stanislaus, Saint.= A Polish order of knighthood, founded by Stanislaus, king of Poland, in 1765; renewed by the emperor Alexander in 1815.

=Star.= In heraldry, the star is of frequent occurrence; it sometimes represents the heavenly body so called, and sometimes the rowel of a spur. In the latter case it is blazoned a _Mullet_. Stars of more than five points should have the number of points designated, and the points may be wavy. The star, or _estoile_, with wavy points, is often designated a blazing star; and when the points are more than six in number, it is usual to represent only every second point as waved. The star is a well-known ensign of knightly rank. A star of some specified form constitutes part of the insignia of every order of knighthood.

=Star Fort.= An inclosed field-work, in shape like the heraldic representation of a star.

=Star, Order of the.= An order of knighthood formerly existing in France, founded by John II in 1350, in imitation of the then recently instituted order of the Garter in England. The ceremony of installation was originally performed on the festival of the Epiphany, and the name of the order is supposed to have been allusive to the Star of the Magi.

=Star of India, The Order of the.= An order of knighthood instituted by Queen Victoria in June, 1861, with the view of affording the princes, chiefs, and people of the Indian empire a testimony of her majesty’s regard, commemorating her majesty’s resolution to take on herself the government of India and rendering honor to merit and loyalty. The order consists of the sovereign, a grand master, who is to be the governor-general of India for the time being, and 25 knights, together with such extra and honorary knights as the crown may appoint. The members of the order are to be military, naval, and civil officers who have rendered important service to the Indian empire, and such native princes and chiefs of India as have entitled themselves to her majesty’s favor. The insignia consists of a collar, badge, and star. The collar of the order is composed of the heraldic rose of England, two palm branches in saltire tied with a ribbon, and a lotus-flower alternating with each other, all of gold enameled, and connected by a double golden chain. From an imperial crown, intervening between two lotus-leaves, depends the _badge_, consisting of a brilliant star of five points, and hanging from it an oval medallion, with an onyx cameo profile bust of Queen Victoria, encircled by the motto, “Heaven’s light our Guide,” in gold letters, on an enriched border of light-blue enamel. The _investment badge_ is similar to the collar-badge, but with the star, the setting of the cameo, and the motto all of diamonds; it is worn pendent from a ribbon of pale blue with white borders. The _star_ of the order is a five-pointed star or mullet of diamonds on an irradiated field of gold. Around it, on an azure fillet bordered with gold, is the same motto in diamonds, the whole encircled by wavy rays of gold.

=Star-gauge.= See INSPECTION OF CANNON.

=Statant.= In heraldry, a term applied to an animal standing still, with all the feet touching the ground. If the face be turned to the spectator it is said to be _statant gardant_, or in the case of a stag, at gaze.

=State.= In the British service, is a statement of the number of officers and men of any body of troops, distinguishing those present, those employed, absent, or sick, and the different ranks under separate headings.

=States of the Church.= See PAPAL STATES.

=Station.= To place; to set; or to appoint to the occupation of a post, place, or office; as, to station troops on the right or left of an army; to station a sentinel on a rampart.

=Station, Military.= A place calculated for the rendezvous of troops, or for the distribution of them; also, a spot well calculated for offensive or defensive measures. The name of _stationes_, or stations, was given by the Romans to the guard which was kept in the daytime at the gates of the camp, and at the intrenchments. The _statio agraria_ was an advanced post to prevent surprise, insure the safety of prisoners, etc. The chief use was to keep the military sway secure from hostile incursions, whence we find them at the concurrence of roads. The word is also extensively applied to the old military stations of the Romans, when encampments of towns existed. The _statira castra_ were encampments for a short time; the _æstiva castra_ were the same, but might be occupied only for one night. The _hyberna castra_, or winter camps, were elaborately fortified, even with stone walls, houses within, etc., so that many towns grew out of them.

=Status in Quo=, or =Status Quo= (_Lat._). A treaty between belligerents, which leaves each party _in statu quo ante bellum_,--that is, in the state in which it was before the war.

=Stays.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Steam-gun.= A machine or contrivance by which balls or other projectiles may be driven by the force of steam.

=Steed.= A horse either for state or war.

=Steel.= See ORDNANCE, METALS FOR.

=Steel Punches.= See INSPECTION OF PROJECTILES.

=Steenkerke=, or =Steenkerque=. A village of Belgium, province of Hainaut, 15 miles north-northeast of Mons. The allies, commanded by William III. of England, were here defeated by the French, July 24, 1692.

=Step.= Progression by one removal of the foot. It likewise signifies pace. _To step_, to move forward or backward by a single change of the place of the foot. _To step out_, is to lengthen the step, without altering the cadence. _To step short_, is to diminish or slacken the pace, according to the tactics. These phrases are frequently used in military movements when it is found necessary to gain ground in front, or to give the rear of a column, etc., time to acquire its proper distance. _To step off_, is to take a prescribed step from a halted position, in common or quick time, in conformity to some given word of command or signal. _Balance-step_, is so called from the body being balanced upon one leg, in order to render it firm and steady in military movements, etc. Step is likewise figuratively used to signify promotion; as, the next step from a lieutenancy is a captaincy, from a captaincy a majority, etc.

=Stettin.= A fortified town of Prussia, capital of the province of Pomerania, on the left bank of the Oder, 78 miles northeast from Berlin. In 1121, Boleslas, duke of Poland, gained possession of it. The peace of Westphalia gave it to the Swedes. From them it passed to the Prussians, with whom, though not without some interruptions, it has since remained. In 1171 it was besieged by the Danes; in 1677 by the elector of Brandenburg; in 1713 by the Prussians; and from 1806 to 1813 it was occupied by the French.

=Steward, Hospital.= See HOSPITAL STEWARD.

=Stick, Gold.= See GOLD STICK.

=Stick, Silver.= See SILVER STICK.

=Stickler.= A sidesman to fencers, or second to a duelist.

=Sticklestadt= (Norway). Here Olaf II., aided by the Swedes, was defeated and slain in his endeavors to recover his kingdom from Canute, king of Denmark, July 29, 1030.

=Stiletto.= A small dagger with a round pointed blade.

=Stillwater.= A township of the United States, on the Hudson River and on Saratoga Lake. The township includes the incorporated village of Mechanicsville and the post-village of Bemis’s Heights, notable for the two battles of September 19 and October 7, 1777 (sometimes called the battles of Stillwater), which led to the surrender of Burgoyne.

=Stink-pot.= Is a shell, often of earthenware, charged with combustibles, which, on bursting, emit a foul smell and a suffocating smoke. It is useful in sieges for driving the garrison from their defenses; also in boarding a ship, for effecting a diversion while the assailants gain the deck. The stink-pot is a favorite weapon of the Chinese. Under the more elegant title of _asphyxiated shell_, the French and other modern nations have experimented considerably on this mode of harassing an enemy.

=Stipendium.= The amount of pay for soldiers, a term in general use among the Romans.

=Stirling.= An ancient town of Scotland, the chief town of Stirlingshire, 31 miles northwest from Edinburgh. During the Danish invasion in 1009, it was the headquarters of the Scottish army. In the vicinity was fought the battle of Stirling in 1297. The town was taken by Edward I., after a siege of three months, in 1304. It was held by the English for ten years, until it was retaken by Robert Bruce after the battle of Bannockburn. In 1651, after the battle of Dunbar, the castle was taken by Gen. Monk; and it withstood a siege by the Highlanders in 1745.

=Stirrup.= A kind of ring, or bent piece of metal, leather, etc., horizontal in one part for receiving the foot of the rider, and attached to a strap which is fastened to the saddle,--used to assist persons in mounting a horse, and to enable them to sit steadily in riding, as well as to relieve them by supporting a part of the weight of the body.

=Stirrup-cover= (Sp. _tapadéra_). A hood made of leather attached to a stirrup to protect the foot of a mounted soldier.

=Stoccade.= To fortify with sharpened posts. See STOCKADE.

=Stoccado.= A push or thrust with a rapier.

=Stock.= The whole of the wooden part of a musket or pistol. Also, the neck-gear of a soldier, generally of black leather, answering the double purpose of keeping the cold out and the soldier’s head up.

=Stock.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, CAISSON.

=Stockach.= A town of Germany, in the southeast of Baden, 15 miles northwest of Constance. Near here the Austrians under the Archduke Charles defeated the French, March 25, 1799.

=Stockade.= A work in which a palisade; of strong and closely-planted timbers constitutes the principal defense. The stockades or picket-works usually employed against Indians are composed of rough trunks of young trees cut into lengths of 12 or 14 feet, and averaging 10 or 12 inches in diameter. They should be firmly planted close together. A banquette or step will generally be required, and the loop-holes so arranged that they cannot be used from the outside. If necessary, such a work can be strengthened by ditch and abatis, and flanked by block-houses.

=Stockholm.= The capital of Sweden, situated at the junction of the Lake Malar with an inlet of the Baltic, 320 miles northeast from Copenhagen. Stockholm sustained several sieges. One of the most memorable of these took place in 1501 and 1502, when it was held for nearly six months by Queen Christina of Denmark against the Swedish insurgents, but was at last surrendered after the garrison had been reduced from about 1000 to 80 in number. A still more noble defense of the city was made in 1520, by Christina Gyllenstierna against Christian II. of Denmark. It was surrendered after a siege of four months; but the terms of the surrender were violated soon after by the conqueror ordering the execution of all the most distinguished Swedes in the town. This and similar acts of treachery and cruelty led to the final expulsion of the Danes by Gustavus Vasa. A peace was concluded here, between the king of Great Britain and the queen of Sweden, by which the former acquired the duchies of Bremen and Verden as elector of Brunswick, November 20, 1719. A treaty took place here, between Sweden and Russia, in favor of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, March 24, 1724; another between England and Sweden on March 3, 1813; and between England, France, and Sweden, November 21, 1855.

=Stockport.= A town of England, in Cheshire, on the borders of Lancashire, at the confluence of the Mersey and the Tame, 5 miles southeast of Manchester. The castle, which has now entirely disappeared, was held in 1173, by Geoffrey de Constantin against Henry II. During the civil war of the 17th century, Stockport was the scene of some fighting; it was taken from the Parliamentarians by Rupert in 1644, but retaken by Lesley in the following year. In 1745, the town was occupied by Prince Charles Edward. At this place the Manchester Blanketeers (which see) were dispersed, March 11, 1817.

=Stock-purse.= In the British service, is a certain saving which is made in a corps for regimental purposes.

=Stockton-on-Tees.= A town of England, in Durham, on the left bank of the Tees, 11 miles east-northeast of Darlington. It was plundered by the Scotch in 1325; taken for the Parliament in 1644, and totally destroyed by the Roundheads in 1652.

=Stœni.= A Ligurian people in the Maritime Alps, conquered by Q. Marcius Rex, 118 B.C., before he founded the colony of Narbo Martius.

=Stoke, East.= A parish of England, county of Notts, 4 miles southwest of Newark. Near here, on June 16, 1487, the adherents of Lambert Simnel, who personated Edward, earl of Warwick, and claimed the crown, were defeated by Henry VII. John de la Pole, the earl of Lincoln, and most of the leaders were slain; and Simnel, whose life was spared, was afterwards employed in the king’s household.

=Stone Arabia.= See _Palatine_.

=Stone Fougass=. See _Fougass, Stone_.

=Stone River, Battle of.= See MURFREESBORO’.

=Stone-bow.= A cross-bow formerly used or designed for throwing stones.

=Stone-mortar.= Was a mortar which was used to throw stones a short distance, from 150 to 250 yards; and also 6-pounder shells from 50 to 150 yards. The stones which were used in this mortar were put into a basket fitted to the bore, and placed on a wooden bottom which covers the mouth of the chamber.

=Stony Point.= A village in Orange Co., N. Y., on the west bank of the Hudson River, at the head of Haverstraw Bay, 42 miles north of New York. The capture of the fort at this place by Gen. Wayne, on July 16, 1779, is justly considered one of the most brilliant exploits performed during the Revolutionary war. The fortifications were destroyed and abandoned on July 18.

=Stoppage of Pay.= Where pay is stopped on account of arrears to the United States, the party whose pay is stopped may demand a suit, and the agent of the treasury is required to institute a suit within sixty days thereafter.

=Stoppages.= In the British service, are the deductions from a soldier’s pay, the better to provide him with necessaries, etc.; also stoppage for the subsistence of the sick.

=Store-keeper, Military.= An officer specially appointed for the care of military stores. The law discontinues this grade in the U. S. service by casualties.

=Stores, Military.= The arms, ammunition, clothing, provisions, etc., pertaining to an army, is so called. In the United States all public stores taken in the enemy’s camp, towns, forts, or magazines, shall be secured for the service of the United States; for the neglect of which the commanding officer is to be answerable.

=Storm.= A violent assault on a fortified place; a furious attempt of troops to enter and take a fortified place by scaling the walls, forcing the gates, and the like. Also, to assault; to attack and attempt to take by scaling the walls, forcing gates or breaches, and the like; as, to storm a fortified town.

=Storming-party.= A party assigned to the duty of first entering the breach in storming a fortress.

=Stourton=, or =Stour Head=. A village of England, in Wiltshire, about 23 miles west from Salisbury. The Britons were defeated here in 658 by the Saxons, and in 1010 and 1025 the Danes also encountered the Saxons near this place.

=Stragglers.= Are individuals who wander from the line of march; and it is the duty of the rear-guard to pick up all such stragglers.

=Strains.= See ORDNANCE, STRAINS UPON.

=Stralsund.= A fortified town and seaport of Prussia, province of Pomerania, on a narrow strait called Strela Sunda, which divides the mainland from the island of Rügen. It was founded in 1209 by Prince Jaromar of Rügen, became a member of the Hanse, and rapidly rose into importance. During the Thirty Years’ War, it was unsuccessfully besieged (1628) by Wallenstein; and after being, with some alternations of fortune, in the possession of Sweden for about 200 years, it finally passed to Prussia in 1815.

=Strappado.= A punishment formerly inflicted upon foreign soldiers by hoisting them up with their arms tied behind them, and then suddenly letting them down within a certain distance of the earth.

=Strapped Ammunition.= See ORDNANCE, AMMUNITION FOR.

=Straps.= Are decorations made of worsted, silk, gold, or silver, and worn upon the shoulders, without epaulette.

=Strasbourg=, or =Strassburg=. Formerly a fortified town of France, and capital of the department of Bas-Rhin, but in 1871 ceded to Germany, and capital of the province of Alsace, not far from the left bank of the Rhine, 312 miles east from Paris by railway. During the Middle Ages it was subject to the German emperors, and was the capital of Alsace, but along with that province it was ceded to Louis XIV. in 1681. Subsequently its defenses were greatly improved under the direction of Vauban. Strasbourg was invested by the Germans, principally from Baden, during the Franco-Prussian war, August 10, 1870. Gen. von Werder assumed the command of the besiegers, and the bombardment began August 14, and a vigorous sally was repulsed August 16. Gen. Uhrich, the commander, declared that he would not surrender except upon a heap of ashes. After a heroic resistance, and when a breach had been made and an assault was impending, notice was given September 27, and the place surrendered at 2 A.M., September 28; at 8 A.M. 17,150 men and 400 officers laid down their arms. The German loss was said to be 906 men, of whom 43 were officers. The Germans entered Strasbourg, September 30, the anniversary of its surrender to the French in 1681 by a surprise. Uhrich received the grand cross of the Legion of Honor, October, 1870. About 400 houses and the invaluable library were destroyed, the cathedral injured, and 8000 persons rendered homeless.

=Stratagem.= In war, is any scheme or plan for the deceiving and surprising an army, or any body of men.

=Stratarithmetry.= The art of drawing up an army, or any given number of men, in any geometrical figure, or of estimating or expressing the number of men in such a figure.

=Strategetics.= The science of military movements; generalship.

=Strategic=, or =Strategical=. Pertaining to strategy; effected by artifice.

=Strategic Point.= Any point or region in the theatre of warlike operations which affords to its possessor an advantage over his opponent.

=Strategical Fronts.= The portion of the theatre of war in front of any position occupied by an army as it advances, is termed the _front of operations_. That part which is directly in front of an army, or which can be reached in two or three days, forms simply a _front_. When the whole extent lying between the two hostile armies is considered, the term _strategical front_ is applied.

=Strategical Lines.= See LINES, STRATEGICAL.

=Strategical Points.= Every point of the theatre of war, the possession of which is of great importance to an army in its military operations, is a _strategical point_. These are points which an army acting on the offensive strives to gain and the army on the defensive strives to retain.

=Strategist.= One skilled in strategy, or the science of directing great military movements.

=Strategos= (invented by Lieut. C. A. L. Totten, 4th U. S. Artillery). The American “game of war,” which takes its name from the Greek word _strategos_, the title of an Athenian general officer, derived in turn from _stratos_, “an army,” and _ago_, “I lead;” the secondary meaning of this term being a board or council of ten Athenians chosen annually to conduct the war department at home. The game of _strategos_ is divided into six separate ones, or studies, of gradually increasing importance, and is far more comprehensive than the foreign war games, which have little in common with the subaltern and the student, and are so complicated as to excite interest only among the most profound and advanced scholars of military science. The six parts of _strategos_ are: (1) The “minor tactical game,” which embraces all the details of the tactics of each of the three arms. (2) “Grand tactics,” embracing the topographical and strategical game, for the general elucidation of the grand principles of this branch of military science. (3) The “historical game,” for the study of historical battles and campaigns. (4) “Text-book illustration.” (5) A “battle game,” based upon military principles and precepts, which is calculated to instruct as well as interest without fatiguing that large class of students whose patience would not stand the close application required in a more advanced game. (6) The “advanced game,” which affords to the professional military student every opportunity for pursuing studies commenced in more elementary fields to their legitimate termination. It is only in the “advanced game” that _strategos_ solves the same problem attempted by the Germans in _kriegspiel_, and other military nations in various alterations and improvements upon the great original. War games are by no means of such modern invention as may at first appear; chess is a very ancient “battle game,” and checkers one in which decisive concentration plays a most important part. During the last century two games, the _jeu de la guerre_ and the _jeu de la fortification_, appeared in France and were played with cards. These games differ, however, entirely from the modern ones. Kriegspiel, the father of modern war games, was the invention of a civilian, Herr von Reitwitz, the details of which his son, a Prussian artillery officer, carefully improved. It rapidly grew into military favor, and since 1824, when it was first mentioned by officers of note, has undergone many modifications except as to its underlying principles. Von Moltke himself some twenty years ago was the president of a society whose special object was to play this game, and the great skill of Prussian officers and their success in their late wars is in no small degree to be attributed to this game, familiarity with which has become a sort of necessary step in advancement in the Prussian army. The American game possesses all the valuable features of kriegspiel, and some noticeable improvements thereon as to method, men, tables, etc., while it possesses the peculiar advantages of having elementary games of special interest to all classes of military men. The cost of this game is about $50.

=Strategus= (_Strategos_). Any Athenian general officer was so called.

=Strategy.= Is defined by military writers to be the science of manœuvring an army out of fire of the enemy, as tactics is the art of managing it in battle or under fire. Strategy is the greater science, as including all those vast combinations which lead to the subsequent available displays of tactics.

A movement of the army is said to be _strategical_ when by its means there are concentrated at a given point troops superior in numbers to those of the enemy; or, at this point, there is gained a position by which the enemy’s communications with his base are cut or threatened while those of the army are secure; or, a position is gained by which the forces of the enemy are separated, or are prevented from acting in concert. Strategical operations are directed to attain one or more of these objects; and the line followed by an army in an operation of this kind is called a _strategical line_. The area of country or territory in any part of which the hostile forces can come into collision is termed the _theatre of war_.

There may be employed in a given theatre of war several armies or only one. If there are several armies, but each acting independently of the others, or if there is only one, the particular portion of the territory in which each act is termed the _theatre of operations_ for that army.

A theatre of operations of an army may be defined to be all the territory it may desire to invade, and all that it may have to defend. Where several armies are employed, acting in concert, the theatre of operations of each army depends upon the movements of the other armies, and the theatres of operations of each army in this case are usually designated as _zones of operations_; although this term is also applied to those three divisions of a theatre of operations lying directly in advance of the centre and flanks of a front of operations. Whatever is true for a theatre of operations of an army acting alone is equally true for the theatre of operations of several armies acting separately, and is also applicable to the whole theatre of war.

To make the above statements definite, suppose a single army acting in an independent theatre of operations. A general with such an army under his command proposing an advance towards the enemy will have three things to consider, viz.: (1) The place from which the army is to start; (2) The point to which the army is to go; (3) The roads or routes by which the army is to move in order to reach this point. The first, or place of starting, is termed the _base of operations_. The second, the point to be reached, is called the _objective-point_, or simply the _objective_. The third, the roads or routes used by the army in reaching the objective-point, is termed the _line of operations_. The portion of the theatre of operations occupied by the army as it advances is known as the _front of operations_.

=Stratton-Hill, Battle of.= In Cornwall, England, May 16, 1643, between the royal army under Sir Ralph Hopton, and the forces of the Parliament under the Earl of Stamford. The victory was gained over the Parliamentarians, who lost heavily in killed and wounded.

=Strelitz=, or properly =Streltzi= (“arquebuzziers”). The ancient Russian militia-guard, first raised by Ivan Vatsilevitch the Terrible, in the second half of the 16th century. At that time and for long afterwards, they were the only standing army in Russia, and at times amounted to between 40,000 and 50,000 men. They were located at Moscow in time of peace, in a quarter of the Capitol which was set apart for them, and being the bravest and most trustworthy troops in the army, were made objects of special favor and distinctions. But like all such petted corps, the Roman _Prætorians_, the Turkish Janissaries, and the Egyptian Mamelukes, their general turbulence, frequent revolts against the government (notably during the Demetrian insurrections), and incessant conspiracies, rendered them more formidable to the Russian government than to external enemies. The Strelitz having, at the instigation of the Grand Duchess Sophia and the chiefs of the Old Muscovite party, revolted against Peter the Great, that iron-handed ruler caused them to be decimated (1698) in the great square of Moscow, and the remainder to be banished to Astrakhan. The feeble remnant still manifesting their characteristic turbulence and disloyalty, Peter exterminated them almost completely in 1705. Few Russian families at present can claim kindred with the old Strelitz, but to this the family of Orloff forms a prominent exception, being descended from a Strelitz who was pardoned by Peter the Great while the axe was being raised over him.

=Strength.= This word may be variously understood in military matters. It means fortification; strongholds, etc. It likewise signifies armament; power; force. In all returns which are made of corps, _strength_ implies the number of men that are borne upon the establishment, in contradistinction to _effective force_, which means the number fit for service.

=Stretcher.= A litter or frame for carrying sick, wounded, or dead persons.

=Strict.= Exact, severe, rigorous; the contrary to mild, indulgent. Hence, a strict officer. It is sometimes used in a bad sense, to signify a petulant, troublesome commander.

=Striegau.= A town of Prussia in Silesia, 29 miles southwest from Breslau. The Austrians were defeated by the Prussians under Frederick the Great near this town in 1745.

=Strife.= Contention in battle;, contest; struggle for victory; quarrel of war.

=Strike.= This word is variously used in military phraseology; as, to _strike a tent_, is to loosen the cords of a tent which has been regularly pitched, and to have it ready, in a few minutes, to throw upon a baggage-wagon. _To strike terror into an enemy_, is to cause alarm and apprehension in him; to make him dread the effects of superior skill and valor. _To strike a blow_, to make some decisive effort.

=Stripes.= The chevrons on the coats of non-commissioned officers are sometimes so called.

=Strong.= Well fortified; able to sustain attacks; not easily subdued or taken; as, a strong fortress or town. Having great military or naval force; powerful; as, a strong army or fleet; a nation strong at sea.

=Stronghold.= A fastness; a fort or fortress; a fortified place; a place of security.

=Struggle, To.= To make extraordinary exertion in direct contest with an enemy, or against superior forces.

=Stuhlweissenburg.= A town of Austria, in Hungary, 37 miles southwest from Buda-Pesth. It was besieged and taken from the Turks by the Austrians under the Duke of Mercoeur, in September, 1601; was besieged and captured by the Turks in August, 1602; and was besieged and taken by assault by the Austrians on September 6, 1688.

=Stuhm.= A town of West Prussia, 13 miles north-northeast of Marienwerder. Here a battle was fought between the Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus and the Poles under Gen. Koniecpolski, June 17, 1629.

=Stuttgart=, or =Stutgard=. The capital of Würtemberg, Germany, 38 miles east-southeast from Carlsruhe. During the wars of Louis XIV., Stuttgart was thrice taken; and again in 1796, 1800, and 1801.

=Stylet.= A small poniard or dagger; a stiletto.

=Styra= (now _Stura_). A town in Eubœa, on the southwest coast, nearly opposite Marathon in Attica. The inhabitants took an active part in the Persian war, and fought at Artemisium, Salamis, and Platææ. They afterwards became subject to the Athenians. The town was destroyed in the Lamian war by the Athenian general Phædrus, and its territory was annexed to Eretia.

=Suabia=, =Swabia=, or =Suevia= (Ger. _Schwaben_). An ancient duchy in the southwest of Germany, so named from a horde of Suevi, who spread over it in the 5th century; was a great duchy of the Frank empire till the 8th century. In 918, it was acknowledged a ducal fief of the empire; and after changing hands several times, it was bestowed upon Count Frederick of Hohenstaufen, the founder of the illustrious house of that name, also known as the house of Suabia. Under the rule of this prince, Suabia became the most rich, civilized, and powerful country of Germany; but the wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, and the quarrel with the French respecting Naples, put an end to the dynasty in 1268. The ducal vassals of Suabia rendered themselves almost independent, and professed to acknowledge no lord but the emperor. During these dissensions arose the lordships of Würtemberg and Baden, with numerous lesser states, holding direct of the crown, and opposed to them the cities, which strove also for an equal independence, and obtained, in 1347, great additional privileges. A number of them united to make common cause against the neighboring feudal lords in 1376 (known as the “First Suabian League”); an opposite league was formed between Würtemberg, Baden, and seventeen towns in 1405, called the “League of Marbach”; and both took part in the war of Swiss independence, the former in support of the Swiss, the latter of the Austrians. At last the towns, which had been increasing in power, decided at Ulm, in 1449, to form a standing army, and a permanent military commission, for the forcible preservation, if necessary, of peace and order; and the Count of Würtemberg, the most powerful of the opposite party, having joined them, was appointed military chief of the league, which ultimately grew up into the “Great Suabian League,” which effectively repressed feudal quarrels. In 1512, Suabia became one of the ten circles into which Germany was now divided, received its complete organization in 1563, and retained it almost without change till the dissolution of the empire in 1806. But during this period, the wars of the towns with Würtemberg, the Peasants’ war, of which Suabia was one of the foci, the Thirty Years’ War, and those between France and the empire, destroyed the democratic constitution of the towns, and with it their energy, and then their prosperity disappeared, leaving now no relic which could suggest their former great importance.

=Subadar.= A native officer in a native East Indian infantry regiment holding a rank corresponding to that of captain.

=Subadar-Major.= In the East Indies, is the native commandant of a native infantry regiment.

=Subaltern.= A commissioned officer below the rank of captain. But strictly speaking every officer is a subaltern to the grades above him, as the captain is subaltern to the major, and so upward.

=Sub-Brigadier.= An officer in the Horse Guards who ranks as cornet.

=Subdivision.= The parts of a regiment on parade distinguished by a second division. Thus, a company divided forms two subdivisions.

=Subdue.= To bring under; to conquer by force or the exertion of superior power, and bring into permanent subjection; to reduce under dominion. To overpower so as to disable from further resistance; to crush.

=Subdur.= In the East Indies signifies a chief.

=Subjugate.= To subdue and bring under the yoke of power or dominion; to conquer by force, and compel to submit to the government or absolute control of another.

=Sub-Lieutenant.= In the British service, is the lowest commissioned rank in infantry and cavalry.

=Subordinary=, or =Subordinate Ordinary=. In heraldry, a name given to a certain class of charges mostly formed of straight or curved lines. Heralds vary a little in their enumeration, but the following are generally held to come within this category: the Bordure, the Orle, the Tressure, the Flanche, the Pile, the Pall, the Quarter, the Canton, the Gyron, the Fret, the Inescutcheon, the Lozenge, the Fusil, and the Mascle. Some heraldic writers account the Pile an ordinary, and the diminutives of the ordinaries are sometimes ranked as subordinaries.

=Subordination.= A perfect submission to the orders of superiors; a perfect dependence, regulated by the rights and duties of every military man, from the soldier to the general. Subordination should show the spirit of the chief in all the members; and this single idea, which is manifest to the dullest apprehension, suffices to show its importance. Without subordination it is impossible that a corps can support itself; that its motions can be directed, order established, or the service carried on. In effect, it is subordination that gives a soul and harmony to the service; it adds strength to authority, and merit to obedience; and while it secures the efficacy of command, reflects honor upon its execution. It is subordination which prevents every disorder, and procures every advantage to an army.

=Subsidy.= A stipulated sum of money, paid by one prince to another in pursuance of a treaty of alliance for offensive or defensive war. _Subsidiary troops_, are the troops of a nation assisting those of another, for a given sum or subsidy.

=Subsist.= To support with provisions; to feed; to maintain.

=Subsistence.= This word may be divided into two sorts, namely, that species of subsistence which is found in an adjacent country, such as forage, and frequently corn; and that which is provided at a distance, and regularly supplied by means of a well-conducted commissary. The latter consists chiefly of meat, bread, etc. To these may be added wood or coals, and straw; which are always wanted in an army.

=Subsistence Department.= A department which provides subsistence stores for the army, either by contract or purchase. The U. S. subsistence department consists of 1 brigadier-general, 2 colonels, 3 lieutenant-colonels, 8 majors, and 12 captains. See COMMISSARIAT.

=Substitute, Military.= In nations where conscription is resorted to for the supply of soldiers for the army, the lot often falls on those unwilling to serve in person. In such a case, the state agrees to accept the services of a substitute,--that is, of a person of equally good physique. Unless the levy be very extensive, or the term of military service very long, substitutes are readily found among military men who have already served their prescribed period. Of course, the substitute must be paid for the risk he runs. His price depends, like all other salable articles, on the demand and supply.

=Succeedant.= In heraldry, succeeding one another, following.

=Success of Arms.= The good luck, or fortune, which attends military operations, and upon which the fate of a nation frequently depends. Success is indispensable to the reputation of a general. It often hallows rash and unauthorized measures.

=Succession of Rank.= Relative gradation according to the dates of commission.

=Succession Wars.= These wars were of frequent occurrence in Europe, between the middle of the 17th and the middle of the 18th centuries, on the occasion of the failure of a sovereign house. The most important of these was that of the Orleans succession to the Palatinate (1686-97), closed by the peace of Ryswick; of the Spanish succession (1700-13), which was distinguished by the achievements of the Duke of Marlborough and the Earl of Peterborough, and their unprofitable results, arose on the question whether an Austrian prince or a French prince should succeed to the throne of Spain; of the Polish succession (1733-38), closed by the peace of Vienna; of the Austrian succession (1740-48); and of the Bavarian succession (1777-79), called, in ridicule, the Potato war. Of these, the second and fourth were by far the most important.

=Successive Pontons.= See PONTONS.

=Sudbury.= A town in Middlesex Co., Mass., 20 miles west by north from Boston. A battle was fought here on April 18, 1776, in which Capt. S. Wadsworth and two-thirds of his men were killed by the Indians, in King Philip’s war.

=Suessiones=, or =Suessones=. A powerful people in Gallia Belgica, who were reckoned the bravest of all the Belgic Gauls after the Bellovaci, and who could bring 50,000 men into the field in Cæsar’s time. Their king Divitiacus, shortly before Cæsar’s arrival in the country, was reckoned the most powerful chief in all Gaul, and had extended his sovereignty even over Britain. The Suessiones dwelt in an extensive and fertile country east of the Bellovaci, south of the Veromandui, and west of the Remi. They possessed twelve towns, of which the capital was Noviodunum, subsequently Augusta Suessonum, or Suessones.

=Suevi.= One of the greatest and most powerful races of Germany, or, more properly speaking, the collective name of a great number of German tribes, who were grouped together on account of their migratory mode of life, and spoken of in opposition to the more settled tribes, who went under the general name of Ingævones. The Suevi are described by all the ancient writers as occupying the greater half of all Germany; but the accounts vary respecting the part of the country which they inhabited. At a later time the collective name of the Suevi gradually disappeared. In the second half of the 2d century, however, we again find a people called Suevi, dwelling between the mouth of the Main and the Black Forest, whose name is still preserved in the modern Suabia; but this people was only a body of bold adventurers from various German tribes, who assumed the celebrated name of the Suevi in consequence of their not possessing any distinguishing appellation.

=Suisses= (_Fr._). The Swiss soldiers who were in the pay of France previous to August 10, 1792, were generally so called. It was also a general term to signify stipendiary troops.

=Suliots.= A people in and around the valley of Acheron, the southern corner of the pashalic of Janina (_Epirus_), in Turkey in Europe, are a mixed race, being partly of Hellenic and partly of Albanian origin. They are the descendants of a number of families who fled from the Turkish oppressors to the mountains of Suli (whence they derive their name) during the 17th century. In this obscure corner of the Turkish empire they prospered, and towards the close of the 18th century numbered 560 families. For about fifteen years they heroically resisted the encroachments of Ali Pasha of Janina upon their independence, the very women taking part in the strife. Vanquished in 1803, they retreated to Parga, and afterwards to the Ionian Islands, where they remained till 1820, when their old oppressor, Ali Pasha, finding himself hard pressed by the Turks, invoked their aid. Eager to return to their cherished home, they accepted his terms, and under Marcos Bozzaris maintained a long and desperate conflict with the Turks, but were ultimately forced again to flee from their country, and take refuge to the number of 3000 in Cephalonia, though a large remnant preferred to skulk in the neighboring mountains. Though, after this, they took an active and glorious part in the war of Greek independence, their country was not included by the treaty of 1829 within the Greek boundary-line, but many of them, as Bozzaris (son of Marcos) and Tzavellas, have since been raised to important political offices in the new kingdom of Greece.

=Sulphur.= A simple mineral substance, of a yellow color, brittle, insoluble in water, easily fusible and inflammable;--called also _brimstone_,--that is, _burn-stone_, from its great combustibility. It burns with a blue flame and a peculiar suffocating odor. It is an ingredient of gunpowder (which see).

=Sultan=, or =Sultaun=. An Arabic word signifying the “mighty man,” and evidently closely connected with the Hebrew word _shalal_, “to rule,” is in the East an ordinary title of Mohammedan princes. It is given, _par excellence_, to the supreme head of the Ottoman empire. It is applied in Egypt to the ruler of that country, and is also retained by the heir of the former reigning line of the Crim-Tartars. _Sultana_ is the title of the wife of a sultan.

=Sumatra.= The most westerly of the Sunda Islands, lies southwest of the Malay peninsula, from which it is separated by the Strait of Malacca. When the Portuguese landed here, in 1509, they found that the ancient Malay kingdom of Menangcabau had been dissolved; but there was a powerful monarch ruling over Acheen, who endeavored to exclude the strangers from his country. In 1575, the Portuguese shipping in the harbor of Acheen was destroyed by the natives, and in 1582, an attempt which they made to gain possession of the town proved quite unsuccessful. In 1600, the Dutch established a factory at Pulo Chinko, on the west coast. The kingdom of Acheen had by this time begun to decline in power, being distracted by internal wars and discords: The Dutch rapidly increased the number of their factories and settlements, founding one at Padang in 1649, at Palembang in 1664. The English followed the Dutch in this island, and founded a colony at Bencoolen in 1685. In 1811, the Dutch settlements in the East Indies fell into the hands of the British, but were restored to the Dutch by the peace of 1816. A singular war which took place in Sumatra led to a material extension of the Dutch possession. It was occasioned by a religious sect called Padries. About 1815 a society of this sect was formed for the purpose of spreading their doctrines and practices by force; and this speedily roused resistance and opposition. The Malays and Battas made common cause against the Padries, and for a long time a fierce struggle was carried on, which devastated Menangcabau and the neighboring regions. At length, with the assistance of the Dutch, the sect was entirely put down. The indirect results of this war were the annexation of Menangcabau to the Dutch possessions in 1835, and the opening up to them of the Batta country, from which foreigners had previously been excluded. In 1865, an expedition was sent to force the king of Asahan, one of the small states on the northeast coast, to submit to the Dutch authority. In 1871 these settlements were sold to Great Britain.

=Summon.= To call upon to surrender; as, to summon a fort.

=Summons.= A call or invitation to surrender.

=Sumpit.= An arrow blown from the _sumpitan_ in Borneo. The sumpitan is about 7 feet long; the arrow has been driven with some force at 130 yards. Some suppose it to be poison.

=Sumter, Fort.= See FORT SUMTER.

=Suncion, Treaty of.= Between Gen. Urquiza, director of the Argentine Confederation, and C. A. Lopez, president of the republic of Paraguay, recognizing the independence of Paraguay, July 15, 1852.

=Superannuated.= Incapacitated for service, either from age or infirmity, and placed on a pension.

=Supercharge.= In heraldry, a bearing or figure placed upon another.

=Superintendent.= One who has the oversight and charge of something, with the power of direction; as the superintendent of recruiting service; superintendent of national cemeteries, etc.

=Superior Officer.= Any officer of higher rank, or who has priority in the same rank, by the date of his commission, etc.

=Superior Slope.= The upper surface of a parapet.

=Supernumerary.= Officers or men in excess of the establishment, but borne on the rolls of the corps till absorbed. _Supernumeraries_, or _supernumerary rank_, also signifies the officers and non-commissioned officers in the infantry, cavalry, etc., who are not included among rank and file, and stand in the third rank on parade, when the troops are drawn up in double ranks.

=Supersede.= Is to deprive an officer of rank and pay for any offense or neglect, or to place one officer over the head of another, who may or may not be more deserving.

=Supply.= Relief of want; making up deficiencies. A fresh supply of troops, ammunition, etc. _To supply_, to make up deficiencies. To aid; to assist; to relieve with something wanted. To fill any room made vacant. Thus, covering sergeants supply the places of officers when they step out of the ranks, or are killed in action.

=Support.= To aid, to assist; it likewise signifies to preserve untarnished; as, to support the ancient character of a corps. _Well supported_, is well aided or assisted. It likewise signifies well kept up; as, a well supported fire from the batteries; a well supported fire of musketry.

=Support Arms.= Is to hold the musket vertically on the left shoulder, supported by having the hammer rest on the left forearm, which is passed across the breast.

=Supporters.= In heraldry, figures placed on each side of an armorial shield, as it were to support it. They seem to have been, in their origin, a purely decorative invention of mediæval seal-engravers, often, however, bearing allusion to the arms or descent of the bearer; but in the course of time their use came to be regulated by authority, and they were considered indicative that the bearer was the head of a family of eminence or distinction. The most usual supporters are animals, real or fabulous; but men in armor are also frequent, and savages, or naked men, often represented with clubs, and wreathed about the head and middle. There are occasional instances of inanimate supporters. On early seals, a single supporter is not unfrequent, and instances are particularly common of the escutcheon being placed on the breast of an eagle displayed. The common rule, however, has been to have a supporter on each side of the shield. The dexter supporter is very often repeated on the sinister side; but the two supporters are in many cases different; when the bearer represents two different families, it is not unusual for a supporter to be adopted from the achievement of each.

=Suppress.= To overpower and crush; to subdue; to put down; to quell; to destroy; as, the troops suppressed the rebellion.

=Surat.= A large but declining city of British India, 150 miles north of the city of Bombay, on the south shore of the Tapti, and 8 miles from its mouth in the Gulf of Cambay. Surat was sacked in 1512 by the Portuguese soon after their arrival in India. In 1612 an English force arrived here in two vessels, under the command of Capt. Best, who defeated the Portuguese, and obtained a _firman_ from the Mogul emperor, authorizing the residence of a British minister, and established a factory. An attack of the Mahratta chief Sivajee on the British factory was defeated by Sir George Oxenden, 1664. The English were again attacked in 1670 and 1702, and often subsequently. The East India Company, in 1759, fitted out an armament which dispossessed the admiral of the castle (the Great Mogul had here an officer who was styled his admiral); and, soon after, the possession of this castle was confirmed to them by the court of Delhi. Surat was vested in the British by treaty in 1800 and 1803.

=Surcingle.= A belt, band, or girth, which passes over a saddle, or over anything laid on a horse’s back, to bind it fast.

=Surcoat.= A short coat worn over the other garments; especially the long and flowing drapery of knights, anterior to the introduction of plate-armor, and which was frequently emblazoned with the arms of a family.

=Surface.= In fortification, that part of the side which is terminated by the flank prolonged, and the angle of the nearest bastion; the double of this line with the curtain is equal to the exterior side.

=Surgeon.= A staff-officer of the medical department. He has the rank of major, but “shall not in virtue of such rank be entitled to command in the line or other staff departments of the army.”

=Surgeon-General.= The chief of the medical department, with the rank of brigadier-general, but subject to the same restriction of command as other officers of the medical department.

=Surgeons, Acting Assistant-= (Contract). In the U. S. army, are physicians employed from civil life, at a certain compensation, to perform the duties required of commissioned medical officers, when the number of the latter is insufficient. While they have no rank they still have the allowances of an assistant-surgeon (first lieutenant). A physician so employed cannot displace a commissioned officer by choice of quarters; but to obviate being displaced by a commissioned officer, the commanding officer of a post may assign him an allowance of first lieutenant’s quarters near the hospital, under the provisions authorizing the commanding officer to assign quarters to officers convenient to their troops. Acting assistant-surgeons are entitled to the same protection and respectful conduct from enlisted men as commissioned officers are, so far as relates to their duties as surgeons. A contract physician in the army is regarded as a “quasi-officer.”

=Surgery, Military.= Restricted to its rigorous signification, military surgery is the surgical practice in armies; but in its broad and ordinary acceptation embraces many other branches of art comprehending the practice of medicine, sanitary precautions, hospital administration, ambulances, etc. The military surgeon must not only be a skillful physician and surgeon, but he must have a constitution sufficiently strong to resist the fatigues of war, and all inclemencies of weather; a solid judgment and a generous activity in giving prompt assistance to the wounded without distinction of rank or grade, and without even excluding enemies. He must have the courage to face dangers without the power, in all cases, of combating them; he must have great coolness in order to act and operate in the most difficult positions, whether amidst the movement of troops, the shock of arms, the cries of the wounded when crowded together, in a charge, in a retreat, in intrenchments, under the ramparts of a besieged place, or at a breach. He must have inventive ingenuity which will supply the wants of the wounded in extreme cases, and a compassionate heart, with strength of will which will inspire confidence in those with whom he is brought so closely in contact. The military surgeon, with his flying ambulance, throws himself into the field of battle, through the mêlée, under the fire of the enemy, runs the risk of being taken prisoner, being wounded, or being killed, and is worthy of all the honors that should be bestowed on bravery and skill in the performance of his high functions. Additional grades, as hospital-surgeons, surgeons of divisions, surgeons-in-chief, and inspector-generals of hospitals, etc., are required for every army in the field.

=Surinam=, or =Dutch Guiana=. A Dutch colony in South America, situated between English and French Guiana. The factories established here by the English in 1640, were occupied by the Portuguese in 1643; by the Dutch, 1654; captured by the English in 1804; and restored to the Dutch in 1814.

=Surmounted.= In heraldry, a term used to indicate that one charge is to be placed over another of different color or metal, which may respectively be blazoned: _sable_, a pile argent surmounted by a chevron gules; and, _argent_, a cross gules surmounted by another or.

=Surprise.= In war, to fall on an enemy unexpectedly, in marching through narrow and difficult passes, when one part of an army has passed, and is not able to come at once to the succor of the other; as in the passage of woods, rivers, inclosures, etc. A place is surprised by drains, casements, or the issues of rivers or canals; by encumbering the bridge or gate, or by wagons meeting and stopping each other; or by sending soldiers into the place, under pretense of being deserters, who, on entering, _surprise_ the guard, being sustained by troops at hand in ambush, to whom they give entrance, and thereby seize the place. Military history abounds with instances of successful surprises.

=Surrender.= To lay down your arms, and give yourself up as a prisoner of war. Also, the act of giving up, as the surrender of a town or garrison.

=Surrey.= One of the smallest of the English counties, has the Thames for its northern boundary, Berkshire and Hampshire on the west, Sussex on the south, and Kent on the east. Before the Roman era, Surrey formed a portion of the dominions of a Celtic tribe, named by Ptolemy the _Regni_, and after the Roman conquest was merged into the province of Britannica Prima, though, for many years, it retained its native princes, or _subreguli_. Eventually it was swallowed up in the territory of the South Saxons, and reduced by Kenulf, king of Wessex, about 760, into that progressive kingdom which Alfred brought into constitutional harmony and national completeness. From the period of the Norman conquest, Surrey can claim no separate annals. At Kingston, Surrey, in 1642, took place the first military movement of the great civil war; a body of royalists unsuccessfully attempting to seize upon its magazine of arms. And there, on July 7, 1648, Lord Francis Villiers (Dryden’s “Zimri”), met his death in the skirmish which closed the famous struggle.

=Surround.= In sieges, to invest; in tactics, to outflank and cut off the means of retreating.

=Surrounded.= Inclosed; invested. A town is said to be surrounded when its principal outlets are blocked up; and an army, when its flanks are turned, and its retreat cut off.

=Surtout= (_Fr._). In fortification, is the elevation of the parapet of a work at the angles to protect from enfilade fire.

=Survey, Boards of.= See BOARDS OF SURVEY.

=Susa= (in the Old Testament _Shushan_; ruins at _Shus_). The winter residence of the Persian kings, stood in the district Cissia of the province of Susiana, on the eastern bank of the river Choaspes. It was conquered by Antigonus in 315 B.C. It was once more attacked by Molo in his rebellion against Antiochus the Great; and during the Arabian conquest of Persia it held out bravely for a long time, defended by Hormuzan.

=Suspend.= To delay, to protract; hence, to suspend hostilities. It is likewise used to express the act of temporarily depriving an officer of rank and pay, in consequence of some offense. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 101.

=Suspension of Arms.= A short truce which contending parties agree upon, in order to bury their dead without danger or molestation, to wait for succors, or to receive instructions from a superior authority. _Suspension of hostilities_, to cease attacking one another.

=Sussex.= A maritime county in the south of England. Ælla and his sons were the first Saxons who landed on the Sussex coast, 477. They assaulted and captured Wittering, near Chichester, spreading afterwards through the vast _Andredsleas_ with fire and sword, and finally establishing the South-Sexe, or Sussex kingdom. The sea-board of Sussex suffered terribly from the ravages of the Danish jarls. Within its limits was fought (October 14, 1066) the memorable battle which overthrew the Saxon dynasty, and eventually resulted in that union of Saxon solidity and Norman enterprise now recognized as distinctive of the English character. See LEWES for important battle in 1264. The French fleet, under D’Annebaut, made an attack on Brighton in 1545, and landed a body of troops, who were stoutly resisted by the natives, and compelled to retire. In 1643, the Parliamentarian forces, under Sir William Waller, besieged Chichester, which after ten days surrendered. The same leader, later in the year, beleaguered Arundel Castle for seventeen days, and reduced it to a heap of ruins. For naval combat off the Sussex coast, see BEACHY HEAD.

=Sustain.= To sustain is to aid, succor, or support, any body of men in

## action or defense.

=Sutherland.= A county in the extreme north of Scotland. Sutherland received its name from the Northmen, who frequently descended upon and pillaged it prior to the 12th century, and called it the Southern Land, as being the limit on the south of their settlements.

=Sutler.= A camp-follower, who sells drink and provisions to the troops. See CANTEEN, and POST-TRADER.

=Swad=, or =Swadkin=. A newly-raised soldier.

=Swaddie.= A discharged soldier.

=Swallow’s-tail.= In fortification, an outwork, differing from a single tenaille, as its sides are not parallel, like those of a tenaille; but if prolonged, would meet and form an angle on the middle of the curtain; and its head, or front, composed of faces, forming a re-entering angle.

=Sway.= The swing or sweep of a weapon. “To strike with huge two-handed sway.”

=Sweaborg=, or =Sveaborg=. A great Russian fortress and seaport, in Finland, government of Viborg, sometimes called “the Gibraltar of the North.” In 1789 it was taken from Sweden by Russia. During the Crimean war it was bombarded by the Anglo-French fleet in the Baltic (on August 9-10, 1855). Twenty-one mortar-vessels were towed to within about 2 miles (3400 metres) of the centre of the Russian arsenal, while the gunboats of the squadron, keeping in constant motion, approached to a distance of 2000 or 3000 metres. The fire was maintained forty-five hours, during which 4150 projectiles (2828 of which were mortar-shells) were thrown into the place, killing and wounding 2000 men, and destroying magazines, supplies, and shipping.

=Sweden.= A kingdom in the north of Europe, and forming with Norway (with which it is now united under one monarchy), the whole of the peninsula known by the name of Scandinavia. The earliest traditions of Sweden, like those of most other countries, present only a mass of fables. The dawn of Swedish history (properly so called) now begins, and we find the Swedes constantly at war with their neighbors of Norway and Denmark, and busily engaged in piratical enterprises against the eastern shores of the Baltic. In 1155, Eric, surnamed the Saint, undertook a crusade against the pagan Finns, compelled them to submit, established Swedish settlements among them, and laid the foundation of the closer union of Finland with Sweden. Eric’s defeat and murder, in 1161, by the ambitious young Danish prince Magnus Henriksen, who had made an unprovoked attack upon the Swedish king, was the beginning of a long series of troubles, and during the following 200 years, one short and stormy reign was brought to a violent end by murder or civil war, only to be succeeded by another equally short and disturbed; until, at length, the throne was offered by the Swedish nobles to Margaret, queen of Denmark and Norway, who threw an army into Sweden, defeated the Swedish king, Albert of Mecklenburg, and by the union of Calmar, in 1397, brought Sweden under one joint sceptre with Denmark and Norway. Sweden emancipated itself from the union with Denmark in 1523. Gustavus I. (Gustaf Vasa) on his death, in 1560, left to his successor a hereditary and well-organized kingdom, a full exchequer, a standing army, and a well-appointed navy. John, brother of Eric XIV., ascended the throne in 1568, which he occupied for nearly a quarter of a century, dying in 1592, after a stormy reign, stained by the cruel murder of his unfortunate brother Eric, and distracted by the internal dissensions arising from his attempts to force Catholicism on the people, and the disastrous wars with the Danes, Poles, and Russians. John’s son and successor, Sigismund, after a stormy reign of eight years, was compelled to resign the throne. The deposition of Sigismund gave rise to the Swedo-Polish war of succession, which continued from 1604 to 1660; and on the death of Charles IX. in 1611, his son and successor, the great Gustavus Adolphus, found himself involved in hostilities with Russia, Poland, and Denmark. With Charles XII. the male line of the Vasas expired, and his sister and her husband, Frederick of Hesse-Cassel, were called to the throne by election, but were the mere puppets of the nobles, whose rivalries and party dissensions plunged the country into calamitous wars and almost equally disastrous treaties of peace. Gustavus IV. lacked the ability to cope with the difficulties of the times, and after suffering in turn for his alliance with France, England, and Russia, was forcibly deposed in 1809, and his successor, Charles XIII., saw himself compelled at once to conclude a humiliating peace with Russia by a cession of nearly a fourth part of the Swedish territories, with 1,500,000 inhabitants; Gen. Bernadotte was elected to the rank of crown-prince, and he assumed the reins of the government, and by his steady support of the allies against the French emperor, secured to Sweden, at the congress of Vienna, the possession of Norway, when that country was separated from Denmark. Under the able administration of Bernadotte, who, in 1818, succeeded to the throne as Charles XIV., the united kingdoms of Sweden and Norway made great advances in material prosperity and political and intellectual progress.

=Sweep.= To clear or brush away; as, the cannon swept everything before it.

=Swell of the Muzzle.= In gunnery, is the largest part of the gun in front of the neck. See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF, MOLDING.

=Swiss Guards.= See GARDES SUISSES.

=Switzerland.= A federal republic in Central Europe; bounded on the north by Baden, northeast by Würtemberg and Bavaria, east by the principality of Liechtenstein and the Tyrol, south by Piedmont and Savoy, and west and northwest by France. Switzerland was in Roman times inhabited by two races,--the Helvetii on the northwest, and the Rhætians on the southeast. When the invasions took place, the Burgundians settled in Western Switzerland, while the Alemanni took possession of the country east of the Aar. The Goths entered the country from Italy, and took possession of the country of the Rhætians. Switzerland in the early part of the Middle Ages formed part of the German empire, and feudalism sprang up in the Swiss highlands even more vigorously than elsewhere. During the 11th and 12th centuries, the greater part of Switzerland was ruled on behalf of the emperors by the lords of Zahringen, who did much to check civil wars. They, however, became extinct in 1218, and then the country was distracted by wars, which broke out among the leading families. The great towns united in self-defense, and many of them obtained imperial charters. Rudolph of Habsburg, who became emperor in 1273, favored the independence of the towns; but his son Albert I. took another course. He attacked the great towns, and was defeated. The leading men of the Forest Cantons met on the Rütli meadow, on November 7, 1307, and resolved to expel the Austrian bailiffs or landvögte. A war ensued which terminated in favor of the Swiss at Morgarten (which see) in 1315. Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden, with Lucerne, Zürich, Glarus, Zug, and Bern, eight cantons in all, in 1352, entered into a perpetual league, which was the foundation of the Swiss Confederation. Other wars with Austria followed, which terminated favorably for the confederates at Nafels (which see) and Sempach (which see). In 1415, the people of the cantons became the aggressors. They invaded Aargau and Thurgau, parts of the Austrian territory, and annexed them; three years later, they crossed the Alps, and annexed Ticino, and constituted all three subject states. The Swiss were next engaged in a struggle on the French frontier with Charles the Bold of Burgundy. They entered the field with 34,000 men, to oppose an army of 60,000, and yet they were successful, gaining the famous battles of Granson and Morat (see MORAT) in 1476. In 1499, the emperor Maximilian I. made a final attempt to bring Switzerland once more within the bounds of the empire. He sought to draw men and supplies from the inhabitants for his Turkish war, but in vain. He was defeated in six desperate engagements. Basel and Schaffhausen (1501), and Appenzell (1513), were then received into the confederation, and its true independence began. New troubles sprang up with the Reformation. War broke out in 1531 between the Catholics and Protestants, and the former were successful at Cappel (which see), where Zwingli was slain. This victory to some extent settled the boundaries of the two creeds; in 1536, however, Bern wrested the Pays de Vaud from the dukes of Savoy. During the Thirty Years’ War, Bern and Zürich contrived to maintain with great skill the neutrality of Switzerland, and in the treaty of Westphalia, in 1648, it was acknowledged by the great powers as a separate and independent state. At this period, the Swiss, in immense numbers, were employed as soldiers in foreign service, and the record of their exploits gives ample evidence of their courage and hardihood. In 1798, Switzerland was seized by the French. At the peace of 1815, its independence was again acknowledged. In 1839, at Zürich, a mob of peasants, headed by the Protestant clergy, overturned the government. In Valais, where universal suffrage had put power into the hands of the reactionary party, a war took place in which the latter were victorious. In 1844, a proposal was made in the Diet to expel the Jesuits; but that body declined to act. The radical party then organized bodies of armed men, called the Free Corps, which invaded the Catholic cantons; but they were defeated. The Catholic cantons then formed a league, named the Sonderbund, for defense against the Free Corps. A majority in the Diet, in 1847, declared the illegality of the Sonderbund, and decreed the expulsion of the Jesuits. In the war which ensued between the federal army and the forces of the Sonderbund, the former were victorious at Freiburg and Lucerne. The leagued cantons were made liable in all the expenses of the war, the Jesuits were expelled, and the monasteries were suppressed. Since then, the most important event which has occurred was a rebellion against the king of Prussia, as prince of Neufchâtel. The canton was declared a republic, with a constitution similar to that of the other Swiss states.

=Swivel.= A small piece of ordnance, turning on a point or swivel.

=Sword.= A well-known weapon of war, the introduction of which dates beyond the ken of history. It may be defined as a blade of steel, having one or two edges, set in a hilt, and used with a motion of the whole arm. Damascus and Toledo blades have been brought to such perfection, that the point can be made to touch the hilt and to fly back to its former position. In the last century every gentleman wore a sword; now the use of the weapon is almost confined to purposes of war. Among the forms of the sword are the rapier, cutlass, broadsword, scimiter, sabre, etc.

=Sword Law.= When a thing is enforced, without a due regard being paid to established rules and regulations, it is said to be carried by sword law, or by the will of the strongest.

=Sword, Order of the.= A Swedish military order of knighthood, instituted by Gustavus Vasa.

=Sword-arm.= The right arm.

=Sword-bayonet.= Short arms, as carbines, are sometimes furnished with a bayonet made in the form of a sword. The back of the handle has a groove, which fits upon a stud upon the barrel, and the cross-piece has a hole which fits the barrel. The bayonet is prevented from slipping off by a spring-catch. The sword-bayonet is ordinarily carried as a side-arm, for which purpose it is well adapted, having a curved cutting edge as well as sharp point.

=Sword-bearer.= In monarchical countries, is the title given to the public officer who bears the sword of state.

=Sword-bearers, Knights.= A community similar to, though much less distinguished than, the Teutonic Knights.

=Sword-belt.= A belt made of leather, that hung over the right shoulder of an officer, by which his sword was suspended on the left side. This belt is no longer used, as the sword is now suspended from the waist-belt.

=Sword-blade.= The blade or cutting part of a sword.

=Sword-cane.= A cane containing a sword.

=Sword-cutler.= One who makes swords.

=Sworded.= Girded with a sword.

=Sword-fight.= Fencing; a combat or trial of skill with swords.

=Sword-knot.= A ribbon tied to the hilt of a sword. In the United States, all general officers wear a gold cord with acorn ends, and all other officers, a gold lace strap, with gold bullion tassel; the enlisted men of cavalry wear a leathern strap with a bullion tassel of the same material.

=Sword-player.= A fencer; a gladiator; one who exhibits his skill in the use of the sword.

=Swordsman.= A soldier; a fighting man. One skilled in the use of the sword; a professor of the science of fencing.

=Swordsmanship.= The state of being a swordsman; skilled in the use of the sword.

=Sybaris.= A celebrated Greek town in Lucania, was situated between the rivers Sybaris and Crathis, and a short distance from the Tarentine Gulf, and near the confines of Bruttium. It was founded by Achæans and Trœzenians in 720 B.C., and soon attained an extraordinary degree of prosperity and wealth, exercising dominion over twenty-five towns, and, it is said, was able to bring 300,000 men into the field. But its prosperity was of short duration. The Achæans having expelled the Trœzenian part of the population, the latter took refuge at the neighboring city of Croton, the inhabitants of which espoused their cause. In the war which ensued between the two states, the Sybarites were completely conquered by the Crotoniats, who followed up their victory by the capture of Sybaris, which they destroyed by turning the waters of the river Crathis against the town, 510 B.C.

=Syef= (_Ind._). A long sword.

=Syef-ul Mulk= (_Ind._). The sword of the kingdom.

=Sygambri=, =Sugambri=, =Sigambri=, =Sycambri=, or =Sicambri=. One of the most powerful tribes of Germany at an early time, belonged to the Istævones, and dwelt originally north of the Ubii on the Rhine, whence they spread toward the north as far as the Lippe. The territory of the Sygambri was invaded by Cæsar. They were conquered by Tiberius in the reign of Augustus, and a large number of them were transplanted to Gaul, where they received settlements between the Maas and the Rhine as Roman subjects. At a later period we find them forming an important part of the confederacy known under the name of Franci.

=Symbol.= In a military sense, a badge. Every regiment in the British service has its badge.

=Syracuse= (It. _Siracusa_). Anciently the most famous and powerful city of Sicily, situated on the southeast coast of the island, 80 miles south-southwest from Messina; was founded by a body of Corinthian settlers under Archias, one of the Bacchiadæ, 734 B.C. In 486 a revolution took place and the oligarchic families--_Geomori_, or _Gamori_, “land-owners”--were expelled, and the sovereign power was transferred to the citizens at large. Before a year passed, however, Gelon, “despot” of Gela, had restored the exiles, and at the same time made himself master of Syracuse. Hieron, brother of Gelon, raised Syracuse to an unexampled degree of prosperity. Hieron died in 467, and was succeeded by his brother Thrasybulus; but the rapacity and cruelty of the latter soon provoked a revolt among his subjects, which led to his deposition and the establishment of a democratical form of government. The next most important event in the history of Syracuse was the siege of the city by the Athenians, which ended in the total destruction of the great Athenian armament in 413; and Syracuse’s renown at once spread over the whole Greek world. Dionysius restored the “tyranny” of Gelon, and his fierce and victorious war with Carthage (397 B.C.) raised the renown of Syracuse still higher. On the death of Hieron II., his grandson Hieronymus, who succeeded him, espoused the side of the Carthaginians. A Roman army under Marcellus was sent against Syracuse, and after a siege of two years, during which Archimedes assisted his fellow-citizens by the construction of various engines of war, the city was taken by Marcellus in 212. Under the Romans, Syracuse slowly but surely declined. Captured, pillaged, and burned by the Saracens (878) it sunk into complete decay, so that very few traces of its ancient grandeur are now to be seen. It was taken by Count Roger, the Norman, 1088; in the insurrection, Syracuse surrendered to the Neapolitan troops, April 8, 1849.

=Syria.= At present, forming together with Palestine, a division of Asiatic Turkey; extends between lat. 31° and 37° 20′ N. along the Mediterranean from the Gulf of Iskanderoon to the Isthmus of Suez. The oldest inhabitants of Syria were all of Shemitic descent; the Canaanites, like the Jews themselves, and the Phœnicians (who inhabited the coast-regions) were Shemites. So were also the Aramæans, who occupied Damascus and extended eastward towards the Euphrates. This territory, Syria proper, became subject to the Hebrew monarchy in the time of David; but after Solomon’s death Rezin made himself independent in Damascus, and while the Jewish empire was divided into two kingdoms, the Aramæan kings of Damascus conquered and incorporated the whole northern and central part of the country. In 740 B.C. the Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser, conquered Damascus, and in 720 B.C. the kingdom of Israel. In 587 B.C. the kingdom of Judah was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and Syria, with Palestine, was now successively handed over from the Assyrians to the Babylonians, from the Babylonians to the Medes, and from the Medes to the Persians. After the battle of the Issus (333 B.C.) Alexander the Great conquered the country, and with him came the Greeks. After his death they formed here a flourishing empire under the Seleucidæ, who reigned from 312 to 64 B.C. After the victories over Antigonus at Ipsus in 301 B.C., and over Lysimachus at Cyropedion in 282 B.C., the empire of Seleucus I. actually comprised the whole empire of Alexander with the exception of Egypt. But his son, Antiochus I., Soter (281-260), lost Pergamum, and failed in his attempts against the Gauls who invaded Asia Minor, and Antiochus II., Theos (260-247), lost Parthia and Bactria. Antiochus the Great (223-187) conquered Palestine, which by the division of Alexander’s empire had fallen to the Ptolemies of Egypt; but under Antiochus Epiphanes (174-164) the Jews revolted, and after a contest of twenty-five years they made themselves independent. Under Antiochus XIII. (69-64) Pompey conquered the country and made it a Roman province, governed by a Roman proconsul. After the conquest of Jerusalem (70) Palestine was added to this province. By the division of the Roman empire Syria fell to the Eastern or Byzantine part. In 638 the country was conquered by the Saracens. In 654 Damascus was made the capital of Syria, and in 661 of the whole Mohammedan empire. When the Abbassides removed their residence to Bagdad, Syria sank into a mere province. In the 11th century the Seljuk Turks conquered the country. The establishment of the Latin kingdom by the Crusaders in 1099 was of short duration and of little advantage. They held Jerusalem till 1187, Acre till 1291, but they proved more rapacious and more cruel than the Turks. When in 1291 the Mameluke rulers of Egypt finally drove the Christian knights out of the country, its cities were in ruins, its fields devastated, and its population degraded. Still worse things were in waiting,--the invasion of Tamerlane and his successors, which actually transformed large regions into deserts and the inhabitants into savages. In 1517, Sultan Selim I. conquered the country, and since that time it has formed part of the Turkish empire, with the exception of the short period from 1832 to 1841, when Ibrahim Pasha (who defeated the army of the grand seignior at Konieh, December 21, 1832) governed it under the authority of his father, Mehemet Ali (who had captured Acre, and overrun the whole of Syria). The Druses are said to have destroyed 151 Christian villages and killed 1000 persons, May 29 to July 1, 1860. The Mahommedans massacred Christians at Damascus; about 3300 were slain, but many were saved by Abd-el-Kader, July, 1860; the French and English governments intervened; 4000 French soldiers under Gen. Hautpoul landed at Beyrout, August 22, 1860. The French and Turks advanced against Lebanon, and fourteen emirs surrendered, October, 1860. The pacification of the country was effected, November, 1860; and the French occupation ceased June 5, 1861. The insurrection of Joseph Karaman, a Maronite, in Lebanon, was suppressed, March, 1866; another was suppressed, and Karaman fled to Algeria, January 31, 1867.

=System.= In fortification, is a particular arrangement and mode of constructing the different works surrounding a fortified place. The principal systems now studied are those of Marshal Vauban, and the improved method invented by Cormontaigne, the celebrated French engineer.

=System.= A scheme which reduces many things to regular dependence or co-operation. This word is frequently applied to some particular mode of drilling and exercising men to fit them for manœuvres and evolutions. Hence, the Prussian system, the Austrian system, etc.

=System, Military.= Specific rules and regulations for the government of an army in the field or in quarters, etc.

=Systems of Artillery.= The character and arrangement of the material of artillery, as adopted by a nation at any particular epoch. The American systems of field and siege artillery are chiefly derived from those of France. The principal qualities sought to be observed in establishing a system of artillery are, simplicity, mobility, and power. The first system adopted in France was about the middle of the 16th century, at which time the various guns of the French artillery were reduced to six. The weights of the balls corresponding to these calibers ranging from 33¹⁄₄ to ³⁄₄ pounds. This range of calibers was thought to be necessary, for the reason that it required guns of large caliber to destroy resisting objects, while guns of small caliber were necessary to keep up with the movement of troops. Each of the five principal calibers was mounted on a different carriage, and the ammunition, stores, and tools were carried on different store-carts. Three kinds of powder were used, viz.: large-grain, small-grain, and priming, which were carried in barrels of three sizes. The axle-trees, which were of wood, varied for the different wheels, as well as for the different guns. The gun-carriages were without limbers, and had only two wheels, the shafts being attached to the trails, which often dragged along the ground. No spare wheels were used, except for pieces of large caliber; and for facility of transportation these were put on an axle-tree, so as to form a carriage. With the exception of replacing injured wheels, all repairs were made on the spot, from the resources of the country, and no spare articles were carried with the train. There was no established charge of powder for the guns; although a weight equal to that of the shot was generally used. Such was the character of the artillery which accompanied the French armies up to the middle of the 17th century. In the reign of Louis XIV., the calibers of cannon were gradually changed by the introduction of several foreign pieces. There were 48-, 32-, 24-, 16-, 12-, 8-, and 4-pounders; and those of the same caliber varied in weight, length, and shape. Uniformity existed in general in each district commanded by a lieutenant-general of artillery, but the cannon of one district differed from another. Each district had (for the six kinds of cannon) six carriages, with different wheels, and three kinds of limbers, with different wheels, making nine patterns of wheels, without counting those for the platform-wagons used to transport heavy guns, the ammunition-carts, the trucks, and the wagons for small stores and tools. Spare carriages were carried into the field, but those of one district would not fit the guns of another. There was but one kind of powder, and this was carried in barrels. The charge was usually two-thirds the weight of the projectile, roughly measured. Besides this, the powder often varied in strength according to the district from which it came.

_Valière’s System._--In 1735, Gen. Valière abolished the 32-pounder, as being heavy and useless, and gave uniformity to the five remaining calibers. Towards the end of the 18th century, mortars, or Dutch howitzers, were sometimes attached to the field-trains; for the latter, a small charge, and caliber of 8 inches, were adopted. There were also light 4-pounder guns attached to each regiment. Up to that time an army always carried with it heavy guns (24-pounders), and light guns (4-pounders), which were combined in the same park. Valière established a system of uniformity for cannon throughout France; but such was not the case with the carriages and wagons used with them. Great exactness was not then sought for, and there existed as many plans for constructing gun-carriages as there were arsenals of construction. The axle-trees were of wood, the limbers were very low, and the horses were attached in single file.

_Gribeauval’s System._--In 1765, Gen. Gribeauval founded a new system, by separating the field from the siege artillery. He diminished the charge of field-guns from a half to a third the weight of the shot, but as he diminished the windage of the projectile at the same time, he was enabled to shorten them and render them lighter, without sensibly diminishing their range. Field artillery then consisted of 12-, 8-, and 4-pounder guns, to which was added a 6-inch howitzer, still retaining a small charge, but larger in proportion to that before used. For draught, the horses were disposed in double files, which was much more favorable to rapid gaits. Iron axle-trees, higher limbers, and traveling trunnion-holes rendered the draught easier. The adoption of cartridges, elevating screws, and tangent scales, increased the rapidity and regularity of the fire. Stronger carriages were made for the lighter guns, and the different parts of all were made with more care, and strengthened with ironwork. Uniformity was established in all the new constructions, by compelling all the arsenals to make every part of the carriages, wagons, and limbers according to certain fixed dimensions. By this exact correspondence of all the parts of a carriage, spare parts could be carried into the field ready made, to refit. Thus an equipment was obtained which could be easily repaired, and could be moved with a facility hitherto unknown. In order to reduce the number of spare articles necessary for repairs, Gribeauval gave, as far as practicable, the same dimensions to those things which were of the same nature. The excellence of this system was tested in the wars of the French republic and empire, in which it played an important part. In 1827, the system of Gribeauval was changed by introducing the 24- and 32-pounder howitzers, lengthened to correspond with the 8- and 12-pounder guns, and abolishing the 4-pounder gun and 6-inch howitzer. Afterwards some important improvements were made in the carriages, chiefly copied from the English system; the number for all field-cannon was reduced to two, the wheels of the carriage and limber were made of the same size; the weight of the limber was reduced, and an ammunition-chest placed on it; the method of connecting the carriage and limber was simplified, and the operations of limbering and unlimbering greatly facilitated; and the two flasks which formed the trail were replaced by a single piece called the _stock_, which arrangement allowed the new pieces to turn in a smaller space than that required by the old ones.

_Louis Napoleon’s System._--In 1850, Louis Napoleon, emperor of the French, caused a series of experiments to be made at the principal artillery schools of France to test the merits of a new system of field artillery proposed by himself. The principal idea involved in this system was, to substitute a single gun of medium weight and caliber, capable of firing shot and shells, for the 8- and 12-pounder guns, and 24- and 32-pounder howitzers, then in use. The caliber selected was the 12-pounder. The favorable results of all these experiments, and the simplicity of the system, led to the adoption of this, the Napoleon gun, as it is sometimes called, into the French service; and others of similar principle were introduced into various European services, and also into our own. As this piece unites the properties of gun and howitzer, it is called _canon-obusier_, or gun-howitzer.

At no time since the discovery of gunpowder have such important improvements been made in fire-arms as within the past few years. These improvements may be summed up as follows, viz.: (1) Improvement in the quality of cast iron, and the consequent increase in the caliber of sea-coast cannon. In 1820, the heaviest gun mounted in the United States on sea-coast batteries was the 24-pounder; at present the heaviest is a 20-inch gun, carrying a shell weighing 1080 pounds. (2) The use of wrought and chilled iron and steel as a material for fortress carriages, and for covering ships of war. (3) The extensive introduction of shells in sea-coast defenses and naval warfare; and spherical case-shot into the field service. (4) The introduction of rifling for both small-arms and cannon. (5) The successful application of the breech-loading principle to cannon and small-arms of every description, and the great improvement made of late in steel, as well as the power to manipulate masses sufficiently large for the construction of the immense cannon now employed in naval warfare and for sea-coast defense.

=Szegedin.= The second largest town in Hungary, situated on the right bank of the Theiss. Szegedin is fortified, and here, on August 3, 1849, the Austrians defeated the Hungarians.

T.

=Tab.= The arming of an archer’s gauntlet or glove.

=Tabard.= A military garment in general use in the latter half of the 15th, and beginning of the 16th century, which succeeded the _jupon_ and _cyclas_. It fitted closely to the body, was open at the sides, had wide sleeves or flaps reaching to the elbow, and displayed the armorial ensigns of the wearer on the back and front, as well as on the sleeves. About the middle of the 16th century the tabard ceased to be used except by the officers-of-arms, who have down to the present time continued to wear tabards embroidered with the arms of the sovereign.

=Table-money.= In the British army and navy, is an allowance sometimes made to officers over and above their pay, for table expenses.

=Tablette.= Is a flat coping-stone, generally 2 feet wide and 8 inches thick, placed at the top of the revetment of the escarp, for the purpose of protecting the masonry from the effects of the weather, and also to serve as an obstacle to the besiegers when applying the scaling-ladders. It is always considered a matter of importance that the tablette should be concealed from the enemy’s view, as he would otherwise be able to direct his artillery against it; therefore, the escarp of all the works inclosed within the covered way is submitted at least 6 inches to the crest of the glacis.

=Tabor.= A fortified town of Bohemia, 48 miles south-southeast of Prague. Its castle was originally built in 774, destroyed in 1268, but restored in 1420, when the Hussites under Ziska took possession of the town.

=Taborite.= A Roman soldier armed with a double-edged axe.

=Tabors= (_Fr._). Intrenchment of baggage for defense against cavalry.

=Tabour.= A small drum, played with one stick, in combination with a fife. It was formerly used in war, but has now given place to the kettle-drum.

=Tabriz=, or =Tabreez= (written also _Tauris_ and _Tebriz_). A city of North Persia, capital of the province of Azerbaijan. It was taken and sacked by Timur in 1392, and was soon after seized by the Turkomans, from whom it was taken by the Persians in 1500. It has been several times in the hands of the Turks, but was finally taken from them by Nadir Shah in 1730.

=Tactician.= One versed in tactics.

=Tactics, Grand.= See TACTICS, MILITARY.

=Tactics, Military.= Is the science and art of disposing military forces in order for battle, and performing military evolutions in the presence of an enemy. It is divided into _grand tactics_, or the tactics of battle, and _elementary tactics_, or the tactics of instruction. Tactics is the strategy of the battle-field; the science of manœuvring and combining those military units which drill, discipline, and the regimental system have brought to the perfection of machines. It was admirably described by Napoleon as _the art of being the stronger_,--that is, of bringing an overwhelming force to bear on any given point, whatever may be the relative strength of the entire armies opposed. The earliest records of battles are those of mere single combats, in which the chiefs, fighting either on foot or in chariots, performed great deeds; and the commonalty, who apparently were without discipline, were held in profound contempt. With the growth of democracy arose the organization of the _phalanx_ (which see), the advance of which was irresistible, and its firmness equally so, if charged in front. It, however, changed front with great difficulty; was much deranged by broken ground, and failed entirely in pursuit, or if attacked in flank. Far lighter and more mobile was the Roman _legion_. (See LEGION.) Among Roman tactics was also the admirable intrenchment, which they scarcely ever omitted as an additional source of strength for their position. “Events reproduce themselves in cycles;” and with the decay of Roman civilization came again the mail-clad heroes and cavaliers--mounted this time on horses--who monopolized the honors of battle, while the undisciplined footmen had an undue share of the dangers. Later in the feudal period, this disparity between knight and footman was diminished by the employment of bodies of archers, whose shafts carried instant death. The adoption of gunpowder for small-arms altogether neutralized the superiority of the armored knight. This change brought infantry into the front place in battle, and threw cavalry into the status of an auxiliary. The French revolutionary wars tended much to the development of artillery as a field-weapon, and Napoleon employed this terrible weapon to its fullest extent, a practice followed by the best modern generals, who never risk a man where a cannon-ball can do the work. Frederick the Great was considered an innovator for fighting with infantry four deep. During the French war, the formation of three deep became general, and still obtains in several European armies. Before the battle of Waterloo, the British leaders had acquired sufficient confidence in their troops to marshal them in a double line. It is doubtful whether the advance in arms of precision will not soon necessitate the formation in a single line, or even in a single line in open order. We will now notice briefly a few of the more important principles, as our space will not permit us to go into that intricate science, modern tactics. As to _the art of being stronger_, which is undoubtedly the highest recommendation in a general, we may cite the example of the battle of Rivoli. In 1796, Napoleon was besieging Mantua with a small force, while a very much smaller army of observation watched the Austrians. The Austrian commander had collected at Trent a force powerful enough to crush completely the French army, with which he was marching south. Parallel with his course lay the Lake of Garda, and to prevent the enemy escaping up one side as he marched down the other, the Austrian leader divided his army into two powerful corps, and marched one down each side of the lake. The instant the young French general knew of this division he abandoned the siege of Mantua, collected every available man, and marched against one body of the enemy. Though far inferior on the whole, he was thus superior at the point of attack, and the victory of Rivoli decided virtually the whole campaign. This corresponded in principle with Napoleon’s general plan in battle. He formed his attack into column, tried to break through the centre of the enemy’s line; and if he succeeded, then doubled back to one side, so as to concentrate the whole of his own force against one-half of the enemy’s, which was usually routed before the other half of the line could come up to the rescue.

Taken collectively, the tactics of the three arms may thus be summarized: The infantry form the line of battle, and probably decide the day by a general advance over the enemy’s ground. The cavalry seek to break the opposing infantry by frequent charges in front, or on any flank which may be left exposed. If a part of the line wavers, a charge of horse should complete the disarray. When the rout commences, the cavalry should turn it by furious onslaught into utter discomfiture. The province of the artillery is to cannonade any portion of the line where men are massed, or where a charge is about to be made; to demoralize cavalry, and generally to carry destruction wherever it can best disconcert the enemy. Adverting now very briefly to the tactics of the several arms individually, we have--

_Infantry._--This force has four formations,--skirmishers, line, column, and square. The skirmishers precede and flank an advancing line or column, picking off the enemy, whose masses offer good mark, while their own extended order gives them comparative impunity. If resistance be encountered in force, the skirmishers retreat behind their massed supports. The line is a double or treble line of men, firing or charging. For musketry purposes, it is the most formidable formation, and is the favorite English tactic in every case where the officers can depend on the steadiness of their men. For bursting through a line, the deep column is the most effective. It is the favorite French formation, and during the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, the British and Russians alone succeeded in resisting it. The column is the best formation on a march; and the line, when in actual collision with the enemy. The formation in _echelon_ to a great extent combines these advantages.

_Cavalry._--The function of heavy cavalry is limited to the charge in line. The light cavalry form in small sections, to scour the country, collect supplies, and cut off stragglers.

_Artillery._--No distinct tactics exist for this arm beyond the fact that a concentrated fire is vastly the most effective, and that the artillery should always have a support of infantry at hand, to protect it from a sudden incursion of hostile cavalry.

_Tactics of position_ depend on the moral energy of the commander-in-chief. Few would dare, as Cæsar did, an invasion in which there was no retreat if defeated. It is a military maxim not to fight with the rear on a river, unless many bridges be provided for retreat, in case of disaster. A convex front is better than a concave front, because internal communication is more easy. The flank should be protected by cavalry, or preferably by natural obstacles. In battle, a long march from one position to another, which exposes the flank to the enemy, is a fatal error. By such, the French won Austerlitz, and lost Talavera. In a pursuit, a parallel line is better than the immediate route the retreating enemy has taken, as supplies will be more readily procured, and he may by celerity be attacked in flank. This was strikingly exemplified in the Russian pursuit of Napoleon’s army retreating from Moscow.

=Tae-pings=, or =Tai-pings=. The name given to the Chinese rebels who made their appearance in 1850, and desolated some of the best provinces of China. Peking was taken by the English and French on October 12, 1860. Its capture was followed by the ratification of the treaty of Tien-tsin, which, granting important privileges to European merchants, made it the direct interest of the English, French, and American governments to re-establish order in China. The repulse of the rebels at Shanghai in August, 1860, had been followed by several engagements between them and the imperialists, in which they were defeated. Ward, an American, who had taken service under the emperor, and who showed a remarkable talent for organizing irregular troops, had wrought a wonderful improvement in the imperialist army, and he was the chief means of their success. In the beginning of 1862, the Tae-pings again advanced on Shanghai, and were twice defeated. In the autumn of the same year, Ward was killed; Ward’s force was handed over to an English officer, and took the name of Gordon’s brigade. Gordon’s brigade rendered essential service to the imperial government. The rebels were defeated in upwards of sixteen engagements; and in 1864, almost every important city was taken from them. The conduct of the imperial authorities at Su-chow, where a horrible massacre took place, led to the withdrawal of the English military force; but the rebellion had been effectually checked. Toward the end of 1864, the Tae-pings, however, still offered an opposition to the imperialists in Kiang-tsu, all the more formidable in consequence of the prevalence of brigandage and insurrectionary movements in parts of the empire not affected by the Tae-ping rebellion. In January, 1865, the Mohammedan Tartars of Songaria, on the Siberian frontier, assisted by the free Kirghis tribes, took the town of Tarbagatai, and afterwards Kouldja. In the following June, a still more serious insurrection broke out in China proper, that of the Nien-fei, or rebels of the north, whose special object was to overturn the reigning dynasty. One body of them, in the beginning of 1866, caused serious alarm in Hankow, and would have attacked the European settlement but for the arrival of some English gunboats. It is believed that the last embers of the Tae-ping rebellion were trodden out in February, 1866, when from 30,000 to 50,000 rebels were routed by the imperial army at Kia-ying-chou in Kwan-tung. The victorious general then set out to attack the Nien-fei, or northern rebels, at Hankow, and the imperial troops were several times defeated by them in 1867; but late in 1868, their operations became unimportant.

=Taganrog.= A town of Russia in Europe, in the government of Ekaterinoslav, near the northwest extremity of the Sea of Azov, 172 miles northeast from Kertch. The town was bombarded by a fleet of French and British gunboats in 1855.

=Tagliacozzo.= A town of Southern Italy, in the Aleruzzi Mountains, where on August 23, 1268, Charles of Anjou, the usurping king of Naples, defeated and made prisoner the rightful monarch, young Conradin, who had been invited into Italy by the Ghibelline party; their opponents, the Guelphs, or papal party, supporting Charles.

=Tagliamento.= A river in Lombardy, Northern Italy, near which the Austrians, under the Archduke Charles, were defeated by Bonaparte, March 16, 1797.

=Tail of the Trenches.= The post where the besiegers begin to break ground, and cover themselves from the fire of the place, in advancing the lines of approach.

=Taishes.= Armor for the thighs.

=Take.= To lay hold of; to seize. To obtain possession of by force or artifice; to capture; to make prisoner. To attack; to seize; as, to take an army, a city, or a ship. _To take aim_, to direct the eye or weapon; to aim. _To take arms_, to commence war or hostilities. _To take advantage of_, to avail one’s self of any peculiar event or opening, whereby an army may be overcome. _To take ground to the right or left_, is to extend a line, or to move troops in either of those directions. _To take down_, is to commit to paper that which is spoken by another. _To take on_, an expression in familiar use among soldiers that have enlisted for a limited period, to signify an extension of service by re-enlisting. _To take the field_, is to encamp, to commence the operations of a campaign. _To take up_, to seize; to catch; to arrest; as, to take up a deserter. _To take up quarters_, to occupy locally; to go into cantonments, barracks, etc.; to become stationary for more or less time. _To take up the gauntlet_, is to accept a challenge.

=Takel= (_Anglo-Saxon_). The arrows which used to be supplied to the fleet.

=Talavera de la Reyna.= A town of Spain in New Castile, in the modern province of Toledo, on the Tagus, 75 miles southwest from Madrid. Here on July 27 and 28, 1809, Sir Arthur Wellesley, with 19,000 English and German troops, and about 34,000 Spaniards, who, however, with very trifling exceptions, were not engaged, defeated upwards of 50,000 veteran French troops under Joseph Bonaparte and Marshals Jourdan and Victor.

=Talk.= Among the Indians of North America, a public conference, as respecting peace or war, negotiation, and the like; or an official verbal communication made from them to another nation or its agents, or made to them by the same.

=Talus.= The old word in fortification for a slope.

=Tambour.= In fortification, is a small work, usually a timber stockade, about 6 feet high, and loop-holed. Its object is to defend a gateway, the road into a village, or to afford flanking fire on a bridge, etc. The tambour on the covered way is the traverse which closes an entrance from the glacis.

=Tampion=, or =Tompion=. The wooden plug placed in the mouth of a piece of ordnance to preserve it from dust and damp. In naval gunnery, the tampion is the wooden bottom for a charge of grape-shot.

=Tam-tam= (Hind. _tom-tom_). A drum used by the Hindoos, made of an alloy of copper and tin, and very sonorous.

=Tanagra= (now _Grimadha_, or _Grimada_). A celebrated town of Bœotia, on the left bank of the Asopus, 200 stadia from Platææ, in the district Tanagræa. Being near the frontiers of Attica, it was frequently exposed to the attacks of the Athenians; near it the Spartans defeated the Athenians, 457 B.C., but were defeated by them in 426, when Agis II. headed the Spartans, and Nicias the Athenians.

=Tang.= The tang of the breech of a musket, is the projecting part by which the barrel is secured to the stock. Also, that part of a sword-blade to which the hilt is riveted.

=Tangent Scale.= In gunnery, a brass plate, the lower edge of which is cut to fit the base-ring or base-line of the piece, and the upper edge cut into notches for each one-fourth degree elevation. It is used in pointing, by placing the lower edge on the base-ring, or base-line, with the radius of the notch corresponding with the highest point of the base-ring or line; and sighting over the centre of the notch; and the highest point of the muzzle, or top of the muzzle-sight.

=Tangier.= A seaport of Morocco, on a small bay or inlet of the Strait of Gibraltar. Tangier was taken by the Portuguese in 1471, and ceded to the English in 1662, and held by them for twenty-two years. It was bombarded by the French in 1844.

=Tanjore.= A town of British India, capital of a district of the same name, in the presidency of Madras. In 1678 Tanjore was conquered by the Mahratta chief, Vencajeo, brother of Sevajee. In the reign of the rajah Tooljajee, the nabob of Arcot, supported by the Madras government, laid claim to tribute from Tanjore, and the rajah was deposed, but was subsequently restored.

=Tannadar.= In the East Indies, a commander of a small fort or custom-house.

=Tannenberg= (East Prussia). Here Ladislaus V., Jagellon of Poland, defeated the Teutonic Knights with great slaughter, the grand master being among the slain, July 15, 1410. The order never recovered from this calamity.

=Tap.= A gentle blow on the drum.

=Taps.= A sound of drum or trumpet which takes place usually about a quarter of an hour after tattoo, and is an indication that all lights in the soldiers’ quarters will be extinguished, and the men retire to bed.

=Tapuri.= A powerful people, apparently of Scythian origin, who dwelt in Media, on the borders of Parthia, south of Mount Coronus. They also extended into Margiana, and probably farther north on the eastern side of the Caspian, where their original abodes seem to have been in the mountains called by their name.

=Tara.= A hill in Meath, Ireland, where it is said a conference was held between the English and Irish in 1173. Near here, on May 26, 1798, the royalist troops, 400 in number, defeated the insurgent Irish 4000 strong.

=Taranto= (anc. _Tarentum_). A town of Southern Italy, province of Terra d’Otranto, is situated on a rocky islet formerly an isthmus between the Mare Piccolo (Little Sea), and the Mare Grande (Great Sea), or Gulf of Taranto, on the west. Ancient Tarentum was a far more splendid city than its modern representative. Its greatness dates from 708 B.C., when the original inhabitants were expelled, and the town was taken possession of by a strong body of Lacedæmonian Partheniæ under the guidance of Phalanthus. It soon became the most powerful city in the whole of Magna Græcia, and exercised a kind of supremacy over the other Greek cities in Italy. It possessed a considerable fleet of ships of war, and was able to bring into the field, with the assistance of its allies, an army of 30,000 foot and 3000 horse. The people of Tarentum, assisted by Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, supported a war which had been undertaken in 281 B.C. by the Romans, to avenge the insults the Tarentines had offered to their ships when near their harbors; it was terminated after ten years; 300,000 prisoners were taken, and Tarentum became subject to Rome. Except the citadel, Tarentum was captured by the Carthaginians, 212, but recovered by Fabius, 209 B.C. Tarentum has shared in the revolutions of Southern Italy.

=Tarazona.= A town of Spain, in the province of Zaragoza, on the Queyles, a tributary of the Ebro. It is the ancient _Turiaso_, and here a few Roman troops routed a Celtiberian army. It became a _municipium_ under the Romans.

=Tarbes.= A town of France, in the department of Hautes Pyrenees, on the left bank of the Adour. For a long time it belonged to the English monarchs, and it was the residence of the Black Prince. On March 20, 1814, a combat took place here between the British under Wellington and the French under Soult, in which the former gained the victory.

=Tar-bucket.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Tard-venus=, or =Malandrins= (_Fr._). Freebooters, banditti, who elected their own chief, and appeared first in France in 1360.

=Tarentum.= See TARANTO.

=Target.= In its modern sense, is the mark for aiming at in practicing with the cannon, rifle, or bow and arrow. In its more ancient meaning, a target, or _targe_, was a shield, circular in form, cut out of ox-hide, mounted on light but strong wood, and strengthened by bosses, spikes, etc. Of modern targets, the simplest is that used for archery. With regard to rifle-targets, the numerous rifle-matches have caused ranges to be constructed over the whole country. The necessities are: a butt, artificially constructed or cut in the face of a hill, to prevent wide balls from scattering; a marker’s shot-proof cell, near the targets; and a range of such length as can be procured. The targets used at the Creedmoor range on Long Island, and by the U. S. army, are divided into three classes and are of the following sizes: The _third class_, to be used at all distances up to and including 300 yards, is a rectangle 6 feet high and 4 feet wide. Three concentric circles are described, with the middle point as a centre and radii of 4, 13, and 23 inches respectively. The inner circle is black, and so are the lines marking the circumference of the middle and outer circles; the rest of the target is white. The _second class_ is a square, 6 feet high. Three concentric circles are drawn, with the middle point as a centre and radii of 11, 19, and 27 inches respectively. The inner circle is black, as well as the circumferences of the other circles; the rest of the target is white. This target is used at all distances over 300, to, and including, 600 yards. The _first class_, to be used at all distances over 600 yards, is a rectangle, 6 feet high and 12 feet wide. It has two concentric circles, described with a radii of 18 and 27 inches respectively, the centre being at the middle point of the target, and two lines drawn parallel to, and 3 feet from, each end (leaving the _inner_, square, 6 feet by 6 feet). The target is white, except the lines just indicated and the inner circle, which are black. The smallest circle, always painted black, is called the _bull’s-eye_, and when struck, counts 5 for the marksman; the ring embraced between the bull’s-eye and the circumference of the next larger circle is called the _centre_, which counts 4; and the ring between the second and third circles is called the _inner_, which scores 3; and the space outside of the larger circle is called the _outer_, and scores 2. In the first-class target the space between the second circle and the vertical lines is the _inner_, and the space outside the vertical lines is the _outer_.

In artillery practice, targets of considerable size are used at long ranges. The usual practice is over the sea; targets are then painted on the sides of old vessels, or are floated by buoys. For trying the power of ordnance, solid targets are constructed to resemble the sides of iron-plated ships, portions of fortification, etc.

=Targeted.= Furnished or armed with a target.

=Targeteer=, or =Targetier=. One armed with a target or shield.

=Tariere= (_Fr._). A machine of war similar to the battering-ram (which it preceded), excepting that the head was pointed. It made the first opening in the wall, which was increased by the _belier_.

=Tarifa.= A seaport town of Spain, 20 miles southwest from Gibraltar. It was successfully defended in 1811 by Col. Gough, with a body of 2500 British and Spanish troops against a French force of 10,000 men, under Victor and Laval.

=Tarquinii.= An ancient city of Etruria, on the left bank of the Marta, about 4 miles from the Mediterranean. In 398 B.C., while the Romans were at war with the Veii, they were attacked by the Tarquinians, who seem from this time to have been frequently united with the other Etruscan cities against Rome. War was carried on with varying success and some intermissions till 351, when a truce of forty years was agreed upon. After its expiration, hostilities were again for a short time renewed; but in 309 another truce was concluded, in the course of which Tarquinii seems to have gradually become subject to Rome. It continued to be a flourishing town under the empire, and after its fall, until it was destroyed by the Saracens.

=Tarragona= (anc. _Tarraco_). A seaport city of Spain, capital of the province of the same name, at the mouth of the Francoli, in the Mediterranean, 52 miles west-southwest from Barcelona. The ancient Tarraco was originally a Phœnician settlement; it afterwards became the capital of the Roman province called by its name. After the fall of the empire, it was taken by the Goths; and at a later period was laid in ruins by the Moors. In the 11th century the modern town was founded on the site of the former. In 1705, it was captured by the English, but was afterwards abandoned; and in 1811 it was taken and sacked by the French under Suchet.

=Tarred-links.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Tarsus= (now _Tersus_). Anciently the chief city of Cilicia, and one of the most important in all Asia Minor, situated on both sides of the navigable river Cydnus, about 18 miles from the sea. In the time of Xenophon, who gives us the first historical notice of Tarsus, it was taken by Cyrus. At the time of the Macedonian invasion, it was held by the Persian troops, who were prevented from burning it by Alexander’s arrival. It played an important part as a military post in the wars of the successors of Alexander, and under the Syrian kings. As the power of the Seleucidæ declined, it suffered much from the oppression of its governors, and from the wars between the members of the royal family. At the time of the Mithridatic war, it suffered, on the one hand, from Tigranes, who overran Cilicia, and, on the other, from the pirates, who had their strongholds in the mountains of Cilicia Aspera, and made frequent incursions into the level country. From both these enemies it was rescued by Pompey, 66 B.C. In the civil war it took part with Cæsar. For this the inhabitants were severely punished by Cassius, but were recompensed by Antony, who made Tarsus a free city. It was the scene of important events in the wars with the Persians, the Arabs, and the Turks, and also in the Crusades.

=Tartares= (_Fr._). A word used in the French army to distinguish officers’ servants and batmen from the soldiers who serve in the ranks. _Tartare_ likewise means a groom.

=Tartary= (properly _Tatary_). Is the name under which, in the Middle Ages, was comprised the whole central belt of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, from the Sea of Japan to the Dnieper, including Mantchuria, Mongolia, Eastern Turkestan, Independent Turkestan, the Kalmuck and the Kirghis steppes, and the old khanates of Kasan, Astrakhan, and the Crimea, and even the Cossack countries; and hence arose a distinction of Tartary into European and Asiatic. But latterly the name Tartary had a much more limited signification, including only that tract bounded on the north by Siberia, and on the south by China and Thibet, along with Independent Turkestan; and at the present day, many writers apply it as a synonym for Turkestan. The Tartars (or, more properly, Tatars) was originally a name of the Mongolic races, but came to be extended to all the tribes brought under Mongolic sway by Genghis Khan and his successors, including Tungusic and Turkic races. The term is therefore not to be considered as ethnological, though all, or almost all, the peoples included under it, in its widest sense, belong to the Turanian family, but is rather to be understood in the same sense as the term “Franks” used by the Mohammedans. During the decline of the Roman empire, these tribes began to seek more fertile regions; and the first who reached the frontier of Italy were the Huns, the ancestors of the modern Mongols. The first acknowledged sovereign of this vast country was the famous Genghis Khan. His empire by the conquest of China, Persia, and all Central Asia (1206-27), became one of the most formidable ever established; but it was split into parts in a few reigns. Timur, or Tamerlane, again conquered Persia, broke the power of the Turks in Asia Minor (1370-1400), and founded the Mogul dynasty in India, which began with Baber in 1525, and formed the most splendid court in Asia, till the close of the 18th century. The Calmucks, a branch of the Tartars, expelled from China, settled on the banks of the Volga in 1672, but returned in 1771, and thousands perished on the journey.

=Tasa.= In the East Indies, a kind of drum, formed of a hemisphere of copper, hollowed out and covered with goat-skin. It is hung before from the shoulders, and beat with two rattans.

=Taslet.= A piece of armor formerly worn on the thigh.

=Tasse.= Formerly a piece of armor for the thighs; an appendage to the ancient corselet, consisting of skirts of iron that covered the thighs, fastened to the cuirass with hooks.

=Tattoo.= The evening sound of drum or trumpet, after which the roll is called, and all soldiers not on leave of absence should be in their quarters.

=Tau, Cross.= In heraldry, a cross of a form somewhat resembling the Greek letter _Tau_. St. Anthony is generally represented with a cross of this description, embroidered on the left side of his garment.

=Taulantii.= A people of Illyria, in the neighborhood of Epidamnus. One of their most powerful kings was Glaucias, who fought against Alexander the Great.

=Taunton.= A town of England, county of Somerset, on the river Tone. It was taken by Perkin Warbeck, September, 1497; and here he was surrendered to Henry VII. October 5 following. The Duke of Monmouth was proclaimed king of Taunton, June 20, 1685; and it was the scene of the “bloody assize” held by Jeffreys upon the rebels in August.

=Taupins=, or =Francs-Taupins= (_Fr._). A name which was formerly given to a body of free-arches, or francs-archers, in France. This body consisted chiefly of countrymen and rustics.

=Tauromenium.= An ancient Greek city in Sicily, on the east coast of the island, about half-way between Messina and Catania. In 394, Dionysius besieged the new city, and spent the greater part of a winter in an unsuccessful effort to take it. A peace was concluded in 392, in terms of which Tauromenium became subject to Dionysius, who immediately expelled the former inhabitants, and supplied their place by mercenaries of his own. In 358, Andromachus collected the survivors of the original inhabitants of Naxos, and settled them at Tauromenium. Under Andromachus the city made rapid progress. He assisted Timoleon in his expedition to Sicily. At a later period the city was conquered by Hiero of Syracuse, and it remained subject to that city until, with the whole of Sicily, it passed into the power of the Romans. In the Servile war in Sicily (134-32 B.C.), it was captured by the insurgent slaves, and held by them till the last extremity, suffering the utmost calamities, until the citadel was betrayed to the Romans. It was taken and destroyed by the Saracens after a siege of two years, in 906.

=Taxiarchs.= In the Athenian army, were ten in number (every tribe having the privilege of electing one), and commanded next under the _strategeoi_. Their business was to marshal the army, give orders for their marches, and appoint what provisions each soldier should furnish himself with. They had also power to cashier any of the common soldiers, if convicted of a misdemeanor; but their jurisdiction was only over the foot.

=Tchernaya.= A river in the Crimea. On August 16, 1855, the lines of the allied army at this place were attacked by 50,000 Russians under Prince Gortschakoff without success, being repulsed with the loss of 3329 slain, 1658 wounded, and 600 prisoners. The brunt of the attack was borne by two French regiments under Gen. d’Herbillon. The loss of the allies was about 1200; 200 of these were from the Sardinian contingent, which behaved with great gallantry, under the command of Gen. La Marmora. The Russian general Read, and the Sardinian general Montevecchio, were killed. The object of the attack was the relief of Sebastopol, then closely besieged by the English and French.

=Tearless Victory.= In 367 B.C. Archidamus, king of Sparta, defeated the Arcadians and Argives in the “Tearless Battle,” so called because he had won it without losing a man.

=Tebet= (_Fr._). A kind of axe which the Turks carry at their saddle-bow during war.

=Teepe.= See WIGWAM.

=Teflis=, or =Tiflis=. A city of Russia in Asia, in Transcaucasia, capital of the province of Georgia. It was founded about the middle of the 5th century, by a powerful monarch called Waktang; and afterwards rose to great importance. It was taken by Genghis Khan in the 12th century, and by Mustapha Pasha, 1576. In 1723 it was taken by the Turks, in 1734 by Kouli Khan, and it was destroyed by Aga Mohammed in 1795. It came into the possession of the Russians in 1801. A treaty of peace was concluded here between Russia and Persia, October 12, 1813.

=Tefterdar Effendi.= The commissary-general is so called among the Turks.

=Tegea.= An ancient city of Greece, forming one of the most powerful states in Arcadia. The Tegeatæ long resisted the supremacy of Sparta, and it was not till the Spartans discovered the bones of Orestes that they were enabled to conquer this people. The Tegeatæ sent 3000 men to the battle of Platææ, in which they were distinguished for their bravery. They remained faithful to Sparta in the Peloponnesian war; but after the battle of Leuctra they joined the rest of the Arcadians in establishing their independence. During the wars of the Achæan league, Tegea was taken both by Cleomenes, king of Sparta, and Antigonus Doson, king of Macedonia, and the ally of the Achæans.

=Tekrit= (anc. _Birtha_). A town situated on the Euphrates, in Mesopotamia. It was unsuccessfully besieged by Sapor I., king of Persia, in 260.

=Telegraph, Field= or =Flying=. During the civil war (1861-65) in the United States a signal corps was organized, whose duties extended to the management of field telegraphs, and light lines, when the formation of the country was such that aerial signals could not be used, or it was for any reason desirable that short electric lines be extended. It has been demonstrated that electric instruments may be of the most simple construction; and electric lines can be set up, and be utilized in places where a few years ago it was deemed impracticable to employ them; and can be worked without other skilled labor than that of the soldiers attached to the posts, and with no apparatus but such as can be had at a trivial expense. There is no reason why, with properly drilled parties, electric lines may not be thrown out in the moments which precede, or even during the progress of, a battle, and be so worked as to lessen infinitely that difficulty of rapid communication which has so often caused disaster. With a corps well organized and well equipped, the connection between the corps of an army, and between the corps headquarters and general headquarters, ought to be perfected in a very few hours after the halt of the army. The field lines of the Signal Corps consist of rolls of wire carried in light-wheeled vehicles, and light “lance poles,” us they are called, on which the wire is stretched when necessary. The wire made for the purpose is of small strands of iron and copper twisted, to give it strength and flexibility. It is insulated with prepared india-rubber, or other material, and wound on reels which, in an emergency, can be carried anywhere by hand, while the wire reeling out can be raised upon fences, fastened to trees, or laid along the ground. The instruments used at first were of a kind known as the Beardslee instrument. These instruments are worked without batteries, the electric current being generated by revolving magnets. They were “indicating,” an index upon a dial pointing, at the receiving station, to whatever letter was designated by the index handle upon a similar dial at the sending station. There were as advantages attaching to this instrument, that it was portable and compact, could be set at work anywhere, required no batteries, acids, or fluids; and what was thought of importance in the early days of the civil war, and while the corps was a temporary organization, it could be worked by soldiers without skill as operators. The defects were, that messages could not be sent as rapidly or as far as by some other instruments. Nor could several instruments work easily upon a single circuit. For some uses on the field of battle, or under fire, where the attention of the reader is disturbed, it is, perhaps, as good an instrument as has been devised. With a permanent corps, or at secure stations, it gives place to some of the forms of signal or of sound instruments. The instruments upon field lines may be of very simple structure. The signal instruments, either the needle or the letter instruments, can be used in actual conflict, if the reports of heavy guns or other disturbances of action render reading by sound unreliable. The manufacture of both instruments and batteries has been improved, until there is now no trouble in carrying either in the field in the roughest campaigns. The difficulty in reading from telegraphic instruments by sound, which has been the greatest obstacle to their use, can be almost done away with by using them with codes of easy signals. In the Prussian army, also, the electric telegraph is applied for field purposes. Morse’s system is used. Each headquarters of an army and each army corps, has a telegraphic division of 3 officers, 137 men, 73 horses, and 10 wagons. Two of the latter are fitted up as operating-rooms, and the other 8 are used for carrying poles and other material, including 5 miles of wire to each wagon, which can be reeled off by the moving of the vehicle. Of the whole 40 miles, 5 are insulated, and can be run along the ground. It will be seen that each army corps can put out 40 miles of line without recourse to other wires, but use is always made of lines found in the country, in case they will answer. Single poles of light material are used, without joints, and about 10 feet long, and only every third pole is put in the ground. The _personnel_ is brought into the army from the civil telegraphic service at home. While in the field, the operators assume military rank, and, like agents of the Post-office Department, are known as “military officials,” not as “military officers.” The men are on a footing with train-soldiers. The operating-wagons are a little larger than the Rucker ambulances of the U. S. service, but much heavier. Just in the rear of the driver is a partition shutting off the rear portion of the carriage. At his back, and under his seat, is a capacious box, in which are carried tools, and the material necessary in telegraphing. On one side of the rear closed portion is a neat table with a compact operating instrument on it, and a battery under it; and on the opposite side is the operator’s bench, the space underneath it being also economized. On the outside near the table are sockets, with thumb-screws connected with the battery, to receive the wires. During the Franco-Prussian war, besides keeping the king in telegraphic communication with his ministers, lines were run from Gen. von Moltke’s headquarters to all the different corps in the field. The telegraph corps always evinced admirable promptness in keeping the lines closed up as the army moved forward. In Great Britain, the system of military telegraphy forms part of the duties of the Royal Engineers.

=Telemeter.= An instrument for determining long distances. (See RANGE-FINDER.) One of the best-known telemeters is the invention of Capt. A. Gautier of the French army. It consists of a short tube containing two mirrors set at an angle of 45° with each other, one of which is fixed; the other admits of a slight rotation. A hole in the side of the tube allows the image of a secondary distant object on the prolongation of the base-line to be brought in line with that of the distant object whose distance is to be measured. An observation is next taken from the other end of the short base-line, and the image of the secondary object again brought in contact with that of the principal object by rotating a ring on the front of the tube. The extent of this rotation (as denoted by a scale), gives a factor which, multiplied by the base-line, gives the required distance.

The Boulongè telemeter is an instrument devised for ascertaining the distance to a point by means of sound proceeding from the point to the place of observation. The one used for artillery consists of a glass tube about 6 inches in length, filled with a transparent liquid that does not freeze except with intense cold. In the liquid is a metallic disk, which moves freely from one end of the tube to the other. It is so adjusted that the motion will be uniform and comparatively slow. The tube is inclosed in a brass case, to which is attached a scale, after the fashion of a thermometer. This scale is marked for each hundred yards up to 4000. The divisions on the scale show the distance, in yards, through which sound will travel in air during the time required for the disk to descend over the space on the scale marked by the corresponding number of yards. The instrument must be held vertically, or as nearly so as possible. To arrest the motion of the disk at any point, the instrument is quickly turned to a horizontal position.

To use it for determining the time of flight of shells it is held in the right hand, back of the hand up, with the zero of the instrument to the left; a turn of the wrist to the right brings the instrument vertical, with the zero end uppermost; the disk then descends, and a turn of the wrist to the left arrests its motion. The observer, holding the instrument as described, watches for the flash of the shell, and upon seeing it instantly brings the instrument to a vertical position; upon hearing the report from the shell he instantly turns it back again. The position of the disk indicates the number of yards from the observer to where the shell exploded.

To ascertain the distance to an enemy’s battery, the instrument is held and turned in the same manner. The observer watches for the flash of a gun; observing which, he turns the instrument, and when he hears the report turns it back and reads off the distance. Each hundred yards on the scale is subdivided into quarters.

The telemeter invented by Capt. A. Gautier of the French army is an instrument for measuring, with a great degree of approximation, any difference, not exceeding three degrees, which may be exhibited in the bearing of a distant object by viewing it from different points of a base-line transverse to its general direction from the observer. The instrument, in its simplicity, accuracy, and portability, recommends itself in all cases where a knowledge of distances is desired at any moment and with the least possible delay; such, for instance, as range-finding, river-crossing, reconnoitring, and the like. A slight acquaintance with its use on such occasions enables the observer to estimate, with more than ordinary promptitude and precision, the distance which it might be all-important to obtain.

The instrument resembles in shape and size one barrel of an ordinary reconnoitring- or field-glass. The case in which it is carried is fashioned so as to answer as a handle for holding the instrument when making observations. Within the barrel of the instrument are placed two mirrors at an angle of 45° with each other; this angle can be varied within certain limits by means of a milled-headed screw acting on one of them. The mirrors are thus made to operate upon the principle of the sextant. A slot on one side of the barrel permits the rays of light from an object to fall upon one of the mirrors, from whence they are reflected upon the other mirror, and the image is seen through the eye-glass at the small end of the instrument. At the front or large end is fixed, in a ring surrounding the barrel, a prism, whose displacement modifies the direction of an object seen through it. At the rear of the instrument is a small eye-glass, by means of which the observer sees, _over_ the mirrors and through the prism, the object which is before him, and by double reflection in the mirrors the object to the side of him.

The American general Berdan has invented a large telemeter for garrison and sea-coast service which has been tested in Germany in 1875 and 1876 and found to be very exact in the determination of distances. He has also constructed a new model for field and mountain artillery which can be packed up and transported on horseback.

=Telephone.= An instrument for reproducing sounds, especially articulate speech, at a distance, by the aid of electricity or electro-magnetism. It consists essentially of a device by which currents of electricity, produced by the sounds, and exactly corresponding in duration and intensity to the vibrations of the air which attend them, are transmitted to a distant station, and there, acting on suitable mechanism, reproduce similar sounds by repeating the vibrations. Telephones were recently used by Sir Garnet Wolseley in the war in Zululand, and are being rapidly adopted in European armies.

=Tell Off.= A military term, expressing the dividing and practicing a regiment or company in the several formations, preparatory to marching to the general parade for field exercise.

=Tellenon= (_Fr._). An ancient machine used at sieges. See TOLENON.

=Tellevas= (_Fr._). A large shield formerly used, similar to the _pavois_.

=Tembu=, =Abatempu=, or =Tambookie=. Is the name of an important tribe of Kaffirs, occupying the region east of the present boundary of the Cape Colony. In the earlier Kaffir wars, and even in the great one of 1835-36, the Tambookie Kaffirs remained neutral, and even friendly to the colonists; but in the war of 1848-49, they were induced to join the other tribes, and were defeated with great loss by a small colonial force. In the war of 1851, they were much broken and scattered; but eventually submitting to the British authority, they have quietly located themselves in the unoccupied country east of the White Kei and Tsomo Rivers.

=Temesvar=, or =Temeswar=. A town of the Austrian empire, capital of a circle of the same name, and of the crownland of Banat. It is strongly fortified with walls, moats, and outworks. Temesvar has played an important part in modern history. It was in the hands of the Turks from its capture in 1552 till 1718, when it was regained by Prince Eugène, and strongly fortified. In 1849, it was besieged for 107 days by the Hungarian insurgents, but it held out until it was relieved by Gen. Haynau.

=Templar, Knights.= A celebrated religious and military order, founded at Jerusalem in the beginning of the 12th century, by Hugues de Paganes, Geoffroy de St. Omer, and seven other French knights, for the protection of the Holy Sepulchre and of pilgrims resorting thither. The knights were bound by their rule to hear the holy office every day, or if prevented by their military duties, to say a certain number of paternosters instead, and were compelled to abstain from certain articles of food on certain days of the week. They might have three horses and an esquire each, but were forbidden to hunt or fowl. After the conquest of Jerusalem by the Saracens, the Templars spread over Europe; their valor became everywhere celebrated; immense donations in money and land were showered on them, and members of the most distinguished families thought themselves honored by enrollment in the order. As the power and prosperity of the Templars increased, so did their luxury, arrogance, and other vices, which gave the French kings a pretext for endeavoring to suppress them, and lay hold of their possessions. Their principal enemy was Philippe IV. of France, who induced Pope Clement V. to accede to a scheme by which the whole members of the order were seized and imprisoned, their lands confiscated, and many of them tried, convicted, and executed for capital crimes. The English Templars were arrested by command of Edward II. In 1312, the whole order throughout Europe was suppressed by the Council of Vienne, and its property bestowed on the Knights of St. John. The habit of the Templars was white, with a red cross of eight points of the Maltese form worn on the left shoulder. Their war-cry was “Beau séant”; and their banner, which bore the same name, was parted per fess sable and argent. They also displayed above their lances a white banner charged with the cross of the order. Their badges were the _Agnus Dei_, and a representation of two knights mounted on one horse,--indicative of the original poverty of the order.

=Ten Thousand, Retreat of the.= See RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS.

=Tenable.= Such as may be maintained against opposition; such as may be held against attack.

=Tenaille.= In fortification, is a low work, constructed in the main ditch, upon the lines of defense, between the bastions, before the curtain, composed of two faces, and sometimes of two flanks and a small curtain.

=Tenaillons.= In fortification, are works sometimes found constructed in an old fortress, on each side of the ravelin,--the short faces being traced, on the prolongations of the faces of the ravelin, from the counterscarp of its ditch; the long faces are directed for flanking defense, to about the middle of the faces of the bastions.

_Demi-tenaillons_ are very similar to tenaillons, excepting that their short faces are directed, perpendicular to the faces of the ravelin, about one-third or one-half down from the flanked angle.

=Tencteri=, or =Tenctheri=. A people of Germany, dwelling on the Rhine between the Ruhr and Sieg, south of the Usipetes, in conjunction with whom their name usually occurs. They crossed the Rhine together with the Usipetes, with the intention of settling in Gaul; but they were defeated by Cæsar with great slaughter, and those who escaped took refuge in the territories of their southern neighbors, the Sygambri. The Tencteri afterward belonged to the league of the Cherusci, and at a still later period they are mentioned as a portion of the confederacy of the Franks.

=Tenedos.= A small island belonging to Turkey, in the northeast of the Ægean Sea, off the coast of the Troad. It appears in the legend of the Trojan war, as the station to which the Greeks withdrew their fleet in order to induce the Trojans to think they had departed, and to receive the wooden horse. In the Persian war it was used by Xerxes as a naval station. It afterward became a tributary ally of Athens, and adhered to her during the whole of the Peloponnesian war, and down to the peace of Antalcidas, by which it was surrendered to the Persians. At the Macedonian conquest, the Tenedians regained their liberty. In the war against Philip III., Attalus and the Romans used Tenedos as a naval station, and in the Mithridatic war, Lucullus gained a naval victory over Mithridates off the island. About this time the Tenedians placed themselves under the protection of Alexandrea Troas.

=Tennessee.= A Central State of the American Union, and third admitted under the Federal Constitution. It is bounded on the north by Kentucky and Virginia, and on the south by Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. The early settlers of Tennessee were slaughtered by Cherokee Indians in 1754; but in 1756 a settlement was formed near Knoxville, then a part of North Carolina. Nashville was settled near the close of the Revolution; in 1790, Tennessee was organized as a Territory with Kentucky, and in 1796 was admitted into the Union as a separate State. In January, 1861, a proposal to secede from the Union was defeated, but in June it was carried by a majority of 57,667. In ten months the State raised 50 regiments for the Confederacy; 5 or 6 were also raised for the Union. The State was the scene, at Knoxville and Chattanooga, of some of the most important operations of the war, and eventually almost the whole State became a battle-ground. The State was readmitted into the Union in 1866.

=Tenney.= In heraldry, orange color, one of the tinctures enumerated by heralds, but not of frequent occurrence in coat-armor. It is indicated in engravings by lines in bend sinister, crossed by others barways.

=Tent= (Lat. _tentorium_, from _tentus_, “stretched”). A pavilion or portable lodge consisting of canvas or other coarse cloth, stretched and sustained by poles; used for sheltering persons from the weather, especially soldiers in camp. The early Greek, and afterward the Macedonian tents, were small coverings of skin, under each of which two soldiers slept. Alexander the Great is said to have had a pavilion of extraordinary magnificence, which could contain 100 beds. The Roman soldiers seem to have used two sorts of tents,--one, a tent proper, of canvas or some analogous material, and constructed with two solid upright poles, and a roof-piece between them; the other more resembling a light hut, of a wooden skeleton, covered by bark, hides, mud, straw, or any material which afforded warmth. The Roman tent held 10 soldiers, with their _decanus_, or corporal. Modern military tents are all made of linen or cotton canvas, supported by one or more poles, according to shape, and held extended by pegs driven into the ground. The tents used in the military service of the United States comprise the following:

_Common_, or _A tent_, for the use of enlisted men, is 6 feet 10 inches in height, 8 feet 4 inches in width, and 6 feet 10 inches long; it holds 6 men.

The officers’ tents are somewhat larger than the common tents, and are supplied with low side-walls of canvas; they are generally called _wall-tents_.

The _tente-d’abri_, which was introduced into the American from the French service, with some modifications, consists of a tissue of cotton-cloth impregnated with caoutchouc, and thus made water-proof. Every man carries a square of this cloth, with buttons and button-holes around, by which it is attached to the squares carried by his comrades; 3 men generally sleep together in a tent made of those pieces.

The _Sibley tent_ (invented by Maj. Sibley, 2d Dragoons) is conical, light, easily pitched, erected on a tripod holding a single pole, and will comfortably accommodate 12 soldiers with their accoutrements. A fire can be made in the centre of this tent, and all soldiers sleep with their feet to the fire. This tent is hardly ever used.

There is also a _hospital tent_, which is made of heavy cotton-duck. In length it is 14 feet; in width, 15 feet; in height (centre), 11 feet; with a wall 4¹⁄₂ feet, and a “fly” of appropriate size; the ridge-pole is made in two sections, and measures 14 feet when joined. This tent accommodates from 8 to 10 persons comfortably.

=Tent.= To cover with tents; to pitch tents upon; as, a tented plain.

=Tent, Laboratory.= In artillery, is a large tent, which is sometimes carried to the field for the conveniences of the laboratory men.

=Tent-bedstead.= See CAMP-BEDSTEAD.

=Tentful.= As much or as many as a tent will hold.

=Tent-pins.= Are pieces of wood, which are indented at the top, and made sharp at the bottom, to keep the cords of a tent firm to the earth.

=Tent-poles.= The poles upon which a tent is supported.

=Teramo= (anc. _Interamma_). A town of Southern Italy, in the province of Abruzzo Ultra I., at the junction of the Tordina and Vezzola, 28 miles northeast of Aquila. In the plain below Teramo took place, July 27, 1460, between the army of John, duke of Anjou, and the Milanese allies of Ferdinand I. of Aragon, one of the most sanguinary battles ever fought in Italy. After the contest at Castelfidardo (1860), Teramo was the first Neapolitan city that opened its gates and gave joyful welcome to King Victor Emmanuel.

=Termini= (anc. _Thermæ Himærenses_). A seaport town on the north coast of Sicily, 21 miles east-southeast from Palermo, at the mouth of the river Termini. The ancient _Thermæ_ was founded 408 B.C. Here the Carthaginians defeated the Romans with heavy loss (260 B.C.) during the first Punic war.

=Ternate.= The northernmost of a chain of islands, on the west coast of Gilolo, and formerly the seat of sovereignty over all the adjacent Molucca Islands. It was taken from the Dutch by the English in 1797, but it was restored at the peace of Amiens. It was again taken in August, 1810, and once more restored to the Dutch, with their other possessions in India and the East, by the treaty of Paris in 1814.

=Terre-plein.= In field fortification, the plane of site or level country around a work. The terre-plein of the rampart in permanent fortification, is the broad surface which remains after constructing the parapet and banquette.

=Terror, Reign of.= See REIGN OF TERROR.

=Tertiate.= In gunnery, is to examine the thickness of the metal of a piece of artillery, in order to judge of its strength. This is usually done with a pair of caliper compasses. To _tertiate_ a piece of ordnance, is to examine the thickness of the metal, in order to judge of its strength, the position of the trunnions, etc.

=Teschen.= A town of Austrian Silesia, on the right bank of the Olsa, 38 miles east-southeast of Troppau. Here, in 1779, a treaty of peace was concluded between Maria Theresa and Frederick II., by which the dispute of the Bavarian Succession was brought to an end.

=Testri= (Northern France). Pepin d’Heristal, invited by malcontents, here defeated and captured Thierry III., king of Austrasia, and established himself as duke, 687.

=Testudo= (_Testude_). In ancient warfare, was a defensive arrangement of the shields, by means of which a body of men advancing against a wall for assault or mining, sought to protect themselves from the darts and weapons of the defenders. The men standing in close order, joined their shields above their heads, the edges overlapping, until the whole resembled the shell of a tortoise (_testudo_). The name was also applied to a machine moving on wheels, and roofed over, under which soldiers worked in undermining or otherwise destroying the walls in a siege.

=Tête-de-pont= (_Fr._). A field fortification in front of a bridge, to cover the retreat of an army across a river. They are generally formed in the shape of a redan, a system of crémaillères, horn- or crown-works, or portions of star-and-bastioned forts. In order to add to the defense of _tétes-de-pont_, reduits have been constructed within them, and the dimensions of their parapets are in general made larger than those of any other field-work, on account of their great importance. Sometimes the area inclosed by a _tête-de-pont_ is temporarily made use of as a depot for the stores necessary for the troops, in which case its tracing should present a strong point of defense, well provided with artillery, and affording in several points egress. The tracing which has been found the best for the passage of extensive trains of wagons and artillery, as well as columns of troops, is formed of crémaillères, extending in such a manner as to inclose a large area, and leaving behind each a passage well guarded and secured by second crémaillères, fronting the passage, and forming a second line. Additional strength will be given to _têtes_ of every kind by constructing small redans or batteries on the opposite side of the river, the fire from which may defend the ground in front of the salient, and flank the faces of the _tête-de-pont_.

=Tettenhall= (Staffordshire). It was probably at this place, then named Testenheal, that the Danes were defeated by the Anglo-Saxons sent against them by Edward the Elder, August 6, 910.

=Tetuan.= A seaport town on the north coast of Africa, 22 miles south of Ceuta. It was taken by the Spaniards under O’Donnell, February, 1860; and the treaty of Madrid, by which the city was evacuated in favor of the Spaniards, was concluded October 30, 1861.

=Teutoburg Forest.= Probably situated between Detmold and Paderborn, in North Germany, where Hermann, or Arminius, and the Germans defeated the Romans under Varus with great slaughter in the year 9. This defeat was regarded at Rome as a national calamity.

=Teutonic.= A term applied to a group of nations, as well as languages, forming an important division or stem of the Aryan family. Of the various tribes and nations spoken of as inhabiting Northern Europe in ancient times, it is often difficult to determine which were really of Germanic race, and which Celtic or Slavic. Of undoubted German nations who took part in the destruction of the Roman empire the most prominent were the Goths (which see), Lombards (which see), Vandals (which see), and Franks (which see). The term Teutonic is derived from _Teutones_, the name of a nation or tribe first mentioned by Pytheas, who wrote about 320 B.C., as then inhabiting a part of the Cimbric Chersonesus, or Jutland. For the next 200 years there is no further mention of the Teutones, that is, not until 113 B.C., when they appear in history as ravaging Gaul, and in conjunction with the Cimbri and Ambrones, threatening the very existence of the Roman republic. The Cimbri having gone into Spain, the Teutones and Ambrones were at length defeated by C. Marius in a great battle at Aqua Sextiæ, in Gaul, 102 B.C. A similar victory was gained by Marius in the following year over the Cimbri in the plains of Lombardy.

=Teutonic Knights.= One of the more celebrated of the military and religious orders to which the Crusades gave birth. The sufferings of the Christian soldiers at the siege of Acre excited the sympathy of certain merchants of Bremen and Lübeck, who rendered such important services by the erection of hospitals and otherwise, that Duke Frederick of Suabia, with the sanction of Pope Clement III. and the emperor Henry VI., enrolled them in an order of knighthood. The habit of the order was a white mantle with a black cross; and the knights took vows of poverty and chastity, which in later times were not very strictly interpreted. In the course of the 13th century, they were, with the sanction of the pope, engaged in a bloody war to enforce Christianity on the heathen nations inhabiting the southern shores of the Baltic, which resulted in the acquisition by the order of Prussia, Livonia, Courland, and other adjoining territories. Warriors from all parts of Europe in that and the following century joined their standard, including Henry IV. of England, accompanied by 300 attendant knights and men-at-arms. The conquests of the order raised it to the rank of a sovereign order, with a territory extending from the Oder to the Baltic, and embracing a population of between 2,000,000, and 3,000,000, the grand master having his seat at Marienburg, Prussia. The decline of the order began in the 15th century, and its fall was brought about partly by internal dissensions, and

## partly by the attacks of neighboring states. At the peace of Presburg in

1805, the emperor of Austria obtained the rights and revenues of the grand master, but in 1809 the order was abolished by Napoleon, its lands passing to the sovereigns in whose dominions they lay. The Teutonic order, however, still continues to preserve a titular existence in Austria.

=Tewkesbury.= A town of England, in Gloucestershire, on the Avon, and near its confluence with the Severn, 10 miles northeast from Gloucester. It is a very ancient town. Within a mile of it was fought (May 14, 1471) the famous battle of Tewkesbury, in which the Yorkists under Edward IV. and Richard III. inflicted a signal defeat on the Lancastrians.

=Texas.= One of the southwestern of the United States of America, is bounded on the southwest by Mexico, from which it is separated by the Rio Grande, and on the east by Arkansas and Louisiana. La Salle, the French explorer, erected a fort on Matagorda Bay, 1687. A Spanish settlement and mission was formed in 1690, but soon abandoned. In 1715, the country was settled by the Spaniards under the name of New Philippines, and several missions established; but the Camanche and Apache Indians, among the most warlike in America, and still the terror of the border settlements, hindered the progress of the country. In 1803, when Louisiana was ceded by France to the United States, Texas, claimed by both Spain and the United States, became a disputed territory. From 1806 to 1816, settlements were formed, and several attempts made to wrest the country from Spain. In one of these, in 1813, 2500 Americans and Mexicans and 700 inhabitants of San Antonio were killed. Mina, a Spanish refugee, gained some successes, but was defeated and shot. Lafitte, a Gulf pirate, made a settlement at Galveston in 1815, but it was broken up in 1821. In 1820, Moses Austin, an American, got a large tract of land from the Mexican government, and began a settlement, which rapidly increased; but many of the settlers were of so lawless a character, that in 1830 the government forbade any more Americans coming into Texas. In 1833, a convention of settlers, 20,000 in number, made an unsuccessful attempt to form an independent Mexican state; and in 1835 a provisional government was formed, Sam Houston chosen commander-in-chief, and the Mexicans driven out of Texas. Santa Anna, president of Mexico, invaded the country with an army of 7500, but after some successes was entirely routed at San Jacinto, April 21, and Texas became an independent republic, acknowledged in 1837 by the United States, and in 1840 by England, France, and Belgium. In December, 1845, Texas was annexed to the United States, but was invaded by Mexico, which had never acknowledged its independence. A war followed (1846-48) in which Mexico was defeated. In February, 1861, Texas joined the Secession, and furnished many soldiers and immense supplies to the Confederate armies. In February, 1866, the ordinance of secession was annulled, and in 1870 the reconstruction was completed, and regular civil government restored.

=Thanks.= Public acknowledgments for gallant actions.

=Thapsus= (ruins at _Demas_). A city on the east coast of Bycazena, in Africa Propria, where Cæsar finally defeated the Pompeian army, and finished the civil war, 46 B.C.

=Thasos= (now _Thaso_, or _Tasso_). An island in the Grecian Archipelago, belonging to Turkey, off the coast of Roumelia, 30 miles north-northeast of Mount Athos. It was at a very early period taken possession of by the Phœnicians on account of its gold mines. Thasos was afterwards colonized by the Parians, 708 B.C. Before the Persian conquest, the Thasians were one of the richest and most powerful tribes in the north of the Ægean. They were subdued by the Persians under Mardonius, and subsequently became part of the Athenian maritime empire. They revolted, however, from Athens in 465 B.C., and after sustaining a siege of three years were subdued by Cimon in 463. They were obliged to surrender to the Athenians all their possessions in Thrace, to destroy their fortifications, to give up their ships, and to pay a large tribute for the future. They again revolted from Athens in 411, and called in the Spartans, but the island was again restored to the Athenians by Thrasybulus in 407.

=Thaulache= (_Fr._). Armor and weapons of the ancient French, consisting of small shields (_rondelles_), and halberd or spear.

=Theatre of Operations.= See STRATEGY.

=Theatre of War.= The term for any extent of country in which war is carried on. It is synonymous with “seat of war.”

=Theban Legion.= According to tradition, was totally composed of Christians, and consequently submitted to martyrdom rather than attack their brethren during the persecution of the emperor Maximin, or sacrifice to the gods, about 286. Their leader was canonized.

=Thebes.= The name of a celebrated city; it was formerly the capital of Upper Egypt; it is now in ruins. It revolted against Ptolemy Lathyrus, and was captured after a siege of three years, in 82 B.C.

=Thebes= (now _Theba_). The chief city of Bœotia, in ancient Greece, was situated in a plain southeast of the Lake Helice, and northeast of Platææ. The territory of Thebes was called _Thebais_, and extended eastward as far as the Eubœan Sea. It was the scene of one of the most celebrated wars in the mythical annals of Greece. Polynices, who had been expelled from Thebes by his brother Eteocles, induced six other heroes to espouse his cause, and marched against the city; but they were all defeated and slain by the Thebans. This is usually called the war of the “Seven against Thebes.” A few years afterward, “the Epigoni,” or descendants of the seven heroes, marched against Thebes to revenge their fathers’ death; they took the city and razed it to the ground. It appears, however, at the earliest historical period as a large and flourishing city. The Thebans were from an early period inveterate enemies of their neighbors, the Athenians. Their hatred of the latter people was probably one of the reasons which induced them to desert the cause of Grecian liberty in the great struggle against the Persian power. In the Peloponnesian war the Thebans naturally espoused the Spartan side, and contributed not a little to the downfall of Athens; but they joined the confederacy formed against Sparta in 394 B.C. The peace of Antalcidas in 387 put an end to hostilities in Greece; but the treacherous seizure of the Cadmea by the Lacedæmonian general Phœbidas in 382, and its recovery by the Theban exiles in 379, led to a war between Thebes and Sparta, in which the former not only recovered its independence, but forever destroyed the Lacedæmonian supremacy. This was the most glorious period in the Theban annals; and the decisive defeat of the Spartans at the battle of Leuctra in 371 made Thebes the first power in Greece. Her greatness, however, was mainly due to the pre-eminent abilities of her citizens, Epaminondas and Pelopidas; and with the death of the former at the battle of Mantinea in 362, she lost the supremacy which she had so recently gained. The Thebans joined the Athenians in protecting the liberties of Greece; but their united forces were defeated by Philip of Macedon, at the battle of Chæronea, in 338. Soon after the death of Philip and the accession of Alexander, the Thebans made a last attempt to recover their liberty, but were cruelly punished by the young king. The city was taken by Alexander in 336, and was almost entirely destroyed; 6000 inhabitants were slain, and 30,000 sold as slaves. In 316 the city was rebuilt by Cassander, with the assistance of the Athenians. In 290 it was taken by Demetrius Poliorcetes, and again suffered greatly.

=Theodolite.= An instrument, variously constructed, used, especially in trigonometrical surveying, for the accurate measurement of horizontal angles, and also usually of vertical angles. The theodolite consists principally of a telescope, with cross-wires in its focus, mounted so as to turn both on vertical and horizontal axes, the former carrying a horizontal vernier-plate over a graduated plate or circle for aximuthal angles, and the latter a vertical, graduated arc or semicircle for altitudes,--the whole furnished with leveling-screws and levels for adjusting to the horizon, and mounted on a tripod. It is usually so constructed that a horizontal angle may be repeated indefinitely around the limb, and thus a large number of repetitions added mechanically, to secure greater accuracy in the resulting mean.

=Thermidor= (_i.e._, the “Hot Month”). Formed in the calendar of the first French republic the eleventh month, and lasted from July 19 to August 18. The 9th Thermidor of the Republican year 2 (July 27, 1794) is memorable as the date of Robespierre’s fall, and the termination of the “Reign of Terror.” The name of Thermidorians was given to all those who took part in this fortunate _coup d’état_, but more particularly to those who were desirous of restoring the monarchy.

=Thermopylæ= (literally, “the hot gates”). A famous pass leading from Thessaly into Locris, and the only road by which an invading army can penetrate from Northern into Southern Greece. Leonidas, at the head of 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians, at this pass withstood the whole force of the Persians during three days, August 7, 8, and 9, 480 B.C., when Ephialtes, a Trachinian, perfidiously leading the enemy by a secret path up the mountains, brought them to the rear of the Greeks, who, thus placed between two assailants, perished gloriously on heaps of their slaughtered foes. One Greek only returned home, and he was received with reproaches for having fled. Here also, Antiochus the Great, king of Syria, was defeated by the Romans, 191 B.C.

=Thermum=, =Thermus=, or =Therma=. A strong city, the acropolis of Ætolia, Northern Greece, was captured and ravaged by Philip V. of Macedon, 218 and 206 B.C., on account of its favoring the Romans.

=Thespiæ.= A city of Bœotia, Northern Greece; 700 of its citizens perished with Leonidas at Thermopylæ, August, 480 B.C. It suffered much through the jealousy of the Thebans, who destroyed its walls in 372 B.C.

=Thessalonica= (now _Saloniki_, more anciently _Therma_). An ancient city of Macedonia, situated at the northeast extremity of the Sinus Thermaicus. It was taken and occupied by the Athenians a short time before the commencement of the Peloponnesian war (432 B.C.), but was soon afterward restored by them to Perdiccas. At a later time, it became the capital of the Illyrian provinces. It is celebrated at this period on account of the fearful massacre of its inhabitants by order of Theodosius, in consequence of a riot in which some of the Roman officers had been assassinated by the populace.

=Thessaly.= The largest division of ancient Greece, lay to the south of Macedonia, and to the east of Epirus. Thessaly was originally inhabited by Æolians, who, however, were either expelled or reduced to slavery by immigrants from Epirus about 1000 B.C. The inhabitants of Thessaly have been divided into three classes: (1) There were the Epirote conquerors; (2) those descendants of the original inhabitants, who, although dependent on the nobles, yet possessed a few privileges; and (3) the Penestæ, or those of the original inhabitants who had been reduced to serfdom. Thessaly never played an important part in Grecian history; it was only after the Peloponnesian war it exercised any influence on the affairs of Greece. The Penestæ frequently rebelled against their masters, who were very frequently at war among themselves. Jason caused himself to be elected Tagus of all Thessaly about 374 B.C.; was assassinated in 370 B.C. The rule of Jason’s successors became so unbearable that, in 353 B.C., the old families called in the aid of Philip of Macedon, who, in 344, subjected the country to Macedonia. In 197 B.C., it was restored to freedom under the protection of Rome.

=Thetford.= A town of England, in Norfolk, 95 miles north-northeast of London. It was taken and sacked by the Danes in 870.

=Thin, To.= To make less numerous; as, to thin the ranks by a heavy discharge of musketry.

=Thionville.= A fortified town of France, in the department of the Moselle, situated on the Moselle, which is crossed here by a splendid bridge. This place was a residence of the Merovingian and Carlovingian kings, and was repeatedly besieged during the various wars between Austria and France. It was invested by the Germans in August, 1870, and after bombardment, being in flames, surrendered November 24 following.

=Thirty, Battle of= (Fr. _Combat des Trentes_). A name given, in English and French history, to a celebrated engagement which took place at a spot known as Midway Oak, half-way between the castles of Josselin and Ploermel, France, March 27, 1351. The French general Beaumanoir, commanding the former post, being enraged at the depredations committed by Bemborough, the English general, challenged him to fight. Upon this it was agreed that thirty knights of each party should meet and decide the contest. The two chiefs presented themselves at the head of their best soldiers and the battle began in earnest. At the first onset the English were successful; but Bemborough having been killed, the French renewed the struggle with redoubled courage and finally won the victory. This was one of the most heroic exploits of the age, and gained such popularity that more than one hundred years later, when speaking of a hard contest, it was usual to say, “There never was such hard fighting since the battle of the Thirty.”

=Thirty Tyrants.= A body of thirty magistrates in Athens (404-403 B.C.). They were appointed from the aristocratic party, by the Spartans, victorious in the Peloponnesian war. The “tyrants” were guilty of the most cruel and shameless acts, and after one year were expelled by Thrasybulus.

=Thirty Tyrants of Rome.= A set of military adventurers who from 253 to 268 attempted to establish their own power in various parts of the empire during the reigns of Valerianus and Gallienus. The number thirty is borrowed from that of the famous Athenian tyrants. The names of only nineteen of these adventurers have come down to us.

=Thirty Years’ War.= Was not properly one war, but rather an uninterrupted succession of wars (1618-1648) in Germany, in which Austria, the most of the Catholic princes of Germany, and Spain, were engaged on one side throughout, but against different antagonists. This long-continued strife had its origin in the quarrels between the Catholics and Protestants of Germany, and the attempts of the former, who were the more powerful body, to deprive the latter of what liberty of worship they had obtained. The severe measures taken by the emperor, the head of the Catholic party, against the Protestant religion, led also to strictures on their civil rights; and it was to protect their political as well as their religious liberties, that the Protestants formed a union, May 4, 1608, with Frederick IV., the Elector Palatinate, at its head. The rival union of the Catholic powers, under the leadership of the Duke of Bavaria, followed July 11, 1609. In Bohemia, the immense preponderance in numbers (two out of three) and influence of the Protestants, had forced from their Austrian king an edict of toleration (July 11, 1609), which was at first faithfully observed; but during the reign of Matthias, sundry violations of it were made with impunity; and as the influence of Ferdinand of Styria, his successor, began to be felt in more flagrant partiality to the Catholics, the kingdom became a scene of wild excitement; three of the Catholic party were thrown from the window of the Bohemian council-chamber at Prague, and ultimately Ferdinand was deposed, and Frederick V., the Elector Palatinate, chosen in his stead (1619); and Count Thurn, at the head of an insurgent army, repeatedly routed the imperial troops, and actually besieged the emperor in Vienna. The Catholic princes, though as apprehensive as their opponents of the encroaching policy of Austria, crowded to the emperor’s aid; and while the Protestant union and James I. of Great Britain held aloof from Frederick, whose sole allies were Bohemians (under Thurn), Moravians, Hungarians, and a Piedmontese contingent of 3000 (under Count Mansfield), a well-appointed army of 30,000, under Duke Maximilian, advanced to support the Austrians, and totally routed Frederick’s motley array at Weissenberg (November 8, 1620), near Prague, afterwards reducing the Upper, while an army of Spaniards under Spinola ravaged the Lower, Palatinate, and the Saxons (in alliance with the emperor) occupied Lusatia. The Bohemians were now subjected to the most frightful tyranny and persecution; a similar policy, though of a more modern character, was adopted towards the people of the Palatinate,--the Protestant union standing aloof, and subsequently dissolving, through sheer terror. But the indomitable pertinacity and excellent leadership of Count Mansfield and Christian of Brunswick, two famous partisan leaders, who ravaged the territories of the Catholic league, and the forced cession to Bethlem Gabor of large portions of Hungary and Transylvania, did much to equalize the success of the antagonistic parties. Here the war might have ended; but the fearful tyranny of Ferdinand over all the Protestants in his dominions (Hungary excepted) drove them to despair, and the war advanced to its second phase. Christian IV. of Denmark, smarting under some injuries inflicted on him by the emperor, and aided by a British subsidy, came to the aid of his German co-religionists in 1624, and being joined by Mansfield and Christian of Brunswick, advanced into Lower Saxony, while the emperor, hampered by the political jealousy of the Catholic league, was unable to oppose him. But when, by the aid of Wallenstein, a powerful and effective army had been obtained, and the leaguers under Tilly, in co-operation with it, had marched northwards, the rout of the Danes by Tilly at Lutter (August 17, 1626), and of Mansfield by Wallenstein at Dessau (April 1, 11, and 25, 1626), again prostrated the Protestants’ hopes in the dust; yet a gleam of comfort was obtained from the victorious raid of Mansfield through Silesia, Moravia, and Hungary, though his scheme for an insurrection in Hungary failed, and his death soon after, at Zara, freed the emperor from a formidable and irreconcilable enemy. The combined Imperialists and leaguers mean time had overrun North Germany and continental Denmark, and ultimately compelled King Christian to conclude the humiliating peace of Lübeck (May 12, 1629). This second great success seems to have turned Ferdinand’s head, for, not content with still more rigorous treatment of the Protestants, and the promulgation of the _Restitution Edict_, which seriously offended even the Catholics, he stirred up Poland against Sweden, and insulted Gustavus Adolphus, both personally and in the persons of his ambassadors,--insolent impertinences which he soon saw bitter reason to regret. The Catholic league now forced him to reduce his army, and supplant Wallenstein by Tilly; while France was inciting Gustavus to the willing task of aiding the Protestants in Germany. The war entered its third phase by the landing of the Swedes at Usedom (June, 1630), and their conquest of Pomerania and Mecklenburg. Gustavus, by the exercise of a little wholesome pressure, induced the elector of Brandenburg to aid him; and though unable to save Magdeburg, he marched to join the Saxons, completely routed by Tilly at Breitenfeld (September 17, 1631); victoriously traversed the Main and Rhine valleys; again routed Tilly on the Lech (April 5, 1632), and entered Munich. By the judicious strategy of Wallenstein, he was compelled to return to Saxony, where he gained the great victory of Lützen; but his death, depriving the Protestants of the only man who could force the confederate powers to preserve unity of action, was a severe blow to their cause; though the genius and indefatigable zeal of his chancellor, Oxenstiern, and the brilliant talents of the Swedish generals, preserved the advantages they had gained, till the crushing defeat of Bernard of Weimar at Nordlingen (September 6, 1634) again restored to the emperor a preponderating influence in Germany. Saxony now made peace at Prague (May 30, 1635), obtaining such satisfactory terms for the Lutherans that the treaty was within three months adhered to by all the German princes of that sect, and the Calvinists were left to their fate. Final success now appeared to demand only one more strenuous effort on the part of Austria; but Oxenstiern resolved to preserve to Sweden her German acquisitions, propitiated Richelieu, by resigning to him the direction of the war, and the conflict advanced into its final and most extended phase. The emperor, allied for offense and defense with the Lutherans, was now also assailed through his ally, Spain, who was attacked on her own frontier, in the Netherlands, and in Italy; Bernard of Weimar fighting independently, with the view of obtaining Alsace for himself, opposed the leaguers; while the Swedes under Banér held North Germany, and by frequent flying marches into Silesia and Bohemia distracted their opponents, and prevented them, after successes over Duke Bernard, from proceeding with the invasion of France. The great victory of Banér over the Austrians and Saxons at Wittstock (October 4, 1636) restored to Sweden the victor’s wreath she had lost two years before; and from this time, especially under Torstenson and Konigsmark, the Swedes were always successful, adding a second victory of Breitenfeld (November 2, 1642), one at Yankowitz (February 14, 1645), and numberless ones of less note, to their already long list of successes, carrying devastation and ruin into the hereditary territories, even to the gates of Vienna, defeating the best generals of the empire, till, from a profound feeling of inability to check them, the Austrians hardly dared appear to the north of the Danube. On the Rhine, the leaguers at first had great success,--the Weimar troops, now in French pay, were almost exterminated at Duttlingen (November 24, 1643); but after the Spanish power had been thoroughly broken in the Netherlands by Condé, the French were reinforced on the Rhine, and under Condé and Turenne, rolled back the leaguers through the Palatinate and Bavaria, and revenged at Nordlingen (August 3, 1645) the former defeat of the Swedes. The emperor was now deserted by all his allies except the Duke of Bavaria, whose territories were already mostly in the hands of Turenne and Wrangel; and a combined invasion of Austria from the west and north was on the point of being executed, when, after seven years of diplomatic shuffling, with an eye to the changing fortunes of the contest, the peace of Westphalia put an end to this terrible struggle.

=Thistle, Order of the.= See ANDREW, ST.

=Thomas, St.= The principal of the Virgin Islands in the West Indies, belonging to Denmark. In March, 1801, it was taken by the British, but given up at the peace of Amiens; it was again taken in the course of the subsequent war, and restored to Denmark at the peace of Paris in 1814.

=Thorn.= A fortified town of the kingdom of Prussia, in the province of West Prussia, on the right bank of the Vistula. It is defended by walls, bastions, and two forts. This town was founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1232, and admitted into the Hanseatic League in the beginning of the 14th century. It was taken by Charles XII. of Sweden in 1703, after a siege of four months.

=Thrace.= Anciently the name of an extensive country bounded on the north by the Danube, on the east by the Euxine, on the south by the Ægean and Macedonia, and on the west by Macedonia and Illyria. War and robbery were the only honorable occupations of the Thracians. They lived to steal, either from each other or from neighboring peoples. When not fighting or plundering, they spent their days in savage idleness, or in quarreling over their cups. Courageous, or rather ferocious, after the fashion of barbarous peoples, they yet lacked the steady valor and endurance of disciplined troops; at all times, their warfare displayed more fierceness and impetuosity than fortitude. In 513 B.C., Darius, king of Persia, marched through Thrace on his way to punish the European Scythians, and on his return left Megabazus with 80,000 men to subdue the country. In this he partially succeeded, but new disturbances and complications arose between the Persians and Greeks, which resulted (480 B.C.) in the famous expedition of Xerxes. The consequence of the expulsion of the Persians from Europe was the resumption of liberty and the revival of prosperity among the Greek colonies in Thrace. Shortly before the Peloponnesian war, a native Thracian state--the Odrysian--had attained to great power and eminence under a ruler named Sitalces, who joined the Athenian alliance, but could not, in spite of his resources, prevent the triumph of Sparta in the north as well as in the south. The rise of the Macedonian kingdom, under Philip II. (359 B.C.), destroyed the independence of a great part of Thrace. Under the government of Lysimachus, the subjugation of Thrace became complete. On the fall of the Macedonian kingdom (168 B.C.) it passed into the hands of the Romans, and subsequently shared the vicissitudes of the Roman empire. In 334 a colony of Sarmatians, and in 376 another of Goths, was planted in Thrace. In 395 it was overrun by Alaric, and in 447 by Attila. In 1353, Amurath obtained possession of all its fortresses, except Constantinople, and it has ever since remained in the possession of the Turks.

=Thrasimenus Lacus.= See TRASIMENUS LACUS.

=Throw, To.= To force anything from one place to another; thus, artillerists say, to throw a shot or shell, or so many shells were thrown.

=Thrust.= Hostile attack with any pointed weapon, as in fencing. When one party makes a push with his sword to wound his adversary with the point, it is called a thrust.

=Thud.= The sound of a bullet on hitting the intended object.

=Thug.= One of an association of robbers and murderers in India, who practiced murder not by open assault, but by stealthy approaches, and from religious motives. They have been nearly exterminated by the British government.

=Thumb-stall.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Thunderbolt.= In heraldry, a bearing borrowed from classical mythology, which may be described as a twisted bar in pale inflamed at each end surmounting two jagged darts in saltire between two wings displayed with streams of fire.

=Thundering Legion.= During a contest with the invading Marcomanni, the prayers of some Christians in a Roman legion are said to have been followed by a storm of thunder, lightning, and rain, which tended greatly to discomfit the enemy; and hence the legion received the name in 174.

=Thurii=, or =Thurium=. A Greek city in the south of Italy, on the north shore of the Tarentine Gulf, was founded in 452 B.C., by a body of Sybarite exiles, near the spot where their ancient city had stood till it was destroyed by the Crotonians fifty-eight years before. The rise of a new colony re-awakened the anger of the Crotonians, and after five years they expelled the Sybarites. These after an unsuccessful appeal to Sparta for assistance, applied to the Athenians, who resolved to send out a colony along with the persecuted Sybarites. The leaders of this colony were Lampon and Xenocritus. A war subsequently occurred between Thurii and Tarentum, but was terminated by a compromise. In 390 B.C. the city received a severe blow from a total defeat of their army by the Lucanians. From this period it began to decline, and was at length obliged to submit to the Roman power, in order to escape the continued attacks of the Lucanians.

=Thuringia.= An early Gothic kingdom in Central Germany, was overrun by Attila and the Huns, 451; the last king, Hermanfried, was defeated and slain by Thierry, king of the Franks, who annexed it to his dominions, 530. It was after various changes and many conflicts, absorbed in Saxony in the 15th century. In 1815 it was surrendered to Prussia.

=Thyatira.= In Asia Minor; was the place assigned for the battle at which the rebel Procopius was defeated by the army of the emperor Valens in 366.

=Thymbra.= In Asia Minor, where Cyrus the Great defeated the confederate army aiding Crœsus, and obtained supremacy in Asia, 548.

=Tiberias.= A city in Palestine, built by Herod Antipas, and named after the emperor Tiberias in 39. Near it Guy de Lusignan, king of Jerusalem, and the Crusaders, were defeated by Saladin; and Jerusalem fell into his hands, 1187.

=Ticino=, or =Tessin=. A Swiss canton south of the Alps; it was conquered by the Swiss early in the 16th century, and made a separate canton in 1815. It suffered by internal disputes in 1839 and 1841.

=Ticinus= (now _Tessino_). An important river in Northern Italy. It was upon the bank of this river that Hannibal gained his first victory over the Romans by the defeat of P. Scipio, 218 B.C.

=Ticonderoga.= A town in Essex Co., N. Y., 95 miles north by east of Albany. Two or three miles below this village are the ruins of old Fort Ticonderoga, on the west shore of Lake Champlain. The fort was surprised by Col. Ethan Allen in the Revolutionary war.

=Tien Tsin.= A city of China, situated 70 miles southeast from Pekin. A treaty of amity and commerce was signed here between the French and English on the one hand, and the Chinese on the other, in 1858. The violation of this treaty, which was favorable to British interests in China, by the Chinese, was the cause of the subsequent Chinese war.

=Tierce.= A thrust in fencing, delivered at the outside of the body over the arm.

=Tierce=, =Tiercé=. In heraldry, a term of blazon used to indicate that the field is divided by lines into three equal parts. A shield may be tierce in pale, in fess, in bend, in bend sinister, or in pall; all which, with other arrangements in tierce, are common in French heraldry. Tierce in pale, in English heraldry, is an occasional mode of marshaling three coats in one escutcheon under special circumstances.

=Tier-shot.= Grape-shot is sometimes so called.

=Tiflis.= See TEFLIS.

=Tige-arms.= Sometimes called pillar breech-arms. Arms with a stem of steel, screwed into the middle of the breech-pin, around which the charge of powder is placed. The ball enters free and rests upon the top of the pin, which is tempered, and a few blows with a heavy ramrod force the ball to fill the grooves of the rifled arm. This invention was an improvement by Capt. Thouvenin on Delvignes’ plan of having a chamber for the powder smaller than the bore. Capt. Minié’s invention superseded the tige-arms, by means of a bullet which is forced to fill the grooves by the action of the charge itself at the instant of the explosion.

=Tigranocerta= (ruins at _Sert_). The later capital of Armenia, built by Tigranes. It was taken by Lucullus and the Romans, after a great victory over Tigranes, in 69 B.C.

=Tigurini.= A tribe of the Helvetii, who joined the Cimbri in invading the country of the Allobroges in Gaul, where they defeated the consul L. Cassius Longinus, 107 B.C. They formed in the time of Cæsar the most important of the four cantons into which the Helvetii were divided.

=Tilsit.= A town of East Prussia, on the left bank of the Niemen, or Memel, 60 miles northeast from Königsberg. Tilsit will be ever memorable in history for the treaties which were there signed between France and Russia on July 7, and France and Prussia on July 9, 1807. By the former of these Napoleon agreed to restore to the king of Prussia a great portion of his dominions, his Polish acquisitions being joined to Saxony, and his possessions west of the Elbe formed into the nucleus of the new kingdom of Westphalia; Danzig was declared an independent city; the Prussian province of Bialystock was ceded to Russia; the dukes of Oldenberg and Mecklenburg, the czar’s relatives, were reinstated by Napoleon, and in return the Bonapartist kings of Naples and Holland were recognized by the czar, etc. By the latter, the king of Prussia recognized the kings of Holland, Naples, and Westphalia, and the Confederation of the Rhine; agreed to the cessions laid down in the Russian treaty, and to other minor alienations and concessions to Saxony, amounting in all to nearly one-half of his dominions; to the exclusion from his harbors of the commerce of Great Britain, and to the occupation of the Prussian fortresses by the French, till the payment of an enormous ransom. The weighty importance of the alterations effected by this treaty is, however, dwarfed before the startling magnitude of the _secret provisions_ signed between France and Russia. By these were arranged the resignation of the empire of the East to Russia, Roumelia and Constantinople being specially excepted by Napoleon, and the acquisition of the Spanish peninsula by France; the two powers were to make common cause against Great Britain, and were to force the three courts of Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Lisbon to join them; and Napoleon agreed to increase no further the power of the duchy of Warsaw, and to do nothing which might lead to the re-establishment of the Polish monarchy. By a further agreement, not put formally into writing, the mouths of the Cattaro, the Ionian Isles, Sicily, Malta, Egypt, and the papal dominions were to be taken by France; and Greece, Macedonia, Dalmatia, and the Adriatic coasts, as the portion of Turkey; while on the other hand, Russia was to obtain the rest of Turkey, and was allowed to seize Finland. These secret articles are given on most excellent authority, and their correctness is further vouched for by the conduct of France and Russia for the next few years.

=Tilt.= A thrust, or fight with rapiers; also, an old military game.

=Tilted Steel.= See ORDNANCE, METALS FOR, STEEL.

=Tilter.= One who fights or contests in a tournament.

=Tilting-helmet.= A helmet of large size often worn over another at tilts.

=Tilt-yard.= Formerly a place or yard for tilting.

=Timariot.= A Turkish cavalry soldier who has a certain allowance made him, for which he is not only obliged to arm, clothe, and accoutre himself, but he must likewise provide a certain number of militia-men. The allowance is called _timar_.

=Timars.= Certain revenues, in Turkey, growing out of lands which originally belonged to Christian clergy and nobility, and which the sultans seized when they conquered the countries they inhabited. By this means the sultan is enabled to support the _timariots_.

=Timber.= In heraldry, a rank or row, as of ermine, in a nobleman’s coat; also a crest. This word is also written _timbre_.

=Timber Rafts.= See RAFTS, TIMBER.

=Timbuctoo.= A celebrated city in the interior of Africa, on the slope of a hill about 8 miles south of the Niger. It is said to have been built by Mansa Suleiman, a Mohammedan, about 1214, and was frequently subjugated by the sovereigns of Morocco. Since 1727 it has been

## partially independent.

=Time.= The measure of duration by which soldiers regulate the cadence of the march. _Common time_, the ordinary time of marching, in which 90 steps, each 28 inches in length, are taken in one minute. See DOUBLE-QUICK, and QUICK TIME.

=Time.= That necessary interval between each motion in the manual exercise, as well as in every movement the army or any body of men may make. In fencing there are three kinds of time: that of the sword, that of the foot, and that of the whole body.

=Time.= A particular period or part of duration, whether past, present, or future.

_Apparent time_, the time of day reckoned by the sun, or so that 12 o’clock at the place is the instant of the transit of the sun’s centre over the meridian.

_Mean solar time_, or _mean time_, time regulated by the average, or mean, instead of the unequal or apparent, motion of the sun; time as indicated by a uniformly-going clock, once rightly adjusted, and differing from apparent time at any instant by a small quantity called the _equation of time_.

_Sidereal time_, time regulated by the transit, over the meridian of a place, of the first point of Aries, or vernal equinox, and chiefly used in astronomical observations.

_Solar time._ See MEAN SOLAR TIME.

=Time of Flight.= See FLIGHT.

=Time Thrust.= In fencing, a thrust given upon any opening which may occur by an inaccurate or wide motion of your adversary, when changing his guard, etc.

=Time-fuze.= See FUZE, TIME-.

=Timing.= In fencing, is the accurate and critical throwing in of a cut or thrust upon any opening that may occur as your adversary changes his position.

=Tin-case Shot.= See CANISTER-SHOT.

=Tinchebrai.= A town of France, department of the Arne, 34 miles northwest from Alençon. Here Robert of Normandy was finally defeated by his brother, Henry I. of England, on September 28, 1106, and Normandy was annexed to the crown of England.

=Tincture.= In heraldry, one of the metals, colors, or furs used in armory.

=Tindal.= An attendant on the army in India.

=Tinker.= A small mortar formerly used on the end of a staff, now superseded by the Coehorn.

=Tippecanoe.= A river of Indiana, United States, which rises in a lake of the same name in the northern part of the State. It is famous for the battle fought on its banks, November 5, 1811, in which the Indians, under Tecumseh’s brother, the Prophet, were defeated by Gen. Harrison.

=Tipperary.= An inland county in the province of Munster, Ireland. Subsequently to the year 1172, Henry II. obtained possession of it after several sanguinary contests. The county suffered greatly during the civil wars of 1641, in the course of which the town of Clonmel, after a gallant resistance, obtained honorable terms from Cromwell, who conducted the siege in person.

=Tipperary.= A town of the county of the same name, on the river Arra, 111 miles southwest from Dublin. The town is of very ancient foundation, and soon after the invasion was occupied as a strong place by the English, who built a castle in it during the Irish expedition of King John. This castle, however, fell soon afterward into the hands of the Irish under the Prince of Thomond.

=Tippermuir=, or =Tibbermore=. A town of Scotland, near Perth. Here the Marquis of Montrose defeated the Covenanters under Lord Elcho, September 1, 1644.

=Tirailleur.= A skirmisher, often put in front of the line to annoy the enemy, and draw off his attention; or they are left behind to amuse and stop his progress in the pursuit; a rifleman.

=Tire.= Are great guns, shot, shells, etc., placed in a regular form.

=Tirlemont.= A town of Belgium, province of Brabant, 25 miles east of Brussels. It was taken by the French in 1635; was ravaged by Marlborough in 1705; taken by the French in 1792; here the French, under Dumouriez, defeated the Austrians in 1793; taken by the French in 1794. Its fortifications were dismantled in 1804.

=Tiryns.= An ancient town of Argolis, southeast of Argos, and one of the most ancient in all Greece. Homer represents Tiryns as subject to Argos; the town was at a later time destroyed by the Argives, and most of the inhabitants were removed to Argos.

=Titles, Military.= See military titles under appropriate headings throughout this volume.

=Tivoli.= A town of Central Italy, on the left bank of the Teverone, 18 miles east-northeast from Rome. In the Middle Ages, Tivoli was an imperial city, independent of Rome, and was the occasion of many contentions between the emperors and the popes; in the course of which it was frequently taken and retaken as either party gained the ascendant.

=Tlemsen=, or =Tlemecen=. A town of Algeria, in the province of Oran, 67 miles southwest from Oran. It was once an important place; but in consequence of a revolt of the inhabitants against his authority, Hassan, the dey of Algiers, laid it in ruins. It was occupied by the French in 1836 and 1842.

=Tobago.= One of the British islands in the West Indies, belonging to the Windward group. This island was first colonized by the Dutch, who were expelled by the Spaniards. It was then settled by the English, to whom it was ceded by the peace of 1763. In 1781 it was taken by the French, and in 1793 was retaken by the British, by whom it was retained at the peace of Amiens.

=Tobitschau= (Moravia). In a sharp action, on July 15, 1866, the Austrians were defeated by the army of the crown-prince of Prussia, with the loss of 500 killed and wounded, and 500 prisoners and 17 guns.

=Tocsin.= An alarm-drum; a bell. It was formerly used in an army as a signal for charging, on the approach of an enemy.

=Toga Picta.= Was an outer garment, worn by Roman generals in triumphs, by consuls under the empire, and by prætors when they celebrated games; and was embellished with Phrygian embroidery. In war the toga was laid aside for the _sagum_ or _paludatogatus_, or some less cumbrous style of attire.

=Toggle and Chain.= See ORDNANCE.

=Toise.= A measure derived from the French, containing 6 feet, and a term of frequent use in fortification and military surveying.

=Toison d’Or= (_Fr._). See GOLDEN FLEECE.

=Toledo= (anc. _Toletum_). A city of Spain, capital of the province of the same name, on the north bank of the Tagus, 55 miles south-southwest from Madrid. It was conquered by the Romans under M. Fulvius, 192 B.C. (193 B.C.); was captured by the Goths, 467; possessed by the Moors from 714 to 1085. Alfonso VI. of Castile and Leon recovered it from the Moors.

=Toledo.= An esteemed Spanish sword, so called from the place of manufacture.

=Tolenon= (_Fr._). An ancient machine of war, having a long lever moving on a pivot, suspended from an upright higher than the rampart, having at one end a box to contain 20 men, who, by drawing down the other end, might be raised high enough to fire into the loop-holes, or even to get upon the wall.

=Tolentino.= A town of Italy, province of Macerata, 12 miles from Macerata. It was here, in February, 1797, that the pope ceded the Romagna to the French republic by treaty, and in May, 1815, Murat retired to this place with his troops before the Austrians, and was defeated.

=Tolosa.= A town of Spain, province of Guipuzcoa, on the Oria, 35 miles southwest from Bayonne. Near here, Alfonso, king of Castile, aided by the kings of Aragon and Navarre, gained a great victory over the Moors, July 16, 1212. This conflict is sometimes termed the battle of Muradal. It was occupied by the French from 1808 till 1813.

=Tomahawk.= A light war-hatchet of the North American Indians. The early ones were rudely made of stone, ingeniously fastened to their handles by animal sinews, or cords of skin. Traders supplied hatchets of steel, the heads of which were made hollow, for a tobacco-pipe; the handle of ash, with the pith removed, being the stem. These hatchets are used in the chase and in battle, not only in close combat, but by being thrown with a wonderful skill, so as always to strike the object aimed at with the edge of the instrument. The handles are curiously ornamented. In the figurative language of the Indians, to make peace, is to bury the tomahawk; to make war, is to dig it up.

=Toman.= In the East Indies, signifies 10,000 men.

=Tom-tom.= A large, flat drum, used by the Hindoos; a tam-tam.

=Tongue.= The pole of an ox-cart (local).

=Tongue of a Sword.= That part of the blade on which the gripe, shell, and pummel are fixed. The bayonet is figuratively called a triangular tongue, from its shape.

=Tonnelon= (_Fr._). An ancient drawbridge, used nearly in the same manner and for similar purposes as the _harpe_ and _exostre_.

=Tonquin=, or =Tonkin=. The northernmost province of Anam, Southeast Asia. Tonquin was conquered by the Chinese in 1406, and by the Anamese in 1790.

=Tooksowars= (_Ind._). The vizier’s body of cavalry.

=Topekhana= (_Ind._). The place where guns are kept; the arsenal.

=Topeys=, or =Topgis=. Turkish artillerymen or gunners.

=Topgi-Bachi.= Master-general of the Turkish artillery.

=Topikhannah= (_Ind._). A house for keeping guns; an arsenal; an armory.

=Töplitz.= A town of Bohemia. Here were signed, in 1813, two treaties,--one between Austria, Russia, and Prussia, September 9; and one between Great Britain and Austria, October 3.

=Topographical Engineers.= The duties of this corps consist in surveys for the defense of the frontiers and of positions for fortifications; in reconnoissances of the country through which an army has to pass, or in which it has to operate; in the examination of all routes of communication by land or by water, both for supplies and military movements; in the construction of military roads and permanent bridges connected with them; and the charge of the construction of all civil works authorized by acts of Congress, not specially assigned by law to some other branch of the service. The U. S. Corps of Topographical Engineers was merged into the Corps of Engineers in 1863.

=Topography.= Is the art of representing and describing in all its details the physical constitution, natural or artificial, of any determined portion of a country; in making maps and giving a descriptive memoir. Military topography differs from geography in seeking to imitate sinuosities of ground: it represents graphically and describes technically commanding heights, water-courses, preferable sites for camps, different kinds of roads, the position of fords, and extent of woods. It enumerates the resources that a country offers to troops and the difficulties which are interposed. By means of colored maps and other conventional signs, military topography presents before the eyes of a general much that is necessary to guide his operations.

=Torce=, or =Wreath=. In heraldry, a garland of twisted silk, by which the crest is joined to the helmet. A crest is always understood to be placed on a torce, unless where it is expressly stated to issue out of a coronet or chapeau.

=Torches.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Tordesillas.= A town of Spain, province of Valladolid. Here was signed, in 1494, a treaty modifying the boundary-line which Pope Alexander VI. had assigned, in 1493, in his division of the New World between Spain and Portugal.

=Torgau.= A fortified town of Prussian Saxony, on the left hank of the Elbe, 70 miles south-southwest from Berlin. Here a battle was fought between Frederick II. of Prussia and the Austrians, in which the former obtained a signal victory, the Austrian general, Count Daun, a renowned warrior, being wounded, November 3, 1760. It was besieged and taken by the allied Prussians and Saxons in January, 1814; the besieged lost about 30,000 men.

=Tormentum.= A pistol; a gun; a piece of ordnance.

=Tormes.= A river of Spain, falls into the Douro, on the borders of Portugal. Its banks were the scene of many conflicts between the French and Spaniards during the Peninsular war, from 1808 to 1814.

=Toro.= A city of Spain, province of Leon, on the Douro, 20 miles east from Zamora. Ferdinand the Catholic defeated Alonzo V. of Portugal near this place in 1476, and gained the kingdom of Castile for himself and his wife Isabella.

=Toronto.= The capital of the province of Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Ontario, 165 miles from Kingston, and 323 miles from Montreal. Its harbor or bay is capable of accommodating the largest vessels that navigate the lakes, and is defended at the entrance by a fort, which was thoroughly repaired in 1864 by the imperial government, and mounted with the most efficient modern ordnance. The town was founded in 1794, by Gov. Simcoe. It was burned by the Americans in 1813, and suffered severely in the insurrection of 1837, on which occasion it was the headquarters of the rebellion.

=Torpedo.= During the war between Great Britain and the United States in 1812-14, this name was applied to certain mysterious boats invented by Fulton and other Americans for the purpose of navigating beneath the surface of the water, and injuring the bottom of hostile vessels. In those days of hand-to-hand naval war, these designs (which, by the way, were failures) were looked upon as little less than diabolical. The progress of destructive weapons during half a century has removed this aversion, and nations do not scruple now to employ similar unseen agents for offense and defense. The modern torpedo is really a stationary bomb-shell, intended to explode under the bottom of an enemy’s ship. The weapon was first used by the Russians in the Baltic in 1854; and in the American war of Secession, 1861-65, it was employed extensively, and often successfully. The damage effected by a torpedo exploding beneath a ship is very great; and although the failures are frequent by the explosion happening at a wrong moment, the danger from torpedoes is considerable in fact, and far more in apprehension, for sailors naturally dread navigating waters where destruction lurks at unknown points concealed from view. There are several varieties of torpedoes, but they may be divided into two classes,--those which are self-explosive on a ship touching them, and those which are dependent on an electric current supplied from the shore. The second are the safest for friendly vessels; but they are rather uncertain in action, and can only be employed at a moderate distance from the shore. The first are more certain in action, as they can only explode on a ship, being somewhere in contact, but they attack indiscriminately friend and foe.

=Torque= (_Fr._). A metal collar formerly bestowed upon a Roman soldier who had killed his adversary in a single combat.

=Torqued.= In heraldry, twisted; bent;--said of a dolphin haurient, which forms a figure like the letter _S_.

=Torre di Mare.= A village of Naples, at the mouth of the Bassento, in the Gulf of Taranto. Its prosperity received a fearful blow when, after the battle of the Metaurus (207 B.C.), Hannibal was compelled to give up this part of Italy, and carried with him all the citizens of Megapontum, in order to defend them from the vengeance of the Romans. In the time of Cicero the city still existed, but in a state of rapid decay.

=Torres-Vedras.= A town of Estremadura, kingdom of Portugal, on the left bank of the Sizandro, about 30 miles north of Lisbon. It derives its reputation solely from having given name to those famous lines of defense within which Wellington took refuge in 1810, when he found it impossible to defend the frontier of Portugal against the French armies; and from which, in the year following, he issued on that career of slow and hard-won victory which ended in the expulsion of the French from the Peninsula. The _first_, or outermost of these lines, extending from Alhandra, on the Tagus, to the mouth of the Sizandro, on the sea-coast, and following the windings of the hills, was 29 miles long; the _second_ (and by far the most formidable) lay from 6 to 10 miles behind the first, stretching from Quintella, on the Tagus, to the mouth of the St. Lorenza, a distance of 24 miles; the _third_, situated to the southwest of Lisbon, at the very mouth of the Tagus, was very short, being intended to cover a forced embarkation, if that had become necessary. The entire ground thus fortified was equal to 500 square miles.

=Torrington.= A town of England, county of Devon, 10 miles south-southwest of Barnstaple. The name of Torrington emerges frequently during the great civil war; and the capture of the town by Fairfax in 1646, on which occasion the church, with 200 prisoners, and those who guarded them, were blown into the air by gunpowder, proved fatal to the king’s cause in the west.

=Torse=, or =Torce=. In heraldry, a wreath.

=Tortona.= A town of Italy, province of Alessandria, on a hill nearly 900 feet above the sea. Tortona was once a strongly fortified city, but its last defenses were destroyed by order of Napoleon, after the battle of Marengo.

=Tortosa.= A town of Spain, in Catalonia, on the Ebro, 42 miles southwest from Tarragona. It was taken by the French under Suchet in 1811.

=Tortu d’Hommes= (_Fr._). A particular formation which was formerly adopted by the besieged when they made a sortie.

=Tory.= The word tory first occurs in English history in 1679, during the struggle in Parliament occasioned by the introduction of the bill for the exclusion of the Duke of York from the line of succession, and was applied by the advocates of the bill to its opponents as a title of obloquy or contempt. The name has, however, ceased to designate any existing party; the political successors of the tories are now commonly known as conservatives. In the Revolutionary war of the United States, the loyalists were called _tories_.

=Touch-box.= A box containing lighted tinder, formerly carried by soldiers who used matchlocks, to kindle the match.

=Touch-hole.= The vent of a cannon or other species of fire-arms, by which fire is communicated to the powder of the charge.

=Toula=, or =Tula=. An important town of Great Russia, capital of the government of the same name, on the Upa, 110 miles south of Moscow. It is an ancient town, and has suffered severely from Tartar invasion, and during the wars of the commencement of the 17th century. The Russian army is largely supplied with muskets and small-arms from the works of this town.

=Toulon.= A great seaport and naval arsenal of France, department of Var. It stands at the head of a deeply-penetrating inlet of the Mediterranean. It is a fortress of immense strength, and is surrounded by a double rampart, and by a wide and deep fosse. Toulon was destroyed by the Saracens in 889, and again by them about the close of the 12th century. It was only at the end of the 16th century that Toulon came to be important as a naval and military stronghold. In 1707, it was assailed without success by the Duke of Savoy by land, and the English and Dutch by sea. It was taken by the English and Spaniards in 1793; but the allies were obliged to evacuate the town in December of the same year, after being fiercely attacked by the republicans, whose guns were commanded by Napoleon,--then a simple officer of artillery,--who here evinced for the first time his genius and self-reliance.

=Toulouse= (anc. _Tolosa_). An important city of France, capital of the department of Haute-Garonne, on the right bank of the river Garonne, 160 miles southeast of Bordeaux. The ancient _Tolosa_ and its temple were plundered by the consul Q. Servilius Cæpio in 106 B.C. It was ravaged by the Visigoths and Franks, who successively overran and possessed the country. A battle was fought here in 1814, between Wellington and Soult, in which the latter was defeated, and obliged to evacuate the town.

=Tour=, or =Turn=. That which is done by succession. _Tour of duty_, turn to go on duty.

=Tourbillon.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Tournament=, or =Tournay=. A military sport of the Middle Ages, in which combatants engaged one another with the object of exhibiting their courage, prowess, and skill in the use of arms, or for the honor of the ladies attending. According to Ducange, the difference between a tournament and a _joust_ is, that the latter is a single combat, while in the former a troop of combatants encounter each other on either side. But this distinction has not been always observed.

=Tournay= (anc. _Tornacum_, or _Turris Nerviorum_, “Fort of the Nervii”). A fortified town of Belgium, province of Hainault, on both sides of the Scheldt, near the French frontier. It was in the 5th and beginning of the 6th centuries the seat of the Merovingian kings, subsequently belonged to France, but at the peace of Madrid was included in the Spanish Netherlands. Subsequently it was oftener than once taken by France, but again restored by treaty. During the month of May, 1794, it was the scene of several hotly contested fights between the French and Austro-English armies, the most important of which was that of May 19, in which Pichegru heat the Duke of York.

=Tours.= A city of France, capital of the department of Indre-et-Loire, 146 miles southwest from Paris. Near it Charles Martel gained a great victory over the Saracens, and saved Europe, October 10, 732. This conflict was also called the battle of Poitiers. The church was pillaged by the Huguenots and utterly destroyed, with the exception of two towers, at the revolution.

=Tower.= A citadel; a fortress; hence, a defender.

=Tower Bastion.= In fortification, is one which is constructed of masonry, at the angles of the interior polygon of some works; and has usually vaults or casemates under its terre-plein, to contain artillery, stores, etc.

=Tower of London.= In feudal days, a powerful fortress; then, and long after, a state prison of gloomy memories; now a government store-house and armory, and still in some sense a stronghold; is an irregular quadrilateral collection of buildings on rising ground adjoining the Thames, and immediately to the east of the city of London. The kings frequently resided there, holding their courts, and not unfrequently sustaining sieges and blockades from their rebellious subjects. At present, the Tower of London is a great military store-house in charge of the war department, containing arms and accoutrements for the complete equipment of a large army. It is needless to say that, viewed as a fortress, the Tower would be useless against modern arms. The government is vested in a constable, who has great privileges, and is usually a military officer of long service and distinguished mark; the deputy-constable, also a general officer of repute, is the actual governor. He has a small staff under him, and the corps of Yeomen of the Guard, more commonly known as Beef-eaters.

=Towered.= Adorned or defended by towers.

=Towers, Movable.= The _purgi_ of the Greeks, and the _turres mobiles_ of the Romans, consisted of several stories, furnished with engines, ladders, casting-bridges, etc., and moving on wheels, for the purpose of being brought near the walls. They were usually of a round form, though sometimes square or polygonal. Before the invention of guns, they used to fortify places with towers, and to attack them with movable towers of wood, mounted on wheels, to set the besiegers on a level with the walls, and drive the besieged from under the same. These towers were sometimes 20 stories, and 30 fathoms high. They were covered with raw skins, and 100 men were employed to move them.

=Tow-hooks.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Town-Adjutant=, =Town-Major=. In Great Britain, officers on the staff of a garrison. They are often veteran officers, too much worn for field service. The pay depends on the magnitude of the trust. The town-major ranks as a captain; the adjutant as a lieutenant. The duties of these officers consist in maintaining discipline, and looking after the finding of the batteries, etc.

=Towton.= A township of England, county of York, West Riding. Here a sanguinary battle was fought, March 29, 1461, between the houses of York (Edward IV.) and Lancaster (Henry VI.), to the latter of whom it was fatal, and on whose side more than 37,000 fell. Edward issued orders to give no quarter, and the most merciless slaughter ensued. Henry was made prisoner, and confined in the Tower; his queen, Margaret, fled to Flanders.

=Traband.= A trusty brave soldier in the Swiss infantry, whose

## particular duty was to guard the colors and the captain who led them. He

was armed with a sword and a halbert, the blade of which was sharpened like a pertuisan. He generally wore the colonel’s livery, and was excused from all the duties of a sentinel.

=Tracing=, or =Outline=. Is the succession of lines that show the figure of the works, and indicate the direction in which the defensive masses are laid out, in order to obtain a proper defense.

=Tracing-pickets.= These are short pickets, 18 inches long, and about 1 inch in diameter, which are useful in marking out the details of field-works. They are made rather more expeditiously than fascine-pickets, and should be tied up in bundles of 25 each. Every bundle weighs about 8 pounds when the wood is dry.

=Track.= In gunnery, by track is understood the distance between the furrows formed by the wheels of artillery carriages in the ground. It is important that the track should be the same for all carriages likely to travel the same road, in order that the wheels of one carriage may follow in the furrows formed by those of its predecessor, and thereby prevent a loss of tractile force. The track of artillery carriages is 5 feet, and the extreme length of the axle-tree is 6¹⁄₂ feet for field-, and 6³⁄₄ feet for siege-carriages.

=Trail.= In tactics, to carry, as a fire-arm, with the butt near the ground, and the muzzle inclined forward, the piece being held by the right hand near the middle.

=Trail.= In gunnery, the end of a traveling-carriage, opposite to the wheels, and upon which the carriage slides when unlimbered. See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Trail Hand-spike.= See HAND-SPIKE.

=Trail-handles.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Trail-plate.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Trail-bridge.= See PONTONS.

=Train.= To teach and form by practice; to exercise; to discipline; as, to train the militia to the manual exercise; to train soldiers to the use of arms.

=Train.= A line of gunpowder, laid to lead fire to a charge, or to a quantity intended for execution.

=Train, Artillery-.= See ARTILLERY-TRAIN.

=Train, Ponton-.= See PONTONS, BRIDGE EQUIPAGE.

=Train-Bands= (or more properly, _Trained Bands_). A force of militia, and not differing essentially from that force substituted by James I. for the old English Fyrd, or national militia. The train-bands of London were chiefly composed of apprentices; and their unruly doings formed the subject for many facetious plays and tales. In the civil wars, the train-bands sided with the Parliament; and Charles II. restored the militia on its old local footing.

=Trainer.= In the United States, a militia-man when called out for exercise or discipline.

=Training-day.= In the United States, a day on which a military company assembles for drill, especially in public.

=Traitor.= One who violates his allegiance and betrays his country; one guilty of treason; one who, in breach of trust, delivers his country to its enemy, or any fort or place intrusted to its defense, or who surrenders an army or body of troops to the enemy, unless when vanquished; or one who takes arms and levies war against his country; or one who aids an enemy in conquering his country.

=Traitorous.= Guilty of treason; treacherous; perfidious; faithless; as, a traitorous officer or subject. Also, consisting of treason; partaking of treason; implying breach of allegiance; as, a traitorous scheme or conspiracy.

=Trajan’s Wall.= A line of fortifications stretching across the Dobrudscha from Czernavoda, where the Danube bends northwards, to a point of the Black Sea coast near Kustendji. It consists of a double, and in some places a triple, line of ramparts of earth, from 8³⁄₄ to 11 feet in height on the average (though occasionally it attains an altitude of 19¹⁄₂ feet), bounded along its north side by a valley, which being generally marshy, and abounding in small lakes and pools, serves admirably the purpose of a fosse. During the war of 1854, Trajan’s wall became an important line of defense on the invasion of the Dobrudscha by the Russians, and the invaders were twice defeated in their attempts to pass it,--at Kostelli, (April 10), and Czernavoda (April 20-22).

=Trajectory.= The increasing curve described by a projectile in its flight through the air. See PROJECTILE, PROJECTILES, THEORY OF.

=Tralee.= A town of Ireland, chief town of the county of Kerry, on the river Lea, 59 miles northwest from Cork. Tralee was destroyed in the rebellion of 1641.

=Trani.= A maritime city of Southern Italy, in the province of Terra di Bari, 25 miles northwest of the town of Bari. Trani submitted to the Normans in 1053. It was then the chief town of a vast country, and was an important harbor in the time of the crusades.

=Transfers.= Soldiers taken out of one troop, or company, and placed in another are so called. Non-commissioned officers or soldiers will not be transferred from one regiment to another without the authority of the commanding general. The colonel of a regiment may, upon the application of the captains, transfer a non-commissioned officer or soldier from one company to another of his regiment,--with consent of the department commander in case of a change of post. The transfer of officers from one regiment or corps to another will be made only by the war department, on the mutual application of the parties desiring the exchange.

=Transfixed.= An ancient term used to express the state of being desperately wounded by some pointed instrument, as being run through by a spear, javelin, or bayonet; pierced through so that the weapon is fixed in another body.

=Transfluent.= In heraldry, passing or flowing through a bridge,--said of water.

=Transfuge.= A turncoat, a deserter, a runaway; one who abandons his party in time of war, and goes over to the enemy.

=Transit-compass.= A species of theodolite, consisting of a telescope revolving in a vertical plane on a horizontal axis, as in a transit-instrument, combined with a compass, a graduated horizontal limb, etc., used for running lines, observing bearings, horizontal angles, and the like; called also _surveyor’s transit_.

=Transoms.= In gunnery, are pieces of wood or iron which join the cheeks of gun-carriages and hold them together; they are known as the front and rear transoms.

=Transportation.= The act of transporting, carrying, or conveying from one place to another; as, the transportation of troops, munitions of war, etc.

=Transportation of Artillery.= In transporting artillery by sea, divide the total quantity to be transported among the vessels, and place in each vessel everything necessary for the service required at the moment of disembarkation, so that there will be no inconvenience should other vessels be delayed. If a siege is to be undertaken, place in each vessel with each piece of artillery its implements, ammunition, and the carriages necessary to transport the whole or a part; the platforms, tools, instruments, and materials for constructing batteries; skids, rollers, scantling, and plank. If a particular caliber of gun is necessary for any operation, do not place all of one kind in one vessel, to avoid being entirely deprived of them by accident. Dismount the carriages, wagons, and limbers, by taking off the wheels and boxes, and, if absolutely necessary, the axle-trees. Place in the boxes the linch-pins, washers, etc., with the tools required for putting the carriages together again. Number each carriage, and mark each detached article with the number of the carriage to which it belongs. The contents of each box, barrel, or bundle, should be marked distinctly upon it. The boxes should be made small for the convenience of handling, and have rope handles to lift them by. Place the heaviest articles below, beginning with the shot and shells (empty), then the guns, platforms, carriages, wagons, limbers, ammunition, boxes, etc.; boxes of small-arms and ammunition in the dryest and least exposed part of the vessel. Articles required to be disembarked first should be put in last, or so placed that they can be readily got at. If the disembarkation is to be performed in front of the enemy, some of the field-pieces should be so placed that they can be disembarked immediately, with their carriages, implements, and ammunition; also the tools and materials for throwing up temporary intrenchments on landing. Some vessels should be laden solely with such powder and ammunition as may not be required for the immediate service of the pieces. On a smooth sandy beach, heavy pieces, etc., may be landed by rolling them overboard as soon as the boats ground, and hauling them up with sling-carts.

=Transylvania.= Is the most easterly crownland of Austria, and is bounded on the north by Hungary and Galicia, east by Bukovina and Moldavia, south by Wallachia, and west by the Military Frontier, the Banat, and Hungary. Transylvania is little noticed in history till the Christian era, when part of it was occupied by the warlike Dacians, soon after whom the Sarmatian tribes of the Jazyges and Carpi settled in it. The conquest of the Dacians by Trajan, however, did not include that of the other two peoples, who proved very troublesome to the Roman settlers along the Danube, till they were conquered by Diocletian, and the Carpi carried away to Pannonia and other districts. In the middle of the 4th century, the Goths overran the country, defeating the Sarmatians in a great battle on the Maros, in which the monarch and the chief of his nobility perished; and they in their turn were forced in 375 to retire before the Huns and their confederates. The Gepidæ next took possession of Transylvania, till their almost complete extirpation, in 566, by the Lombards and Avars. It was conquered by the Hungarians about 1000, and was governed by woivodes till 1526, when the death of the Hungarian monarch at Mohacs prepared the way for the union of the two countries under the woivode John Zapolya; but the war which thence arose with the Austrians caused their complete severance, and Zapolya’s sway was, in 1535, confined to Transylvania, of which he became sovereign lord, under the protection of the Turks. The Saxons were summoned by the Hungarian monarchs to act as a counterpoise to the increasing power of the nobles; the firm protection and generous treatment accorded to the Saxons by the Hungarian monarchs were rewarded by steadfast loyalty and succor in men and money whenever required. During the rest of the 16th century the country was distracted by the bitter strife between the Catholic party, who were supported by Austria, and the Protestant party, who were allied with the Turks; the latter party, headed successively by princes of the houses of Zapolya and Bathory, generally maintaining the superiority. The next chief of the Protestant party was the celebrated Botskay, whose successes against Austria extorted from the emperor an acknowledgment of the independence of Transylvania in 1606. To him succeeded Bethlem Gabor, the determined foe of Catholicism and Austria, who did important service during the Thirty Years’ War. Between his son and successor, Stephen, and Ragotski arose a contest for the crown, in which the latter prevailed; but on Ragotski’s death, the civil war was resumed, till the complete rout of the Austrians by the Turks, under Kiupruli, placed the sceptre in the hands of Michael Abaffi, who reigned till his death, in 1690, as a vassal of the Porte. The Austrians now again possessed themselves of Transylvania, despite the heroic resistance of Ragotski; and though Tekeli succeeded for a brief period in rolling back the invaders, the peace of Carlowitz, in 1699, again put them in possession; and in 1713 Transylvania was completely incorporated with Hungary. During the insurrection in 1848 the Hungarians and Szeklers (one of the races inhabiting Transylvania) joined the insurgents and forced Transylvania to reunite with Hungary, despite the opposition of the Saxons; and the Wallachs, still little better than a horde of savages, were let loose over the land, to burn, plunder, and murder indiscriminately; the prostration of the country being completed in the following year during the bloody conflict which took place here between Bem and the Russian troops. In the same year Transylvania was again separated from its turbulent neighbor and made a crownland, the portions of it which had, in 1835, been annexed to Hungary being restored, as well as the Transylvanian Military Frontier, in 1851.

=Trapani.= See DREPANUM.

=Trapezus= (now _Tarabosan_, _Trabezun_, or _Trebizond_). A colony of Sinope, at almost the extreme east of the northern shore of Asia Minor. It was strongly fortified. It was taken by the Goths in the reign of Valerian.

=Trappings.= See HOUSING.

=Trasimenus Lacus.= The ancient name of an Italian lake (_Lago Trasimeno_, or _Lago di Perugia_), lying between the towns of Cortona and Perugia. Trasimenus Lacus is memorable chiefly for the great victory obtained by Hannibal in 217 B.C., during the second Punic war, over the Romans, under their consul, C. Flaminius. Hannibal leaving Tæsulæ passed close by the camp of Flaminius at Arretium, laying waste the country as he proceeded in the direction of Rome. This, as the Carthaginian general intended, induced the consul to break up his encampment and follow in pursuit, Hannibal in the mean time taking up a strong position on the hills on the north side of the lake, along which he was passing. The consul, coming up early next morning, when the whole place was enveloped in mist, saw only the troops in front on the hill of _Tuoro_, with whom he was preparing to engage, when he found himself surrounded and attacked on all sides. The Carthaginians thus had the Romans completely in their power, and took such advantage of the opportunity, that 16,000 Roman troops are said to have been either massacred or drowned in the lake; Flaminius himself being among the first who fell; 6000 troops who had forced their way through the enemy, surrendered next day to Maharbal. It is said both by Livy and Pliny that the fury on both sides was so great as to render the combatants unconscious of the shock of an earthquake which occurred during the battle.

=Trautenau.= A town of Bohemia, 25 miles north-northeast from Königgratz. On June 27, 1866, the 1st Corps of the army of the crown-prince of Prussia seized Trautenau, but was defeated and repulsed by the Austrians under Gablenz; on the 28th, the Prussians defeated the Austrians with great loss.

=Traveling Allowance.= Is an allowance made to officers when traveling under proper orders. An officer who travels not less than 10 miles from his station, without troops, escort of military stores, and under special orders in the case from a superior, or summons to attend a military court, shall receive 8 cents per mile. Whenever a soldier shall be discharged from the service, except by way of punishment for any offense, or on his own application, or for disability prior to three months’ service, he shall be allowed his pay and rations, or an equivalent in money, for such term of time as shall be sufficient for him to travel from the place of his discharge to the place of his residence, computing at the rate of twenty miles to a day.

=Traveling Forge.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Traveling Kitchen.= Marshal Saxe, it is believed, first suggested the idea of cooking while marching, so as to economize the strength of soldiers, have their food well cooked in all weather, and avoid the numerous diseases caused by bad cooking and want of rest. Col. Cavalli, of the Sardinian artillery, has with the same laudable motive embraced a kitchen-cart in the improvements suggested by him to replace the wagons now in use, and an attempt is here made to elaborate the same idea of a _traveling-kitchen_, designed for baking, making soup, and other cooking, while on a march. The cart is 12¹⁄₂ feet long, mounted on two 6-feet wheels covered with a very light canvas roof with leather-cloth curtains. A large range or stove forms the body of the vehicle; its grate is below the floor, its doors opening on a level with it. A _Papin’s digester_ is inclosed above the grate, in a flue whence the heat may pass around the double oven in the rear, or straight up the chimney, as regulated by dampers. At the side of the digester, over the grate, is a range, suited to various cooking vessels. The top of the oven forms a table nearly 5 feet square, at which three cooks may work, standing upon the rear platform. A foot-board passes from this platform to the front platform, where the driver and cook may stand. Stores may be placed in the lockers at the side of the range, and under the rear foot-board. The chimney may be turned down above the roof, to pass under trees, etc., and may be of any height to secure a good draught. By bending the axle like that of an omnibus, the vehicle may be hung without danger of top-heaviness. Cooking vessels more bulky than heavy may be suspended from the roof, over the range, when not in use. The digester may have a capacity of 100 gallons, and an oven of 60 to 75 cubic feet would be quite adequate to the cooking for 250 men; or the dimensions of the cart may be smaller, and each company of 100 men might have its own traveling-kitchen, which would also furnish oven and cooking utensils for a camp.

=Traveling Trunnion-beds.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, SIEGE-CARRIAGES.

=Traverse.= The turning a gun so as to make it point in any desired direction.

=Traverse Circles.= In gunnery, are circular plates of iron, fastened to a bed of solid masonry, on which the traverse wheels, which support the chassis, roll.

=Traverses.= In fortifications, are mounds of earth, above the height of a man, and 18 feet thick, placed at frequent intervals on a rampart, to stop shot which may enfilade the face of such rampart. A fire of this nature, in the absence of traverses, would dismount the guns, and prove altogether ruinous. The traverses also give means of disputing the progress of an assailant who has gained a footing on the wall, for each traverse becomes a defensible parapet, only to be taken by storm.

=Traversing-plates.= In gun-carriages, are two thin iron plates, nailed on the hind part of a truck-carriage of guns, where the hand-spike is used to traverse the gun.

=Traversing-platform.= An elevation on which the guns are mounted for the defense of the coast, and generally for all sea-batteries, as affording greater facility of traversing the gun, so as to follow, without loss of time, any quick-moving object on the water.

=Travois.= A rude but efficient mode of transportation for conveying the wounded over a level or rolling country, when ambulances are not at hand. It consists of two poles about 16 feet long and 4 inches in diameter; two stretcher bars or poles, 2¹⁄₂ inches in diameter and 3 feet long; and a canvas or rawhide bottom, 5¹⁄₂ feet long and 2¹⁄₂ feet broad; and if of canvas, with eyelet-holes at the sides and ends, which are to be lashed to the poles with rope. The rear ends of the travois-poles rest on the ground, while the front ends are attached to each side of a mule, which draws the travois. The _litter_ is better adapted to a rough country. (See LITTER.) The ordinary teepe-poles with which the Indians pitch their tents when in villages are also used in constructing the travois. The Dakota and Montana Sioux, who use mountain-pine or ash-poles, select straight, well-proportioned saplings of those woods, trim them down to the proper size and taper, and lay them aside to season. The dressed poles are about 30 feet long, 2 to 2¹⁄₂ inches at the butt, and 1¹⁄₂ inches at the other extremity. The couch is oval, and the rim is made exclusively of ash, bent into the desired shape when the wood is green. A net-work of rawhide is afterwards lashed to the rim and completes the bed. The bed is 3¹⁄₂ to 4 feet in its transverse, and 2¹⁄₂ to 3 feet in its conjugate diameter. Two or three of the teepe-poles are lashed together, butts to butts, with rawhide, and then lashed to the pack-saddle on the mule, the small ends of the poles trailing the ground. The bed with the longer diameter is then laid transversely on the poles and lashed about 1 foot in rear of the animal. A blanket, piece of canvas, or buffalo-robe lashed to the lower half of the oval rim of the bed completes the outfit. This latter travois is claimed by some officers of the army to be well adapted for transporting wounded even over a rough country.

=Tread.= In fortification, the tread of a banquette is the upper and flat surface on which the soldier stands whilst firing over the parapet.

=Treason.= A general appellation to denote not only offenses against the king and government, but also that accumulation of guilt which arises whenever a superior reposes confidence in a subject or inferior, between whom and himself there subsists a natural, a civil, or even a spiritual relation; and the inferior so abuses that confidence, so forgets the obligations of duty, subjection, and allegiance, as to destroy the life of any such superior or lord. It is, according to English law, a general name, in short, for treachery against the sovereign or liege lord. High treason (the _crimen læsæ majestatis_ of the Romans) is an offense committed against the security of the king or kingdom, whether by imagination, word, or deed. In the United States, treason is confined to the actual levying of war against the United States; or an adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.

=Treaty.= An agreement, league, or contract, between two or more nations or sovereigns, formally signed by commissioners properly authorized, and solemnly ratified by the several sovereigns or the supreme power of each state; an agreement between two or more independent states.

_A treaty of guaranty_ is an engagement by which one state promises to aid another when it is disturbed, or threatened to be disturbed, in the peaceable enjoyments of its rights by a third power. Treaties of alliance may be offensive or defensive; in the former the ally engages generally to co-operate in hostilities against a specified power, or against any power with which the other may be at war; in the latter, the engagements of the ally extend only to a war of aggression commenced against the other contracting party. The execution of a treaty is occasionally secured by hostages; as at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, when several peers were sent to Paris as hostages for the restoration of Cape Breton by Great Britain to France. For celebrated treaties, see appropriate headings in this work.

=Trebbia.= A small but famous stream of Northern Italy, which joins the Po 2 miles west of Piacenza. On its banks Hannibal decisively defeated the Roman consul Sempronius, 218 B.C.; the French were also defeated here by Suwarrow in 1799.

=Trebuchet=, or =Trebucket=. A machine used in the Middle Ages for throwing stones, etc., acting by means of a great weight fastened to the short arm of a lever, which, being let fall, raised the end of the long arm with great velocity, and hurled stones with much force.

=Trefle= (_Trefoil_). A term used in mining, from the similarity of the figure to trefoil. The simple trefle has only two lodgments; the double trefle, four; and the triple one, six.

=Trefoil.= In heraldry, is a frequent charge, representing the clover-leaf, and is always depicted as _slipped_,--_i.e._, furnished with a stalk.

=Trench-cavalier.= In fortification, an elevation constructed, by a besieger, of gabions, fascines, earth, and the like, about half-way up the glacis, in order to discover and enfilade the covert way.

=Trenches.= The communications, boyaux, or zigzags, as well as the parallels or places of arms opened by besiegers against a fortification are trenches. They are from 6 to 10 feet wide and about 3 feet deep. (See PARALLELS, and SIEGE.) _To mount the trenches_, is to mount guard in the trenches, which is generally done in the night. _To relieve the trenches_, is to relieve the guard of the trenches. _To scour the trenches_, is to make a vigorous sally upon the guard of the trenches, force them to give way, and quit their ground, drive away the workmen, break down the parapet, till up the trenches, and spike their cannon.

=Trenches, Opening of.= See OPENING OF TRENCHES.

=Trench-shelter.= A trench hastily thrown up to give cover to troops on a field of battle. It is always 1 foot 3 inches deep, and the parapet is from 1¹⁄₄ to 1¹⁄₂ feet high. A trench 2 feet broad can be made in from 10 to 20 minutes; one 4 feet wide in from 20 to 40 minutes; and one 7 feet broad in from 30 to 60 minutes. There are also small trenches in rear for the supernumeraries.

=Trenton.= The capital city of the State of New Jersey, on the left bank of the Delaware River, at the confluence of Assunpink Creek. In the war of the Revolution, Trenton was the scene of a night attack by Washington upon the British troops--chiefly Hessians--whom he surprised by crossing the Delaware, when the floating ice was supposed to have rendered it impassable, on the night of December 25 and morning of the 26th, 1776.

=Trepied.= In ancient times, a ballista was so called when supported on three legs.

=Tressure.= In heraldry, a subordinary, generally said to be half the breadth of the orle, and usually borne double, and flowered and counterflowered with fleurs-de-lis. It forms part of the royal insignia of Scotland. The tressure is held in great honor in Scottish heraldry.

=Trestles.= A trestle is composed of a cap about 15 feet by 9 inches by 9 inches, of four legs, of two upper and two lower traverses, and of four braces. The cap is notched 18 inches from the end, to receive the legs; the notch is 5 inches wide and 1 deep. The legs should be from 5 to 6 inches square; a shoulder is made to tit the notch in the cap; the spread is quarter the height. The inclination in the other direction about one-sixteenth. The leg is spiked, pinned, or bolted to the cap. The lower traverse is 5 inches by 1¹⁄₂ inches, and is dovetailed into the legs at about one-quarter their height from the ground. The upper traverse, which is nailed on the outside of the legs and against the cap, is 6 inches wide and 1¹⁄₂ inches thick. The braces are 4 inches wide by 1¹⁄₂ inches thick, and are spiked to the cap and legs. When trestles are to be placed on a soft bottom, a flat sill may be spiked under the legs of each side.

_Trestle Bridge._--When the water is less than 4 feet deep, the trestles may be carried to their places by men wading in the stream; an abutment is formed as for an ordinary bridge; the trestles are placed with their caps parallel to the abutment sill and about 13 feet apart. When the water is too deep or too cold to allow this method to be pursued, the bridge may be constructed as follows:

The abutment sill being placed, the first trestle can usually be placed by hand; the balks are laid and covered with chesses to within 1 foot of the trestle, a roller is laid on the bridge; on this are laid two beams, from 30 to 40 feet long and 6 or 7 inches square. The trestle is placed upright, with its cap resting on these beams, to which it is firmly lashed. The pontoniers bear down on the other ends of the beams, at the same time pushing until the trestle is rolled out to the proper distance; then they suddenly release the beams, dropping the trestle into its place. The flooring balks are slid out on the two beams, adjusted, and covered with chesses.

When a boat or raft can be procured, the trestles are placed with much less labor. The boat is brought alongside the last trestle placed; two balks are laid from the bridge, resting on a saddle, or the outer gunwale of the boat; the side of the trestle-cap is laid on the balks, the legs extending over the outer gunwale of the boat. The boat is pushed off by means of the balks until it arrives at the proper position for placing the trestle, which is then righted. If it has not good bearing on the bottom, it is hauled into the boat and the legs are cut to the proper length.

The bridge may be entirely built of round timber. The caps should be from 10 to 12 inches in diameter, the legs at least 6 inches, the balks 7 or 8 inches, and faced on the lower side where they rest on the trestles, so as to bring their upper surfaces on the same plane. The covering may be of strong hurdles.

=Treves=, or =Trier= (anc. _Augusta Trevirorum_). A town of Rhenish Prussia, on the right bank of the Moselle, 65 miles southwest from Coblentz. Treves derives its name from the _Treviri_, or _Treveri_ (which see). Their capital, _Augusta Trevirorum_, became a Roman colony in the time of Augustus, and ultimately became the headquarters of the Roman commanders on the Rhine, and a frequent residence of the emperors. Under the Franks, into whose hands it fell in 463, it continued to flourish. In 843 it passed to Lorraine; in 870 to Germany; in 895 back to Lorraine, and finally was united to Germany by the emperor Henry I. Since 1814, Treves has belonged to Prussia.

=Treviri=, or =Treveri=. A powerful people in Gallia Belgica, who were faithful allies of the Romans, and whose cavalry was the best in all Gaul.

=Treviso.= A fortified town of Italy, in Venice, 17 miles northwest from Venice. Treviso, the ancient _Trevisium_, was a free town under the Romans; and after the fall of the empire was conquered in turn by the Huns, Ostrogoths, and Lombards. Thereafter it was for a time independent, and at length, in 1344, voluntarily submitted itself to the republic of Venice.

=Tria Juncta in Uno= (three joined in one). The motto of the knights of the military order of the Bath, signifying “faith, hope, and charity.”

=Trial.= The formal examination of the matter in issue in a cause before a competent tribunal; the mode of determining a question of fact in a court of law; the examination, in legal form, of the facts in issue in a cause pending before a competent tribunal, for the purpose of determining such issue. Military trials shall be carried on only between the hours of eight in the morning and three in the afternoon, except in cases which, in the opinion of the officer ordering the court, require immediate example (Art. 94). No officer, non-commissioned officer, or soldier shall be tried a second time for the same offense (Art. 102); and no person shall be liable to be tried and punished by a general court-martial for any offense which shall appear to have been committed more than two years before the issuing of the order for such trial, unless the person, by reason of having absented himself, or some other manifest impediment, shall not have been amenable to justice within that period (Art. 103). All trials before courts-martial, like those in civil courts, are conducted publicly; and in order that this publicity may in no case be attended with tumult or indecorum of any kind, the court is authorized, by the Rules and Articles of War, to punish, at its discretion, all riotous and disorderly proceedings or menacing words, signs, or gestures, used in its presence (Art. 86). The day and place of meeting of a general court-martial having been published in orders, the officers appointed as members, and parties and witnesses, must attend accordingly. The judge-advocate, at the opening, calls over the names of the members, who arrange themselves on the right or left of the president, according to rank. The members of the court having taken their seats and disposed of any preliminary matter, the prisoner, prosecutor, and witnesses are called into court. The prisoner is attended by a guard, or by an officer, as his rank or the nature of the charge may dictate; but during the trial should be unfettered and free from any bonds or shackles, unless there be danger of escape or rescue. Accommodation is usually afforded at detached tables for the prosecutor and prisoner; also for any friend or legal adviser of the prisoner or prosecutor, whose assistance has been desired during the trial; but the prisoner only can address the court, it being an admitted maxim, that counsel are not to interfere in the proceedings, or to offer the slightest remark, much less to plead or argue. The judge-advocate, by direction of the president, first reads, in an audible voice, the order for holding the court. He then calls over the names of the members, commencing with the president, who is always the highest in rank. He then demands of the prisoner whether he has any exception or cause of challenge against any of the members present, and if he have, he is required to state his cause of challenge, confining his challenge to one member at a time (Art. 88). After hearing the prisoner’s objections, the president must order the court to be cleared, when the members will deliberate on and determine the relevancy or validity of the objection; the member challenged retiring during the discussion. When the prisoner and prosecutor decline to challenge any of the members, or where the causes of challenge have been disallowed, the judge-advocate proceeds to administer to the members of the court the oath prescribed by the 84th Article of War. The oath is taken by each member holding up his right hand and repeating the words after the judge-advocate. After the oath has been administered to all the members, the president administers to the judge-advocate the particular oath of secrecy to be observed by him, as prescribed by the 85th Article of War. No sentence of a general court-martial is complete or final until it has been duly approved. Until that period it is, strictly speaking, no more than an opinion, which is subject to alteration or revisal. In this interval, the communication of that opinion could answer no ends of justice, but might, in many cases, tend to frustrate them. The obligation to perpetual secrecy, with regard to the votes or opinions of the

## particular members of the court, is likewise founded on the

wisest policy. The officers who compose a military tribunal are, in a great degree, dependent for their preferment on the President. They are even, in some measure, under the influence of their commander-in-chief,--considerations which might impair justice. This danger is, therefore, best obviated by the confidence and security which every member possesses, that his particular opinion is never to be divulged. Another reason is, that the individual members of the court may not be exposed to the resentment of parties and their connections, which can hardly fail to be excited by these sentences which courts-martial are obliged to award. It may be necessary for officers, in the course of their duty, daily, to associate and frequently to be sent on the same command or service, with a person against whom they have given an unfavorable vote or opinion on a court-martial. The publicity of these votes or opinions would create the most dangerous animosities, equally fatal to the peace and security of individuals, and prejudicial to the public service. The court being regularly constituted, and every preliminary form gone through, the judge-advocate, as prosecutor for the United States, desires the prisoner to listen to the charge or charges brought against him, which he reads with an audible voice, and then the prisoner is asked whether he is guilty or not guilty of the matter of accusation. The charge being sufficient, or not objected to, the prisoner must plead either: (1st) Guilty; or (2d) Specially to the jurisdiction, or in bar; or (3d) The general plea of _not guilty_, which is the usual course where the prisoner makes a defense. If from obstinacy and design the prisoner stands mute, or answer foreign to the purpose, the court may proceed to trial and judgment, as if the prisoner had regularly pleaded _not guilty_ (Art. 89); but if the prisoner plead _guilty_, the court will proceed to determine what punishment shall be awarded, and to pronounce sentence thereon. Preparatory to this, in all cases where the punishment of the offense charged is discretionary, and especially where the discretion includes a wide range and great variety of punishment, and the specifications do not show all the circumstances attending the offense, the court should receive and report, in its proceedings, any evidence the judge-advocate may offer, for the purpose of illustrating the actual character of the offense, notwithstanding the party accused may have pleaded guilty; such evidence being necessary to an enlightened exercise of the discretion of the court, in measuring the punishment, as well as for the approving authority. If there be any exception to this rule, it is where the specification is so full and precise as to disclose all the circumstances of mitigation or aggravation which accompany the offense. When that is the case, or when the punishment is fixed, and no discretion is allowed, explanatory testimony cannot be needed. Special pleas are either to the jurisdiction of the court or in bar of the charge. If an officer or soldier be arraigned by a court not legally constituted, either as to the authority by which it is assembled, or as to the number and rank of its members, or other similar causes, a prisoner may except to the jurisdiction of the court-martial. Special pleas in bar go to the merits of the case, and set forth a reason why, even admitting the charge to be true, it should be dismissed, and the prisoner discharged. A former acquittal or conviction of the same offense would obviously be a valid bar, except in case of appeal from a regimental to a general court-martial. Though the facts in issue should be charged to have happened more than two years prior to the date of the order for the assembling of the court-martial, yet it is not the province of the court, unless objection be made, to inquire into the cause of the impediment in the outset. It would be to presume the illegality of the court, whereas the court should assume that manifest impediment to earlier trial did exist, and leave the facts to be developed by witnesses in the ordinary course. A pardon may be pleaded in bar. If full, it at once destroys the end and purpose of the charge, by remitting that punishment which the prosecution seeks to inflict; if conditional, the performance of the condition must be known; thus a soldier arraigned for desertion, must plead a general pardon, and prove that he surrendered himself within the stipulated period. No officer or soldier, being acquitted or convicted of an offense, is liable to be tried a second time for the same. But this provision applies solely to trials for the same incidental act and crime, and to such persons as have, in the first instance, been legally tried. If any irregularity take place on the trial rendering it illegal and void, the prisoner must be discharged, and be regarded as standing in the same situation as before the commencement of these illegal proceedings. The same charge may, therefore, be again preferred against the prisoner who cannot plead the previous illegal trial in bar. A prisoner cannot plead in bar that he has not been furnished with a copy of the charges, or that the copy furnished him differed from that on which he had been arraigned. It is customary and proper to furnish him with a correct copy, but the omission shall not make void, though it may postpone the trial. If the special plea in bar be such that, if true, the charge should be dismissed and the prisoner discharged, the judge-advocate should be called on to answer it. If he does not admit it to be true, the prisoner must produce evidence to the points alleged therein; and if, on deliberation, the plea be found true, the facts being recorded, the court will adjourn and the president submit the proceedings to the officer by whose order the court was convened, with a view to the immediate discharge of the prisoner. The ordinary plea is _not guilty_, in which case the trial proceeds. The judge-advocate cautions all witnesses on the trial to withdraw, and to return to court only on being called. He then proceeds to the examination of witnesses, and to the reading and proof of any written evidence he may have to bring forward. After a prisoner has been arraigned on specific charges, it is irregular for a court-martial to admit any additional charge against him, even though he may not have entered on his defense. The trial on the charges first preferred must be regularly concluded, when, if necessary, the prisoner may be tried on any further accusation brought against him. On the trial of cases not capital, before courts-martial, the deposition of witnesses not in the line or staff of the army may be taken before some justice of the peace, and read in evidence, provided the prosecutor and person accused are present at the same, or are duly notified thereof. The examination of witnesses is invariably in the presence of the court; because the countenance, looks, and gestures of a witness add to, or take away from, the weight of his testimony. It is usually by interrogation, sometimes by narration; in either case, the judge-advocate records the evidence, as nearly as possible, in the express words of the witness. All evidence, whatever, should be recorded on the proceedings, in the order in which it is received by the court. A question to a witness is registered before enunciation; when once entered, it cannot be expunged, except by the consent of the parties before the court; if not permitted to be put to the witness, it still appears on the proceedings accompanied by the decision of the court. The examination-in-chief of each particular witness being ended, the cross-examination usually follows, though it is optional with the prisoner to defer it to the final close of the examination-in-chief. The re-examination by the prosecutor, on such new points as the prisoner may have made, succeeds the cross-examination, and finally, the court puts such questions as in its judgment may tend to elicit the truth. It is customary, when deemed necessary by the court, or desired by a witness, to read over to him, immediately before he leaves the court, the record of his evidence, which he is desired to correct if erroneous, and, with this view, any remark or explanation is entered upon the proceedings. No erasure or obliteration is, however, admitted, as it is essentially necessary that the authority which has to review the sentence should have the most ample means of judging, not only of any discrepancy in the statements of a witness, but of any incident which may be made the subject of remark, by either party in addressing the court. Although a list of witnesses, summoned by the judge-advocate, is furnished to the court on assembling, it is not held imperative on the prosecutor to examine such witnesses; if he should not do so, however, the prisoner has a right to call any of them. Should the prisoner, having closed his cross-examination, think proper subsequently to recall a prosecutor’s witness in his defense, the examination is held to be in chief, and the witness is subject to cross-examination by the prosecutor. Although either party may have concluded his case, or the regular examination of a witness, yet should a material question have been omitted, it is usually submitted by the party to the president, for the consideration of the court, which generally permits it to be put. The prisoner being placed on his defense, may proceed at once to the examination of witnesses: firstly, to meet the charge; and, secondly, to speak as to character, reserving his address to the court until the conclusion of such examination. The prisoner having finished the examination-in-chief of each witness, the prosecution cross-examines; the prisoner re-examines to the extent allowed to the prosecutor, that is, on such new points as the cross-examination may have touched on, and the court puts any questions deemed necessary. The prisoner having finally closed his examination of witnesses, and selecting this period to address the court, offers such statement or argument as he may deem conducive to weaken the force of the prosecution, by placing his conduct in the most favorable light, accounting for or palliating facts, confuting or removing any imputation as to motives; answering the arguments of the prosecutor, contrasting, comparing, and commenting on any contradictory evidence; summing up the evidence on both sides where the result promises to favor the defense, and finally, presenting his deductions therefrom. The utmost liberty consistent with the interest of parties not before the court and with the respect due to the court itself should, at all times, be allowed a prisoner. As he has an undoubted right to impeach, by evidence, the character of the witnesses brought against him, so he is justified in contrasting and remarking on their testimony, and on the motives by which they, or the prosecutor, may have been influenced. All coarse and insulting language is, however, to be avoided, nor ought invective to be indulged in, as the most pointed evidence may be couched in the most decorous language. The court will prevent the prisoner from adverting to parties not before the court, or only alluded to in evidence, further than may be actually necessary to his own exculpation. It may sometimes happen that the party accused may find it absolutely necessary, in defense of himself, to throw blame and even criminality on others, who are no parties to the trial; nor can a prisoner be refused that liberty, which is essential to his own justification. It is sufficient for the party aggrieved that the law can furnish ample redress against all calumnious or unjust accusations. The court is bound to hear whatever address, in his defense, the accused may think fit to offer, not being in itself contemptuous or disrespectful. It is competent to a court, if it think proper, to caution the prisoner as he proceeds, that, in its opinion, such a line of defense as he may be pursuing would probably not weigh with the court, nor operate in his favor; but, to decide against hearing him state arguments, which, notwithstanding such caution, he might persist in putting forward, as grounds of justification, or extenuation (such arguments not being illegal in themselves), is going beyond what any court would be warranted in doing. It occasionally happens that, on presenting to the court a written address, the prisoner is unequal to the task of reading it, from indisposition or nervous excitement; on such occasions, the judge-advocate is sometimes requested by the president to read it; but, as the impression which might be anticipated to be made by it may, in the judgment of the prisoner, be effected more or less by the manner of its delivery, courts-martial generally feel disposed to concede to the accused the indulgence of permitting it to be read by any friend named by him, particularly if that friend be a military man, or if the judge-advocate be the actual prosecutor. Courts-martial are particularly guarded in adhering to the custom of resisting every attempt on the part of counsel to address them. A lawyer is not recognized by a court-martial, though his presence is tolerated, as a friend of the prisoner, to assist him by advice in preparing questions for witnesses, in taking notes and shaping his defense. The prisoner having closed his defense, the prosecutor is entitled to reply, when witnesses have been examined on the defense, or where new facts are opened in the address. Thus, though no evidence may be brought forward by the prisoner, yet should he advert to any case, and, by drawing a parallel, attempt to draw his justification from it, the prosecutor will be permitted to observe on the case so cited. When the court allows the prosecutor to reply, it generally grants him a reasonable time to prepare it; and, upon his reading it, the trial ceases. Should the prisoner have examined witnesses to points not touched on in the prosecution, or should he have entered on an examination impeaching the credibility of the prosecutor’s evidence, the prosecutor is allowed to examine witnesses to the new matter; the court being careful to confine him within the limits of this rule, which extends to the re-establishing the character of his witnesses, to impeaching those of the defense, and to rebutting the new matter brought forward by the prisoner, supported by evidence. He cannot be allowed to examine on any points which, in their nature, he might have foreseen previously to the defense of the prisoner. The prosecutor will not be permitted to bring forward evidence to rebut or counteract the effect of matter elicited by his own cross-examination; but is strictly confined to new matter introduced by the prisoner, and supported by his examination-in-chief. A defense resting on motives, or qualifying the imputation attaching to facts, generally lets in evidence in reply; as, in such cases, the prisoner usually adverts, by evidence, to matter which it would have been impossible for the prosecutor to anticipate. The admissibility of evidence, in reply, may generally be determined by the answer to the questions: Could the prosecutor have foreseen this? Is it evidently new matter? Is the object of the further inquiry to re-establish the character of the witnesses impeached by evidence (not by declamation) in the course of the defense, or is it to impeach the character of the prisoner’s witnesses? Cross-examination of such new witnesses, to an extent limited by the examination-in-chief, that is, confined to such points or matter as the prosecutor shall have examined on, is allowed on the part of the prisoner.

=Triangles.= A wooden instrument consisting of three poles so fastened at the top that they may spread at bottom in a triangular form, and by means of spikes affixed to each pole, remain firm in the earth. An iron bar, breast-high, goes across one side of the triangle. The triangles were used in some regiments for the purpose of inflicting military punishment when corporeal chastisement was much in vogue.

=Triarii.= In the Roman legions, consisted of veteran soldiers, who formed the third line in the order of battle.

=Triballi.= A powerful people in Thrace, a branch of the Getæ dwelling along the Danube, who were defeated by Alexander the Great in 335 B.C., and obliged to sue for peace.

=Tribune.= In Roman antiquity, an officer or magistrate chosen by the people, to protect them from the oppression of the patricians or nobles, and to defend their liberties against any attempts that might be made upon them by the senate and consuls. The tribunes were at first two, but their number was increased ultimately to ten. There were also military tribunes, officers of the army, of whom there were from four to six in each legion.

=Tribute.= An annual or stated sum of money or other valuable thing, paid by one prince or nation to another, either as an acknowledgment of submission, or as the price of peace and protection, or by virtue of some treaty; as the Romans made their conquered countries pay tribute.

=Trichinopoly.= Capital of the district of the same name, of British India; in the presidency of Madras. It is pretty strongly fortified by walls about 2 miles in circuit, lofty, thick, and in some places double. There is also a fort built on a sienite rock about 600 feet high. Two or 3 miles southwest of the town is a large cantonment, containing barracks for a large number of troops. Trichinopoly was subject to a Hindoo rajah until 1732, when the nabob of Arcot gained possession of it; and in 1741 he was in turn dispossessed by the Mahrattas. During the wars between the French and English, the place was much contested; and in 1757, when besieged by the former, it was relieved by the rapid march of an English force under Capt. Calliaud.

=Trick.= A term used in heraldry to denote a mode of representing arms by sketching them in outline, and appending letters to express the tinctures, and sometimes numerals to indicate the repetition of changes.

=Trident.= In Roman antiquity, a three-pronged spear used in the contests of gladiators by the retiarius.

=Triest=, or =Trieste= (anc. _Tergeste_, or _Tergestum_). The principal seaport city of the Austrian empire, in Illyria, on the Gulf of Triest at the northeast extremity of the Adriatic Sea, 73 miles east-northeast of Venice. The ancient _Tergeste_ first received historical mention in 51 B.C., when it was overrun and plundered by neighboring tribes. It owes its prosperity chiefly to the emperor Charles VI., who constituted it a free port, and to Maria Theresa. In 1797 and in 1805, it was taken by the French.

=Trigger.= A steel catch, which being pulled disengages the cock of a gunlock, and causes the hammer to strike the nipple in percussion-muskets, and the firing-pin in breech-loaders. The difference between a hair and common trigger is this: the hair-trigger, when set, lets off the cock at the slightest touch, whereas the common trigger requires a greater degree of force, and consequently its operation is retarded.

=Trim.= The chief town of the county of Meath, Ireland, on the Boyne, 27 miles northwest from Dublin. It was taken by Cromwell in 1649.

=Trincomalee.= A seaport town and magnificent harbor on the northeast coast of Ceylon. It is a place of great antiquity; it was here that the Malabar invaders of Ceylon built one of their most sacred shrines,--the “Temple of a Thousand Columns,” which was demolished by the Portuguese, who fortified the heights with the materials derived from its destruction, 1622. It was next held by the Dutch; but in 1672, during the rupture between Louis XIV. and the United Provinces, the French took Trincomalee, which was abandoned by the Dutch in a panic. In 1782, the French admiral Suffrein, in the absence of the British commander, took possession of the fort, and the English garrison retired to Madras. It was restored to the Dutch in the following year, and they retained it till the capture of Ceylon by the British in 1795. It was finally ceded to Great Britain, by the treaty of Amiens, in 1802.

=Trinidad.= An island belonging to Great Britain, and the most southerly of the West India Islands. It is separated from the mainland (Venezuela) by the Gulf of Paria. Trinidad was discovered by Columbus in 1498; and first colonized by the Spaniards, in 1588. In 1676, the French possessed it for a short time, but it was speedily restored to Spain; and in 1797, it was captured by the British, who have retained it ever since.

=Trinobantes.= A British tribe, which occupied Middlesex and Essex, and joined in opposing the invasion of Julius Cæsar, 54 B.C.; but they soon came to terms with the Romans.

=Trinomalee.= A town and fortress of India, in the Carnatic, where Col. Smith greatly distinguished himself against the united forces of Hyder Ali and Nizam Ali, subahdars of the Deccan, with an army of 43,000 horse and 28,000 foot; while the British commander had only 10,000 foot and 1000 horse. The result of this victory was that the Nizam detached himself from Hyder, and in February, 1768, concluded a treaty with the British.

=Triparted.= In heraldry, parted in three pieces; having three parts or pieces; as, a cross triparted.

=Tripartite.= Being of three parts, or three parties being concerned; hence, tripartite alliance, or treaty.

=Triple Alliance.= The name by which two different treaties are known in history, viz.: (1) A treaty concluded in 1668 at the Hague, between England, Holland, and Sweden, having for its object the protection of the Spanish Netherlands, and the checking of the conquests of Louis XIV. (2) An alliance concluded in 1717 between Britain, France, and Holland, against Spain, which included among its stipulations that the Pretender should quit France, and that the treaty of Utrecht should be carried into effect as regards the demolition of Dunkirk. The Protestant succession was guaranteed by this treaty in England, and that of the Duke of Orleans in France.

=Tripoli=, or =Tripolis= (in its modern Arabic form, _Tarabulus_). A seaport and one of the chief commercial towns of Syria, near the coast of the Mediterranean, on both sides of the river Kadisha. On the left side stands the castle built by Count Raymond of Toulouse, in the 12th century, when the city was taken by the Crusaders. It was conquered by the Egyptians in 1832; restored to the Porte, 1835, and it surrendered to the British in 1841.

=Tripoli.= A regency of the Ottoman empire, and the most easterly of the Barbary States, North Africa. The governor-general has the title, rank, and authority of a pasha of the Ottoman empire. The military force of the country consists of a body of Turkish soldiers, some 10,000 in number, whose business is to keep down insurrections, but who were formerly wont to vary it by creating them. In ancient times, Tripoli seems to have been tributary to the Cyrenæans, from whom, however, it was wrested by the Carthaginians. It next passed to the Romans. Like the rest of Northern Africa, it was conquered by the Arabs, and the feeble Christianity of the natives was supplanted by a vigorous and fanatical Mohammedanism. In 1552 (1551), the Turks got possession of it, and have ever since been the rulers of the country, though the authority of the sultan, up till 1835, had been virtually at zero for more than a century. In that year, however, an expedition was dispatched from Constantinople; the ruling dey, Karamanli, was overthrown and imprisoned; a new Turkish pasha, with viceregal powers, was appointed, and the state made an eyalet of the Ottoman empire. Several rebellions have since taken place (notably in 1842 and 1844), but they have always been suppressed.

=Tripolitza= (“three cities”). A town of Greece under the Turkish rule, 39 miles southwest from Corinth. In 1821 it was stormed by the Greek insurgents; and in 1828 razed to the ground by the troops of Ibrahim Pasha; it has since, however, been rebuilt.

=Tripping.= In heraldry, having the right fore foot lifted, the others remaining on the ground, as if he were trotting;--said of an animal, as a hart, buck, and the like, represented in an escutcheon.

=Triumph= (Lat. _triumphus_). Was the name given in ancient Rome to the public honor bestowed on a general who had been successful in war. It consisted in a solemn procession along the _Via Sacra_ up to the Capitol, where sacrifice was offered Jupiter. The victor sat in a chariot, drawn by four horses,--his captives marching before, his troops following behind. Certain conditions had to be fulfilled before a triumph could be enjoyed, and it was the business of the senate to see that these were enforced. Under the empire, generals serving abroad were considered to be the emperor’s lieutenants, and therefore, however successful in their wars, they had no claim to a triumph. They received instead _triumphal decorations_, and other rewards. The oration, or lesser triumph, differs from the greater chiefly in these respects; that the imperator entered the city on foot, clad in the simple _toga prætexta_ of a magistrate, that he bore no sceptre, was not preceded by the senate and a flourish of trumpets, nor followed by victorious troops, but only by the equites and the populace, and that the ceremonies were concluded by the sacrifice of a sheep instead of a bull. The _ovation_, it is scarcely necessary to add, was granted when the success, though considerable, did not fulfill the conditions specified for a triumph.

=Triumph.= To obtain victory; to meet with success.

=Triumphal.= Of or pertaining to triumph; used in triumph; indicating, or in honor of, a triumph or victory; as, a triumphal crown; a triumphal arch.

=Triumphal Column.= See COLUMN, TRIUMPHAL.

=Triumphal Crown.= See CROWN, TRIUMPHAL.

=Triumphant.= Celebrating victory; expressive of joy for success; as, a triumphant song.

=Triumpher.= One who was honored with a triumph in ancient Rome. One who triumphs or rejoices for victory; one who vanquishes.

=Trojæ Ludus.= Among the Romans was a species of mock fight, similar to the tournaments of the Middle Ages, performed by young noblemen on horseback, who were furnished with arms suitable to their age.

=Trojan War.= In classical history, a celebrated epoch, which occurred nearly thirteen centuries before the Christian era, and which has formed the subject of the two finest poems in the world,--Homer’s “Iliad” and Virgil’s “Æneid.” This war was undertaken by the states of Greece to recover Helen, whom Paris, the son of Priam, king of Troy, had carried away from the house of Menelaus. (See TROY.)

=Tromblon.= A fire-arm which was formerly fired from a rest, and from which several balls and slugs were discharged. An ancient wall-piece.

=Trombone.= Formerly a species of blunderbuss for boat-service, taking its name from its unseemly trumpet mouth.

=Troop.= A company of cavalry. It is the same, with respect to formation, as a company in the infantry.

=Troop Corporal-Major.= The chief non-commissioned officer of a troop in the British Household Cavalry.

=Troop Sergeant-Major.= In the British service, is the chief sergeant of a troop.

=Trooper.= A private or soldier in a body of cavalry; a horse-soldier.

=Trooping the Colors.= Is a ceremony performed in the British service, at the public mounting of garrison guards.

=Troop-ship.= A merchant ship “taken up,” as it is called, for the conveyance of soldiers by sea.

=Trophy.= Was a memorial of victory erected on the spot where the enemy had turned to flight. Among the Greeks (with the exception of the Macedonians, who erected no trophies) one or two shields and helmets of the routed enemy placed upon the trunk of a tree served as the sign and memorial of victory. After a sea-fight the trophy consisted of the beaks and stern-ornaments of the captured vessels, set up on the nearest coast. It was considered wrong to destroy such a trophy, and equally wrong to repair it when it had fallen down through time, for animosity ought not to be perpetual. In early times the Romans never erected trophies on the field, but decorated the buildings at Rome with the spoils of the vanquished. In later times pillars and triumphal arches were employed to commemorate victories. Besides these, in modern times, the humiliation of an enemy is rendered lasting by such devices as the bridge of Jena, of Waterloo, and by the distribution of captured cannon. Morally considered, this practice is no improvement upon the simple and perishable trophies of the ancient Greeks.

=Trophy-money.= Was certain money formerly raised in the several counties of the kingdom of Great Britain, towards providing harness and maintaining the militia.

=Trossulum= (now _Trusso_). A town in Etruria, 9 miles from Volsinii, which is said to have been taken by some Roman equites without the aid of foot-soldiers; whence the Roman equites obtained the name of Trossuli. Some writers identify this town with Troilium, which was taken by the Romans 293 B.C.; but they appear to have been different places.

=Trou de Loup= (Wolf-hole). In field fortification, is a round hole, about 6 feet deep, and pointed at the bottom, like an inverted cone, with a stake placed in the middle. _Trous de loup_ are frequently dug round a redoubt to obstruct the enemy’s approach. They are circular at the top, of about 4¹⁄₂ feet in diameter.

=Trou de Rat= (_Fr._). Literally, a rat-hole, or rat-catch; figuratively, any disadvantageous position into which troops are rashly driven.

=Trowel Bayonet.= So called from its shape. A bayonet intended to serve also as an intrenching tool; invented by Lieut. Rice, 5th U. S. Infantry. It is used by part of the U. S. troops at the present time (1880).

=Troy.= The earliest traditions of the Greek people represent the country on both sides of the Ægean as peopled by various races, either of genuine Hellenic, or of closely affiliated tribes. Among those who peopled the eastern Asiatic coast were the Trojans. The story of the Trojan war is extremely simple. The Trojans, in the person of Paris, or Alexander, the son of the reigning monarch, Priam, are represented as having had certain dealings with the Achæans, or Greeks of the Peloponnesus, in the course of which the gay young prince carries off from the palace of Menelaus, king of Sparta, his spouse Helen, the greatest beauty of her age. To revenge this insult, the Greeks banded themselves together and sailed against Troy with a large fleet. The most notable of the tribes who took part in this expedition were the Argives, or Achæans, the Spartans, the Bœotians, and the Thessalians. Of the Thessalians, the most prominent captain was Achilles; and the general command of the whole expedition was committed to Agamemnon, king of Mycenæ. This well-appointed European army is represented as having spent nine years in besieging the god-built walls of the city of Priam without making any impression on its strength. A violent quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, breaking out in the tenth year, so weakened the invading force that the Trojans, under Hector, pushed the Greeks back to the very verge of the sea, and almost set their ships on fire. At the critical moment, however, the Thessalian captain was reconciled to the head of the expedition; and with his return to the field the fortune of war changed; Hector, the champion of Troy, fell, and the impending doom of the city was darkly foreshadowed; it was finally captured and sacked, 1184 B.C. (the date generally accepted).

=Troyes.= A town of France, capital of the department of Aube, on the left bank of the Seine. It occupies the site of the ancient Augustobono, the chief town of the Tricasses. It suffered severely in the civil wars of the 15th century, and was taken by Joan of Arc in 1429. A treaty was concluded here between England, France, and Burgundy, May 21, 1420, whereby it was stipulated that Henry V. should marry Catherine, daughter of Charles VI., be appointed regent of France, and after the death of Charles should inherit the crown. Troyes was taken by the allied armies February 7; retaken by Napoleon February 23; and again taken by the allies March 4, 1814.

=Truce.= An agreement between belligerent parties, by which they mutually engage to forbear all acts of hostility against each other for some time, the war still continuing. Truces are of several kinds: _general_, extending to all the territories and dominions of both

## parties; and _particularly_, restrained to particular places; as, for

example, by sea, and not by land. They are also _absolute_, _indeterminate_, and _general_; or _limited and determined_ to certain things, for example, to bury the dead. During a truce, it is dishonorable to occupy more advanced ground, or to resort to any act which would confer advantage. A truce requires ordinarily to be confirmed by the commander-in-chief to become binding. It is lawful to break it before the prescribed period, on notice previously agreed on being given to the opposite party. This is called denouncing a truce.

=Truce, Flag of.= See FLAG OF TRUCE.

=Truce of God.= A suspension of arms, which occasionally took place in the Middle Ages, putting a stop to private hostilities, at or within certain periods.

=Truck.= Wooden-wheels for the carriage of cannon, etc. The trucks of garrison-carriages are generally made of cast iron. Trucks of a ship-carriage are wheels made of one piece of wood, from 12 to 19 inches in diameter, and their thickness is always equal to the caliber of the gun.

=Truck, Casemate.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Trumpet=, or =Trump=. A wind instrument, made of brass or silver, used in the cavalry and mounted artillery.

=Trumpet-call.= A call by the sound of the trumpet.

=Trumpeter.= A soldier whose duty it is to sound the trumpet.

=Trumpet-Major.= The non-commissioned officer in charge of the trumpeters of a regiment of cavalry.

=Truncheon.= A club; a cudgel; also, a staff of command. The truncheon was for several ages the sign of office. Generals were presented with the truncheon as the sign of investiture with command; and all those officers who belonged to the suite of the general, and were not attached to regiments, carried a truncheon, or staff, whence the name of officers of the staff.

=Trunnion-gauge.= See INSPECTION OF CANNON.

=Trunnion-plate.= In gunnery, is a plate in the carriage of a gun, mortar, or howitzer, which covers the upper part of the cheek, and goes under the trunnion.

=Trunnions.= In gunnery, are two cylinders at or near the centre of gravity of a gun, by which it is supported on its carriage. The axes are in a line perpendicular to the axis of the bore, and, in our guns, in the same plane with that axis. By means of the trunnions the piece is attached to its carriage; and by being placed at or near the centre of gravity, it is easily elevated or depressed.

=Trunnion-square.= See INSPECTION OF CANNON.

=Truxillo.= A town of the republic of Venezuela, capital of a province of the same name. Though now a poor, mean place, it is said to have been, previously to 1678, when it was pillaged by the buccaneer Grammont, one of the finest and wealthiest cities of America.

=Tubantes.= A people of Germany, allies of the Cherusci, originally dwelt between the Rhine and the Yssel. They are subsequently mentioned as a part of the great league of the Franci.

=Tube-pouch.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Tuberated.= In heraldry, knotted or swelled out.

=Tuck.= A long, narrow sword.

=Tudela= (anc. _Tutella_). A city of Spain, province of Navarre, on the right bank of the Ebro, 52 miles northwest from Saragossa. Here the French under Marshal Lannes totally defeated the Spaniards, on November 23, 1808.

=Tugenbund= (“League of Virtue”). This league was formed in Prussia soon after the peace of Tilsit, June, 1807, for relieving the sufferers by the late wars, and for the revival of morality and patriotism, gradually became a formidable secret political society, opposed to the French predominance in Germany. It excited the jealousy of Napoleon, who demanded its suppression in 1809. It was dissolved at the peace in 1815.

=Tuileries, Palace and Gardens of the.= Are situated in the middle of Paris, on the right bank of the Seine. In 1793, the National Convention held its sittings in the Tuileries; and when Bonaparte became First Consul, he chose it for his official residence. It was the imperial residence of Napoleon III.; but was burned down by the Commune in 1871.

=Tulwar.= In the East Indies means a sword.

=Tumbril.= A covered cart on two wheels, for the carriage of ammunition, tools, etc., belonging to the artillery. The name obtained a melancholy celebrity from being applied to the carts which served to carry the unfortunate victims of the French revolution to the guillotine.

=Tunic.= A close-fitting coat, with short sleeves, worn in ancient times by the Romans. This sort of clothing was prevalent among the French after their return from the Crusades to the Holy Land. They adopted it from the Saracens, and seemed ambitious of appearing in a garb which bore testimony to their feats of valor. These tunics, which were converted into a sort of uniform, obtained the name of _saladines_ among the French, in compliment to the emperor Saladin.

=Tunis.= One of the Barbary States forming a considerable territory or regency of the Ottoman empire, in Northern Africa. Its history is nearly identical with the city of the same name (which see).

=Tunis.= A fortified city of Africa, and the capital of the country of that name, at the mouth of the Mejerdah, 400 miles east by north from Algiers. Tunis is situated about 3 miles to the southwest of the ruins of ancient Carthage, and it is itself a place of great antiquity. During the Punic wars it was repeatedly taken and retaken. In 439 it fell into the hands of the Vandals, but having been wrested from them about a century thereafter by Belisarius, it continued to be subject to the Greek empire till the end of the 7th century, when Northern Africa was overrun by the victorious armies of the Saracens and became a dependency of the caliphs of Bagdad. In 1286 Tunis became an absolute sovereignty under Aboo-Ferez, who soon added the greater part of Algiers and Tripoli. About this time it became notorious for its piracies, and in 1270, Louis IX. of France, in a chivalrous attempt to suppress them, lost both his army and his life. It remained under African kings till taken by Barbarossa, for Solyman the Magnificent. It was taken with great slaughter, and Barbarossa expelled, by the emperor Charles V., when 10,000 Christian slaves were set at liberty, 1535. The country was subjugated by the Turks (1574), who at first governed it by a Turkish pasha and divan, with a body of Janissaries sent from Constantinople, but were ultimately obliged to allow the Moors to elect their own bey, only reserving to themselves the power of confirming the election and exacting a tribute. The piracies of the Tunisians subjected them to severe chastisement, first from the British under Admiral Blake, who reduced it, on the bey refusing to deliver up the British captives, 1655; and afterwards from France and Holland. During the 18th century it became tributary to Algiers. About the beginning of the 19th century, Hamuda Pasha threw off the Algerian yoke, subdued the Turkish militia, and created a native Tunisian army; in consequence of which Tunis virtually attained independence. An insurrection broke out April 18,1864, and in May, the European powers sent ships of war to protect their subjects.

=Turin.= A large city of Italy, capital of Piedmont, at the confluence of the Dora-Susina with the Po, 79 miles west-southwest from Milan. The foundation of Turin is generally attributed to a colony of Transalpine origin called Taurini, or Taurisci. Shortly after Hannibal crossed the Alps, he made himself master of the territory in which it is situated; but after his expulsion from Italy, the Romans resumed possession and converted Turin into a colony, which took the name of _Colonia Julia_. This name was afterwards changed into that of _Augusta Taurinorum_. It was taken and sacked by the Goths under Alaric. To ward off similar disasters, it was shortly after surrounded by walls, but did not escape the ravages of the Longobards. Charlemagne, into whose hands it subsequently passed, bestowed it as feudal tenure on its bishops. In 1418 (1416) it was declared by Amadeo V. the capital of the states of Savoy, and ultimately rose to be the capital of the whole Sardinian states. The French besieged this city; but Prince Eugène defeated their army, and compelled them to raise the siege, September 7, 1706. In 1798, the French republican army took possession of Turin, seized all the strong places and arsenals of Piedmont, and obliged the king and his family to remove to the island of Sardinia. In 1799 the French were driven out by the Austrians and Russians; but shortly afterwards the city and all Piedmont surrendered to the French. In 1814, it was delivered up to the allies, who restored it to the king of Sardinia.

=Turkey.= Or the Ottoman empire, called by the Turks _Osmanli Vilayeti_, includes large portions of the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and consists of Turkey Proper, which is under the direct rule of the sultan, and of numerous dependent and tributary states, governed by their own princes. The existing Turkish empire dates only from the end of the 13th century, when it was founded by Osman, or Othman, a Turk of noble family, who had been driven westward from Khorasan by the invasion of Genghis Khan. Osman first invaded the Greek territory of Nicomedia on July 27, 1299; but the true era of the empire may be dated from the conquest of the city of Prusa, the capital of Bithynia, which surrendered to his son Orchan in 1326. Murad I. (Amurath) subdued, without resistance, the whole of Thrace from the Hellespont to Mount Hæmus, and made Adrianople the seat of vice-royalty. Murad was succeeded by his son Bajazet (Byazid), whose reign forms one of the most splendid epochs in the Turkish annals. His armies were victorious in every country that he undertook to conquer, until at last he encountered the famous Mogul chief, Tamerlane, who defeated the Turkish army and took Bajazet captive. After the death of Tamerlane, Solyman, the son of Bajazet, obtained the European dominions of his father and eventually assumed the title of sultan. At his death in 1421 he bequeathed an undivided empire to his successor, Amurath II., in whose reign the Turkish empire rose in splendor and opulence. He enlarged the empire by conquests, and was succeeded in 1451 by Mohammed II., the conqueror of Constantinople. Mohammed laid siege to Belgrade, three years after the taking of Constantinople, from which, after an obstinate resistance, he was at length repulsed with the loss of his large ordnance and 40,000 of his best troops. Abandoning his attempts upon Hungary, the sultan undertook an expedition into Greece, and about 1460 succeeded in subduing the whole of the Morea. Mohammed continued to overrun Europe with his victorious armies, until death stopped his triumphant career in 1481. A series of domestic broils continued to take place until Selim ascended the throne in 1512. He was a successful prince, and during his short reign conquered Egypt, Aleppo, Antioch, Tripoli, Damascus, and Gaza, and defeated the Persians. On the death of Selim, Solyman the Magnificent ascended the Ottoman throne, and like several of the preceding monarchs he continued to humiliate his enemies and add new territory to his dominions. His dominions extended from Algiers to the river Euphrates, and from the farther end of the Black Sea to the extremity of Greece and Epirus. The latter years of his reign were embittered by domestic dissensions and cruelties. He died while besieging Sigeth, a city of Hungary, in 1566. His son and successor, Selim II., besieged and took Cyprus; but in the famous sea-fight at Lepanto, in 1571, the Turkish fleet was utterly destroyed by Don John of Austria. Selim afterwards invested and took Tunis by storm. On his death Amurath III. ascended the throne, and extended his dominions. His son, Mohammed III., ascended the throne in 1595, but he was involved in a series of wars which proved disastrous to the Turkish arms, and the country continued to decline, although each successive monarch continued to wage war with the neighboring provinces, which nearly always ended disastrously to the Turkish arms; the country was also torn asunder by internal strife. The downward course of Turkey was for a time stayed by Mustapha II., who succeeded to the throne in 1695; he commanded his troops in person, and passed the Danube at the head of 50,000 men, carried Lippa by assault, and closed a campaign against the Austrians with success. But two years afterwards he was defeated by Prince Eugène, in the bloody battle of Zenta, where the Turks left 20,000 dead on the field, and 10,000 were drowned in their attempt to escape. Shortly after this disaster Mustapha was dethroned. During the reign of Mustapha III., in 1769, a destructive war broke out with Russia which lasted till 1774, when the Turks were compelled to make the dishonorable treaty of Kainargi. Another disastrous war broke out between Russia and Turkey in the autumn of 1787, in which Austria took sides with the former. This war, which was concluded in 1792, was a series of terrible conflicts, in which much desperate valor was displayed on the one side, and many brave

## actions were performed on the other; but in which Turkey lost much

territory. Turkey was drawn into the French revolutionary war by the invasion of Egypt by the French, and in 1807 she was convulsed by a sanguinary insurrection, which cost Selim his throne, and raised Mahmoud to it. During the event of this insurrection, a war which had been going on with Russia had languished; but on the accession of Mahmoud, the armies on both sides were augmented, and the contest was carried on with great ferocity. The campaign of 1811 was short, but disastrous to the Porte, the main body of the Ottoman army having surrendered as prisoners of war. In 1821 began that celebrated insurrection which, after a bloody war of eight years, terminated in the complete emancipation of the Greeks from the Turkish yoke. In 1828 war again broke out between Turkey and Russia. The first campaign was unfavorable to Turkey, but not completely decisive; it ended with the loss of Varna; but, in 1829, the Russians having crossed the Balkans, a treaty of peace was concluded, which was both humiliating and injurious. Shortly after occurred that rupture between the sultan and Mehemet Ali, the pasha of Egypt, which shook the Ottoman empire to its foundation. In every conflict the Turkish troops were overthrown. The battle of Homs decided the fate of Syria, and the victory at Konieh placed the sceptre almost within the grasp of the ambitious pasha. In this extremity the sultan was reduced to apply to Russia for aid. A peace was concluded by which the pasha augmented his territory. In 1839 the Turks were again defeated in several battles by the Egyptians; but the latter were reduced to subjection by the allied powers, Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, and compelled to pay an annual tribute to Turkey. In October, 1858, the Porte declared war against Russia, and in 1854 the French and English entered into the contest as allies of Turkey. In the latter part of this war, Sardinia also sent an army to co-operate with those of the allies. The result of this war, which was virtually ended by the treaty of Paris signed on March 30, 1856, was, that Turkey gained some territory, and took her place as a member of the European confederation of states. A revolution took place in Constantinople in 1876, which resulted in the deposition of Abd-ul-Aziz, and the accession to the throne of Murad V., who in his turn was superseded by Hamid II. For important battles, etc., which occurred in Turkey, see names of towns, places, etc., under separate headings in this work.

=Turks.= The name of a numerous, important, and widely-spread family of the human race, members of which are to be found as well on the banks of the Lena in Siberia, as on those of the Danube and the shores of the Adriatic in Europe. They consist of many different tribes, but speak very nearly the same language. For history of the Turks, see TURKEY and other countries inhabited by them.

=Turma.= In the Roman cavalry, a troop consisting of 30 horsemen. There were 10 _turmæ_ in every legion, and 3 _decuriæ_ in every _turma_.

=Turn.= To give another direction, tendency, or inclination; to direct otherwise; to deflect. _To turn a hostile army_, to turn the enemy’s flank, and the like, to pass round and take a position behind it, or upon the side of it. _To turn tail_, to retreat ignominiously.

=Turn Out, To.= To bring forward, to exhibit; as, to turn out the guard; to turn out so many men for service. To _turn in_, to withdraw; to order under cover; as, to turn in the guard.

=Turnau= (Boh. _Turnov_). A walled town of Bohemia, circle of Jung-Bunzlau, on the east bank of the Iser, 50 miles northeast from Prague. Here was fought, in July, 1866, a battle between the Prussians and Austrians, in which the former were victorious.

=Turnhout.= A well-built town of Belgium, province of Antwerp, 34 miles east-northeast from the city of Antwerp. Turnhout is historically noteworthy as the scene of two battles, the first won January 22, 1597, by the Netherlands, under Maurice, prince of Orange, over the Spaniards; and the second October 27, 1789, by the patriots, under Van der Mersch, over the Austrians.

=Turning.= In tactics, a manœuvre by which an enemy or position is turned.

=Turning and Boring.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.

=Turret.= In military antiquity, a movable building, of a square form, consisting of 10 or even 20 stories, sometimes 120 cubits high, usually moved on wheels, and employed in approaches to a fortified place, for carrying soldiers, engines, ladders, casting bridges, and other necessaries.

=Turtukai=, or =Tortokan=. A town of Turkey in Europe, in Bulgaria, situated on the Danube. It is opposite Oltenitza, where the Russians were defeated by the Turks in a series of battles which extended over three days, in November, 1853.

=Tuscany= (Ital. _Toscana_). A former grand duchy of Italy, hounded on the north by the duchies of Parma and Modena, and the Papal States; east and south by the Papal States; west by the Mediterranean. Tuscany embraces the far greater part of ancient Etruria, shared the common fate of all the other Italian states, and fell under the Romans about 280 B.C. From the Romans it passed first to the Goths, next to the Lombards, and then to Charlemagne, who governed it by counts. After numerous vicissitudes, the whole of Tuscany became united, in 1557, under the Medici family. In 1737 the Medici became extinct and the grand duchy passed to the Duke of Lorraine. It was declared by Napoleon I. an integral part of the French empire; but, on his downfall in 1814, it was restored to the Archduke Ferdinand. On August 20, 1860, the National Assembly at Florence unanimously voted its annexation to and it now forms part of the new kingdom of Italy.

=Tuscaroras.= A tribe of North American Indians, who at the settlement of North Carolina had fifteen towns on the Tar and Neuse Rivers, and 1200 warriors. In 1711, they began a war with the settlers, and after a series of savage encounters were defeated, and joined the Iroquois in New York, where they became the allies of the English. About 400 of them still reside on a reservation in the western part of the State of New York.

=Tusculum.= An ancient city of Latium, on a western prolongation of the Alban hills, about 15 miles east-southeast of Rome. It was one of the most strongly fortified places in all Italy, both by nature and art. After the expulsion of the Tarquins from Rome, Octavius Mamilius, the chief man in Tusculum, is said to have supported their cause, and led an army against the Romans; but he was totally defeated and slain at the small lake Regillus, near Tusculum. Thereupon an alliance was formed between Tusculum and Rome, which lasted unbroken for 140 years, until, in 357 B.C., the whole of the Latin cities, and Tusculum among the rest, joined in a war with Rome, which ended in their entire and final subjection to that power. The ancient city continued to exist amid all the vicissitudes of the times till near the end of the 12th century, when it was demolished by the Romans, and the town of Frascati rose in the vicinity.

=Tuttlingen.= A town of Würtemberg, on the right bank of the Danube, 20 miles west-southwest from Sigmaringen. Tuttlingen is historically notable as the scene of a battle in 1643, during the Thirty Years’ War, in which an Austrian Bavarian force under Hatzfeld and Mercy defeated the French.

=Twist.= This term is employed by gun-makers to express the inclination of a groove at any point, and is measured by the tangent of the angle made by the groove with the axis of the bore.

=Two-handed.= Used with both hands; as, a two-handed sword.

=Tyana= (ruins at _Kiz Hisar_). A city of Asia Minor, stood in the south of Cappadocia, at the northern foot of Mount Taurus, on the high road to the Cicilian Gates. It was a position of great natural strength, which was improved by fortifications. Under Caracalla it was made a Roman colony. It was taken in 272 B.C. by Aurelian, in the war with Zenobia, to whose territory it then belonged.

=Tycocktow Island.= An island in the Canton River, China, 8 miles long and 6 miles broad. It is situated at the entrance of the Bocca Tigris, a few miles below Canton. The British took the fort on this island in 1841.

=Tykoczin.= A town of Russia in Europe, situated on the Narew, 17 miles northwest from Bialystock. A battle was fought between the Russians and Poles here in 1831.

=Tyler’s Insurrection.= Arose in opposition of the poll-tax imposed on all persons above fifteen, November 5, 1380. One of the collectors

## acting with indecent rudeness to Wat Tyler’s daughter, the father struck

him dead, June, 1381. His neighbors took arms to defend him, and in a short time almost the whole of the population of the southern and eastern counties were in a state of insurrection, extorting freedom from their lords, and plundering. On June 12, 1381, they gathered upon Blackheath to the number of 100,000 men. On June 14, they murdered Simon of Sudbury, archbishop of Canterbury, and Sir Robert Hales, the royal treasurer. The king, Richard II., invited Tyler to a parley, which took place on the 15th at Smithfield, where the latter addressed the king in a menacing manner, now and again lifting up his sword. On this the mayor, Walworth, stunned Tyler with a blow of his mace, and one of the king’s knights dispatched him. Richard temporized with the multitude by promising them a charter, and thus led them out of the city, when Sir R. Knollys and a band of knights attacked and dispersed them with much slaughter. The insurrection in Norfolk and Suffolk was subdued by the bishop of Norwich, and 1500 of the rebels were executed.

=Tympanum.= A drum, a musical instrument which the ancients used, and which consisted of a thin piece of leather or skin, stretched upon a circle of wood or iron, and beat with the hand. Hence the origin of our drum.

=Tyrant.= A name given in modern times to an arbitrary and oppressive ruler, but originally applied, not necessarily to one who exercised power badly, but merely to one who had obtained it illegally, and therefore equivalent to our word usurper. If the one who thus rose to power as a “tyrant” happened to be a man of sense, and wisdom, and generosity, his “tyranny” might prove a blessing to a state torn by the animosities of selfish oligarchs, and be the theme of praise in after-ages, as was the case with the “tyrannies” of Pesistratos, Gelon, and others; but if he was insolent, rapacious, and cruel, then he sought to reduce the citizens to a worse than Egyptian bondage, and his name became infamous to all time. Such has been the fate of most of the “Thirty Tyrants of Athens.” It was the method of exercising authority pursued by these and similar usurpers that latterly, even in ancient times, gave the word tyrant that evil significance it has ever since uninterruptedly retained.

=Tyre= (ruins at _Sur_). One of the greatest and most famous cities of the ancient world, stood on the coast of Phœnice, about 20 miles south of Sidon. The Assyrian king Shalmanezer laid siege to Tyre for five years (713 B.C.), but without success. It was again besieged for thirteen years by Nebuchadnezzar, and there is a tradition that he took it (572 B.C.), but the matter is not quite certain. At the period when the Greeks began to be well acquainted with the city, its old site had been abandoned, and a new city erected on a small island about half a mile from the shore, and a mile in length, and a little north of the remains of the former city, which was now called Old Tyre. In 322 B.C. the Tyrians refused to open their gates to Alexander, who laid siege to the city for seven months, and united the island on which it stood to the main land by a mole constructed chiefly of the ruins of Old Tyre. After its capture and sack by Alexander, Tyre never regained its former consequence. It recovered, however, sufficiently to be mentioned as a strong fortress and flourishing port under the early Roman emperors; it even took an active part (193) in the contest between Septimius Severus and Pescennius Niger, which, resulting in the success of the former, brought back to it some of its ancient distinction. In St. Jerome’s time it was again one of the noblest and most prosperous cities of the whole East. In the 7th century it came under the dominion of the Saracens; and so remained until taken by the Crusaders. On February 11, 1124, the Christian army encamped before it, and on June 15 it fell into their hands. The strength of its fortifications, the splendor of its houses, and the excellence of its harbor, excited their admiration. On the evening of the day on which Acre was taken by the Mohammedans (May 19, 1291), Tyre was abandoned by the Crusaders, and the Saracens entered it the following morning. It was captured by the French, April 3, 1799; and by the allied fleet, during the war against Mehemet Ali, 1841.

=Tyrol.= The most western province of the Austrian empire, is bounded on the north by Bavaria, on the east by Salzburg, Carinthia, and Venetia, on the south by Italy, and on the west by Switzerland and Italy. In early times Tyrol formed part of Rhætia, was conquered by the Romans, 15 B.C. Subsequently it was overrun by various German tribes; still later the southern valley fell to the share of the Lombards, and the northern valleys to the Bavarians. The dukes of Austria acquired possession of it in 1363. The French conquered Tyrol in 1805, and united it to Bavaria, much to the discontent of the population; but in 1809 an insurrection broke out, headed by Andreas Hofer, an innkeeper, who drove the Bavarians out of the Tyrol, and thoroughly defeated some French detachments, but was overpowered at last by reinforcements sent from France. The Tyrolese riflemen were very effective in the Italian war in 1859.

=Tyrone.= An inland county of the province of Ulster, in Ireland. According to some authorities the Erdini, and to others the Scoti, were the earliest known inhabitants of this district. The chief town of Tyrone was Dungannon, which, though several times taken and sacked by the English forces in their attempts to reduce the country to obedience to the royal authority, continued to be of importance until the close of the reign of Elizabeth, when it was burned by Hugh O’Neill, earl of Tyrone, to prevent its falling into the hands of the English. The insurrection of 1641 may be said to have had its commencement in this county, by the capture of Charlemont Fort and Dungannon by Sir Phelim O’Neill; and in 1646 the Parliamentary forces under Gen. Munroe received a signal defeat from Hugh Roe O’Neill at Benburb. During the greater part of the war between King William and King James, this county was in the possession of the forces of the latter, and suffered much from the

## partisan warfare carried on chiefly by the townsmen of Enniskillen.

U.

=Ucles.= A fortified town of Spain, in the province of Cuenca, 40 miles southwest from the town of that name. It stands at the foot of a hill crowned by a famous monastery which belonged to the military order of Santiago or St. James of Spain. It was taken by the French in 1809.

=Uglitch.= A town of European Russia, in the government and 60 miles west-southwest from Jaroslav, on the right bank of the Volga. It was destroyed by the Lithuanians in 1607.

=Uhlans= (a Tartar word signifying “brave”). Light cavalry of Asiatic origin, were introduced into the north of Europe along with the colonies of Tartars, who established themselves in Poland and Lithuania. They were mounted on light active Tartar horses, and armed with sabre, lance, and latterly with pistols. Their lance was from 5¹⁄₂ to 6¹⁄₂ feet in length, and, like that of the modern lancers, was attached to a stout leather thong or cord, which was fastened to the left shoulder and passed round behind the back, so as to allow the lance to be couched under the right arm. Immediately below its point was attached a strip of gaudy-colored cloth, the fluttering of which was designed to frighten the enemies’ horses. The early dress was similar to that of the Turks, and the regiments, or _polks_, were distinguished from each other by the red, green, yellow, or blue color of their uniforms. The Austrians and Prussians were the first to borrow this species of cavalry from the Poles. In 1734, an attempt was made by Marshal Saxe to introduce uhlans into France, and a “polk” of 1000 men was formed; but it was disbanded at the author’s death. At the present time, Russia, Prussia, and Austria are the only powers which possess uhlan regiments. In the British army, the place of the uhlans is occupied by hussars.

=Ukraine.= The name given in Poland first to the frontiers towards the Tartars and other nomads, and then to the fertile regions lying on both sides of the middle Dnieper, without any very definite limits. The Ukraine was long a bone of contention between Poland and Russia. It was ceded to the Cossacks by Poland in 1672, and was obtained by Russia about 1682. The country was divided, Poland having the west side of the Dnieper, and Russia the east. The whole country was assigned to Russia by the treaty of partition in 1795. See POLAND.

=Ulans.= See UHLANS.

=Ulm.= The second city of Würtemberg; was, till the war in 1866, a stronghold of the Germanic Confederation. Here a peace was signed, July 3, 1620, by which Frederick V. lost Bohemia (having been driven from it previously). Ulm was taken by the French in 1796. After a battle between the French and Austrians, in which the latter under Gen. Mack were defeated with dreadful loss by Marshal Ney, Ulm surrendered with 28,000 men, the flower of the Austrian army, October 17-20, 1805.

=Ulster.= A province of Ireland, the most northern of the four into which that kingdom is divided. The northeast portion, the present county of Down, was, early after the invasion, overrun by the English under De Courcy, and was subsequently held by Hugh De Lacy. Although various efforts were made by the English to effect a permanent settlement in the north and northwest, their success was little more than nominal until the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., when the well-known plantation of Ulster was attempted.

=Ulster Badge.= On the institution of the order of Baronets in England by James I., a sinister hand, erect, open, and couped at the wrist gules, the armorial ensign of the province of Ulster, was made their distinguishing badge, in respect of the order having been intended for the encouragement of plantations in the province of Ulster. This badge is sometimes borne in a canton, sometimes on an escutcheon, the latter placed either in the fess point or in the middle chief point, so as to interfere as little as possible with the charges of the shield.

=Ulster King-of-Arms.= The king-of-arms or chief heraldic officer of Ireland. A king-of-arms called Ireland existed in the time of Richard II., but the office seems to have fallen into abeyance in the following century. Ulster was created to supply his place in 1552. Ulster holds his appointment from the crown, and acts under the immediate direction of the lord-lieutenant of Ireland; the professional staff under him consists of 2 heralds, 4 pursuivants, 1 registrar, and 1 clerk of records. The official arms of Ulster king-of-arms are: Argent, St. George’s cross gules, on a chief of the last a lion passant gardant between a harp and a portcullis or.

=Ultimatum.= A term used in military negotiations, to express the final conditions upon which any proposition or treaty can be ratified.

=Umbon= (_Fr._). The pointed boss or prominent part in the centre of a shield or buckler.

=Umbria.= A district of Italy, the chief towns of which were Arminum, Fanum, Fortunæ, Mevania, Tuder, Narnia, and Spoletium. Under Augustus, it formed the sixth Regio of Italy. Its inhabitants, the Umbri, were one of the most ancient races of Italy, and were connected with the Opicans, Sabines, and those other tribes whose languages were akin to the Greek. The Umbri were at a very early period the most powerful people in Central Italy, and extended across the peninsula from the Adriatic to the Tyrrhene seas. They were afterwards deprived of their possessions west of the Tiber by the Etruscans, and confined to the country between this river and the Adriatic. Their territories were still further diminished by the Senones, a Gallic people, who took possession of the whole country on the coast, from Arminum to the Æsis. The Umbri were subdued by the Romans, 307 B.C., and after the conquest of the Senones by the Romans in 283, they again obtained possession of the country on the coast of the Adriatic. This district, however, continued to be called _Ager Gallicus_ down to a late period.

=Umbriere.= The visor of a helmet, a projection like the peak of a cap, to which a face-guard was sometimes attached, which moved freely upon the helmet, and could be raised like a beaver.

=Unarm.= To strip of armor or arms; to disarm.

=Unbreech.= To free the breech of, as a cannon, from its fastenings or coverings.

=Uncase, To.= To display or exhibit the colors of a regiment.

=Uncock.= To let down the cock of, as a gun.

=Unconditional.= At discretion; not limited by any terms or stipulations; as, an unconditional surrender.

=Unconquered.= Not subdued or defeated; in opposition to conquered or defeated.

=Uncover, To.= When troops deploy, the different leading companies or divisions, etc., successively uncover those in their rear, by marching out from the right or left of the column.

=Undaunted.= Not appalled by fear; valiant.

=Under.= A preposition of varied military application, in combination with other words. Thus troops are said to be _under arms_, when assembled in a state of military array, and having the necessary weapons of offense and defense, as rifles, swords, etc. To be _under command_ is being liable to be ordered on any particular duty. To be _under cover_ is to be shielded or protected. To be _under contribution_ is being liable to give, in money or kind, what may be authoritatively called for. Countries are sometimes put under contribution for the support of an army. To be _under fire_ or be _cool_ is not being disconcerted by the apprehension of death in battle. To be _under sentence_ is the liability to punishment, according to sentence passed; as, under the sentence of a general court-martial; under sentence of death.

=Under Canvas.= In a military sense, it is to be lying in tents.

=Undermine.= To dig an excavation under any fort, house, or other building, so as to cause it to fall down or to blow it up with powder.

=Under-officer.= An inferior officer, one in a subordinate situation.

=Undisciplined.= Not yet trained to regularity or order; not perfect in exercise or manœuvres.

=Undress.= In the military service, is the authorized habitual dress of officers and soldiers when not in full uniform.

=Unfix, To.= To take off; as, to unfix bayonets, on which the soldier disengages the bayonet from his musket, and returns it to the scabbard.

=Unfortified.= Not strengthened or secured by any walls, bulwarks, or fortifications.

=Unfortunate Peace, The.= A name given by historians to the peace of Chateau Cambresis (April 2, 1559), negotiated by England, France, and Spain. By this treaty Henry II. of France renounced all claim to Genoa, Corsica, and Naples, agreed to restore Calais to the English within eight years, and to give security for 500,000 crowns in case of failure.

=Unfurled.= A standard or color when expanded and displayed, is said to be unfurled.

=Ungentlemanlike or Unofficerlike=. Not like a gentleman or officer. Conduct unbecoming the character of either is so called. This clause, which will be always found to depend on the state of morals and manners, affords a vast latitude to a military court, which, after all, is not more free from prejudice or influence than any other tribunal, though they are both jurors and judges. Officers convicted thereof are to be dismissed from the service. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 60, 61.

=Unguled.= In heraldry, a term applied to the tincture of the hoofs of an animal; _e.g._, Azure, a stag trippant or, attired and unguled gules, the arms of the family of Strachan in Scotland.

=Unharnessed.= Disarmed; divested of armor or weapons of defense.

=Unhelmed.= Divested of the helmet or helm.

=Unhorsed.= Thrown from the saddle; dismounted.

=Unicorn= (Lat. _unum cornu_, “one horn”). An animal, probably fabulous, mentioned by ancient Grecian and Roman authors as a native of India, and described as being of the size of a horse, or larger, the body resembling that of a horse, and with one horn of a cubit and a half or two cubits long on the forehead, the horn straight, its base white, the middle black, the tip red. The body of the animal was also said to be white, its head red, its eyes blue. It was said to be so swift that no horse could overtake it. The unicorn is perhaps best known as a heraldic charge or supporter. Two unicorns were borne as supporters of the Scottish royal arms for about a century before the union of the crowns; and the sinister supporter of the insignia of the United Kingdom is a unicorn argent, armed crined, and unguled or, gorged with a coronet composed of crosses patée and fleurs-de-lis, with a chain affixed, passing between the fore legs, and reflexed over the back, of the last.

=Unicorn.= The old name for the howitzer, as improved from the licorn, borrowed from the Turks during the last century by the Russians, and from the latter by Europe generally.

=Uniform= (one form). In its military sense, means the particular dress and equipment assigned by proper authority to each grade of officers and men. The clothing consists of one prevailing color, variously ornamented and “faced” according to the rank and corps. _In full uniform_, wearing the whole of the prescribed uniform; not in undress.

=Uniform Sword.= An officer’s sword of the regulation pattern prescribed for the army or navy.

=Union.= The national colors are called the _union_. When there is a blue field with white stripes, quartered in the angle of the American colors, that is, of the colors composed of red and white stripes, that blue field is called the _union_; and a small color of blue with white stars is called a _union-jack_.

=United States Military Academy.= See MILITARY ACADEMIES, and WEST POINT.

=United States Sea-coast Fuze.= See LABORATORY STORES.

=United States, The.= A Federal republic, composed of thirty-eight sovereign states and eleven territorial governments, occupying the temperate portion of North America. It is bounded on the north by British North America, east by New Brunswick and the Atlantic Ocean, south by the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico, and west by the Pacific Ocean. Its greatest length from the Atlantic to the Pacific, on the parallel of 42°, is 2768 miles, and its greatest breadth, from Point Isabel, Texas, to the northern boundary near Pembina, is 1601¹⁄₂ miles. The northern frontier is upward of 3350 miles in length, the Mexican 1500. The ocean coast, including the larger indentation, is estimated at 22,609 miles, of which 6861 are on the Atlantic, 3461 on the Gulf of Mexico, 2281 in California, 8000 on the coast of Alaska, and about 2000 on the Arctic Sea. This area has been obtained by successive annexations of territory, either by purchase, right of discovery, or conquest. In 1783, the territory ceded by Great Britain was confined to the country east of the Mississippi River, and north of Florida, having an area of 815,615 square miles. To this Louisiana was added by purchase from France in 1803; Florida, ceded by Spain, in 1821; Texas, annexed in 1845; Oregon, as settled by the treaty of 1846; California, etc., conquered from Mexico, 1847; New Mexico, etc., by treaty with Mexico, 1854; and Alaska, by purchase from Russia, 1867. For full description of the States and Territories, and histories appertaining thereto, see the articles respectively.

=Unkiar-Skelessi.= A small town on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, in the neighborhood of Scutari, gives its name to a treaty concluded between Turkey and Russia, July 8, 1833. This treaty, which consisted of six articles, was one of mutual defensive alliance; but a separate and secret article was subjoined, by which the sultan, in place of the military or naval aid which, by the first article of the treaty, he was bound to furnish to Russia, agreed to close the Strait of the Dardanelles, allowing no foreign vessels of war to enter it under any pretext whatever. In consequence of this treaty, Russia landed 15,000 men at Scutari, and stopped the victorious career of Ibrahim Pasha. The secret article was soon after divulged to Britain and France, both of whom regarded the treaty with dislike; and by the terms of that concluded at London, July 13, 1841, the stipulations of Unkiar-Skelessi were annulled.

=Unload.= To take the powder and ball out of a piece of ordnance or a musket.

=Unmilitary.= Contrary to rules of discipline; unworthy of a soldier.

=Unsheathe.= To draw from the sheath or scabbard, as a sword; hence, to unsheathe the sword, sometimes signifies to commence or make war.

=Unshot.= To remove the shot from, as a piece of ordnance; to take out the shot of.

=Unsling.= To take off the slings; to release from the slings; unsling knapsacks, etc.

=Unspike.= To remove a spike from, as from the vent of a cannon.

=Untenable.= Not to be held in possession; incapable of being defended.

=Untrained.= Not disciplined to exercise or manœuvre.

=Unvanquished.= Not conquered or defeated.

=Unwarlike.= Not fit for or used to war.

=Upbraid.= Any officer or soldier who shall upbraid another for refusing a challenge, shall himself be punished as a challenger. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 28.

=Upon.= Denoting assumption; as, he took the office of commander-in-chief upon him. Also, to incur responsibility; as, the general took everything upon himself.

=Up-sar-o-ca.= See ABSOROKAS.

=Uruguay=, or =Banda Oriental del Uruguay=. A republic of South America, bounded north and northeast by Brazil, east by the Atlantic, south by the Rio de la Plata, and west by the Uruguay. Banda Oriental was, during the Spanish rule, the name of that portion of the vice-royalty of Buenos Ayres which lay to the east of the river Uruguay, and comprehended the present Uruguay and the territory formerly known as the Seven Missions. When Buenos Ayres declared itself independent of Spain, Banda Oriental formed a part of the new republic. In 1821, however, it was taken possession of by Brazil, and united with that state under the name of Provincia Cisplatina. By the treaty of 1828 between La Plata and Brazil, the southern and larger portion of Banda Oriental was formed into the republic of Uruguay. A civil war broke out in consequence of the invasion of the ex-president, Gen. Venancio Florès, June 26, 1863; Gen. Florès marched towards the capital in June; in February, 1865, Florès became provisional president. During an insurrection of the Blanco party (headed by Berro), at Montevideo, Gen. Florès was assassinated. The troops remained faithful. The insurrection was soon suppressed, and Berro shot, February 19, 1868.

=Usages of War.= See WAR.

=Usbegs=, or =Usbeks=. A people of Turkish race, who, at the close of the 15th century, invaded and conquered the numerous principalities into which Turkestan was at that time divided, and have ever since maintained dominion over the country. At the present day, they are for the most part a settled people, and are scattered over both Independent and Chinese Turkestan.

=Usher of the Black Rod.= See BLACK ROD.

=Usher of the Green Rod.= One of the officers of the order of the Thistle, whose duties consist in attendance on the sovereign and knights when assembled in chapter, and at other solemnities of the order. The rod from which the title is taken is of green enamel, 3 feet in length, ornamented with gold, having on the top a unicorn of silver, holding before him an escutcheon charged with the cross of St. Andrew.

=Usipetes=, or =Usipii=. A German people, who, being driven out of their abodes by the Suevi, crossed the Rhine and penetrated into Gaul; but they were defeated by Cæsar, and compelled to recross the river. They were now received by the Sygambri, and allowed to dwell on the northern bank of the Lippe; but we afterwards find them south of the Lippe; still later they became lost under the general name of Alemanni.

=Utah.= A Territory of the United States, which is bounded on the north by Idaho and Wyoming, east by Colorado, south by Arizona, and west by Nevada. Utah is an immense basin, from 4000 to 6000 feet above the level of the sea, surrounded by mountains, which at some points reach the altitude of 8000 to 13,000 feet. Utah was acquired by the United States from Mexico by the treaty of 1848, and was erected into a Territory in 1850. There have been serious difficulties between the U. S. government and the Mormons, who first arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley in 1847. A terrible massacre of settlers took place at Mountain Meadows, Utah, by Indians, who it is said were instigated to commit the terrible atrocity by the Mormons. In order to put an end to all the disturbances in Utah, the President dispatched, in 1857, an expedition against Brigham Young, who was treated as an open rebel. Owing to the inclemency of the weather and other causes, the expedition did not arrive in Utah until May, 1858, when the governor, Cumming, reported to the President that Brigham Young had given up all hopes of resistance. The Territory has remained quiet ever since.

=Utahs=, or =Utes=. A tribe of North American Indians, who inhabit Utah, Nevada, part of Colorado, and New Mexico. They are at present peaceable, but do not engage in agriculture. See INDIANS AND THEIR AGENCIES.

=Utensil.= That which is used; an implement; an instrument; especially, an instrument or vessel used in a kitchen, or in domestic use. Utensils for camp and garrison are styled camp and garrison equipage, and are furnished by the quartermaster’s department.

=Utica= (ruins at _Bow-Shater_). The greatest city of ancient Africa, supposed to be older than Carthage. Like others of the very ancient Phœnician colonies in the territory of Carthage, Utica maintained a comparative independence, even during the height of the Punic power, and was rather the ally of Carthage than her subject. It stood on the shore of the northern part of the Carthaginian Gulf, a little west of the mouth of the Bagrades, and 27 Roman miles northwest of Carthage; but its site is now inland in consequence of the changes effected by the Bagrades in the coast-line. In the third Punic war, Utica took part with the Romans against Carthage, and was rewarded with the greatest part of the Carthaginian territory. It afterwards became renowned to all future time as the scene of the last stand made by the Pompeian party against Cæsar, and of the glorious, though mistaken, self-sacrifice of the younger Cato. It fell into the hands of the Vandals in 439; but its final destruction is due to the Saracens, who twice captured the town.

=Utrecht= (the Roman _Trajectum ad Rhenum_). A town of Holland, capital of a province of the same name, on the old Rhine. The union of the Seven United Provinces began here in 1579. The treaty of Utrecht, which terminated the wars of Queen Anne, was signed by the ministers of Great Britain and France, and all the other allies, except the ministers of the empire, April 11, 1713. This treaty secured the Protestant succession in England, the separation of the French and Spanish crowns, the destruction of Dunkirk, the enlargement of the British colonies and plantations in America, and a full satisfaction for the claims of the allies. Utrecht surrendered to the Prussians May 9, 1787; was acquired by the French January 18, 1795, and restored at the peace.

=Uxii.= A warlike people, of predatory habits, who had their strongholds in Mount Parachoathras, on the northern border of Persia, in the district called Uxia, but who also extended over a considerable tract of country in Media.