A military dictionary (part 6 of 8)

A military dictionary (part 6 of 8)

-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- | Con-| | Con-| | Con-| | Con- Side.|tent.|Side.|tent.|Side.|tent.|Side.|tent. -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 2 | 4| 13 | 473| 24 | 437| 35 | 7486 -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 3 | 10| 14 | 574| 25 | 751| 36 | 8184 -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 4 | 20| 15 | 696| 26 | 3091| 37 | 9322 -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 5 | 35| 16 | 731| 27 | 3458| 38 |10131 -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 6 | 56| 17 | 883| 28 | 3853| 39 |10981 -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 7 | 84| 18 | 1043| 29 | 4277| 40 |11871 -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 8 | 120| 19 | 1222| 30 | 4731| 41 |12807 -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 9 | 165| 20 | 1540| 31 | 5216| 42 |13730 -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 10 | 220| 21 | 1641| 32 | 5733| 43 |14659 -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 11 | 296| 22 | 1883| 33 | 6283| 44 |15585 -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 12 | 384| 23 | 2148| 34 | 6867| 45 |16511 -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

Explanation. The numbers in the 1st, 3d, 5th, and 7th vertical columns, express the number of shot in the base or side of each triangular pile; and the numbers in the 2d, 4th, 6th, and 8th vertical columns, express the number of shot in each pile.

Rules for finding the number in any PILE.

Triangular PILE.

Multiply the base by the base + 1, this product by the base + 2, and divide by 6.

Square PILE.

Multiply the bottom row by the bottom row + 1, and this product by twice the bottom row + 2, and divide by 6.

Rectangular PILES.

Multiply the breadth of the base by itself + 1, and this product by three times the difference between the length and the breadth of the base, added to twice the breadth + 1, and divide by 6.

Incomplete PILES.

Incomplete piles being only frustums, wanting a similar small pile on the top, compute first the whole pile as if complete, and also the small pile wanting at top; and then subtract the one number from the other.

TABLE, of square Piles of Shot.

+----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | | con-| | con-| | | | | | | |side| tent|side| tent|side|cont’t|side|cont’t|side|cont’t| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 2 | 5| 20 | 2871| 38 | 19019| 56 | 60116| 74 |137825| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 3 | 14| 21 | 3311| 39 | 20540| 57 | 63365| 75 |143450| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 4 | 30| 22 | 3795| 40 | 22140| 58 | 66729| 76 |149226| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 5 | 55| 23 | 4324| 41 | 23821| 59 | 70210| 77 |155155| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 6 | 91| 24 | 4900| 42 | 25585| 60 | 73810| 78 |161239| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 7 | 140| 25 | 5525| 43 | 27434| 61 | 77531| 79 |167480| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 8 | 204| 26 | 6201| 44 | 29370| 62 | 81375| 80 |173880| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 9 | 285| 27 | 6930| 45 | 31395| 63 | 85344| 81 |180441| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 10 | 385| 28 | 7714| 46 | 33511| 64 | 89440| 82 |187165| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 11 | 506| 29 | 8555| 47 | 35720| 65 | 93665| 83 |194054| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 12 | 650| 30 | 9455| 48 | 38024| 66 | 98021| 84 |201110| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 13 | 819| 31 |10416| 49 | 40425| 67 |102510| 85 |208335| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 14 | 1015| 32 |11440| 50 | 42925| 68 |107134| 86 |215731| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 15 | 1240| 33 |12529| 51 | 45526| 69 |111895| 87 |223300| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 16 | 1496| 34 |13685| 52 | 48230| 70 |116795| 88 |231044| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 17 | 1785| 35 |14910| 53 | 51039| 71 |121836| 89 |238965| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 18 | 2109| 36 |16206| 54 | 53955| 72 |127020| 90 |247065| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+ | 19 | 2470| 37 |17575| 55 | 56980| 73 |132349| 91 |255346| +----+-----+----+-----+----+------+----+------+----+------+

Explanation. The numbers gradually increasing, from 2 to 91, express the number of shot at the base of each square pile; and the numbers opposite, the quantity of shot in each complete square pile. Example. No. 20 gives 2871, and No 30 gives 9455; and so of the rest.

PILIER, Fr. a buttress.

PILLAGE, (pillage, Fr.) The act of plundering.

To PILLAGE, to spoil, to waste, to plunder.

PILLAGER, a plunderer; one who gets a thing by violent or illegal means.

PILLAR, in a figurative sense, support. A well disciplined army may be called the pillar of the state; an ill disciplined one, the reverse.

PILLARS, and ARCHES. It was customary among the ancients, particularly among the Romans, to erect public buildings, such as arches and pillars, for the reward and encouragement of noble enterprise. These marks were conferred upon such eminent persons as had either won a victory of extraordinary consequence abroad, or had rescued the commonwealth from any considerable danger. The greatest actions of the heroes they stood to honor, were curiously expressed, or the whole procession of a triumph cut out on the sides. The arches built by Romulus were only of brick, those of Camillus of plain square stones; but those of Cæsar, Drusus, Titus, Trajan, Gordian, &c. were all entirely marble. As to their figure, they were at first semicircular; whence probably they took their names. Afterwards they were built four square, with a spacious arched gate in the middle, and little ones on each side. Upon the vaulted part of the middle gate, hung little winged images, representing victory, with crowns in their hands, which when they were let down, they put upon the conqueror’s head as he passed under the triumph.--Fabricii Roma, cap. 15.

The columns or pillars were converted to the same design as the arches, for the honorable memorial of some noble victory or exploit, after they had been a long time in use for the chief ornaments of the sepulchres of great men, as may be gathered from Homer, Iliad 16.

The pillars of the emperors Trajan and Antoninus, have been extremely admired for their beauty and curious work. We find them thus particular described in page 53, of Kennett’s Roman Antiquities.

The former was set up in the middle of Trajan’s forum, being composed of 24 great stones of marble, but so curiously cemented, as to seem one entire natural stone. The height was 144 feet, according to Eutropius, (Hist. lib. 8.) though Martian (lib. iii. cap. 13.) seems to make them but 128. It is ascended by 185 winding stairs, and has 40 little windows for the admission of light. The whole pillar is incrusted with marble, in which are expressed all the noble actions of the emperor, and particularly the Dacian war. One may see all over it the several figures of forts, bulwarks, bridges, ships, &c. and all manner of arms, as shields, helmets, targets, swords, spears, daggers; belts, &c. together with the several offices and employments of the soldiers; some digging trenches, some measuring out a place for the tents, and others making a triumphal procession. (Fabricus, cap. 7.) But the noblest ornament of this pillar, was the statute of Trajan on the top, of a gigantic bigness, being no less than 20 feet high. He was represented in a coat of armor proper to the general, holding in his left hand a sceptre, in his right a hollow globe of gold, in which his own ashes were deposited after his death, (Casalius, par. I. c. 2.)

The column or pillar of Antoninus, was raised in imitation of this, which it exceeded only in one respect, that it was 176 feet high; (Martian, lib. vi. cap. 13.) for the work was much inferior to the former, as being undertaken in the declining age of the empire. The ascent on the inside was 106 stairs, and the windows in the inside 56. The sculpture and the other ornaments were of the same nature as those of the first; and on the top stood a colossus of the emperor naked, as appears from some of his coins. See Martian idem.

Both these columns are still standing at Rome, the former most entire. But Pope Sixtus I. instead of the two statues of the emperors, set up St. Peter’s on the column of Trajan, and St. Paul’s on that of Antoninus. Casal, part I. c. 11.

Among the columns and pillars we must not pass by, (to use Mr. Kennett’s words) the Milliarium aureum, a gilded pillar in the forum, erected by Augustus Cæsar, at which all the highways of Italy met, and were concluded. (Martian, lib. iii. cap. 18.) From this they counted their miles, at the end of every mile setting up a stone; whence came the phrase Primus ab urbe lapis, and the like. This pillar, as Mr. Lassels informs us, is still to be seen.

PILON, Fr. a weapon, the use of which has been recommended by marshal Saxe, in his plan forming several battalions four deep. The two first ranks are to be armed with musquets, the third and fourth with large half pikes or pilons, having their musquets slung across their shoulders.

PILUM. The head of an arrow was so called by the Romans.

PINASSE, Fr. a pinnace.

PINDAREES, Ind. plunderers and marauders, who accompany a Mahrattah army. The name is properly that of persons who travel with grain and merchandize; but war affording so many opportunities and creating so many necessities, the merchants as it is all over the world, became plunderers and the worst of enemies.

To PINION, to bind the hands or arms of a person so as to prevent his having the free use of them.

PINK, a sort of small ship, masted and ribbed like other ships, except that she is built with a round stern, the bends and ribs compassing, so that her sides bulge out very much.

PIN, an iron nail or bolt, with a round head, and generally with a hole at the end to receive a key: there are many sorts, as axle-tree pins, or bolts, bolster pins, pole-pins, swing-tree pins, &c.

There are likewise musquet pins, which are small pieces of iron or wire that fasten the stock. Soldiers are very apt to take out these pins in order to make their pieces ring; but they should not on any account, be permitted so to do.

PINTLE in artillery, a long iron bolt, fixed upon the middle of the limber-bolster, to go through the hole made in the trail-transom of a field-carriage, when it is to be transported from one place to another.

PINTLE-plate, is a flat iron, through which the pintle passes, and nailed to both sides of the bolster, with 8 diamond headed nails.

PINTLE-washer, an iron ring through which the pintle passes, placed close to the bolster for the trail to move upon.

PINTLE-hole, is of an oval figure, made in the trail-transom of a field-carriage, wider above than below, to leave room for the pintle to play in.

PIOBRACH, the Gaelic word for a piper; also an air played upon the bagpipe. It is now more strictly applied to the ancient Highland martial music.

PIOBRACHS, are either simple or compound; some of them consist of a march, &c. and are beautifully varied, and highly characteristic.

PIOCHE, Fr. a mattock, pickaxe.

PIOCHER, Fr. to dig.

PIONEERS, in war-time, are such as are commanded in from the country, to march with an army, for mending the ways, for working on entrenchments and fortifications, and for making mines and approaches: the soldiers are likewise employed in all these things.

Most of the European artillery corps have a company of pioneers, well instructed in that important branch of duty. The regiments of infantry and cavalry have 3 or 4 pioneers each, provided with aprons, hatchets, saws, spades, and pick-axes. The French sappers are the same kind of soldiers.

PIONIERS, Fr. pioneers.

PIPE, a tube; a musical instrument; a liquid measure, containing two hogsheads.

PIPE, from the Gaelic piob mohr, which signifies great pipe. The Highland bagpipe is so called, and is an instrument well calculated for the field of battle. When the bagpipe is skilfully performed, its martial music has a wonderful effect upon the native Scotch, particularly the Highlanders, who are naturally warlike.

TAIL-Pipe, a small brass pipe fixed at the swell of the British musquet, which receives the ramrod.

Trumpet PIPE, a small brass pipe near the muzzle of the British firelock, through which the ramrod is let down. It is called trumpet-pipe, from its resemblance to the mouth of a trumpet. The Prussians have no pipes to their musquets; the ramrod being received into a cylinder which runs parallel with the barrel; nor is there any pipe of this kind to the American or the French musquet; the ramrod passing within the three straps of iron or plate rings which bind the barrel to the stock.

PIPE-Clay and Whiting, a composition which soldiers use for the purpose of keeping their cross-belts, &c. clean.

PIQUE, Fr. See PIKE.

PIQUICHINS, Fr. irregular and ill-armed soldiers, of which mention is made in the history of the reign of Philippe Augustus. They were attached to the infantry.

PIQUIER, Fr. a pikeman, or one who is armed with a pike.

PIRAMIDE, Fr. See PYRAMID.

PIRAMIDES de feu, Fr. See JETS DE FEU.

PIRATE, Fr. a pirate.

PISTE, Fr. the track or tread a horseman makes upon the ground he goes over.

PISTOL, a species of small fire-arms, of which there are various sorts and sizes, viz.

Highland PISTOL. The old Highland pistol appears singular enough in the present day. Some that have been preserved, exhibit marks of excellent workmanship. The stock is metal, and the but end so shaped, that when fired off, the pistol can be used as a very serious weapon at close quarters. The Highland pistol, though never used by any of the British regiments, is still worn by every person who wishes to be considered as fully dressed and accoutred in the ancient garb. It is suspended from the left side of the waistbelt.

Horse-PISTOL, so called from being used on horseback, and of a large size.

Management of the PISTOL on horseback for military purposes. Every recruit when he joins the horse-drill should be made perfectly acquainted with the handling of his pistols according to rule, and of firing correctly at a mark. To this end he must be taught to draw, load, fire, and return his pistol, by word of command, viz.

1st. The right glove is to be taken off, and the goat-skin thrown back.

Draw right PISTOL. This is done at two motions; 1st, the man must seize the handle of the pistol with his right hand, the back towards the body. 2d, Draw it out of the holster with a brisk motion, dropping the butt of the pistol on the right holster, and keeping the muzzle upwards.

Load PISTOL. The pistol is to be dropped smartly into the left hand; open the pan, prime, cast about, and load; as soon as loaded, seize the pistol by the butt, and come to the same position as in the second motion in drawing; the bridle hand must be kept as steady as possible. In loading the pistol, the barrel is to be kept to the front.

Return PISTOL. This is done in two motions: 1st, turn the muzzle into the holster, with the back of the hand towards the body, and press home the pistol. 2d, Quit the right hand briskly.

Cock PISTOL. Drop the pistol into the left hand, cocking with the thumb of the right, and as soon as done come to the second position, viz. muzzle upwards.

To the right aim. Come smartly to an aim, looking well along the barrel to the object you are aiming at, and turning your body as much as is necessary to aim well, but taking care not to displace your bridle hand.

Fire! pull briskly at the word, and as soon as fired go on with the loading motions; when loaded come to the position as in the first direction, viz. muzzle upwards.

Cock Pistol, as already explained.

To the left aim. This requires particular attention, as the men will be apt to bring their right shoulders too forward, and by that means displace their bodies and the bridle hand.

Fire! as already explained.

Cock PISTOL. To the front aim. You must raise yourself in your stirrups, in order to take a proper aim; you must then look well along the pistol, and wait for the word fire.

Fire! As soon as you have fired, you must drop into your seat, and go on with the loading motions, as before directed.

Return Pistol, as already explained.

Draw left PISTOL, See Draw your right Pistol.

Pocket PISTOL, a small pistol, which may be conveniently carried in the pocket.

PISTOLETS, Fr. See PISTOLS.

PITANS, PATAN, Ind. according to Mr. Orme, in his History of the Carnatic, the Pitans are supposed to be the descendants of the northern Indians, who were early converted to Mahomedanism. They have been reckoned the best troops. They are habitually fierce.

PITAN Nabobs. Certain chiefs in India so called, viz. of Cudapa, Canoul, and Savanore.

PITAUX, Fr. This word is sometimes written petaux, and was formerly used to distinguish those peasants that were pressed into the service, from soldiers who were regularly inlisted.

To PITCH, (asseoir, Fr.)

To PITCH a camp, (asseoir un camp, Fr.) to take a position, and to encamp troops upon it according to the principles of castrametation. See Am. Mil. Lib.

To PITCH a tent, to place a certain regulated quantity of canvas upon poles, so as to afford a temporary cover, against the inclemencies of the weather for one or more, officers or private soldiers. In order that the men may become expert in pitching and striking tents, they ought to be practised whilst in camp to do either.

PITCHANDAH, Ind. a fortified pagoda on the north bank of the Coleroon, one mile east of Seringham.

PITONS, Fr. nails with round eyes. They likewise signify pins with iron rings.

PITONS d’affut, Fr. iron pins which are used to keep the plate-bands of the carriage of a cannon tight and compact.

PIVOT, (Pivot, Fr.) in a military sense, that officer, serjeant, corporal, or soldier, upon whom the different wheelings are made in military evolutions. There are two sorts of pivots distinguished according to the position of the troops who are governed by them, viz. standing pivot and moveable pivot. When a battalion, for instance, stands in open column of companies, the right in front, the last man upon the left of the front rank of each company, is called the inner, or standing pivot; and the first man upon the right ditto, is called the outer pivot, or wheeling flank. So much depends upon the accurate position of the different pivots, that no movement can be thoroughly correct unless the most scrupulous attention be paid to them. Officers, in particular, ought to recollect that when they are posted upon the flanks, they become essentially necessary to the preservation of that perpendicular and parallelism of a march, without which direction the best digested manœuvres must be ultimately rendered useless. They must constantly bear in mind, that it belongs to the mounted field officers to watch the aggregate, and that they themselves, being incorporated parts of the different divisions, are to move successively forward, with no other object in view than the perpendicular point before them. For if they once turn to the right or left, or become anxious about the movements of others, instead of being the means of insensibly correcting any errors that might casually occur, they will deviate themselves, and at every step increase the irregularity. On this account, the instant an officer has wheeled his division, he must resume his perpendicular position, look stedfastly on his leading pivot, preserve his relative distance, and keep his person perfectly square. He ought likewise to be particularly correct in stepping off when the wheel is completed.

Moveable PIVOT, one which during the wheel of its division advances in a circular direction, instead of turning on the spot where it originally stood. Thus when divisions, &c. are successively wheeled, without being first halted, the pivot upon which they wheel is said to be moveable.

In the drill, single ranks are frequently wheeled on a moveable pivot. In which case, both flanks are moveable, and describe concentring circles round a point which is a few paces from what would otherwise be the standing flank; and eyes are all turned towards the outer pivot or flank man, whether he is on the outward flank, or on the flank wheeled to.

PIVOT-Flanks, the flanks upon which a line is formed from column. When the right of the battalion is in front, the pivot flanks are on the left of its several companies, platoons, &c. and vice versâ, when the left is in front.

PIVOT-flank officer, the officer who is on the first flank. In all wheelings during the march in column the officer on that flank upon which the wheel is made must attend himself to the correctness of the pivot.

Platoon PIVOTS, the men upon whom a battalion marches in column of platoons, is wheeled up into line, or into column, when the line has been formed according to a given front.

It is in the modern improved tactics determined that commissioned officers shall not themselves be the pivots, but that they shall consist of the non-commissioned officers, or rank and file on each flank only; and not the officers on those flanks; but the officers are strictly required to see that the pivots perform their duty correctly, and are responsible for it.

PLACAGE, Fr.. in fortification, a kind of revetement, 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.

PLACARD, PLACART, or, as it is in the original Dutch language Placaat, a term used abroad for a proclamation, edict, &c. put up in all public places, by government authority; whereby their subjects are ordered to do, or forbear, something expressed therein. See MANIFESTO.

PLACARD, Fr. any bill, or public paper, that is posted up; same as Bulletin. It likewise means a libel.

PLACARDER, Fr. to post up, to libel.

PLACE, emplacement, Fr. any spot or scite which suits the plans of an architect to build upon.

PLACE, in fortification, signifies, in general terms, a fortified town, a fortress: hence we say it is a strong place. See Pocket Encyclopedia, vol. V. PLACE.

PLACE of arms, (Place d’armes, Fr.) This term has various significations, although it uniformly means a place which is calculated for the rendezvous of men in arms, &c.

1st. When an army takes the field, every strong hold or fortress which supports its operations by affording a safe retreat to its depots, heavy artillery, magazines, hospitals, &c. is called a place of arms.

2dly. In offensive fortification, those lines are called places of arms, or parallels, which unite the different means of attack, secure the regular approaches, &c. 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.

PLACES of arms belonging to the covert-way. These are divided into two sorts, viz. saliant and rentrant places of arms. There are likewise places of arms composed of traverses, which are practised or made in the dry ditches of military towns, in a perpendicular direction to the faces of the half-moons and the tenaillons.

PLACE of arms in a town, a place left near its centre, where generally the grand guard is placed. In towns regularly fortified, the place of arms should be in the centre. In this place the soldiers of the garrison parade, form, and mount guard, &c.

PLACE of arms of an attack, or of a trench, are deep trenches 15 or 18 feet wide, joining the several attacks together: they serve for a rendezvous and station to the guard of the trenches, to be at hand to support the workmen when attacked. It is customary to make 3 places of arms, when the ground will permit: the first, and most distant from the place, is about 300 toises, or 600 yards, from the glacis of the covert-way; the second is within 140 toises, or 280 yards; and the third at the foot or the glacis. See PARALLELS.

PLACE of arms of a camp, was, strictly speaking, the bell-tents, at the head of each company, where the arms were formerly lodged; likewise a place chosen at the head of the camp for the army to form in line of battle, for a review, or the like.

PLACE of arms of the covert-way, is a part of it, opposite to the re-entering angle of the counterscarp, projecting outwards in an angle.

PLACE marécageuse, Fr. a marshy place. A place of this description may be easily fortified, and at little expence; nor does it require many troops for defence. Among other advantages, that of not being exposed to an enemy’s mines, is by no means the least considerable. On the other hand, piles must be sunk in almost every direction: and should it be invested, it is almost impossible to succour it. Add to these inconveniences, the danger to which the garrison must be constantly exposed of being visited by some contagious disorder.

PLACE elevée dans un plat pays, Fr. Places that are put in a state of defence in a flat open country. These places are almost always secured by regular fortifications: the soil is good, and there is always plenty of earth adapted to every species of military work: there is abundance of water; and should an enemy attempt to carry them by insuring the works, entrenchments may be easily thrown up to check him. Add to this, that it would require two or three armies, at least, to cut off the various supplies which can be procured from the country round. On the other hand, the goodness and abundance of the soil are equally beneficial to the besieging army. For the troops are thereby enabled to throw up entrenchments, to build redoubts, erect batteries, and by thus securing their approaches, to annoy the besieged at all hours, and in all ways.

PLACE située sur le penchant d’une montagne, Fr. a place situated or built upon the declivity of a hill. It is very difficult to fortify a spot of this sort. Whatever is erected upon it, must be commanded by the higher ground, and the body of the place be, of course, exposed to every attack.

PLACE située dans une vallée, Fr. a town, fortress, or hold that is built in a valley. Places so situated must be in constant jeopardy, as by getting possession of the heights, the enemy can always command them.

PLACE située sur les bords d’une grand riviére, Fr. a place, &c. built upon the banks, or borders of a large river. Places, constructed in a situation of this sort, are preferable to all others, provided they have a free and uninterrupted communication with the principal quarter from whence stores, provisions, and ammunition may be drawn. They may be regularly fortified towards the interior of the country, and it will require little or no artificial means to secure them on the side of the river.

PLACE de guerre, Fr. any town or place that is regularly, or irregularly fortified.

PLACE basse, Fr. In fortification the lower flanks according to certain systems are so called.

PLACE forte, Fr. a strong hold or place which presents at all points so many difficult obstacles against a besieging army, that it cannot be carried (except by surprize) unless the regular means of reducing it be resorted to.

PLACES contreminées, Fr. all fortresses, &c. are called places contreminées, or countermined, which, independent of their open and visible means of defence, &c. have subterraneous fortifications that are alongside the revetements of the works, under the glacis, or beneath the neighboring ground, to interrupt the approaches, and destroy the works of a besieging enemy.

PLACE haute, Fr. According to the systems of some engineers (which have not been followed of late years) the place haute, or high place, is that which stands the highest of three platforms that were constructed in the shape of an amphitheatre along the flanks of the bastions. Pagan, Blondel, and others, who have copied from these systems, did so from an idea, that considerable advantages might be derived from a powerful and concentrated discharge of artillery and musquetry. Not conceiving that it was possible to construct casemated flanks free of smoke, they built three or four open flanks one above the other. But they were soon rendered useless and untenable by the shells that fell, and the fragments that flew about in consequence of the demolition of the mason-work. Casemated ramparts, on the contrary, have been known to stand proof against the heaviest discharge of bombs, &c. to take up little room, and to afford ample space for a wide range of artillery, that is kept under cover.

PLACES non revêtues, Fr. all fortified towns or places are so called, when the ramparts that surround them are only lined with placage or simple turf. In this case the ramparts, so lined or covered, ought to be fraised and palisadoed above the berme or foot-path, to prevent surprizes. Hedges made of good quickset, well interwoven with other wood, and carefully attended to, will save the expence of palisadoes, which in marshy soils soon rot, and require to be replaced.

PLACES revêtues, Fr. All fortified towns or places are so called, whose ramparts are lined or covered with brick or stone. It frequently happens, that the revetement does not reach the terre-pleine of the rampart, especially when the parapets are thick and solid; in which case the revetement is more easily covered by the glacis. Parapets are no longer lined.

PLACE, Fr. This word is frequently used by the French, in a military sense, to signify ration, viz.

Une PLACE de bouche, Fr. one ration of provisions.

Deux PLACES de fourrage, Fr. Two rations of forage.

To be PLACED. This expression is frequently used in naval and 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 case.

PLACER, Fr. to fix, to settle. This word is used among the French, as with us, to express the act of providing for a person by appointing him to a desirable situation, viz. Placer un jeune homme dans un regiment; to get a young man a commission in a regiment.

Un cheval bien PLACE, Fr. A horse is said, among the French, to be well placed, when his forehead runs perpendicularly down between the nostrils.

PLAFOND, Fr. The ceiling.

PLAFONNER, Fr. to ceil or adorn the upper part of a room, &c.

PLAGE, Fr. flat shore, or extent of coast, where there are no creeks, &c. for vessels to ride in.

PLAIE, Fr. a wound or scar.

PLAN, ground plot, or ichnography, in fortification, is the representation of the first or fundamental tract of a work, showing the length of its lines, the quantity of its angles, the breadth of the ditches, thickness of the rampart, parapets, and the distance of one part from another: so that a plan represents a work, such as it would appear if cut equal with the level of the horizon, or cut off at the foundation: but it marks neither the heights nor depths of the several parts of the works: that is properly profile, which expresses only the heights, breadths, and depths, without taking notice of the lengths. As architects, before they lay the foundation of their edifice make their design on paper, by which means they find out their faults, so an engineer, before tracing his works on the ground, should make plans of his designs upon paper, that he may do nothing without serious deliberation.

Exact plans are very useful for generals or governors, in either attacking or defending a place, in chusing a camp, determining attacks, conducting the approaches, or in examining the strength and weakness of a place; especially such plans as represent a place with the country about it, shewing the rivers, fountains, marshes, ditches, valleys, mountains, woods, houses, churches, defiles, roads, and other particulars, which appertain to it.

PLAN of comparison, a geometrical sketch of any fortress and adjacent country within cannon shot, in which the different levels of every principal point are expressed.

PLAN, Fr. See PLAN.

Lever le PLAN de quelque place de guerre, Fr. to draw the plan of a fortified town or place.

PLANCHETTE, Fr. a small board or copper-plate, which is used in practical geometry.

PLANCHES, Fr. Boards, planks.

PLANCHES d’entrevoux, Fr. Boards or planks that are laid between the joists or posts of a building.

PLANCHEYER, Fr. to board or floor.

PLANCONS, Fr. literally twigs, or small round pieces of wood. A term used in hydraulics. See Belidor.

PLANIMETRY, (planimetrie, Fr.) that part of geometry which considers lines and plane figures, without any reference to heights or depths, in opposition to stenometry, or the mensuration of solids.

PLANISPHERE, (planisphere, Fr.) a representation of the globe or sphere on paper, for geometrical and astronomical purposes.

To PLANT, 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. Johnson applies it to the act of directing a cannon properly. The French use the word generally as we do, except in the last mentioned sense. They say, metre le canon en batterie. In others the term bears the same signification, with occasional deviations when they apply it figuratively, viz.

PLANTER le piquet chez quelqu’un, Fr. To quarter one-self upon any body.

PLANTER là quelqu’un, Fr. To leave a person abruptly, or, as we familiarly say, to leave another in the lurch.

PLANTER quelque chose au nez de quelqu’un, Fr. To reproach a person with any thing, or, as we familiarly say, to throw it in his teeth. Il lui planter sa poltronnerie au nez; he reproached him openly for his cowardice, or he threw his cowardice in his teeth.

PLANTE, Fr. To be fixed, to be stationary. Un soldat bien plante sur ses pieds, Fr. A soldier that is well set up.

PLANTER un bâtiment, Fr. To lay the first stones, or the foundations of a building.

PLAQUE, Fr. The shell of a sword. See PLACAGE.

PLAQUES de Plomb, Fr. Sheets of lead. These are used for various purposes. In the artillery, to cover the vent of a cannon; and on board ships of war, to stop the holes, &c. that are made by cannon shot.

PLAQUER, Fr. to lay one plank over another. To cover any space with earth or turf, &c.

PLASM. See MOULD.

PLASTER, a piece of greased leather or rag used by riflemen, &c. to make the ball fit the bore of the piece.

PLASTER, in building, a substance made of water and some absorbent matter, such as chalk or lime, well pulverised, with which walls are overlaid.

PLASTRON, a piece of leather stuffed, used by fencing-masters, to receive thereon the pushes made at them by their pupils.

PLASTRON, Fr. A breast plate or half cuirass. In the old French service the gens d’armes, the heavy cavalry, the light horse, &c. were obliged to wear breast-plates on all occasions at reviews, &c. The hussars were an exception to this order which took place on the 28th of May, 1733. In the original order, dated the 1st of February, 1703, it was particularly specified, that in order to be accustomed to their weight, the above-mentioned corps should wear half cuirasses in time of peace. The captains of troops were obliged to keep the half cuirasses belonging to their men in constant repair.

PLAT, ate, Fr. Flat, level, low. The flat side of any thing; as, Plat de Sabre.

PLAT pays. A flat or low country. It is generally used among the French to signify that extent, or space of country, on which scattered houses and villages are built, in contradistinction to towns and fortified places. It is likewise used in opposition to a mountainous country. Les soldats de la garnison vivoient aux dépens du plat pays. The soldiers of the garrison lived upon the adjacent villages or country.

Punir à PLAT de Sabre. To punish a man by striking him with the flat side of a sabre blade. The French likewise say, des coups de plat d’epée. Blows given with the flat side of a sword. This mode of punishing is frequently adopted in foreign services, particularly among the Germans. M. de St. Germain, minister of the war department under Louis XVI. attempted to introduce it in France, but it was resisted by the army at large.

Battre à PLATE couture, Fr. To gain a complete and decided victory, or to beat an enemy so as to kill or take almost every man he had to oppose. Hence, une armée battue à plate couture, Fr. An army completely routed and undone.

PLAT de l’équipage d’un vaisseau, Fr. A dish or mess, consisting of seven rations or portions put together, and served out for the subsistence of seven men, on board French ships of war.

Etre mis au PLAT des malades sur mer, Fr. To be put upon the sick list on board a king’s ship; or to receive such rations as were ordered to be served out to the sick.

PLATAIN, Fr. Flat coast. A spot near the sea which is well calculated for a descent. As Le Platain de d’Angoulin, and the Platain de Chatelaillon, near Rochelle.

PLATES, or prise plates, in artillery, two plates of iron on the cheeks of a gun-carriage, from the cap-square to the centre, through which the prise bolts go, and on which the handspike rest, when used in raising the breech of the gun, &c.

Breast PLATES, the two plates, on the face of the carriage, on the other cheek.

Breast PLATES, the clasps, with ornamented heads, by which the cross belts in the army are attached.

Train PLATES, the two plates on the cheeks at the train of the carriage.

Dulidge PLATES, the six plates on the wheel of a gun carriage, where the fellies are joined together.

PLATEAU, Fr. A flat piece of wood, which is sometimes used to place mortars on, &c.

PLATEBANDES, Fr. Capsquares. A particular part of a piece of ordnance, which, though of a flat form or figure, rises beyond the rest of the metal, and is always cast before the moulding. There are three sorts of platbands upon a regular piece of ordnance, viz. capsquare and moulding at the breech; capsquare and moulding of the first reinforce; capsquare and moulding of the second reinforce.

PLATEBANDES d’affuts, Fr. Iron capsquares, which serve to keep the trunnions fast between the cheeks of a piece of ordnance.

PLATFORM, (Platforme, Fr.) The upper part of every brick or stone building which is arched and has more floors than one, is so called. Hence the platform of a tower, or of a redoubt. All pieces of ordnance that are planted on a rampart, or are disposed along the lines of a besieging army, &c. have their platforms.

PLATFORM, in gunnery, is a bed of wood on a battery, upon which the guns stand; each consisting of 18 planks of oak or elm, a foot broad, 2¹⁄₂ inches thick, and from 8 to 15 feet long, nailed or pinned on 4, 5, or 6 beams, from 4 to 7 inches square, called sleeper. They must be made higher behind than before by 6 or 9 inches, to prevent too great a recoil, and to advance the gun easily when loaded. They are from 18 to 20 feet long, 8 feet before and 14 or 15 feet behind.

Permanent batteries, if good stone is not to be had, should be made of brick placed on the edge.

PLATFORMS. The common platforms for gun batteries require the following materials for each: 5 sleepers or joists, 6 inches square, 14 feet long.--1 hunter, 8 or 10 inches square, 8 feet long, 14 planks, 1 foot wide, 11 feet long, 2¹⁄₂ inches thick.--20 pickets.

The usual slope of platforms for guns is one inch to every yard.

The platforms for mortar batteries are made with 3 sleepers 8 inches square, and covered with about 11 timbers of the same thickness. They are laid perfectly horizontal, about 15 feet asunder, and 12 feet from the epaulement. This is the distance commonly practised for firing only at 15 degrees elevation; but if the platforms be placed at the undermentioned distances from the epaulement, the mortars may be fired at the angles corresponding.

At 13 feet distance for firing at 30 degrees. 21 feet at 20 30 feet at 15 40 feet at 10

over an epaulement of 8 feet high. See BATTERY.

PLATINE de lumiere, Fr. The same as Plaques de Plomb, as far as it regards cannon. With respect to musquets and other firearms, it means that part of the hammer which covers the pan.

PLATOON, in military affairs, was formerly a small body of men, in a battalion of foot, &c. that fired alternately. A battalion was then generally divided into 16 platoons, exclusive of the grenadiers, which formed 2 or 4 platoons more, as occasion required. At present a battalion is generally divided into wings, grand divisions, divisions, (platoons or companies) subdivisions, and sections; and the word platoon is generally used, to denote a number (from 10 to 20) of recruits assembled for the purpose of instruction, in which case it may be considered as synonimous with company; but a platoon may consist of any number under a battalion.

PLATRAS, Fr. Rubbish, such as ashes, pieces of broken brick, mortar, &c. It is used by refiners, for the purpose of distilling saltpetre into proper vessels.

PLATRER, Fr. to plaster, to patch, to daub over.

PLAY, is occasionally applied to a military action; as the cannon play upon the enemy, &c.

PLEBEIAN. From the Latin Plebius, a distinction made between the poor and rich, in a very early period of Rome; which tended to its ultimate destruction. The term is chiefly used in speaking of the ancient Romans, who were divided into senators, knights, plebians, and common.

PLEDGET, the same as bolster, compress, in surgery, a kind of flat tent, which is laid over a wound, to imbibe the superfluous humors that ooze out, and to keep it clean.

PLEIN du Mur, Fr. The main part or body of a wall.

PLEIN fouet, direct shot; or firing so as to hit the mark by the trajectory line.

PLIER, Fr. To give way.

Une aile qui PLIE, Fr. in a military sense, the wing of an army, which gives way. When this occurs, it behoves a wise and executive general, to send immediate support, for the whole army is endangered by the least impression on that quarter.

PLINTH, the square member which serves as a foundation to the base of a pillar.

PLOMB, Fr. literally means lead. It is sometimes used in a military sense, to signify musquet shot, &c.

A PLOMB, Fr. The perpendicular position of any body or substance. Une muraille est à plomb. A wall built in a straight perpendicular direction.

Donner à plomb, Fr. To fall vertically, as the rays of the sun do in certain latitudes

Etre à plomb, Fr. To stand upright.

Marcher à plomb, Fr. To march with a firm, steady pace.

This word is sometimes used as a substantive, viz. Perdre son a plomb. To lose one’s balance.

Manquer d’a plomb, Fr. To be unsteady.

PLONGEE, Fr. A term used in artillery to express the action of a bomb, &c. which from the highest point of the curve it describes, takes a downward direction to strike its object.

PLONGEE du Rampart, Fr. The slope of the upper part of the parapet, belonging to the rampart, is so called. The slope is likewise named talus supérieur, or upper talus.

PLONGEONS, Fr. Artificial fireworks, which are shot into water and rise again without being extinguished.

PLONGEONS, Fr. Plungers or divers. Men of this description ought always to accompany an army, for the purpose of swimming under bridges of boats, &c. and making apertures in their bottoms.

PLONGER, Fr. To plunge any thing into the water. This word is likewise used to express the discharge of ordnance from top to bottom, as canon plongé.

PLUIE de feu, Fr. literally a shower or rain of fire. It signifies a certain quantity of artificial fireworks, whose discharge falls in regular sparks, without ever deviating into a serpentine direction.

PLUMB, PLUMMET, a leaden or other weight let down at the end of a string, or piece of catgut, to regulate any work in a line perpendicular to the horizon, or sound the depth of any thing. It is of great use to the artillerist, as well as to the engineer.

PLUME, feathers worn by soldiers in the hat or helmet.

PLUMET, Fr. plume, feather. An ornament which is worn by military men in their hats. It succeeded the pannache or bunch of feathers, that formerly adorned the helmets.

PLUMMET. This word is derived from the Latin Plumbum, lead, as a piece thereof is fastened to the end of a thread. The instrument itself is used by masons, &c. to draw perpendiculars with, in order to judge whether walls, &c. be upright planes, horizontal, &c. Pilots, at sea, likewise ascertain their soundings by it. In the forming of recruits it is used to fix lines.

Plummets which vibrate the required times of march in the minute, are of great utility, and can alone prevent, or correct uncertainty of movement; they must be in the possession of, and be constantly referred to by each instructor of a squad.

A musquet ball suspended by a string which is not subject to stretch, (and must of course be kept constantly dry) and on which are marked the different required lengths, will answer the above purpose, may be easily acquired, and should be frequently compared with an accurate standard in the adjutant’s, or serjeant-major’s possession. The length of the plummet is to be measured from the point of suspension to the centre of the ball.

Accurate distances or steps of 24 inches must also be marked out on the ground, along which the soldier should be practised to march, and thereby acquire the just length of pace.

PLUNDER, hostile pillage, or spoils taken in war.

PLUS, in algebra, commonly denotes majus, more, or addition: its character is +. Thus 5 + 7 is read 5 plus 7, or 5 added to 7 is equal to 12.

PLUTEUS, a defensive machine, which was used by the ancient Romans. It was composed of wicker hurdles laid for a roof on the top of posts, which the soldiers, who went under it for shelter, bore up with their hands. Kennett, in page 238, of his Roman Antiquities, observes, that some will have them, as well as the vineæ, to have been contrived with a double roof; the first and lower roof of planks, and the upper roof of hurdles, to break the force of any blow, without disordering the machine. The plutei, however, were of a different figure from the vineæ, being shaped like an arched sort of waggon; some having three wheels, so conveniently placed, that the machine would move either way, with equal ease. They were put much to the same use as the musculi. Father Daniel, the Jesuit, in his history of the French militia, makes mention of this machine. He quotes a passage out of a poem, intituled the Siege of Paris, by Abbon, the Monk; the meaning of which is, that the Normans brought up a large quantity of machines, that were called plutei by the Romans, and that seven or eight soldiers could be put under cover beneath them. He further adds, that these machines were covered with bull hides.

The moderns have imitated these plutei by adopting mantelets. The chevalier Folard mentions having seen one at the siege of Phillipeville, of a triangular figure, made of cork, interlaced between two boards, and supported by three wheels that turned upon a pivot.

PLUSH, a kind of stuff with a sort of velvet nap or shag on one side, consisting of a woof of a single woollen thread, and a double warp; the one of two woollen threads twisted, the other goat’s or camel’s hair; though there are plushes entirely of worsted, others of hair, and others again of silk, cotton, &c. White plush breeches have been often worn by dragoons. They resist moisture, and are easily cleaned.

PNEUMATICS. The doctrine of the air, or the laws whereby it is condensed, rarefied, gravitated, &c.

PNEUMATIC Engine, denotes the air pump.

PNEUMATIQUE, Fr. Pneumatics.

POIDS, Fr. Weights.

POIDS de Marc, Fr. Avoirdupois weight.

POIDS Romain, Fr. Troy weight.

POIDS à peser l’eau, Fr. Waterpoise.

Etre de POIDS, Fr. To weigh.

Avec POIDS et mesure, Fr. With care and circumspection.

POIGNARD, Fr. Dagger, poniard.

Coup de POIGNARD, Fr. A stab.

POIGNARDER, Fr. To stab.

POIGNEE, Fr. Handful. Poignée d’hommes; a handful of men; a small number.

POIGNEE, Fr. Handle of a sword.

La POIGNEE, Fr. The handle.

POIL, Fr. Hair. Monter un cheval à POIL. To ride a horse without a saddle.

Un brave à trois POILS, Fr. A figurative expression to describe a bully, or gasconading fellow.

POINCON, Fr. A puncheon, bodkin. It is likewise an instrument which is used in the making of artificial fireworks, being called poincon à arrêt, from a piece of iron running cross-ways near the point, to prevent it from entering too far.

POINT, in geometry, according to Euclid, is a quantity which has no parts, being indivisible; and according to others, that which terminates itself on every side, or which has no boundaries distinct from itself. This is a mathematical point, and is only conceived by the imagination; yet herein all magnitude begins and ends, its flux generating a line, that of a line a surface, &c. A line can only cut another in a point.

POINT, in perspective, denotes various places with regard to the perspective plane, viz. point of sight, or of the eye, or principal point, is a point in the axis of the eye, or in the central ray, where the same is intersected by the horizon.

POINT, or points of distance, in perspective, is a point or points, for there are sometimes two of them placed at equal distances from the point of sight.

Accidental POINTS, or Contingent POINTS, in perspective, are certain points wherein such objects as may be thrown negligently, and without order, under the plan, do tend to terminate. For this reason they are not drawn to the point of sight, nor the points of distance, but meet accidentally, or at random in the horizon.

POINT of the front, in perspective, is when we have the object directly before us, and not more on one side than the other, in which case it only shews the foreside; and if it be below the horizon, a little of the top too, but nothing of the side, unless the object be polygonous.

Third POINT, is a point taken at discretion in the line of distance, wherein all the diagonals drawn from the divisions of the geometrical plane concur.

Objective POINT, a point on a geometrical plane, whose representation is required on the perspective plane.

POINT of concourse, in optics, is that wherein converging rays meet, more commonly called the focus.

POINT of dispersion, is that wherein the rays begin to diverge, usually called the virtual focus.

POINT. This term is frequently used in a military sense. As point of intersection, intermediate point, &c. The several applications of which may be seen in the general rules and regulations.

Covering POINT, a point which in changes of position materially concerns the movement of one line with another.

When a change of position is made on a flank or central point of the first line, the movement of its coveting point of the second line, determines the new relative situation of that second line.

To find this point, it is necessary to premise, that if a circle is described from any point (A) of a first line (AE) with a radius equal to the distance betwixt the two lines; then its covering point (a) at that time in the second line will be always in the circumference of that circle, at such place as the second line becomes a tangent to the circle. Should the first line, therefore, make a change of position (AR) either on a flank or central point (A); its covering point (a) will move so as still to preserve and halt in its relative situation (a 2) and by the movement and halt of that point preceded by the one (d) of intersection, every other part of the second line, either by following them, or by yielding from them, is regulated and directed. Betwixt the old and new situation of the covering point (a) and equidistant from each, lies the point (d) where the old and new positions of the second line intersect, and which is a most material one in the movement of that line.

POINT of honor. See HONOR.

POINT of Appui, the point upon which a line of troops is formed. When the right stands in front, and the column is marching to form, the first halted company, division, &c. is the point of appui. Thus when the right is in front the distant point of formation is the left.

POINT of Intersection, the point where two lines intersect each other.

Intermediate POINT. In marching forward that is called an intermediate point which lies between the spot marched from, and the spot towards which you are advancing. In forming line, the centre point between the right and left is the intermediate point. It is of the utmost consequence to every body of troops, advancing or retreating, but especially in advancing towards the enemy, to find an intermediate point between two given, and, perhaps, inaccessible objects. The line of march is preserved by these means in its perpendicular direction, and every column may be enabled to ascertain its relative point of entry in the same line.

POINT of Alignment, (Point d’alignement, Fr.) The point which troops form upon and dress by.

POINT of Formation, a point taken, upon which troops are formed in military order.

Perpendicular POINT, the point upon which troops march in a straight forward direction.

Relative POINTS, the points by which the parallelism of a march is preserved.

POINT of passing, the ground on which one or more bodies of armed men march by a reviewing general.

POINT to salute at, the spot on which the reviewing general stands. This, however, is not to be understood literally, as every infantry officer when he arrives within six paces of the general, recovers his sword and drops it, keeping it in that situation until he shall have passed him a prescribed number of paces. The cavalry salute within the breadth of the horse’s neck, the instant the object is uncovered.

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 du jour, Fr. break of day; dawn.

POINT de vue, Fr. prospect, sight, aim.

De POINT en blanc, Fr. point blank.

A POINT, Fr. in time.

A POINT nommée, Fr. seasonably.

La POINTE, Fr. the point of the sword.

POINT is also a steel instrument of various use in several arts. Engravers, etchers, wood-cutters, stone-cutters, &c. use points to trace their designs on copper, wood, or stone.

POINT blank, (But en blanc, Fr.) in gunnery, denotes the shot of a piece levelled horizontally, without either mounting or sinking the muzzle. In shooting thus, the bullet is supposed to go in a direct line, and not to move in a curve, as bombs and highly elevated random shots do. We say supposed to go in a direct line, because it is certain, and easily proved, that a shot cannot fly any part of its range in a right line strictly taken; but the greater the velocity, the nearer it approaches to a right line; or the less crooked its range.

For the point blank ranges of different pieces of ordnance, see the different natures.

The French point blank or but en blanc, is what the English artillery call the line of metal elevation; in most guns between one and two degrees.

POINTER, Fr. to point; as, pointer un canon. To point a cannon.

POINTEURS, Fr. Levellers. Officers in the old French artillery, who were subordinate to the extraordinary commissaries; but who were never employed except upon field service.

POINTS d’appui, Fr. Basis, support. The general signification of this term expresses the different advantageous posts, such as castles, fortified villages, &c. which the general of an army takes possession of in order to secure his natural position. In a more limited sense, they mean those points which are taken up in movements and evolutions. See POINT D’APPUI. Am. Mil. Lib.

POINTING of a gun or mortar, is the placing either one or other, so as to hit the object, or to come as near it as possible.

To POISON a Piece, (Enclouer une piéce, Fr.) in gunnery, to clog or nail it up.

POISSON, Fr. literally means fish.

POITREL, armor for the breast of a horse.

POIX, Fr. pitch.

POIX résine, Fr. Rosin.

POLACRE, Fr. A lappel coat.

POLACRE, or Polaque, Fr. a Levantine vessel, which carries a smack sail on the mizen and mizen mast, and square sails on the main mast and bowsprit.

POLAIRE, Fr. Polar.

POLE, in a four wheel carriage, is fastened to the middle of the hind axle-tree, and passes between the fore axle-tree and its bolster, fastened with the pole-pin, so as to move about it; keeping the fore and hind carriages together. It is also called the tongue.

POLES, in castrametation, long round pieces of wood, by which a marquee or tent is supported. There are three sorts, viz.

Ridge POLE, a long round piece of wood, which runs along the top of an officer’s tent or marquee, and is supported by two other poles, viz.

Front POLE, a strong pole, which is fixed in the front part of an officer’s tent or marquee, and is kept in a perpendicular position by means of two strong cords, called weather cords, that run obliquely from each other, across two other cords from the rear pole, and are kept fast to the earth by wooden pegs.

Rear POLE, a strong pole, which is fixed in the back part of an officer’s marquee or tent, and is kept in the same relative position as has been described above.

Fire POLES, or Rods, artificial fireworks. They are generally of the length of ten or twelve feet, and of the thickness of two inches at most. One of the ends of the fire pole is hollowed out with three or four flutes to the length of two or three feet. Into one of these flutes are fixed rockets or squibs. Paper crackers are fixed in the others. After holes have been bored through the body of the pole, in order that the rockets may have communication with the crackers, they must be neatly wrapped in paper, the more effectually to deceive the spectators.

POLEAXE, an axe fixed to the end of a long pole. See BATTLE AXE.

POLICE, Fr. in a military sense, among the French, this term comprehends the inspectors, the treasurers, the paymasters, the commissaries, the provost marshal, &c.

POLICE d’assurance, Fr. a policy of Insurance.

POLICY in war. See STRATAGEM.

POLITICAL, relating to policy, or civil government.

POLITICS, (Politique, Fr.) a part of ethics which consists in the governing of states, for the maintenance of the public safety, order, and good morals.

POLK, Fr. a Polish term, signifying a regiment, from whence is derived polkowink, colonel.

POLLAM, Ind., a measure equal to twenty ounces: forty make a viz in weight in Madras.

POLL Money, commonly called poll-tax, or capitation.

POLTROON, (Poltron, Fr.) a coward, a dastard, who has no courage to perform any thing noble. The etymology of poltron or poltroon, as it is usually pronounced, is curious. Both in ancient and modern times frequent instances have occurred of men, who had been forcibly enlisted, having rendered themselves unfit for service by cutting off their thumbs or fingers. When this happened among the Romans, they were called Pollice trunci. The French, (as they do in most of their words that are derived from the Latin) contract these two, and by an elision make poltron or poltroon, from whence we have adopted the term. Another, and in our opinion a more correct derivation, comes from the Italian Poltrone, which takes its derivation from Poltro, a colt; because of that animal’s readiness to run away; or Poltro a bed, as pusillanimous people take a pleasure in lying in bed. This last word is derived from the high Dutch Polster, which signifies a bolster or cushion. This contemptible character is so little calculated for a military life, that the slightest imputation of cowardice is sufficient to render an individual unworthy of serving among real soldiers. Poltroon and coward stand, in fact, foremost in the black catalogue of military incapacities. Every young man, therefore, ought well to weigh, examine, and digest the necessary qualifications for a profession, which, above all others, exacts a daring spirit, and an unqualified contempt of death.

POLIGARCHY, (Polygarchie, Fr.) a government composed of many chiefs or leaders.

POLYGARS, Ind. Chiefs of mountainous and woody districts in the peninsula, who pay only a temporary homage.

POLYGON, (Polygone, Fr.) is a figure of more than four sides, and is either regular or irregular, exterior or interior.

Regular POLYGON, is that whose angles and sides are equal. It has an angle of the centre, and an angle of the polygon. The centre of a regular polygon, is the centre of a circle, which circumscribes the polygon; that is, whose circumference passes through all the angles of the figure.

Irregular POLYGON, is that whose sides and angles are unequal.

Exterior POLYGON, that whose lines touch the points of the flanked angles, when a place is fortified inwards.

Interior POLYGON, that outward fortification which makes the angles of the gorget; so that the whole bastion is without the polygon.

POLYEDRE, Fr. See POLYEDRON.

Lunettes POLYEDRES, Fr. Magnifying glasses.

POLYEDRICAL, POLYEDROUS, having many sides.

POLYEDRON, a solid figure or body consisting of many sides.

POLYGRAPHIE, Fr. See POLYGRAPHY.

POLYNOMIAL, (Polynôme, Fr.) an algebraical term, signifying a quantity made up of many others by means of the sign + or more, and the sign - or less.

POLYORCETE, Fr. a term used among the french to distinguish great warriors. It literally signifies the taking of strong towns. Marshals Saxe and Lowendalh, les grands Polyorcetes of the last century.

POLYTECHNIQUE, Ecole POLYTECHNIQUE, a word derived from the Greek, and used by the French to distinguish an establishment in which all sciences are taught. The military school, which existed during the French monarchy, is comprised in this institution. See MILITARY SCHOOL.

POMADA, an exercise of vaulting the wooden horse, by laying one hand over the pommel of the saddle.

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, as Peter Cataneo, and Alghiri, to describe the breadth of the terre pleine of rampart, its inward talus, and the vacant space which is usually left between this talus and the houses of the town.

POMMEL, (Pommeau, Fr.) a piece of brass or other substance, at top, and in the middle of the saddle bow, to which are fastened the holsters, stirrip leathers, &c.

POMMEL, the knob at the extremity of the handle that balances the blade of the sword; also the protuberance on the fore part of a saddle.

POMMES, Fr. round pieces of wood which are variously used for ornament, &c.

POMMES de Pavillon et d’enseigne, Fr. the piece of wood which is fixed at the top of the color staff, &c.

POMPE, Fr. See PUMP.

POMPE de mer, Fr. a sea pump, or a pump used on board a ship.

POMPER, Fr. to pump.

PONANT, Fr. the west. In the French sea-service, ponant signifies that part of the ocean which is separated from the seas in the Levant by the streights of Gibraltar.

Officier PONANTIN, Fr. one who serves upon the ocean.

Armée PONANTINE, Fr. the army of the west.

PONCEAU, Fr. a small bridge of one arch, which is thrown across a canal or rivulet.

PONCER, Fr. to rub, or pounce upon any thing.

PONIARD, a little pointed dagger, very sharp edged.

PONT d’or, Fr. a figurative expression which the French use, when they suffer an enemy, whom they have defeated, to retire without molestation. Hence faire un pont d’or à son ennemi. To suffer your enemy to escape.

PONTE, Fr. covered in, as a vessel is which has a deck.

PONTON, Fr. A bridge; a machine made like a batteau or boat, of copper or tin, upon which planks are laid over which troops pass as on a bridge. See PONTOON.

PONTONIER, Fr. Lighterman.

PONTS flottans, Fr. See FLOATING BRIDGE.

PONT levis, Fr. See DRAWBRIDGE.

PONT tournant, Fr. a moveable bridge. It is of the nature of a drawbridge, with this difference, that it turns upon a pivot, and goes entirely round.

PONT de bois, Fr. a wooden bridge.

PONT de corde, Fr. a bridge of ropes.

PONT de jonc, Fr. a bridge of rushes.

PONT suspendu, Fr. a hanging bridge.

PONT de sortie, Fr. a sally bridge.

PONT dormant, Fr. a wooden bridge, which is generally laid upon the fosse of a fortified town, for the purpose of maintaining a constant communication between the main body of the place and the outworks and country round. These bridges are not thrown entirely across the fosses, but terminate within twelve or fifteen feet of the revetement; the space from thence is supplied by drawbridges. When the ponts dormans are very long, a swing bridge is constructed in the centre of it. When the ditches are wet, and so constantly supplied with water that the depth of it is generally the same, bridges of boats may be used instead of ponts dormans. And in cases of attack, floating bridges may be substituted in lieu of both.

PONTON, or PONTOON, a kind of flat bottomed boat, whose carcass of wood is lined within and without with tin: they serve to lay bridges over rivers for the artillery and army to march over. The French pontoons, and those of most other powers, are made of copper on the outside: though they cost more at first, yet they last much longer than those of tin; and, when worn out, the copper sells nearly for as much as it cost at first; but when that of tin are rendered useless, they sell for nothing. The British pontoons are 21 feet long, 5 feet broad, and depth within 2 feet 3 inches.

PONTOONS. Length at top, 21 feet 6 inches. Length at bottom, 17 feet 2 inches. Width, 4 feet 9 inches, or 5 feet. Depth, 2 feet 3 inches.

Equipage of one Pontoon.

ft. in. ft. in. in. 4 Baulks 22 8 long 1 0 wide 4 thick. 1 Gang-board. 22 0 ---- 1 0 ---- 2¹⁄₂ ---- 6 Cheeses, 11 6 ---- 2 4 ---- 1¹⁄₂ ---- 2 Oars. 1 Anchor. 1 Graplin. 1 Setter. 4 Iron bolts, with keys. 2 mounting bars. 4 Binding sticks. 4 Spring lines. 4 Faukes. 1 Cable. 1 Sheer-line. 1 Boat hook. 1 Maul. 4 Pickets. 1 Small pump. 1 Windlass. 1 Pontoon carriage, complete.

Dimensions of colonel Congreve’s Wooden Pontoons.

Length at top 26 feet. ---- at bottom 23 ---- Depth 2 8 inches. Width 2 3 ----

The common pontoons will support a weight of 4 or 5000 pounds. They are generally placed, in forming a bridge, about their own width asunder. See BRIDGE.

PONTOON carriage, was made with two wheels only, and two long side pieces, whose fore-ends are supported by a limber; and served to carry the pontoon, boards, cross timbers, anchors, and every other thing necessary for making a bridge; but better experience places them on four wheels.

PONTOON bridge, is made of pontoons, slipped into the water, and placed about five or six feet asunder; each fastened with an anchor, when the river has a strong current, or to a strong rope that goes across the river, running through the rings of the pontoons. Each boat has an anchor, cable, baulks, and chests. The baulks are about 5 or 6 inches square, and 21 feet long. The chests are boards joined together by wooden bars, about 3 feet broad, and 21 feet long. The baulks are laid across the pontoons at some distance from one another, and the chests upon them joined close; which makes a bridge, in a very short time, capable of supporting any weight.

POOLBUNDY, Ind. a dam to prevent inundations; an embankment; a dyke.

POONA, Ind. a day fixed for the Zemindars to bring in their balances for the year.

POONEA, Ind. the Indian name of a month.

POOR, indigent, necessitous, oppressed with want.

POOR in resources and expedients, of a limited conception; of a narrow understanding; unequal to an arduous enterprise.

POOR or PORE, Ind. when it terminates a word, means town, or city; as Viziapore, &c.

POOSE, Ind. the name of a month following Aughun: it in some degree accords with December and January.

POOSHTAY Bundee, Ind. embankments of rivers. It likewise means bridges thrown over rivers.

POOSKUT, Ind. a small weight, measuring eight koonchys, or sixty four handfuls; one koonchy being equal to eight handfuls.

PORSTICK method, in mathematics, is that which determines when, by what means, and how many different ways, any problem may be resolved.

PORPHYRE, Fr. porphyry. A fine red marble.

PORT, Fr. a harbor.

Fermer les PORTS, Fr. to lay a general embargo upon shipping. During the French monarchy this practice frequently occurred for the purpose of securing able bodied seamen.

PORT, Fr. This word is likewise used to express the tonnage of a vessel.

PORTAL, (portail, Fr.) the front or facade of a large building, where the principal gate stands.

To PORT, to carry.

PORT arms, a word of command which has been adopted during the present war, and is practised in the British army. It consists in bringing the firelock diagonally across the chest from the carry. This position of the musquet affords a great facility to the person who inspects the touch-hole, &c. In dismissing guards, preparing to charge, &c. soldiers are ordered to port arms. The French do not practise this method. Their word of command, haut les armes, corresponds with our recover.

PORTCLUSE, or PORT cullice, in fortification, 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 hung over the gate-way of old fortified towns, ready to let down in case of a surprise, when the gates could not be shut.

PORT-fire, in artillery, a composition put in a paper case to fire guns and mortars, instead of a lint-stock and match. See LABORATORY WORKS.

PORTGLAVE, Fr. See PORTE-EPEE.

PORT de l’arme, Fr. the carriage of the firelock.

PORTE drapeau, PORTE enseigne, Fr. the person who carries the colors.

PORT étendard, Fr. the standard bearer.

PORTE feu, Fr. a machine made of wood or copper, by which fire is communicated to gunpowder in a shell, fuse, or piece of ordnance. It is sometimes made of pasteboard. Where there is any ground to apprehend that a cannon will burst, the priming made of a certain composition is put into the pasteboard case, by which means the cannoneer has time to retire before any accident can happen.

PORTE feu, Fr. is likewise used among artificers to signify all sorts of fusees or matches, by which fire is communicated to many quarters at once. They last according to the nature of the composition with which they are made up.

PORTE feu brisé, Fr. in artificial fireworks, a species of carriage which is bent into a curve by means of a sloping piece of wood.

PORTE voix, Fr. a speaking trumpet.

PORTE mousqueton, Fr. a swivel.

PORTE arquebuse, Fr. the king’s gunbearer.

PORTE epée, Fr. a sword bearer; It likewise means a sword belt.

PORTE, Fr. a gate. Portes d’une ville. The gates of a fortified town.

PORTE d’ecluse, Fr. a flood gate.

PORTE de secours, Fr. the gate in a citadel, which has an outlet towards the country, is so called. By means of this gate the garrison can always receive succors or reinforcements, in cases of civil insurrection, or under circumstances of surprise.

PORTEE du fusil, Fr. by this expression the French generally understand the distance which a musquet-shot goes to its ultimate destination. It is supposed to vary from 120 to 150 toises.

PORTEE des piéces, Fr. the flight, range, or reach of cannon.

PORTEE à toute volée. Fr. the flight of a cannon shot when it makes an angle of something under 45 degrees with the horizon, or level of the country. In this manner it completes the greatest possible range.

PORTEE de but en blanc, Fr. the forward direction and flight of a ball, constituting a straight line, which it describes from the mouth of the piece to its ultimate object. It has been generally found, by experience that the distance so described, could not exceed 300 toises. Beyond that, the ball has been known to deviate. According to Belidor, pieces of ordnance will carry farther in the morning and at night, when the weather is cool and rarefied, than in the middle of the day, or at noon, when the heat of the sun prevails. This circumstance is amply discussed in his Bombardier Francois; and his observations were proved to be correct by experiments made in June, 1744, at Essonne. These experiments commenced at seven o’clock in the morning, and lasted till twelve. It was remarked, that the shells, which were thrown out of three mortars, gradually fell short of their original range. Besides the portée a toute volée, and the portée de but en blanc, or the full range and the point blank shot, there is the ricochet, which marshal Vauban invented. See RICOCHET.

PORTER, Fr. to carry. It is a marine term; as porter toutes ses voiles. To carry all her sails. It is likewise used as a word of command, viz. Portez vos armes. Carry arms.

PORTER une botte, Fr. to make a thrust or pass.

PORTES d’une ville du guerre, Fr. openings which cross the ramparts of a fortified town or place, and are generally arched over. These openings are usually made in the middle of the curtain, between two bastions. They are from nine to ten feet broad, and from thirteen to fourteen feet high. The gates are mostly decorated with trophies of war: and in some instances a very superfluous magnificence is exhibited.

PORTEURS d’eau, Fr. Water carriers. In India they are called Beestees. Amongst the Turks the Sakkas, or water-carriers, are taken from the lowest rank of soldiers belonging to the Capikuly infantry. The number of these men depends upon the nature of the service on which the turks are employed. They are under the orders of the officers who command companies; and although their situation is not only the most degrading, but the most laborious in the army, they may nevertheless become soldiers. Their dress consists of brown leather; and from the continual fatigue which they undergo, their appearance is wretched in the extreme.

PORTFIRE, a composition of meal powder, sulphur, and saltpetre, driven into a case of paper to serve instead of a match to fire guns.

PORTFIRE composition. Saltpetre, 60 parts; sulphur, 40 parts; mealed powder, 20 parts. Length of each, 16¹⁄₂ inches.

One will burn from 12 to 15 minutes.

Weight of one dozen, 3 lbs. 12 oz.

Portfires were made at Gibraltar in the following manner; two ounces of nitre was dissolved in a gallon of water, and sheets of soft brown paper dipped in the solution: these when dry were rolled up to about the size of common portfires. See English New Annual Register, 1807, for an article on wooden portfires.

PORT-FOLIO, in a general acceptation of the term amongst us, is a species of large leathern case, made like a pocket book, and calculated to carry papers of any size. Among the French it not only signifies the same thing, but likewise a box, made of pasteboard, in which are contained the several papers that relate to any particular department. The adjutants, quarter-masters, &c. belonging to the staff, should be provided with port folios for the purpose of keeping their reports, &c. in regular order.

PORT-GLAIVE, from the French porteur and glaive. One who carries the sword before a prince or magistrate.

PORT-HOLES, in a ship, are the embrasures or holes in the sides of a ship, through which the muzzels of cannon are run.

PORTIERES, Fr. Two pieces or folds of wood which are placed in the embrasure of a battery, and which close the instant the piece has been fired. They serve to cover the cannoneers from the aim of the enemy, and to resist the discharge of musquetry. They are, however, seldom or ever used except when the batteries stand close to the counterscarp.

PORTICO, (portique, Fr.) in architecture, a kind of ground gallery, or piazza, encompassed with arches supported by columns, without any immediate relation to doors or gates, where people walk under cover. The roof is commonly vaulted, sometimes flat. The ancients called it Lacunar.

PORTMANTEAU, (Valise, Fr.) a cloak bag to carry necessaries in a journey. It is sometimes made of leather.

PORTMOTE, a court held in port towns, as swanimote was in the forest.

PORT ropes, in a ship, such ropes as serve to haul up and let down the ports on the port holes.

POSE, (grandepose, Fr.) a French military term, signifying the extraordinary centinels or guards, which after retreat beating are posted in a fortified town or place, for the safety of certain specific quarters. The corporals who post the centinels are directed to instruct them, not to suffer any person to go upon the ramparts, unless he belong to the night patrole or rounds, &c. These extraordinary guards are relieved at daybreak.

POSER, Fr. to lay down. It is used as a word of command in the French artillery, &c. viz. Poser vos leviers; lay down your levers.

POSER une sentinelle, Fr. to post a centry.

POSES, Fr. the centries that are posted.

Priming POSITION, in the old manual exercise. In firing three deep the priming position for the front rank is the height of the waistband of the breeches; for the centre rank about the middle of the stomach; and for the rear rank close to the breast. The firelock in all the positions is kept perfectly horizontal.

But in the modern exercise, the rear rank does not fire; but loads for the centre rank, whenever they form in three ranks, the whole are quarter faced to the left, so that the firelock of each has an interval; and all the firelocks are held equally high on the right hip.

POSITION, (Position, Fr.) This word is variously used in a military sense, both by the French and English. It is applicable to locality; as the army took an excellent position; or drew up upon very advantageous ground, and in a very advantageous manner. Frederic the great, of Prussia, has laid it down as a maxim, that no army should take up a position in rear of a forest, since it is thereby prevented from observing the movements of the enemy, and from counteracting their plans.

POSITION of the soldier without arms. The equal squareness of the shoulders and body to the front is the first and great principle of the position of the soldier: the heels must be in a line, and two inches apart; the knees straight, without stiffness; the toes turned out, so that the feet may form an angle of about 60 degrees; the arms hang near the body, but not stiff; the flat of the hand, and middle finger, touching the seams of the pantaloons; the elbows and shoulders are to be kept back: The belly rather drawn in; and the breast advanced, but without constraint; the body to be upright, but inclining rather forwards, so that the weight may not bear so much on the heels as on the fore part of the feet: the head to be erect; and neither turned to the right nor to the left; the eyes alone will be glanced to the right.

POSITION of the soldier with arms. The body of the soldier being in the position above described, the firelock is to be placed in his left hand, against the shoulder; the thumb alone to appear in front; the four fingers to be under the butt; and the left elbow a very little bent inwards, so as not to be separated from the body, or to be more backward or forward than the right one: the firelock must rest full on the hand, not on the end of the fingers; the knuckles of the middle finger to press so against the hip joint, as that on raising the left foot from the ground the motion of the joint be felt with the knuckles, and be carried in such manner as not to raise, advance, or keep back, one shoulder more than the other; the butt must therefore be forward, and as low as can be permitted without constraint; the fore part a very little before the front of the thigh; and the hind part of it pressed with the knuckles against the joint. It must be kept steady and firm before the hollow of the shoulder; should it be drawn back, or carried too high, the one shoulder would be advanced, the other kept back, and the upper part of the body would be distorted and not square with respect to the limbs.

The position in which a soldier should move, determines that in which he should stand still. Too many methods cannot be used to supple the recruit, and banish the air of the rustic. But that excess of setting up, which stiffens the person, and tends to throw the body backward instead of forward, is contrary to every true principle of movement, and must therefore be most carefully avoided. If the firelock be carried well in the hand, and against the hip joint, the barrel of the firelock will stand perpendicular, and this will guide the body which should be thrown against the uptight firelock, and will be found to agree with the balance of the body upon the fore part of the foot; and conduce to opening the chest and keeping an erect front.

POSITION in marching. In marching, the soldier must maintain, as much as possible, the same position of the body. See MARCH.

Change of POSITION, the positive or relative movement of a body of troops on any given point.

New POSITIONS that a regiment or line can take with respect to the old one, are:

Parallel POSITIONS, or nearly so to the old one.

Intersecting POSITIONS by themselves, or their prolongation, some part of the old line or its prolongation.

New parallel POSITIONS being necessarily to the front, or rear of the old one, the regiment will, according to circumstances, take them up by the diagonal march; the flank match of divisions after wheeling into column; or the movement in open column to the new line, and its subsequent formation in it.

New intersecting POSITIONS, which themselves cut the regiment, will, in cavalry movements, be taken up by the diagonal march; or the flank march ranks by three’s of divisions. All other new positions, which themselves, or their prolongation, intersect the old line, or its prolongation, will in general be taken up by the march in open column, and its subsequent formations, when it arrives at the line; some such positions will, however, allow of, and require being made by the echellon march, or by the flank march of divisions. In general the regiment will break to the hand which is nearest to the new position, be conducted to its nearest point in the new line, and form on it as directed.

POSITION of the officer. See SWORD.

POSITION du soldat sans armes, Fr. position of the soldier without arms.

POSITION du soldat avec les armes, Fr. position of the soldier with arms.

POSITION de l’extension, Fr. in fencing, position of extension.

POSSEDER, Fr. to possess, to be in possession of.

POSSE, an armed power, called out on any particular emergency; as the posse comitatus; who may be called out by the sheriff, or marshal, to suppress outrages of the peace.

POSSESSION, to take possession, is the act of occupying any post, camp, fortress, &c. which might facilitate the operations of any army, or which previously belonged to the enemy.

POST, in war, a military station; any sort of ground fortified or not, where a body of men can be in a condition of resisting the enemy.

Advanced POST, a spot of ground, seized by a party to secure their front, and the post behind them.

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 is 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. The station of a centinel before the colors, and the door of a commanding officer, is a post of honor.

Advantageous POST. 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. We have various instances in history of how much may be done on both sides, when one army has taken up an advantageous post, and another finds it necessary to drive him from it. This subject has been amply discussed in a French work intituled, Stratagéms de Guerre, page 71, &c.

POSTS of exercise in the rear, the relative situations which officers take in the rear; when the ranks of a battalion are opened for the purpose of going through the manual and platoon exercises. It is likewise a cautionary word of command, viz. The officers will take post in the rear.

To POST. In the disposition of troops, to place the officers, music, drummers, fifers, and pioneers, according to their several ranks and appointments, either for inspection, or exercise in the field.

To POST, to station, as, a sentry, &c.

To be POSTED, in military tactics, 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 POST up, (afficher, Fr.) To hold up to public censure or ridicule.

To be POSTED, in a familiar sense, signifies 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 coffee-house or elsewhere, and to accuse him of want of spirit, &c. The French use the phrase afficher in the same sense. They likewise say figuratively afficher sa bonte; to publish or post up one’s own disgrace; meaning thereby, that some persons are so totally regardless of decency and decorum, as to express sentiments which are unbecoming the character of an officer, or a gentleman.

POSTAGE of Letters. In the British service, non-commissioned officers and private soldiers are privileged to send or receive letters, from any part of that country on payment of one penny only for the postage.

In the instructions to postmasters, (Feb. 4th, 1799,) concerning the exemptions granted to seamen in the navy, and privates in the army, in respect to the postage of their letters, it is specified, that

“No single letter, sent by the post from any seaman or private employed in his majesty’s navy, army, militia, fencible regiments, artillery, or marines, shall, whilst such seamen or private shall be employed on his majesty’s service, and not otherwise, be charged with an higher rate of postage than the sum of one penny for the conveyance of each such letter; such postage to be paid at the time of putting the same into the post office of the town, or place from whence such letter is intended to be sent by the post.

“Provided, that no such letter shall be exempted from postage, unless there shall be written thereon, in the hand-writing of, and signed by the commanding officer, for the time being, of the ship or vessel, or of the corps, regiment, or detachment to which such seamen or private shall belong, the name of such commanding officer, and of the ship, vessel, corps, regiment, or detachment commanded by him.

“No single letter, directed to any such seamen, or private, upon his own private concerns, only whilst such seaman, or private, shall be employed on his majesty’s service, and not otherwise, shall be charged with a higher rate of postage than one penny for each such letter, which penny shall be paid at the time of the delivery thereof.

“Provided, that no such letter shall be exempted from the rates of postage chargeable upon letters, unless any such letter shall be directed to such seaman, or private, specifying the ship, vessel, regiment, troop, corps, company, or detachment to which he may belong: and provided also, that it shall not be lawful for the deputy postmaster of the town or place to which such letter shall be sent to be delivered, to deliver such letter to any person except to the seamen or private to whom such letter shall be directed, or to any person appointed to receive the same by the commanding officer of the ship, &c. to which the seaman, or private to whom such letter shall be directed, shall belong.

“The exemptions do not extend to letters sent to or received from countries independent of England: they do extend to the West India Islands and British America.

“All postmasters are desired to take particular notice that double letters to and from soldiers and sailors and their families, are liable to the full double rates, the same as letters in general; and some postmasters having conceived that letters containing money orders might pass under the exemptions of the act, they are desired to understand, that such letters are chargeable with full double rates also.

“Recruiting serjeants, who may carry on a correspondence with their officers on the recruiting service, cannot send or receive their letters on that service under the exemptions granted by this act.

“The above exemptions granted by the legislature do not extend in the navy to any other than seaman, and not to officers of any description whatever; and in the army, only the privates, with serjeants and serjeant-majors are included. Many officers, both in the army and navy, having construed the act to extend to their own correspondence, it is hereby publicly stated that such a construction is altogether inapplicable.”

The act in its literal meaning includes in this indulgence all non-commissioned officers, although they are excluded by this official interpretation.

According to a letter issued from the post office, dated the 18th Sept, 1799, to all postmasters, in addition to the rates above-mentioned, these letters are chargeable with inland postage to and from London, excepting single letters to and from soldiers and sailors, and it is to be left to the opinion of the writers to pay the postage or not on putting them into any post office.

POSTE, Fr. a word generally used in the plural number to signify small shot, viz. Son fusil étoit chargé de douze ou quinze postes; his gun or musquet was loaded with twelve or fifteen shot.

POSTE, Fr. This word is always used in the masculine gender when it relates to war, or to any specific appointments; as, poste avancé, an advanced post. Poste avantageux, an advantageous post. Mauvais poste, an unfavorable post. The French say figuratively, un poste est jaloux; thereby meaning, that a post is extremely open to an attack, and that the troops in it may be easily surprised.

POSTES de campagne, Fr. Every construction or groupe of buildings that will admit of being defended, and is consequently tenable, is called a poste de campagne, or field work. Of this description are churches, houses, country houses, farm houses, villages, redoubts, &c. in which a sufficient number of men may be stationed for the purpose of holding out against an enemy, until succours can arrive. Chevalier Folard has written upon this subject; and since him, F. Gaudi, with comments and illustrations by A. P. J. Belair, chief of brigade in the French army. We recommend the latter production, which appeared in 1793, to the perusal of every officer. The work is intituled, Instruction addressée aux officiers d’Infanterie pour tracer et construire toutes sortes d’ouvrages de Campagne. See likewise, Aide Mémoire pour les officiers d’artillerie. A late work, intituled, Duties of an Officer in the Field, &c. by Baron Gross, of the Dutch brigade, is very useful; the whole of this tract is incorporated in the American Military Library.

POST avantageux, Fr. See ADVANTAGEOUS POST.

Petits POSTES separés, Fr. small detached posts.

POSTES intermédiaires, Fr. intermediate posts, or men so stationed between different corps, that, in case of urgency, they may with ease advance to the support of that which is more immediately threatened by the enemy.

POSTERN, more frequent a sally-port, is a small door in the flank of a bastion, or other part of a garrison, to march in and out unperceived by an enemy, either to relieve the works, or make sallies.

POSTICHE, Fr. any thing fictitious put in room of something that has been real and natural. In military matters, among the French, it serves to distinguish supernumerary or auxiliary soldiers that are taken from one, or more companies; to strengthen any particular body of men.

POSTILION, Fr. an express boat which is kept in French seaports for the purpose of carrying and bringing intelligence.

POT, Fr. a vessel used in the making of artificial fireworks, &c.

Stink POT, a vessel filled with combustible matter, which is thrown on various occasions, when men come into close action. The consequences of its explosion are sometimes fatal, and always dangerous.

POT à brai, Fr. an iron pot in which pitch or tar is melted.

POT d’une fusée volante, Fr. the carcase of a fusee.

POT à feu, Fr. a fire pot; a hand grenado.

POT à aigrette, Fr. an artificial firework, the centre of which contains a certain quantity of powder, which upon being inflamed, communicates itself to several other branches, and exhibits the appearance of an aigrette, or cluster of rays, such as issue from diamonds arranged in a particular manner. The aigrette takes its name from a bird so called, whose feathers serve to make up an ornament for the head.

POT en téte, Fr. a headpiece made of iron, which is proof against musquet shot. This headpiece is sometimes placed in the crown of the hat, and is otherwise used by sappers.

POTEAU, Fr. a stake, post.

POTEE, Fr. Putty.

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. The derivation of the word may be variously explained, viz. From Potence, a gibbet. Potences, crutches or supports. Potence likewise means a piece of wood which is thrown across two uprights; also a cross table, as table en potence; and a measure to ascertain the height of a horse or man.

POTENTAT, Fr. See POTENTATE.

POTENTATE, a sovereign prince, whose power is rendered formidable by the various means of authority which are vested in him.

POTERNE, Fr. a postern gate, a sally port.

POTERNE, Fr. Likewise signifies a secret gate. Gates of this description are made behind the orillons at the extremities of the curtain, in the angle of the flank, and in the middle of those curtains where there are no gates. The sewers generally run under the poternes. Belidor, in his Art of Engineering, recommends small arched magazines to be constructed on the right and left of the paths that lead to these gates.

POUCH, a case of black stout leather with a flap over it, worn by the infantry for the purpose of carrying their ammunition. The pouches in use among the cavalry are smaller.

POUCH flap, the outside covering of the pouch. It is made of the stoutest blackened leather and ought always to be substantial enough to turn the severest weather.

POUCE, Fr. An inch.

POUDRE, Fr. See GUNPOWDER.

POUDRE muette, poudre sourde, Fr. A species of gunpowder which is free from noise or detonation.

POUDRE fulminante, Fr. A species of gunpowder which makes a greater noise than the common sort.

POUDRE à gros grains, Fr. Gunpowder which is used for artillery pieces. It is likewise called Poudre à Canon.

POUDRE à musquet, Fr. Gunpowder used for musquets, and other firearms.

POUDRIER, Fr. a gunpowder maker. It also signifies an hour glass.

POVERTY, a goddess adored by the Pagans, and familiar to Christians. She was reverenced, as a deity, by the heathens, because they feared her, and was very justly considered as the mother of industry and the fine arts. Among military men, poverty is seldom felt whilst the active duties of the profession are executed with zeal and good sense, and the individuals entrusted with them, are not only paid with punctuality, but are secured in their honest hopes of promotion. Economy is the basis on which every soldier should build his views of personal comfort and security; and if he attend to the perpetual calls of service, he will not fail to realise them. For a life of real service affords no scope for extravagance; and when a good soldier becomes unequal to the hardships it imposes, the nation should provide for him.

POUF, Ind. a word used among the blacks to describe the explosion of firearms.

POULEVRIN, Fr. Pounded gunpowder.

POULIE, Fr. A pulley.

A POUND sterling, a money in account, value 20_s_. in England, marked £.

POUNDAGE, a rate which is allowed for collecting money. Army agents, &c. are entitled to poundage, which consists in a certain deduction from the pay of officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers. Agents are not allowed any poundage on the pay of the privates in the militia.

POUNDER, a great gun or piece of ordnance, denominated according to the weight of the ball it carries, as a 6, 12, 24 pounder.

POWDER Horn, a horn flask, in which powder is kept for priming guns. Light infantry and riflemen have frequently a powder horn for carrying spare powder.

POURIE, Ind. a wooden sandal which is used in India during the wet season.

POURSUITE, Fr. Pursuit.

Poursuivans d’armes, Fr. See PURSUIVANTS AT ARMS.

POURSUIVRE, Fr. to pursue.

POURSUIVRE l’épée dans les reins, Fr. To pursue with unrelenting activity.

POURTOUR, Fr. in architecture, the circumference of any place.

POURVOIR, Fr. to provide, to lay in store, &c.

POURVEYEURS des vivres, Fr. Purveyors.

POUSSER, Fr. to push, to press upon, to drive before you, viz. Pousser aux ennemis; to advance rapidly against the enemy. This expression is used in a neutral sense, and relates chiefly to the operations of cavalry.

POUSSER un cheval, Fr. To make a horse go full speed.

POUSSIER, Fr. the dust which remains after the formation of gunpowder into grains.

POUTRE, Fr. a beam.

POUTRELLE, Fr. a small beam.

POWDER. See GUNPOWDER.

POWDER-magazine, a bomb-proof arched building to hold the powder in fortified places, &c. containing several rows of barrels laid one over another. See MAGAZINE.

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, which is generally four barrels.

POWDER-mill, a building in which the materials are beat, mixed together, and grained: they are placed near rivers, and as far from any house as can be, for fear of accidents, which often happen. See MILL.

POWER, a natural faculty of doing or suffering any thing. Mr. Locke, in his Essay on the Human Understanding, considers power under two heads. One he calls active and the other passive power.

POWER, in military affairs as well as in all others, is knowlege--of human passions--of arms--of distances--of the skill and numbers of an enemy.

To be in the POWER of any body, in a figurative sense, to have committed yourself in such a manner, as to be under the necessity of keeping upon good terms with a person who might injure you by a disclosure of your secrets. To avoid putting yourself in the power of any man, hear much, say little, and write less. These are maxims which every public character ought to attend to; and every general should cautiously follow during an active campaign, when there are frequent occasions to communicate with spies, &c. and he is not unfrequently obliged to hold intercourse with suspected persons.

To be in the POWER of an enemy. To have taken up, injudiciously, such a position as to expose you to a defeat whenever the enemy may think proper to attack you.

POWERS of lines and quantities, are their squares, cubes, &c. or other multiplications of the parts into the whole, or of one part into another.

Small POX. A disease to which most infants, adults, &c. are exposed; and which has been rendered less malignant by inoculation. The introduction of a humor, called the Cow Pox, or Vaccine Matter, into the human system, has lately been found extremely beneficial. When recruits join a regiment they should be examined respecting this disease; and no time should be lost to vaccinate them.

Great POX, commonly called the venereal disease. Few men are more likely to catch this cruel disorder than soldiers; and in no case ought the attention of the regimental surgeon to be more imperiously engaged than in the speedy cure of it. In the navy, where the disease is often prevalent, the surgeons are entitled to receive a certain sum of money, which is stopped out of the pay of their venereal patients, for extraordinary trouble and attendance. In the army of the U. States the soldiers are treated in this as in all other diseases. The soldier should be liable to stoppages. Every officer of a company, who has the welfare of his soldiers at heart, should examine their linen at the weekly inspections, as the disorder generally manifests itself, particularly in its first stages, in stains upon the shirt.

PRACTICABLE. A word frequently used in military matters to express the possible accomplishment of any object. Hence, “a practicable breach.”

PRACTICE, or gun-practice. In the spring, as soon as the weather permits, the exercise of the great guns begins, for the purpose of shewing the gentlemen cadets at the British military academy at Woolwich, and the private men, the manner of laying, loading, pointing, and firing the guns. Sometimes instruments are used to find the centre line, or two points, one at the breech, the other at the muzzle, which are marked with chalk, and whereby the piece is directed to the target: then a quadrant is put into the mouth, to give the gun the required elevation, which at first is guessed at, according to the distance the target is from the piece. When the piece has been fired, it is sponged, to clear it from any dust or sparks of fire that may remain in the bore, and loaded: then the centre line is found, as before; and if the shot went too high or too low, to the right or to the left, the elevation and trail are altered accordingly. This practice continues morning and evening for about six weeks, more or less, according as there are a greater or less number of recruits. In the mean time others are shown the motions of quick firing with field-pieces. There is no practice in the army of the U. States, in which there are officers of ten or twelve years standing who never saw a mortar loaded; but this is the effect of a total want of system.

Mortar PRACTICE, generally thus: a line of 1500 or 2000 yards is measured in an open spot of ground, from the place where the mortars stand, and a flag fixed at about 300 or 500 yards: this being done, the ground where the mortars are to be placed is prepared and levelled with sand, so that they may lie at an elevation of 45, or any required number of degrees; then they are loaded with a small quantity of powder at first, which is increased afterwards, by an ounce every time, till they are loaded with a full charge: the times of the flights of the shells are observed, to determine the length of the fuzes. The intention of this practice is, when a mortar-battery is raised in a siege, to know what quantity of powder is required to throw the shells in to the works at a given distance, and at what elevation, and to cut the fuzes of a just length, that the shell may burst as soon as it touches the ground.

PRACTICE-Book. See BOOK.

To PRACTICE. In a military sense, to go through the manual and platoon exercises, or through the various manœuvres, &c. for the purpose of becoming thoroughly master of military movements. Practice is likewise used, in imitation of the French, to signify the act of effecting or executing any military operation, viz. to practise a mine beneath the covert way, &c.

PRAME, Fr. A sort of boat or barge which is used on the canals in France.

PRAME, in military history, a kind of floating battery, being a flat bottomed vessel, which draws little water, mounts several guns, and is very useful in covering the disembarkation of troops. They are generally made use of in transporting the troops over the lakes in America. These vessels are well calculated for the defence of large havens and seaports. Belair, in his Elements de Fortification, page 397, strongly recommends the use of Prames in cases of inundation, &c. See the improvements proposed by him in page 316, where he speaks of “Bateaux insubmersibles.”

Di PRATICA, Ital. Free intercourse; admitted to pratique. Persons who, having performed quarantine, are permitted to land in Italy, and mix with the inhabitants.

PRACTICABLE, Fr. See PRACTICABLE. This word is in general use among the French, viz.

Les chemins ne sont pas PRACTICABLES. The roads are not passable.

Le gué n’est pas PRACTICABLE dans se moment-ci. The river is not fordable at this moment; verbatim, the ford is not practicable at this moment.

PRATIQUE, Fr. Practice. The term likewise signifies, among the French, commerce, intercourse, traffic, &c.

Avoir PRATIQUE avec des insulaires, Fr. To trade, or have intercourse with the inhabitants of islands.

Une PRATIQUE eclairée, Fr. A project undertaken and put into execution upon solid principles.

Une PRATIQUE aveugle, Fr. A plan ill digested, and executed without discernment or ability.

PRATIQUES, Fr. In the plural, this term signifies the same as mal-practices, or secret intelligence with an enemy, viz.

Entrétenir des PRATIQUES avec le commandant d’une place. To hold communication, or keep up a secret correspondence with the commandant of a fortified place.

PRATIQUER des intelligences, Fr. To collect, to gather useful information.

Il avoit PRATIQUE dans cette place des intelligences qui lui ont donné le moyen de la surprendre, Fr. He had gathered such information, by holding secret intelligence with the inhabitants, as to be able to surprise the place.

PRATIQUER, Fr. In architecture, to contrive, to make, to render convenient.

Donner PRATIQUE à un vaisseau, Fr. To allow a vessel to enter into port and unload. This expression is used in the Mediterranean under circumstances of quarantine, and comes from Pratica.

PRATIQUER, Fr. To practice. Pratiquer une homme; to try a man; to put his abilities to the test. It likewise signifies to gain over, to suborn.

PRECEDENCE. Priority. Priority in rank or precedence in military life, arises from rank, or the date of an officer’s commission.

PRECEDENT. Any act which can be interpreted into an example for future times, is called a precedent. Persons in high official situations are extremely scrupulous with respect to precedence, especially in military matters.

PRECIPITER, Fr. To precipitate; to urge or hasten on; to do every thing prematurely. This word appears to be used by the French in almost all the senses to which we attach it, especially in military matters.

PRECIPITER sa retraite, Fr. Literally signifies, to precipitate one’s retreat. It may be taken in a good or bad sense, to signify the act of flying away blindly or rashly, without judgment or discretion; or of urging your retreat under circumstances of imperious necessity, yet with proper caution and foresight. So that to precipitate, both in French and English, signifies, Faire trés promptement ou trop promptement; to do any thing very promptly, or too promptly.

PRECISION, exact limitation, scrupulous observance of certain given rules.

PRECISION of march. On the leading platoon officer of the column, much of the precision of march depends; he must lead at an equal, steady pace; he must lead on two objects either given to him, or which he himself takes up on every alteration of position; this demands his utmost attention; nor must he allow it to be diverted by looking at his platoon, the care of whose regularity depends on the other officers and non-commissioned officers, belonging to it. The second platoon officer must also be shewn, and be made acquainted with the points on which the first leads; he is always to keep the first officer and those points in a line, and those two officers, together with the guide mounted officers, thus become a direction for the other pivot officers to cover. In marching in open column, the covering serjeants or guides are placed behind the second file from the pivot officers, that the officers may the more correctly see and cover each other in column.

PREDAL, or, PREDATORY, War, a war carried on by plunder and rapine; such as the British navy and the Algerines; the Buccaneers, also carried on a predal war, against all persons on the high seas.

PREDESTINARIAN. A person who believes in predestination. Every Turk, may be considered as a predestinarian. A Turkish soldier is taught to believe that it he falls in battle he will instantly go to heaven. This is a comfortable idea even for christian soldiers. How far it ought to be encouraged, doctors and able casuists must agree.

PREFECT, (Préfet, Fr.) a governor or commander of any place or body of men. Among the Romans this was a title of great importance, both in civil and military situations. During the existence of the republic the Præfectus Legio has had a considerable command. The two Alæ, wings, or great divisions of the allies, had each a præfect appointed them by the Roman consul, who governed in the same manner as the legionary tribunes. For a specific account see pages 193, 194, 195, of Kennett’s Roman Antiquities. There was likewise, during the time of the Roman emperors, an officer called the præfect of the pretorian band, or body guards. The French have adopted the word in their government. The functions of a modern French prefect correspond almost wholly with those of a governor of a province under the old regime or system.

PREFERMENT, the state of being advanced to a higher post.

PREJUDICE, PREJUGE, Fr. Prepossession, judgment formed beforehand, without examination. A celebrated French writer calls it an opinion taken up without judgment, Le préjuge est une opinion sans jugement. Voltaire. It is used in two instances, viz. for and against a person.

PRELIMINARY, (Préliminaire, Fr.) Previous, introductory, &c. Preliminary, as a substantive, signifies an introductory measure, a previous arrangement. Hence the “preliminaries of peace.”

PRENDRE, Fr. A French military term. It is variously used, and accords generally with our word to take, viz.

PRENDRE une ville d’assaut; par famine, &c. To take a town by assault; by famine, &c.

PRENDRE à droite, ou à gauche, Fr. To go to the right or left.

PRENDRE à travers, Fr. To run across.

PRENDRE les devants, Fr. To anticipate, to get the start of any body.

PRENDRE le pas, Fr. To take precedence.

PRENDRE la droite, Fr. To take the right.

PRENDRE terre, Fr. To land.

PRENDRE le large, Fr. A term used figuratively to signify the act of running away.

PRENDRE la clef des champs, Fr. Literally, to take the key of the country, or to run over it.

PRENDRE son êlan, Fr. To dart forth, to spring forward.

PRENDRE un rat, Fr. A figurative expression used among the French when a musquet or pistol misses fire, Il voulut tirer, mais son pistolet ne prit qu’un rat. Literally, he would have fired, but his pistol only caught a rat.

PRENDRE langue, Fr. To seek for information, to obtain intelligence.

PRENDRE du temps, Fr. To take time in executing a thing.

PRENDRE son temps, Fr. To do a thing with perfect convenience to one’s self.

PRENDRE la parole, Fr. To speak first.

PRENDRE sa revanche, Fr. To make up for any past loss or disadvantage. We familiarly say, to take one’s revenge.

PRENDRE à partie, Fr. An expression peculiar to the French, in judicial matters, which signifies to attack a judge, for having prevaricated and taken the part of one side against another, without any regard to justice. It likewise means to impute misconduct or criminality, and to make a person responsible for it.

Se PRENDRE de vin, Fr. To get drunk. Excess of drinking was so little known among the French officers and soldiers, that the greatest disgrace was affixed to the habit. It is recorded, that when marshal Richelieu had determined to storm a place in the Mediterranean, he gave out the following order--“any soldier who shall appear the least intoxicated, shall be excluded from the honor and glory of mounting the assault to-morrow morning.” Every man was at his post, and not a single instance of intoxication occurred. Such was the esprit de corps and the amour propre which prevailed in all ranks, that the dread of corporeal punishment had less effect than the being deprived of an opportunity to shew courage and resolution.

Vaisseau PRENEUR, Fr. A term peculiarly applicable to a ship that has taken a prize.

PREPARATIFS de guerre, Fr. Warlike preparations. A French writer, under this article, very judiciously observes, that the necessary arrangements which must be made before an army takes the field, and sometimes before an open declaration of war takes place, ought to be managed with extreme caution and great secrecy; although it is impossible to prevent the neighboring powers from being totally ignorant of what is going forward. It is recorded that Henry the IVth of France, having conceived a vast military project, kept it a profound secret for several years, and made the necessary preparations with extreme caution, before he put it into execution.

When Louis the XIVth resolved to invade Italy, in 1663, he dispatched commissaries, purveyors, &c. the preceding year, under various pretences, to buy up corn, to secure forage for his cavalry, and to provide every thing that might be wanted in the train of artillery; and in 1667, when he formed the plan of entering Belgium in person, he arranged all matters relative to the interior government of France during his absence, examined into the state of the finances, filled his treasury with money, augmented, by insensible degrees, the different regiments of his army, and by means of these and other sage precautions, secured the conquest of his object. In fact, well digested plans and cautious arrangements previous to the execution of a military project, however apparently tedious, are the sure forerunners of a prompt and decisive victory. It was a maxim among the Romans, and it is still one among the Turks, De faire de grosses et courtes guerres. To make war upon a scale previously vast and heavy, that its issue may be ultimately short and effectual.

PREPARATIVE, having the power of preparing, qualifying, or fitting. This word is used in a military sense to give notice of any thing about to be done. Hence

PREPARATIVE. A beat of the drum by which officers are warned to step out of the ranks when the firings are to commence.

When the preparative is beat, for the firings, the officers in the front rank step out nimbly two paces from the vacancies between the divisions, platoons, companies, or sub divisions, face to the left without word of command, and look right of companies, &c. When the preparative has ceased, they severally commence the firing. When the general is beat they fall back into the front rank.

To PREPARE. To take previous measures.

PREPARE for action. A word of command used in the artillery. To battery, is a command of the same import.

PREPARATORY, antecedently necessary; giving that knowlege in any art or science which is necessary to qualify individuals for a superior class or branch. Hence preparatory schools.

PREPARATORY Academies. The junior department of the British military college, is preparatory to the senior. The first elements of military science are taught in the former, and officers get qualified in the higher branches of the profession when they enter the latter.

PRESENCE of mind. Ready conception of expedients, producing promptitude of action under difficult and alarming circumstances.

There is a very remarkable instance of that species of presence of mind which gives a sudden turn to public opinion, and, as it were, electrifies the human mind. When a dangerous mutiny broke out among the Roman legions, on a proposed expedition against the Germans, Cæsar suddenly exclaimed, “Let the whole army return ignominiously home if it think proper, the tenth legion and myself will remain and combat for the republic.” Having, as Plutarch observes, excited his troops to fresh ardor, he led them against the Germans; and being informed that the enemy had been warned by their soothsayers not to engage before the next moon, he took an immediate occasion to force them to battle, in which he as usual obtained victory. On a subsequent occasion this great man discovered a promptitude of conception and a presence of mind which have since been imitated on various occasions by a modern general, but have never been surpassed in ancient or modern history.

Having led his army against the Nervii, the most uncivilized, and the most fierce of all the nations bordering upon the Roman territory, he met a resistance, which as it was not expected, somewhat shook the firmness of his troops. The Nervii, by a sudden onset, at first routed his cavalry, but perceiving the danger to which his army was exposed, Cæsar himself snatched up a buckler, and forcing his way through his own men, he, with the assistance of his tenth legion, changed the fortune of the day, and cut the enemy almost entirely off. For, as Plutarch states, out of 60,000 soldiers, not above 500 survived the battle. The instances of presence of mind in modern wars are numerous, for several see Memoirs of Bonaparte’s first campaign: and several subsequent occasions.

En PRESENCE, Fr. In sight.

All PRESENT. A term used when an officer takes his serjeant’s report, and makes the necessary enquiry respecting the state of his troops or company.

To PRESENT, PRESENTER, Fr. This word is used in various senses. Those which are more immediately applicable to military usage are as follow:

To PRESENT. To offer openly. To exhibit. To give in ceremony; as to present the colors.

To PRESENT arms. To bring the firelock to a certain prescribed position, for the purpose of paying a military compliment. See MANUAL.

PRESENTER les armes, Fr. To present arms, to bring the firelock to any position that may be prescribed in military exercise. In the firings it signifies make ready, viz. Presentez les armes, make ready; Joue, aim; feu, fire. In the manual and other exercises of the piece, it corresponds with our term.

PRESENTER la baïonette, Fr. To charge bayonet.

PRESIDENCY. The seat of government, so distinguished in India. There are four presidencies, viz. Bombay, Calcutta, Fort St. David, and Madras.

PRESIDENT of the United States.

PRESIDENT of the old congress.

PRESIDENT of a general or regimental court martial. The officer, oldest in rank, who sits in conjunction with other officers, for the trial of military offences is so called. The court, consisting of an odd number of members, when their opinions are equal, the president has the casting vote.

PRESIDIAL, relating to a garrison or fortress.

PRESS-money, money given to the soldier when taken or pressed into the service: but as the entrance into the American army is a voluntary act, it is more properly called bounty or enlisting money.

PRESTATION de serment, Fr. The taking an oath.

PRET, Fr. The subsistence or daily pay which is given to soldiers. The French say,

Payer le PRET. To pay subsistence.

Recevoir le PRET. To receive subsistence.

Toucher le PRET. To touch subsistence or daily pay.

PRETENDER, one who pretends to any thing whether it be his own or the property of another.

PRETER, Fr. In military tactics, to expose, as

PRETER son flanc à l’ennemi. To expose one’s flank to the enemy; to march in so unguarded a manner, or to take up one’s ground so disadvantageously as to stand in continual danger of being outflanked.

The French likewise say, figuratively,

PRETER le flanc. To put one’s self in the power of another.

PRETOR, (Préteur, Fr.) Among the Romans, the governor of a province, who had served the office of pretor, or chief minister of justice in ancient Rome. The provinces so governed were called pretorian.

PRETORIAN, (Pretorien, ne, Fr.) appertaining to pretor; as Pretorian Band, the general’s guard among the ancient Romans.

PRETORIUM, (Prétoire, Fr.) The hall or court wherein 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.

PREVARICATION. According to the laws of England is, where a lawyer pleads booty, or acts by collusion, &c. It also denotes a secret abuse committed in the exercise of a public office, or of a commission given by a private person. The word is unknown in military phraseology, and is only explained in this place to stand as a land mark to the open ingenuous character of a soldier.

PREVOST, Fr. Provost.

PREVOST d’une armée, Fr. Provost-marshal belonging to an army.

PRICES of commissions. See REGULATIONS.

PRICKER. A light horseman was formerly so called.

To PRICK out. An expression used among engineers, &c. signifying to mark out the ground where a camp, &c. is to be formed.

To PRICK out the line of circumvallation. This is done by the chief engineer and chief of the staff, whenever an army entrenches itself before a town, or takes possession of any given lot of ground, and begins to hut.

PRICKING. Among marines, to make a point on the plan or chart, near about where the ship then is, or is to be at such a time, in order to find the course they are to steer.

PRIEST’s-cap. See FORTIFICATION and BONNET.

PRIME, a word of command used in the platoon exercise. See MANUAL.

PRIME and load, a word of command used in the exercise of a battalion, company, or squad. See MANUAL.

PRIME parade, in fencing, is formed by dropping the point of your sword to the right, bending your elbow, and drawing the back of your sword hand to within a foot of your forehead, in a line with your left temple, so that your blade shall carry the thrust of your antagonist clear of the inside or left of your position.

PRIME thrust, a thrust applicable after forming the above parade, and delivered at the inside of the antagonist. To obtain an opening for this thrust, it is necessary to step out of the line to the right as you parry, or else to oppose the sword of your antagonist with your left hand. The first method is most eligible.

PRIME Hanging Guard, with the broadsword, a position in which the hand is brought somewhat to the left, in order to secure that side of the face and body. See BROADSWORD.

PRIMING, in Gunnery, the train of powder that is laid, from the opening of the vent, along the gutter or channel, on the upper part of the breech of the gun, which, when fired, conveys the flame to the vent, by which it is further communicated to the charge, in order to discharge the piece. This operation is only used on ship-board, at the proof, and sometimes in garrison; for on all other occasions, tubes are used for that purpose.

PRIMING, or prime of a gun, is the gunpowder put in the pan or touch-hole of a piece, to give it fire thereby.

PRIMING-case, a small tin case, about the size and shape of a cartridge, for the purpose of keeping a certain quantity of gunpowder, for priming, constantly ready and dry. This rational and econonomical invention, should be universally adopted.

PRIMING position. See Platoon exercise under MANUAL.

PRIMING-wire, in gunnery, a sort of iron needle employed to penetrate the vent or touch-hole of a piece of ordnance, when it is loaded, in order to discover whether the powder contained therein is thoroughly dry, and fit for immediate service; as likewise to search the vent and penetrate the cartridge, when the guns are not loaded with loose powder.

PRIMIPILARII, PRIMOPILARII, or PRIMIPILARES, among the Romans were such as had formerly borne the office of primipulus of a legion. The banner was entrusted 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.

PRIMIPILAIRE, Fr. See PRIMIPILARII.

PRIMIPULUS, the centurion belonging to the first cohort of a legion. He had charge of the Roman eagle.

PRIMITIVES, Fr. Primitive colors are distinguished by this term among the French. They are, the yellow, the red, and the blue; white and black being the extremes.

PRINCIPES, (Princes, Fr.) Roman soldiers. They consisted of the strongest and most active men in the infantry, and were armed like the Hastati, with this difference, that the former had half-pikes instead of whole ones.

PRINCIPLE, according to the schools, is that from which any thing is done or known.

PRINCIPLE also denotes the foundations of arts and sciences.

Military PRINCIPLES, the basis or ground work upon which every military movement is made, and by which every operation is conducted.

PRISAGE, that share which belongs to the king or admiral out of such merchandises, &c. as are lawfully taken at sea.

PRIS, Fr. This word is variously used by the French, in a figurative and proverbial sense. C’est autant de pris sur l’ennemi. An expression signifying that some advantage, at least, has been gained.

Une Ville PRISE, Fr. a town which has been taken.

PRISE des dehors d’une place, Fr. The taking possession of an enemy’s outworks.

PRISES, Fr. Prizes.

PRISES sur l’ennemi, Fr. Every thing taken from the enemy is so called.

PRISONNIERS de guerre, Fr. prisoners of war.

PRISONERS of war, those of the enemy who are taken in or after a battle, siege, &c. They are deprived of their liberty at large, until exchanged, or sent on parole.

PRIVILEGE, is any kind of right or advantage which is attached to a person or employment exclusive of others.

PRIVILEGES. Among the different privileges which prevail in the British army, the life guards receive their promotions direct from the king, without passing through the commander in chief as all other corps do. The appointment of colonel in the life guards gives the honorary title of gold stick, and the field officer of the day is the silver stick, through whom all reports, &c. are conveyed to the king. Although there is a lieutenant general of the London district, the foot guards have the privilege of reporting to head quarters direct. The foot guards enjoy the privilege of ranking, from the ensign, one step higher than the line. A lieutenant, for instance, ranks as captain, and can purchase as such into any marching regiment without having waited the regulated period; and a captain, having the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel, may leap over all the majors of the line, by getting appointed to a marching regiment. The promotions of the guards, among themselves, are, however, extremely slow; and the only indemnification they have must beat the expence of the line. This preposterous pre-eminence which is not founded on any military principles or personal merit, has tended to destroy military emulation in England; and will every where when merit only is not the criterion of honor and promotion.

PRIVILEGES des régimens, Fr. Certain privileges attached to regiments, which are always abused, when not the reward of distinguished merit.

PRIVY Council, a council of state held by a king, with his counsellors, to concert matters for the public service; also called the cabinet.

PRIX des emplois ou charges militaires, Fr. The price of commissions, or military employments. During the monarchy of France, a company in the French guards sold for 80,000 livres!

A company in the six first regiments of infantry, went for 75,000 livres. The six following, exclusive of the régiment du roi, went for 55,000 livres. One in the regiment of Poitou, and as far down as the Penthievre, 40,000 livres; in the Penthievre, and from that to the last regiment inclusive, 30,000 livres!

A company in the Scotch gendarmes cost 180,000 livres; in the Irish, the Bourguignon, and Flanders, 150,000 livres. The other companies of gendarmerie went for 135,000!

The sub-lieutenants in the gendarmerie paid 100,000 livres, and those in the light horse, 95,000 livres. The ensigns and first cornets, including the guidon belonging to the Scotch gendarmes, gave 62,000 livres!

The guidons, and second cornets, 30,000 livres!

There was no specific regulation for the purchase of a regiment of heavy cavalry or dragoons. Appointments in the état major or staff belonging to the cavalry and the royal regiments (les royaux) sold for 100,000_l._ in the dragoons, from 100,000 to 120,000 livres.

The troops or companies in cavalry regiments, in the royal corps, and in the état major or staff, were fixed at 10,000 livres, and the rest at 8000.

A troop of dragoons sold for 7000 livres. No company or other appointment in the infantry, was allowed to be bought or sold. It will strike the military reader, that although the purchase of commissions was, in some degree, sanctioned by the old French government, it was nevertheless extremely limited, and confined to the upper ranks. The efficient part of the army, which is certainly the infantry, received its commissions gratis.

PRIZE-FIGHTER. See GLADIATOR.

PRIZE-money, officers and soldiers of the line doing duty on board ships of war, are entitled to prize-money as marines.

PROA, Ind. A sailing vessel is so called in India.

PROBABILITY, (Probabilité, Fr.) is nothing but the appearance of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas by the intervention of proofs, whose connection is not constant and immutable, or is not perceived to be so; but is, or appears for the most part to be so, and is sufficient to induce the mind to judge the proposition to be true or false, rather than the contrary.

PROBLEM, (Probléme, Fr.) In the general acceptation of the term, a doubtful proposition, which will admit of several solutions.

PROCEDURES militaires, Fr. Military process. It consists in the investigation of all crimes and offences committed by soldiers which come under the cognizance of a military tribunal; in contradistinction to the authority which is vested in the civil magistrates.

To PROCLAIM, (Proclamer, Fr.) to promulgate or denounce by a solemn or legal publication. Hence, to proclaim peace, which is used in contradistinction to the term to declare, which denounces war. Both French and English say, Declarer la guerre, to declare war; proclamer la paix, to proclaim peace.

PROCLAMATION. An instrument which is published by the constituted authority of government, whereby the country at large is advertised of something, and whereby the people are sometimes required to do, or not to do certain things. A proclamation has all the efficacy of law, because it must be in concord with or founded upon the law already in being.

PROCLAMATION of peace, a declaration of the cessation of war.

PROCONSUL, among the Romans, a magistrate who was sent to govern a province with consular authority.

PRODITION. See TREACHERY.

PRODUCE, PRODUCT, (Produit, Fr.) Effect, fruit. In arithmetic it is the quantity which grows out of the multiplication of two or more numbers or lines one by another: 5 for instance multiplied by 4, will give the produce 20; and the produce of two lines, multiplied one by the other, is called the rectangle of these lines.

PROFILE, in drawing, side-ways or side-view. A picture in profile represents a head or face set side-ways.

PROFILER, Fr. the act of profiling, or designing with rule and compass.

PROFILE, (Profil, Fr.) in architecture, the draught of a building, fortification, &c. wherein are expressed the several heights, widths, and thicknesses, such as they would appear were the building cut down perpendicularly from the roof to the foundation. It serves to show those dimensions which cannot be represented in plans, but are yet necessary in the building of a fortification: they are best constructed on a scale of 30 feet to an inch. It is also called section, orthographical section, and by Vitruvius, sciagraphy. It is sometimes used in opposition to ichnography.

PROGRAM, (Programme, Fr.) a word derived from the Greek, signifying any public edict, notice, or declaration. The French make use or the word on occasions of national ceremony.

PROJECTILES, are such bodies as, being put in motion by any great force, are then cast off, or let go from the place where they received their quantity of motion; as a shell or shot from a piece of artillery, a stone thrown from a sling, or an arrow from a bow, &c. This line is commonly taken for a parabola, and the ranges are computed from the properties of the curves. The assumption would be just, in case the ball, in its motion, met with no resistance: but, the resistance of the air to swift motions being very great, the curve described by the shot is neither a parabola, nor near it: and by reason of the resistance, the angle which gives the greatest amplitude is not 45 degrees, as commonly supposed, but something less, probably 43¹⁄₂. Hence the sublime mathematics are absolutely necessary in the investigation of the track of a shell or shot in the air, known by the name of military projectiles.

Gallileo having discovered that bodies projected in vacuo, and in an oblique direction to the horizon, do always describe a parabola, he concluded that this doctrine was not sufficient to determine the real motion of a military projectile: for, since shells and shot move with a great velocity, the resistance of the air becomes so great with respect to the weight of the projectile, that its effect turns the body very considerably from the parabolic tract; so that all calculations, grounded on the nature of this curve, are of little use on these occasions. This is not to be wondered at, since Gallileo, in his enquiry, paid no regard to any other force acting on bodies, than the force of gravity only, without considering the resistance of the air.

Every body, moving in a fluid, suffers the action of two forces: the one is the force of gravity, or the weight of the body; and it is to be observed, that this weight is less than the natural weight of the body, that being diminished by an equal bulk of the fluid in which the body moves. The other force is that of the resistance, which is known to be proportional to the squares of the velocity of the body; and when the body is a globe, as is commonly supposed, the direction of this force is diametrically opposite to that of the motion of the body. This force changes continually, both in quantity and direction; but the first force remains constantly the same. Hence, the point in question is, to determine the curve which a body projected obliquely, must describe when acted upon by the two forces just now mentioned.

Although this question is easily reduced to a problem purely analytical, the great Newton, notwithstanding his ingenious endeavors, did not arrive at a complete solution of it. He was the first who attempted it, and having succeeded so well in the supposition, that the resistance is proportional to the velocity, it is almost inconceivable that he did not succeed, when the resistance is supposed proportional to the squares of the velocity, after solving a number of questions incomparably more difficult. The late Mr. John Bernoulli gave the first solution of this problem, from which he drew a construction of the curve, by means of the quadratures of some transcendent curves, whose description is not very difficult.

This great problem was, therefore, very well solved long ago; yet the solution, however good in theory, is such as has hitherto been of no use in practice, nor in correcting the false theory grounded on the parabola, to which the artillerist is still obliged to adhere, notwithstanding he knows it to be insufficient. It is certain, that that solution has been of no real advantage towards improving the art of gunnery: it has only served to convince the student in that art, of the error of his principles, drawn from the nature of the parabola, although he is still to abide by them. It is indeed something to know, that the common rules are erroneous; but unless we know how much they err in any case, the advantage is very little.

One may think it a work of infinite labor to establish rules for the flight of cannon shot, agreeable to the real curve which a body describes in the air: for although, according to the hypothesis of Gallileo, we want only the elevation of the piece, and the initial velocity, and it is therefore not difficult to calculate tables to show the greatest height of the projectile, and the point where it must fall in any proposed case; yet in order to calculate similar tables according to the true hypothesis, care must be taken, besides the two particulars already mentioned, to have respect as well to the diameter of the projectile as to its weight: therefore the practitioner will be reduced to the necessity of calculating tables, as well for the diameter of each projectile, as for its weight; and the execution of such a work would be almost impracticable. We therefore refer the curious to Mr. Euler’s True Principles of Gunnery, translated, with many necessary explanations and remarks, by the very learned and ingenious Hugh Brown.

PROJECTION, (Projection, Fr.) in mathematics, the action of giving a projectile its motion. It is also used to signify a scheme, plan, or delineation.

PROJECT, (Projet, Fr.) a term generally used among French engineers, to express what works are required to be made for the inward or outward defence of a fortified town or place. It likewise signifies, in diplomacy, a plan or statement of terms and conditions which one country makes to another for a final adjustment of differences.

Contre-PROJET, Fr. a receipt or answer to terms proposed, accompanied by a project from the other side.

PROLONGE, Fr. A long thick rope, which is used to drag artillery; but different from the bricole and drag rope; it is coiled round pins under the gun carriage travelling, it is loosed in action, and one end being attached to the limber, is of great use in moving the gun in action or in a retreat. See Am. Mil. Lib.

PROMOTION, (Promotion, Fr.) This word signifies, in military matters, the elevation of an individual to some appointment of greater rank and trust than the one he holds.

PROMOUVOIR, Fr. to promote.

PROMU, Fr. promoted.

PROOF, in arithmetic, an operation whereby the truth and justness of a calculation are examined and ascertained.

PROOF of artillery and small arms, is a trial whether they will stand the quantity of powder allotted for that purpose.

The British government allow 11 bullets of lead in the pound for the proof of musquets, and 29 in two pounds, for service; 17 in the pound for the proof of carabines, and 20 for service; 28 in the pound for the proof of pistols, and 34 for service.

When guns of a new metal, or of lighter construction, are proved, then besides the common proof, they are fired 2 or 300 times, as quick as they can be, loaded with the common charge given in actual service. British light 6 pounders were fired 300 times in three hours, 27 minutes, loaded with 1lb. 4oz. without receiving any damage.

PROOF of ordnance. All natures of ordnance undergo several kinds of proof before they are received into the British service; viz. 1st, they are guaged as to their several dimensions, internal and external, as to the justness of the position of the bore, the chamber, the vent, the trunnions, &c.

2d, They are fired with a regulated charge of powder and shot, and afterwards searched to discover irregularities or holes produced by the firing.

3d, By means of engines an endeavor is made to force water through them; and,

4th, They are examined internally, by means of light reflected from a mirror.

Iron guns. The guns are first examined as to their proper dimensions, in which, in no case more than ³⁄₁₀ of an inch variation is allowed; and in the diameter of the bore only ¹⁄₃₀ from 42 to 18 pounders, and ¹⁄₄₀ from 12 to 4 pounders; but in the position of the bore ¹⁄₂ an inch out of the axis of a piece from a 42 to an 18 pounder, and ¹⁄₃ of an inch from a 12 to a 4 pounder is allowed. They are then fired twice with the charge in the following table, with one shot and two high junk wads; and examined with a searcher after each round. In this examination they must not have any hole or cavity in the bore of ²⁄₁₀ of an inch in depth, behind the first reinforce ring, or ¹⁄₄ of an inch in depth before this ring.

-------+-------- Nature.| Proof |charge. -------+-------- Prs. |lbs. oz. 42 | 25 -- 32 | 21 8 24 | 18 -- 18 | 15 -- 12 | 12 -- 9 | 9 -- 6 | 6 -- 4 | 4 -- 3 | 3 -- 2 | 2 -- 1¹⁄₂| 1 8 1 | 1 --

Iron guns are scaled with ¹⁄₁₂ the weight of the shot.

Brass guns. From 1 pounders to 12 pounders the diameter of the bore must not vary more than ¹⁄₄₀ of an inch, and in no dimensions more than ²⁄₁₀. The following are the established charges for their proof. The heavy and medium guns with a charge equal to the weight of the shot, except the medium 12 pounder, which is proved with only 9lbs. The light guns with half the weight of the shot. The brass ordnance have not however been proved of late with such heavy charges, but with the following:

3 Prs. light, 3 times, with 1 lb. each round. 6 Prs. light, 3 times, with 2 lbs. each. 12 Prs. light, 2 times, with 4 lbs. each. 12 Prs. med., 2 times, with 5 lbs. each.

Any hole ·15 of an inch deep upwards or sideways in the bore, or ·1 in the bottom, between the breach and first reinforce; or ·2 of an inch upwards or sideways, or ·15 in the bottom of the bore, before the first reinforce ring, will be sufficient to condemn them.

Brass Mortars and Howitzers. The exterior dimensions are in no respect to deviate more than ¹⁄₁₀ of an inch in an 8 inch howitzer, and ¹⁄₂₀ in the Cohorn mortars and howitzers. Their bores and chambers not to deviate from their true diameters or positions more than ¹⁄₄₀ of an inch.

The brass mortars and howitzers are fired twice with their chambers full of powder, and an iron shell. The mortars on their own beds, at about 75 degrees elevation; and the howitzers on their carriages, at about 12 degrees. Iron mortars are proved on their iron beds, with a charge equal to the full chamber, and an iron shot equal in diameter to the shell.

Cohorn mortars, having a hole ·1 of an inch in depth in the chamber, or ·15 in the chase, are rejected: royal howitzers the same. 8 inch howitzers having a hole ·15 of an inch in depth in the chamber, or ·2 in the chase, will be rejected.

Carronades. The diameter and position of their bore and chamber must not deviate ¹⁄₂₀ of an inch. They are proved with two rounds, with their chambers full of powder and 1 shot and 1 wad. A hole of ²⁄₁₀ of an inch in depth in the bore, or ¹⁄₁₀ in the chamber condemns the piece.

Proof Charges.

-------+--+--+--+--+-- 68 Prs.|42|32|24|18|12 -------+--+--+--+--+-- 13 lbs.| 9| 8| 6| 4| 3 -------+--+--+--+--+--

All ordnance, after having undergone this proof, and the subsequent searching, are subject to the water proof: this is done by means of a forcing pump, having a pipe or hose fixed to the mouth of the piece: after two or three efforts to force the water through any honeycombs or flaws which may be in the bore, they are left to dry; and generally the next day examined by the reflected light from a mirror. If the bore contains any small holes or flaws which have not been discovered by the former proofs, they are very readily found by this; the water will continue to weep, or run from the holes, when the solid parts of the bore are perfectly dry. Ordnance suspected of being bad are often subject to a more severe proof: that of firing 30 rounds quick, with the service charge and a shot; and in doubtful cases, where the purity of the metal is suspected, recourse has been had to chemical trials and analysis. A quantity of clean filings taken from a part of an iron gun free from rust, are dissolved in diluted sulphuric acid, and the quantity of gas disengaged during the solution accurately ascertained. The plumbago which remains after solution is also separated by filtration, and carefully weighed. Now it is well known that the purer the iron, the greater the quantity of inflammable gas obtained, and the less the proportion of plumbago which remains after the solution; from these two parts therefore a tolerable judgment may be formed of the quality of the metal. When the plumbago exceeds 4¹⁄₂ per cent. the iron will always be found deficient in strength; and there has been no instance of a gun bursting where the plumbago did not exceed 3 per cent.; that is, where 100 grains of the metal did not leave more than 3 grains of plumbago. The color of the plumbago is also to be attended to; when it is brown or reddish, it is an indication of hard metal, and when in quantities and mixed with coals, there can be no doubt but that the iron is too soft for cannon.

Proof of Iron Shells. After the shells are guaged and examined as to their dimensions and weight, they must be well scraped out, and the iron pin at the bottom of the inside must be driven down or broken off. They are then to be hammered all over, to knock off the scales, and discover flaws, and no hole, in the large shells is allowed, of more than ³⁄₄ of an inch deep. An empty fuze is then driven into the fuze hole, and the shell is suspended in a tub of water, in such manner that the shell be covered by the water, but that it does not run into the fuze: in this situation the nose of a pair of bellows is put in at the fuze hole, and several strong puffs given with the bellows; and if no bubbles rise in the water, the shell is concluded to be serviceable.

Ordnance condemned as unserviceable for any of the foregoing reasons, are marked as follows: ╳ D, or ╳ S, or ╳ W. The first signifies that they are found to be faulty in their dimensions, by Desagulier’s instrument; the second, by the searcher; and the third, by the water proof.

PROOF of powder, is in order to try its goodness and strength. There have been different inventions proposed and put in practice heretofore, for the proof of powder. See GUNPOWDER, and EPROUVETTE.

PROOF of cannon, is made to ascertain their being well cast, their having no cavities in their metal, and, in a word, their being fit to resist the effort of their charge of powder. In making this proof, the piece is laid upon the ground, supported only by a piece of wood in the middle, of about five or six inches thick, to raise the muzzle a little; and then the piece is fired against a solid butt of earth.

Tools to PROVE cannon are as follow, viz. Searcher, an iron socket with branches, from four to eight in number, bending outward a little, with small points at their ends: to this socket is fixed a wooden handle, from eight to twelve feet long, and 1¹⁄₂ inch in diameter. This searcher is introduced into the gun after each firing, and turned gently round to discover the cavities within: if any are found, they are marked on the outside with chalk; and then the searcher with one point is introduced, about which point a mixture of wax and tallow is put, to take the impression of the holes; and if any are found of ¹⁄₉th of an inch deep, or of any considerable length, the gun is rejected as unserviceable to government.

Reliever, an iron ring fixed to a handle, by means of a socket, so as to be at right angles: it serves to disengage the first searcher, when any of its points are retained in a hole, and cannot otherwise be got out. When guns are rejected by the proof masters, they order them to be marked ╳ which the contractors generally alter to W P, and after such alteration, dispose of them to foreign powers for Woolwich proof.

A most curious instrument for finding the principal defects in pieces of artillery, has been invented by lieutenant general Desaguliers, of the royal regiment of artillery. This instrument, grounded on the truest mechanical principles, is no sooner introduced into the hollow cylinder of the gun, than it discovers its defects, and more particularly that of the piece not being truly bored, which is a very important one, and to which most of the disasters happening to pieces of artillery, are in a great measure to be imputed; for, when a gun is not properly bored, the most expert artillerist will not be able to make a good shot.

PROOF of mortars and howitzers, is made to ascertain their being well cast, and of strength to resist the effort of their charge. For this purpose the mortar or howitzer is placed upon the ground, with some part of their trunnions or breech sunk below the surface, and resting on wooden billets, at an elevation of about 70 degrees.

The mirror is generally the only instrument to discover the defects in mortars and howitzers. In order to use it, the sun must shine; the breech must be placed towards the sun, and the glass over against the mouth of the piece: it illuminates the bore and chamber sufficiently to discover the flaws in it.

PROOF armor, armor hardened so as to resist the force of an arrow, a sword or other weapons in use before the discovery of gunpowder.

PROOF charge, the quantity of gunpowder which is used in trying the several pieces of ordnance.

PROPER, in military matters, stands as a reduplicative, serving to mark out a thing more expressly and formally, viz.

PROPER front of a battalion. The usual continuity of line which is given to the formation of a battalion, and which remains unaltered by the countermarch or wheelings of its divisions; or if altered is restored by the same operation.

PROPER right, 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 divisions of the line in the natural order, and to their proper front. The other may be called the reverse flank. In column, divisions cover and dress to the proper pivot flank; to the left when the right is in front; and to the right when the left is in front.

PROPLASM. See MOULD.

PROPORTION, (Proportion, Fr.) The relation which parts have among themselves, and to the whole.

PROPOSER une personne pour une charge, Fr. To recommend a person for a situation.

PROPOSITION, (Proposition, Fr.) in geometry, the declaration of a truth which is proved by demonstration. Such are the propositions in Euclid’s Elements. Propositions are divided into Problems and Theorems.

PROPREFECT, among the Romans, the prefect’s lieutenant, whom he commissioned to do any part of his duty in his place.

PROPRETE des soldats, Fr. Cleanliness required in soldiers. See SERJEANT.

PROPRETOR, the same in his relative capacity as proconsul among the Romans. He was a magistrate who, after having discharged the office of pretor at home, was sent into a province to act in the same capacity.

PROQUESTOR, among the Romans, the questor’s lieutenant, who discharged his office in his stead.

To PROSECUTE, to carry on. Hence to prosecute the war.

PROSPECTIVE, appertaining to viewing.

PROSTYLE, any building having pillars in the front only.

PROTECTOR. This word sometimes denotes the regent of a kingdom. Oliver Cromwell assumed this title on the death of Charles I. of England; Bonaparte exercises the power of emperor over a great part of Germany, under the title of Protector of the confederation of the Rhine.

PROTESTANT, an appellation first given in Germany to all who adhered to the doctrine published by Luther.

PROVEDITOR, (Provediteur, Fr.) The Venetians had two appointments of this description before the revolution. One gave the supreme command of the armies on shore, the other that of the fleets.

Of these proveditors, there were three who had the direction of matters relating to policy throughout the signory.

PROVEDITOR-general of the sea, an officer in Italy, whose authority extended over the fleet, when the captain-general was absent. He had particularly the disposal of the cash.

PROVET, an artillery machine used with howitzers. See EPROUVETTE.

PROVISIONS, are properly those articles of food and sustenance which soldiers receive from the public, and which in the British service are payed for by deductions from their pay. There is taken a deduction of six pence a day from the full pay of every Serjeant, corporal, trumpeter, drummer, fifer, private man of the life guards, horse guards, dragoon guards, dragoons, foot guards, infantry of the line, militia, fencible infantry, and companies of invalids, when serving out of Great Britain, on stations at which provisions are supplied by the public; also when embarked in transports, or other vessels; (except while serving as marines, or during their passage to and from India at the expence of the East-India company;) also when prisoners of war, and maintained at the expence of Great Britain; and likewise when in general hospitals, either at home or abroad. A deduction of three pence halfpenny is likewise to be made from the full pay of each serjeant, &c. when stationed in Jamaica, in New South Wales, at Gibraltar, (the loss by exchange at the latter place continuing as before) and while on their passage to and from India at the expence of the East-India company.

These deductions commenced, in regard to the troops in Europe, on the 25th of February, 1799; and in regard to the troops abroad, on the 25th of April, 1799.

PROVISIONS. See RATION.

PROVISIONAL, (Provisionel, Fr.) Temporarily established.

PROVISIONALLY, (Provisoirement, Fr.) by way of provision, or temporary arrangement. This adverb is frequently used both in French and English to distinguish the exercise of temporary functions from that of permanent appointments.

PROVOST-Marshal, of an army, is an officer appointed to secure deserters, and all other criminals: he is often to go round the army, hinder the soldiers from pillaging, indict offenders, execute the sentence pronounced, and regulate the weights and measures used in the army when in the field. He is attended by a lieutenant’s guard, has a clerk, and an executioner.

PROWESS, valor, bravery in the field, military gallantry.

PSILOI, light armed men among the Greeks, 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. Next to these were the peltasti, a middle sort of foot soldiers between the hoplitai and the psiloi, being armed with spears, but far inferior in bigness to those of the heavy armed; their name is taken from their narrow shields, called Peltæ. Potter’s Greek Antiquities, vol. II. chap. 3.

PUBLICANS, persons who keep alehouses, &c. for the accommodation of travelers. In England, troops upon the march, or in quarters, may be billeted on them.

PUCKA fever, Ind. a putrid fever. The bilious fever of tropical climates.

PUCKALLIES, Ind. leathern bags for carrying water. They are placed on the backs of oxen. The word is also used for water-carriers.

PUDLAYS, pieces of stuff to do the office of levers or hand spikes.

PUHUR Din, Ind. Watches kept in the day; of which there are four; a similar number is kept in the night, called Puhurraat.

PUISANT, Fr. a well built of dry stones, or made in a wall to serve as a reservoir for water.

PUISSANCE, Fr. in algebra and geometry, powers of lines and quantities.

PUISOIR, Fr. a copper vessel which is used in making saltpetre.

PUITS, Fr. A well.

PUITS de mineur, Fr. a perpendicular opening, about four feet square, which is made in the earth for miners to let themselves down, as deep as may be judged expedient, in order to push the subterraneous galleries beneath the covert way, or under any other works constructed by the besieged or besieger.

PULK, a tribe, a particular body of men. This word is chiefly used in Russia; as a Pulk of cossacks.

PULVERIN, Fr. priming powder.

PULVIS fulminans, the thundering powder, a mixture of three parts of saltpetre, two of tartar, and one of brimstone; all finely powdered. A small part, even a single dram of this being put into a shovel over a gentle fire, till it melts by degrees and changes color, will go off or explode as loud as a musquet. But it will not do any injury, because its force tends chiefly downward.

PULLEY, in military mechanics. See MECHANICS.

PULWAR, Ind. a light boat for dispatches.

PUMICE-stone, a spongy, light crumbling stone which is cast out of mount Ætna, and other burning mountains. It is used in graving, polishing, &c.

PUMMEL. See POMMEL.

PUMP, (Pompe, Fr.) a well known engine used in the elevation of water.

PUNCH, (Poincon, Fr.) an instrument for making holes. Every serjeant of a company, at least, and indeed every corporal of a squad, should be provided with a punch, as there is frequent occasion to fit on the cross belts, &c.

PUNCTO. The point in fencing.

PUNISHMENT, in the army, in general, signifies the execution of a sentence pronounced by a court martial upon any delinquent. There are various methods in different countries which have been adopted for the punishment of officers and soldiers, without ultimately depriving the public of their services. Those in the British are simple, and in general very summary, especially with regard to officers. In some foreign services it is usual to send an officer from his regiment to do duty in a garrison town, during which period he loses all the advantages of promotion. Hence être envoyé en garnison, to be sent into garrison, implies a species of military chastisement. Perhaps the method which is adopted in the British navy, of putting an officer at the bottom of the list of his own rank, might be beneficial in the army. The barbarous and self-defeating punishment or whipping remains a disgrace to the British code, and we lament to say to the American also.

PUNITIONS corporelles, Fr. corporeal punishment. In the old French service, military punishments or chastisements, which were not of a capital nature, were of two kinds. The picket was for the cavalry, and the gauntelope, or passing through the rods, for the infantry. The rods, or baguettes, which properly means small sticks, or switches, were generally osier or willow twigs. Previous to the execution of the sentence, a corporal with two privates of the company, to which the culprit belonged, were sent to get the rods. These they brought in a bundle to the guard-house, or to any place of security which was near the spot where the punishment was to be inflicted. The criminal, under an escort of two serjeants and four grenadiers, with fixed bayonets, went for the bundle, and as he passed through the interval of the line which was faced inwards, each soldier drew out one twig. The grenadiers at the head of the line took off their slings, which they used instead of rods. When the culprit reached the end of the line, he undressed himself naked to the waist. The right and left openings of the double line faced inwards were closed by the grenadiers that had escorted the prisoner, viz. two with one serjeant at the head of the right, and two with ditto at the head of the left. It sometimes happened, that a serjeant or corporal marched backwards in ordinary time; keeping the point of his pike directed at the chest of the man who received the lashes. The culprit was, however, generally allowed to make the most of his legs. Whilst he was receiving his punishment, the drummers of the regiment, who were equally divided and stationed behind the grenadiers that had formed the escort, beat the charge. If a French soldier was convicted of theft, or any flagrant dishonorable practice that injured the military character, he not only underwent this punishment, but he was conducted in the most ignominious manner, to the outward gate of a frontier town; there expelled the country, and cautioned, never to be found within its limits under pain of suffering death. The nicety of military honor and reputation, among French soldiers, is proverbial. They never survive a blow, even among themselves, nor would a private soldier exist under the disgrace of having been struck by an officer.

When a girl of the town, or a notorious prostitute, was taken up, and ordered to be punished in a camp or garrison, she went through the same process; the drums beating the marionnetes, a sort of rogue’s march, during the execution of the sentence.

In offering a Military Dictionary to the American public, the editor cannot withhold his protest against the barbarous method of whipping, as not only inconsistent with every maxim adapted to military institution, but incompatible with the republican institutions of America, as well as those of ancient Rome. The subjection to such odious punishment is a fatal blow to the American militia, and one of the greatest obstacles to its respectability and efficiency; since in service the punishments must necessarily be and ought to be uniformly the same. A man who has been once punished by whipping, as practised in the military service in England, must be totally lost to every sentiment of feeling reconcilable with military spirit, or that sense of honor which can never exist but where there is self-respect. There can be no confidence between officers that flog and men that are flogged, and thus the fundamental spirit of all military institution is undermined, that is confidence reciprocal and earnest through every grade. It is sometimes said that discipline cannot be enforced without it; all Europe conquered at this moment, by an army in which even blows are not permitted, is a melancholy lesson contrasted with the brutal discipline of the cane and other ignominious practices, in the armies of Prussia, Austria, Russia, and England. Those who cannot enforce discipline without treating their fellow men as brutes, should distrust their own faculties or fitness, and examine into their own false pride, their petulance, perhaps too often their unacquaintance with the first principle of military discipline, that is a knowlege of mankind, or of the human mind; the springs by which the human character is most easily and effectually led on to acts of voluntary heroism and intrepidity, are never produced by the lash; but always to be commanded by generosity, by a kindness that costs nothing, and which if it were to cost something, if done with discrimination, is always repaid ten thousand fold by the affection, the gratitude, the attachment, and the devotion of the soldier. It is said that there are men who are not to be overcome by generosity, nor subdued even by the lash; then such men should be held up as an example for better men; they should not be suffered to mess, nor to associate with men of better temper; the good men should be noticed and those neglected, and if these courses failed, the public service would be benefitted by their discharge, more than by their continuance.

PURCHASE. The sale and purchase of commissions is countenanced by government, and the prices of those commissions are regulated by authority, yet there are various ways through which young men of fortune and connexions get over the heads of veteran officers in the British army. In 1809, the detection of a system of purchase from the concubines of the British commander in chief excited astonishment.

Purchase and sale are terms unknown in the British navy.

PURSE, (with the grand signor,) a gift, or gratification of 500 crowns.

PURSE of money, (in the Levant) about 112_l._ sterling. It is so called, because all the grand signor’s money is kept in leather purses or bags of this value in the seraglio.

PURSEVANT, from the French poursuivant, a sort of serjeant at arms, who is ready to go upon any special occasion, or to carry any special message. His general office is to apprehend a person who has been guilty of an offence.

PURSUIT, the act of following with hostile intention.

PURVEYOR OF PUBLIC SUPPLIES, a civil officer whose duty it is to purchase what is required for public service, as military clothing, medicine, equipments; the troops of the United States have for a few years became worse clad than formerly, owing to the scandalous abuse of economy in the purveyor; and overlooked in the military department; a few years since no troops in the world were better provided for.

PURVEYOR, a person employed in the quarter-master or commissary general’s department in the British service. Likewise one belonging to a military hospital, whose duty it is to provide food and necessaries for the sick.

To PUSH, to make a thrust.

To PUSH back, to force an enemy to retreat.

A PUSH, a force impressed. As a push of the bayonet. This word is peculiarly applicable to the use that ought to be made of this formidable weapon.

PUSILLANIMOUS, cowardly, wanting spirit.

To PUT a horse, in horsemanship, signifies to break or manage him.

To PUT a horse upon his haunches, to force him to bend them in galloping in the manege, or upon a stop.

PUTTING-STONE, a great stone, which formerly was laid at the gate of a laird in Scotland, and by which he tried the bodily strength of each man in his clan.

PYKE, Ind. a person employed as a guard at night.

PYRAMID, (Pyramide, Fr.) This word is originally derived from the Greek, and takes its name from a resemblance to the spiral ascendancy of fire. It is the same as obelisk.

Geometrical PYRAMID, a solid standing on a square basis, and terminating at the top in a point; or a body whose base is a polygon, and whose sides are plain triangles, their several tops meeting together in one point.

PYRAMID, (in architecture,) a solid, massy edifice, which from a square, triangular, or other base, arises in gradual dimension to a vertex or point.

PYRAMIDAL numbers, (in arithmetic,) the sums of polygonal numbers, collected after the same manner as the polygon numbers themselves are extracted from arithmetical progression.

PYRAMIDAL, PYRAMIDICAL, Appertaining to, like to a pyramid.

PYRAMIDOID, from the Greek, is what is sometimes called a parabolic spindle, and is a solid figure formed by the revolution of a parabola round its base, or greatest ordinate.

PYRAMIDS, of Egypt, are enormous piles of building, within three leagues of Grand Cairo, and are ranked among the seven wonders of the world.

The pyramids of Giza, the largest of which was originally built by Cheops, are supposed to have been erected about 14 years after the building of Solomon’s temple, about 2665 years ago. The pyramids are known by various names, viz.

PYRAMIDS of Giza, (five in number) which are those already mentioned, and near which the French established a camp in 1799.

PYRAMIDS of Saccara, (three in number.) These stand in the plain of Mummies, and are about 600 feet high.

Dashour PYRAMIDS, (six in number,) stand in the same plain, and appear somewhat lower. The French general Friant, in 1799, pursued Murad Bey across this plain, leaving the pyramids on his left.

The Southern, or Great PYRAMID. This pyramid has been called by Bruce, the traveller, the false pyramid. It stands in the plain of Mummies, and appears to be about 600 feet high.

PYRAMIDS, in ruins. Two pyramids of smaller size, which stand near the Fiume mountains, close to Joseph’s canal.

Battle of the PYRAMIDS, 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 the 15th of July, 1799, between the Mamalukes under Murad Bey, and the French army, commanded by Bonaparte in person. The second battle, called the battle of the pyramids, put the French in possession of lower Egypt. The following short extract from the Epitome of Military Events, may not be uninteresting.

“The French army, which during its last marches had suffered excessive fatigue, halted at Waardam, in order to recruit its strength, remount the artillery, and clean the musquets that were so subject to take rust from the moist vapors of the Nile. On the 21st of July, 1799, the second battle called the battle of the pyramids, was fought. General Desaix, with his advanced guard, at first made a corps of Mamalukes fall back; the order of battle of the other divisions was nearly the same as on the 13th, being drawn up by echellons of square columns, so as to flank themselves between each other; and the line of battle, which was itself flanked by two villages. Each division was concentrated into a compact body, and formed a square having its baggage in the centre, and the artillery in the intervals of the battalions. This formidable disposition presented a double fire in flank and in front, and opposed an invincible obstacle to the impetuous, but unconnected charges of Murad Bey’s cavalry. To return to the action of the 21st, general Desaix’s advanced guard, and Regnier’s division, formed the right wing of the army, and were at first charged with the greatest impetuosity, by one half of the Mamaluke cavalry; the other half having remained to support the intrenchments of the village of Embabé.

“Notwithstanding this determination to anticipate the attack of the French columns, the rash valor of the Mamalukes again failed against those compact bodies, bristling with bayonets, and keeping up, within half musquet shot a most galling fire. While these charges were taking place against his right, and the Mamalukes were retreating in disorder, Bonaparte directing the two divisions of his centre against the intrenchments, ordered the village of Embabé to be turned by means of a ditch which masked this movement, and thus cut to pieces, or rather drove into the Nile, 1500 of the enemy’s cavalry.” In a map lately published by Heathes, the number is stated to have been 2000. The attack, which was extremely warm, was conducted by general Marmont. Forty pieces of cannon, the camp of the Mamalukes, their rich spoils, together with upwards of 400 camels, fell into the hands of the conquerors. See pages 119 and 120, of the Epitome of Military Events.

In the year 1801, a large army of Turks with a detachment of the British forces in Egypt, defeated the French close to the pyramids, and took possession of Grand Cairo. This battle eventually decided the fate of Egypt.

PYROBOLY, the art of gunnery, &c.

PYROBOLIST, (Pyroboliste, Fr.) a maker of fire-balls, &c.

PYROETS, in horsemanship, are motions either of one tread or pist, or of two treads or pists.

PYROETS of one tread, or what the French call de la tête à la queue, from the head to the tail, are entire and very narrow turns made by a horse upon one tread, and almost at one time, so that his head is placed where his tail was, without putting out his haunches.

PYROETS of two pists, are turns of two treads upon a small compass of ground almost of the length of the horse.

PYROTECHNIE, Fr. See PYROTECHNY.

PYROTECHNY, in military matters, the doctrine of artificial fireworks, and firearms, teaching the structure and service, both of those used in war, for the attacking of fortifications, &c. as cannons, bombs, grenadoes, gunpowder, wildfire, &c. and those made for diversion, as serpents, St. Catherine’s wheel, rockets, &c.

PYROTECHNIC, of or appertaining to pyrotechny.

Q.

QUADRANGLE, QUADRANGULAR, a square figure having four right angles.

QUADRANT, in gunnery, an instrument made of brass or wood, divided into degrees, and each degree into 10 parts, to lay guns or mortars to any angle of elevation.

The common sort is that whose radii project the quadrant about 12 inches, and whose plummet suspends in its centre, by means of a fine piece of silk; so that, when the long end is introduced into the piece, the plummet shows its elevation.

The best sort has a spiral level fixed to a brass radius; so that, when the long end is introduced into the piece, this radius is turned about its centre till it is level: then its end shews the angle of elevation, or the inclination from the horizon; whereas the first shows that angle from the vertical. See LEVEL.

QUADRAT, or to quadrat a gun, is to see it duly placed on its carriage, and that the wheels be of an equal height.

QUADRATE, a square, having four equal and parallel sides.

QUADRATICK Equations, are such as retain, on the unknown side, the square of the root, or the number sought.

QUADRATRICE, Fr. See QUADRANT.

QUADRATURE, Fr. Quadrature.

QUADRILATERAL, (Quadrilatére, Fr.) having four sides.

QUADRILLE, Fr. This word is pronounced Cadrille. Small parties of horse, richly caparisoned, &c. which used formerly to ride, &c. 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. This word is derived from the Italian Quadriglia, or Squadriglia, being a diminutive of Squadra, a company of soldiers drawn up in a square.

QUADRIVIAL, having four roads or ways, meeting in a point.

QUAI, Fr. See QUAY.

QUAICHE, or CAICHE, Fr. A decked vessel, a ketch.

QUAKER-GUNS. See PASSE VOLANS.

QUALIFICATION. That which makes any person or thing fit for any thing.

To QUALIFY. To fit for any thing. To give in the necessary qualifications for the exercising of a civil or military employment. In a general acceptation of the term, to qualify does not mean to give proofs of mental ability.

QUANTIEME, Fr. a term used among the French to signify, not only the day of the month, as quel quantiéme du mois avons nous? what is the day of the month? but likewise the numerical order in which an individual stands upon a muster-roll, &c. viz. Le quantiéme êtes vous dans votre campagnie? How do you rank in your company? or of what standing are you?

QUANTITY, the amount; bulk; weight; that property of any thing which may be increased or diminished.

QUARANTINE, (Quarantaine, Fr.) The time which persons, suspected of having any contagious disorder, are obliged to remain without mixing with the inhabitants of the seaport or town at which they arrive. It takes its name from quarantaine, the term of 40 days.

QUARRE, Fr. See SQUARE.

Bataillon QUARRE d’hommes, Fr. A square battalion.

QUARREAUX, Fr. Darts or arrows which the bowmen anciently used, and which were so called from the iron at the end being square, with a sharp point.

QUARRELS, in a military sense, are disagreements between individuals of that serious nature, as to produce challenges, duels, &c. by the Articles of War, it is specified, that all officers, of what condition soever, have power to quell all quarrels, frays, and disorders, though the persons concerned should belong to another regiment, troop, or company, and either to order officers into arrest, or non-commissioned officers or soldiers to prison, until their proper superior officers shall be made acquainted therewith; and whosoever shall refuse to obey such officer (though of an inferior rank) or shall draw his sword upon him, shall be punished at the discretion of a general court martial.

QUARREL, QUARRY, an arrow with a square head.

QUART, Fr. Quarter.

QUART de Cercle, Fr. A quadrant such as bombardiers use when they take the angles, and give what inclination they think necessary to a mortar.

QUART de Conversion, Fr. Quarter-wheeling, or quarter-facing. The terms are used in military evolutions.

DEMI-QUART de Conversion, Fr. Half-quarter-wheel.

QUARTE, Fr. In fencing. See CARTE.

QUARTER, in war, signifies the sparing of men’s lives, and giving good treatment to a vanquished enemy. Hence, to give quarter, to take quarter, &c. donner quartier, Fr. prendre quartier, Fr.

To QUARTER UPON. To oblige persons to receive soldiers, &c. into their dwelling houses, and to provide for them.

QUARTERS. Military stations are so called; as head quarters, home quarters, regimental quarters, &c.

QUARTERS, at a siege, the encampment upon one of the most principal passages round a place besieged, to prevent relief and convoys.

Head QUARTERS of an army, the place where the commander in chief has his quarters. The quarters of generals of horse are, if possible, in villages behind the right and left wings; and the generals of foot are often in the same place: but the commander in chief should be near the centre of the army.

QUARTERS of refreshment, the place or places where troops that have been much harrassed are put to recover themselves, during some part of the campaign.

QUARTER of assembly, the place where the troops meet to march from in a body, and is the same as the place of rendezvous.

Intrenched QUARTERS, a place fortified with a ditch and parapet to secure a body of troops.

Winter QUARTERS, sometimes means the space of time included between leaving the camp and taking the field; but more properly the places where the troops are quartered during the winter.

The first business, after the army is in winter quarters, is to form the chain of troops to cover the quarters well: which is done either behind a river, under cover of a range of strong posts, or under the protection of fortified towns. Hussars are very useful on this service.

It should be observed, as an invariable maxim, in winter quarters, that your regiments be disposed in brigades, to be always under the eye of a general officer; and, if possible, let the regiments be so distributed, as to be each under the command of its own chief.

In QUARTERS. Within the limits prescribed.

Out of QUARTERS. Beyond the limits prescribed. Officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers who sleep out of quarters, without leave, are liable to be tried by a general or regimental court martial, according to the rank they severally hold.

QUARTER-master, is an officer, whose principal business is to look after the quarters of the soldiers, their clothing, bread, ammunition, firing, &c. Every regiment of foot, and artillery, has a quarter-master, and every troop of horse one.

QUARTER-master-general, is a considerable officer in the British army, and should be a man of great judgment and experience, and well skilled in geography: his duty is to mark the marches, and encampments of an army: he should know the country perfectly well, with its rivers, plains, marshes, woods, mountains, defiles, passages, &c. even to the smallest brook. Prior to a march he receives the orders and route from the commanding general, and appoints a place for the quarter-masters of the army to meet him next morning, with whom he marches to the next camp, where after having viewed the ground, he marks out to the regimental quarter-masters the space allowed each regiment for their camp: he chuses the head quarters, and appoints the villages for the generals of the army’s quarters: he appoints a proper place for the encampment of the train of artillery: he conducts foraging parties, as likewise the troops to cover them against assaults, and has a share in regulating the winter quarters and cantonments.

QUARTER staff, an old military weapon, made of strong even wood, bigger and heavier than a pike: it is 6¹⁄₂ feet long between the ferrules that keep fast the two pikes of iron stuck into the ends of the staff.

QUARTER, in the manége, as to work from quarter to quarter, is to ride a horse three times in upon the first of the four lines of a square; then, changing your hand, to ride him three times upon the second; and so to the third and fourth; always changing hands, and observing the same order.

QUARTER-facing, is in the new discipline substituted for the old aukward oblique marching; it is also called the line of science; in ranks every man turns to the right or left as ordered, and if ordered to march, the lines or ranks thus keep parallel to their former front, but march on a line oblique to it.

QUARTER-Wheeling, in the old discipline, was the motion by which the front of a body of men was turned round to where the flank stood, by taking a quarter of a circle; but in the new discipline which reduces all principles to the strictest simplicity, the wheelings take all their proportions from half a circle; and for obvious causes, since the wheeling of any number of men on a whole circle, would be only moving them to bring them into the place in which they stood before they were wheeled or moved; now the purpose of wheeling is to change from one position to some other required position, and hence quarter wheeling means a quarter wheel of half a circle; thus wheeling about, is changing the front to the rear; and this wheeling is simply half the half circle, or placing the ranks on the same line from which they were moved; the quarter wheel is a movement of ¹⁄₄ of the half circle, or in a line oblique to the line from which they were moved; a regiment quarter wheeled by companies display the regiment in echellon.

QUARTERING troops, is to provide them with quarters.

QUARTERON, one, Fr. A quarteron; one born of a white man and a mulatto woman, or of a mulatto man and a white woman.

QUARTIER, Fr. For its general acceptation see QUARTERS.

QUARTIER d’un Siége, Fr. A station taken, or an encampment made in one of the leading avenues to a besieging town or place. When the Quartier d’un Siége was commanded by a general officer, during the French monarchy, it was called Quartier du Roi. The king’s quarters.

QUARTIER des Vivres, Fr. The park of stores, provisions, &c.

QUARTIER d’Hiver, Fr. Winter quarters. Count de Turpin has written largely upon this subject. See Essai sur l’Art de la Guerre; likewise, Suite de la Science de la Guerre, tom. iv. p. 170.

QUARTIER de Rafraîchissemens, Fr. Those places are so called in which troops are permitted to halt and take up their quarters for any period, during a campaign.

QUARTIER de Fourrage, Fr. Foraging quarters. When the active operations of a campaign are necessarily interrupted by the inclemency of the season, means are adopted to lessen the heavy expences of winter quarters, by remaining a certain time in foraging quarters. A wise general will take care to live as long as he can upon his enemy’s country, in order to draw as little as possible from his own.

QUARTIER du Roi, ou du Général, Fr. Head quarters, or the spot where the king or the commander in chief resides. When an army takes up its ground in low marshy places, &c. the royal or head quarters are marked out in the most advantageous manner, so as to have the king’s or general’s person secure. When an army went into action or stood in battle array, it was customary, among the French, to say, Le Quartier du Roi est partout. The king’s station is every where. Nevertheless, it was always judged prudent, not to expose the royal person or the commander in chief too much. On this principle, head quarters were always established in a place which was surrounded by the best troops, and was supported by epaulements on the right and left, with the addition of a rear guard. Since the revolution, these arrangements have been much changed. It cannot, however, be uninteresting to give a general outline of what was practised during the monarchy. The Quartier du Roi or head quarters, when a town was besieged, were always fixed out of the reach of ordnance, and in a village that was well secured by entrenchments. Before the cannonade commenced, it was usual for the besieged to ascertain the exact station of head quarters, that their fire might not be directed towards them; nor did the real assault of the town take place from that direction. Wherever the king, or, in his absence, the commander in chief took up his quarters, the camp assumed its name from that particular spot or village.

QUARTIER géneral de la tranchée, Fr. Head quarters or principal station of the trenches. That spot is so called in which the commanding officer of the trenches takes post, and to which all reports of progress, &c. are, from time to time, conveyed. When the siege is somewhat advanced, it is usual to fix this quarters, near the outlet of the last parallel which leads to the head of the saps, in the principal line of attack.

QUARTIER d’Assemblee, Fr. The ground on which troops assemble to commence their military routes, or to be otherwise prepared for active operations.

Un QUARTIER bien Retranche, Fr. A quarter that is well entrenched.

Un QUARTIER Enleve, Fr. Quarters taken possession of by force.

Officiers de QUARTIER, Fr. Officers who were upon duty for three months, or during the space of one quarter of a year. This term was used in the old French service, to distinguish such officers from those who did duty throughout the year.

Etre de QUARTIER, Fr. To be upon duty for three months.

QUARTIER Generaux, Fr. General head quarters.

QUARTIER-Maitre, Fr. Quarter-master. This term, with respect to foreign troops, corresponds with maréchal des logis in a French infantry corps.

QUARTIER-Mestre General, Fr. Quarter-master-general. Among other armies the same as marechal général des Logis in the old French service. There is a quarter-master-general in the Turkish service, whose immediate duty is to mark out the ground of encampment, the instant he has received orders to that purpose from the grand vizir, or, in his absence, from the seraskier, who is the general in ordinary, and who is always with the army, whether the grand vizir be present or not.

QUATRE, Fr. Four.

To QUELL. To crush, to subdue. Military force is sometimes resorted to by the civil magistracy to quell riots, &c. In England, the riot act must be read by a justice of the peace, and if the rioters or insurgents do not disperse, the magistrate may order the officer to do his duty, by firing, &c. upon them. When military law has been proclaimed, there is not any necessity for this preliminary caution.

QUERELLES, Fr. quarrels, feuds, &c.

QUERELLE d’Allemand, Fr. An expression used among the French, to signify a drunken quarrel.

QUERRY. See EQUERRY,

QUEUE. From the French, which signifies tail; an appendage that every British soldier is directed to wear in lieu of a club. Regimental tails were ordered to be nine inches long.

QUEUE D’ARONDE, a corruption of Queue d’Yronde. It signifies a piece of wood which is so made that it resembles at each end a swallow’s tail.

QUEUE d’Yronde, ou d’Yrondelle, Fr. See SWALLOW’S TAIL.

QUEUE du Camp, Fr. Literally means the tail or extremity of the camp. It is the line which is drawn in the rear of the camp, and which is directly opposite to the one in front, called the head of the camp.

QUEUE de Paon, Fr. Literally means a peacock’s tail. It is used in architecture, to signify the different compartments or spaces which, in a circular figure, spread gradually from the centre to the circumference.

QUEUE à Queue, Fr. one after another.

Etre à la QUEUE, Fr. To be behind, or in the rear.

Avoir l’ennemi en QUEUE, Fr. To have the enemy close at your heels.

To go in QUEST of an enemy. To send out vedettes, patroles, &c. for the purpose of ascertaining an enemy’s motions.

QUIBERON, or Quibron. A small peninsula of France, in Bretagne, in the bishoprick of Vannes, and to the north of Belleisle; as also a small island called the point of Quiberon, separated from the peninsula by a channel, and the sea next it is called the bay of Quiberon. This spot has been rendered remarkable by the expedition which took place in June, 1795. Upwards of 3000 regular troops (composed mostly of French emigrants that had served abroad, with the ill judged addition of some French prisoners, taken out of English gaols) were landed upon the coast. This force was intended as a co-operation with the insurgents of La Vendee, and was afterwards to have been increased by the descent of an English army, under the command of the earl of Moira; who had, indeed, already been instructed to detach a covering body for that purpose; but the British did not land, having been driven from the French coast by stress of weather. The French emigrants were all sacrificed.

QUICK, with celerity. It forms the cautionary part of a word of command when troops are ordered to move in quick time; as quick-march.

QUICK-Step, or Quick-Time, is 100 steps of 24 inches each, or 200 feet in a minute, and is the step used in all marchings but guard marching and reviews, when the slow march may be used.

QUICKEST-Step, or Quickest-Time, is 120 steps of 24 inches each, or 240 feet in a minute. In this step, all wheelings are performed, as also the doublings up of divisions, and their increase or diminution in front.

QUICK-match, in laboratory-works. See LABORATORY.

QUIETISM. Apathy. Indifference.

QUIETISME, Fr. The state of those persons who did not take an active part in the French revolution.

QUIETISTE, Fr. A man who did not meddle with the revolution.

QUILTING grape-shot, in gunnery. See LABORATORY, and TO MAKE GRAPE-SHOT.

QUINQUANGULAR. Having five corners or angles.

QUINTAIN, 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, and at such speed, as to pass by before the sand-bag could strike the tilter on the back.

QUINTAL, Fr. one hundred weight. The Quintal varies in different places, according as the pound consists of more or fewer ounces. The English Quintal is 112 pounds, and is divided into quarters.

QUINTE, Fr. a low thrust in fencing, delivered at the outside of the position, with the nails turned up, as in low carte. When this thrust is forced over the blade from the guard in carte, it is termed flanconade.

QUINTUPLE. Five fold.

QUIRITES. In ancient Rome, the common citizens were so called, as distinguished from the soldiery.

To QUIT, to leave, to abandon. This word is variously used in military phraseology, viz.

To QUIT your post, To QUIT your ranks, To retire, without having received any previous order for that purpose, from a station entrusted to your care. Any officer or soldier, who, during the heat of an engagement, shall quit his ranks, may be shot, or otherwise dispatched upon the spot. A sentry who quits his post before he is regularly relieved, is ordered to suffer death, or such other punishment as may be inflicted by a general court-martial.

QUIT your arms. A word of command which was formerly given in infantry regiments, but is now laid aside.

QUITTANCE, Fr. receipt, acquittance.

QUITTANCE de finance, Fr. A term formerly used among the French, to express any sum paid into the king’s treasury, for an appointment or place.

QUITTER, Fr. to quit.

QUITTER l’epée, Fr. Figuratively to leave the profession of arms.

QUIVER. A case for arrows.

QUI vive? QUI va là? QUI est là? Fr. Who comes there? terms used by the French sentries when they challenge.

Etre sur le QUI vive, Fr. To be upon the alert.

QUILLON, Fr. the cross-bar of the hilt of a sword

A QUIZ. This cant word is frequently used as a substantive to describe a strange, out of the way character. It is a term of ridicule.

To QUIZ. A cant word much in use among fashionable bucks or blades, as certain creatures are called. It signifies to turn another into ridicule, by some allusion to his dress or manners, some ironical word or quaint expression. In other terms, to take unwarrantable liberties with the natural defects, or harmless habits of unoffending individuals. This absurd and childish practice, (which grows out of ignorance, is supported by privileged assumption, and ought to be discouraged by every sensible man) has sometimes found its way into the British army. We need scarcely add, that it has frequently been the cause of the most serious quarrels, and is always contrary to good order and discipline. Commanding officers should, on all occasions, exert their authority, whenever there appears the least tendency to this unmanly, unofficer like, and ungentleman like custom. It ought constantly to be remembered, that the influence of evil is much stronger upon the commonality of mankind, than that of good. If an officer suffer himself to be quizzed by a brother officer, he will, by degrees, become ridiculous to the soldiers; and if he resent it, as he ought to do in primo limine, by a manly explanation with the weak fool who attempts to be witty, without possessing one spark of real wit, it is more than probable, that much ill blood will be engendered between them. The British Articles of War have, in some degree, provided against this evil. It is there specifically stated, that no officer, non-commissioned officer, or soldier, shall use any reproachful or provoking speeches or gestures to another, upon pain, if an officer, of being put in arrest (or if a non-commissioned officer, or a soldier, of being imprisoned) and of asking pardon of the party offended, in the presence of his commanding officer.

A QUIZZER. A creature, who without possessing any real wit or humor, affects to turn others into ridicule, by an insolent affectation of the talent. The thing is generally found among those calling themselves fashionable young men, which, (to use a very apposite expression) has more money than wit, plumes itself upon wealth or connexion, and endeavors to make up by noise, turbulence, and privileged contradiction, what it wants in real knowlege and solid understanding. It is sometimes seen at a military mess, and about the purlieus of taverns and gaming tables.

QUOIL, in gunnery, a rope laid round in a ring, one turn over another.

QUOINS, in architecture, denote the corners of brick or stone walls.

QUOIN, (Coin, Fr.) a wedge used to lay under the breech of a gun, to raise or depress the metal.

QUOIT, the ancient discus--an Olympic game, still practised in all parts of the world. It consists in throwing a large iron ring to a considerable distance, at a wooden peg, driven into the ground.

QUOTIENT. In arithmetic, the number resulting from the division of a greater number by a smaller, and which shews how often the smaller, or the divisor, is contained in the greater or dividend.

R.

RABINET, formerly a name given to a small sort of ordnance between a falconet and a base, about one inch and a half diameter in the bore, five feet six inches long, and 300 pounds in weight, loaded with six ounces of powder, and carrying a shot one inch and three-eighths in diameter.

RACHAT du pain, Fr. a certain pecuniary allowance which was made in the old French service to the officers of each company, for the surplus rations of ammunition bread that were left in the purveyor’s hands. The same rule exists in the British service, when troops are in camp or barracks.

RACINE, Fr. See ROOT.

RACLOIR, Fr. A scraper. It is used in the artillery to cleanse out mortars.

RACOLER, Fr. To entice men to inlist.

RACOLEUR, Fr. a crimp, a bringer of recruits, one who entices others to inlist. Men of this description are to be found in all countries where military establishments prevail.

RACORDEMENT, Fr. This word is derived from racorder, which, in French architecture, signifies to join two pieces of building on one surface, or to unite an old building with a new one.

RADE, Fr. Road for ships to ride in.

RADEAUX, Fr. Rafters. They are frequently used in sieges, for the purpose of crossing ditches, &c. Chevalier Folard enters largely into the nature of these rafters, particularly in his 4th volume, page 67.

RADIOMETER, (Radiomètre, Fr.) This instrument is sometimes called Jacob’s staff, bâton de Jacob. It is used by some to take the sun’s altitude, and by others to ascertain elevations at sea.

RADIUS, the semi-diameter of a circle. In fortification, the radius is distinguished into exterior, interior, oblique, and right radius. The three former are noticed each under its initial letter. The latter is a perpendicular line drawn from the centre of a polygon to the exterior side.

RAFFINAGE, Fr. a term used by the French to express the operation through which saltpetre passes after it has been boiled once. The literal meaning is refining; the act of cleansing any thing from recrementitious matter.

RAFFINER, Fr. To refine.

RAFFINOIR, Fr. a wooden cask, or copper vessel, in which saltpetre is deposited after it has been boiled once. It usually remains thirty minutes, after which it is let out through a cock fixed for that purpose at the bottom of the vessel.

RAFRAICHISSEMENS, Fr. Provisions. See QUARTIER.

RAFRAICHIR, Fr. To cool; to spunge; as rafraichir le canon; to spunge a cannon.

RAFRAICHIR une place, Fr. to succor a place by sending in fresh troops and provisions.

RAFRAICHIR des troupes, Fr. to allow troops to repose; likewise to supply them with fresh provisions.

RAFTS, a kind of frames or floats made by laying pieces of timber together, or across each other, to serve as bridges for troops to pass over rivers.

RAFTERS, are pieces of timber, which, standing by pairs on the transom, wall plate, or raising piece, meet in an angle at the top, and form the roof of a building.

It is a rule in building, that no rafters should stand farther than 12 inches from one another: and as to their sizes and scantlings, that principal rafters, from 12 feet 6 inches to 14 feet 6 inches long, be 5 inches broad at the top, and 8 at the bottom, and 6 inches thick: those from 14 feet 6 inches, to 18 feet 6 inches long, to be 9 inches broad at the foot, 7 inches at the top, and 7 inches thick: and those from 18 feet 6 inches, to 21 feet 6 inches, to be 10 inches broad at the foot, 8 at the top, and 8 thick. Single rafters, 8 feet in length, must have 4¹⁄₂ inches, and 3³⁄₄ in their square. Those of 9 feet long, must be 5, and 4 inches square.

RAJPUTES, or RAUJPOOTS, Ind. The second tribe of the four great classes of Hindus; the priests or Bramins are the first. Both classes may be soldiers, and none but members of one or other of these classes can be kings or princes. Rauj means great, and poot means arms, that is great in arms; they are the descendants of the military tribe of Hindus.

RAJAH, Ind. This word means an authority equivalent to that of a king. The Rajahs became generally tributary to the Mogul, but were suffered to follow their own modes of government.

RAIE, Fr. properly means a seam, furrow, streak.

RAINURE, Fr. a grove.

RAIS, Fr. a spoke of a wheel.

To RAISE Troops. See LEVY.

To RAISE a plan of a fortress, is to measure with cords and geometrical instruments, the length of the lines, and the capacity of the angles, that by knowing the length, breadth, and thickness, of all the different parts of a fortification, it may be represented upon paper, so as to find out its advantages and disadvantages.

RAISON, Fr. this word is used by the French, in a mathematical sense, to express the relation which one number has to another, and in general, that which exists between one quantity and another. The term is distinguished into raison arithmétique, or arithmetical reasoning; and raison géométrique, or geometrical reasoning. French carpenters likewise use the term, to shew that pieces of wood, &c. are properly laid, viz. Des pieces de bois en leur raison.

RALLIEMENT, Fr. Rallying point. It is sometimes written raliment.

Mot de RALLIEMENT, Fr. a word or countersign, which is given to out posts, and to sentries that are stationed beyond the lines.

RALLUMER, Fr. To light up again, to rekindle, to renew.

RALLY, one of the bugle horn soundings.

To RALLY, (Rallier, Fr.) To bring troops back to order that have been dispersed.

RALLYING, in war, re-establishing, or forming together again, troops broken and put to flight.

To RAM, to drive with violence, as with a battering ram.

To RAM down, to force anything downwards, or to fill with any thing driven hard together, as in the charge of firearms.

RAM down cartridge, a word of command used in the platoon exercise. See MANUAL.

Battering RAM, in antiquity, a military engine used to batter and beat down the walls of places besieged.

The battering ram was of two sorts, the one rude and plain, the other compound. The former seems to have been no more than a great beam, which the soldiers bore on their arms and shoulders, and with one end of it, by main force, assailed the walls. The compound ram is thus described by Josephus: it is a vast beam, like the mast of a ship, strengthened at one end with a head of iron, something resembling that of a ram, whence it took its name. This was hung by the middle with ropes to another beam, which lay across two posts, and hanging thus equally balanced, it was by a great number of men drawn backwards and pushed forwards, striking the wall with its iron head.

Plutarch informs us, that Mark Antony, in the Parthian war, made use of a ram 80 feet long: and Vitruvius tells us, that they were sometimes 106, and 120 feet long: to this perhaps the force and strength of the engine was in a great measure owing. The ram at one time was managed by a whole century of soldiers; and they, being exhausted, were seconded by another century; so that it played continually, and without any intermission.

The momentum of a battering ram 28 inches in diameter, 180 feet long, with a head of cast iron of one ton and a half, the whole ram with its iron hoops, &c. weighing 41,112 pounds, and moving by the united strength of 1000 men, will be only equal to that of a ball of 36 pounds, when shot point blank from a cannon.

RAMMER, an instrument used for driving down stones or piles into the ground in military works; or for beating the earth, in order to render it more solid for a foundation.

RAMMER, or RAMROD of a gun, the ramrod or gunstick; a rod used in charging a gun, to drive home the powder and shot, as also the wad, which keeps the shot from rolling out. The rammer of a piece of artillery, is a cylinder of wood, whose diameter and length are each equal to the diameter of the shot, with a handle fixed to it, at the end of which is another cylinder, covered with lamb-skin, so as to fit the gun exactly, and called a sponge: it is used to clean the piece before and after it is fired. The ramrod of a musquet is one entire piece of iron.

Return RAMROD. See PLATOON EXERCISE, under MANUAL.

RAMPART, in fortification, or, as some call it, but improperly, rampire; the great massy bank of earth raised about a place to resist the enemy’s shot, and to cover the buildings, &c. On it is raised a parapet towards the country. It is not above 18 feet high, and about 60 or 70 thick, unless more earth be taken out of the ditch than can be otherwise disposed of. The rampart should be sloped on both sides, and be broad enough to allow the marching of waggons and cannon, besides the parapet which is raised on it. The rampart of the half moons is better for being low, that the small arms of the besieged may the better reach the bottom of the ditch; but it must be so high, as not to be commanded by the covert-way. The rampart is encompassed with a ditch, and is sometimes lined with a fausse-bray and a berme.

RAMPS, (Rampes, Fr.) in fortification, are sloping communications, or ways of very gentle ascent, leading from the inward area, or lower part of a work, to the rampart or higher part of it.

RAMS-horns, in fortification, are a kind of low works made in the ditch, of a circular arc; they were invented by M. Belidor, and serve instead of tenailles.

RAMADAN, Fr. a month so called among the Turks, during which period they observe fast days.

RAMASSE, Fr. a sort of sledge, in which travellers are conveyed from the tops of mountains that are covered with snow.

RAMASSER, Fr. to collect, to get together. On a ramassé tout ce qu’on a pu trouver de soldats. They got as many soldiers together as they could.

RAMASSE, Fr. Gathered together, collected. This word is likewise used to distinguish men that are hastily raised and embodied, from soldiers who have been regularly disciplined, viz. Ce ne son pas des troupes reglées, ce sont des gens ramassés. They are not regular troops, but persons hastily got together.

RAMASSE, Fr. strong, vigorous. Un homme ramasse. A strong athletic man. Ramasse, in this sense, agrees with the English word tight-built, thickset, &c.

RAMAZAN. See RAMADAN.

RAMBERGE, Fr. an advice boat.

RAME, Fr. an oar. It is likewise called Aviron.

Balle RAMEE, Fr. Cross-bar shot.

RAMEAUX de la mine, Fr. Branches belonging to a mine. See GALLERY.

RAMPE au Pente extrêment douce qu’ont fait le long des talus des ramparts, Fr. a slope, or declivity which is extremely gradual along the talus of ramparts. These slopes contain two toises in breadth, and are cut upon the interior talus. They are made, according to circumstances and the exigencies of the place, sometimes within the angle of the rampart, opposite to the entrance into the bastion, when the latter is full; sometimes along the flanks, or at the flanked angle when the bastion is empty. Pieces of ordnance, ammunition, &c. are conveyed up these slopes to the embrazures of the ramparts.

RANCHER, Fr. a sort of ladder which is made of wooden pegs, and is used on various occasions.

RANÇON, Fr. Ransom. It was likewise the name of an old French weapon, consisting of a long stake with a sharp iron point at the end, and two blades or wings bent backwards, and extremely keen.

RANCONNER, Fr. to ransom.

RANDOM shot, in artillery, when the piece is elevated at an angle of 45 degrees upon a level plane. See RANGE.

RANG, Fr. Rank.

RANG d’un escadron ou d’un bataillon, Fr. Rank in a squadron of horse, or battalion of infantry. Any straight line which is formed by soldiers standing by the side of each other, is so called.

Doubler les RANGS, Fr. to form from rank entire, or to throw one rank into two, and thereby encrease the depth of any given number of men, by diminishing their front. Hence to double up, or diminish the front of any leading line.

RANG, Fr. the relative rank which is observed in military corps with regard to precedence, tour of duty, &c. In some instances rang et grade mean the same thing.

De RANG, Fr. abreast, side by side.

Paroitre sur les RANGS, Fr. to enter the list.

Etre sur les RANGS, to be numbered amongst any particular set of men.

Mettre au RANG, Fr., to class with, to associate.

Vaisseau du premier RANG, Fr. a first rate ship of war.

Vaisseau du second, ou troisième RANG, Fr. a second or third rate.

RANGER la côte, Fr. to sail along the coast.

Placer par RANG de taille, Fr. To size.

RANGE, in gunnery, the distance from the battery to the point where the shot or shell touches the ground.

Point blank RANGE, when the piece lies in a horizontal direction, and upon a level plane, without any elevation or depression, the shot is said to take a point blank range. See POINT BLANK.

RANGEE, Fr. a series of things placed upon the same line.

RANGE, EE, Fr. the participle of Ranger, drawn out or placed in regular order.

Bataille RANGEE, Fr. a pitched or set battle, in which two armies are drawn up opposite to one another.

RANGER, Fr. to place in a certain line or order.

RANGEZ vous, Fr. a term in general use among the French when any number of persons are ordered to clear the way, by drawing up on one side or the other of a street or road.

RANGING, in war, disposing the troops in proper order for an engagement, manœuvres, or march, &c.

RANK. Range of subordination, degree of authority. The relative situations which officers hold with respect to each other, or to military things in general. Hence regimental rank, local rank, rank in the army, &c.

One of the egregious errors of the British military institutions is, that the officers belonging to the life guards are entitled to the rank of lieutenant colonel, when they obtain, or purchase a majority, provided they have been seven years. Their commissions in this case run major and lieutenant colonel. But if an officer should not have completed either of those periods, he obtains the rank of major only, until its completion. A lieutenant colonel receives the rank of full colonel if he has been seven years major, or twenty one years in the British service. Cornets in the life guards rank as sub-lieutenants in their own corps, and as first lieutenants in the army. The English fuzileers enjoy the same privilege. Sub-lieutenants in the Welsh fuzileers rank only as second lieutenants in the army. Marines do the same.

With respect to rank in general, the following are the rules of the British army, by which the relative rank of the officers of the regulars, militia, fencibles, yeomanry cavalry, and volunteer corps, is to be determined.

Officers of the regular forces command the officers of equal degree, belonging to the other services; with the exception after mentioned.

Officers of the militia, fencibles, yeomanry cavalry, and volunteer corps, rank together according to the dates of their respective commissions.

Notwithstanding this regulation, such officers of fencibles as have commissions dated on or before the 25th July, 1798, continue to rank with the officers of the regular forces of equal degree, according to the dates of their respective commissions: unless when acting in conjunction also with officers of the militia; in which case, if the commission of the fencible officer be of a junior date to that of a militia officer, of the same degree, the regular officer of equal rank, although his commission be of a junior date to that of the fencible officer, commands both.

It will further be observed, that all commands in the regular forces fall to the eldest officers in the same circumstances, whether of cavalry or infantry, entire or in parties. In case two commissions of the same date interfere, a retrospect is to be had to former commissions. Should it happen, as it possibly may, that the original commissions interfere, it must be decided by lot.

In page 49 of the Articles of War, it is laid down, that the eldest officer is to command when any troops of the horse guards, and the regiment of horse guards, shall do duty together; or when any of the life guards, horse or foot guards, shall do duty with any other corps. The regiments of life guards, doing duty unmixed, are to be considered as one corps; and the officers are to take rank according to the dates of their commissions. The same holds good with respect to the foot guards. Regular officers with whom militia officers take rank as youngest, command officers of equal degree in the fencibles, yeomanry cavalry, and volunteer corps, who are to rank together according to the dares of commissions.

To RANK with, to hold the same relative situation with regard to others. Thus post captains of three years standing in the royal navy rank with colonels in the army; and lieutenants in the guards rank with captains in the line or regulars. Officers in the militia rank generally with the regular forces as junior of their respective commissions. An ensign in the guards ranks no higher than an ensign in the regulars.

To RANK with, in a figurative sense, to be in equal estimation, to bear the same character for skill and valor, &c. viz. lord Nelson ranks with the bravest seaman that England, or any other country, has ever produced; Bonaparte with the greatest general in ancient or modern history; Washington with Cincinnatus; and Montgomery with Wolfe, Decatur with Desaix, or Lannes.

Brevet-RANK. Rank without pay, nominal distinction, which sometimes entitles the holder of it to command in mixed service.

Brigade majors rank with captains, provided they have that rank in the army, independent of their staff appointment. But aids-de-camp do not possess any rank in that capacity with regard to the army. The latter constitutes a part of the general’s family, and are paid out of his allowance; they are in fact the mere carriers of his orders in the field, and his domestic inmates at home, &c. The former belonging to the brigade, and are a necessary part of its effective force.

There is likewise a sort of brevet rank which exists in the several regiments belonging to the British service, and is confined to the rank and file, or corporals and private soldiers. Thus a lance serjeant is a corporal who does the duty of serjeant without the pay or emoluments of the latter; and a lance corporal is a private soldier who does the duty of corporal. So that lance, which comes from lansquenet, which signifies a private soldier, and is derived from the German, and when put before serjeant or corporal, points out that a private soldier has the brevet rank of one of those situations. Captains of companies appoint or reduce lance serjeants or corporals, according to their judgment.

RANK, and precedence in the army and navy, are as follow:

Engineers RANK. Chief, as colonel; director, as lieutenant colonel; sub-director, as major; engineer in ordinary, as captain; engineer extraordinary, as captain lieutenant; sub-engineer, as lieutenant; practitioner engineer, as ensign.

Navy RANK. Admiral, or commander in chief of the British fleet, has the rank of a field marshal; admirals, with their flags on the main top-mast head, rank with generals of horse and foot; vice-admirals, with lieutenant generals; rear-admirals, as major generals; commodores, with broad pendants, as brigadier generals; captains of post ships, after three years from the date of their first commission, as colonel; other captains, as commanding post ships, as lieutenant colonels; captains not taking post, as majors; lieutenants as captains.

The rank and precedence of sea officers in the classes abovementioned, are to take place according to the seniority of their respective commissions in the sea service. Post captains commanding ships or vessels that do not give post, rank only as majors during the time they command those vessels.

Nothing in this shall give any pretence to land officers to command any of his majesty’s squadrons; nor to any sea officer to command on shore; nor shall either have right to demand the military honors due to their respective ranks, unless upon actual service.

RANK, is a straight line made by the soldiers of a battalion, or squadron, drawn up side by side: this order was established for the marches, and for regulating the different bodies of troops and officers which compose an army.

Doubling of the RANKS, is the changing one rank to two, by telling off the files, one, two, one, two, &c. and by the word, even files to the rear double; this method is frequently used in the manœuvres of a regiment.

RANK and file, men carrying the firelock, and standing in the ranks, are called rank and file. Thus corporals are included in the return which is made under that head.

RANKS and files, are the horizontal and vertical lines of soldiers when drawn up for service, &c.

RAPE, Fr. a rasp, a file.

RAPIDES, Fr. Falls in a river are so called; as the falls in the rivers Ohio and St. Laurence, &c.

RAPIER, (Rapiére, Fr.) formerly signified a long, old fashioned broadsword, such as those worn by the Scotch regiments; but now is understood only to mean a small sword, in contradistinction to a broad sword.

RAPINE, Fr. Rapine, plunder,

RAPPORT, Fr. Report.

RAPPORT, Fr. in mathematics, a term frequently used among the French. It bears the same import as raison, and signifies the relation which two quantities have one with another. Thus the rapport or relation between twelve and six is the same as between six and three.

RAPPORTEUR, Fr. in geometry, an instrument made in the figure of a half-circle, and divided into one hundred and eighty degrees. We call it a protractor. It is used for the purpose of ascertaining the openings in angles, and to take plans upon paper.

RAREFACTION, the extension of the parts of a body, by which it is made to take up more room than it did before. It is essentially connected with gunnery; for in proportion to the rapid combustion and consequent rarefaction of air, produced by the ignition of gunpowder confined in the chamber of a gun, so will be the force of expulsion with which the charge is propelled.

RAS, Fr. Every barge and vessel, &c. which is without any deck or upward covering, is called by the French batiment ras.

RASANTE, Fr. See LIGNE RASANTE.

RASANT, RAZANT, in fortification, rasant flank, or line, is that part of the curtain or flank whence the shot projected raze or glance along the surface of the opposite bastion.

RASE, Fr. Pitch and tar mixed with tow for the purpose of caulking a ship.

RASLE, Fr. This word is used in some parts of France to signify rafter, and means the same as chevron.

RASALDAR, Ind. the commander of Rasallah, which is ten thousand horsemen armed.

RASSEMBLER, Fr. to collect together.

RASSEMBLER des troups, Fr. to call troops or forces together.

RASSEMBLER les debris d’une armée, Fr. to collect together the broken parts, or scattered remnants of an army. It is likewise used with the personal pronoun, viz. Tous les soldats dispersés se rassemblerent autour du drapeau. All the soldiers or troops that had been dispersed, gathered together round the standard or colors.

RASSEMBLER les forces d’un cheval, to put a horse well upon his haunches.

RASSIS, Fr. Stale; as pain rassis, stale bread.

RASSURER, Fr. to restore confidence, to encourage, to invigorate. Quelques soldats commencionent à s’ébranler, quand l’exemple de leur capitaine les rassura. Some soldiers began to give way, when the example of their captain inspired them with fresh confidence.

RAT, Fr. literally means rat. It is used in a figurative sense, viz. Une arme à feu a pris un rat. A musquet has missed fire.

RAT. Fr. a sort of floating platform made of planks which are tied together upon two or three masts. It is used in caulking ships, &c.

RATAN, a cane used by serjeants of companies, in the British service in drilling the men, and with which, in other countries, the non-commissioned officers and privates, are beaten for slight offences; the Austrian discipline was thus conducted, till they have been beaten out of their manhood and self-respect. The Prussians abolished this barbarous custom after the battle of Jena.

RATELIER, Fr. a rack used in armories, &c. for the purpose of keeping firearms arranged in proper order.

RATER, Fr. to miss fire. Son pistolet a rate. His pistol has missed fire.

RATER likewise means, figuratively, to be unsuccessful in an application. Il a rate sa charge. He did not get the commission.

RATES of subsistence, See PAY.

RATION, a certain allowance which is given in bread, &c. or forage when troops are on service, for an officer or soldier in the British service.

Complete Ration of the small species.

Flour, or bread 1¹⁄₂ lbs. Beef 1 Or pork ¹⁄₂ Peas ¹⁄₄ pint. Butter, or cheese 1 oz. Rice 1 oz.

When the small species are not issued, 1¹⁄₂ lbs. of flour or bread, with 1¹⁄₂ lbs. of beef, or 10 oz. of pork, forms a complete ration: or 3 lbs. of beef; or 2 lbs. of cheese; or half a pound of rice, forms a complete ration.

At sea the ration is different. The following table contains the allowance for six soldiers, or four seamen on board of ship, for each day in the week. Women are provisioned at a half and children at one fourth of a soldier’s allowance, but receive no rum.

+----------+------+--------------+--------------------+ | | |Beer, gallons,| | | | |or half pints | | | Days of | |of spirits, or| Beef, | | the Week.|Bread.|pints of wine.| pieces of 8 lbs. | +----------+------+--------------+--------------------+ | | lb. | | | |Sunday, | 4 | 4 | -- | |Monday, | 4 | 4 | -- | |Tuesday, | 4 | 4 | 1 | |Wednesday,| 4 | 4 |or 6lbs. of flour | |Thursday, | 4 | 4 |or ¹⁄₂lb. of suet | |Friday, | 4 | 4 |and 1lb. of raisins.| |Saturday, | 4 | 4 | 1 | | | | | or as above. | +----------+------+--------------+--------------------+

+----------+------+-----+--------+-------+-------+--------+ | | | | | | | | | | Pork,|Pints| | lbs. | lbs. | | | Days of |pieces| of | Do. | of | of | | | the Week.| 4 lb.|peas.|oatmeal.|butter.|cheese.|Vinegar.| +----------+------+-----+--------+-------+-------+--------+ | | | | | | | | |Sunday, | 1 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | |Monday, | -- | -- | 4 | ¹⁄₂ | 1 | quart | |Tuesday, | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | per | |Wednesday,| -- | 2 | 4 | ¹⁄₂ | 1 | week. | |Thursday, | 1 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | | |Friday, | -- | 2 | 4 | ¹⁄₂ | 1 | | |Saturday, | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | | | | | | | | | | +----------+------+-----+--------+-------+-------+--------+

The above are served out by full weights and measures.

When flour, suet and raisins are put on board, they are to be served out in equal proportions with beef, viz. half in beef; the other half in flour, suet, and raisins, on each beef day.

4 lbs. of flour, or 3 lbs. of flour with ¹⁄₂ lb. of raisins, (or ¹⁄₄ lb. of currants) and ¹⁄₄ lb. of suet, are equal to 4 lbs. of beef, or 2 lbs. of pork with peas, but are not to be issued in lieu of the latter, except unavoidable, and then the quantities must be certified.

¹⁄₂ lb. of rice is equal to a pint of oatmeal; ¹⁄₂ lb. of sugar is equal to ¹⁄₂ lb. of butter; and 1 lb. of rice is equal to 1 lb. of cheese; 1 pint of oil is equal to 1 lb. of butter, or 2 lbs. of cheese, that is, a pint of oil for the proportion of butter and cheese.

A pint of wine, or half a pint of brandy, rum, or arrack, is equal to a gallon of beer; 1 lb. of fresh beef is equal to 1 lb. of salt beef; and 1¹⁄₂ lb. of fresh beef is equal to 1 lb. of pork.

No wine or spirits are to be issued to the troops while in port, nor at sea, till after all the beer is expended.

The masters of transports are to produce a certificate from the commanding officer of the troops on board, of the quantity expended. If any doubt be entertained of the provisions being full weight, a cask must be weighed in the presence of the commanding officer, the master, and the mate, and the master may upon the certificate of the commanding officer, and the oath of the mate, issue as much beef and pork as will make up the deficiency.

The weight of each must be as follows: 14 pieces of beef, cut for 8 pound pieces taken out of the cask as they rise, and the salt shaken off, are to weigh 112 lbs. avoirdupois. 28 pieces of pork cut for 4 lb. pieces, are also to weigh, under like circumstances, 112 lbs.

The deductions to be taken for provisions from the pay of officers, non-commissioned officers, or men, are the same for all ranks, and in all corps, under the like circumstances of service, when serving out of Great Britain, on stations where provisions are supplied by the public: also, when embarked in transports or other vessels, (except when serving as marines;) also when prisoners of war, are maintained at the expence of Great Britain; also when in general hospitals, whether at home or abroad, a deduction of sixpence per day.

A deduction of three-pence halfpenny from the pay of every non-commissioned officer and private in Jamaica, in New South Wales, or Gibraltar. Non-commissioned officers and soldiers serving as marines shall not be liable to any deduction from their full pay on account of provisions.

Ration for a horse on home service in 1796: 14 lbs. of hay, 10 lbs. of oats, 4 lbs. of straw; for which a stoppage is made of sixpence.

The French use the same term, viz. Ration de foin, a ration of hay. Double ration, double ration. Demi-ration, a half ration.

RATION d’un fantassin, Fr. the ration or allowance which is given to a foot soldier. During the French monarchy it consisted of twenty-four ounces of ammunition bread, one pint of wine or beer, Paris measure, one pound of beef, veal, or mutton.

RATION pour les troupes de la maison du roi, Fr. the ration for the household troops, during the French monarchy, consisted of two brown loaves of 22 ounces each, two pints of wine, or two pints of cyder or beer, Paris measure, and two pounds and a half of beef, veal, or mutton.

RATION de cavalrie, Fr. Each man belonging to the old French cavalry, received daily one ration, consisting of thirty-six French ounces of ammunition bread, one pint and a half of wine, cyder, or beer, Paris measure, and two pounds of beef, veal, or mutton.

RATION de dragons, Fr. the ration allowed to each dragoon in the old French service, consisted of twenty-four French ounces of ammunition bread, one pound and a half of meat, one pint of wine, Paris measure, or one pot of cyder or beer, ditto.

RATION de fourrage, Fr. A ration of forage in the old French service, consisted of one pound of hay, and one bushel of oats, Paris measure.

RATIONS des officiers du regiment des gardes Francoises, Fr. rations allowed in a regiment of French guards during the monarchy. These rations differed very considerably from those already stated. The particulars may be found in the third volume of the Dictionnaire Militaire, page 255.

RATISSOIRS, Fr. Graters used by the men employed in making saltpetre.

RAVAGES of War, the spoil, plunder, or waste, made by contending armies in the theatre of war.

RAVELIN, Fr. See FORTIFICATION.

RAVELINS, in fortification, are works raised on the counterscarp before the curtain of the place, and serve to cover the gates of a town, and the bridges. They consist of two faces, forming a saliant angle, and are defended by the faces of the neighboring bastions. They are the most in use of all out-works, and are by the soldiers most commonly called half moons, or demi-lunes. They should be lower than the works of the place, that they may be under the fire of the besieged. Their parapets, as those of all other out-works, should be cannon proof; that is, about 18 feet thick.

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.

RAVITAILLER une place, Fr. To throw stores, ammunition, and provisions into a fortified place.

RAY See ARRAY.

RAYE, Fr. rifled.

Canon RAYE, Fr. rifle barrel.

RAYON, Fr. in geometry, Radius.

RAW, in a military sense, unseasoned, unripe in skill, wanting knowlege in military tactics, &c.

RAW troops, unexperienced soldiers; men who have been little accustomed to the use of arms. This term is generally used in opposition to veteran troops. A cool and wise general will always know how to make the most of that part of his army which is composed of raw troops; and a rash intemperate one will equally miss the proper application of the spirit and manhood, which ignorance of danger, and confidence of success, almost always give. Some of the most brilliant actions, and some of the greatest victories have been achieved and won by means of that daring impetuosity, which hurries raw troops into the thickest of an enemy. A thousand instances might be adduced from ancient and modern history, to prove the correctness of this remark. It may, perhaps, be sufficient for our purpose, to refer the curious reader to the bold and unexampled charge which was made against the French troops in Germany, by Elliot’s new raised light horse in the seven years war. The laurels of Emsdorff, are still the glory of the 15th regiment of dragoons. The battle of Jemappe and Fleurus, were won by raw troops; but they had officers who knew how to lead them. Bunker’s hill battle was fought by raw troops, as was that of Germantown; bad generalship alone lost the advantage to the American troops at Germantown.

RAZED, any works or fortifications when demolished, are said to be razed.

READY, a word of command in platoon firing, being a contraction of make ready. See MANUAL.

REALE, Galére REALE, Fr. The largest or principal galley used in Catholic countries, is so called. The first galley belonging to the pope is called Réale, because it takes precedence of all vessels, in the service of the different Roman Catholic powers.

REAR, in a general acceptation, any thing situated or placed behind another. The term is variously used in military matters, viz.

REAR of an army, signifies in general the hindermost part of an army, battalion, regiment, squadron, or company, &c. Generally the third component part of a large body of forces, which consists of an advanced guard, a main body, and a rear guard.

REAR guard. A certain proportion of an army or regiment, which acts, in various capacities, according to circumstances, and the extent of military operations. The rear guard of an army is often the reserve, &c. The rear guard of a regiment is usually appointed for the purpose of picking up stragglers, &c. The old grand guards of the camp, always form the rear guard of the army, and are to see that every thing comes safe to the new camp. See GUARD.

Forming to the REAR. An alignment may be formed to the rear of any given battalion or platoon; either by posting guides, or moving a battalion to the required position; each battalion or platoon to be then marched to its relative place in the original line. So columns may be formed upon a given section or platoon marched or pivoted in a required position.

REAR line, of an army encamped, is usually 1200 feet at least from the centre line; both of which run parallel to the front line, as also the reserve.

REAR rank. When a regiment, troop, or company is drawn up two or three deep, the last line of men is called the rear rank.

REAR ranks, all the ranks of a line, regiment, troop, or company, which are ranged in order behind the front rank.

REAR rank, take open order. A word of command which is given in the manual and other parade exercises. It is likewise used in marching by the general at a review, or on guard mounting, &c. See OPEN ORDER.

REAR half files, are the three hindermost ranks of the battalion, when it is drawn up six deep.

REAR front. When a battalion, troop, or company is faced about, and stands in that position, it is then said to be rear front. It sometimes happens, that through oversight, forgetfulness, or ignorance, and confusion, troops are so clubbed, that, on the deployment of a column, the different troops and companies not only lose their stations in the line of original formation, but the rear rank men stand where the front rank men ought to be; in the latter case, they appear rear front. This error might be easily remedied, by counter-marching the several troops or companies.

REAR rank lengthening out a line. Although a single battalion may, by opening its companies and files, from 3 deep form 2 deep, by introducing its rear rank into the other two, yet a considerable line posted, which is to be lengthened out to one or both flanks by its rear rank, must, to greater advantage, perform such operation, by each company quarter wheeling the sub-divisions of its rear rank and facing to the hand they are to march to; the last rank of each company closes up to its first; the sub-divisions, of each battalion, move up to open distances from their respective head ones, and from each other; officers from the rear are appointed to command them; those of each or of every two battalions, being considered as a battalion, they march on in column, and prolong the line. By this mode of lengthening out the line, the two front ranks remain undisturbed, and they protect the movement which is made unseen behind them.

REARWARD, the last troop or company.

RUBEEWAR, Ind. Sunday.

REBEL, any one guilty of rebellion.

REBELLION, a traitorous taking up of arms against the liberties of a people, or the established constitution of government and laws.

REBOUND, the act of flying back in consequence of motion impressed and resisted by a greater power.

To RECEIVE, in a military sense, to wait the approach of a friend or foe.

To RECEIVE an enemy. To make the best disposition possible of your troops, for the purpose of meeting the attack of an enemy that is advancing against you.

To RECEIVE a general or reviewing officer. To be drawn up according to specific regulations which are laid down, for the purpose of paying the compliments that are due to the rank of a superior, or commanding officer.

RECEPTION d’un officier dans un corps, Fr. A ceremony which was performed in the old French service, when an officer first joined. This was done by beat of drum in front of the company. The officer, being dressed, accoutred, and armed according to regulation, faced towards his men, and as soon as the drums had ceased, took off his hat to his commanding officer, who did the same to him, and then addressed the company in the following terms:

De par le roi, soldats, vous reconnoîtrez M. .... pour votre capitaine, ou pour lieutenant, de la campagnie, et vous lui obéirez en tout ce qu’il vous ordonnera pour le service du roi en cette qualité.

From the king! or pursuant to the king’s will. Soldiers, you will acknowlege M. ...... to be captain, or lieutenant, of the company, and you will obey whatever orders or commands he may issue, in that capacity, for the good of the king’s service.

When a colonel or major was received at the head of a corps, the word soldats, soldiers, was altered into messieurs, gentlemen; the latter term including both officers and men. On this occasion, the corps of captains and subalterns formed a circle; round them stood the serjeants drawn up in the same manner, and beyond the serjeants, the drummers, &c. The different circles being concentrical to each other. The field officer, who was to be admitted or to take command, stood in the centre of the whole, surrounded by the principal officers of the regiment.

RECETTE, Fr. a trough, which persons employed in preparing saltpetre, &c. place beneath tubes filled with broken rubbish, ashes, &c., for the purpose of receiving the liquid that is filtered through.

RECHARGE, a renewal of the charge or attack.

RECHAUD, Fr. a chaffing dish, or pan used for various purposes, particularly during a siege. They are filled with burning materials and hung in different parts of the walls, so as to throw light into the ditches, and to prevent surprizes.

RECHUTE, Fr. literally means a second fall; but in fortification it signifies a greater elevation of the rampart in those spots where it is likely to be commanded.

RECIPIANGLE, Fr. recipient angle. A geometrical instrument, which is much used among the French, for taking the quantities of angles, especially in drawing plans of fortification. It consists of two moveable rules, made in the shape of a square rule. The centre of one of its hands is marked by a semi-circle, which is divided into 180 degrees.

RECIPIENDAIRE, Fr. One who offers himself for any office or appointment.

RECOIL, (recul, Fr.) a falling back. The retrograde motion made by any piece of firearms on being discharged, which is a consequence of the rarefied air pressing on all sides, in order to expand itself with freedom. This term is generally applicable to firearms, especially to pieces of ordnance, which are always subject to a recoil, according to the sizes and the charge they contain, &c. Guns whose vents are a little forward in the chase, recoil most. To lessen the recoil of a gun the platforms are generally made sloping towards the embrasures of the battery.

To RECOIL, reculer, Fr. To fall back, to run back in consequence of resistance or repercussion.

RECOIL of Field Guns on travelling carriages, upon Elm Planks.

+-------------+--------+----------+----------+----------+ | | | 1 shot, | 2 shot, |Case shot,| | Kind. | Charge.|at 1° 30′ |at 1° 30′ | at 3° 45′| | | |Elevation.|Elevation.|Elevation.| +-------------+--------+----------+----------+----------+ | |lbs. oz.| Feet. | Feet. | Feet. | |12 Pr. Medium| 4 -- | 12 | 25 | 8¹⁄₂ | | 6 Pr. Heavy | 2 -- | 7 | 11 | 7¹⁄₂ | | 6 Pr. Light | 1 8 | 12 | 21 | 10 | | 3 Pr. Heavy | 1 -- | 7 | 5 | 3¹⁄₂ | +-------------+--------+----------+----------+----------+

Recoil of Sea Service, Iron Guns, on Ship Carriages, upon a horizontal platform.

+------------------------+------+-------+-------+-------+ | Charges of powder |Eleva-| | | | | and shot. | tion.| 32 pr.| 24 pr.| 18 pr.| +------------------------+------+-------+-------+-------+ | | deg. |ft. in.|ft. in.|ft. in.| |¹⁄₃ of powder and 1 shot| 2 | 11 -- | 11 -- | 10 6 | |¹⁄₃ of powder and 2 shot| 4 | 19 6 | 18 6 | 18 -- | |¹⁄₄ of powder and 2 shot| 7 | 11 -- | 12 6 | 12 -- | +------------------------+------+-------+-------+-------+

RECOIL of Land Service, Iron Mortars, on Iron beds.

Ft. In. 13 Inch, with a charge of 6 lbs. 4 2¹⁄₂ 10 Inch, 3 lbs. 2 10 8 Inch, 1 lb. 9 oz. 3 10

RECOLLECTION. A mode of thinking, whereby those ideas sought after by the mind, are brought again to view. A retentive memory, and a cool collected presence of mind, are necessary qualities in every good officer; and military men should often exercise the faculty of thinking, in order to become instantly familiar with what they have formerly studied and occasionally practised. For memory, like every thing else, acquires strength, and is increased by cultivation. Memoria, ut in cæteris rebus, colendo augetur.

Necessary RECOLLECTIONS for the exercise of a battalion.

It appears, that the front of any division or body is, in ordinary paces of 24 inches, nearly ³⁄₄ths of the number of files of which it is composed. That the circumference of the quarter circle which it describes, is equal in number of paces to the same as the number of files of which it is composed, counting the paces of the centre man of the front rank at 24 inches, allowing 6 inches in addition to the military pace of 24 inches. That the number of files being once ascertained in each division, the officer commanding it must, on all occasions, recollect the number of paces that are equal to his front, by finding the centre man of the front rank.

The field officers and adjutants must always recollect the number of paces the front of the battalion and its divisions occupy, in order to take up ground exactly in all formations; and this is done by counting the number of men from one flank to the centre, which gives the number of military paces.

To RECOMMEND. When a young gentleman wishes to enter into the army, his first object is to get well recommended for that purpose. There is no regulation to determine fitness, and on this account a great many are appointed who are afterwards found unfit.

RECOMMENDATION, in a military sense, is a letter from some influential character, member of congress, or other citizen, stating an individual to be properly qualified for a situation in the army.

RECOMPENSES militaires, Fr. See MILITARY REWARDS.

RECONNOITRE, Fr. To reconnoitre.

RECONNOITRE une place, Fr. To reconnoitre a fortified town or place.

RECONNOITRE, in military affairs, implies to view and examine the state of things, in order to make a report thereof.

Parties ordered to reconnoitre, are to observe the country and the enemy; to remark the routes, conveniences, and inconveniences of the first; the position, march, or forces of the second. In either case, they should have an expert topographer, capable of taking plans readily: he should be the best mounted of the whole, that in case the enemy happen to scatter the escort, he may save his works and ideas.

All parties that go for reconnoitring only, should be but few in number. I would never chuse more than twelve or twenty men. An officer, be his rank what it will, cannot decline going with so few under his command: the honor is amply made up by the importance of the expedition, frequently of the most interesting consequence, and the properest to recommend the prudence, bravery, and address of an officer that has the fortune to succeed.

It is previously necessary that the officer ordered on this duty should be well acquainted with the country, the roads, and the distance of the enemy. His party must consist of men of approved fidelity, part of whom should be disguised. This detachment must march off in the night. The men must have strict orders neither to smoke tobacco, make a noise, nor speak. The officer must be provided with two guides, who are to be strictly interrogated, but are to remain ignorant of the route you intend to take. A detachment of this kind should be furnished with subsistence for two or three days. The horses are to be fed every ten or twelve miles, for it is absolutely necessary that they should be always fresh and fit for duty. The officer will take care never to halt, but at a distance from any road, and also take every precaution to prevent his being surprised, whilst his horses are feeding, &c.

RECONNOITRING. The following necessary observations to be made in examining a country in a military point of view, are principally translated from the Aide Memoire, but improved by some judicious remarks from Mr. Landman’s introduction to reconnoitring.

Before an officer sets out to reconoitre a country, he should trace out from the best map he can procure, its principal features, which will serve him as a guide in his progress through the principal parts which are to be the subject of his observations, and enable him to connect the whole into one grand plan.

His observations should be expressed by written remarks, and by sketches. For this purpose he must be provided with a sketch book, on the right hand page of which, he may express the appearance of the country by sketches, and on the left the remarks made on particular parts, with the names of the towns, their distances asunder, &c. with proper references to the sketches. The scale most proper for this purpose is 2 inches to a mile; if therefore, the sketch book be made 6 inches wide, and the leaves divided by lines into three equal parts, each division will be one mile, which will be a sufficient scale for the purpose.

1st. Roads. The principal points to be attended to in examining roads for military purposes, are, their direction; the villages, countries, and rivers, which they pass through; the roads which cross them; their names and the seasons in which they are in best condition; and if ever impassable; their breadth, whether variable or constant; their bottoms, of what principally formed; their ascents and descents, whether practicable for all kinds of carriages. The enclosures may be hedges, ditches, walls, or fences. If the roads require repair for the transport of artillery and other heavy carriages, observe if the necessary materials are at hand. If they pass over rivers, remark whether by bridges or fords; if through marshes, whether by causeways or otherwise. If 2 or more roads pursuing the same route, and by which different columns may march, at any part join or cross each other, it will be necessary to observe, whether the march of the columns will be thereby impeded. If they only cross each other, it will be sometimes possible in hollow ways, to throw a temporary bridge across the deepest, by which one column may pass over and the other under the bridge, without interrupting each others march.

2. Fords. A ford for cavalry ought not to be deeper than four feet; for infantry not more than three feet. Observe the banks of the ford at each side; their form, steepness, and height; their situation as to the turnings of the river. Their bottom, whether passable for carriages. Observe marks by which the ford may be readily found; points from which it may be protected. Notice the rapidity of the water; whether its height be variable; its direction, its breadth, and the means by which the ford may be destroyed or rendered impassable.

3. Inundations. Learn the manner of working the sluices; the time in which the inundation may be effected; its extent and depth. Observe how the dam may be protected; its height and solidity; whether it can be easily raised, or easily destroyed; whether it is commanded by distant positions, and whether the inundation can be otherwise drained. Notice the adjacent country.

4. Springs and wells. Attend to the quality and quantity of the water; whether it will serve for the cavalry, as well as infantry, and the manner of its being drawn. Observe the situation of the spring, and of its source, whether it can be protected, and the enemy prevented from cutting it off.

5. Lakes, marshes, and swamps. Learn their cause; if arising from a moist soil, the overflowing of rivers or from springs. Observe their situation, and the appearance of the surrounding country; the best means of crossing them. If they are divided by causeways, notice their breadth and condition; it not, remark if causeways can be easily established, and whether the swamp can be drained, and whether it is passable at any season of the year. Observe the points from which the causeways can be defended against the passage of an enemy’s column. Learn whether or not the swamps are subject to fogs; and at what seasons they are most hurtful.

6. Of woods and forests. Remark their extent; their situation; their thickness; whether the trees are lofty or low: whether there is much underwood. Observe if the different clumps form openings or passes; and their extent; whether their sides are formed of thick wood or brush; whether their breadth is uniform, or widens at particular parts. Remark whether the ground of the forest be level or hilly, swampy or dry. Observe the nature and condition of the roads (for remarks to be made on these, see the article roads;) observe also the means the forest affords of intrenching; of making fascines, abbatis, &c. Attend to the face of the country round the forests, whether cultivated fields or meadows: whether it affords positions; is intersected by rivulets, swamps or ravines.

Remark the castles, villages, towns, &c. in the neighborhood; and their distances from the skirts of the wood.

Go round the wood and examine its principal debouches; observe the ravines, rivulets, roads, &c. issuing from it, and learn their direction.

7. Heaths. Notice for what nature of troops they are best calculated. The nature of hedges and brush wood; some form a good breast work. Observe the directions of the rivulets, roads, and ravines. When the ground of a heath is of the common color, the roads are usually good: but when it is blackish and mixed with white sand, the roads are generally impassable in winter seasons.

8. Canals. For this article see also the observations on rivers. Observe their intention; the nature of the soil in which they are dug, their breadth and depth; their locks; the craft found upon them; the best means of protecting or destroying them: learn the countries they pass through.

9. Rivers. Learn in what country they arise, and where empty themselves; the nature of the countries they run through, and whether they belong to us or the enemy. Learn the extent to which they are navigable; and if they ever freeze over, whether strong enough to bear troops and carriages. Notice the quality of the water, its course, currents, depths, and breadths. The banks and the beds of the rivers. Observe the nature and number of craft that navigate them; and the mills upon their banks, whether of wind or water. Visit the bridges and fords; and make the proper remarks on their nature and situation. Learn whether the rivers ever overflow their banks, and at what seasons; and whether or not this causes inundations. Observe the most favorable points for crossing, and the roads leading to these points. The turnings and windings of the rivers, the form of their peninsulas; and the most favorable situations for throwing over bridges. If there are any wharves on the banks, observe what craft can lie along side of them.

If there are islands in the rivers, note their size, their banks; whether inhabited, cultivated, woody, or barren; and whether they command the channel.

Observe the mountains and high grounds near the rivers; remark their distance from the banks, and the advantages, or disadvantages which they offer. Learn what branches or confluence of other rivers there are either above or below, the best situations for crossing. Examine the positions which the adjoining country affords an army to protect the passage of the river; and whether in a perpendicular or parallel direction; and the routes by which three or four columns may arrive at the place.

10. Passes. Observe their breadth, their length, and their situation; the nature of the adjacent country; the best positions to occupy to cover a retreat; or to dispute the pass. How the troops would be best arranged; and the number that would be required for this purpose.

11. Ravines, vallies. Observe the nature of the soil; whether rocky, or of loose flints. If the sides are rugged and steep, whether they can be easily scarped off. The points that command them: whether storms or floods are to be apprehended; and at what seasons most expected.

12. Cultivated lands. Notice their state of cultivation: their productions; their time of harvest. Learn what quantity of wheat, rye, barley, oats, maize, or other grain they produce, over and above the necessary subsistence of the inhabitants. How much grain or hay they yield per acre.

13. Orchards. Observe whether they are thick planted and afford a good cover; their enclosures, whether wood fences, hedges, ditches, walls, &c.

14. Bridges. Remark their situation; their length and breadth; the materials of which they are built; their strength, whether sufficient to bear artillery; the roads leading to them; their situation, as to the turnings of the river: their purpose; if to connect towns and villages, the nature, direction, and breadth of the streets leading to them. Observe the country around, whether flat or commanding: study the best means of fortifying the bridge head; and observe the best and most expeditious mode by which the bridge may be destroyed, if necessary.

15. Mountains, hills. Amongst high mountains, such as the Alps, roads are very rare; it is seldom more than the vallies that are inhabited and accessible for troops; observe their slopes, if steep or rugged. Examine the positions: means of gaining the summits: and note the state of cultivation and general appearance of the vallies; the pasturage, forage, cottages, villages, castles, roads, paths, and passes. Distinguish the principal chains of hills and their direction. Their relative heights; whether they are sufficiently extensive to form a line of defence; their communications; their strong points; positions proper for batteries, &c. Whether practicable for cavalry and artillery.

16. Coasts. Their nature; whether bordered by sand hills; surrounded by rocks, which render their approach dangerous; or by shoals, which make their access impracticable; note the points and headlands proper for the forts and batteries to defend the anchorage, ports, harbors, or other accessible parts. If there are any adjacent isles, perhaps they will serve for the erection of advanced batteries, to form a barrier to the efforts of an enemy. Observe the nature of the shores, bays, roads for shipping, &c. with the winds required to go in and out the harbors; and whether they are of easy access; their advantages and disadvantages, their size and depth of water. If a river empties itself on the coast, observe the particular channel for shipping, and whether it can be defended by any of the batteries. If the coast is already fortified, observe all the batteries, forts, or intrenchments, established for its defence, and the protection of the anchorage, &c. Examine the camps and other military posts, which cover the principal points, and the interior of the country. Estimate all the dangers to be run, and all the obstacles to be overcome in a descent, and point out the means of augmenting them. Observe the time of the tide most favorable for approaching the coast. Ascertain the number of artillery and other troops constantly on the coast, and the force that can be collected at a short notice; and how soon they can be drawn to any particular point attacked. Examine the system of defence adopted, and endeavor to improve it.

17. Forts, redoubts. Remark their form, whether ancient or modern; whether they are permanent or temporary; elevated or low; revetted or demi-revetted, with stone, brick or turf. Whether the ditch is wet or dry; fraized or palisaded; natural or artificial. Observe their situation; the face of the adjacent country; whether they effectually command the passes, or protect the country intended. The defence they are capable of making in their present state, and the improvements of which they are susceptible.

18. Castles, citadels. Their situation; their form; their extent; their object; the protection they give the city; their connection and communication with it. The present state of their defence, and the improvements of which they are susceptible. Their Souterraines.

19. Villages. Observe their situation: ascertain the number of families they contain; the nature of the land; the quality and quantity of their crops: their markets; the suburbs that supply these markets; their beasts of burthen: their flocks, herds, poultry, &c. The number of their ovens; quality of the water; stile of houses, barns, stables, and sheep walks. The situation of the church; the nature of the church yard, and its inclosures. The wind and water mills. Observe whether the village is surrounded by hedges, ditches, banks, or walls; whether it can be easily intrenched. Its streets; roads leading to it; and the face of the surrounding country.

20. Cities not fortified. Their situation; population; commerce; commodities; manufactures; the succors that may be drawn from them, as to men, horses, &c. Their squares and principal buildings. The defence they are susceptible of; whether they are surrounded by walls, old towers, ditches, &c. Their gates, and the roads leading to them. The face of the surrounding country.

21. Fortified towns. Their situation with respect to their position, and with respect to other towns in the neighborhood, whether in the first or second line; the assistance which they can afford each other. The succors that may be drawn from them, or that may be thrown into them in case of a siege. The direction which such relief, whether of men or provisions, ought to take, according to the side attacked; whether they will serve as depots or hospitals. The state of the fortifications (see the word fortification in the alphabet;) their nature; the strength of each front. The rivers in the neighborhood; the surrounding country within the range of the guns. The form of investment; what lines will be required considering the nature of the country, and the positions; and the means the country affords of executing them. The advantages which the ground would afford between the glacis and the lines, either to the besiegers or besieged; the means of establishing the most certain communications between the different quarters of the army, and the means of cutting them off.

22. Positions. Every military position ought to possess decided advantages of situation, and ought to be commanded in no part of its front, flank, or rear. All commanding grounds ought to be without the range of cannon. There are four principal objects to be attended to in the choice of a position: 1st. The advantages of the ground; 2d. the ground; 3d. the objects to be attained; and, 4th. the communications with the rear. The front of a position should be intersected by rivers, ravines, or broken ground, or any other obstacles which can prevent the enemy advancing in order of battle, and oblige him to pass through defiles; but a position becomes useless when the front is so covered by obstacles that the army cannot advance or move out of its camp when necessary; but no obstacles can be too great on the flanks. All obstacles which cover a position, or passes which lead to it, must be within the range of the artillery, or the enemy will pass them unmolested. In a flat country, where the ground does not afford commanding situations, a position is only more or less eligible, as being covered or protected by obstacles; these are very thick woods, in which there are very few roads; large rivulets which cannot be forded or passed without bridges; narrow roads; deep and broken ravines; ground much intersected with hedges, ditches, &c. but it is essential that all these obstacles should be under the fire of the artillery. It is always dangerous to occupy a position, which has its rear so covered by swamps, crossed by rivers or ravines, &c. as to render the retreat of the army difficult. The number of passes by which an army can retire must be examined and secured, and should never be less than 5 or 6. The rivers, brooks, &c. in front of a position, should never be depended upon for a supply of water, as the enemy may cut them off. The ground for a camp should not be too much intersected by hedges, ditches, or ravines, which occasion great intervals in the line, and obstruct the communications through the camp.

In an offensive position it is absolutely necessary that the army should not be too much confined by obstacles, but be at liberty to act in every direction; but in a defensive position, the fewer accessible points there are the better: and if the natural difficulties in front and flank are not sufficient to render an enemy’s attack dangerous, they must be increased by redoubts, intrenchments, abbatis, inundations, &c. The obstacles on the flanks, should also be of such extent that they cannot be easily turned, without the enemy makes a very great circuit; and consequently expose his own flank, and weakens his line of communication. In case the enemy detaches a body to attack a defensive position in the rear; the front must be sufficiently strong to enable the general to oppose the enemy’s detachment, by a strong body from his own army. In short, the enemy must not be able by any manœuvre to force the army to quit its position. The want of wood or water, or other supplies absolutely necessary for an army, renders every other advantage of a position useless; nor, can a position be long tenable, that is far removed from its depots; and has not its intermediate posts perfectly secure from the attacks of an enemy. These principles like all others in the ordinary affairs of war, are subject to those exceptions which the creative genius of the general may devise. Thus the first campaign of Bonaparte in Italy, was undertaken by an inferior force without magazines; the general determination was to seize those of the enemy; the same took place in the campaign in 1809, the force hastily collected had no magazines, but by the first battle he penetrated the centre, and cut off two of the corps of the Austrians, and took magazines adequate to six months subsistence from the Austrians. The general principles are nevertheless to be constantly regarded. For further remarks upon positions, see ARTILLERY IN THE FIELD, and Amer. Mil. Lib. Article RECONNOITRING.

To RECOVER arms, a position of the firelock when the piece is held with the lock in front of the left shoulder, and the sling to the front. The steadiness of soldiers is frequently proved by bringing them to the recover, after the word take aim.

To bring to the RECOVER. See RECOVER ARMS.

RECRUITS, (Recrues, Fr.) men raised for military purposes on the first formation of corps, or to supply the places of such as are disabled, or have lost their lives in the service. For particulars respecting the enlistment of recruits, see REGULATIONS.

RECRUITING, a term prefixed to certain corps and districts, which are specifically established for the recruiting service. Hence recruiting districts.

All recruits made for the regular army of the U. States, are inlisted for five years. In almost every service in Europe men are enlisted for a certain number of years, except the British, who inlist for life. Experience has convinced the powers upon the continent of Europe, that the system of binding a man during the whole course of his life to military subjection, is contrary to every sound principle of œconomy, and effective service.

The following are the established forms and instructions for the recruiting service, established by the United States.

Instructions to Recruiting Officers, respecting the rendering and settlement of their accounts of bounties and premiums for recruits.

I. Every recruit shall be inlisted, and receive the first payment of his bounty according to the form marked (A.)

II. Every officer employed in recruiting, shall, at the expiration of each calendar month, make musters according to the form marked (B.) embracing all the recruits inlisted by him; one set of which muster rolls he is regularly to transmit to the office of the paymaster of the army of the United States, at the seat of government.

III. Every officer on quitting the recruiting service, or before, if it is by proper authority required of him, shall state his accounts according to the form marked (C.) (D.) and transmit the same without delay to the office of the paymaster of the army of the United States, at the seat of government, or to the paymaster of the district in which he held his rendezvous; who shall with all possible dispatch examine and adjust them.

(A.)

STATE I _____________ born in __________ aged years, ____ feet ____ inches high, of _____ complexion, ______ eyes, ________ hair, and by profession a ____________ do hereby acknowlege to have this day voluntarily inlisted as a soldier in the army of the United States of America, for the period of five years unless sooner discharged by proper authority; do also agree to accept such bounty, pay, rations, and clothing as is, or may be established by law. And I ____________ do solemnly swear, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America, and that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against their enemies or opposers whomsoever; and that I will observe and obey the orders of the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the rules and articles of war.

Sworn and subscribed to, ____________ at ____________ this _________ day of ____________ 18____ before ____________

Received of ____________ of the United States army, this ________ day of ____________ 18____ dollars, in part of my bounty for inlisting into the army of the United States for five years.

Signed duplicate receipts.

DOLLS. --- 100

Witness,

(B.)

MUSTER ROLL of a Company of under the command of

in the of the United States, commanded by

from when last mustered, to

---+-------------+-----+-----------+---------+---------+------------- | | | Dates of | To what | |_Remarks and | | | appoint- | time en-| |alterations | | | ment or | gaged or| NAMES | since the No.| NAMES. |RANK.|inlist-m’t.|inlisted.|Present.|last Muster._ ---+-------------+-----+-----------+---------+---------+------------- | | | | | | | | | | | | ---+-------------+-----+-----------+---------+---------+------------- | | | | | | | | | | | | ---+-------------+-----+-----------+---------+---------+------------- | | | | | | | | | | | | ---+-------------+-----+-----------+---------+---------+------------- | | | | | | | | | | | | ---+-------------+-----+-----------+---------+---------+-------------

RECAPITULATION.

-------------------+------------------------------------------------+ |Captain. | | |Lieutenants. | | | |Ensigns. | | | | |Serjeants. | | | | | |Corporals. | | | | | | |Musicians. | | | | | | | |Privates. | | | | | | | | |TOTAL.| -------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+ Present fit for | | | | | | | | | duty, | | | | | | | | | Sick present, | | | | | | | | | Sick absent, | | | | | | | | | On detachment, | | | | | | | | | On command, | | | | | | | | | On extra service,| | | | | | | | | On furlough, | | | | | | | | | In confinement, | | | | | | | | | Missing, | | | | | | | | | Deserted, | | | | | | | | | Dead, | | | | | | | | | -------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+

[This recapitulation goes on the back of the Return, and should properly appear on the head of the quarter-fold.]

(C.)

RECRUITING ACCOUNT of in the

------+---------+-------+-------+--------+---------------+ | Names of| | | | | | recruits| | | | | |(arranged| | | | | Number| in | Dates |Periods| Bounty | Bounty | of | alpha- | of | of |allowed.| paid. | vouch-| betical |inlist-|inlist-+--------+---------------+ ers. | order.) | ment. | ment. |dolls.|dolls.|cts.| ------+---------+-------+-------+--------+--------+------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------+---------+-------+-------+--------+--------+------+

------+---------------+--------+---------------+--------------------- | | | | When, and in what | | | Bounty |company or detachment | Balances | | paid, and | these recruits Number| of |Premium | premium | were first mustered of | bounty. |allowed.| allowed. | present after their vouch-|---------------+--------+---------------+ inlistment. ers. |dolls.|cts.|dolls.|dolls.|cts.| Remarks, &c. ------+--------+------+--------+--------+------+--------------------- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------+--------+------+--------+--------+------+---------------------

☞ The paper (D.) next page, is usually prepared or printed on the back of (C.)

(D.)

_The United States in Account Current Dr. (for bounties and premiums) with_ -----+------------------------+--------+------ Date.| |Dolls.|Cts. -----+ +--------+------ |For bounties and | | |premiums allowed for | | |recruits, per within | | |account, | | | | | |For advances made to the| | |following officers, on | | |account of bounties and | | |premiums to recruits, | | |for which advances the | | |said officers are | | |accountable, viz. | | | | | |To per receipt No. | |

Cr. +-----+---------------------+--------+------ |Date.| |Dolls.|Cts. +-----+ +--------+------ | | By | | | |For cash received of | | | |him on account of | | | |bounties and | | | |premiums to recruits,| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

I DO HEREBY CERTIFY, upon my word and honor, as an officer and a gentleman, that this recruiting account exhibits a faithful, accurate, and true statement of all monies received and paid away by me, on account of bounties and premiums to recruits, not heretofore accounted for; and that the balance of ______ dollars, ____ cents, stated in the above account current, is due from ________ to ________

Given at ________________ in the state of ________________ this __________ day of __________ 18__

RECRUIT-horses, are the horses brought up for completing the regiments of horse, and dragoons, &c.

RECTANGLE, Fr. rectangle.

RECTANGLE, RECTANGULAR, See ANGLE.

RECTILIGNE, Fr. rectilinear, or right lined.

RECTILINEAR, RECTILINEOUS, after the manner, or consisting of right lines.

RECUIT, Fr. A term used its the French foundaries of artillery, signifying the annealing or hardening of a cannon-mould.

RECUL du canon, Fr. The recoil of a piece of ordnance. See RECOIL.

RECULADE, Fr. The act of recoiling or falling back.

RECULER, Fr. To fall back. This expression is used by the French in a figurative sense, viz.

RECULER pour mieux sauter, Fr. To fall back or retreat, in order to return and advance with more energy.

RED hot shot, shot made red hot, and in that state thrown out of cannon, against the vessels or magazines of an enemy.

REDCOAT, a familiar term for a British soldier.

REDANS, in field fortification, are a kind of indented works, lines, or faces, forming sallying and re-entering angles, flanking one another; generally constructed on the sides of a river which runs through a garrison town. They were used before bastions were invented, and are by some thought preferable to them. They are likewise called Ouvrages à scie, from their resemblance to a saw.

REDDITION d’une place, Fr. The surrender of a besieged place.

REDIGER, Fr. To draw out.

REDIGER des memoires, Fr. To draw out memorials.

REDINTEGRATION, the act of restoring any single substance, from a damaged mixed body, to its former nature and properties. Thus col. Congreve, of the British artillery, by the redintegration of nitre from damaged gunpowder, has effected a vast saving in that article.

REDOUBT, (Redoute, Fr.) in fortification, a square work raised without the glacis of the place, about musquet shot from the town; having loop-holes for the small arms to fire through, and surrounded by a ditch. Sometimes they are of earth, having only a defence in front, surrounded by a parapet and ditch. Both the one and the other serve for detached guards to interrupt the enemy’s works; and are sometimes made on the angles of the trenches for covering the workmen against the sallies of the garrison. The length of their sides may be about 20 toises; their parapets must have two or three banquettes, and be about nine or ten feet thick. They are sometimes (in a siege) called places of arms.

REDOUBT, is also the name of a small work made in a ravelin, of various forms. See FORTIFICATION.

REDOUBT, castle or donjon, a place more particularly intrenched, and separated from the rest of a ditch. There is generally in each of them a high position, from whence the country round the place may be discovered.

Detached REDOUBT, is a work made at some distance from the covert-way, much in the same manner as a ravelin with flanks. See ARROW.

REDOUBTS en cremaillere, differ from all the rest, because the inside line of the parapet is broken in such a manner as to resemble steps of stairs, or teeth of a saw; whereby this advantage is gained, that a greater fire can be brought to bear upon the defile, than if only a simple face was opposed to it, and consequently the passage is rendered more difficult.

REDOUTER, Fr. To be alarmed at. Redouter les armes d’un ennemi, to be alarmed at the strength of an enemy.

REDOUTES de terre, Fr. redoubts that are hastily thrown up, and are made with earth, for the purpose of securing entrenchments, circumvallations, passages of rivers, &c.

REDOUTES de maconnerie, Fr. redoubts made of mason work. These are generally constructed in places where an enemy might derive advantage from establishing himself; they are likewise built upon the saliant angles of the glacis.

REDOUTES casematées, Fr. Casemated redoubts. These are arched over and are bomb proof. Those constructed for the defence of Gibraltar, and for the security of Dover Castle, are of this description.

REDOUTES à machicoulis, Fr. redoubts made of stone work, which are several stories high. The highest story juts out about one foot beyond the wall that surrounds or fronts the redoubt.

REDRESSER, Fr. in a military sense, to recover. To make straight again, viz.

Redressez vos armes, recover arms. Redressez la ligne, redress the line.

To REDRILL. To drill again. To put a soldier through the first elements of military training. Every soldier on his return from furlough, should be redrilled before he is permitted to act in the ranks of his company.

To REDUCE a place, is to oblige the governor to surrender it to the besiegers, by capitulation.

To REDUCE the circle. To restore or bring back a battalion or company, which has been formed in circle, to its original position in line.

To REDUCE the square. To restore or bring back a battalion or battalions, which have been formed in a hollow or oblong square, to their original situation in line or column. On the word form close column, the front which the column is to have is noted to stand still by its proper officer, whether it be flank or centre; the other portions of the line are faced towards the point of formation; and then quarter faced or wheeled to front or rear; as the columns is to be formed. The column upon the centre, is the best and most effective of all the formations for columns of attack.

To be REDUCED, in a military sense, to be taken off the establishment, 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.

To be REDUCED to the ranks. To be taken from a superior appointment in a regiment, and to be ordered to the duty of a common soldier. This sometimes happens, by way of punishment, when a serjeant or corporal misbehaves himself.

REDUCT. See REDOUBT.

REDUCTION des troupes, Fr. A reduction of the armed force of a country.

REDUIRE, Fr. in drawing, to copy, to reduce a plan or picture. This operation differs from that of chalking out. The French use the expression in various senses, viz.

REDUIRE en grand, Fr. To copy an original drawing, by giving it larger dimensions.

REDUIRE en petit, Fr. To copy an original drawing, by giving it smaller dimensions, which is literally to reduce it.

REDUIRE un plan au petit pied, Fr. To make a copy of a drawing, in which every part is faithfully represented, though on a small scale.

REDUIT, Fr. literally means a nook, or bye-place; in a military sense, it signifies a sort of citadel, which is extremely inconvenient to the inhabitants of the town, because it takes up more ground than those that are regularly built, and is, at the same time, uncomfortable to the troops, because they must be very much crowded. This word is explained by an English lexicographer, in the following manner:--Reduct or Reduit, an advantageous piece of ground, intrenched and separated from the rest of the place, camp, &c. for an army, garrison, &c. to retire to in case of surprize. Reduits are sometimes made for the purpose of securing different posts in a town independent of its citadel. These have been proposed by the celebrated Vauban.

REDUIT, in architecture, a recess.

REED, an arrow.

REEDIFIER, Fr. To rebuild.

RE-ENTERING angle, in fortification, is that which, turns its point towards the centre of the place. See FORTIFICATION.

REFAIT, bois refait et remis à l’equerre, Fr. An expression used among French carpenters, and by the artificers belonging to the train, to signify any piece of wood which has been planed and made perfectly square and level.

REFEND, Fr. in architecture, a partition wall, viz. Mur de refend.

To RE-FORM, 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. This frequently occurs in the passage of lines, &c. viz. When a line or several battalions hath passed another that remains posted, by retreating through by files, it may be reformed in the following manner:

To RE-FORM by a flank battalion, on a central battalion, in an oblique position.

When by a flank battalion, the line that has passed is fronted in column, and the several pivots are dressed correctly before wheeling up into line. To this effect, the commander of the head battalion will instantly place the pivots of his three first platoons in a true direction, and order the officers of his other platoons to line on them; himself remaining with the head platoon at the point d’appui, will see that this is correctly done. The first battalion thus steadied, will become a sufficient direction for the second, and every other one, to prolong it by their adjutants; and this operation, though successive from platoon to platoon, and from battalion to battalion, may be performed quickly and correctly; if the adjutants are timeously detached, and if the head of the column be quickly arranged.

To RE-FORM a first line on a central battalion. In order to give the alignment from a central battalion, after halting and fronting, the platoon pivots of the given battalion are from its head to be accurately lined by its commander, in the true direction. This battalion being placed, from which distances and dressings are taken, the others will instantly proceed to line their pivot flanks upon it: those that are behind it, will readily do this; those that are before it will find more difficulty, as they must take their distances from the rear; to facilitate this necessary object, their platoon officers will face to the directing battalion, and will then successively take their distances and covering from their then front; as soon as each has acquired his true position, he will face about and make his platoon join to and dress to him. The line will then be ready to form, by wheeling up to the pivot flank.

To RE-FORM a first line, that has passed through a second which remains posted, in an oblique position.

When it is found necessary that the passing battalions, which constitute the first line should take a new position not parallel to the second, or to their own original formation, the commander, with his two leading platoons, will first enter it (i. e. the new position) and direct the others to regulate their flanks by them; and if several battalions are passing the second line, the new alignment is thus made easier for them.

It frequently happens, that a height in the rear is to be crowned by a retiring line. In this case, each officer must not dress exactly to the platoon that precedes him, but in joining it he must halt, and arrange his own in such a manner, that the slope of the rising or ascent can be entirely seen and commanded, which is here the great object, and would not be attained, if the troops were to adhere to a straight line.

To REFORM, (Reformer, Fr.) is likewise to reduce a corps of men, by either disbanding the whole, or only breaking a part, and retaining the rest; or sometimes by incorporating them with other regiments.

REFORME, Fr. reduced.

Officier REFORME, Fr. An officer put upon half-pay; or seconded according to the regulations of the old French service.

REFORMED officer. One whose troop or company being broke, is continued on whole or half-pay. He preserves the right of seniority, and continues in the way of preferment.

REFOULER, Fr. To ram down.

REFOULOIR, Fr. A cannon rammer.

REFUGEE, (Réfugeé, Fr.) See EMIGRANT.

To REFUSE. A military phrase, signifying to throw back, or to keep out of that regular alignment which is formed when troops are upon the point of engaging an enemy. This often occurs in order to occupy a particular position, to prevent the enemy’s designs on any particular part of a line, or at least to make him take a greater detour to effect his purpose; or that he may be obliged to align his own on a height which is occupied, and from which he may be flanked. When a first line has passed through a second, and it is found necessary to refuse a wing, the several platoons of that line must pass according to the wing which is to be refused. If the left, for instance, is to be posted, and the right to be refused, the platoons may pass from their left by the facing of the platoon to the left, and marching to the required position in succession; the column will thereby have its left in front, will be more readily directed on the point d’appui, and the preservation of the distances will be facilitated, as they will then be taken from the front. If the right is to be posted, the platoons may pass from their right; but the movement into echellon, and wheeling into line is preferable to any mode, as errors can always be remedied in an instant, and without confusion.

It may happen where the passing line is to post one flank and refuse the other, that the officers will have their distances to take from behind; halt the whole at any time after passing, and countermarch each platoon, which will then cause the future formation to be taken from the front of the column.

A retiring line may also refuse a wing, by forming in line very soon after passing, and then taking up an oblique position to the rear, by the echellon march, or some other of the modes prescribed. See Amer. Mil. Lib.

Frederic, surnamed the great, king of Prussia, who had attentively studied the tactics of the ancients, first adopted the method of refusing a wing in the forming of an attack. This method has been since successfully followed by the best modern generals. It answers to a partial reserve of a force which is always ready at command; and in point of security, it is the reverse of what the French mean in préter un aile, to expose a wing, or post it in a precarious manner. The French during the whole of the action which was fought in Egypt, on the 21st of March, 1801, refused their right wing. Notwithstanding this precaution they were defeated by the British.

As a correct formation of the line by the echellon march, whether it advance or retire in the presence of an enemy, is generally resorted to when it is found necessary to refuse any part of a line, it will not appear superfluous to submit the following mode which is practised by the French.

Formation of the line by the echellon march of divisions, by the covering serjeants or guides running out to mark the point in the new alignment, for their respective divisions.

When the battalion changes position to the front on a fixed flank company, by throwing forward the rest of the battalion, the commander having determined the new line, and wheeled a given company into that line the named number of paces (say 4) the remaining companies wheel two paces on their right forward into echellon. The guide or covering serjeant of the second company instantly moves out, takes about ³⁄₄th distance for his company, faces the point d’appui, and places himself in such a manner, that the outside of his right arm will pass in line with the breast of the men of the company already in the line. He is corrected, if necessary, on the distant point of formation by a proper person placed on the right for that purpose. On the words form line and march being given by the commander, the guide or covering serjeant of the third company runs briskly out, places himself so as to cover the second guide or serjeant, faces the point d’appui, and takes the order ³⁄₄th distance, corrected on the distant point by the person on the right. The officer commanding the second company, marches on till he sees himself clear of the left flank of the right company; he then gives the word quarter face to the right, (his right pivot marking time) and when he observes his company square with the new line, he gives the word forward, runs nimbly out and places himself in front of the third left file of the first formed company, and when the men of his company have their feet off the ground ready to finish the last pace to bring them into line, he gives the word mark time, and dresses his men close to the outside of the right arm of the covering serjeant: and then gives the word halt. Taking care that the outward flank of his company does not shut out the distant point of dressing: he then places himself on the right of his division, covered by his serjeant, who quits his ground and briskly passes through the interval on the right of his division, at the word halt.

In this manner division after division arrives in the new line; and as the covering serjeants of each of the other divisions approach within 15 or 20 paces of the line, they run out to mark the points for their respective companies, face the point d’appui as already directed, and there remain till the word mark time--front--halt, when the guides quit their places in front and take post on the flank or in the rear.

In forming line to the rear by the echellon march, (suppose on a left company) the same operation takes place with regard to the covering serjeants running out, to mark the points of dressing for their respective divisions; but with this difference, that instead of their taking only about ³⁄₄th distance, they are to take about one pace more or less than the proper distance; face the point of appui, and are corrected on the distant point, as before, by a proper person on the left. The commanders of companies will, as soon as they see the proper front rank of their companies touch that part of the line already formed, give the word mark time, front, halt. Each officer dresses the men of his platoon at the marked time, till he brings them in line with the outside of the left arm of his covering serjeant; he then gives the word halt; taking post on the right of his company, covered by his serjeant, who quits his ground as before on the word halt.

It is to be observed, in order to preserve the proper interval, on the covering serjeant quitting his division to mark the point in the true line, the officer’s place is to be immediately filled by a supernumerary or other man from the rear, where he is to remain till replaced by the officer, or covering serjeant.

It is likewise to be observed, that in forming line to the front on a right division, the dressing is close to, and on the outside of the right arm of the covering serjeant; and on forming the line forward on a left company or division, the dressing is close to and on the outside of the left arm. In forming line to the rear on a right division, the dressing is on the right arm: and in forming line to the rear on a left division, the dressing is on the left arm of the covering serjeant.

In forming line to the rear, the officers, or other persons appointed to correct the serjeants on the distant point of formation, move along in the rear and correct the serjeants, as they successively arrive to mark the points for their respective divisions.

By the foregoing method of sending out the covering serjeants or guides to mark the point in the new line for their respective companies, that inaccuracy of dressing, which so often takes place when forming line to the front; and that very great confusion and incorrectness, which too frequently occur when forming to the rear, (particularly so, when the wheel into echellon is in any degree less than the one eighth of the circle or four paces,) are entirely obviated.

REFUSER, Fr. For its application in a military sense, see TO REFUSE.

REFUSER, Fr. This word is used among the French as a sea-phrase, viz. le vaisseau a refusé. The ship has missed the wind.

REGAIN, Fr. in carpentry and masonry, means the surplus of a piece of stone or wood when it proves too broad or too long for any particular use, and must of course be taken off. It likewise means after-grass or math.

REGALER, Fr. to level or make even.

REGIE, Fr. government, administration.

REGIMENT, (Regiment, Fr.) a term applied to any body of troops, which, if cavalry, consists of one or more squadrons, commanded by a colonel; and, if infantry, of one or more battalions, each commanded in the same manner. The squadrons in cavalry regiments are divided, sometimes into six, and sometimes into eight, nine, or ten troops. The battalions of infantry are generally divided into ten companies. There is not, however, any fixed rule on this head; as both cavalry and infantry regiments differ according to the exigencies of service in time of war, or the principles of economy in time of peace. The German regiments frequently consist of 2000 men: and the regiment of Picardy in the old French service had 6000. The French formerly made a distinction between the commanding officer of a regiment of cavalry, and the commanding officer of a regiment of infantry. The former was stiled Mestre de camp, the latter colonel as with us; but according to the establishment of the present French army, the term of regiment is confined to the cavalry and artillery: and the name of half brigade is given to the infantry. So that chiéf de brigade, chief of brigade, corresponds with our colonel of a regiment of infantry. The denomination of colonel is again established in the French cavalry.

With respect to the derivation of the word, it appears, that the best etymology is from the French word Régie, management, which comes from the Latin regere, to govern. Hence a regiment is said to be governed by a colonel. M. Beneton, a celebrated French etymologist, differs from this explanation. He traces it from the French régime, which signifies system, regimen, administration, and which is again derived from the Latin regimen, bearing the same import. In a physical acceptation of the term, regime is used to express any body that is composed of several others. But this is mere conjecture on his part.

Regiments were first formed in France in the year 1558, and in England in the year 1600.

Dromedary REGIMENT, a corps raised by the French during their stay in Egypt. The men were mounted upon dromedaries. To quote the words of Mr. Morier, in his account of a campaign with the Ottoman army in 1800, the dromedaries composing this troop are made to go through a number of evolutions, and when attacked, they are formed into a hollow square: they kneel, and by means of a cord which is thrown round one of the knees, they are prevented from getting up, and thus they afford a breast-work for the soldiers. The same author observes in a note, page 59, that the most convenient and only way of travelling in Egypt is upon dromedaries. The traveller need not encumber himself with food for his animal, as a very scanty allowance of beans suffices for many days journey. Travellers ride upon convenient saddles; and the animal is so docile, that he is guided only by touching him with a small stick on the side that he is to turn. Some have a ring through each nostril, which serves as a bit to a bridle fastened to them. They walk very fast; and their trot is swift, but very inconvenient.

Cape REGIMENT. We have already mentioned under the article Hottentots, (which see) that a proposal had been delivered in to the British government to raise, train, and discipline a certain number of the original inhabitants of the Cape of Good Hope. This proposal, after considerable delay, and much deliberation, was finally accepted; and a few days previous to the sudden cessation of arms between England and France. Sir John Dalrymple many years ago proposed to the British government the raising of African corps for the subjection of the West and East Indies, and South America.

Malays REGIMENT, a corps which has been raised by the British on the islands and on the coasts of Malacca, for the specific purpose of doing duty in the island of Ceylon.

REGIMENTAL, any thing belonging to a regiment.

REGIMENTAL staff. See STAFF.

REGIMENTALS, the uniform clothing of the army; as a leather cap, coat, waistcoat, breeches, stocks, shoes, boots, spats, spatterdashes, &c.

REGIMENTAL courts-martial. See COURTS-MARTIAL.

REGIMENTAL bond. See BOND.

REGIMENTAL parade. See PARADE.

REGIMENTAL, belonging to a regiment.

REGIMENTAL orders. See ORDERS.

REGIMENTAL necessaries. By the British mutiny act, it is declared, that any person, buying, detaining, or exchanging any articles called regimental necessaries, or who shall cause the color of the clothes to be changed, shall forfeit 5_l_. Soldiers selling or exchanging them, are liable to military punishment, &c.

REGIMENTAL receipts for forage on service. Vouchers which must be produced by the contractors of an army to authorize them to have their claims discharged by the commissary general, or his deputies. It is sensibly observed in page 32 of the British Commissary, that in every case there should, if possible, be only one voucher for one issue. The mode of accomplishing this must be simple, and it is adopted by those who certainly have most experience; for every German corps, or German officer, who draws forage, or any other article, from the commissariat, sends a mere receipt. This prevents farther writing or trouble, because the receipt may be presented in the open field, and is in itself a complete voucher. All that is required, is, for the regiment to order its forage party to bring back the receipt, if the quantity be not obtained; and the quarter-master, or foraging serjeant, to give a receipt for what he gets, if only part can be had.

REGIR, Fr. to govern; to manage; to take charge of, viz.

Régir des soldats; to take charge of soldiers.

REGLE, Fr. See RULE.

Vent REGLE, Fr. a trade wind.

REGALEMEN. See REGULATION.

REGRATTER, Fr. in architecture, to scrape the outside of a building.

Among engravers this word signifies to re-touch a plate.

REGULAR. In geometry, a regular body is a solid, whose surface is composed of regular and equal figures, and whose solid angles are all equal.

REGULAR attacks, in a siege, are such as are made in form; that is, by regular approaches. See ATTACKS.

REGULAR, when applied to the army, signifies those troops that are inlisted for a regular period, do duty as soldiers and nothing else; contradistinguished from those who are citizens occasionally exercising the duties of soldiers; thus the militia are not ranked among the regulars, unless on actual service and well disciplined, and fit for any service. Hence regular troops, or regulars.

REGULARS, (Troupes Régulieres, Fr.) Those troops whose conditions of enrollment are not limited to time or place, in contradistinction to fencibles, militia, or volunteer corps; called also the line.

To REGULATE, to adjust by rule or method.

REGULATING Battalion. See PARALLELISM OF A MARCH.

REGULATION, the act of regulating, or adjusting by rule or method.

REGULATION, a term generally used in the British army to signify the regulated price at which any commission, or saleable warrant is permitted to be disposed of. These prices have been fixed by the king. For particulars see Military Finance, page 160.

REGULATIONS, for the American army.

There is no coherent or consistent system of regulations in existence for the military establishment of the United States. The economy of military arrangement is as essential as the discipline of the field, to assure the effects of military operations. There should be a well digested system of regulations, and upon that system should be engrafted a staff, susceptible of adaptation to the peace or the war establishment, to the smallest or the largest force. The French have derived the greatest advantage from their regulations, which have been formed by a well digested body of principles adapted to all circumstances, and the enforcement and execution of which is always distinctly appropriated to the proper officers of the staff. At present the regulations of the United States army is confined to a few general orders from the war department, on detached points of service; and of occasional orders of the commander in chief, issued upon some exigency, at remote periods; and adopted into permanent use. In many instances these regulations have been altered by the war office, in others the circumstances which gave rise to them have ceased, and the regulations become obsolete or inappropriate. In 1810, an attempt was made, by the establishment of a quarter-master general’s office, to commence something like a system; should this be accomplished it may be beneficial, though the want of information in the duties of a staff, particularly if those heretofore arranged under the quarter-master general’s department alone are to be adopted, that it is to be feared the system may remain defective, should the old English model, now exploded by the British themselves, be kept in view instead of the more enlarged system introduced in modern wars. The treatise on the staff by Grimoard, contains the best body of regulations extant. It has been translated, and will form a part of the American Military Library.

The following are among the principal regulations in force at the beginning of the year 1810.

(GENERAL ORDERS.)

HEAD QUARTERS, Fort Washington, May 22, ’97

To prevent the necessity of repetition, to establish principle, without which there can be no permanent order, to define the rights of individuals, to exclude caprice, to promote economy, and precision, to disseminate an uniformity of duty and of service throughout the army, and to impress the necessary ideas of subordination and discipline, the following regulations have been digested, and must be duly respected by all ranks.

I. Precedence in command is attached to seniority of corps, and the oldest commission subject to such deviations as the commander in chief may deem essential to the national weal, and the point of honor is determined by the following gradation.

1. Guard of the president.

2. The attack.

3. Reconnoitring parties, and corps of observations.

4. Foraging before the enemy.

5. Posts in the enemy’s country.

6. National barriers.

7. Detachments and out posts.

8. Guard of the trenches.

9. Van guards to the front.

10. Rear guards in retreat.

11. General courts-martial.

12. Guard of the commander in chief.

13. Guards of camp or garrison taken from the line.

14. All other guards mounted from the grand parade.

15. Guards of general officers, and the staff according to rank.

16. Pickets.

17. General fatigues.

18. Regimental police.

Should a tour of service occur while an officer is on any subordinate duty, he shall be relieved, but the tour on which he was engaged shall pass to his credit. If an officer’s tour for general court-martial, picket, or fatigue, occurs while he is on any other duty from the grand parade, he shall not be relieved, but is to stand for the next tour.

II. In all services by detachment, the corps are to furnish according to their strength, the longest off the first on; but in all cases of duty and of service where it may be found practicable, the troops are to operate by companies, battalions, or regiments.

III. Marching off the grand parade, or swearing in on general court-martial, is to pass for a tour of duty.

IV. Return detachments not to be excused from duty more than two days.

V. Police in conformity to the regulations of Baron de Stuben.

VI. Fatigues, general or particular, to be regulated by detail, and duty of every kind to be apportioned impartially.

A soldier, by voluntary compact, becomes the servant of the state, but not the slave of any individual. Extra men are never to be drawn from the ranks, but by permission of the commanding officer of a district, department, or regiment; and when employed in the service of officers, they are to be paid one third of a dollar per day, by the individual for whom they work. To abstract a soldier from his professional duties, and to subject him to the orders of persons not attached to the army, or to impose upon him menial laborious services, is an abuse of authority, a breach of contract, and a deep injury to the service; because it authorizes negligence in the soldier, and in effect destroys his arms and clothes. This practice is therefore positively prohibited.

VII. The annual clothing should be issued in the following manner.

In the Southern States.

On the first day of December, woollen overalls and vests, two shirts, two pair shoes, and two pair socks.

On the first day of April, the residue.

In the middle and Eastern States.

On the first day of November, woollen overalls and vests, two shirts, two pair shoes, and two pair socks.

On the first day of May, the residue.

Where circumstances will permit, it is to be drawn by the paymasters of corps, under the orders of the commanding officers, upon returns certified by the captains, or officers commanding companies, who are to receive it, and are to be held responsible for the distribution; extraordinary arrangements will be applied to extraordinary cases.

VIII. Company books and papers belong to the company, and are never to be separated from it, therefore whenever an officer is taken from his company, by promotion, transfer, or leave of absence, he is to deposit all the books and papers belonging to it, with the officer next of rank, taking duplicate receipts for the same, one of which is to be lodged with the paymaster of his corps; and whenever a man is transferred or ordered upon distant service, the commanding officer of the company from which he is taken, will be held responsible, that the date of his inlistment and a state of his accounts, as to pay, clothing, arms, ammunition, and accoutrements, be transmitted to the commanding officer of the corps, garrison, or detachment, which he is to join: certificates of provision are always to accompany individual soldiers and non-commissioned officers commands, from post to post.

IX. Servants to be taken by voluntary consent from the regiment, corps, or detachment, to which the officer served may belong, in the following proportions, viz.

A lieutenant colonel commandant on duty, three, one without arms.

Major on duty, two, one without arms.

Captain commanding a post or battalion, two, one without arms.

Captain on ordinary duty, one with arms.

Subaltern on duty, one with arms.

Surgeon on duty, two do.

Surgeon’s mate, one do.

Quarter-master general with the army, two, one without arms.

Paymaster general two, one without arms.

Subordinate staff, at the discretion of the commanding officer.

The servants of platoon officers are always to accompany them on duty, and will be included in the same detail: no officer on furlough can be allowed more than one servant, and him without arms.

This allowance is a liberal one, and but too sensibly impairs the strength of the line. If gentlemen will mess, as in all other armies, it will be found abundant; otherwise they must employ domestics to be fed, paid, and clothed from their privy purses, as no further indulgence on the part of the public can be admitted.

The commanding officers of corps, posts, and detachments, will be held responsible for the strict observance of this order, and the violation by whomsoever permitted or committed, will be followed by an arrest, and the sentence of a general court-martial.

X. Four women per company complete, and in that ratio, are permitted to draw provisions and no more; washing the clothes of the company is to be performed by these women, at such price as the commanding officer of the regiment may establish; the officer commanding the company will be held responsible that it is fairly and impartially distributed, rating an officer as four men; mistresses or kept women are prohibited to the officers--the habit is a vicious one, it is repugnant to the rules of society, it is burthensome to the service, ever pregnant with discord, often afflictive to the meritorious soldier, always disgraceful, and frequently destructive to men of merit; the ceremony of marriage heretofore performed by the officers of the army, is also strictly forbid.

XI. Discharges for services fully performed to be given by the commandants of regiments, upon the certificate of the captain or commanding officer of the company in which the soldier served; but in all other cases by the commander in chief, or superior authority--retiring officers are not to take off soldiers with them as waiters or in any other capacity; a contrary practice has lost many valuable men to the service, and has perplexed the company accounts.

XII. The power of granting furloughs is in the commander in chief, on the recommendation of the colonel or officer immediately commanding the applicant, unless where the authority of the president is interposed.

XIII. Settling is restricted to the permission of the commander in chief, or officer commanding a separate department, but no permission is to be granted, except to citizens of the United States of known probity, and attachment to the government.

XIV. As we have no chaplain, the troops are to be inspected by companies every Sunday, and by regiments, battalions, or detachments, monthly; when returns of inspection are to be made out agreeably to the established form, these returns are to be regularly transmitted to the commander in chief, under the certificate of the commanding officers of companies, and the inspecting officer, who in the absence of the inspector, is to be appointed by the commanding officers of corps, posts, or detachments.

XV. The appointment of adjutants and quarter-masters of corps, hertofore in the commander in chief, appertains of right to the lieutenant colonels commandant, who have the power of removal from office. The regimental paymaster is elective by the officers of the regiment, under the orders of the colonel.

XVI. The appointment of non-commissioned officers, held of great importance in all services, because it is the root of all subordination and discipline, has been much neglected in ours. More circumspection on this interesting point is strictly enjoined, the captain or commanding officers of companies may recommend, but the appointment is in the colonel or commanding officer of the corps only.

XVII. Reformation being the end of all punishments, a soldier is never to be punished when drunk, but when found in that disgraceful situation, he is to be confined until he recover his senses, and is then to be punished.

XVIII. The residence of the regimental staff is at the head quarters of the regiment, except the surgeons mates, who are subject to be detached.

XIX. Stoppages of pay are to be rigorously enforced for lost arms, ammunition, accoutrements, and clothing, which cannot be satisfactorily accounted for, it therefore becomes indispensible that company and regimental books, as well as those of the paymaster and quarter-master, should be kept with great exactness, and that councils of administration should sit quarterly whenever practicable, to scrutinize the regimental accounts.

XX. Garrisons of posts are not to be varied, except by the officer who establishes them, or his superior, but subordinate officers commanding posts in the department, are to report monthly to the head quarters of the regiment to which they belong.

XXI. Commanding officers of posts, under the grade of field officers, are to be relieved annually, and majors biennially, this rotation is founded in the principles of justice and sound policy.

XXII. The use of cards and dice are strictly prohibited in camp or quarters, except for the game of backgammon.

XXIII. In military institutions the force of example is incalculable, no officer, therefore, off duty, can be excused from parades, regimental or general, except in case of actual sickness or confinement; the officer who feigns sickness to elude duty, is a dishonor to his cloth, and will be held in infamy: and should any officer or non-commissioned officer, (be his command ever so diminutive,) betray such indolence and insensibility of professional obligation, as to omit one regular roll call, he shall be made an example to the army.

These orders are to be read to the troops, on the first day of the months of January, April, July, and October.

(EXTRACT OF GENERAL ORDERS.)

HEAD QUARTERS, Loramiers, June 12, 1797.

To correct and extinguish the abuses which have crept into the service, is an herculean task, yet the commander in chief owes it to his own honor, to the honor of the army, and to his country, to effect a reform, and he calls upon his officers of every grade, for their co-operation in the arduous undertaking.

The spirit of cropping,[16] which is almost every where to be seen, is repugnant to the principles of soldiership, destructive to the service, and disgraceful to those who indulge it; not less exceptionable is the practice of collecting and breeding live stock in large quantities.

[16] This term refers to a practice which found its way into the army, in the western cantonments, who had employed the soldiery in raising crops of produce to the neglect of discipline.

The highest obligations of a soldier are briefly comprised to be ever ready to march, to fight, and to die, but the principles and condition of the former are at utter variance with this solemn text; gentlemen in commission must reflect, that it is to them the private looks for example; the national bounty is expended not to improve the agricultural arts, but to instruct men in the use of arms; the hoe and plough must be laid aside, and every moment from professional duty, devoted to form, instruct, and to train them in the glorious science of war. It is for this noble purpose gentlemen receive the pay and subsistence of their country, and their honor is pledged for the performance.

Planting and improving of corn fields is prohibited; garden, sufficient for the accommodation of officers and soldiers, are proper and necessary, and it is obligatory on all commanding officers to pay attention to this subject, the labor is however to be done by detail; the idea of an officer’s farming for profit is inadmissible, as it tends to a neglect of duty, a relaxation of discipline, abuse of the public service, and the disgrace of the profession.

In marching from one post of the continent to another, it is repugnant to every principle of economy and of justice, that the public should transport private provisions (other than groceries) or household furniture; if one officer is indulged in this way, another is equally intitled to indulgence, what a spectacle should we behold was every officer to move, with all the baggage and stock accumulated at the several posts, we should look more like a horde of Tartars than a regular military corps; while such practices prevail the public service will be embarrassed and delayed, and in effect exposed to destructive consequences, they are therefore prohibited.

(EXTRACT OF GENERAL ORDERS.)

HEAD QUARTERS, South West Point, September 1, 1801.

Besides the rolls of muster directed to be furnished to the pay department, one roll of each company or detachment of the army, and of the regimental staff for the months of June and December annually, are to be transmuted to the inspector of the army, at the city of Washington, on the first of January, and the first day of July following such musters, in the same manner that inspection and other returns are directed to be transmitted to him by the order of the 30th of November last; for the strict observance of which all commanding officers will be held responsible.

(GENERAL ORDERS.)

HEAD QUARTERS, Washington, July 9, 1804.

The opinion having prevailed that an officer may throw up his commission and abandon the service at his discretion, the general considers it his duty to correct a delusion so pregnant with mischief to the public interest, and so subversive of every principle of subordination and discipline; it is therefore to be clearly understood that no officer, bearing a commission in the United States, has the power to resign the same, or quit the service without the president’s permission, or that of some subordinate duly authorized, and all offences against this order are to be punished with rigor.

(EXTRACT OF GENERAL ORDERS.)

HEAD QUARTERS, Natchitoches, Sept. 24, 1806.

To recover lost ground, and to revive the languishing principle of subordination, it is essential this little corps should recollect the rights and attributes of rank and commission; agreeably, therefore, to a standing rule, which can never be dispensed with, without prejudice to the service.

The general can hold no communication on a professional topic, except in cases of public or personal grievances but through the commandant of the post; or commanding officers of corps, nor can these gentlemen receive any similar application from their subalterns, but through their respective captains.

(EXTRACT OF GENERAL ORDERS.)

HEAD QUARTERS, New Orleans, January 22, 1807.

It is deemed unnecessary to muster the troops every month, since it rarely happens that a payment is made for so short a period: the general therefore directs that in future the several companies be mustered on the last day of February, April, June, August, October, and December, and that each muster, comprise the casualties of two months.

(EXTRACT OF GENERAL ORDERS.)

HEAD QUARTERS, New Orleans, March 31, 1807.

The following regulations are to be considered of standing import, and are to be punctually observed until revoked.

All commanding officers are in person to command the daily parades of their respective garrisons, unless prevented by indisposition.

The troops are to be exercised once a week in battalion, and by companies twice a week when the weather may permit, without prejudice to the arms or the health of the men.

Whenever a superior officer shall visit a post or garrison, it is the duty of the commanding officer immediately to wait upon him, and make a tender of the keys, returns, reports, regulations, and instructions relative to the said post or garrison, and receive his orders.

Quarter guards are not permitted in garrison, nor are guards of quarters allowed, except to the commanding officer, and those who are entitled to them by established regulation.

The guards are invariably to be exercised by the officer of the day, when the weather may permit, before they are marched off the grand parade for their posts.

Awkward recruits are to be drilled daily until perfected in the elements of their profession.

(GENERAL ORDERS.)

HEAD QUARTERS, New Orleans, April 15, 1807

In all cases where men are discharged, the full complement of clothing to which they are intitled by law, is to be paid up out of the company stock.

Inspector’s Office, Washington, January 21, 1810.

The foregoing are true copies from the orderly books in this office.

A. Y. NICOLL, Adjutant and Inspector.

BY THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR.

REGULATIONS to be observed in the allowances for barracks or quarters to the officers of the army, and in the delivery and distribution of fuel and straw to the garrisons on the sea coast and recruiting parties.

BARRACKS OR QUARTERS.

To the commanding general, for himself, four rooms and a kitchen.

To his aid, one room.

To the quarter-master general, three rooms and a kitchen, and two rooms for offices and clerks.

To each field officer, two rooms.

To the inspector of the army, one room in addition to his allowance as a field officer.

To each captain, one room.

To each of the regimental staff, one room.

To a field officer, or a captain, when commanding a separate post, in addition, a kitchen.

To two subalterns, one room.

To every mess of eight officers, one room and a kitchen.

FUEL.

From the first day of October to the first day of April, in each year.

To the commanding general, two cords and one half of wood per month.

To the quarter-master general, two cords per month.

To the inspector of the army, two cords per month.

To each field officer, one and an half cord per month.

To every commanding officer of a garrison, one and an half cord per month.

To every officer commanding a recruiting party, one cord per month.

To every other commissioned officer, one cord per month.

To every room occupied as barracks by eight non-commissioned officers, musicians and privates, one cord per month.

To a garrison barrack guard, half a cord per month.

To officers and soldiers half of the aforesaid allowances of fuel from the first day of April until the first day of October in every year, but none for offices.

To the sick in hospital, the allowance of wood is to be regulated by the surgeon.

The commanding general, under special circumstances, may by orders in writing, enlarge or diminish the foregoing allowances of fuel, and may by the like orders, direct or withhold allowances of fuel or straw at such other posts as he may judge expedient, in cases not provided for by any special regulation.

No compensation in money to be made in lieu of allowances of fuel, nor is any compensation to be received by or paid to officers, in lieu of quarters or barracks.

STRAW.

1. One truss of straw weighing thirty six pounds, is allowed for each palliass for two men. At the expiration of sixteen days, each palliass is to be refreshed with eight pounds. At the expiration of thirty two days, the whole straw is to be removed, and a fresh bedding of one truss to be furnished, and so on, every succeeding period of sixteen and thirty two days.

2. The same quantity of straw is allowed for servants or batmen not soldiers, and for washer-women attached to each company in the proportion of one washer-woman to every seventeen non-commissioned officers and privates.

3. The straw is to be changed for the sick in the hospital as often as may be deemed necessary: this necessity to be determined by the surgeon, or surgeon’s mate, in the absence of the surgeon.

Requisitions for Fuel or Straw.

1. Requisitions for wood or straw, must state the number and rank, of the officers; the number of non-commissioned officers, and privates, servants and batmen not soldiers, and of washer-women for whom demanded, and be certified by the commandant of the garrison, or recruiting party.

2. No wood or straw shall be drawn for officers, or wood or straw for soldiers, whilst on furlough, or any allowance made to them for the same.

3. Whenever it shall appear that more wood or straw has been drawn than there were officers, soldiers, servants or batmen not soldiers, and washer-women actually present and entitled thereto; the commanding officer signing such requisition, shall be held responsible for the value of the article drawn beyond the quantity allowed by these regulations, and shall have his name and the circumstances of the case, reported to the secretary for the department of war.

4. Requisitions thus signed, and the receipts given by the officers, to whom the articles are delivered for consumption, shall be produced as vouchers by the contractor, agent, or quarter-master, in the settlement of his accounts.

As a smaller quantity of fuel may suffice for the garrisons and recruiting parties to the southward than ordered by these regulations, their commandants are enjoined to regulate the demands for this article by the nature of the climate.

Given at the war office of the United States in the city of Washington, this twenty eighth day of April, A. D. 1801.

HENRY DEARBORN, Secretary of War.

Additional regulations relative to fuel.

At all posts, garrisons, or recruiting rendezvous, to the northward of the 39th degree of north latitude, should be allowed in addition to the present allowance of wood, from the first day of October, to the first day of April in each year;

To each field officer, half a cord per month.

To every commanding officer, of a garrison, consisting of one company, half a cord per month.

To every other commissioned officer, one third of a cord per month.

To every room occupied by eight men, half a cord per month.

To a garrison or quarter guard, half a cord per month.

May 1, 1806.

REGULATIONS respecting certain supplies and objects of special and extra expense.

The several contractors, besides rations including ardent spirits and vinegar, shall only provide and furnish quarters, transportation, forage, fuel, straw, and stationery, to recruiting parties where there is no appropriate officer of the quarter-master general’s department to furnish the same. The quarters intended, are those of a temporary kind. The power to provide them shall not extend to the building or repairing of barracks. In what they furnish, they shall govern themselves exclusively by the regulations which have been established by law or by the war department, and in cases to which no regulations apply, by the orders of the particular commanding officer.

No repairs shall be made to any barracks or buildings which shall incur a disbursement of money exceeding fifty dollars, but by an order of the secretary of war.

As often as any matter which may require any special or extra expense can wait without material injury to the service, for a communication to, and the direction of the secretary of war, or the commander of the army; it is not to be undertaken till after such communication and direction shall have been had.

The quarter-master general, his deputies and assistants, are primarily charged with making the disbursements in the cases abovementioned. When there is no such officer, the agent of the war department in the vicinity shall do it. All orders for such disbursements must be definite and in writing, to be transmitted with the accounts of them to the accountant of the war department; and all disbursements made in pursuance of these regulations must be substantiated by such vouchers as shall be prescribed by the said accountant.

Given at the war office of the United States in the city of Washington, this twenty eighth day of April, A. D. 1801.

HENRY DEARBORN, Secretary of War.

Rules adopted by the president of the United States relative to promotions in the army.

Promotions in the army of the United States, shall hereafter be made agreeably to the regulations in force previous to those of the 3d of September 1799, which were promulgated in general orders, dated the ninth of that month.

Promotions to the rank of captain shall be made regimentally, and to the rank of major and lieutenant colonel in the lines of the artillery and infantry respectively.

The officer next in rank, will, on the happening of a vacancy, be considered, in ordinary cases, as the proper person to fill the same; but this rule may be subject to exceptions in extraordinary cases.

Given at the war office of the United States, this twenty sixth day of May, A. D. 1801, and of independence the twenty fifth.

HENRY DEARBORN, Secretary of War.

The above rules for promotion in the infantry and artillery, are applicable to the cavalry and riflemen.

No officer will consider himself as filling a vacancy until he receives notice thereof through the department of war.

H. DEARBORN. March 7, 1808.

Regulations respecting salutes.

Salutes from the forts in the several ports and harbors of the United States shall, as a general rule, be of sixteen discharges from guns of a calibre not exceeding nine or twelve pounders.

No salute shall be fired to foreign ships or vessels of war, but in return; and in every such case, their salute shall be returned gun for gun.

Each military post within the United States may fire a national salute on the morning of the fourth of July, annually; and when there shall be a collection of citizens at, or within the immediate vicinity of a military post for the purpose of celebrating the anniversary of American independence, sixteen guns may be fired in the course of the feast.

A national salute shall be fired on a visit to the post from the president or vice president of the United States, or the governor of the state in which the post may be.

A gun not exceeding a six pounder, should be fired daily at reveille beating, immediately after the break of day; after which, no officer or soldier should remain in bed.

Given at the war office of the United States in the city of Washington, this tenth day of June, A. D. 1801, and in the twenty fifth year of American independence.

(Signed) HENRY DEARBORN, Secretary of war.

REGULATIONS respecting extra pay, and allowance of soldiers, when ordered on constant labor, for a term not less than 40 days.

The non-commissioned officers and privates of the artillery or infantry who may be drawn as artificers, to work constantly on fortifications or bridges, for a term not less than 40 days, Sundays excepted, shall be allowed, for each day’s actual labor, fourteen cents, and one gill of spirits each, in addition to their pay and rations, and one pair of linen overalls, and one frock; and if they shall be continued at work for 120 days, Sundays excepted, they shall each be allowed an additional frock, and an additional pair of overalls.

Other non-commissioned officers and privates, not artificers, who shall be drawn from the artillery and infantry for constant labor on fortifications, roads, or bridges, for a term not less than 40 days, Sundays excepted, shall be allowed for each day’s actual labor, ten cents and one gill of spirits each, in addition to their pay and rations; and if they shall be continued at work for 120 days, an additional frock and pair of overalls in like manner as the artificers.

It shall be the duty of the officer commanding any such working party, to have a regular account, kept under his inspection of every day’s work performed by each non-commissioned officer or private, signed by the commanding officer, and to transmit monthly a fair abstract thereof to the paymaster of the district in which the labor may be performed, which paymaster will be authorised to draw the money on the said abstracts, and pay the men conformably therewith.

It is to be understood, that the extra daily pay and allowance, is only to be given for actual day’s work, and not to be granted, when from sickness or other causes, the work shall not actually be performed.

(Signed) H. DEARBORN, Secretary of war.

War department, June 25, 1801.

The above regulations, so far as they respect allowances of extra clothing, are considered as being superseded by the act fixing the military peace establishment, which grants fatigue clothing to all the non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates of that establishment, annually.

H. DEARBORN. March 7, 1808.

The following rates are to govern in the allowance to officers for the transportation of their baggage, when ordered on distant commands.

A colonel 750 pounds. Lieut. colonel, 600 Major, 500 Captain, 400 First lieutenant, 300 Second do. 250 Ensign, 250 Surgeon, 500 Surgeon’s mate, 300

Each officer to be allowed the usual and customary prices of transportation by land or water per hundred, on the route which shall be necessary for him to transport himself and baggage, for as many hundred as he is entitled to the transportation of, by the regulations hereto annexed. An average price by land, will not exceed two dollars per hundred for 100 miles, and by water there are but few cases where a certain rate per cwt. is not known.

(Signed) H. DEARBORN.

War department, June 23, 1801.

In addition to the foregoing regulations, there shall be allowed to each officer, when ordered on general courts-martial, at the rate of three dollars for every hundred miles, for the transportation of his baggage.

(Signed) H. D.

Ordinance, regulating and ascertaining the quantity of stationery which each officer, serving in the army of the United States, shall be entitled to receive annually.

To every officer commanding a separate post, the garrison of which shall consist of, from one to two companies, twenty quires of writing paper.

To every officer commanding a separate post, the garrison of which shall consist of, from three to five companies, thirty-six quires of writing paper.

To every officer commanding a separate post, one blank book containing two quires of paper.

For the use of the garrison of every separate post, ingredients sufficient to make two quarts of ink.

For the use of the garrison of every separate post, twenty dozen of wafers.

For the use of the assistant military agent, at every separate post, one blank book containing two quires of paper.

For the use of every military company, whether in garrison or otherwise, two quires of paper, and one blank book containing the same quantity.

For the use of every other commissioned officer in the army, two quires of letter paper, with a proportionate allowance of ink, quills, and wafers.

Done at the war office of the U. States, this 25th day of February, 1802.

H. DEARBORN, Secretary of war.

Regulations relative to the employment of physicians.

In future, no surgeon, surgeon’s mate, or physician, not holding an appointment in the army of the United States, is to be employed on public account, by any officer or other person whatever to act in the capacity of surgeon or physician, for any man or men attached to the army, unless by special agreement first entered into, in which the compensation for medical service to be performed, shall be stipulated in writing, either by the day or month.

When the services required shall be such, as not to exceed the usual duties of a surgeon’s mate, the compensation per month, should not exceed the pay and emoluments of a surgeon’s mate.

For any number of men, not exceeding twenty, the compensation should not exceed the rate of two hundred dollars a year, including medicine; and for any number of men, not exceeding thirty, the compensation should not exceed the rate of three hundred dollars a year, including medicine.

In no instance, extraordinary cases excepted, should the compensation for medical assistance, for a shorter period than one month, exceed the rate of four dollars per day, exclusive of medicine.

Charges for medical services, after the promulgation of these regulations, will require certificates, of their having been performed agreeable thereto.

April 2, 1806.

Regulations relative to returns of clothing.

It shall be the duty of the commanding officers of companies, to make out in December each year correct returns of the clothing necessary for their respective companies for the succeeding year, including what is on hand fit for service; also correct returns or all clothing on hand, noting such as is fit for use: the said returns to be forwarded annually, by the 1st day of January, to the department of war, through the commanding officer of the military post, garrison, or encampment, at which the officer making the returns is stationed. The commanding officers of companies, shall be responsible for the correctness of their respective returns.

War department, Dec. 1, 1807.

REGULATIONS to be observed by officers commanding detachments of the army to be embarked, and on ship board.

I. The officer commanding the embarkation, prior to the men’s going on board, must personally inspect the transports, to ascertain that the quantity of provisions assigned, and every necessary accommodation is provided.

II. As soon as the troops are on board, an officer from each company will personally see, that the arms and accoutrements, the clothing neatly packed in the knapsacks, together with the hats, are to be placed in order, and properly secured, over their respective births, on the racks and pins ordered for the purpose: the arms are all to be provided with cloth tompkins; they are to be oiled, and handled daily, during the voyage, and are to be frequently inspected by the officers, to prevent their being injured by rust.

III. The men must be allotted to births, in the order in which they roll in their companies, and are to be divided into messes by squads, with a non-commissioned officer at the head of each, who is to be responsible for the good order and cleanliness of it; particular attention must be paid to the cooking, for which purpose two men must be detailed weekly from the company to attend to this duty, and it is essential that every other soldier should be prohibited from going to the camboose.

IV. An officer of the day will be appointed, whose duty it will be to enforce regularity, cleanliness and order amongst the men; to see that their provisions are well cooked and equally distributed; and in case of neglect, in any instance, he must immediately report the circumstance to the officer commanding, who will chastise the offender, if necessary.

V. The men must not be permitted to go below during the day, except in case of indisposition, or bad weather; and the bedding must invariably be brought on deck every morning, if not prevented by rain, and taken down always before sun set.

VI. To prevent accidents by fire, no candles must be suffered below, but in lanterns, and smoking between decks must be on no account, permitted. All lights are to be extinguished at eight o’clock; and the officers, to set an example of good order, should not indulge themselves in sitting up beyond a reasonable hour.

VII. General parades and calls of the roll are to be had at troop and retreat, with arms and accoutrements, in good weather, and without in bad; and on every Saturday, the commanding officer must make a complete inspection of arms, accoutrements and clothing.

VIII. To ensure cleanliness, the men must be compelled to wash their heads and hands every morning, and their feet every evening.

IX. A serjeant’s guard must be mounted daily, and a sufficient number of sentries posted, to enforce these regulations; and particularly one or more at the necessary, camboose and hatchways, with their side arms.

X. In case of coming to anchor, care must be taken to prevent the men having any communication with the shore; and attention must be paid to prevent their purchasing liquor or green fruit, from boats coming along side.

XI. The commanding officer is to co-operate with the master of the transport, in whatever may be necessary to promote the voyage; and in approaching a sail, he is positively forbid shewing a single soldier on deck: the sentries are in such case to be removed below.

XII. The men are to be furnished with two flints; twenty four rounds of ball cartridges, each: six in their cartridge boxes, and the residue packed in kegs.

These regulations are to be strictly observed in every particular; and any officer who may violate them, by omission or commission, will be brought before a general court-martial.

_Given at Head Quarters, city of Washington, Dec. 15, 1808._

This closes the whole body of Regulations for the United States force, as far as the American editor has been able to collect them.

To buy or sell at the REGULATION, to give or receive no more for a commission than what has been settled by the king’s authority in the British service. When an officer is allowed to retire from a regiment with permission to sell, the one next for purchase is supposed to pay the regulation price or his commission; but it frequently happens that parties agree among themselves with respect to terms; and it sometimes occurs, that young men of interest and fortune stop the regular promotions of officers by overbidding the market. This traffic, so infamous in its principle, as well as in its abuses, was exhibited in an odious light in the case of the duke of York and his courtesans in 1809.

Cavalry REGULATIONS, specific instructions for the formations and movements of cavalry.

Infantry REGULATIONS. A system of tactics for infantry. The general principles for the formations and movements of cavalry and infantry being invariably the same, their more particular explanation in several points, is to be found in the regulations for the infantry. See American Military Library.

General REGULATIONS and orders. A collection of certain general rules which were published for the British army by authority on the 20th of August, 1799, and which are to be considered as the ground work of those instructions that generals commanding districts, and officers in the command of brigades and regiments, forts or garrisons, may find it necessary to issue to the troops under their respective commands. To use the words of the adjutant general, this publication does by no means comprehend the whole detail which the various duties and services, and the interior economy and management of regiments may require. They are principally extracted from a book, intituled The Rudiments of War, which was published by N. Conant in 1777, they are directed to be considered as the standing orders of the army at large. They cannot be altered, or in any sense be deviated from, without the king’s or commander in chief’s approbation. It is however to be observed, that a book manifestly calculated for the interior management of the army, and consequently a necessary companion to the rules and regulations, should have been more specific. Many circumstances, apparently insignificant in themselves, and, of course, unnoticed at head quarters, grow into objects of serious discussion among the different regiments of the service, both at home and abroad. It is an old maxim, that he who neglects small faults will soon fall into great offences.

RE-IMBODY. To re-imbody, is to imbody again any regiment or corps that has been disbanded. Thus, the English militia is disbanded, and partially re-imbodied for 28 days in every year during peace.

REIN, that part of a bridle which extends from the head of a horse to the hands of the rider, &c.

REINFORCE, in founding guns, that part of a gun next to the breech, which is made stronger than the rest of the piece, in order to resist the force of the powder. There are generally two in each piece, called the first and second reinforce: the second is something smaller than the first, upon the supposition that when the powder is inflamed, and occupies a greater space, its force is diminished, which is not the case. See CANNON.

REINFORCE ring. There are three in each gun, called the first, second, and third: they are flat mouldings, like flat iron hoops, placed at the breech end of the first and second reinforce, projecting from the rest of the metal by about ¹⁄₄ of an inch.

REINFORCEMENT to the army, is an addition of fresh troops to strengthen an army, in order to enable it to go on with an enterprise, &c.

To REJOIN. To meet again. To return. He left his regiment when it broke up camp, but rejoined it again before the army marched into the enemy’s country·

REJOUISSANCES publiques, Fr. Public rejoicings, or thanksgivings. Chevalier Folard makes a curious and interesting comment relative to this subject, in one of his notes upon Polybius. He therein asserts, that the Te Deum, or thanksgiving to God, was as much practised among the heathens as it is among the moderns.

REITRES, Fr. a body of armed horsemen, who came out of Germany, and entered into the French service during the reign of Henry III. They were incorporated with the carabineers.

RELAYER, Fr. to relieve; to lessen the labor of any particular set of men by occasionally sending fresh workmen.

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.

RELAY horses, in the artillery, are spare horses that march with the artillery and baggage, ready to relieve others, or to assist in getting up a hill, or through bad roads, &c.

RELEASE. The commanding officer alone has the prerogative of releasing a prisoner from confinement, after he has once been duly given in charge to the guard, with his crime or crimes stated in writing; or of remitting after he has been adjudged to suffer military punishment; except in cases of a general court-martial, when the general of the district in certain cases, and the president of the United States in higher cases, can remit or mitigate.

Cheval de RELAIS, Fr. a hackney horse.

RELEVEE, Fr. The afternoon.

RELEVER, Fr. to relieve. Hence,

RELEVER une sentinelle, Fr. To relieve a sentry, by posting another soldier in his room.

RELEVER la garde, Fr. To relieve guard.

RELIEF, Fr. an order, given by the minister at war, to authorize an officer to receive the arrears of pay which had accumulated during his absence from the regiment.

RELIEF, Fr. In architecture means the same as the term does when used in English.

RELIEN, Fr. The broken grains of gunpowder which have not passed through the sieve.

To RELIEVE the guard, is to put fresh men upon guard, which is generally done every 24 hours.

To RELIEVE the trenches, is to relieve the guard of the trenches, by appointing those for that duty, who have not been there before, or whose turn is next.

To RELIEVE the sentries, is to put fresh men upon that duty from the guard, which is generally done every two hours, by a corporal who attends the relief, to see the proper orders are delivered to the soldier who relieves.

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 got out otherwise. See SEARCHER.

A REMAIN, a term used among store-keepers belonging to the board of ordnance, &c. to express the actual quantity of stores which is found at an outport, &c. when a new store-keeper is appointed.

REMAINS of stores are ordered to be taken at all places at home, once in seven years, as also at the expiration of a war. In foreign parts a remain is taken only on the appointment of a new store-keeper. See OFFICE OF ORDNANCE, or BOARD OF ORDNANCE.

To REMAND, to send back; as when a soldier who has been brought out of prison, or the guard-house, for the purpose of being examined or tried, is sent back without any thing final occurring relative to his case

To REMARK, to take note of any thing.

REMARKS. Army returns, regimental statements, guard reports, &c. have a column allotted for remarks and observations relative to extraordinary occurrences.

REMBLAI, Fr. Earth collected together for the purpose of making a bank way, &c.

REMBLAYER, Fr. To collect earth together.

REMBARQUER, Fr. To re-embark.

REMBOITER, Fr. The same as Emboiter. To replace, to put together. The latter term is used by the French in artillery and cavalry manœuvres. It is the correlative to Déboiter; to break off.

REMETTEZ vous. This term agrees with the phrase--as you were. Se Remettre. To take a former position, to return to the original ground

REMETTRE, Fr. to restore, to bring back again. It is frequently used in a military sense, viz. Remettre un bataillon; to restore or bring back a battalion to its original formation

REMIT To lessen; as to remit a part of a soldier’s sentence.

To 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.

REMONTER, Fr. To Remount.

REMONTER une compagnie de cavalerie, Fr. To remount a troop of horse.

REMONTER une rivière, Fr. To sail up a river.

REMORA, Fr. This word is sometimes written Rémora, and signifies obstacle, hindrance. It comes from the Latin Remora, a small fish, which was supposed by the ancients to impede the progress of a ship.

REMORAL, Fr. an officer belonging to a galley, who has charge of the oars.

To REMOVE, to change the situation of a person.

A REMOUNT, means a supply of good and serviceable horses for the whole or part of a cavalry regiment. The following instructions have been copied from a compilation of English general and regimental orders, viz. The size of the horses for the heavy cavalry must run from 15 hands and 1 inch, to 15 3; and the age be 4 or 5 off, if possible; the taking horses coming four must be avoided as much as can be. No horse must be taken for the public service, unless he be very close and compact in his make, very broad across the loins, short and straight backed, close coupled, round barrelled, and well carcassed, wide between the rider’s thighs, deep at the girt and shoulders, and full, though not heavy chested, with short jointed, clean, bony legs, and full furnished, with strong thighs: the shoulders must lay well back; the forehand rise so as to give the horse freedom; and the head must be so set on as to admit of his getting his nose in. To this must be added, action, and good sound, full feet, with open heels. No horse must be taken with flat feet, or any lameness, or visible defect. No heavy, fleshy legged, lumbering horse must be taken on any account.

To REMOUNT. To remount the cavalry or dragoons, is to furnish them with horses in the room of those which have been either killed, disabled, or cast.

RENCONTRE, Fr. This word has been adopted amongst us, and signifies either a private quarrel, in which individuals accidentally meet and fight; or an unexpected and irregular combat between two bodies of armed men, who belong to armies that are in hostile opposition to each other. Thus, as in the former instance it serves to distinguish the casual determination of a feud or difference from the pre-determined and settled plan of a duel; so in the latter it marks the difference between a skirmish, &c. and a regular battle.

RENDER. See SURRENDER.

RENDEZVOUS, the place appointed for troops to assemble at. It likewise means any particular spot that is fixed upon for two duellists to decide their quarrel.

RENDEZVOUS, RENDEVOUS, in a military sense, the place appointed by the general, where all the troops that compose the army are to meet at the time appointed, in case of an alarm. This place should be fixed upon, according to the situation of the ground, and the sort of troops quartered in the village. In an open country it is easy to fix upon a place of rendezvous, because the general has whatever ground he thinks necessary. In towns and villages the largest streets, or market places, are very fit; but let the place be where it will, the troops must assemble with ease, and be ready for the prompt execution of orders.

RENDU, Fr. Surrendered, given up.

Soldat RENDU, Fr. This term is used, to express the difference between a soldier who deserts to the enemy, and one who lays down his arms. In the former instance he is called déserteur; in the latter, soldat rendu. It is sometimes used as a substitute, viz. Un rendu, a man who has surrendered.

RENEGADE, RENEGADO, a deserter; any one who goes over to the enemy.

RENFORCEMENT, Fr. a hollow place.

RENFORCER, Fr. to reinforce, to strengthen, to fortify.

RENFORT, Fr. Reinforcement.

RENFORT, Fr. a certain part or a cannon so called. See REINFORCE.

REPARATIONS dans un regiment, Fr. repair of arms, necessaries, camp equipage, &c.

To RENEW, (renouveler, Fr.) to repeat, to begin afresh. Hence to renew hostilities.

RENEWAL. The act of renewing, as the renewal of hostilities.

RENVOI, Fr. Sending back; any thing returned.

Chevaux de RENVOI, Fr. Returned horses.

REPARTIR, Fr. To divide, to separate, to detach.

REPARATION des troupes, Fr. Distribution of troops in different quarters.

REPERTORY. See MAGAZINE.

REPLIER, se replier, Fr. To fall back, to retreat. In military movements, to take a rear direction towards any particular part of the line, viz.

Se REPLIER sur la droite, Fr. To fall back upon the right.

REPLY. After the prisoner’s defence before a court-martial, the prosecutor or informant may reply, but without noticing any matter foreign to the specific crime or crimes expressed in the charge.

REPORT, sound; loud noise, as that made by the discharge of a musquet or cannon.

REPORT. Specific statement of persons and things. Although this word may, in some sense, be considered the same as return, yet it so far differs in military matters, that it is less comprehensive, and relates more immediately to persons and occurrences than to things.

General officers report to the commander in chief only.

The commander in chief’s guard reports to himself by one of his aid-de-camps.

Reports of cavalry are given in to the senior generals of cavalry; and reports of infantry, to the senior general officers of infantry. On a march the field officer of the piquet reports to the general of the day who leads the column; and in camp to the next superior officer to himself. A provost martial gives in his return of prisoners, and reports to the general of the day.

Judge advocates, acting in districts or garrisons, &c. send in the minutes of courts-martial, and report to the district general. Regimental surgeons report to their commanding officers, and surgeons in districts, &c. to the war office.

Monthly REPORT. Every company in the service of the United States, is required to make a monthly inspection and report, according to forms furnished by the adjutant and inspector.

All troops belonging to the British service, the marines excepted, who report to the admiralty, report through their several commanding officers, &c. to the adjutant general and secretary at war, and to the commander in chief.

Special REPORT. A special report is said to be made when the name of an officer is transmitted by his commander to the general of a district, independent of the regular returns; and some specific instance of misconduct is laid before him; every officer on his arrival from abroad with a regiment or detachment of troops, must report himself to the governor or commanding officer of the seaport at which he arrives; and every officer who takes his passage for foreign service, must do the same previous to his departure.

The senior officer in each recruiting quarter reports weekly to the field officer of the district, the number and strength of the parties therein. The field officers commanding recruiting parties in districts, report to the adjutant and inspector, to whom all returns and reports are to be transmitted by them, and not direct from the recruiting officers.

Reports are made daily, weekly, or monthly, according to circumstances.

The various subordinate reports consist of

Report of a rearguard.

Report of a barrack guard.

Report of a quarter guard.

Report of a main guard and its dependencies, &c. &c.

In the column of remarks which must accompany each of these reports, it is necessary, for the person who signs, to specify all casualties and extraordinary occurrences according to the particular nature of each report. The different hours at which the grand rounds, visiting rounds, and patroles went, must likewise be put down.

REPOS, Fr. Rest, ease. It is used by the French as a word of command, viz.

REPOS, Fr. a word of command which agrees with stand at ease.

Quartiers de REPOS, Fr. These places are so called where troops remain for some days to refresh themselves.

Soldat REPOSE sur l’arme, Fr. a soldier standing at ease with ordered arms.

REPOSEZ vous sur vos armes, Fr. Order arms.

In REPOSE, (en repos, Fr.) 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, it was judged expedient to order the 28th to advance by forced marches.

REPOSITORY, a place or repertory, in which any thing is preserved. Thus the British Repository at Woolwich, contains models of every sort of warlike stores, weapons, and fortification: 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. The British Repository is indebted to the ingenuity of colonel Congreve, for some of its most useful and important instruments of escalade, fortification, and gunnery.

REPOUSSER, Fr. to drive back, to repel.

REPOUSSOIRS, Fr. Drivers, chissels.

REPOUSSOIR, Fr. a small stick which artificers and fire-workers use in making fire pots and other works.

REPRESAILLES, Fr. Reprisals.

REPRIMAND, a slighter kind of punishment sometimes inflicted on officers and non-commissioned officers. It consists in reproving or reprimanding them at the head of their respective regiments, troop, or company, as the cases may be. A reprimand is sometimes inserted in the orderly books.

REQUISITION, (réquisition, Fr.) A term peculiarly used by the French during the course of their revolution, and applicable to most nations in its general import. It signifies the act of exacting either men or things for the public service. Hence--Denrées, marchandises mises en réquisition; necessaries of life, goods, &c. put in a state of requisition, or subject to be disposed of for the common good at a fixed price.

Jeunes gens de la REQUISITION, Fr. Young men required or called upon to serve in the army.

REQUISITIONNAIRE, Fr. A person liable to be put in a state of requisition.

RESERVE, corps de réserve, Fr. any select body of troops posted by a general out of the first line of action, to answer some specific or critical purpose, in the day of battle. The French likewise call that body a corps de réserve, which is composed of the staff of the army, and moves with the commander in chief, from whom it receives the parole or word; but in every other respect it is governed by its own general.

RESINE, Fr. Rosin.

RESOLUTION, in algebra, the solution of a problem.

RESOLUTION, (résolution, Fr.) an indispensible quality of the mind, which every general of an army should possess to its full extent. It is the advice of all wise men, leisurely to digest plans, and calmly deliberate upon them; but when once it becomes necessary to put them into execution, the person entrusted with command, should be prompt and vigorous.

RESOOM, Ind. Fees or dues.

To RESPITE, to suspend, to delay; from the French respiter.

To be RESPITED on the muster-roll, to be suspended from pay, &c. during which period all advantages of promotion, pay, &c. are stopped. It is originally derived from respite, which signifies delay, forbearance, &c. Thus in Clarendon’s history of the civil wars we read, that an act passed for the satisfaction of the officers of the king’s army, by which they were promised payment in November following; till which time they were to respite it, and be contented, that the common soldiers and inferior officers should be satisfied upon their disbanding. At present to respite means to deprive an individual of all the advantages attached to his situation; in which sense it signifies much the same as to suspend.

When an officer has exceeded his leave of absence, and has not sent a satisfactory account of himself to his commanding officer, the latter reports him, in an especial manner, to the general of the district, by whom he is returned absent without leave. It sometimes happens, that the colonel or commanding officer gives directions to have him noted on the muster-roll of the regiment; in which case he is said to be respited or deprived of pay. This is the first step towards suspension from rank and pay, which ultimately terminates in a total exclusion from the service, by the offending party being peremptorily superseded. The name of the person is laid before the secretary at war, who with the approbation of the president, directs the adjutant and inspector to strike it off the list of the army.

The money which is respited upon the muster-roll is accounted for by the account of the war department, and placed to the credit of the public by the paymaster-general.

RESPONSIBILITY. The state of being answerable. All public officers, civil or military, are in a state of responsibility with respect to national concerns.

RESPONSIBLE. Answerable; accountable; liable to be called upon. Colonels of regiments are responsible for the discipline of their men; and captains for the interior economy and clothing of their companies.

RESPONSION, Fr. A term used by the French. In military orders signifying the same as charge or redevance, charge or service. Thus each commandery pays a certain sum, called somme de responsion, to its order in proportion to its value.

RESSERRER, to hem in; to confine. Une garnison fort resserrée, a garrison narrowly watched by a besieging army, and kept within its walls.

RESSORT, Fr. Spring. Elasticity. This word is used in various senses by the French, viz.

Dernier RESSORT, Fr. the last shift.

N’agir que par RESSORT, Fr. To do nothing of one’s own free will; to be influenced, to be acted upon by others.

Manquer de RESSORT, Fr. To want energy, vigor, &c.

Un caractère qui a du RESSORT, Fr. A firm, determined character.

RESSOURCE, Fr. Resource, shift, refuge.

Un homme de RESSOURCES, Fr. a man who has resources within himself.

Un homme plein de RESSOURCES, a man full of resources, full of expedients.

To REST arms, to bring the firelock to the same position as in present arms. See MANUAL.

To REST upon arms reversed. At military funerals the arms are reversed. The soldiers belonging to the firing party, rest upon the butt ends of their firelocks, while the funeral service is performed, leaning with their cheeks, so as to turn from the corpse.

REST upon your arms reversed! A word of command which is used at military funerals.

RESTANT, Fr. the remainder; what is left.

RESTE, Fr. Remainder, viz. Le reste des troupes, the remainder of the troops.

Etre en RESTE, Fr. To be in arrears.

RESTER, Fr. to remain behind.

RETENUE, Fr. Stoppage; any thing kept back.

RETIAIRE, Fr. See RETIARIUS.

RETIARIUS, a kind of gladiator who fought in the amphitheatre during the time of the Romans. He is thus described by Kennett, in his Roman Antiquities, page 274.

The Retiarius was dressed in a short coat, having a fuscina or trident in his left hand, and a net, from which he derives 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 riband.

RETIRADE, or Coupure, Fr. In fortification, a retrenchment, which is generally made with two faces, forming a rentrant 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. When the first means of resistance have been destroyed, others are substituted by cutting a ditch, and lining it with a parapet. The retirade sometimes consists of nothing more than rows of fascines filled with earth, stuffed gabions, barrels or sand bags, with or without a ditch, and either fenced with palisadoes, or left without them.

Whenever it becomes absolutely necessary to quit the head or side of a work, the whole of it must, on no account, be abandoned. On the contrary, whilst some determined troops keep the enemy in check, others must be actively employed in throwing up retirades, which may flank each other, and in cutting a ditch in front. It is particularly incumbent upon the engineer officer to assist in works of this sort, and every officer and soldier should zealously co-operate with him. A slight knowlege of field fortification will on these occasions give a decided advantage. The body of a retirade should be raised as high as possible, and several fougasses should be laid beneath it, for the purpose of blowing up the ground on which the enemy may have established himself.

RETIRADES as practised by the ancients: these were walls hastily run up behind breaches that were made by the battering rams. The able commentator upon Polybius observes, that in no instance, did the skill of the great men of antiquity appear in so conspicuous a light, as in the various chicanes to which they resorted for the preservation of a town. Their ingenuity and resolution increased in proportion as the danger approached. Instead of offering to capitulate as the moderns generally do, when a practicable breach has been opened by a besieging enemy, the ancients, in that emergency, collected all their vigor, had recourse to various stratagems, and waited behind the retirades or temporary retreats to give the enemy a warm and obstinate reception. Cæsar, in his Commentaries, has given a minute description of the manner in which these retirades were constructed; and we find them mentioned by Josephus, in his history of the war of the Jews against the Romans.

The intermediate periods, since the days of the Greeks and Romans, and before the modern era furnish various examples on this head. In 1219, Genghis Khan set all his battering rams to work, for the purpose of effecting a breach in the walls of Ottrar; but, to his great surprise, he no sooner entered the town, than he found a fresh line of entrenchments that had been thrown up in the very heart of the city. He saw every street cut asunder with temporary ditches, and every house presented fresh obstacles: so much so, that he experienced more difficulty in subduing the inhabitants after he had forced the walls, than had occurred in practising the breach.

When the emperor Charles V. laid siege to Metz in 1552, the duke de Guise, who was governor of the town, instantly adopted the necessary precautions to defend it to the last. He built a new wall behind the one against which the principal attack was directed; and when the breach was made, the besiegers found themselves obstinately opposed afresh, within a short space of the ground they had carried. In consequence of this unexpected check, the enemy’s troops grew disheartened; and their want of confidence soon convinced the emperor that the place could not be taken. The siege was unexpectedly raised, and the preservation of the town was entirely owing to the wise precautions that had been adopted by the duke de Guise.

In 1742, marshal Broglio, being closely besieged in the city of Prague, threw up retrenchments within the walls, and prepared to make a most vigorous resistance. An occasion, however presented itself, of which he took advantage, that rendered any further precautions useless. He made a vigorous sortie and forced the enemy to raise the siege.

RETIRED List, a list on the British marine establishment upon which superannuated officers are placed.

Officers who RETIRE in the East India company service. The India company have resolved, that an officer, (in his military capacity) after twenty years actual service in India, coming to Europe on leave, will be allowed to retire on the pay of his rank, provided he signifies his intention of so doing, within twenty months after his arrival. Officers on leave who are desirous of retiring, and who declare their intention to that effect, within twelve months from their arrival, will be permitted to retire on the pay of the rank they may be entitled to at that period. An officer having completed 22 years actual residence in India, will be allowed to retire on the full pay of his rank, directly on his leaving India.

RETOURS de la mine, Fr. returns of a mine. See GALLERY.

RETOURS de la tranchée, Fr. returns of a trench. In fortification, the several windings and oblique deviations of a trench which are drawn, in some measure, parallel to the sides of the place attacked, in order to avoid being enfiladed, or having the shot of the enemy scour along the length of the line. On account of these different returns a considerable interval is opened between the head and the tail of the trench, which, were the lines directed, would not be at any great distance from each other.

RETRAITE, Fr. See RETREAT.

RETRAITE dans les montagnes, Fr. The act of fading back or retreating among the mountains.

Faire RETRAITE, Fr. To retire, to fall back.

Battre la RETRAITE, Fr. To beat the tap-too.

Se battre en RETRAITE, Fr. To maintain a running fight.

RETRAITE, Fr. certain appointments which were given during the French monarchy to infantry officers, when they retired from the active duties of their profession, to afford them means of support. The pensions which were settled upon cavalry officers were likewise distinguished by the same term.

RETRAITE, Fr. See RELAIS.

RETRANCHEMENS. Fr. See RETRENCHMENTS.

RETRANCHEMENS particuliers qu’on fait sur la tête des brèches d’une place assiègèe, Fr. Particular retrenchments, which are made in front of breaches that have been effected in the walls of a besieged town.

It is always necessary, that retrenchments of this description should have the figures of rentrant angles, in order, that they may not only flank the breaches, but be capable of defending themselves.

A besieging enemy, seldom or ever, attempts a breach at the flanked angle of a bastion, because it must be seen by the two flanks of the neighboring bastions, and be perpetually exposed to the fire of the casemates of the town. Nevertheless should the breach be actually effected, retrenchments might be thrown up, in the same manner that horn-works are constructed, for the purpose of flanking it.

If the breach should be made in the face of the bastion, (which usually happens, because that quarter can be seen by the garrison from one side only) retrenchments in the shape of rentrant angles must be constructed.

Breaches are seldom attempted at the angle of the epaulement, because that part of the bastion is the most solid and compact, and the most exposed to the fire from the curtain to that of the opposite flank, and to the reverse discharge, or fire from the rear. Add to this, that the storming party would be galled in flank and rear, not only from the simple bastion, but likewise from the casemates. If, however, a breach should be effected in that quarter, it would become necessary to throw up retrenchments of a saliant and rentrant nature.

In constructing these different retrenchments it must be an invariable rule, to get as near as possible to the parapets of the bastions and to their ruins, in order to batter those in flank and rear, who should attempt to scale, and at the same time to be out of the reach of the besieger’s ordnance.

When the head of the breach is so much laid open, that the besieger’s cannon can scour all above it, small mines must be prepared beneath, and a retrenchment be instantly thrown up in the body of the bastion.

To RETREAT. 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 the enemy is called a retreat.

That retreat which is done in sight of an active enemy, who pursues with a superior force, is the one we particularly allude to in this place; being with reason, looked upon as the glory of the profession. It is a manœuvre the most delicate, and fittest to display the prudence, genius, courage, and address, of an officer who commands: the records of all ages testify it, and historians have never been so lavish of eulogiums as on the subject of the brilliant retreats of their heroes. If it be important, it is no less difficult to regulate, on account of the variety of circumstances, each of which demands different principles, and an almost endless detail. Hence a good retreat is esteemed, by experienced officers, the master-piece of a general. He should therefore be well acquainted with the situation of the country through which he intends to make it, and careful that nothing is omitted to make it safe and honorable. General Moreau’s retreat in 1796, has rendered his name immortal. The three most celebrated modern retreats have been--the one already mentioned, that of Prague, and that of general Macdonald in Italy.

RETREAT, is also a beat of the drum, at the firing of the evening gun; at which the drum-major, with all the drums of the battalion, except such as are upon duty, beats from the camp colors on the right to those on the left, on the parade of encampment: the drums of all the guards beat also; the trumpets at the same time sounding at the head of their respective troops. This is to warn the soldiers to forbear firing, and the sentinels to challenge till the break of day, when the reveille is beat. The retreat is likewise called setting the watch.

Chequered RETREAT, rétraite en échequier, Fr. It is so called from the several component parts of a line or battalion, which alternately retreat and face in the presence of an enemy, exhibiting the figure of the chequered squares upon a chess board.

All manœuvres of a corps retiring, are infinitely more difficult to be performed with order, than those in advancing. They must be more or less accomplished by chequered movements; one body by its numbers or position, facing and protecting the retreat of another; and if the enemy presses hard, the whole must probably front in time and await him: as the ground narrows or favors, different parts of the corps must double; mouths of defiles and advantageous posts must be possessed; by degrees the different bodies must diminish their fronts, and throw themselves into column of march when it can be done with safety.

The chequered retreat by the alternate battalions or half battalions of a line going to the rear, while the others remain halted, cover them, and in their turn retire in the same manner, is the quickest mode of refusing a part of a corps to the enemy, and at the same time protecting its movement, as long as it continues to be made nearly parallel to the first position.

In the chequered retreat, the following rules must be observed: the battalions of the division nearest to the enemy, will form flanks as soon as there is nothing in their front to cover them; but the other divisions will not have any flanks except to the outward battalion of each. The battalions always pass by their proper intervals, and it is a rule in retiring, that the left of each shall always pass the right of the neighboring one.--Whatever advantage the ground offers, those advantages must be seized, without too critical an observance of intervals, or minute adherence to the determined distance of each retreat. The division next the enemy must pass in front, through the intervals of the division immediately behind, and any battalion that finds it necessary, must incline for that purpose. The retiring division must step out, and take up no more time than what is absolutely required to avoid confusion. The division nearest the enemy fires; the flanks of its battalions only fire when the enemy attempts to push through the intervals. When that division retires it fires on, skirmishes by its riflemen, and if they have none, by men detached from the light companies, if any, or from platoons formed of rear rank men of one or two of the companies, and placed behind the flanks of the battalions. But should any of its battalions be obliged to halt and to fire, a shorter step must then be taken by the line; and should the enemy threaten to enter at any of its intervals, besides the fire of its flanks, such platoons of the line behind it, as can with safety, must give it support.

RETRENCHMENT, in the art of war, is any work raised to cover a post, and fortify it against an enemy; such as fascines loaded with earth, gabions, barrels, &c. filled with earth, sand bags, and generally all things that can cover the men, and stop the enemy; but it is more applicable to a ditch bordered with a parapet; and a post thus fortified, is called a retrenched post, or strong post. Retrenchments are either general or particular.

General RETRENCHMENTS, are a kind of new defence made in a place besieged, to cover the defendants, when the enemy becomes master of a lodgment on the fortification, that they may be in a condition of disputing the ground inch by inch, and of putting a stop to the enemy’s progress, in expectation of relief; as, if the besieger’s attack a tenaille of the place, which they judge the weakest, either by its being ill flanked, or commanded by some neighboring ground; then the besieged make a great retrenchment, inclosing all that part which they judge in most danger. These should be fortified with bastions and demi-bastions, surrounded by a good ditch countermined, and higher than the works of the place, that they may command the old works, and put the besiegers to infinite trouble in covering themselves.

Particular RETRENCHMENTS, or retrenchments within a bastion, (retrenchemens dans un bastion, Fr.) Retrenchments of this description must reach from one flank to another, or from one casemate to another. It is only in full bastions that retrenchments can be thrown up to advantage. In empty bastions you can only have recourse to retirades, or temporary barricadoes above the ramparts. The assailants may easily carry them by means of hand grenades, for these retrenchments never flank each other. It is necessary to raise a parapet about five or six feet thick before every retrenchment. It must be five feet high, and the ditches as broad and as deep as they can be made. There must also be small mines run out in various directions, for the purpose of blowing up the assailants should they attempt to force the retrenchments.

RETURNS, in a military sense, are of various sorts, but all tending to explain the state of the army, regiment, troop, or company; namely, how many capable of doing duty, on duty, sick in quarters, barracks, infirmary, or hospital; prisoners, absent with or without leave; total effective; wanting to complete the establishment, &c. See REGULATIONS and Amer. Mil. Lib.

RETURNS of a mine, are the turnings and windings of the gallery leading to the mine. See GALLERY.

RETURNS of a trench, 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 infiladed. These returns, when followed, make a long way from the end of the trench to the head, which going the straight way is very short: but then the men are exposed; yet, upon a sally, the courageous never consider the danger, but getting over the trench with such as will follow them, take the shortest way to repulse the enemy, and cut off their retreat if possible.

Any officer who shall knowingly make a false return to any his superior officer authorised to call for such returns, shall, upon being convicted thereof before a general court-martial, be cashiered.

Whoever shall be convicted of having designedly, or through neglect, omitted sending such returns, shall be punished according to the nature of the offence by the judgment of a general court-martial.

To RETURN, in a military sense, to insert the names of such officers, as are present or absent on the stated periods for the identification of their being with their regiments, on detachment, or absent with or without leave.

To be RETURNED. To have one’s name inserted in the regular monthly, fourteen days, or weekly state of a regiment, according to circumstances; as to be returned absent without leave; to be reported to the commander in chief, or to any superior officer, as being absent from the duty of the corps; either from having exceeded the leave given, or from having left quarters without the necessary permission. To be returned upon the surgeon’s list as unfit for duty, &c. from illness, &c.

Commanding officers of regiments or posts, in the British service, are regularly to transmit to the adjutant and inspector’s office the following returns:

A monthly, on the 1st of each month.

A return of officers, on the 14th of each month.

A weekly state, to arrive on Mondays.

To the war office.

A monthly return, on the 1st of each month.

A return of absent officers, on the 14th of each month.

Every officer commanding a regiment, or detachment, on embarking for a foreign station, will transmit an embarkation return to the adjutant-general’s office, and to the war office, a duplicate of which he will deliver to the general or officer commanding at the port from which he embarks.

On a regiment embarking, the commanding officer is to transmit to the adjutant-general’s office, a return of the recanting parties he purposes to leave in Great Britain, or Ireland, specifying their strength, their stations, and the officers by whom they are commanded; a duplicate of this return is to be transmitted to the inspector-general of the recruiting service in the Isle of Wight.

All officers belonging to regiments on foreign stations, not actually employed on the recruiting service, are to report their arrival from abroad, and the cause of their absence, at the adjutant-general’s office, and are to leave their addresses with their respective agents, and in case of their changing their places of residence, are immediately to notice the same to their agent: any officer whose address is not with his agent, will be considered as absent without leave, and guilty of disobedience of orders.

Officers upon half pay are, in like manner, to leave their addresses at the war office; particularly so if they should leave the united kingdoms; and officers belonging to the militia are to leave their names, &c. with the several adjutants of regiments.

Commanding officers of regiments or posts, are to transmit to the adjutant and inspector an half yearly return of quarters, on the 1st of December, and the 1st of May, agreeable to the printed form; like wise a report of any march performed by the corps under their orders.

All returns, reports, and papers, purely of a military and public nature, which are to be sent to the war office of the United States, are to be addressed, “To the adjutant and inspector, Washington.”

All official letters, intended for the secretary at war, should be transmitted, under covers, addressed as above, to the adjutant and inspector.

To prevent an improper expence of postage, all official letters and returns sent to the adjutant and inspector, are to be sent, under covers, addressed “To the officer by name, with the title of adjutant and inspector, at Washington,” and on the outside of the covers is to be written in legible characters, “public service, and then the name and rank of the writer.”

RETURN pistol. See PISTOL.

RETURN bayonet. This term is sometimes used, but it is not technically correct, as the proper word of command is unfix bayonet.

RETURN ramrod. See MANUAL.

RETURN swords. See SWORD.

REVEILLE, is the beat of a drum, about break of day, to advertise the army that it is day light, and that the sentinels forbear challenging.

REVERS, Fr. Behind, in rear, at the back of any thing.

Etre vu de REVERS, Fr. To be overlooked by a reverse commanding ground. When a work, for instance, is commanded by some adjacent eminence, or has been so badly disposed, that the enemy can see its terre-pleine, or rampart, that work may be said to be overlooked, être vu de revérs. The same term is applicable to a trench when the fire of the besieged can reach the troops that are stationed within it.

REVERS de la tranchée, Fr. Literally means the back part of the trench. It is the ground which corresponds with that proportion of the border of the trench that lies directly opposite to the parapet. One or two banquettes are generally thrown up in this quarter, in order that the trench guard may make a stand upon the reverse when it happens to be attacked by a sortie of the enemy.

REVERSE. A contrary; an opposite; as, the reverse, or outward wheeling flank; which is opposite to the one wheeled to or upon. See PIVOT.

REVERSE likewise signifies on the back, or behind: so we say, a reverse commanding ground, a reverse battery, &c.

REVERSED arms. Arms are said to be reversed when the butts of the pieces are slung or held upwards.

REVERSED. Upside down; as arms reversed.

REVETEMENT, (revêtement, Fr.) in fortification, a strong wall, built on the outside of the rampart and parapet, to support the earth, and prevent its rolling into the ditch.

REVETEMENT du rampart, Fr. Revetement belonging to the rampart.

REVETIR, Fr. To line, to cover, to fortify.

REVIEW, (revue, Fr.) In the military acceptation of the term, an inspection of the appearance, and regular disposition of a body of troops, assembled for that purpose, is called a review.

At all reviews, the officers should be properly armed, ready in their exercise, salute well, in good time, and with a good air; their uniform genteel, &c. The men should be clean and well dressed; their accoutrements well put on; very well sized in the ranks; the serjeants expert in their duty, drummers perfect in their beatings, and the fifers play correct. The manual performed in good time, and with life; the men carry their arms well; march, wheel, and form with exactness; manœuvres performed with regularity, both in quick and slow time. The intention of a review is, to know the condition of the troops, to see that they are complete, and perform their exercise and evolutions well. See MOVEMENTS, likewise INSPECTION.

To REVISE, (réviser, Fr.) To review; to re-examine; to re-consider. This term is used in military matters, which relate to the proceedings of a general or regimental court-martial. It sometimes happens that the members are directed to re-assemble for the purpose of revising part of the whole mass of the evidence that has been brought before them, and of maturely weighing afresh the substance of the proofs upon which they have formed their opinion and judgment. Great delicacy and discretion are required in those who have authority to order a revision of this sort. A court-martial ought to be the most independent court on earth. Interest, prejudice, or partiality, has no business within its precincts. An honest regard to truth, a sense of the necessity of good order and discipline, and a stubborn adherence to facts, constitute the code of military laws and statutes. Quirks, quibbles and evasions, are as foreign to the genuine spirit of martial jurisdiction, as candor, manliness, and resolute perseverance in uttering what he knows to be the fact, are familiar to the real soldier.

REVOCABLE, (révocable, Fr.) 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, (révolte, Fr.) Mutiny; insurrection.

REVOLTER. One who rises against lawful authority; a deserter, &c.

REVOLTES, Fr. Rebels.

REVOLUTION, (révolution, Fr.) A change in government, as the throwing off the tyranny of Britain, by the declaration of independence, in 1776, and as the French revolution.

REVOLUTIONNAIRE, Fr. A friend to the revolution.

REVOLUTIONNAIRE, Fr. An adjective of two genders. Anything belonging to the revolution. Hence

Armée RÉVOLUTIONNAIRE. A revolutionary army; such as appeared in France.

REVOLUTIONNER, Fr. To revolutionize. To propagate principles in a country which are subversive of its existing government.

REWARD, (récompense, Fr.) A recompence given for good performed. Twenty shillings are allowed by the mutiny act, as a reward for apprehending deserters.

Military REWARDS, (récompenses militaires, Fr.) The original instances of military rewards are to be found in the Grecian and Roman histories. The ancients did not, however, at first recompence military merit in any other way than by erecting statues to the memory, or presenting them with triumphal crowns. The warriors of that age were more eager to deserve public applause by extraordinary feats of valor, by temperance and moral virtue, than to become rich at the expence of the state. They thirsted after glory; but it was after a species of glory which was not in the least tarnished by the alloy of modern considerations.

The services which individuals rendered were distinguished by the kind of statue that was erected, and its accompanying decorations, or by the materials and particular formation of the crowns that were presented.

In process of time, the state or civil government of a country, felt the propriety and justice of securing to its defenders something more substantial than mere show and unprofitable trophies. It was considered, that men who had exposed their lives, and had been wounded, or were grown infirm through age, &c. ought to be above want, and not only to have those comforts which through their exertions millions were enjoying, but to be placed in an independent and honorable situation. The most celebrated of their warriors were consequently provided for at the public expence, and they had regular claims made over to them, which were answered at the treasury.

Triumphal honors were likewise reckoned among the military rewards which the ancients voted to their best generals. Fabius Maximus, Paul Emilius, Camillus, and the Scipios were satisfied with this recompense for their services. With respect to old infirm soldiers, who were invalided, they were provided for by receiving, each a lot of ground, which they cultivated and improved. Lands, thus appropriated, formed part of the republican or national domains, or were divided amongst them in the conquered countries.

The Roman officer was rewarded for his services, or for particular acts of bravery in three ways: 1st. By marks of honor or distinction, which consisted of two sorts, viz. Of that which was merely ornamental to their own persons, or limited to the investiture for life; and of that which may be called rememorative, such as statues, &c. The latter descended to their posterity, and gave their families a certain rank in the republic. 2dly. By pensions or allowances, and 3dly. By a grant of lands which exceeded the lots given to private soldiers. These lands, the property of the veteran soldier, in process of time became objects of solicitude among the Patricians and rich men; they encroached upon them, and often excited foreign wars, in order to take away the citizens, and in their absence, engross their lands; this rapacity of the senators, was the true cause of the agrarian laws, which has generally been held up as a reproach to the injured and not to the oppressors, and the people in republics have been held forth as turbulent and inimical to personal property, because the people of Rome sought to recover the lands of which they had been despoiled by the avarice of the senate, and by an inordinate spirit of speculation.

The Franks, who got possession of the country which was formerly occupied by the Gauls, had, at first, no other method of recompensing their generals than by giving them a certain proportion of land. This grant did not exceed their natural lives, and sometimes it was limited to the time they remained in the service.

These usages insensibly changed, and by degrees it became customary for the children of such men as had received grants of national territory, to continue to enjoy them; upon condition, however, that the actual possessors of such lands should be liable to military service. Hence the origin of fiefs in France, and the consequent appellation of milice des fieffés, or militia, composed of men who held their lands on condition of bearing arms when called upon. The French armies were for many years constituted in this manner; and the custom of rendering military service in consideration of land tenure, only ceased under Charles the VIIth.

In process of time, those lands which had been originally bestowed upon men of military merit, descended to their children, and were gradually lost in the aggregate mass of inheritable property. Other means were consequently to be resorted to by the state, in order to satisfy the just claims of deserving officers and soldiers. The French, therefore, returned to the ancient custom of the Romans, and rewarded those, who distinguished themselves in war, by honorary marks of distinction.

Under the first race of French kings may be found several instances of men of obscure condition having, by their valor, obtained the rank and title of count, and even those of duke. These dignities, of themselves, entitled the bearers to places of high command in the armies. The title of knight, most especially of knight banneret, gave very high rank during the reign of Philip Augustus: and in the reigns of one or two of his predecessors, it was bestowed upon individuals who behaved in a distinguished manner in the field.

This species of reward did not cost the public any thing. It was bestowed upon the individual by the general of the army, and consisted in nothing more than a salute given by the latter on the field of battle, by which he became knight banneret, and was perfectly satisfied with the honor it conferred.

This mode of rewarding individuals for great actions or long services, continued until men inlisted themselves for money, and the army was regularly paid, according to the several ranks of those who composed it. At this period, however, it became expedient to have recourse to the second method which was adopted by the Romans to compensate individuals for services rendered to the state. The royal treasury was either subjected to the annual claims of individuals, or to the payment of a specific sum, for having eminently distinguished themselves under arms. Notwithstanding this, honorary rewards continued to be given, and the knighthood conferred in the field by the kiss or salute of a general, which the French style accolade, was practised until the 16th century:

It was usual, even during that century, to reward a soldier, who did a brave action, by some mark of distinction, that was given on the spot by a crown made of grass or other verdure, which was placed upon his head by his comrades, or by a gold ring, which his commanding officer put upon his finger in the presence of the whole troop or company to which he belonged. It sometimes happened, as in the reign of Francis the first, that this mark of distinction was given by the general of the army.

Several brave men have been distinguished with titles of nobility and armorial bearings, which were conferred by princes, in consequence of some singular feat or exploit. There have been instances recorded in the French history of extraordinary actions having been rewarded upon the spot by kings who commanded in person. A soldier of merit was peculiarly honored by Louis the XIth, for bravery and good conduct in the field. That monarch took the collar of a military order off his own neck, and placed it round the neck of Launay Morvillier, as a reward for great prowess and intrepidity.

Besides the gramineous crown and gold ring, which were thus given as marks of honor and distinction, the private soldiers were frequently rewarded by small sums of money when they performed any particular feat or act of bravery. They were likewise promoted from the ranks, and made serjeants or corporals.

Honorary rewards and compensations for service were not confined to individual officers and soldiers. Whole corps were frequently distinguished in the same manner. When several corps acted together, and one amongst them gave signal proofs of gallantry and good conduct, that one frequently took precedence of the others in rank, or was selected by the sovereign to be his personal guard. Sometimes, indeed, the king placed himself at the head of such a corps on the day of battle, thereby testifying his approbation of their conduct, and giving a proof of his confidence in their bravery.

It is now usual, in most countries, to confer marks of distinction on those corps, that have formed part of any army that has signalized itself. Thus the kettle drums, under the appellation of nacaires, were given to some regiments, as proofs of their having behaved gallantly on trying occasions.

The military order of St. Louis, which was created by Louis the XIVth in 1693, and that of Maria Theresa. The modern French legion of honor, instituted by Bonaparte, adopts and organizes into a most influential and comprehensive military and political system, all the usages of pre-existing military orders; and fixes degrees of rank under various denominations, those thus decorated are preferred for other trusts and honors. There are many other orders in different countries, were only instituted for the purpose of rewarding military merit. The Greeks and Romans satisfied themselves with honorary rewards, or occasional compensations. The moderns, particularly the French and English, have placed military claims upon a more solid footing. The gratitude of the public keeps pace with the sacrifices of individuals, and permanent provisions are made for those who are wounded or rendered infirm in the service.

The Athenians supported those who had been wounded in battle, and the Romans recompensed those that had served during a given period. The French kings reserved to themselves the privilege of providing for individuals who had been maimed in action, by giving them certain monastic allowances and lodging, &c. in the different convents of royal institution. Philip Augustus, king of France, first formed the design of building a college for soldiers who had been rendered infirm, or were grown old in the service. Louis, surnamed the great, not only adopted the idea, but completed the plan in a grand and magnificent style. Charles the second, on his restoration to the crown of Great Britain, established Chelsea, and James the second added considerable improvements to this institution.

REZ, Fr. A preposition which signifies close to, adjoining, level with. Rez le metal in a right line with the metal, a phrase used in pointing guns, to discriminate between the real and artificial point blank; it means on a level with the tops of the base-ring and swell of the muzzle. As rez pied, rez-terre. Démolir les fortifications, rez-pied, rez-terre. To level the fortifications with the ground.

REZ-de-chaussée, Fr. The ground floor. This term properly means the surface or floor of any building which is even with the ground on which it is raised. It would be incorrect to say Rez-de chaussée d’une cave, ou du premier étage d’une maison; the ground floor of a cellar, or of the first story of a house.

RHAGOON, Ind. The twelfth month which, in some respect, corresponds with February. It follows the month Magh, which agrees with January.

RHINELAND rod, is a measure of twelve feet, used by all the Dutch engineers.

RHOMBUS, (Rhombe, Fr.) in geometry, an oblique angled parallelogram, or a quadralateral figure whose sides are equal and parallel, but the angles unequal; two of the opposite ones being obtuse, and the other two acute.

RIBAND, Rubande, Ruban, Fr. This word is sometimes written Ribbon. A narrow web of silk which is worn for ornament.

RIBAND cockade. The cockades which are given to recruits, and is commonly called the colors.

RIBAUDE, Fr. Irregular, noisy, ill-mannered. This term is likewise used as a substantive, viz.

Un RIBAUD, Fr. A noisy, ill-mannered fellow. It is an old French word, which at present is seldom spoken in the polished circles of life. In former times, as late indeed as during the reign of Philip Augustus, king of France, it was current without carrying along with it any particular reproach or mark of infamy. The foot guards, who did duty at the palace, were generally called ribauds, from the looseness of their morals; which by degrees grew so very corrupt, that the term, (harmless perhaps at first) was insensibly applied to persons guilty of dishonorable acts. Hence pick-pockets, thieves, cheats, &c. were called ribauds. On which account the provost of the hotel or town house in Paris, was popularly stiled roi des ribands, or provost of ribauds. This phrase prevailed until the reign of Charles the VIth.

RIBAUD, Fr. adj. likewise means lewd, debauched, &c.

Un homme RIBAUD, Une femme RIBAUDE, Fr. A licentious man; a licentious woman.

RIBAUDEQUIN, Fr. A warlike machine or instrument, which the French anciently used. It was made in the form of a bow, containing twelve or fifteen 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.

RIBLEURS, Fr. Vagabonds, debauched fellows that run about the streets, or spend their nights in disorderly houses. Soldiers who give themselves up to pillage &c. in war time, are likewise called ribleurs, by way of reproach.

RIBLER, Fr. To ramble, &c. was formerly the verb, and riblerie, the act of rambling, &c. the substantive. Both terms are now obsolete, except among the lower orders.

RICOCHER, Fr. To ricochet, to batter or fire at a place with ricochet shots. The author of a very valuable work entitled, Essai Général de Fortification, et d’Attaque et Defense des places, observes in a note to page 89, vol. I, that in strict analogy, we should say ricocheter; but use, which is above all rules, has made ricocher a technical term, whenever we speak of the ricochets of cannon shot.

Une face RICOCHEE, Fr. The face of a fortification, which is fired at with ricochet shots.

RICOCHET, literally means a bound, a leap, such as a flat piece of stone or slate makes when it is thrown obliquely along the surface of a pool.

RICOCHET, (ricochet, Fr.) in gunnery, is when guns, howitzers, or mortars, are loaded with small charges, and elevated from five to twelve degrees, so that when fired over the parapet, the shot or shell rolls along the opposite rampart. It is called ricochet-firing, and the batteries are likewise called ricochet-batteries. This method of firing out of mortars, was first tried in 1723, at the military school of Strasburgh, and with success. At the battle of Rosbach in 1757, the king of Prussia had several 6-inch mortars made with trunnions, and mounted on travelling carriages, which fired obliquely on the enemy’s lines, and amongst their horse, loaded with eight ounces of powder, and at an elevation of one degree fifteen minutes, which did great execution; for the shells rolling along the lines, with burning fuzes, made the stoutest of the enemy not wait for their bursting. See BATTERY.

RICOCHET firing is not confined to any particular charge or elevation; each must vary according to the distance and difference of level of the object to be fired at; and particularly of the spot on which it is intended the shot shall make the first bound. The smaller the angle is under which a shot is made to ricochet, the longer it will preserve its force and have effect, as it will sink so much the less in the ground on which it bounds; and whose tenacity will of course present so much less resistance to its progress. In the ricochet of a fortification of any kind, the angle of elevation should seldom be less than 10°, to throw the shot over a parapet a little higher than the level of the battery. If the works should be of an extraordinary height, the piece must be removed to such situation, and have such charge, that it can attain its object at this elevation, or at least under that of 13° or 14°, otherwise the shot will not ricochet, and the carriages will suffer very much. The first gun in a ricochet battery should be so placed as to sweep the whole length of the rampart of the enemy’s work, at 3 or 4 feet from the parapet, and the rest should form as small an angle with the parapet as possible. For this purpose the guns should be pointed about 4 fathoms from the face of the work towards the interior. In the ricochet of ordnance in the field, the objects to be fired at being principally infantry and cavalry, the guns should seldom be elevated above 3 degrees; as with greater angles the ball would be apt to bound too high, and defeat the object intended. For ricochet practice, see the different pieces of ordnance, as GUN, MORTAR, and HOWITZER.

Battre en RICOCHET, Fr. To put a sufficient quantity of gunpowder in a piece of ordnance to carry the ball, with effect, into the works that are enfiladed. This sort of firing is generally practised along the whole extent of a face or flank. The celebrated marshal Vauban first invented the mode of firing ricochet-shots. He tried the experiment at the siege of Ath, in 1679.

Battre un rempart à RICOCHET, Fr. To batter a rampart with ricochet shots.

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 somewhat higher than broad, the length 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 waggon, block carriage, and sling waggon.

Rough RIDER. See ROUGH.

RIDING-Master. In the cavalry, an officer whose duty it is to instruct the officers and soldiers in the management of their horses.

To RIFLE, to plunder; to rob.

RIFLE, the thread, ray, or line made in a rifled barrel.

RIFLED gun, RIFLED piece, RIFLED barrel, Arquebuse rayée, Fr. a fire arm which has lines or exiguous canals within its barrel that run in a vermicular direction, and are more or less numerous, or more indented, according to the fancy of the artificer. With respect to the word itself, it does not appear to bear any other analogy to our common acceptation of the verb, than what may be vulgarly applied to the common practices of riflemen. It is, on the contrary, more immediately connected in sense and signification with an old obsolete word to ray; to streak: which comes from the French rayer. The rifled barrel possesses many advantages over the common one; which advantages are attributed to the threads or rays with which it is indented. These threads are sometimes cut in such a manner, that the line which commences on the right side at the breech, terminates on the left at the muzzle; by which means the ball acquires a rotary movement, revolving once and a half round its own axis before it quits the piece, and then boring through the air with a spiral motion. It is well known, that cannon balls and shot out of common barrels are impelled in a line formed by the centre of the ball, and a compound of the projectile force of the explosion acted upon by the air and by gravitation in its course; the ball has a tendency to rise upward to a certain extent after leaving the muzzle of the gun; its particular motion is as if the ball had a transverse axis, and rolled forward in that axis, in the manner that the wheels of a carriage roll; and at the same time continue their progression forward. See Amer. Mil. Lib.

The rifled barrels of America, during the revolution, contained from 10 to 16 rays or threads; some had as few as four. Some persons have imagined, that those of 16 rays were the best, from a supposition that by the air collapsing in the several grooves, the ball obtained more velocity. Mr. Robins, however, seems to differ in opinion, particularly with respect to the depth of the grooves. He observes, page 339 and 340, in his Tracts on Gunnery, that whatever tends to diminish the friction of these pieces, tends at the same time to render them more complete; and consequently it is a deduction from hence, that the less the rifles are indented, the better they are; provided they are just sufficient to keep the bullet from turning round the piece. It likewise follows, that the bullet ought to be no larger than to be just pressed by the rifles, for the easier the bullet moves in the piece, supposing it not to shift its position, the more violent and accurate will its flight be. It is necessary, that the sweep of the rifles should be in each part exactly parallel to each other. See Robins on Gunnery, page 328.

Paradés, a gunsmith at Aix-le-Chapelle, who was reputed to be very ingenious in the construction of rifled barrels, used to compress his barrels in the centre.

RIFLEMEN, experienced marksmen, armed with rifles. They formed the most formidable force of the United States in the revolution, being posted along the American ranks, and behind hedges, &c. for the purpose of picking off the British officers. They have proved equally fatal in the hands of the French during their revolution. Considerable improvements are daily made; and light infantry battalions, like the chasseurs of the French, should form a considerable portion of every army, and all infantry and cavalry should be taught to act as riflemen, as well as artillerists.

Mounted RIFLEMEN, are no other than good riflemen, accustomed to horsemanship, mounted.

RIGHT, that which is ordered; that which justly belongs to one.

RIGHTS, certain unalienable claims and privileges, which every individual, civil as well as military, possesses in regulated community. See WRONGS.

RIGOL. See CIRCLE.

RING. A circle, an orbicular line.

RING of an Anchor. That part of the anchor to which the cable is fastened.

RINGS, in artillery, are of various uses; such as the lashing-rings in travelling-carriages, to lash the sponge, rammer, and ladle, as well as the tarpauling that covers the guns; the rings fastened to the breeching-bolts in ship-carriages; and the shaft-rings to fasten the harness of the shaft-horse by means of a pin.

RINGS of a Gun. Circles of metal, of which there are five, viz.

Base-ring, reinforce-ring, trunnion-ring, cornice-ring, and muzzle-ring. See Am. Mil. Lib.

RINGLEADER. The head of any particular body of men acting in a riotous or mutinous manner.

To RING. To make a sharp reverberating noise.

RING Ramrod! A word of command which is sometimes used at private inspections, to try the bottom of the barrel of a musquet.

RINGROD, Fr. A strong iron bar which is used in forges. It likewise means a thick pole with an iron ferrel.

RINGRAVE, Fr. Pantaloon breeches.

RIOT and Tumult. Sedition, civil insurrection, disturbance, &c. A breach of the peace committed by an assembled multitude.

RIOTERS. Disturbers of the public peace; persons acting in open violation of good order; raising or creating sedition, &c.

RIPOSTE, Fr. A parry and thrust. It likewise signifies in a figurative sense, a keen reply, a close retort.

RIPOSTER, or RISPOSTER, Fr. In fencing, to parry and thrust,

RISBAN, Fr. In fortification, a flat piece of ground upon which a fort is constructed for the defence and security of a port or harbor. It likewise means the fort itself. The famous Risban, of Dunkirk, was built entirely of brick and stone; having within its walls excellent barracks, a large cistern well supplied with water, magazines for stores, provisions, and ammunition. A ready communication was kept up with the town by means of the jetée, which corresponded with the wooden bridge that joined the entrance into the fort. The rampart was capable of receiving forty-six pieces of ordnance, which were disposed in three different alignements or tiers, owing to the triangular figure of the fort; so that a fire could be kept up on all sides.

To RISE. To break into commotions; to make insurrections.

To RISE. In a military sense, to make hostile attack: as the military rose against their government.

To RISE. To obtain promotion.

To RISE from the ranks. To obtain promotion by degrees after having been in the ranks as a private soldier; a circumstance which has happened to some of the best generals in the world.

RISE. Increase of price; as the rise of commissions in the army upon the prospect of peace.

RISSALA, or RASSAULA, Ind. An independent corps of cavalry.

RISSALDAR, Ind. The commander of an independent corps of cavalry.

RIVAL, one who is in pursuit of the same thing which another pursues. A competitor.

RIVAL Powers. Nations are so called when their relative situation and resources in men and money, &c. enable them to oppose each other.

RIVERAINS, Fr. Persons who inhabit the banks of rivers. By a regulation which was in force during the French monarchy, all persons, so situated, were obliged to leave a space 20 feet broad at least, between their houses or huts, and the bank, for the convenience of navigation. A set of men, called baliseurs, were paid to see this regulation strictly complied with.

RIVER, (Riviére, Fr.) a land current of water bigger than a brook.

Fordable RIVER. A river which may be passed without the assistance of any floating machines. In order to sound the ford, and to ascertain the state of it, men on horseback are first ordered to cross. By that means you will be able to know whether any obstacles have been thrown in the way by the enemy; for nothing is more easily effected. The passage of a ford may be rendered impracticable by throwing whole trees in, by tables or platforms covered with nails, and by stakes. The two latter impediments are the most dangerous. But stakes are not easily fixed, and are consequently seldom used. When fords are embarrassed by them, it requires some time and trouble to clear the river; and it is equally difficult to get rid of the inconvenience that arises when wells have been sunk. Whenever there is reason to apprehend such obstacles, it is always best to reach the ford at dusk. A good resource in such cases, is to collect a great number of empty casks or hogsheads, and lay over them either platforms of boards or faggots of underwood and boards over them, upon which either cavalry or artillery may pass. Intervals sufficient for the passage of the water must be left. The banks should be lined with riflemen to cover the passage; light guns and grape might be employed upon suitable ground.

When the prince of Condé in 1567, resolved to cross the river Seine, the royalists who were on the opposite side, endeavored to prevent his passage by throwing quantities of madriers or thick planks that were nailed together, iron hoops and water-cats into the ford. The Hugonots or Protestants, however, were not diverted from their purpose. Aubigné, a French writer, says, that on that occasion they placed 400 arquebusiers upon the bank to protect the men that raked the ford.

This was certainly a singular method which was used to clear a ford, nor could it be done without much difficulty, and no inconsiderable share of danger. The chevalier Folard has proposed a much safer, and a much easier way, by means of grappling hooks, tied to long ropes, which might be thrown into the ford. Yet even in this case, observes the writer, the object could not be accomplished if the river were broad, unless the persons employed in the undertaking, be under the cover of so heavy a discharge of ordnance and musquetry, that the enemy would not be able to interrupt them, even from an intrenched position on the opposite bank.

With respect to caltrops, the removal of them, when properly distributed at the bottom of a ford, must be attended with great difficulty; for they must render the passage absolutely impracticable, unless they were to sink very deep into the mud and sand, and thus become useless. The men that first enter are in this case the only persons incommoded, but the rest may follow without much hazard.

It sometimes happens, that the bottom of a stream or rivulet is firm and gravelly; when this occurs, the greatest precautions must be taken to escape the effects of caltrops, which would be extremely hurtful to any persons that might attempt to cross. In order to obviate their mischievous consequences, and to render them in a manner useless, a good stock of hurdles must be provided. The soldiers will hand these to one another, force them into the water, and then cover them with stones.

When one or two fords in a river are so situated, that several battalions cannot cross them upon one front, it is then highly prudent to throw a bridge over, either above or below the ford; for a swell may intervene and render it otherwise impassable; and to which, you have the advantage of getting a greater number of troops over at once.

In order to effect a passage for his army over the river Segre, Cæsar gave directions that ditches, thirty feet broad, should be dug in such parts of the banks as might with ease receive the water out of the stream, and render it fordable. Having accomplished this object, he found no difficulty in reaching Petréius, who, being in the daily fear of wanting provisions and forage for his men, was on the eve of quitting his position and marching forwards.

The passage of the Granicus by Alexander the great, is likewise mentioned in history, as an instance of bold enterprise. But however celebrated that act may be in ancient records, we shall not be thought partial to the moderns when we state, that the passage of the river Holowitz by Charles XII. of Sweden, was equally bold and well managed.

The passage of the Tagliamento by Bonaparte during his campaign in Italy, would be the most celebrated of modern times, had not the passage of the Danube in 1809, eclipsed all similar achievements by the magnitude of the difficulties to be overcome, and the astonishing success of the means by which they were overcome.

RIVET, a fastening pin clenched at both ends, so as to hold an intermediate substance with more firmness.

RIVETING-plates, in gun carriages, small square thin pieces of iron, through which the ends of the bolts pass, and are riveted upon them.

RIZAMEDAR, Ind. An officer commanding a small body of horse.

RO, Ind. In Indian music means quick.

ROBE-courte, Fr. literally means a short gown. Provost-marshals, under-bailiffs, vice-seneschals, then lieutenants, and various other persons, occasionally employed in camps and garrisons, to assist the military in maintaining internal good order and discipline, were formerly called in France officiers de robe-courte.

ROC, Fr. A rock.

ROC de lance, Fr. In tournaments the wooden part of a lance is so called.

ROCHER, Fr. a large rock; derived from roc, and generally bearing the same import.

ROCHE à feu, Fr. a solid composition, which gradually consumes when it has been lighted, but which emits a very broad and lively flame, and is not extinguished by water.

ROCKETS. Composition.

Old proportion. New proportion. lbs. oz. lbs. oz.

Saltpetre 4 0 -- 4 4 Sulphur 1 0 -- 0 12 Charcoal 1 8 -- 2 0

Composition for the Stars.

Mealed powder 0 lb. 8 oz. Saltpetre 8 0 Sulphur 2 0 Antimony 2 0 Isinglass dissolved 0 3¹⁄₂ Spirits of wine 1 pint. Vinegar 1 quart.

Composition for rain to head sky rockets, is the same as the above for the rockets.

General Table of Sky Rockets.

+------------------------------+------+-------+------+------+ | | 2 | 1 | ¹⁄₂ | ¹⁄₄ | | |Pound.| Pound.|Pound.|Pound.| +------------------------------+------+-------+------+------+ | | Inch.| Inch. | Inch.| Inch.| | {Exterior diameter | 2.13 | 1.69 | 1.34 | 1.06 | |Case{Interior diameter | 1.529| 1.214 | 0.961| 0.761| | {Length before driving |15.97 |12.67 |10.05 | 8.25 | |Length of guage for the choke | 1.5 | 1.25 | 1.0 | 0.75 | |Cylinders for heading{Diameter| 2.84 | 2.25 | 1.79 | 1.39 | | {Length | 4.26 | 3.38 | 2.68 | 2.12 | |Cones for heading { Diameter| 2.84 | 2.25 | 1.79 | 1.39 | | { Height | 4.36 | 3.38 | 2.68 | 2.18 | |Mallet for driving--Weight | 1lb. | 3 8oz.| 2 1 | 1 10 | |No. of Strokes | 31 |21 |18 |13 | +------------------------------+------+-------+------+------+

Copper Ladles for filling Sky Rockets.

Length, 1¹⁄₂ the exterior diameter of the case.

Diameter, equals the interior diameter of case.

Circumference, ³⁄₄ the interior calibre of the case.

Sky rockets are driven with composition up to 4¹⁄₂ exterior diameters of the case from the choke; and ¹⁄₅ of a diameter above the composition with good clay. They are bored and reamed up to 3¹⁄₂ diameters.

Dimensions of Sticks for Rockets. General rules.

For rockets from ¹⁄₂ an ounce to one pound, the stick must be 60 diameters of the rocket in length: for rockets from one pound and upwards fifty or fifty-two diameters. Their thickness at top about ¹⁄₂ a diameter, and their breadth very little more. Their square at bottom equal to ¹⁄₂ the thickness at top.

+------------+-------+------+------+------+--------+-------+-------+ |Kind of | | | | | | | | |Rockets. | 6 Pr. | 4 Pr.| 2 Pr.| 1 Pr.| ¹⁄₂ Pr.|¹⁄₄ Pr.|¹⁄₈ Pr.| +------------+-------+------+------+------+--------+-------+-------+ | |ft.in. |ft.in.|ft.in.|ft.in.|ft.in. | ft.in.| ft.in.| |Distance of | | | | | | | | |poise from | | | | | | | | |the point of| | | | | | | | |the cone | 4 1¹⁄₂| 3 9 | 2 9 | 2 1 | 1 10¹⁄₂| 1 8 | 1 3 | +------------+-------+------+------+------+--------+-------+-------+

Rockets of between 3 and 4 inches diameter have been observed to ascend as high as 1000 or 1200 yards; but the height of common rockets is between 450 and 600 yards; and their flight usually short of 7 seconds.

ROCKET as used in India. A most formidable weapon against cavalry; they are made of the hollow tube of the bamboo, of a very large size, filled with the usual composition of rockets. The rod is only a part of the same bamboo, the six eighths or seven eighths of which is cut away, leaving the rod. See FOUGETTE.

ROCKETS. See LABORATORY.

ROD. See MEASURING.

RODS, or rammers, either of iron or wood, to drive home the charges of musquets, carabines, and pistols.

RODS, or sticks, fastened to sky-rockets, to make them rise in a straight line.

RODOMONT, Fr. A bully. An unmilitary character.

Raire le RODOMONT, Fr. To bully, to talk loudly without possessing the real spirit of a man or soldier.

RODOMONTADE, Fr. Rodomontade. The act of bullying, vain boasting or arrogating to ourselves qualities which we do not possess. A French writer has very justly observed, that there cannot be a greater defect in the character of an officer than an overweening display of real or fictitious talents. The word is derived from one Rodomont, the hero or principal character in an old romance, who makes himself conspicuously ridiculous in this way. Sir John Falstaff and Bobadil in English comedy, are specimens of this character.

ROGUE’S March. See MARCH.

ROHILLAS, Ind. A tribe of Afghans inhabiting the country north of the Ganges, as tar as Oude to the eastward.

ROI, Fr. King.

ROI d’armes, Fr. See KING AT ARMS.

ROKER, Ind. Cash.

ROLE, Fr. A muster roll, state, or return. The word Role is used among the French indiscriminately, to signify either the effective force of an army, or the actual quantify of stores and ammunition which the magazines contain.

To ROLL in duty, is when officers of the same rank take their turns upon duty pursuant to some established roster, as captains with captains, and subalterns with subalterns, and command according to the seniority of their commissions.

To ROLL. To continue one uniform beat of the drum, without variations, for a certain length of time. When a line is advancing in full front, or in echellons, for any considerable distance, the music of one regulating battalion may, at intervals, be permitted to play for a few seconds at a time, and the drums of the other battalions may be allowed occasionally to roll; drums, likewise roll when troops are advancing to the charge.

Long ROLL. A beat of drum by which troops are assembled at any particular spot of rendezvous or parade.

Muster-ROLL, is a return, given by the muster-master, on which are written the names of both officers and soldiers of the regiment, troop, or company, with their country, age, and service.

Squad ROLL. A list containing the names of each particular squad. Every non-commissioned officer and corporal, who is entrusted with the care and management of a squad, must have a roll of this kind.

Size-ROLL. A list containing the names of all the men belonging to a troop or company, with the height or stature of each specifically marked. Every serjeant keeps a regular size-roll, and every captain of a troop or company ought to have one likewise.

ROLL-Call. The calling over the names of the several men who compose any part of a military body. This necessary duty is done by the serjeants of companies morning and evening, in every well regulated corps. Hence morning roll-call, and evening roll-call. On critical occasions, and in services that require promptitude and exertion, frequent roll-calls should be made.

ROLLER. A small wheel placed at the foot of the hammer of a gun, or pistol lock, in order to lessen the friction of it against the hammer or feather spring.

ROLLER likewise means a long piece of wood which is rounded and made taper to suit the regulated size of a military trail.

ROLLER. In surgery, a long and broad ligature, usually made of linen cloth, for binding, surrounding, and containing the parts of the human body, and keeping them in their proper situation, thereby disposing them to a state of health and redintregation.

ROLLERS, are round pieces of wood of about nine inches diameter, and four feet long, used in moving pieces of artillery from one place to another.

ROMAINE, Fr. A steelyard or balance for weighing things of various weights by one single weight, as from one single pound to 112 pounds.

ROMPRE, Fr. To break.

ROMPRE un battaillon, Fr. In military evolutions to break a battalion into a given number of parts for the purpose of defiles, &c.

ROMPRE en colonne, Fr. To break into column.

RONDACHE, Fr. A sort of shield which the French formerly used, and which is still carried by the Spaniards.

RONDEL, in fortification, a round tower, sometimes erected at the foot of a bastion.

RONDES, Fr. See ROUNDS.

RONDE Major, Fr. Town-majors round. So called from the town-major visiting the different quarters of a garrison during the night. This round, in some degree, corresponds with our grand round.

RONDES roulantes, Fr. Rounds that are made by officers, serjeants, or corporals, over a certain part of the ramparts. These agree with our visiting rounds. The French say, qui va la? Who goes there? technically with us, Who comes there?

RONDE d’officier. Officer’s round.

Chemin des RONDES, Fr. A path marked out for the convenience of the rounds.

RONDE de gouverneur, Fr. The governor’s rounds.

The French method of ascertaining the nature of the several rounds is by challenging in the same manner that we do, viz. qui va la? Who comes there? This must be said sufficiently loud for the main guard to hear. He is instantly answered: ronde de gouverneur, governor’s rounds; ronde major, major’s round, or grand round, and so on, according to the nature of the rounds. The sentry, who stands posted near the guard-house, after having cried out--Demure là; stop there: or as we say, stop round; cries out again, Caporal hors de la garde, corporal turn out the guard. The corporal or officer of the guard with his sword drawn, according to the French custom, repeats, qui va la? Who comes there? He is answered ronde, round. He then says, avance qui a l’ordre; let him advance who has the parole or countersign; or, as we say, advance one, and give the countersign.

RONDE des officiers de picquet, Fr. Piquet rounds.

RONDES chez les Turcs, Fr. See TURKISH ROUNDS.

RONDELLE, Fr. a small round shield, which was formerly used by light armed infantry. It likewise means a part of the carriage of a gun.

RONDELIERS, Fr. Soldiers who were armed with rondelles, or small wooden shields, covered with leather, were anciently so called.

ROPE. A cord; a string; a halter; a cable; a haulser.

Rope is always distinguished by its circumference: thus a two inch rope means a rope of 2 inches in circumference.

Rule for finding the weight of Ropes.

Multiply the square of the circumference in inches, by the length in fathoms; and divide the product by 480 for the weight in cwt. See also DRAG ROPES.

ROPE of sand. A phrase in familiar use to signify disunion, want of adhesion and continuity. Thus the colonel and the captains of a regiment disagreeing may be called a rope of sand.

ROPES, of various lengths and thickness, according to the uses they are made for; such as drags for the gin, for the sling cart and waggon, &c.

Drag-ROPES, according to the old practice in the artillery, by which the soldiers pulled the guns backwards or forwards, both at practice and in an engagement, were of the following dimensions, viz.--For a 24-pounder, 54 feet long, with the loop-holes for the pegs included, and 5³⁄₄ inches in circumference; for 18 and 12-pounders, 48 feet long, and four inches in circumference; for 6 and 3-pounders, 39 feet long, and 1⁷⁄₈ inches in circumference. For 13 and 10-inch howitzers, 45 feet long, and 6³⁄₄ inches in circumference; for 8-inch howitzers, 48 feet long, and four inches in circumference; for all other howitzers, 35 feet long, and two inches in circumference. These awkward and cumbersome ropes are now superceded by the more improved and powerful method, of the bricoles, which instead of drag ropes held each by several; there is attached a single bricole or rope with a hook and belt to each of several artillerists; the number of bricoles is in proportion to the calibre. See BRICOLES and PROLONGE, See Amer. Mil. Lib.

ROSETTE, an ornamental bunch of ribands, or cut leather, which was worn both by officers and soldiers in the British service, on the upper part of their cues.

ROSETTES. Two small bunches of ribands that are attached to the loops by which the gorget of an officer is suspended upon his chest. The color of the riband must correspond with the facing of the uniform. The French use the same word.

ROSE-buds. See NAILS.

ROSTER, in military affairs, is a plan or table, by which the duty of officers, entire battalions, squadrons, or parts of a company are regulated.

ROOM. Space; extent of space, great or small. Any part of a building for the accommodation of individuals; as barrack room, orderly room; viz. the orderly room, mess room, guard room, soldier’s rooms, and store-room, for the duty of the regiment.

ROOMS. In a military sense are those parts of a building or barrack which by specific instructions, the different barrack masters must provide, and furnish for the accommodation of the troops. A schedule as published by authority describes the number of rooms allowed in barracks for the commissioned, warrant, and non-commissioned officers, and private men, in the British service, to be as follows:

Cavalry rooms. Field officers, each two rooms; captains, each one ditto; subalterns, staff and quarter-masters, each one ditto; the serjeants of each troop of dragoons, and the corporals of each troop of horse, one ditto; eight rank and file, one ditto; officer’s mess, two ditto.

Infantry rooms. Field officers, each two ditto; captains, each one ditto; two subalterns, one ditto; staff, each one ditto; twelve non-commissioned officers, and private men, one ditto; officer’s mess, two ditto; serjeant-major, and quarter-master serjeant, one ditto. When there are a sufficient number of rooms in a barrack, one may be allowed to each subaltern of infantry. See REGULATIONS.

ROSTRAL Crown, Couronne Rostrale, Fr. A crown which was bestowed upon that Roman sailor who should first leap on board an enemy’s ship.

ROSTRUM. A Latin word which literally means the beak or bill of a bird, and figuratively the prow of a vessel. There was in a public place in ancient Rome, a tribunal ornamented with various prows of ships, which the Romans had taken from the Antiati. The orators who harangued the people in public, mounted this rostrum. Hence the Roman phrase: To speak from above the rostra or prows.

ROUAGE, Fr. The wheel-work of a carriage, &c.

Bois de ROUAGE, Fr. Timber to make wheels with.

ROUANNE, Fr. A concave iron instrument, which is used for the purpose of enlarging the hollow of a pump. It likewise signifies a mark. An auger.

ROUANNER, Fr. To bore; also to make casks.

ROUE, Fr. a licensed libertine. One whose principles of morality are considerably relaxed, but who is not sufficiently vitiated in his manners to be excluded from society. The French make a familiar use of the term, and do not affix any degree of stigma to it. They say, on the contrary, c’est un aimable roué, he is an agreeable gay fellow.

ROUE, Fr. Wheel.

ROUE de feu, Fr. An artificial firework. See SOLEIL TOURNANT.

ROUET, Fr. A small solid wheel made of steel, which was formerly fixed to the pans of blunderbusses and pistols, for the purpose of firing them off.

Arquebuses et Pistolets à ROUET, Fr. Blunderbusses and pistols to which a small wheel was attached. These firearms are very little known; some, however, are still to be found in European arsenals, kept merely for curiosity.

ROUGES, boulets Rouges, Fr. Red-hot balls.

ROUGH Rider. A person who is indispensably necessary in every cavalry regiment. He is a sort of non-commissioned officer, and should always associate with the serjeants in preference to the private men.

Rough Riders are the assistants of the riding master, and one should always be appointed to each troop. The necessary qualifications, for every Rough Rider (independently of a thorough knowlege of horsemanship) are activity, zeal, and good conduct.

Every rough rider must provide himself with a proper jacket for the riding school business, according to the pattern fixed upon in the regiment.

To ROUGH horses, a word in familiar use among the dragoons to signify the act of breaking in horses, so as to adapt them to military purposes.

To ROUGH it, a cant word used among military men, signifying to face every sort of hardship.

ROULEAU, Fr. A cylindrical piece of wood with iron ferrels at both ends, and with mortises fitted to the end of the lever.

ROULEAU de cartouche, Fr. A cylindrical solid piece of wood, which is used in making cartridges; by us called a FORMER, as it give the form to the cartridge.

ROULEAUX, Fr. 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.

ROULEMENTS, Fr. The several rolls which are beat upon a drum, as preparations for exercise, &c.

ROULER, Fr. To be subject to a fixed roster according to rank and precedence.

ROUND. From the French ronde. In military matters, a visitation; a personal attendance through a certain circuit of ground, to see that all is well. A round consists, in the ordinary way, of a detachment from the main-guard, of an officer or a non-commissioned officer and 6 men, who go round the rampart of a garrison, to listen if any thing be stirring without the place, and to see that the sentinels be diligent upon their duty, and all in order. In strict garrisons the rounds go every half hour. The sentinels are to challenge at a distance, and to port their arms as the round passes. All guards turn out, challenge, exchange the parole, and present arms, &c.

ROUNDS, are ordinary and extraordinary. The ordinary rounds are three: the town major’s round, the grand round, and the visiting round.

Manner of going the ROUNDS. When the town major goes his round, he comes to the main-guard, and demands a serjeant and four or six men to escort him to the next guard; and when it is dark, one of the men is to carry a light.

As soon as the sentry at the guard perceives the round coming, he shall give notice to the guard, that they may be ready to turn out when ordered; and when the round is advanced within about 20 or 30 paces of the guard, he is to challenge briskly; and when he is answered by the serjeant who attends the round, town major’s round, he is to say, stand, round! and port his arms: after which he is to call out immediately, serjeant, turn out the guard! town major’s round. Upon the sentry calling the serjeant to turn out the guard, he immediately draws up the men in good order with shouldered arms, and the officer places himself at the head of it, with his sword drawn. He then orders the serjeant and four or six men to advance towards the round, and challenge: the serjeant of the round is to answer, town major’s round; upon which the serjeant of the guard replies, advance, serjeant, with the parole! at the same time ordering his men to rest their arms. The serjeant of the round advances alone, and gives the serjeant of the guard the parole in his ear, that none else may hear it; during which period, the serjeant of the guard holds the point of his bayonet or sword at the other’s breast. The serjeant of the round then returns to his post, whilst the serjeant of the guard, leaving his men to keep the round from advancing, gives the parole to his officer. This being found right, the officer orders his serjeant to return to his men; says, advance, town major’s round! and orders the guard to port their arms; upon which the serjeant of the guard orders his men to wheel back from the centre, and form a lane, through which the town major is to pass (the escort remaining where it was) and go up to the officer and give him the parole, laying his mouth to his ear. The officer holds the point of his sword at the town major’s breast while he gives him the parole.

Grand ROUNDS. The rounds which are gone by general officers, governors, commandants, or field officers. When there are no officers of the day on piquet, the officer of the main guard in garrison may go the grand rounds.

Visiting ROUNDS. Rounds gone by captains, subalterns, and the town majors of garrisons.

The grand rounds generally go at midnight; the visiting rounds at intermediate periods, between sunset and the reveille. The grand rounds receive the parole, and all other rounds give it to the guards.

There is also a species of subordinate rounds which are performed by a corporal and a file of men; and which are in reality nothing more than a patrole. When challenged they answer patrole rounds.

The governor of a garrison can order the rounds to go as often as he may judge expedient. Extraordinary rounds are resorted to when any particular event or occurrence is expected, and in cases of tumult, &c.

The going the rounds, though generally considered among the inferior duties of military discipline, ought to be most scrupulously attended to.

Turkish ROUNDS. The Turks are in the habit of going the rounds like other nations, for the purpose of ascertaining, whether sentries are alert and vigilant on their posts. They call the rounds rol. They start from the guard-house, and the person who goes them has no other weapon of defence than a stick in his hand. He is accompanied by a corporal who carries a lantern. He observes whether at his approach the sentry instantly cries out, jedger Allah, which signifies good God! If any sentry should be found asleep, or be backward in crying out jedger Allah, good God, he is put in prison, and there severely bastinadoed. The Turks never give a parole or countersign, in camp or in garrison.

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.

ROUND Robbin. The term is a corruption of ruban rond, which signifies a round riband. 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 robbin against any person, is for any specific number of men to sign, one and all, a remonstrance against him. This usage has been perverted to the most seditious purposes of insubordination; and of itself should cause the immediate dismission of every officer concerned.

ROUND Parade. See PARADES.

ROURA, Ind. A term used to express lord, sir, master, worship.

ROUSE. One of the bugle horn soundings for duty. It is derived from the German word which signifies to turn out.

ROUT. Confusion of an army or body of men defeated or dispersed.

To ROUT, to put to the ROUT. To defeat, to throw into confusion, &c.

ROUTE, (Route, Fr.) in military matters, an order to direct troops to march, the road they are to take, and an authority to the magistrates to provide quarters for them.

Pas de ROUTE, Fr. Stepping at ease, or marching with the least possible restraint.

Marche ROUTE, Fr. Route of march. The French use this term in contradistinction to marche manœuvre; march in manœuvring.

ROUTIER, Fr. A ruttier. The French say figuratively c’est un vieux routier; he is an old stager.

ROUTINE, Fr. 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.

ROUVERIN, Fr. Brittle iron, such as easily breaks when it is committed to the forge.

ROWANNA, Ind. A passport or certificate from the collector of the customs; or any other passport.

ROWEL. The pointed part of a horseman’s spur, which is made in a circular form, with rays or points like a star.

ROXANA, Ind. An Indian term expressive of great magnificence, resplendence.

ROY, Ind. A Hindoo name for an officer of the finances.

ROYAL parapet, in fortification, a bank about three toises broad, and six feet high, placed upon the brink of the rampart, towards the enemy: its use is to cover those who defend the rampart.

ROYAL academy. See ACADEMY.

ROYAL Military College. See SCHOOL.

ROYALS, in artillery, are a kind of small mortars, which carry a shell whose diameter is 5.5 inches. They are mounted on beds the same as other mortars.

ROZEENDAR, Ind. A person holding a yearly pension.

ROZENADAR, Ind. One who receives an allowance daily.

ROZENAMA, Ind. A day-book.

RUBBY, Ind. A division of the year, containing the months of Chaite or 3d month, from the 11th of March to the 10th of April. Bysac or 4th month, from the 11th of April to the 11th of May. Jeet or 5th month. Assaf or 6th month, from the 12th of June to the 13th of July. Savan or 7th month, in some manner, agrees with July and August. Baudhoon, or the same as Jeet, from the 11th of May to the 12th of June. The other half of the year is called Kureef.

RUDIMENTS. The first principles, the elements of any particular science. Hence--

RUDIMENTS of War. The first principles or elements of war; as marching, facing, wheeling; the drill, manual, and platoon exercises, manœuvres, &c. &c.

RUE, Fr. Street.

RUFFLE. A term used among the drummers to signify a sort of vibrating sound, which is made upon a drum, and is less loud than the roll.

To beat a RUFFLE. To make a low vibrating noise upon the drum. It is generally practised in paying a military compliment to a general officer, and at military funerals.

In the British army a lieutenant-general is entitled to three ruffles.

A major-general to two ruffles.

A brigadier-general to one ruffle.

RUG, (couverture velue, Fr.) A coarse nappy coverlet used for mean beds. Each set of bedding which is provided for regimental hospitals has one rug.

RUILLER, Fr. To establish marks for the purpose of rendering surfaces and places correct.

RUINE, Fr. Literally signifies ruin. It is used by the French in a warlike sense.

Battre en RUINE, Fr. To defeat an enemy in such a manner as to destroy all means of taking the field again.

RUINES, Fr. Ruins.

RULE, in a general sense, government, sway, empire. In a more confined one, canon, precept, direction. Hence rules and regulations for the government of the army.

To RULE. To govern, to command.

RULE, RULER, an instrument by which lines are drawn.

RULES and Articles. Under this term may be considered the military code or laws of the United States, and the regulations issued by the War Office.

RULES and Regulations. See REGULATIONS.

RUMB de vent, Fr. Point of the compass.

RUMB or Rum, Fr. The hold of a ship.

RUMOR, a desultory, loose report of what may, or may not be.

To spread false RUMORS, to circulate things without the foundation of reality. Reports, &c. are sometimes circulated by means of spies, deserters, &c. for the purpose of covering some particular design, or intended operation. Rumors of this kind should be cautiously listened to by the commanding officer of the army through which they are spread. It sometimes happens that individuals, through wantonness, or from some other motive, create alarms among their own people, by anticipating some looked for or dreaded event. This offence is not only punishable by the civil law, but, being contrary to good order and discipline, is rigidly so in every army. A singular circumstance of this kind occurred at Colchester, England, in 1797. During the alarm which universally prevailed at that time, especially along the coast of Essex, a serjeant belonging to a militia regiment, unwittingly, for it is not supposed he did it wilfully, said in the hearing of some soldiers, that the French would dine at Ipswich on the Sunday following! This expression soon spread among the inhabitants of the place, and a formal complaint was made to the general of the district. The offender having originally belonged to the line, and bearing the best of characters, was so far considered, as not to be tried by a general court-martial; but, for the sake of example, he was ordered to be escorted to the church nearest to the coast, and on a Sunday to appear in the porch, and there ask pardon of the inhabitants for the alarm he had created.

To RUN the gantlope, (that is the gauntlet) to undergo a punishment which has been allotted for considerable offences in some foreign countries. When a soldier is sentenced to run the gantlope, the regiment is drawn out in two ranks facing each other: each soldier, having a switch in each hand, lashes the criminal as he runs along naked from the waist upwards. While he runs, the drums beat at each end of the ranks. Sometimes he runs 3, 5, or 7 times, according to the nature of the offence. The major is on horseback, and takes care that each soldier strikes the culprit.

RUNNING-fire. See FIRE.

RUPEE, a silver coin which varies in its value according to the part of India in which it is current. Rupees struck by the English, are generally worth half a dollar.

RUPTURE, a disease which disqualifies a man from being admitted as a soldier; but as some men are capable of producing and reducing a rupture with great ease, they should not be discharged in slight cases, as by the use of a truss they may be enabled to do duty for a long time.

RUPTURE. This word also signifies the commencement of hostilities between any two or more powers.

RUSE, Fr. Cunning, trick, ingenuity. It is applied to military matters, and signifies stratagem.

RUSER, Fr. To make use of stratagems: Il est permis de Ruser à la guerre; it is lawful to make use of stratagems in war.

RUSES de guerre, Fr. Stratagems of war. See STRATAGEMS.

RUSSOOT, Ind. A tribe of Hindoos, whose particular duty is the care of horses.

RUSSUMDAR, Ind. A person deriving a particular perquisite.

RUSTRE, Fr. A lance so called, which was formerly used in tournaments.

RUTTIER. A direction of the road or course at sea.

RYET or Ryot, Ind. The general name given in India to cultivators of the ground.

RYET or Ryot Lands, Ind. Lands farmed out and cultivated by a tenant.

S.

SABLE, Fr. Sand.

SABLONIERE ou SABLIERE. Any spot from which sand is drawn. It likewise means a sand-pit.

SABORD, Fr. a port-hole.

SABRE, (Sabre, Fr.) a kind of sword, or scimetar, with a very broad and heavy blade, thick at the back, and of a shape falcated, or curved, but sharp at the point. It is generally worn by heavy cavalry and dragoons. The grenadiers, belonging to the whole of the French infantry, are likewise armed with sabres. The blade is not so long as that of a small sword, but it is nearly twice as broad. French hussars wear the curved sabres somewhat longer than those of the grenadiers. The broad straight sword is best adapted for infantry of every kind.

SABRE-Tasche. From the German sabel, sabre, and tasche, pocket. An appointment or part of accoutrement of hussars, which consists of a pocket which is suspended from the sword-belt on the left side, by three slings to correspond with the belt. It is usually of an oblong shape, scolloped at the bottom, with a device in the centre, and a broad lace round the edge. The color of it always corresponds with that of the uniform.

SABRER, Fr. To cut to pieces.

SAC d’une ville, Fr. The storming and plunder of a town.

Mettre une ville à SAC, Fr. To give a town up to the plunder of the soldiers.

SAC, Fr. a bag

SAC à poudre, Fr. A bag of gunpowder. These bags are frequently used in war, for the purpose of intimidating an enemy, and of setting fire to places. They are of different sizes and dimensions; some to be thrown by the hand, and others out of a mortar. A French work, intituled le Bombardier Francois, gives a full account of both.

SAC à terre, Fr. Sand-bags, or bags filled with earth.

SAC à amorce, Fr. A small leathern bag which is used for the purpose of carrying gunpowder to the different batteries to prime the pieces.

SAC à laine, Fr. A bag made of or stuffed with wool and other soft materials. It is larger than a sand-bag. Every army should be provided with a certain quantity of these bags, in order to supply the want of soil on critical occasions.

Un havre SAC. A knapsack. See HAVRESACK.

Cul de SAC, Fr. A street or passage that has no outlet.

SACCADE, Fr. In the manege, a violent check or jirk, which the horseman gives his horse by drawing both the reins very suddenly. This is practised when the horse bears too heavy on the hand; but it ought to be done with great caution, as the frequency of it must eventually spoil the horse’s mouth.

SACHET, Fr. A pouch. It likewise signifies a bag in the diminutive sense. A satchel.

SACHETS de mitrailles, Fr. Small bags filled with grape-shot, which are afterwards fired from cannon, or thrown out of mortars.

SACHETS de balles de plomb, Fr. Bags of bullets.

SACKS. See BAGS.

SACKERS. They who sack a town.

SACRE ou Sacret, Fr. A name formerly given to pieces of ordnance that carried balls of 4 to 5lb. weight. Each piece weighed from two thousand five hundred to two thousand eight hundred pounds. The same as Saker.

SADDLE. The seat which is put upon a horse for the accommodation of the rider.

SAFE-guard, in military affairs, a protection granted by a general, for some of the enemy’s lands, houses, persons, &c. to preserve them from being insulted or plundered. See GUARD.

SAFYNAMA, Ind. A certificate or writing, specifying any matter of dispute, which it is found necessary to have settled or cleared up.

SAGITTAL, belonging to an arrow.

SAGITTARIUS, or SAGITTARY. See ARCHER, BOWMAN.

SAGO, Ind. A tree of the palm species. A flour is made from this tree, which formed into bread and fresh baked, eats like hot rolls; when it grows stale it becomes hard, and requires to be soaked in water before it can be used. Three of the trees are found sufficient to give sustenance for one man during a whole year; and an acre properly planted, will supply food for one hundred for that period.

SAGUM. A woollen garment, which was formerly worn by the Roman soldiers when they took the field. It is said that the Gauls adopted the use of it.

SAH, Ind. A banker.

SAHEB, Ind. (pronounced Saib.) Master, sir.

SAHOOKER, Ind. A merchant.

SAIGNEE du fossé, Fr. The act of drawing off the water which is in the ditch or fosse of a town or fortified place. When this has been executed, clays or hurdles covered with earth, or bridges made with reeds, must be thrown upon the mud, to establish a firm footing.

SAIGNEE de saucisson, Fr. The act of cutting off a part of a linen saucisson, which is filled with gunpowder, for the purpose of introducing the moine or cylindrical tube, in order to set fire to a mine.

SAIGNER une piéce, Fr. An expression used in artillery when a piece of ordnance, which is mounted on a carriage, has its breech carried away by the violence of the explosion. This sometimes happens when the discharge is made directly downwards, or from top to bottom.

SAIGNER une Riviére, Fr. To turn the current of a river, by partially drawing off some of its water.

SAILLANT, Fr. Salient. See SALIENT ANGLE. This word, as well as Saillie, signifies generally any part of a building that does not run up perpendicularly from its base, but projects or slopes out.

St. GEORGE’s Guard, a guard of the broadsword or sabre, used in warding off blows directed against the head. See BROADSWORD.

La SAINTE barbe, Fr. The gunner’s room.

SAKER, an old word for cannon. It carried a shot of five pounds and a quarter weight: the diameter of the bore was three inches and ⁹⁄₁₆ths; the length eight or nine feet. See CANNON.

SALADE, Fr. This word literally means sallad. It likewise signifies a head piece. The French use it frequently in a figurative sense, viz.

Donner une SALADE à quelqu’un, Fr. To give any one a good dressing.

Régiment de SALADE, Fr. A term of ridicule which the French frequently applied to small new-raised corps; such as independent companies which were levied for rank only.

SALE. State of being venal; price.

SALE of Commissions. The sale and purchase of commissions is of general usage in the British service. Commissions in the British army are sold for various purposes; sometimes to indemnify individuals for their original purchase; sometimes, as was shewn in 1809, as the fund for paying princely prostitutes.

SALIENT angle, in fortification, that whose points turn from the centre of the place. See FORTIFICATION.

SALLE d’armes, Fr. A fencing school.

SALLE d’armes dans un magazin, Fr. An armory or particular room where fire-arms, &c. are regularly disposed. Of this description is the armory in the Tower.

SALLESEE, Ind. Arbitration.

SALLIS, Ind. An arbitrator.

SALLY. See SIEGE.

SALLY-ports, or postern-gates, as they are sometimes called, are those underground passages, which lead from the inner to the outward works; such as from the higher flank to the lower, to the tenailles, or the communication from the middle of the curtain to the ravelin. When they are constructed for the passage of men only, they are made with steps at the entrance and outlet. They are about six feet wide, and 8¹⁄₂ feet high. There is also a gutter or sewer made under the sally-ports that are in the middle of the curtains, in order that the water which runs down the streets may pass into the ditch; but this can only be done when they are wet ditches. When sally-ports serve to carry guns through them for the out-works, instead of making them with steps, they must have a gradual slope, and be eight feet wide.

SALA-MA-NAZEER, Ind. The salutation of victory.

SALOOTER, Ind. A farrier.

SALOOTEREE, Ind. The business of a farrier.

SALTING-boxes, in artillery, are boxes of about four inches high, and 2¹⁄₂ in diameter, for holding mealed powder, to sprinkle the fuzes of shells, that they may take fire from the blast of the powder in the chamber; but it has been found that the fuze takes fire as well without this operation, so that these boxes are now laid aside.

SALTPETRE, Fr. See NITRE.

SALTPETRE, or nitre, the principal ingredient for making gunpowder; it is found in great plenty in some of the East-India provinces, and in some parts of Europe. The necessities of the French revolution, when attacked by all Europe, forced the French to have recourse to their chemists, to supply nitre which could not be obtained from abroad; they scraped the walls and floors of their cellars and vaults, and out of the washed earth extracted nitre; they also extracted nitre from vegetable substances, such as the horse chesnut. In some natural caves discovered in Kentucky, vast quantities, sufficient for every demand of war and commerce can be procured. See GUNPOWDER, NITRE, &c.

SALPETRIERE, Fr. A particular spot in an arsenal where there are pits, &c. for the purpose of making saltpetre.

SALPETRIERS, Fr. Men employed in making saltpetre.

SALVE, Fr. A salute, a volley. It generally means a discharge of heavy ordnance and other firearms in concert.

SALUER de la mousqueterie, Fr. To fire a volley, or discharge of musquetry only.

SALUER du canon, Fr. To salute by the discharge of ordnance.

SALUER de la voix, Fr. To huzza. To cry out, as vive le roi! God save the king! vive la république! long live the republic! This manner of saluting generally appertains to the mob of a country, which lavishes its applause upon every man that happens to be in power. It has, however, been customary, both in Rome, Greece, France, and other countries, for whole battalions of soldiers to salute à vive voix; in which case they generally take off their hats, and give three huzzas.

SALUER du pavillon, Fr. To salute with the colors.

SALUER à boulet, Fr. To salute with ball.

SALUT, Fr. The salute.

SALUT du sponton, Fr. The spontoon salute.

SALUT de l’épée, Fr. The sword salute.

SALUT de mer, Fr. The deference and respect which are shewn at sea by ships of inferior force to those of superior rate. This is done by lowering the flag. The British flag claims to be paramount to all others, and requires to be saluted by foreign ships at sea. This salute has been made the subject of clauses in treaties.

SALUTE, a discharge of artillery, or small arms, or both, in honor of some person; the men presenting their arms. The colors salute chief magistrates, and generals commanding in chief; which is done by lowering the point within one inch of the ground. In the field, when a regiment is to be reviewed by a general, the drums beat a march as he passes along the line, and the officers salute one after another, pointing their swords downwards. The ensigns salute together, by lowering their colors. When the word of command to shoulder, is given, the officers recover their swords, and the ensigns raise the colors.

SAMBUCUS, (Sambuque, Fr.) An ancient musical instrument of the wind kind, resembling a flute. It probably derives its name from Sambucus, the Elder tree; being made of that wood.

SAMBUCUS 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.

SAMPODAR, Ind. A treasurer or cashkeeper.

SAND, in military architecture. The best sand for good mortar, is that whose grain is not too small, and must be clear of the earthy particles. Sand found in rivers is esteemed the best, as having a coarse grain, and being free from earth and mud. See MORTAR.

SAND bags. See BAGS.

SAND BAGS are made about 27 inches long, and 15 diameter; 250 of these are required for each fathom of battery, or about 1680 for two guns or mortars. See TONNAGE.

SANGIAC. A situation or appointment of dignity in Turkey. The Sangiacs are governors of towns or cantons, and take rank immediately after the Beglerbeys, who are viceroys in that country, and give the name of Beglerbat or Beglerbey to a militia which they support at their own expence.

SANS-Culotte, Fr. A revolutionary term which was first given by the French to the national guards; it was an unfortunate effusion of contempt expressed by the queen as the militia passed along; it soon became known, and was calculated to increase popular antipathy against her. It means, literally, a man without breeches.

SAP, (Sappe, Fr.) in sieges, is a trench, or an approach made under cover, ten or twelve feet broad, when the besiegers come near the place, and the fire from the garrison grows so dangerous, that they are not able to approach uncovered.

There are several sorts of saps: the single, which has only a single parapet; the double, having one on each side; and the flying, made with gabions, &c. In all saps, traverses are left to cover the men.

The sap generally commences about the second parallel, and sometimes sooner; and if the fire of the besieged is much slackened, may proceed both day and night. The sappers are usually divided into brigades of 8, and sub-divided into divisions of 4 each; being the greatest number that can work at the sap at the same time. The leading sapper excavates 18 inches deep, and as much wide; the second, third, and fourth deepen the trench, each in succession 6 inches, and widen it as much; so that the four make a trench of 3 feet wide and three feet deep; after which the common workmen follow, and increase it in breadth and depth equal to the other trenches. The sap may proceed at the rate of 80 fathoms in 14 hours. As this work is very hard, the half brigades relieve each other every hour, and each sapper in his turn takes the lead. The whole brigade is relieved at the end of 6 hours. It is always customary in this dangerous work, to give the pay of those that are killed to the survivors. Sappers are generally armed with a helmet and breast plate. See TRENCHES, PARALLELS.

SAPPERS, (Sappeurs, Fr.) are soldiers belonging to the artificers or engineers, whose business it is to work at the saps, and for which they have an extraordinary pay. A brigade of sappers generally consists of eight men, divided equally into two parties. Whilst one of these parties is advancing the sap, the other is furnishing the gabions, fascines, and other necessary implements; they relieve each other alternately.

SARISSA, the Pike.

SAROT, Fr. A sort of frock which was worn by the drivers of mules, and other persons employed in the French armies.

SARRAZINE, Fr. See HERSE.

SARDAR, Ind. A chief, a leader.

SARAT. The breaking up or ending of the rains, is so called in India.

SASCE, Ind. The moon.

SASH. A mark of distinction, generally made of crimson silk for the officers, and of crimson mixed with white cotton for the serjeants. It is worn round the waist. Sashes are erroneously said to have been invented for the convenience and ease of wounded officers, in case any of them were so badly wounded, as to render them incapable of remaining at their posts, they might be carried off with the assistance of two men; but though they may have been so used, they are only an ancient remnant of military ornament, and correspond with the kummerbaund, worn by all Asiatics even to this day; they are of considerable use to the soldier during fatigues or marches; and the “girding up the loins,” as noted in scripture, would be found now not an unwise practice for the soldier in action. The American cavalry tie the sash on the left; the infantry on the right side. The sashes for the Austrian army are of crimson and gold; the Prussian army, black silk and silver; the Hanoverian were yellow silk; the Portugueze, crimson silk, with blue tassels. The modern French have their sashes made of three colors, viz. white, pink, and light blue, to correspond with the national flag.

SATELLITE, (Satellite, Fr.) A person who attends on another, either for his safety, or to be ready to execute his pleasure.

SATELLITES, Fr. Certain armed men, of whom mention is made in the history of Philip Augustus, king of France. The word satellite itself, which we frequently find in ancient historians, signifies a guard or attendant about the person of a prince. It is derived from the Latin word satelles, which comes from the Syriac term for a companion. 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 defence mounted or on foot.

SATISFACTION. When an officer or other person goes out to fight a duel with one whom he has offended, or by whom he has been offended, he is said to give or take satisfaction!

SAUCISSE, SAUCISSON, in mining, is a long pipe or bag, made of cloth well pitched, or sometimes of leather, of about 1¹⁄₂ inch diameter, filled with powder, going from the chamber of the mine to the entrance of the gallery. It is generally placed in a wooden pipe, called an auget, to prevent its growing damp. It serves to give fire to mines, caissons, bomb chests, &c.

SAUCISSON, is likewise a kind of fascine, longer than the common ones; it serves to raise batteries, and to repair breaches. Saucissons are also used in making epaulements, in stopping passages, and in making traverses over a wet ditch, &c.

SAUCISSON de brulot, Fr. A machine made use of to set fire to the different compartments in a fire-ship.

SAUCISSONS d’artifice, Fr. Saucissons used in artificial fireworks.

SAUCISSONS volans, Fr. Flying saucissons; a species of sky-rocket.

SAUF-conduit. A pass.

SAUT, Ind. An hour.

SAUT, Fr. This word is used in hydraulics to signify a considerable fall of water, such as the falls of Niagara, &c.

SAUTER, Fr. To leap.

SAUTER a l’arbordage, Fr. To leap upon the deck, or on any part of an enemy’s ship, for the purpose of boarding her.

SAUTER en selle, Fr. To get on horseback. To jump upon your saddle.

SAUVE-garde, Fr. Safe-guard. Protection.

Accorder des SAUVE-gardes, Fr. To grant protections.

Envoyer une garde en SAUVE-garde, Fr. To send out a party for the purpose of escorting persons, or of protecting any particular quarter.

SAUVE qui peut! Fr. Let those escape that can. This expression is familiar to the French, it was employed in an early part of the revolution, by the royalists to produce panic in the ranks of the revolutionary army; and was used with success particularly in the corps under gen. Dillon in Flanders.

SAVAN, Ind. The name of an Indian month, which corresponds with July.

SAW. A dentated steel instrument with which wood or metal is cut by attrition. Each pioneer is provided with one.

SAYON, Fr. A kind of coarse habit in which soldiers were formerly clothed among the French.

SCABBARD, (Fourreau, Fr.) A case commonly made of black leather, with a ferrel at the end, in which a sword, sabre, &c. may be sheathed.

Bayonet SCABBARD. A leathern sheath made in a triangular form to correspond with the shape of the bayonet.

SCABBARD-button. A brass button or hook by which the scabbard is attached to the frog of the belt.

The word scabbard has been sometimes used in a figurative sense to distinguish those persons who have obtained rank and promotion in the army without seeing much hard service, from those who have fought their way through all the obstacles of superior interest, &c. Hence the favourite expression of the late sir William Erskine--Some rise by the scabbard, and some by the sword! Which means more than we are at liberty to illustrate, but which may be easily applied to cases in point.

SCALADE, from the French 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, a right line divided into equal parts, representing miles, fathoms, paces, feet, inches, &c. used in making plans upon paper; giving each line its true length, &c. See also BALANCE, ESCALADE, &c.

SCALENE, Fr. A term used in geometry to express a triangle whose three sides and three angles are unequal to one another.

SCALING-ladder. See LADDERS.

SCALLOP, any segment of a circle.

To SCALP. To deprive the scull of its integuments. A barbarous custom in practice amongst the Indian warriors, of taking off the tops of the scalps of the enemies sculls with their hair on. They preserve them as trophies of their victories, and are rewarded by their chiefs, according to the number they bring in.

To SCAMPER, (Escamper, Fr.) To run away precipitately.

SCARF, See SASH.

SCARLET, the national color for the dress of the British. The British artillery, cavalry, and some of the light infantry, are clothed in blue; rifle corps in green; and the cavalry for foreign service in light blue. See UNIFORM.

SCARPE. See ESCARPE.

SCENOGRAPHY, (Scenographe, Fr.) The representation of a building, town, &c. as it appears in prospective or from without, with all its dimensions and shadows.

SCHEDULE, an inventory, a list; also something referred to by numbers or letters; as the oaths of the recruit and magistrate, marked A and B at the end of the mutiny act.

SCHOOL, (école, Fr.) A house of discipline and instruction; a place of literary education; an university. It is a more general and comprehensive term than college or academy. The French have made a great distinction on this head with respect to their military institutions. Thus the great receptacle for military genius was called L’école Militaire de Paris; the military school of Paris; whereas the subordinate places of instructions and the preparatory houses, were termed colleges, viz. colleges de Soreze, Brienne, Tivon, Rebais, Beaumont, Pont-le-roy, Vendome, Effiat, Pont-a-Mousson, Tournon.

British Royal Military School or College.

A new institution under the direction of the commander in chief, for the time being.

This establishment consists of two departments:--

The first, or senior department, is calculated to instruct officers, who have already acquired a sufficient knowlege of regimental duties, &c. in the higher branches of their profession. Their attention is particularly directed to those functions which relate to the quarter-master-general’s department in the field.

The second, or junior department, is meant for the education of young men, who have not yet received any commissions in the army, but who are intended from early life for the profession of arms.

The following particulars constitute the general outline of this praise-worthy institution:--

The commander in chief for the time being is always to be considered as the chief governor of the establishment. He is president of the supreme board of the college; the members of which are the secretary at war, and such general and staff officers as the king may, from time to time, nominate. It is their peculiar province to see, that the regulations of the institution be duly observed, and unequivocally fulfilled, and that the whole be conducted with economy and credit to the country.

There is constantly resident in the college a governor and a lieutenant-governor, who must both be military officers. The former not under the rank of major-general, and the latter not under that of lieutenant-colonel in the line. These are the immediate functionaries of the place, and to them is intrusted the entire direction of the establishment; subject only to the instructions and orders that may occasionally be issued from the supreme board of the college.

At the head of each department are placed a commandant and a director of instruction. These must likewise be military men, and bear the king’s commission. They are at all times accountable for their respective departments, being under the immediate control of the governor and lieutenant-governor of the college.

The commandants of departments, in conjunction with the directors of instruction, form a collegiate board, at which the resident governor, or, in his absence, the lieutenant-governor constantly presides.

Public examinations are made, at stated periods, by this board, in order to ascertain the progress of learning, and the degrees of improvement. The president and members of it likewise enter into the interior economy of the place, control the expenditure of the establishment, and maintain the statutes of the college; subject nevertheless to the control and occasional direction of the supreme board, to which the collegiate one is in every respect subordinate.

The staff and other officers of each department are under the immediate orders of their respective commandants, who are enjoined to conduct their departments in strict conformity to the existing rules and discipline.

The establishment is founded upon principles of the strictest economy; and the expence of being at the institution, with all the advantages of theoretical instruction and practical improvement, does not exceed the necessary charges and disbursements to which every officer is subject when he lives with his regiment.

It is a standing order of the institution, that officers must constantly appear in uniform; and they must in all respects conform to the rules and regulations.

Leave of absence is granted, during the months of December and January, to officers studying in the senior department of the college; but at no other season of the year, except for a few days, and then only under circumstances and in cases of urgent necessity.

Senior department.

The number of officers which can be admitted, at a time, to the studies of the senior department, is limited to 30; and it is required, as indispensibly necessary, that they should be perfectly conversant in all the details of regimental duty.

They must likewise have made themselves masters of the French language, be versed in mathematics, and in the science of field fortification and castrametation; and be well instructed in the drawing of military plans, &c.

Every thing which relates to the different branches belonging to the senior department, is conveyed in French, in order that officers may be enabled to improve the knowlege they acquire at the establishment, by reading with facility, the military writers that are most in estimation. The majority of such authors being found among the French, that language is, of course, most cultivated; by which means the first object of acquirement will not only be obtained, but will ensure to the general staff of the army a disposable body of intelligent officers, that are conversant in a continental tongue.

The instruction is not elementary or given upon first principles only. The attention of the officers is directed to higher branches, and the lessons they receive are exemplified by practice in the field; by taking ground, &c.

The particular and more immediate duties, appertaining to the general staff, to which the faculties of the mind are principally applied, consist in taking (à coup d’œil, or at sight) military surveys of ground without any mechanical process, or aid of instruments; and to express the same on paper with the most accurate perspicuity.

It is, therefore, necessary that the officers of the senior department should be able to judge of the advantages and disadvantages of ground relative to offensive and defensive operations; to employ geometrical and trigonometrical operations on the ground; to chuse the scite or position of entrenchments and batteries, by which every part of a camp may be defended, and its leading avenues, &c. put à l’abri de surprises. They must likewise be masters of a theory which may be adapted to every case in which field fortification can be employed: to trace camps on the ground, and to prick out the lines of entrenchments, &c. with dispatch and accuracy, in conformity to the strict rules of castrametation: to be thoroughly conversant in the theory of camp out-duties, and of the grand guards of armies: to know how to reconnoitre ground for a given number of columns moving in route of march, and to place or distribute the same with attention to the conveniences of forage and water, and to the security of the magazines.

To reconnoitre the route of a column in advancing, to estimate the labor of opening the several communications, to calculate the number of artificers that are requisite, and the time that is necessary to clear the route for the march of a column, and to detail the same in an accurate manner upon paper.

To reconnoitre the route of a column in retreat, specifying, in a clear and succinct manner upon paper, the several points in retreat that are favorable to each arm composing the rear guard, when they may halt, and act as covering parties to the retreating column.

To reconnoitre and take up ground for a given number of troops on a defensive position, and to place the same; to establish a chain of posts, to construct batteries, throw up abbatis, and other means of defence, adapted to the particular circumstances of the ground made choice of for the position.

To reconnoitre the ground upon which any given number of troops might be encamped under circumstances of aggression. In taking this position for the purpose of acting offensively, particular attention must be paid to the future movements of the army, by providing the readiest means of directing and supporting its operations.

Marches and movements constitute so essential a branch in military tactics, that on them almost wholly depends the issue of a campaign. It is consequently expected, that every officer belonging to the senior department, should be able to calculate the march of a column under all the various and desultory circumstances which are attendant on the movements of troops. He must accurately ascertain the ground, the defiles, the width of roads, &c. the length of the several columns. The hours occupied in marching, defiling, passing obstacles, &c. must come within this calculation.

It must be remarked, that this is a route of march which has in view only to convey a body of troops from one position to another, without being connected with military operations relative to the enemy.

To calculate the march of several columns with respect to each other.

To reconnoitre routes for the march of several columns in advancing; to form the columns of march so as to correspond with the field of battle which they are to occupy, and to point out the routes by which they are severally to arrive. The remark which we have already made applies to this part likewise.

To regulate an order of march, and to ascertain the arrival of several columns on the field, with regard to the appropriate manner of deploying, and their relative dispositions, whether with a view to their encamping, or to forming in order of battle.

To reconnoitre routes for the march of several columns in retreat, for the purpose of forming columns of march according to the circumstances of the retreat, and in conformity to the ground to which they retire.

To regulate the retreat and relative support of the rear guards attached to the several columns.

In order to add practical knowlege to theory, and to adapt the observations of established military writers to local experience, every survey or reconnoitring of country, for the retreat or advance of columns; for offensive or defensive positions; for encampments, or the construction and erection of batteries, &c. is made upon spots that are actually in the neighborhood of the establishment; and every object of instruction is applied to the local circumstance of the ground as it actually exists. It is required, that plans of these different surveys, &c. should at all times accompany and be given in with the lesson of instruction.

Officers of the senior department must not only be well acquainted with these particulars, but they must further know how to regulate the cantonments of an army.

To estimate the resources of a country, in green and dry forage, in cattle, grain, horses, and carriages, together with the population.

To draw out plans of resources, general plans of operations and subordinate ones of position, and of cantonments.

According to the season of the year, and the state of the weather, officers are employed in acquiring the theory, or applying in practice on the ground, the several points of instruction to which their attention has been directed.

It is required of them, individually, to reconnoitre a given tract or line of country.

The military positions they take up, as well as the disposition they make of troops, whether in camp or in order of march, are invariably represented by plans in drawing, and all instruction is exemplified by applications which are made in the field, and are adapted to the local circumstances of ground. In order to render the different lessons familiar to the mind, and to make them practically easy, imaginary marches are made from one supposed camp to another, and the various orders which relate to the movements of troops are given out and explained, as if they were to be actually carried into effect. Points of attack or defence are taken up, ambuscades are laid, and all the chicane of what the French so justly call le petite guerre, is entered into with as much promptitude and caution, as if the enemy were in the neighborhood of the college. The manœuvres of light troops are particularly practised; and the different instructions which have been published in French on that branch of military tactics by Mons. Jarry, are practically taught, as time and circumstances permit.

The elements of field fortification, and the higher branches of attack and defence, are not only inculcated with the greatest perspicuity, but they are reduced to practice by imaginary lines of circumvallation and contravallation; by posts and positions suddenly taken, and quickly fortified; whilst the manifold feints and stratagems of war which have been practised by the best generals, are locally attempted, for the double purpose of applying practice to established facts, and of seizing some new idea that may grow out of ancient practice.

Whenever an officer has completed his studies, he is reported to the commander in chief, as having qualified himself for the quarter-master-general’s department; and returns to his regiment, having had his name previously registered at the college, in order that he may be employed on the general staff of the army when his services are required.

When an officer wishes to be admitted to the military college, his application must be addressed to the commander in chief, for the time being, through the medium of the colonel or commanding officer of his regiment, who sends it, under cover, to the official or public secretary at the Horse Guards, with his own certificate of the good conduct of the applicant.

When an officer, thus admitted, is found deficient in any of the branches of elementary knowlege, which he is expected to have acquired previous to his entrance into the senior department, he may have the advantage of instruction from the professors and masters of the junior department. It would, however, be more gratifying to all parties, were such officers to qualify themselves before they quit their corps.

The same allowances which are established for troops in barracks, are made to officers who attend the instructions of the senior department.

Every officer admitted to this department is required to have a horse to attend his duty in the field, and regular rations of forage, &c. are issued to him for his keeping.

The officers of the senior department mess together, and their table is regulated by specific statutes of the college.

Junior department.

This department is calculated to receive three hundred students from the age of fourteen to sixteen. Fifty out of this number may be cadets of the hon. East India company’s service; one hundred the sons of noblemen and gentlemen who are intended for the army; one hundred the sons of officers actually in the service; and fifty the sons of officers who have died, or have been disabled in his majesty’s service, and are left in pecuniary distress.

The students are formed into four companies; and proper persons are appointed for their care and superintendance.

They are to wear an established uniform, and to be conducted as a military body; regard being had to their youth, and certain instructions adapted for its government.

The course of study which is arranged for this department is of a preparatory nature, leading gradually to branches of a higher class that are fitted for the staff; and adding to classical knowlege, every accomplishment that is required to form the character of a perfect gentleman and officer.

The students are taught the several branches of mathematics, field fortification, together with the general principles of gunnery and artillery service. They are instructed in drawing military plans, military movements, and perspective. They are also made acquainted with the first rudiments of war, the science of military manœuvre, with geography and history, as well as with the German and French languages. Professors and masters are appointed to teach the Hindoo and Persian tongues, as being immediately necessary to the service of India. Masters are likewise provided to instruct cadets in the geography of India, and to make them familiarly acquainted with the local knowlege of the settlement for which they are severally intended.

The directors of instruction are made particularly responsible for the proper management of the studies, and different elementary branches which constitute an essential part of the establishment.

The professors and masters are employed generally to instruct in both departments, under the control of the chief director.

The whole establishment, which has military knowlege and improvement for its basis, is conducted upon strict military principles, and in scrupulous conformity to the rules and discipline which are issued by authority for the government of the army at large.

A sufficient number of masters are constantly resident in the college, for the instruction of such students as may wish to continue their classical studies. Frequent lessons are given them on moral and natural philosophy.

They are likewise taught riding, swimming, fencing, and the sabre and sword exercise.

The instruction of the department is divided into two parts, forming a junior and senior division of study.

Public examinations are held in this department, in order to remove students from the lower to the higher division of study; and also for the purpose of granting certificates to such as are qualified to act as commissioned officers in the service, at an age under what is required by the present regulations of the army.

From this department students will join the regiments into which they severally enter; and after having obtained some experience, by going through the different duties of a regimental officer, they will be qualified to return to the college, and to enter into the senior department, if they are disposed to study the service of the general staff.

The public examinations are held in presence of one or more visitors or inspectors, nominated by the commander in chief; and it is required, that they should be members of the supreme board of the college.

The expence attending the education of a young gentleman in this department, is according to the foundation on which he is admitted to the college.

The sons of noblemen and gentlemen pay 80_l._ per annum.

The sons of officers in service pay 40_l._ per annum; and orphans, who are the sons of officers that have died in the service, or the sons of those that have been disabled and are straitened in circumstances, are educated, clothed, and maintained free of all expence.

The board, clothing, and accommodation, are included in the several sums above specified.

There are two vacations in the course of twelve months, viz.--At Christmas and Midsummer, for a term not exceeding one month each vacation.

The administration of the funds of the establishment, is under the direction of the collegiate board.

The accounts are balanced at the expiration of six months in every year, and are laid before the supreme board; at which periods, reports of progress made in the several branches of literature and technical science, and of the public examinations, are made before the committee. These documents, accompanied by well digested remarks and seasonable suggestions, for the preservation of good order, &c. and the improvement of the institution, are laid before the king by the commander in chief, as president and governor of the college.

The supreme board of the college is composed in the following manner:

The commander in chief for the time being, president.

Secretary at war.

Governor.

Master-general of the ordnance.

Governor of Chelsea college.

Quarter-master-general.

And two honorary members.

Barrack-master general.

Lieutenant colonel Le Marchant, as lieutenant governor.

General Jarry as commandant of the senior department.

These are the members of the supreme board, and such others may, from time to time, be named.

A secretary to the supreme board.

A president to the college.

The military SCHOOL at Paris, (école royale militaire de Paris, Fr.) This celebrated establishment, which for so many years supplied France with superior talents, and to which Bonaparte is indebted for the solid groundwork of that military knowlege that has astonished and conquered Europe, owes its origin to Henry IV. who first erected a public building in Anjou, for the free education of the children of poor noblemen; it was called the college of La Fléche, wherein one hundred young boys of the above description were supported, &c. at the king’s expence. They were there taught Latin and the liberal arts by the Jesuits, whose learning, and aptitude at teaching others to learn, have been so deservedly admired in every quarter of the globe. This order, however, having been banished out of France in 1770, by Louis XV. because the members interfered with the government (whilst all their crimes consisted in being too virtuous to countenance the debaucheries of that weak monarch); the direction of the college was entrusted to the secular priests, and the number of students was increased to 350. On this occasion it was distinguished by a particular mark of royal favor, and was called the royal college.

In addition to this provincial establishment, Louis XV. instituted the royal military school in the neighborhood of Paris, where 250 young lads received a regular education under the most able masters; particularly in those branches which contributed to military knowlege. During their vacations, and at periods of intermission from classical pursuits, they were attended and instructed by experienced officers. They generally remained until the age of 18, and were after that distributed among the different regiments with appropriate commissions. They were then distinguished by being permitted to wear a cross, which was tied to a crimson piece of riband, and hung from a button-hole in their coat. The cross, on one side, represented the figure of the Virgin Mary; and on the other, there was a trophy adorned with three fleurs de lis. They had likewise an annual pension of 200 livres, (about 40 dollars) which was paid them without deduction, until they obtained the rank of captain, provided they had a certificate of good behaviour from the staff or état major of their corps. They received, moreover, when they quitted the school, a small kitt of linen, a hat, sword, and an uniform coat. They were replaced in the military school by an equal number of youths who came from the college of La Fléche, for that purpose, at the age of 13 or 14.

Both these establishments underwent a considerable alteration during the administration of the count de St. Germain, in April 1776. This minister persuaded Louis XVI. that great public benefit might be derived from increasing the number of these colleges, and admitting youths from every class of his subjects. When these alterations took place in the royal military school, all the young men that were 18 years old were incorporated with the regiments of gentlemen cadets. These enjoyed all the advantages which their predecessors had possessed; with this exception, that they did not wear the uniform of their corps, nor the cross. Those lads who had not reached the period in question, were placed in different corps, and several remained in the military school who were afterwards provided for on another footing. The number of young men was gradually increased, not only by fresh arrivals from La Fléche, but by the admission of several others for whom a yearly pension was paid by their parents. The latter, were not, however, entitled to any advantage or indulgence beyond what was generally allowed.

On the 28th of March 1776, the king gave directions, that ten colleges should be established, over the gates of each of which was written--Collége Royale Militaire; royal military college. These colleges were under the immediate care and instruction of the Benedictine monks, and other religious persons.

The secretary of state held the same jurisdiction over these colleges that he possessed over La Fléche, and the military school at Paris.

There were always 50 at least, and never more than 60 young men placed for education in each of these colleges, at the expence of the king; amounting annually per head to 700 livres, about 150 dollars. For this sum each student was supplied with a blue coat with red cuffs, and white buttons, a blue surtout or great coat, two white waistcoats, two pairs of black breeches, twelve shirts, twelve handkerchiefs, six cravats, six nightcaps, two dressing-gowns, two hats, two pairs of shoes, combs, and powder-bag. These articles were, in the first instance, to be provided by the young man’s parents or friends, and when he quitted, he was furnished with the same articles at the expence of the college. Travelling expences, postage of letters, &c. were defrayed by the parents or friends of the different students. The secretary of state’s letter, conveying the king’s approbation, was the voucher for admission; but no child could be received unless he had previously learned to write and read. Candidates for admission, underwent a close examination on the very day they arrived, and if they were found deficient in any of the necessary qualifications, they were sent back to their friends with directions not to return until the year following, provided they got properly instructed during that period. No person could be admitted who was lame, or otherwise deformed; and certain proofs of nobility were to be established and given in, as well as proofs of property, vouched for by two gentlemen who lived in the neighborhood of the applicant, and confirmed by the intendant of the province, or by the governor. And in order to afford the parents ample time to collect the necessary vouchers, the preliminary consent of the king was forwarded to them six months before July, announcing that their children might be presented to the college on the 7th of September next following.

The king’s students, or those young lads for whom 700 livres (150 dolls.) were annually paid out of his privy purse, were taught in the subordinate colleges, as in the military school at Paris, every thing that could be useful to a military character, besides music and other accomplishments. They were, moreover, regularly supplied with foils for fencing, and with mathematical and musical instruments. In order to excite emulation, prizes and rewards were distributed according to merit; and an allowance for pocket money was made in the following manner:--20 sols, or 10_d._ English per month, to each boy under twelve; and 40 sols, or 20_d._ to all above that age. The royal pensions and allowances were paid every quarter, commencing on the 1st of April 1776. These payments were regulated by specific returns, which were regularly forwarded on the 15th of each month preceding the expiration of the quarter, to the secretary at war, and were signed by the heads or superiors of each college, accompanied by an exact muster-roll of all the students. By direction of the secretary at war, every species of necessary furniture and utensil that was found for La Fléche, and the military school at Paris, was distributed, in equal proportions, among the subordinate colleges; a preference, however, was uniformly given to the calls and necessities of those two establishments. The colleges that were appointed to pass the final examination of students received a double quantity of each article.

Every student who was admitted into any of the subordinate colleges at eight or nine years old, was obliged to remain there six years before he could appear at the final examinations; that period being thought necessary to complete his education. With respect to those who were entering into their tenth or eleventh year, and even those who were orphans, they were not forced to fill the term of six years instruction, provided they had already acquired sufficient knowlege to entitle them to a favorable report from their superiors.

The king directed that the pensions for 50 students upon the establishment, should be paid three months in advance to the several colleges, for the purpose of enabling them to complete the necessary buildings, &c. Each of those students was allowed a small separate apartment, with a key to the door. They were distributed in a particular quarter of the building, that they might be more easily attended to; having no other communication with the honorary pensioners, or those who had an allowance from their parents, than what was absolutely necessary to carry on the public instruction and discipline of the place.

The college of Brienne, a small town in Champagne, was fixed upon for the admission of the young lads whose pensions were paid by their parents. The latter likewise defrayed the expences of the journey; but they were entitled to the same indemnification that was afterwards granted to the king’s students. The same rules and method of instruction were pursued by the different colleges, in order that all the candidates might be brought together at the same time for examination. This examination was made in the presence of the principal, and under inspector of the schools, and of other literary men, who were appointed by the secretary of state for that purpose, and received 1200 livres, or 250 dollars, as a gratification for their attendance, besides board and lodging at the king’s expence. The concours, or meeting for examination, took place every year, and lasted from the 1st to the 15th of September; the original one commencing in September 1778. The young men that passed the examination to the full satisfaction of these gentlemen, were placed in different regiments, and received commissions accordingly.

The four best informed and most able of the young candidates, received pensions or temporary allowances in the following manner:--The two first got 150 livres, between 6_l._ and 7_l._ sterling; and the two next 100 livres, equal to 4_l._ odd per annum, until they were promoted to companies. They were further entitled to wear the ancient cross of the military school. If any of them quitted the service before they had obtained the above rank of captain, the pension ceased. They likewise received, (in common with all the other students that left the establishment) 200 livres, between 8_l._ and 9_l._ on their becoming lieutenants in the army.

The young men that were not found sufficiently instructed to join a regular corps, as gentlemen cadets, remained at the Collége de Concours, or college of examination, until the following year, when they were again questioned as to every particular which regarded a military education. But, let their success on this occasion be what it might, they ceased to be entitled to those marks of distinction and temporary allowances which were given to the first successful candidates. Those boys, who were brought by their parents, and for whom a pension was to be paid, lost all pretensions to the notice of government if they failed to give satisfaction at this final hearing. Proper representations of their incapacity were made by the inspector of military schools to the secretary of state, which representations were formally attested and corroborated by the opinion and judgment of the superior of the college of Brienne, in order that an accurate account might be given to his majesty, and that the parents might be officially directed to send or come for their children.

The superior or head of each subordinate college was directed, from the 1st of July 1778, to send, under cover to the secretary at war, an effective return of those students that had finished their course of education, and were prepared for examination. An order was then issued from the war-office for their attendance at the college of Brienne.

The heads of colleges were enjoined to transmit, annually, to the secretary of the war department, an analysis of the various elementary tracts which they had perused, accompanied by comments and observations thereon, together with original suggestions of their own. 6000 livres, or 1250 dollars, were allowed out of the annual revenue of the military school at Paris, for the specific purpose of rewarding those writers who should publish the best treatises relative to the military education of youth; and when this intent was fulfilled, the surplus or the sum entire was appropriated to the purchase of books, which were equally distributed among the different colleges, each of which had a separate library for the convenience and improvement of the students.

The king left it to the discretion of the different religious orders, to select such persons, as were best calculated to undertake the direction of the colleges, and to chuse the different masters and professors. He reserved, however, to himself the power of displacing any of them, if, upon mature and correct representation they were found inadequate to the trust.

The four professors, belonging to the colleges in which the four successful candidates at the general examination had been educated, received four golden medals, each worth 150 livres, 25 dollars, as a testimony of his majesty’s approbation. The king’s likeness was on one side of the medal, and on the other was engraved, Prix de bon Instructeur; the good teacher’s prize. With the laudable view of collecting the best and most able masters, various rewards were imagined, and occasionally distributed among the different persons employed in the instruction of young beginners.

The different vacancies which occurred in consequence of the public examination that took place once a year, were regularly filled up at that period.

The secretary of state transmitted to the heads of colleges a list, containing the names of the young men that were to succeed.

Louis XVI. exclusively of the 600 students who were placed in the different colleges pursuant to the new regulations, restored the ancient foundation of La Fléche, which had originally been established by Henry IV. for the benefit of 100 poor boys, who were of noble families, and whose parents had rendered some service to the state in the civil, military, or ecclesiastical line. They were educated according to the bent of their talents and disposition, and fitted to any of those professions; provisions and regulations having been made in the college of La Fléche for these purposes, which differed from the general system pursued in the other military colleges.

Those boys, who at 13 or 14 years old, discovered a partiality to civil or ecclesiastical functions, left the subordinate colleges, and repaired to La Fléche. Their number was limited to five, who might annually be admitted in consequence of an order for that purpose from the secretary at war; which order was obtained by their parents, on a representation being made to him of their talents and dispositions, confirmed and vouched for by the inspector general, and by the heads and superiors of each college.

An extraordinary allowance was made by the king to enable these students to acquire a knowlege of law, and to become acquainted with every species of theological learning.

These students were never permitted to leave college under a pretext of seeing their friends or parents, however near the residence of the latter might be.

The heads or superiors of each college transmitted every quarter to the secretary of state for the war department, and to the inspector general of schools, a minute account of the actual state of the college, and of the progress which each student had made in the several branches of education. If any extraordinary occurrence happened, these communications were to be made forthwith, and at broken periods, without waiting for the regular expiration of three months. They were likewise instructed to communicate with the parents of such children, as were paid for by them, giving an account of their progress in education, and stating what they had written on that subject to the secretary of state.

The inspector and under inspector-general went every year to the different colleges, to examine personally into every thing that concerned the management of each institution, and to report accordingly to his majesty.

The secretary of state for the war department was directed by the king to be present at the annual distribution of prizes, which were given in each college, in order to give every aid and consequence to these public marks of royal attention. In case of the secretary’s death or sickness, the inspector-general of the schools attended for the same well judged purpose.

On the 26th of July 1783, an order appeared, by which the king directed, that the young gentlemen who, by a former regulation could only be admitted into the royal colleges between the ages of eight and eleven, should be received from the age of seven to that of ten. Orphans alone could be admitted as late as the full completion of twelve years. The parents of such children as had been approved of by his majesty, were, without delay, to send in proofs and certificates of their nobility; in failure whereof one year after their nomination, they were deprived of the situation which had been destined for them.

No family could solicit a letter of admission for more than one child at a time; and when it was granted, no application could be made in favor of another child until the first had completed his education, and was provided for in a regiment, or elsewhere.

The wisdom of this regulation is manifest. It was calculated to prevent every species of partiality and undue influence, and it kept the door open for many a meritorious youth, that might otherwise be deprived of the advantages of this useful institution. Like every other system, however, of that ill-fated monarchy, the principles were gradually perverted; and what was intended as a general good, became subservient to the intrigues of Versailles, the secret views of inspectors and commissaries, and the venal pliancy of individuals that acted under them. This evil was not confined to France. It has existed, and does still exist in other nations: the transactions in the case of the duke of York, in England, shews the profligate venality with which the sale of military offices was conducted. So strict was the regulation in France to prevent any monopoly of interest or patronage, that particular instructions were issued to commissaries to repair into the different provinces in which the several colleges stood, and to see that no students were sent to the general examination at Brienne, who had any brother or brothers under the same establishment.

On the 21st of January 1779, the following regulation appeared for the better management and advantage of the students belonging to the French royal military school:--

It was ordained, that the privilege of being received as members of the military orders of Notre Dame, of Mont-Carmel, and St. Lazarus, of Jerusalem, which had been hitherto given, without distinction, to all the students of the different colleges, should in future be considered as the reward of peculiar merit, and be rendered the means of exciting emulation among the gentlemen cadets of the royal military school only.

To this end the secretary of the war department was instructed to give in a list of six students who should have passed an examination before the inspector-general, with a minute account of their progress in the different arts and sciences, as well as of their general good conduct, natural disposition, &c. From this number three were selected by the grand master, and were made knights of the order, with permission to wear the cross according to prescribed rules and regulations. All the students that were so distinguished received from the revenue or funds of the order an annual allowance of 100 livres, equal to about twenty dollars; which sum was paid them exclusively of the 200 livres or forty dollars, which they got from the royal military school. They continued to receive the annual pension as long as they remained in the service; and if they were under the necessity of retiring through sickness, or wounds, it was continued to them during their natural lives.

Whenever a student who had been placed in a regiment, and was entitled to wear the cross of the royal military school, distinguished himself on service by some brilliant action, or gave an extraordinary proof of military knowlege, he was recommended to the grand-master, and on the attestation of the general commanding the army, countersigned by the secretary at war, he was instantly invested with the order of St. Lazarus. Thus the re-union of these two crosses, (which could only happen in cases of singular merit, and under the circumstances already stated) would always bear undeniable testimony of the service rendered by the individual. The pension, in fact, would neither incur the suspicion of partiality, by having been a mere sinecure, nor the honorary mark, the imputation of undue influence, and ill-applied patronage.

In consequence of the king’s approbation, the following specific regulation, relative to the orders of Mont-Carmel, and St. Lazarus, of Jerusalem, was issued on the 21st of January 1779, by Louis Stanislaus Xavier de Franks, brother to his majesty, and grand master of those orders, (the present head of the Bourbons, who uses the title of Louis XVIII.)

It was therein stated, that, in future, the order of Notre Dame du Mont-Carmel, should be reserved for such students belonging to the royal military school, as had been approved of in every respect, conformably to the prescribed instructions on that head, for the purpose of being admitted knights of the order. The mark by which they were distinguished consisted of a small cross similar to the one, already described, which was formerly worn by the students.--The candidates were obliged to prove four degrees of nobility on the father’s side, and to produce the certificates required by the different colleges. Three out of the six received the cross, and became entitled from the day of their admission to an annual allowance of 100 livres, or twenty dollars, which they continued to enjoy as long as they remained in the service, and after they quitted it, provided they retired from the causes already stated. If a knight of the order of Notre Dame du St. Carmel, did any singular act of bravery, or discovered talents of superior military knowlege, on a proper attestation being produced of the same, signed by the general under whom he served, and countersigned by the minister of war, he became knight of the order of St. Lazarus, and by thus uniting the two orders, preserved an uncontestable proof of the service he had rendered.

This regulation, however, did not interfere with the ancient forms and rules of the royal military school, as far as they concerned those students who had already been received into two orders. It only went to restrict the number of such as might lay claim to the particular marks of distinction, &c. which were thereby granted to the newly admitted.

In these schools, and in those of the artillery noted below, is to be found the true foundation of the military triumphs of France from 1792 to 1810.

The great military school of France is now established at Fontainbleau by Bonaparte.

The French had likewise a marine school, (école de marine), which was kept at the expence of government, and was regularly attended to, in one of the departments. There was also a ship, distinguished by the name of school, (école) which was regularly manned and equipped for the instruction of young marines.

There were several schools of artillery, écoles d’artillerie, distributed in different parts of the kingdom, and supported at the public charge. The five principal ones were at La Fêre, Metz, Grenoble, Strasburgh, and Perpignan.

They were under the direction of an inspector-general, who had the rank of a lieutenant-general in the army. Each school was superintended by three commandants, and was composed of ordinary and extraordinary commissaries belonging to the artillery, of officers who had the immediate direction of the levelling and pointing pieces of ordnance, and of volunteer cadets.

These schools were open throughout the year; advantage being taken of occasional fine weather during the winter months to practise and exercise. They were divided into schools of theory, écoles de théorie, and into schools of practice, écoles de pratique.

The theoretical establishments were for the immediate instruction of all officers belonging to the engineer and the artillery departments.

The practical schools were open indiscriminately to all officers and soldiers. There was also a particular school for the information of those persons who directed their attention to mining and sapping; this school was called L’école des Sappeurs. The miner’s school. There was likewise a school established at La Fére, to which none but artillery officers could be admitted. The students consisted of one company, whose number never exceeded 50. They had the rank of sub-lieutenants, and received a monthly subsistence, amounting to forty French livres, a little more than seven dollars.

The school at Méziéres, which was established before the additional one at La Fére, for the exclusive use and advantage of the artillery, was calculated to receive 30 officers; and those who went from La Fére had the rank of second lieutenants, with 60 livres, something more than ten dollars, as monthly subsistence.

It will naturally strike every observer, from these several establishments, which were all supported by government, and warmly patronised by the different reigning monarchs in France, that military science constituted one of the chief objects of French policy; and it is only bare justice to say, that their encouragement was not fruitlessly bestowed. All Europe has testified to the effect; the neglect of military science in other nations is equally striking, and ought to produce more wise precautions. The Turks have a military school, called the school for the Agemolans, or young men attached to the corps of Janizaries. This institution was created by Amurat, for the purpose of enuring a certain number of persons to every possible hardship of military service.

Fencing SCHOOL, (école d’armes, Fr.) Every French regiment, when in barracks or otherwise conveniently quartered, has a room allotted for the exercise of the small sword, the spadroon, &c. Some active clever serjeant or soldier is authorised to teach his comrades, and to derive what benefit he can from giving lessons abroad. We need scarcely add, that some internal regulation of the kind would be highly advantageous to officers every where.

SCIAGE, (Bois de Sciage, Fr.) Sawing. Wood that is proper to be sawed in planks, or to be made fit for any use in carpentry.

SCIAGRAPHY, (Sciagraphe, Fr.) The profile or section of a building to shew the inside thereof.

SCIE, Fr. a saw.

SCIENCE. Any art or species of knowlege; as military science, &c.

SCIENCE de la guerre, Fr. Military knowlege, or the science of war.

SCITIE, or SETIE, Fr. a small decked barge with Levant sails.

SCORPION, (Scorpion, Fr.) a sort of long thick javelin or arrow, which was used among the ancients. For a specific description, see Vegetius and Justus Lipsius. The Cretans are supposed to have invented the scorpion.

SCIMITAR, a short crooked sword, more or less incurvated.

To SCOUR, (Battre à toute volée, Fr.) This term is frequently used to express the act of firing a quick and heavy discharge of ordnance or musquetry, for the purpose of dislodging an enemy.--Hence to scour the rampart or the covert way. It likewise signifies to clear, to drive away, viz. To scour the seas: Ecumer les mers, Fr.--To scour the streets: Ecumer les rues; 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 musquet ball, entering at one end, may fly to the other, leaving no place of security.

SCOUTS, are generally horsemen sent out before, and on the wings of an army, at the distance of a mile or two, to discover the enemy, and give the general an account of what they see. See VIDETTES.

SCREW, (Escrou, Fr.) One of the mechanical powers, which is defined a right cylinder cut into a furrowed spiral. Wilkins calls it a kind of wedge, that is multiplied or continued by a helical revolution about a cylinder, receiving its motion not from any stroke, but from a vectis at one end of it.

SCREWS, in gunnery, are fastened to the cascable of light guns and howitzers, by means of an iron bolt, which goes through a socket fixed upon the centre transom, to elevate or depress the piece with, instead of wedges.

SCREW of direction, (Vis de Pointage, Fr.) The screw of direction, used in the artillery, is formed of a brass horizontal roller, placed between the two cheeks of the carriage. The trunnions of the roller move upon two vertical iron pivots, which are fixed against the interior sides of the cheeks. By means of this screw the direction of pieces is either raised or lowered with a regular movement, and in the smallest space.

The screw of direction, or Vis de Pointage, is equally used for howitzers as well as for heavy pieces of ordnance. It has been invented by the French, and serves in lieu of the Coins à Cremaillère, or indented coins. So little progress has military science made in the United States, that there are many old officers in the U. States’ service who know nothing even of this little but important particular.

Lock SCREWS. Small screws which are attached to the lock of a musquet.

SCULLCAP. See HELMET.

SCURVY, (Scorbut, Fr.) A disease to which soldiers and seamen are peculiarly exposed, from idleness, inattention to cleanliness of person and food, eating salted meat and drinking bad water, &c.

Scute or Canot, Fr. In Dutch Schoot, and Canot, is pronounced with us as if written cannoo. Any small boat which is used in navigation for the accommodation of a ship.

SEARCHER, an instrument used by the founders to discover any flaws in the bore of cannon, &c. See PROOF.

To SEASON. In a military sense, to accustom, to enure. Soldiers are frequently sent to Gibraltar in order to be seasoned for a hot climate.

SEASONED Troops. Troops that have been accustomed to climate, and are not so liable to become the victims of any endemical disorder, as raw men must unavoidably be. The French use the word acclimater; to get accustomed to a change of climate. Hence Troupes acclimatees; troops that have been seasoned.

SEAT of war. The country in which war is carrying on.

SECANT, (Secante, Fr.) A line which cuts another, or divides it into two parts. See table at the end of the word GUNNERY.

SECANT of an arch. In trigonometry, is a right line drawn from the centre of the circle to the extremity of the tangent.

SECANT of an angle. Supposing an angle to be terminated by a base that is perpendicular to one of the sides, and that the smallest side of the angle be taken for the radius or whole sinus, the greatest of the two sides of that angle will be its secant.

SECOND, (Second, Fr.) The next in order to the first. The ordinal of two. The next in dignity, place, or station. The French use the word Second in military matters, somewhat differently from the English, viz.

Compagnie en SECOND, Fr. This literally means second company, but according to the old French regulations it signifies a company which consists of half the number of men that other companies are composed of. This was however, applied to the cavalry only.

Capitaine en SECOND ou reformé en pied, or Lieutenant en SECOND, ditto, Fr. are officers whose companies have been reduced, but who do duty in others, and are destined to fill up the first vacancies. We have borrowed the expression and say, to be seconded. When an officer is seconded, he remains upon full pay, in the British service, his rank goes on, and he may purchase the next vacant step, without being obliged to memorial in the manner that a half-pay officer must. Should the latter have taken a difference, he will find much difficulty in getting upon full pay, and he can only avail himself of his standing in the army when the last object is accomplished. So that a seconded officer stands in a more favorable light. He is besides likely to be appointed to the vacant commission of the regiment in which he is seconded.

Prendre pour son SECOND, Fr. To take for a second.

Les SECONDS de côté et d’autre se sont tués, Fr. Both the seconds were killed; or the seconds on each side killed one another. It was very usual among the French for the seconds to make common cause with their principals, and to fight upon the decease of the former. The practice is reprobated and out of date.

To SECOND, (seconder, Fr.) To aid or assist, to support.

SECOND covert way, that beyond the second ditch. See FORTIFICATION.

SECOND ditch, that made on the outside of the glacis, when the ground is low, and there is plenty of water. See FORTIFICATION.

SECOND Flanc, Fr. See Flank oblique in FORTIFICATION.

SECOURIR une place, Fr. To throw succours into a besieged town or place. It sometimes signifies to force an investing or attacking army to raise the siege.

SECRECY. In a 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 entrusted to them, especially on expeditions, might render the whole project abortive. The slightest deviation from it is very justly considered as 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.

SECRET, (Secret, Fr.) Under this word may be considered the caution and circumspection which every good general should observe during a campaign; the feints he may think proper to make for the purpose of covering a projected attack; and the various stratagems to which he may resort to keep his own intentions concealed, and to get at those of others.

SECRET. Kept hidden, not revealed. Hence secret expedition, secret enterprise, &c. Secret articles of a treaty, being the correlative words to public articles.

SECRET, Fr. The spot chosen by the captain of a fire-ship to apply the saucisson of communication.

SECRET expedition. Those are often called such, which in fact are known to the enemy before they are put in execution; they should never be communicated to any other than the commander of the troops, and the first naval officer, until they are in absolute readiness to act, and but a few hours before the enterprize is put in execution: no officer being allowed to open his instructions until he is either at his destination, or at sea. See EXPEDITION.

SECRETAIRE, Fr. The clerk belonging to the Swiss regiments in the old French service, was so called. He acted likewise as quarter master serjeant, and was styled Musterschreiber.

SECRETAIRE général d’artillerie, Fr. A place of trust, which, during the French monarchy, was in the nomination of the grand master.

SECRETARY at war, (Secrétaire de guerre, Fr.) The first officer of the war department.

SECRETARY of state. (Secrétaire d’etat, Fr.) The secretary who has charge of the foreign relations.

To SECRETE, to hide; to keep private; to harbor; to conceal, &c. By the articles of war it is provided, that if any person shall harbor, conceal, or assist any deserter from his majesty’s service, knowing him to be such, the person so offending shall forfeit, for every such offence, the sum of five pounds.

SECTION. (Section, Fr.) from the Latin word sectio, which is derived from seco, to cut, a part of a thing divided, or the division itself. Such particularly are the subdivisions of a chapter, called also paragraphs and articles. Sometimes we find the term section divided into articles; as in the articles of war.

SECTION. (Section, Fr.) A certain proportion of a battalion or company, when it is told off for military movements and evolutions. A section may consist of four or any other number of files. This relates to the infantry; the cavalry into ranks by three’s, and after that in any number of files or sections. The French use the word section for the same purpose; and form their companies into platoons, and divide their platoons into any number of sections.

SECTOR, (Secteur, Fr.) A mathematical instrument of great use in finding the proportion between quantities of the same kind, as between lines and lines, surfaces and surfaces, &c. for which reason the French call it the compass of proportion.

The great advantage of the sector, above common scales, &c. is, that it is adapted to all radii, and all scales. The sector is founded on the fourth proposition of the sixth book of Euclid. The sector consists of two equal legs, or rules of brass, &c. riveted together, but so as to move easily on the rivet; on the faces of the instrument are placed several lines; the principal of which are: the line of equal parts, line of chords, line of sines, line of tangents, line of secants, and line of polygons.

To SECURE, in a military sense, to preserve, to keep, to make certain. As to secure a place, to secure a conquest. In the management of the firelock, it signifies to bring it to a certain position, by which the locks are secured against rain. Hence

SECURE arms! a word of command which is given to troops who are under arms in wet weather. To bring your firelock to the secure; 1st, throw your right hand briskly up, and place it under the cock, keeping the piece steady in the same position.

2d. Quit the butt with the left hand, and seize the firelock with it at the swell, bringing the elbow close down upon the lock: the right hand kept fast in this motion, and the piece still upright.

3d. Quit the right hand, and bring it down to your right side, throwing the firelock nimbly down to the secure; the left hand in a line with the waist-belt. In order to shoulder from the secure, you must 1st, bring the firelock up to a perpendicular line, seizing it with the right hand under the cock.

2d. Quit the left hand, and place it strong upon the butt.

3d. Quit the right hand, and bring it smartly down the right side.

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 offence in military law of the most fatal character and always punished in a most exemplary manner. See MUTINY.

SEER, Ind. A weight nearly equal to a pound.

SEESAR, Ind. the dewey season.

SEEARISH, Ind. A recommendation.

SEEPEEYA, Ind. A triangle to which culprits are tied to be punished.

SEFFY, Ind. A dynasty of Persia.

SEGBANS. Horsemen among the Turks, who have care of the baggage belonging to cavalry regiments.

SEGMENT, a figure contained between a chord and an arch of the circle, or so much of the circle as is cut off by that chord.

SEJA, Ind. A fenced terrace.

SEILLURE, (Sillage, eau, bouage ou ouiache, Fr.) terms used among the French to express the way a ship makes: it corresponds with our naval word Wake, which is also called Eaux.

SEJOUR, Fr. In a military sense signifies a halting day. In a naval one, the time that a ship remains in port.

SCION, Fr. A sand-crack in a horse’s hoof.

SEIN, Fr. In the midst. The French say figuratively, porter la guerre dans le sein d’un royaume. To carry a war into the heart of a kingdom. Au sein de ses soldats. In the midst of his soldiers.

SEL, Fr. Salt. Before the revolution of 1789, the French troops were allowed a specific quantity of salt, which was regularly accounted for at the back of the muster-rolls.

SEL, Fr. The salt used in the artillery is lixivial, and of a fixed quality. It is extracted from saltpetre, and must be thoroughly washed, as no saltpetre can be good which has the least saline or greasy particle about it.

SELICTAR. A Turkish sabre.

To SELL, to give for a price; the word correlative to buy. Hence to buy and sell commissions.

SELLE, Fr. A saddle. See BOUTE-SELLE.

SELLE rase, Fr. A saddle without a bow.

SELLE à arcon, Fr. A bow-saddle.

SEMBLABLES, Fr. In geometry, similar, alike, equal. This term is applied to any two figures, the sides of one of which correspond with the sides of the other, and are always in the same ratio. So that semblable or alike, only means in this sense equal. Two circles, though unequal in their sizes, may still be alike; that is, their several parts may agree according to a certain ratio.

Les SEMELLES, Fr. The axle-trees belonging to the carriage of a gun.

SEMESTRE, Fr. This word literally signifies a term of six months; but it is generally understood to express any term of leave of absence which is granted to officers or soldiers. With respect to the latter, it means furlough.

SEMICIRCLE, part of a circle divided by the diameter.

SEMIDIAMETER, half of the line which divides a circle into two equal parts.

SEMIORDINATE, a line drawn at right angles to be bisected by the axis, and extending from one side of the section to the other.

SENAU, Fr. A small skiff or tender calculated for quick sailing.

SENECHALE, Fr. The seneschal’s wife or lady.

SENESCHAL, (Senéchal, Fr.) One who had in great houses the care of feasts, or domestic ceremonies.

SENS-dessus-dessous, Fr. Topsy-turvy.

SENS-devant-derriére, Fr. Wrong way.

SENIORITY, in military matters, is the difference of number in two regiments, whereby the one is said to be so much senior to the other. All regiments take place according to seniority.

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, SENTRY, is a private soldier, placed in some post, to watch the approach of the enemy, to prevent surprises, to stop such as would pass without order, or discovering who they are. Sentries are placed before the arms of all guards, at the tents and doors of general officers, colonels of regiments, &c.

All sentries are to be vigilant on their posts; they are not, on any account to sing, smoke tobacco, nor suffer any noise to be made near them. They are to have a watchful eye over the things committed to their charge. They are not to suffer any light to remain, or any fire to be made near their posts in the night-time; neither is any sentry to be relieved, or removed from his post, but by the corporal of the guard. They are not to suffer any one to touch or handle their arms, or in the night-time to come within 10 yards of their post.

No person is to strike or abuse a sentry on his post; but when he has committed a crime, he is to be relieved, and then punished according to the rules and articles of war.

A sentinel, on his post in the night, is not to know any body, but by the countersign: when he challenges, and is answered, relief, he calls out stand, relief! advance, corporal! upon which the corporal halts his men, and advances alone within a yard of the sentry’s fire-lock (first ordering his party to port arms, on which the sentry does the same) and gives him the same countersign, taking care that no one hears it. See ROUNDS.

SENTINELLE, Fr. Sentinel; sentry. This word is likewise used to express the duty done by a sentinel. Faire sentinelle. To stand sentry.

SENTINELLE perdue, Fr. A sentry posted in a very advanced situation, so as to be in continual danger of surprise from the enemy.

SEPTANGULAR, having seven angles.

SEPTILATERAL, having seven sides.

SEPTUPLE. Seven-fold.

SERASKIER, (Serasquier, Fr.) Among the Turks, the next in rank to the Vizier, in whose absence he commands, but to whose orders he is constantly subservient.

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