X.

=Xanthica.= A military festival observed by the Macedonians in the month called Xanthicus (our April), instituted about 392 B.C.

=Xanthus.= The most famous city of Lycia, stood on the western bank of the river of the same name, 60 stadia from its mouth. Twice in the course of its history it sustained sieges, which terminated in the self-destruction of the inhabitants with their property, first against the Persians under Harpagus, and long afterward against the Romans under Brutus. The city was never restored after its destruction by the latter.

=Xeres de la Frontera.= A town in the southwest of Spain, in the province of Cadiz, 14 miles northeast from Cadiz. At the battle of Xeres, July 19-26, 711, Roderic, the last Gothic sovereign of Spain, was defeated and slain by the Saracens, commanded by Tarik and Muza.

=Ximena= (Southern Spain). The site of a battle between the Spanish army under the command of Gen. Ballasteros, and the French corps commanded by Gen. Regnier, September 10, 1811. The Spaniards defeated their adversaries; the loss was great on both sides.

Y.

=Yager.= One belonging to a body of light infantry armed with rifles. Written also _jager_.

=Yankton Indians.= See DAKOTA INDIANS.

=Yataghan.= A Turkish poniard having a Damascus blade, straight or crooked. It has a double edge, and sharp point, with a ridge in the middle of its whole length; the handle and scabbard are generally highly ornamented and costly.

=Yeomanry.= A volunteer force of cavalry in Great Britain, numbering about 14,000 men, and costing the country annually about £85,000. It was originally formed during the wars of the French revolution, and then comprised infantry as well as cavalry; but the whole of the infantry corps, and many of the cavalry, were disbanded after the peace of 1814. The organization of the corps is by counties, under the lords-lieutenant. The men provide their own horses and uniform, in consideration of which they receive annually a clothing and contingent allowance of £2 a man, are exempt from taxation in respect to the horses employed on yeomanry duty, and draw during the annual training 2_s._ a day for forage, besides a subsistence allowance of 7_s._ a day. If called out for permanent duty they receive cavalry pay, with forage allowance. The yeomanry are available in aid of the civil power; and in time of invasion, or apprehended invasion, the sovereign may embody them for service in any part of Great Britain, under the provisions of the Mutiny Act and Articles of War.

=Yeomen of the Guard.= A veteran company, consisting of 100 old soldiers of stately presence, employed on grand occasions, in conjunction with the gentlemen-at-arms, as the body-guard of the sovereign. These yeomen were constituted a corps, in 1485, by King Henry VII., and they still wear the costume of that period. Armed with partisans, and in the quaint uniform, the men present a curious sight in the 19th century. The officers of the corps are a captain (ordinarily a peer), a lieutenant, and an ensign. There is also a “Clerk of the Cheque and Adjutant.” All these appointments are held by old officers, and are considered as important prizes. The whole charge is borne by the sovereign’s civil list. The headquarters of the corps is at the Tower of London, where the men are popularly known as “Beef-eaters.”

=Yermuk= (Syria). Near here the emperor Heraclius was totally defeated by the Saracens, after a fierce engagement, November, 636. Damascus was taken, and his army was expelled from Syria.

=Yesawul.= In India, a state messenger; a servant of parade, who carries a gold or silver staff; an aide-de-camp.

=York.= The capital of Yorkshire, England, is situated at the junction of the rivers Ouse and Foss. Before the invasion of the Romans it formed one of the chief cities of the Brigantes, the most powerful of British tribes; and it is supposed that on their subjugation by Agricola, he founded here about the year 79 the Roman city of Eboracum, which became the great “Colonia” of the Romans in Britain, the seat of imperial government, and the “Altera Roma.” On the departure of the Roman cohorts, about 409, it became a prey to the wars which prevailed between the Picts and the Britons, and between the latter and the Saxons; and also to the invasions of the Danes; but under these vicissitudes it still maintained its distinction as one of the chief cities of the kingdom. William the Conqueror was long unable to overcome this stronghold of the north. One Norman garrison, numbering 3000 men, was put to the sword in 1069; but William exacted a terrible vengeance in the following year, when he laid waste the whole country between York and Durham. During the insurrections consequent upon the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII., York was seized by the insurgents of the “Pilgrimage of Grace”; and in its immediate neighborhood, Fairfax, in 1644, conquered Prince Rupert on Marston Moor; after which battle York was taken (July 16) for the Parliament.

=York= (Upper Canada, founded in 1794; since 1834 named Toronto). In the war between America and Great Britain, the U. S. forces made several attacks upon the province of Upper Canada, and succeeded in taking York, the seat of the government, April 27, 1813; but it was soon afterwards retaken by the British.

=York and Lancaster, Wars of.= See ROSES, WARS OF THE.

=Yorkshire.= The largest county of England, is situated in its northern part. The history of the county in early times may be mainly read in that of its chief city. In the troublous times which preceded the Conquest, many battles were fought against the invading Danes, and generally with success. At Stamford Brig, a few miles from York, Harold, the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings, defeated the united Danish and Norwegian armies, three weeks before he fell before the Normans on the fatal field of Hastings. Among the more notable events of later history, may be named the battle of Wakefield, where the Duke of York was defeated by Queen Margaret in 1460; the battle of Towton Field, near Tadcaster, fought on Palm-Sunday in 1461, the most sanguinary conflict of the bitter war between the rival Roses; and that of Marston Moor, which gave the final blow to the falling fortunes of Charles I. Since that time, with slight exceptions, its history has been one of peace and prosperity.

=Yorktown.= Capital of York Co., Va., situated on the right bank of the York River, 70 miles from Richmond. This locality was the theatre of one of the most important events in American history,--the surrender of Lord Cornwallis to Gen. Washington, which occurred on October 19, 1781. Yorktown was besieged during the civil war in April, 1862, but before the Federals opened fire on the town, the Confederates evacuated it.

=Youngsters.= A familiar term to signify the junior officers of a troop or company.

=Ypres=, or =Yperen=. A fortified town of Belgium, province of West Flanders, 30 miles south-southwest from Bruges. Ypres in the 9th century, when only a strong castle, was destroyed by the Normans. It was rebuilt in 901; and was first walled in 1388. Louis XIV., in 1688, made it one of the strongest fortresses of the Low Countries. In the great European wars, it seldom escaped a siege or bombardment.

=Yucatan.= The most eastern department of Mexico, Central America. It is in the form of a peninsula, jutting out into the Gulf of Mexico. It was discovered in 1517, and conquered by Spain in 1541, and retained until 1821, when it became a department of Mexico. This department declared itself independent of Mexico in 1846, but it subsequently annexed itself to Mexico.

=Yumas.= A tribe of North American Indians, located on the Colorado River, near the village of Yuma. In 1781 they massacred a number of white settlers, and again in 1853 they rose and committed depredations. Since the latter date they have generally been peaceable. They numbered in 1876 about 900.

=Yvres.= Now Ivry-la-Bataille (which see).

Z.

=Zabern, Rhein=, or =Rhein-Zabern=. A town on the Erlenbach, in Rhenish Bavaria. It is noted for the two battles fought here and at the village of Jokgrin, about 2 miles farther south, between the Austrians and the French, June 29 and August 20, 1793.

=Zagaie.= A long dart or lance in use among some African tribes,

## particularly the Moors, while fighting on horseback. It is armed with a

sharp stone and thrown like a javelin. The savages of New Holland are still armed with it.

=Zaikany.= A village of Austria, in Transylvania, 38 miles from Deva. It was here that Trajan won his third victory over Decebalus, a part of whose treasure was discovered, as it is supposed, in 1543.

=Zaim.= High caste among the Turks, who are bound to maintain a proportion of militia according to their revenue, viz., one horseman for every 5000 aspres.

=Zama Regia.= A strongly-fortified city in the interior of Numidia, on the borders of the Carthaginian territory. It was the ordinary residence of King Juba and was the scene of one of the most important battles in the history of the world, that in which Hannibal was defeated by Scipio, and the second Punic war was ended, 202 B.C.

=Zamora.= A very ancient town of Spain, of the province of that name, on the right bank of the Douro, 132 miles northwest of Madrid. Zamora was of great importance in the Moorish times, and is said to have been inclosed by seven lines of walls, with a moat between each. Sir J. Moore urged the Junta of Salamanca to repair the defenses of Zamora, and receive there his stores; but his retreat had commenced before they had done deliberating. The French afterwards got possession of it, and although no resistance was made, the town was sacked, neither age nor sex was spared, and the principal persons were executed. It was again plundered by the French, and has never recovered these visitations.

=Zamosc=, or =Zamosz=. A town of Russia in Europe, in the kingdom of Poland, in the province of Lublin. This place is strongly fortified, and has long been considered a military station of importance. In 1656 it was unsuccessfully besieged by the Swedes; in 1715 it was surprised by the Saxons; and in the civil contests of 1771 the Poles were defeated in its vicinity by the Russians. In 1812 it was one of the few towns in which the French left a garrison after their retreat from Russia.

=Zanzibar=, or =Zanguebar=. An island in the Indian Ocean, near the east coast of Africa, belonging to the sultan of Zanzibar. In 1784 the island was taken by the imaum of Muscat, in whose family the government remained until 1858.

=Zaym.= In the East Indies, a feudal chief, or military tenant.

=Zeithun.= A town and district in the highlands of Cilicia, inhabited by a community of Armenian Christians, virtually independent of the Turkish government, and forming in fact an Asiatic republic. The Zeithumlus can muster an army from 7000 to 8000 men to defend the mountains against the Turkish pashas; and they are in alliance with a neighboring Turcoman chief, also independent of the Turks, who brings 10,000 men into the field. It was not till after the Crimean war that the massacres in the East called special attention to the existence of Zeithun. An attempt by the Turks to settle Circassians near Zeithun, gave Aziz Pasha of Marash an opportunity of attacking the Christians, and the atrocities committed remind one of the worst excesses of Cawnpore. The inhabitants defended themselves, however, with the greatest gallantry, twice defeating in the field large Turkish forces; and the struggle was at length terminated by the interference of the French and English governments at Constantinople, and the recall of the pasha.

=Zela=, or =Ziela=. A city in the south of Pontus, not far south of Amasia, and four days’ journey east of Tavium. It stood on an artificial hill, and was strongly fortified. At Zela the Roman general Valerius Triarius was defeated by Mithridates; but the city is more famous for another great battle,--that in which Julius Cæsar defeated Pharnaces, and of which he wrote this dispatch to Rome: _Veni: Vidi: Vici_.

=Zenta=, or =Szenta=. A town of Hungary, on the right bank of the Theiss, 120 miles south-southeast from Pesth. Near here Prince Eugène defeated the Turks, September 11, 1697 (1696). This victory led to the peace of Carlowitz, ratified January, 1699.

=Zierikzee.= A town of Holland, in the province of Zealand, situated on the southeast of the island of Schouwen. It suffered severely in the contests between Flanders and Holland for the possession of Zealand. In 1303, the Flemings besieged it with a large army, but were compelled by Count William of Holland to retire, on August 10, 1304. In the long war of independence, after an obstinate defense, the Spaniards took Zierikzee in July, 1576.

=Zigzags.= In fortification, are trenches or paths, with several windings, so cut that the besieged are prevented from enfilading the besieger in his approaches.

=Ziyamut.= In the East Indies, a fief bestowed for military services.

=Zizarme.= A sort of ancient pike or lance.

=Znaym=, or =Znaim=. A town of Austria, situated on the Thaya, 34 miles southwest from Brunn. A conflict took place here in 1809, between the Austrians and the French.

=Zoarque.= A soldier who had charge of an elephant among the ancients.

=Zone of Defense.= A term used in fortification, signifying the belt of ground in front of the general _contour_ of the works within effective range of the defenders.

=Zone of Operations.= The strip of territory which contains the lines of operations--or lines on which an army advances--between the base and the ulterior object. See STRATEGY.

=Zorndorf.= A village of Prussia, province of Brandenburg, 4 miles north of Kustrin, and was the scene of the bloodiest of the many desperate conflicts of the Seven Years’ War. The Russians having for the second time been ordered by the czarina Elizabeth to invade Prussia, advanced towards Berlin, committing frightful devastations, while Frederick the Great, with the bulk of his forces, was engaged with the Austrians in Silesia and Saxony. The Russians, under Fermor, were 50,000 strong, and easily drove before them Dohna’s little Prussian army of 15,000; but Frederick hastened northwards with such reinforcements as raised the army to 30,000; and after taking care, by the breaking down of bridges, etc., to cut off their retreat, engaged the invaders. The battle was commenced at eight on the morning of August 25, 1758, and lasted till evening, consisted mainly in a succession of furious charges, accompanied with a tremendous artillery-fire, and was not decided till Seidlitz, by an able movement, turned the Russian flank. The next morning Fermor drew off his forces, diminished by 20,000 men, 103 cannon, and 27 standards; having inflicted on the Prussians a loss of 13,000 men, 26 cannon, and a few standards.

=Zouaves= (Arab. _Zwawa_). A body of troops in the French army, which derives its name from a tribe of Kabyles, inhabiting the mountains of Jurjura, in the Algerian province of Constantine. Long previous to the invasion of Algiers by the French, these Kabyles had been employed as hired mercenaries in the service of the rulers of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers; and after the conquest of the last-named country in 1830, the French, in the hope of establishing a friendly feeling between the natives and their conquerors, took the late dey’s mercenaries into their service, giving them a new organization. Accordingly, Gen. Clausel created, in 1830, two battalions of zouaves, in which each company consisted of French and Kabyles in certain proportions, officers, subalterns, and soldiers being selected from either race; the zouaves, though retaining their Moorish dress, were armed and disciplined after the European fashion; and the battalions were recruited by voluntary enlistment. Afterwards the native element was eliminated, and since 1840 they may be considered as French troops in a Moorish dress. They now number about 15,000, and are divided into four regiments. They are recruited from the veterans of the ordinary infantry regiments who are distinguished for their fine “physique” and tried courage and hardihood. Their uniform is very picturesque. There is one regiment of zouaves incorporated in the Guards. The name was also given to several regiments of volunteers in the Union army during the American civil war (1861-65), who were clad in zouave uniform.

=Zullichau= (Prussia). Here the Russians under Soltikow severely defeated the Prussians under Wedel, July 23, 1759.

=Zululand.= The country lying northeast of the colony of Natal, between its east boundary, the Umtugela and Umzimyati Rivers, lat. 29° 10′ E., and Delagoa Bay, lat. 26° S., long. 32° 40′ E., is generally known under the name of Zululand, or the Zulu country, inhabited by independent tribes of Zulu Kaffirs. The Zulu is by nature social, light of heart, and cheerful; his passions are, however, strong, and called out when in a state of war. He is hospitable and honest, yet greedy and stingy; and whatever the better nature of his impulses may be, yet when his great chief commands war, he is converted into a demon. It is from the Zulu country, however, that those terrible tyrants who so long devastated Southeastern Africa, the chiefs Chaka, Dingaan, Moselikatze, etc., issued. The training of their subjects to a peculiar mode of warfare spread desolation and havoc for many years among the Betjuana and other tribes of the interior. These chiefs with their thousands of followers, fighting, like Homer’s heroes, hand to hand, armed with stabbing assagais and shields of ox-hide, the colors of which distinguished the different regiments they were formed into, melted away with broken power into comparative insignificance before the terrible rifles of a few hundred emigrant Dutch Boers, who, in their turn, gave way to the energetic action of the British authorities. The Zulus often have serious intestine wars among themselves. The principal Zulu tribes are the Amazulu, the Amahute, Amazwazi, and Amatabele. The last, under the chief Moselikatze, have emigrated far to the north, where, among the mountains which separate the valley of the Limpopo from the basin of the Zambesi, they still issue forth, and carry their depredations as far north as the Lake Nyassa, where they were found by Dr. Livingstone. A war broke out in the latter part of 1878, or beginning of 1879, between the British and the Zulus, and on January 22, 1879, the British were defeated with terrible slaughter about 10 miles in front of Rorke’s drift; their loss in killed being put down at 30 officers, about 500 enlisted men of the Imperial troops, and 700 enlisted men of the Colonial troops. It seems that the troops were enticed away from their camp, as the action took place about one mile and a quarter from it. The camp containing surplus ammunition, etc., of the British force was taken by the Zulus, but was occupied after dark the same night by British troops. About the same time Rorke’s drift was attacked by some 3000 or 4000 Zulus; its defense by some 80 men of the 24th Regiment was most gallant, 370 bodies lay close around the post; the loss of the Zulus was estimated at 1000 here alone. At the camp where the disaster occurred, the loss of the Zulus was computed at over 2000. The Zulus are even more formidable than the military authorities expected; they are well drilled, great numbers are armed with breech-loaders, and they fight courageously. It is now known but too well how large a force they can mass at one point. Lord Chelmsford, the commander of the English forces in Zululand, after suffering some additional reverses, was superseded in June, 1879, by Sir Garnet Wolesley. Eugene Louis Jean Napoleon, prince imperial of France, participated as a volunteer with the British forces against the Zulus, and was killed (about the end of May or the beginning of June) while on a reconnoissance under the command of Col. Wood; he was suddenly beset by Zulus and assagaied, receiving no less than seventeen wounds. Prince Napoleon was born in Paris on March 16, 1856. He received his “Baptism of Fire” at the battle of Saarbruck, August 2, 1870, during the Franco-German war, in company with his father, the emperor. After the fall of the empire and the death of his father he resided in England, and graduated with high honors at the Military Academy at Woolwich. The war was terminated in the latter part of 1879, by the total defeat of the Zulus and the capture of the king Cetawayo.

=Zumbooruks= (Pers. _Zumboor_, “wasp”). Diminutive swivel artillery, carried on the backs of camels.

=Zurich.= A town of Switzerland, capital of the canton of the same name, at the northern extremity of the Lake of Zürich, 60 miles northeast from Berne. The Swiss defeated the Austrians near this town in 1443, and in 1799 the French defeated the Russians and Austrians before it. In 1859 a treaty between Austria, France, and Sardinia was signed here, and Lombardy sold by Austria to the king of Sardinia for £10,000,000.

=Zutphen.= An inland town of Holland, in the province of Gelderland, on the Yssel, 16 miles northeast from Arnheim. It is fortified and rendered peculiarly strong by its situation, which is in the midst of drained fens. It formerly belonged to the Hanseatic League, and was taken by Don Frederick of Toledo in 1572; by Prince Maurice in 1591; and by the French in 1672. The gallant and accomplished Sir Philip Sidney, author of “Arcadia,” was mortally wounded in the battle fought here on September 22, 1586, between the Spaniards and the Dutch. He was serving with the English auxiliaries, commanded by the Earl of Leicester.

=Zypersluys= (Holland). Here Sir Ralph Abercromby defeated an attack of the French under Brune, September 9, 1799.

APPENDIX.

EMBRACING WORDS CASUALLY OMITTED IN THE BODY OF THE WORK AND THE ARTICLES OF WAR.

A.

=Acanzi.= In military history, the name of the Turkish light-horse who formed the vanguard of the sultan’s army.

=Adoni=, or =Adonani=. A city in Hindostan, formerly strongly fortified; captured by Tippoo Sahib in 1787; sold to England after his death in 1800.

=Afabuar= (_Fr._). Color-bearer of the ancient Icelanders. Every war-vessel had one of these officers aboard, who commanded the soldiers. These officers were selected for this duty for their bravery.

=Alains= (_Fr._). People of ancient Sarmatia; they followed the Huns in their invasions, and penetrated as far as Spain in the 6th century.

=Alexandria.= A port in Egypt, where, on March 21, 1801, the French army destined by Napoleon Bonaparte to conquer Egypt, and afterwards proceed to India with hostile designs, was routed by the British under Sir Ralph Abercromby. The town capitulated to Hutchinson on September 2, 1801; and surrendered upon a subsequent occasion to Gen. Fraser, on March 20, 1807.

=Allezoir.= A frame of timber firmly suspended in the air with strong cordage, on which is placed a piece of ordnance with the muzzle downwards. In this situation the bore is rounded and enlarged by means of an instrument which has a very sharp and strong edge made to traverse the bore by force of machinery, or horses, and in a horizontal direction.

=Allezures.= The metal taken from the cannon by boring.

=Ancient.= A term formerly used to express the grand ensign or standard of an army.

=Anspessade= (_Fr._). This term was originally used to denote dismounted horsemen, who were obliged to serve temporarily in the infantry, and who broke off the tops of their lances so as to reduce their length to that of the halberds of the sergeants. Also, a non-commissioned officer who acts subordinate to a corporal; a lance-corporal.

=Antoninus, Wall of.= Was a rampart or defense (the remains of which still exist under the name of _Graham’s Dyke_), which was erected in Scotland in 139 by the Romans against the incursions of the North Britons.

=Aquileia= (=Istria=). Made a Roman colony about 180 B.C., and fortified A.D. 168. Constantine II. was slain in a battle with Constans, fought at Aquileia towards the close of March, 340. Maximus was defeated and slain by Theodosius, near Aquileia, July 28, 388. Theodosius defeated Eugenius and Arbogastes, the Gaul, near Aquileia, and remained sole emperor, September 6, 394. Eugenius was put to death, and Arbogastes died by his own hand, mortified by his overthrow. In 452 Aquileia was almost totally destroyed by Attila the Hun, and near it in 489 Theodoric and the Ostrogoths totally defeated Odoacer, the king of Italy.

=Auberoche, Guienne.= In Southern France. The Earl of Derby defeated the French, besieging this place, August 19, 1344.

=Auray= (Northwest France), Here on September 29, 1364, the English under John Chandos defeated the French and captured their leader, Du Guesclin. Charles of Blois, made duke of Brittany by the king of France, was slain, and a peace was made in April, 1365.

B.

=Band, Military.=[1] Consists of a body of musicians attached to each army regiment or battalion. The law provides for a band at the Military Academy at West Point. And for each artillery, cavalry, and infantry regiment a chief musician, who shall be instructor of music; and for each artillery and infantry regiment two principal musicians; each cavalry regiment to have one chief trumpeter. Musicians for regimental bands are enlisted as soldiers, and formed under the direction of the adjutant, but are not permanently detached from their companies, and are instructed in all the duties of a soldier.

[1] Incorrectly printed in the body of the work.

=Bander= (_Fr._). To unite; to intrigue together for the purpose of insurrection.

=Barry.= In heraldry, the term applied to a shield which is divided transversely into four, six, or more equal parts, and consisting of two or more tinctures interchangeably disposed. _Barry-bendy_ is where the shield is divided into four, six, or more equal parts, by diagonal lines, the tincture of which it consists being varied interchangeably. _Barry-pily_ is where the shield is divided by diagonal lines, the different colors being interchanged.

=Bassinet= (_Fr._). The pan of a musket.

=Bautzen.= A town in Saxony, near which desperate battles were fought May 20-22, 1813, between the French, commanded by Napoleon, and the allies under the emperor of Russia and the king of Prussia. The struggle commenced on the 19th, with a contest on the outposts, which cost each army a loss of above 2000 men. On the 20th (at Bautzen), the French were more successful; and on the 21st (at Murschen), the allies were compelled to retire; but Napoleon obtained no permanent advantages from these sanguinary engagements. Duroc was killed at Rachenbach by a cannon-ball on May 22, to the great sorrow of the emperor and the French army.

=Beaver=, or =Bever=. That part of a helmet covering the lower part of the face, which shifted on pivots to allow the wearer to drink. The word is derived from the Latin word _bevere_, to drink.

=Bethune.= A town of France, in the department Pas-de-Calais; it is strongly fortified, part of the works and the citadel having been constructed by Vauban; taken by the French in 1645; retaken by the allies in 1710, but was restored to France by the treaty of Utrecht, 1714.

=Biset= (_Fr._). Was a member of the national guard who performed his duty in civilian’s dress, before the wearing of uniform on duty was made obligatory.

=Blackstock’s Hill.= A hill situated in South Carolina, United States, memorable for the victory the Americans gained over the English in 1780.

=Blakemere.= A village of England, near where a memorable battle was fought between the Scots and the troops of Edward II. of England, in which the latter were defeated.

=Blumenau.= In Lower Austria; on July 22, 1866, the Austrians in possession of this place were attacked by the Prussians on their march towards Vienna, a severe conflict was interrupted by the news of the armistice agreed to at Nikolsburg; and the same evening Austrians and Prussians bivouacked together.

=Brabant.= Part of Holland and Belgium, an ancient duchy, part of Charlemagne’s empire, fell to the share of his son Charles. In the 17th century it was held by Holland and Austria, as Dutch Brabrant and the Walloon provinces, and underwent many changes through the wars in Europe. The Austrian division was taken by the French in 1746 and 1794. It was united to the Netherlands in 1814, but South Brabant was given to the kingdom of Belgium, under Leopold, 1830. The heir of the throne of Belgium is styled Duke of Brabant.

=Braquemart=, or =Jacquemart= (_Fr._). In antiquity, a two-edged broadsword.

=Breda.= A strongly fortified town of Holland; taken by Prince Maurice of Nassau in 1590; by the Spaniards under Spinola in 1625, and by the Dutch in 1637; taken by the French in 1793. The French garrison was expelled by the burgesses in 1813.

=Briche= (_Fr._). A machine of war formerly used to throw stones.

=Broad Arrow.= A mark for goods belonging to the royal dock-yards or navy, England; is said to have been ordered to be used in 1698, in consequence of robberies.

=Brussels.= Once capital of Austrian Brabant, now of Belgium (since 1831), was founded by St. Gery, of Cambray, in the 7th century. It was bombarded and captured by Marshal Villeroi in 1695; taken by the French in 1701 at the beginning of the War of Succession; captured by the Duke of Marlborough in 1706; by the French under Marshal Saxe in 1747, and by Gen. Dumouriez in 1794; the revolution commenced in 1830.