Fantee, in which the British settlement of Cape Coast Castle is
situated. On the death of their king, who had been friendly to the
English, hostilities began; and on January 21, 1824, the Ashantees
defeated about 1000 British under Sir Charles McCarthy at Accra, and
brought away his skull with others as trophies. They were totally
defeated August 27, 1826, by Col. Purdon. The governor of Cape Coast
Castle began a war with them in the spring of 1863; but the British
troops suffered much through disease, and the war was suspended by the
government in May, 1864.
=Ashburton Treaty.= Concluded at Washington, August 9, 1842, by
Alexander, Lord Ashburton, and John Tyler, President of the United
States; it defined the boundaries of the respective countries between
Canada and Maine, settled the extradition of criminals, etc.
=Ashdod=, or =Azotus=. An ancient city of Judea, identified with the
site of the modern _Asdood_, about 12 miles northeast of Ascalon. It is
celebrated by Herodotus as having stood a siege of 29 years from
Psammatichus, king of Egypt (about 630 B.C.). It was taken by the
Assyrians under Tartan, the general of Sennacherib (713 B.C.); taken and
destroyed by Judas Maccabæus and his brother Jonathan; restored by
Gabinius, and given by Augustus to Salome.
=Ashdown=, or =Assendune=. Now thought to be Ashton, Berks, England,
where Ethelred and his brother Alfred defeated the Danes in 1171.
=Asia Minor.= See ANATOLIA.
=Askeri Mohammedize.= A name given to the Turkish regular troops
organized according to modern tactics.
=Aslant.= Formed or placed in an oblique line.
=Asow.= An old fortified city in Southern Russia. Towards the end of the
14th century it fell into the hands of Timur; the Turks took possession
of it in 1471; captured by the Cossacks in 1637; besieged without
success by the Turks in 1641, they returned the following year with a
large army to attack the city, when the Cossacks, thinking it impossible
to hold the city against such a force, plundered and burned it; the
Turks then rebuilt the city and fortified it; it was surrendered to
Peter the Great in 1696; the city again came into the Turkish possession
after the peace treaty on the Pruth. In the war between Turkey and
Russia, Asow was besieged by Field-Marshal Munich; it surrendered to
Gen. Lascy, July 4, 1736.
=Aspe.= A village in the department of the Lower Pyrenees, France, where
a small detachment of the French army defeated 6000 Spaniards in 1792.
=Aspect.= An army is said to hold a menacing aspect, when by advanced
movements or positions it gives the opposing enemy cause to apprehend an
attack. A country is said to have a military aspect, when its general
situation presents appropriate obstacles or facilities for an army
acting on the offensive or defensive. An army is said to have an
imposing aspect, when it appears stronger than it really is. This
appearance is often assumed for the purpose of deceiving an enemy, and
may not improperly be considered as a principal _ruse de guerre_, or
feint in war.
=Aspern, Great.= A town near the Danube and Vienna, where a series of
desperate conflicts took place between the Austrian army under the
Archduke Charles, and the French under Napoleon, Massena, etc., on May
21-22, 1809, ending in the retreat of Napoleon on May 22. The loss of
the former exceeded 20,000 men, and of the latter 30,000. The daring
Marshal Lannes was mortally wounded on May 22, and died May 31. The
bridge of the Danube was destroyed and Napoleon’s retreat endangered;
but the success of the Austrians had no beneficial effect on the
subsequent prosecution of the war.
=Aspic= (_Fr._). An ancient piece of ordnance which carried a 12-pound
shot; the piece itself was 11 feet long, and weighed 4250 pounds.
=Aspis.= A large, round, or oblong shield which was used by the heavy
infantry of the ancient Grecians.
=Aspromonte= (Naples). Here Garibaldi was defeated, wounded, and taken
prisoner, August 29, 1862, having injudiciously risen against the French
occupation of Rome.
=Assagai=, or =Assegai=. An instrument of warfare among the Kaffirs.
=Assail.= To attack with violence, or in a hostile manner; to assault,
etc. See ATTACK.
=Assailable.= Capable of being assailed, attacked, or invaded.
=Assas-Bachi.= A superior officer of janissaries, who was also
administrator of the police department in Constantinople, and presided
over public executions.
=Assassins=, or =Assassinians=. Fanatical Mohammedans, collected by
Hassan-ben-Sabah, and settled in Persia about 1090. In Syria they
possessed a large tract of land among the mountains of Lebanon. They
murdered the Marquis of Montferrat in 1192, Louis of Bavaria in 1213,
and the Khan of Tartary in 1254. They were extirpated in Persia about
1258, and in Syria about 1272. The chief of the corps was named “Old Man
of the Mountain.” They trained up young people to assassinate such
persons as their chief had devoted to destruction. From them the word
_assassin_ has been derived.
=Assault.= A furious but regulated effort to carry a fortified post,
camp, or fortress by personal attack, uncovered and unsupported. While
an assault during a siege continues, the batteries of the besiegers
cease, lest the attacking party should be injured. The party which leads
the assault is sometimes called “the forlorn hope.”
=Assaye.= A small town in the province of Bahar, in the Deccan,
celebrated for a battle fought in 1803, between the British army, 4500
strong, under the Duke of Wellington, then Gen. Wellesley, and the
confederated armies of India, numbering 50,000 troops; the latter were
completely routed, leaving 1200 dead on the field, with nearly the whole
of their artillery. Such was the battle of Assaye, which established the
fame of the greatest commander of the age, and fixed the dominion of
Britain over prostrate India.
=Asseerghur.= A strong hill fortress, situated about 12 miles northerly
and easterly from Burhampoor, India. It was taken from the Mahrattas by
the British on two occasions; the first time in 1803, and finally in
1819.
=Asseguay.= The knife-dagger used in the Levant.
=Assembly.= A beat of the drum or sound of the bugle as a signal to
troops to assemble.
=Assens.= A maritime town of Denmark on the island of Funen; here
Christian III. defeated his insurgent subjects in 1535.
=Asser.= An instrument of warfare used by the Romans on their war ships;
it consisted of a heavy pole with an iron head, and was used as a
battering-ram against hostile ships. Other authorities assert that it
was used to destroy the rigging only.
=Assessment of Damages.= In the English army, is the determination by a
committee of officers of the value of the injury done to the barracks
each month, in order that stoppages in liquidation may be made from men
who have committed the damage.
=Assidui Milites.= Roman soldiers who served in the army without
receiving pay.
=Assignment.= If, upon marches, guards, or in quarters, different corps
of the army shall happen to join or do duty together, the officer
highest in rank of the line of the army, marine corps, or militia, by
commission, there on duty or in quarters, shall command the whole, and
give orders for what is needful to the service, unless otherwise
specially directed by the President of the United States, according to
the nature of the case. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 122.
=Assignment of Pay.= By a non-commissioned officer or private, previous
to discharge, is invalid. A transfer subsequent to the discharge is
valid.
=Assinaries=, or =Assinaires=. Festivals which were instituted at
Syracuse, in commemoration of the destruction of the Athenian fleet
commanded by Nicias and Demosthenes.
=Assinarus= (now _Falunara_). A small river in Sicily, near which the
army of Nicias and Demosthenes was defeated 413 B.C.
=Assistant.= In the English army, is the third grade in any particular
branch of the staff, such as the quartermaster-general’s or
adjutant-general’s. After the principal comes the deputy and then the
assistant. In the United States it is the second grade in the staff
branches of the army.
=Assyria.= A name which is usually appropriated to the first of what are
known as the four great empires of the world, but which in geography
nearly corresponds with the modern Koordistan. Its capital was Nineveh,
of which the ancient ruins may still be traced. In 625 B.C., Nineveh was
destroyed by Cyaxares the Mede, and Assyria became a province of Media.
=Astapa= (now _Estepa_). A city in the province of Seville, Spain; it
was besieged by the Romans under Marius; the besieged slew their women
and children and allowed themselves to be cut down to a man before they
would surrender to the Romans.
=Asta-Regia.= A city of Spain (now in ruins); near here the prætor Caius
Atinius gained a victory over the ancient Lusitanians, in 186 B.C.
=Asti=, or =Asta=. A city in Piedmont, Italy. Chevert took its fortress
in 1745.
=Astorga= (anc. _Asturica Augusta_). A city in Spain, which was taken by
the French in 1810.
=Astragal and Fillets=. Are the mouldings at the front end of the chase,
used in the ornamental work of ordnance.
=Astrakhan= (Southeast Russia). Capital of a province of the same name;
it was captured by the Russians in 1554; besieged by the Turks in 1569,
who were defeated with great slaughter; seized by the rebel Stenko Razin
in 1670, who was soon dispossessed of it by his uncle Jacolof. The
province was visited and settled by Peter the Great in 1722.
=Astrolabe.= An instrument for observing the position of the stars, now
disused. A graduated ring with sights for taking altitudes at sea was
also formerly so called.
=Asturias.= An ancient principality in Northwest Spain. Here Pelayo
collected the Gothic fugitives, about 713, founded a new kingdom, and by
his victories checked Moorish conquests. In 1808 the junta of Asturias
began the organized resistance to the French usurpation.
=Asylum, Royal Military.= A benevolent institution erected at Chelsea,
Middlesex, England, for the reception and education of the children of
soldiers of the regular army. The first stone was laid by the Duke of
York, June 19, 1801. The direction and control of the institution are
placed in the hands of commissioners appointed by her majesty, the
principals of which are the commander-in-chief, the secretary of war,
the master-general of the ordnance, and other high officials connected
with the government. In the selection of children for admission
preference, in general, is given:--First, to orphans; second, to those
whose fathers have been killed, or have died on foreign service; third,
to those who have lost their mothers, and whose fathers are absent on
duty abroad; fourth, to those whose fathers are ordered on foreign
service, or whose parents have other children to maintain. There is
also a branch establishment at Southampton, for the maintenance and
education of girls.
=Asylum, Military.= See SOLDIERS’ HOMES.
=As You Were.= A word of command corresponding to the French _remettez
vous_, frequently used by drill instructors to cause a resumption of the
previous position, when any motion of the musket or movement of the body
has been improperly made.
=Atabal.= A kettle-drum; a kind of tabor, used by the Moors.
=Ataghan.= See YATAGHAN.
=Ataman.= A hetman, or chief of the Cossacks.
=Atchevement.= In heraldry, is a term nearly equivalent to arms, or
armorial bearings, and is often used in its abbreviated form of
_hatchment_ when speaking of the arms of a deceased person as displayed
at his funeral or elsewhere.
=Ategar.= The old English hand-dart, named from the Saxon _aeton_, “to
fling,” and _gar_, “a weapon.”
=Ategna.= An important city of ancient Italy. It was taken from the
Republicans by Julius Cæsar, in 45 B.C.
=Atella= (now _San Arpino_). A place in Italy, where the French under
the Duke of Montpensier, general of Charles VIII., had to capitulate and
surrender to Ferdinand II. of Naples, in 1496. The prisoners were
transported to the island of Procida, where the majority of them,
including the Duke of Montpensier, perished by contracting an infectious
disease.
=Ath.= A fortified town in Belgium; it was ceded to France in 1668;
fortified by Vauban; restored to the Spaniards in 1678; captured by the
French under Marshal Catinat in 1697, but was restored in the same year
by the peace of Ryswick. The allies under Field-Marshal d’Auvergne took
it October 1, 1706. It remained in the possession of the Dutch till
1716, when it was given up to the emperor of Austria, with the remainder
of the Spanish Netherlands. Louis XV. of France captured it in 1745.
France lost it by the treaties of 1814-15.
=Athanati.= A corps of picked soldiers belonging to the ancient Persian
army, 10,000 strong, which were called the “Immortals,” for the reason
that, as soon as one of the corps died, another was put in his place.
=Athenry.= A town in Galway, Ireland; near here the Irish were totally
defeated, and a gallant young chief, Feidlim O’Connor, slain in 1316.
=Athens.= A celebrated city, the capital of the modern kingdom of
Greece, situated in the plain of Attica, about 4 miles northeast of the
Gulf of Ægina. It was for several ages the centre of European
civilization. The city is said to have been founded by Cecrops, and
afterwards enlarged by Theseus, who made it the capital of the new state
which he formed by uniting into one political body the 12 independent
states into which Attica had previously been divided. A new era in the
history of the city commences with its capture by Xerxes, who reduced it
almost to a heap of ashes, 480 B.C. This event was followed by the rapid
development of the maritime power of the city and the establishment of
her empire over the islands of the Ægean Sea. Her increasing wealth
afforded her ample means for the embellishment of the city, and during
the half century which elapsed between the battle of Salamis and the
commencement of the Peloponnesian war, the Athenians erected those
masterpieces of architecture which have been the wonder of succeeding
ages. The city was captured by the Lacedæmonians in 404 B.C., and was
conquered by Sulla, the Roman general, 86 B.C., after which it dwindled
into insignificance as a maritime city. Its prosperity continued,
however, under the Roman sway, and it continued to be famous as the
centre of philosophy, literature, and art, many famous buildings having
been erected there by foreign rulers after the decline of its power.
During the Middle Ages it sunk into insignificance. It has successively
belonged to the Goths, Byzantines, Bergundians, Franks, Catalans,
Florentines, Venetians, and Turks. In 1687 the buildings of the
Acropolis suffered severe injury in the siege of Athens by the Venetians
under Morosini. In 1834 Athens was declared the capital of the kingdom
of Greece.
=Athlone.= A town in Roscommon, Ireland, which was burnt during the
civil war in 1641. After the battle of the Boyne, Col. R. Grace held
Athlone for James II. against a besieging army, but fell when it was
taken by assault by Ginkel, June 30, 1691. See AUGHRIM.
=Atilt.= In the manner of a tilter; in the position or with the action
of a man making a thrust. “To run a tilt at men.”
=Atlanta.= A city of Fulton Co., Ga., and the capital of the State. In
its vicinity a battle was fought between the Federal forces under Gen.
Sherman and the Confederates under Gen. Hood, July 22, 1864. The city
was taken by Gen. Sherman on September 2, and held by him until November
15, when he set out on his famous “march to the sea.”
=Atmidometer=, or =Admometer=. An instrument for measuring the rate of
evaporation, used in English medical corps.
=Atrebates.= A Belgic people subdued by Cæsar, 57 B.C.
=Attach.= To place, to appoint. Officers and non-commissioned officers
are said to be attached to the respective army, regiment, battalion,
troop, or company with which they are appointed to act.
=Attache= (_Fr._). The seal and signature of the colonel-general in the
old French service, which were affixed to commissions of officers after
they had been duly examined.
=Attack.= Any general assault or onset that is given to gain a post or
break a body of troops. _False attack_, a feigned or secondary movement
in the arrangements of an assault, intended to divert the attention of
an enemy from the real or principal attack. Such a movement has been
sometimes converted into a real attack, and succeeded when the main
assault, to which it was intended to be subsidiary, had failed. _Attack
of a siege_ is a furious attack made by the besiegers by means of
trenches, galleries, saps, breaches, or mines, etc., by storming any
part of the front attack. _To attack in front or flank_, in
fortifications, means to attack the salient angle, or both sides of the
bastion.
=Attack and Defense.= A part of the sword exercise drill.
=Attacking.= The act of making a general assault or onset for the
capture of a post, fort, etc., or the breaking of a body of troops.
Previous to an assault on a fortified position, the artillery ought to
support the other troops by a combined fire of guns, howitzers, and
small mortars, so that, if possible, the fire may be simultaneous, as
such diversity of projectiles would tend to distract the defenders, and
prevent them from extinguishing any fires among buildings, besides
throwing them into confusion at the moment of assault. In cases of
surprise, when immediate action is required, this method cannot, of
course, be practicable.
=Attention.= A cautionary command addressed to troops preparatory to a
particular exercise or manœuvre. _Gare-a-vous_ has the same
signification in the French service.
=Attestation.= In the English service, is a certificate which is granted
by a justice of the peace within four days after the enlistment of a
recruit. This certificate bears testimony that the recruit has been
brought before the justice in conformity to the Mutiny Act, and has
declared his assent or dissent to such enlistment, and that (if
according to the said act he shall have been duly enlisted) the proper
oaths have been administered to him by the magistrate, and the sections
of the articles of war against mutiny and desertion read to the said
recruit.
=Audenarde.= See OUDENARDE.
=Auditor, Second.= An official connected with the Treasury Department,
whose duties consist in examining all accounts relating to the pay and
clothing of the army, the subsistence of officers, bounties, premiums,
military and hospital stores, and the contingent expenses of the War
Department, etc., and transmitting them with vouchers, etc., to the
Second Comptroller for his decision.
=Auditor, Third.= To him is assigned the duty of examining all accounts
relative to the subsistence of the army, the quartermaster’s department,
and generally all accounts of the War Department other than those
provided for; also all accounts relating to pensions, claims for
compensation for loss of horses and equipments of officers and enlisted
men in the military service of the United States, etc.
=Auditor, Fourth.= Examines all accounts accruing in the Navy
Department, or relative thereto, and all accounts relating to navy
pensions.
=Auerstadt= (Prussia). Here and at Jena, on October 4, 1806, the French
signally defeated the Prussians. See JENA.
=Auget.= A kind of small trough used in mining, in which the saucisson
or train-hose is laid in straw, to prevent the powder from contracting
any dampness.
=Aughrim.= Near Athlone, in Ireland, where, on July 12, 1691, a battle
was fought between the Irish, headed by the French general St. Ruth, and
the English, under Gen. Ginkel. The former were defeated and lost 7000
men; the latter lost only 600 killed and 960 wounded. St. Ruth was
slain. This engagement proved decisively fatal to the interests of James
II., and Ginkel was created earl of Athlone.
=Augusta.= A city and capital of Richmond Co., Ga., on the Savannah
River. It was an important place at the time of the Revolution, and was
captured by the English and Tories in 1779, but surrendered to Col.
Henry Lee, of the Revolutionary army, June 5, 1781.
=Augusta=, or =Agosta=. A well-built and fortified city in the
intendancy of Catania, in Sicily; near here, on April 21, 1676, a naval
battle was fought between the French under Duquesne, and the Dutch and
Spanish fleet under Ruyter, the advantage remaining with the French.
Ruyter was wounded at this battle, and died a few days after at
Syracuse.
=Augusticum.= A bounty that was given by the Roman emperors to their
soldiers upon the latter taking the oath of allegiance for the first
time, or upon a renewal of the oath.
=Aulic Council.= A term applied to a council of the War Department of
the Austrian empire, and the members of different provincial chanceries
of that empire are called aulic councillors.
=Aumacor.= A title similar to general-in-chief, which was given to the
chief of the Saracens during the Crusades.
=Ausen.= A name given by the Goths to their victorious generals. This
word in their language signifies “more than mortal,” _i.e._, demi-gods.
=Aussig.= A village in Prussia, where, in 1426, the army of the margrave
Frederick von Meissen was defeated by the Hussites and Poles under
Jakubko von Wrezezowecez and Prince Sigismund Koribut. The city was
plundered and burned the same night by the Hussites.
=Austerlitz= (Moravia). Here a battle was fought between the French and
the allied Austrian and Russian armies, December 2, 1805. Three emperors
commanded: Alexander of Russia, Francis of Austria, and Napoleon of
France. The killed and wounded exceeded 30,000 on the side of the
allies, who lost 40 standards, 150 pieces of cannon, and thousands of
prisoners; the French loss amounted to about 12,000 men. The decisive
victory of the French led to the treaty of Presburg, signed December 26,
1805.
=Austria, Empire of= (Ger. _Oesterreich_, “eastern kingdom”). One of the
most extensive and most populous of European kingdoms, comprising the
southeast part of Central Europe and more than half the territory of the
Danube. It is composed of a union of different states, some of them at
one time forming independent kingdoms, inhabited by races of people
differing from each other in descent, language, customs, laws, and
religion, held together as one empire by being united under one
sovereign and one central government. This territory, which was
comprised in Noricum and part of Pannonia, was annexed to the Roman
empire in 33, was overrun by Huns, Avars, etc., in the 5th and 6th
centuries, and taken from them by Charlemagne, who united it to Germany
as the “eastern kingdom,” 791-96. In 1156 the country was made a
hereditary duchy by the emperor Frederick I., and in 1453 was raised to
an archduchy. Rodolph, count of Hapsburg, elected emperor of Germany in
1273, acquired Austria in 1278, and from 1493 to 1804 his descendants
were emperors of Germany. On August 11, 1804, Francis II. became
hereditary emperor of Austria. Vienna, the capital, was entered by a
French army November 14, 1805, and evacuated January 12, 1806, Austria
losing Venice and the Tyrol by the treaty of Presburg. Francis renounced
the title of emperor of Germany August 6, 1806. Vienna was again taken
by the French May 13, 1809, but was restored at the peace, October 14
following. In 1848 Lombardy revolted, and Milan and other disaffected
towns formed an alliance with Charles Albert, king of Sardinia, who then
invaded the Austrian territory at the head of a large army, victory
seeming for a time to favor the Italians. In the following year,
however, both the insurgents and their Sardinian ally were repeatedly
defeated by the Austrian forces under Marshal Radetzky, and Lombardy was
again brought under the Austrian sway, but was ceded to Sardinia in
1859. Prussia and Italy declared war against Austria in 1866; but,
through the intervention of Napoleon, peace was concluded the same year,
Austria losing Venice and the Quadrilateral.
=Authority.= In a general acceptation of the term, signifies a right to
command and a consequent right to be obeyed. For the appointment of
officers of the U. S. army, see APPOINTING POWER. It appears that the
sovereigns of Great Britain and other nations have the power to appoint
and dismiss officers at pleasure.