the Propontus (Sea of Marmora) and the Thracian Bosphorus (Strait of
Constantinople). It contained the famous Greek cities or colonies of
Chalcedon, Heraclea, etc., and at later periods, Nicomedia, Nicæa, and
Prusa. The inhabitants were supposed to be of Thracian origin. The
country is said to have been subdued by Crœsus of Lydia (560 B.C.), and
five years later fell under the Persian dominion. About 440 or 430 B.C.
it became an independent kingdom, under a dynasty of native princes, who
made Nicomedia their capital. It afterwards fell into the hands of the
Romans, and was governed as a province. In 1298, Osman the Turk broke
into the country, and in 1328 Prusa, or Brusa, then its chief town,
became the capital of the kingdom of the Osmanli.
=Bitonto.= A town of Naples where Mortemar and the Spaniards defeated
the Germans, on May 26, 1734, and eventually gained the kingdom of the
Two Sicilies for Don Carlos.
=Biturritæ= (now _Bedarrides_). In the department of Vaucluse, France.
It was a city of the Allobroges, who were totally defeated in its
environs by Domitius Ahenobarbus in 122 B.C.
=Bivouac.= A night-watch in open air. Troops bivouac when they make the
best of it for the night, encamping in the open air. The term was also
applied to a night-guard of the whole army, when apprehensive of
surprise. The word comes from the German bei, “near,” and wache,
“watch.” In recent times it is common for soldiers on the march to use
the _tente d’abri_, or shelter-tent.
=Bizerta=, or =Benzerta=. The most northern town of Africa, and a
fortified seaport of Tunis. It is defended by two castles, which,
however, are commanded by adjacent heights. Though its port now only
admits small vessels, it was formerly one of the best in the
Mediterranean. This city was noted for the piracy of its inhabitants.
=Black.= In blazonry, sable denotes constancy, wisdom, and prudence.
=Black-book.= An ancient book of English admiralty law, compiled in the
reign of Edward III. It has always been deemed of the highest authority
in matters concerning the admiralty in England.
=Blackfeet.= A once powerful and ferocious tribe of American Indians of
Algonkin stock, who infest the country between the Yellowstone and
Missouri Rivers, and are also found in British America. See INDIANS AND
THEIR AGENCIES.
=Blackheath= (Kent, near London). Here Wat Tyler and his followers
assembled, June 12, 1381, and here also Jack Cade and his 20,000 Kentish
men encamped, June 1, 1450. Here the Cornish rebels were defeated and
Flannock’s insurrection quelled, June 22, 1497. The cavern on the ascent
to Blackheath, the retreat of Cade and the haunt of banditti in the time
of Cromwell, was rediscovered in 1780.
=Black Hole.= The appellation familiarly given in England to the dungeon
or dark cell of a prison. The name is associated with a horrible
catastrophe in the history of British India, namely, the cruel
confinement of a party of English in an apartment called the “Black Hole
of Calcutta,” on the night of June 19, 1756. The garrison of a fort at
Calcutta having been captured by the nabob Surajah Dowlah, he caused the
whole of the prisoners taken, 146 in number, to be confined in an
apartment 20 feet square, having only two small windows, which were
obstructed by a veranda. After a night of excruciating agony from heat,
thirst, and want of air, there remained in the morning but 23
survivors.
=Black Rod, Usher of the.= An officer of the English House of Lords,
whose emblem of authority is the wand or rod, with a gold lion on top.
He belongs to the order of the Garter, and keeps the door when the
chapter of that order is in session. His principal duty is to summon the
Commons to the House of Lords when royal assent is given to bills, etc.,
and to take into custody any peer guilty of breach of privilege.
=Black Sea=, or =Euxine=. _Pontus Euxinus_ of the ancients; a large
internal sea between the southwest provinces of Russia and Asia Minor,
connected with the Sea of Azof by the Straits of Yenikalé and with the
Sea of Marmora by the Bosphorus. This sea was much frequented by the
Greeks and Italians till it was closed to all nations by the Turks after
the fall of Constantinople, in 1453. The Russians obtained admission by
the treaty of Kainavdji, July 10, 1774. In 1779 it was partially opened
to British and other traders, since which time the Russians gradually
obtained the preponderance. It was entered by the British and French
fleets, January 3, 1854. A dreadful storm in this sea raged from
November 13 to 16, 1854, and caused great loss of life and shipping, and
valuable stores for the allied armies. By the treaty of 1856 the Black
Sea was opened to the commerce of all nations, the Russians and Turks
not being allowed to keep ships of war on it. In 1871 the Russians were
again permitted to have men-of-war on this sea.
=Black Watch.= Armed companies of the loyal clans (Campbells, Munros,
etc.) employed to watch the Highlands from about 1725 to 1739, when they
were formed into the celebrated 42d Regiment, which was formerly
enrolled “The Royal Highland Black Watch.” Their removal probably
facilitated the outbreak of 1745. They wore dark tartans, and hence
their name.
=Blackwater, Battle of.= In Ireland, August 14, 1598, when the Irish
chief O’Neal defeated the English under Sir Henry Bagnall. Pope Clement
VIII. sent O’Neal a consecrated plume, and granted to his followers the
same indulgences as to Crusaders.
=Bladensburg.= A village of Prince George Co., Md., memorable for the
battle which was fought here August 24, 1814, between the British and
Americans, and which resulted in the capture of Washington.
=Blair-Athol.= A village in Perthshire, Scotland; it was occupied by the
Marquis of Montrose in 1644; stormed by a party under the command of one
of Cromwell’s officers in 1653; and gallantly defended by Sir Andrew
Agnew, in 1746, when besieged by a portion of the Highland army, until
he was relieved by the Hessians under the Earl of Crawford. The pass of
Killekrankie, about two miles from Blair Castle, is famous for the
battle which was there fought in 1689, between the Highlanders under
Viscount Dundee, and King William’s troops under Gen. Mackay.
=Blaise.= A military order instituted by the kings of Armenia, in honor
of St. Blaise the Martyr, anciently bishop of Sebasta, and the patron
saint of Armenia. Justinian calls them Knights of St. Blaise and St.
Mary, and places them not only in Armenia, but in Palestine. They made a
vow to defend the Church of Rome, and followed the rule of St. Basil.
This institution appears to have commenced about the same time with the
Knights Templar and Hospitallers.
=Blakely Gun.= See ORDNANCE, BUILT-UP GUNS.
=Blakely Projectiles.= See PROJECTILE.
=Blamont.= A small town of France, department of Doubs. This small place
was protected by an ancient fortress, which was ruined by the allies in
1814.
=Blanch-Lyon.= A title of one of the English pursuivants-at-arms. See
PURSUIVANT.
=Blank.= The point of a target at which aim is taken, marked with a
white spot; hence, the object to which anything is directed.
=Blank Cartridge.= See CARTRIDGE.
=Blanket-boats.= A practical and highly useful plan for crossing streams
is by means of boats constructed of a single rubber blanket, capable of
carrying a soldier, knapsack, arms, and accoutrements, with only 4
inches of displacement. The size of some of the ordinary blankets is 6
feet long and 4 feet 9 inches wide; but 7 feet by 5 feet would be
preferable. If the height of the boat be made 1 foot, the length will be
4 feet, and the width 2 feet 9 inches, so as to be completely covered by
the blanket. The frame may be made of round sticks, 1 inch and 1¹⁄₂ inch
in diameter, in the following manner:
For the bottom the two end-sticks are 2 feet 9 inches long, and the
side-pieces 3 feet 9 inches long. They are connected by boring a
¹⁄₂-inch hole through the end-pieces, and into the ends of the
side-pieces, into which pins are driven. The top is formed in the same
manner, and both top and bottom of 1¹⁄₂-inch sticks. The side-pieces of
the bottom, and the top and bottom frames are connected by 1-inch round
sticks inserted in ¹⁄₂-inch holes, in the same manner as the upright
pieces are fastened in a chair. To keep the frame from falling apart,
loops of cord are passed from top to bottom, and from side to side, and
twisted with a stick. The rubber blanket is then spread upon the ground,
the frame placed upon it, the sides and eyes turned up and lashed to the
top rail by twine passed through the eyelets. Loops of cord are passed
over these projecting ends, and twisted with a stick, which binds the
parts together. One of these boats having a horizontal area of 11 square
feet, would require 687 pounds to sink it 1 foot, and the average weight
of a man would displace less than 4 inches.
In using these blanket-boats it will be convenient to lash several
together, side by side, upon which soldiers can be transported. The
float can be paddled or a rope may be stretched across, supported by
floats, and the men can pull themselves across. If used for cavalry,
some of the men can hold the bridles of the horses, while the others can
pull, paddle, or pole across the stream, the saddles being placed in the
boats. The frames are abandoned, or used for fuel, when the army has
crossed over.
Several of these boats lashed together, and covered with poles, would
form a raft on which wagons could be carried over; but for artillery,
rafts of wagon-bodies, or something possessing greater powers of
flotation, should be employed. The bill of materials for the frame of a
blanket-boat is: 4 end-pieces, 1¹⁄₂ inches round or square, 2 feet 9
inches long; 4 side-pieces, 1¹⁄₂ inches round or square, 3 feet 9 inches
long; 30 uprights, 1 inch round or square, 1 foot long; 10 pieces across
bottom, 1 inch round or square, 2 feet 9 inches long; 8 double pins,
¹⁄₂-inch in diameter, 3 inches long; 4 pieces of cord or strong twine,
each 9 feet long; 6 pieces of cord or strong twine, each 3 feet long; 1
india-rubber blanket, 6 feet long, 4 feet 9 inches wide, with eyelet
holes around all sides, not more than 6 inches apart, and 30 feet of
twine to lash the blanket to the frame.
=Blanketeers.= A number of operators who, on March 30, 1817, met in St.
Peter’s Field, near Manchester, England, many of them having blankets,
rugs, or great-coats rolled up and fastened to their backs. This was
termed the “blanket meeting.” They proceeded to march towards London,
but were dispersed by the magistracy. It is stated that their object was
to commence a general insurrection. Eventually the ringleaders had an
interview with the cabinet ministers, and a better understanding between
the working-classes and the government ensued.
=Blasting.= The displacement of earth or rock by the use of an
explosive. One of the most important parts of the art of mining in its
various branches of _tunneling_, _shaft-boring_, _well-digging_,
submarine _mining_, etc. The explosive is ordinarily placed in a bore
hole, but in submarine mining this is sometimes dispensed with when a
high explosive like nitro-glycerine is used.
=Blasting Powder.= An explosive in the form of powder used for blasting.
The most powerful blasting powders in common use are made by adding
certain substances to nitro-glycerine, which, by absorbing it, reduce it
to the form of powder, and thus render it comparatively safe against the
shocks and jars of use. (See GIANT POWDER, DYNAMITE.) The term blasting
powder is also specially applied to a powder analogous to gunpowder, but
which contains sodium nitrate in place of potassium nitrate, or
saltpetre.
=Blaubeuren.= A town of Würtemberg, on the Blau; here the French
defeated the Austrians in 1800; the fortress was razed in 1806.
=Blayle= (anc. _Blavia_). A fortified seaport of France, in the
department of Gironde, 20 miles north-northwest of Bordeaux. The Duchess
de Berry was imprisoned in the citadel in 1833. This city was captured
by the French, from the English, in 1339; the Protestants took
possession of it in 1568, and the English tried in vain to take it in
1814.
=Blazonry= (from the German _Blasen_, “to blow”). The art of describing
in technical language the objects or charges borne in a coat of arms,
and the manner of arranging them on a shield. The term originated from
the custom of blowing a trumpet to announce the arrival of a knight, or
his entrance into the lists at a joust or tournament. The blast was
answered by the heralds, who described aloud and explained the arms
borne by the knight.
=Blechstreifen=, or =Blechschienen= (_Ger._) (_Les laisches_, Fr.). Thin
metal plates which the ancient Gauls placed upon the buff coats of
infantry; they were placed between the buff and the lining.
=Bleneau.= A village of France, in the department of the Yonne, about 29
miles west-southwest of Auxerre, celebrated as the place where Turenne
gained a victory over the Prince of Condé in 1652.
=Blenheim= (Ger. _Blindheim_). A village of Bavaria, 23 miles
north-northwest of Augsburg, memorable in connection with Marlborough’s
great victory over the French and Bavarians, August 13, 1704. The
battle, though known in English history by the name of “Blenheim,” did
not occur here, but at the neighboring village of Hochstädt, by which
name it is known to the French and Germans. The French and Bavarian army
consisted of 56,000 men, commanded by Tallard, Marsin, and the Elector
of Bavaria, and opposed to it was the allied army 52,000 strong,
commanded by the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene. The loss of the
French and Bavarians was estimated at from 30,000 to 40,000. Near here,
also, in 1800, the French defeated the Austrians.
=Bleus, Les= (_i.e._ “The Blues”). A name given to the soldiers of the
Republic, by the Royalists, during the wars of La Vendée, on account of
their uniform.
=Blidah.= A considerable town of Algeria, on the border of the Metidjah
Plain; taken by the French in 1830, and permanently occupied by them
since 1838.
=Blieskastel.= A small town of Rhenish Bavaria; near here, on November
19, 1793, 7000 Prussians and Saxons under Gen. Kalkreuth fought the
French, about 20,000 strong, under Gen. Hoche, neither side gaining the
victory. The Prussians held their ground without any great loss until
dark, when, deeming their position untenable, they evacuated it during
the night.
=Blindage.= A temporary bomb-proof or splinter-proof roofing,
constructed of timber and the like, to give cover to magazines,
batteries, hospitals, etc. See BLINDS.
=Blinds.= In military affairs, are wooden frames, composed of four
pieces, either flat or round, two of which are 6 feet long, and the
others 3 or 4 feet, which serve as spars to fasten the two first
together: the longest are pointed at both ends, and the two others are
fastened towards the extremities of the former, at about 10 or 12
inches. Their use is to fix them either upright, or in a vertical
position against the sides of the trenches or sap, to sustain the earth.
Their points at the bottom serve to fix them in the earth, and those at
the top to hold the fascines that are placed upon them; so that the sap
or trench is formed into a kind of covered gallery, to secure the troops
from stones and grenades.
=Blind-shell.= A shell, the bursting charge of which is exploded by the
heat of impact. Used in modern ordnance against armor.
=Blistered Steel.= See ORDNANCE, METALS FOR.
=Block.= See IMPLEMENTS.
=Blockade.= In military art, is an operation for capturing an enemy’s
town or fortress without a bombardment or regular siege. The attacking
party throws up works on the neighboring heights and roads, and part of
the besieging force remains under cover in villages, or in a temporary
camp, ready to repel any sortie attempted by the besieged. The whole
purpose in view is to prevent the besieged from receiving supplies of
any kind, in order that, when food or ammunition is exhausted, they may
be compelled to surrender. Fortresses situated on steep and rocky
eminences, difficult to conquer by bombardment or assault, may often be
reduced by blockade, because the roads or paths for the reception of
supplies are few, and can be guarded by a small number of troops.
=Blockade.= In international law, is the means in time of war of
rendering intercourse with an enemy’s port unlawful on the part of
neutrals; and it is carried into effect by an armed force (ships of
war), which blocks up and bars export or import to or from the place
blockaded. To be valid, a blockade must be accompanied by actual
investment of the place, and it may be more or less rigorous, either for
the purpose of watching the operations of the enemy, or to cut off all
excess of neutral vessels to that interdicted place. To be binding on
neutrals, it ought to be shown that they have knowledge, or may be
presumed to know of the blockade, for which reason a formal notification
of the fact is usually made by the blockading power. The breach of
blockade, which may be effected by coming out of a blockaded port, or
going in, subjects the property so employed to confiscation. On the
proclamation of peace, or from any political or belligerent cause, the
continuance of the investment may cease to be necessary, and the
blockade is then said to be _raised_. The blockading force then
retires, and the port is open as before to all other nations. In the
present century recourse has been had to this means of cutting off
supplies from the enemy on several occasions. The Elbe was blockaded by
Great Britain, 1803; the Baltic, by Denmark, 1848-49 and 1864; the Gulf
of Finland by the allies, 1854; and the ports of the Southern States by
President Lincoln, April 19, 1861.
=Blockader.= One who blockades.
=Block Battery.= In gunnery, a wooden battery for two or more small
pieces, mounted on wheels, and movable from place to place; very ready
to fire _en barbette_, in the galleries and casements, etc., where room
is wanted.
=Block-house.= An edifice or structure of heavy timber or logs for
military defense, having its sides loop-holed for musketry, and often an
upper story projecting over the lower, or placed upon it diagonally,
with projecting corners, to facilitate a firing downward, and in all
directions; the sides and ends are sometimes much like a stockade, and
the top covered with earth; there may also be a ditch around it.
Formerly much used in Germany and America, and used extensively in the
United States as a defense against Indians, and during the civil war,
1861-65, for the protection of important places on railroads, such as
bridges, etc. If exposed to the fire of artillery, block-houses should
be formed of double rows of logs 3 feet apart, with well-rammed earth
between them.
=Bloodhound.= A name given to certain species of the dog, distinguished
for their keenness of scent, and the persistency with which they follow
the track of game. They have been frequently employed during wars to
track partisans, and even in the American civil war, 1861-65, were
employed by the Confederates to track Union prisoners who escaped from
their prisons. In time of peace they are sometimes employed to hunt
felons, fugitive slaves, etc. When they are thus employed they acquire a
peculiarly bloodthirsty and ferocious character.
=Bloreheath.= In Staffordshire, England; here on September 23, 1459, the
Earl of Salisbury and the Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians, whose
leader, Lord Audley, was slain with many Cheshire gentlemen. A cross
commemorates this conflict.
=Bludgeon.= A short stick, with one end loaded, or thicker and heavier
than the other, used as an offensive weapon.
=Blue-light.= A composition, burning with a blue flame, used as a night
signal in ships, or for military purposes. See PYROTECHNY.
=Blunderbuss.= A short gun or fire-arm, with a large bore, capable of
holding a number of balls, and intended to do execution without exact
aim.
=Blyde=, =Bly=, or =Blude= (_Ger._). A kind of a war machine which was
used in ancient times to throw stones; some authors compare it to the
catapult. In the year 1585, at the siege of the castle of Rucklingen,
Albert, duke of Saxony and Lüneburg, was killed by a stone thrown by a
blyde.
=Board of Officers.= A number of officers assembled by military
authority for the transaction of business.
=Board of Ordnance.= A government department, which formerly had the
management of all affairs relating to the artillery and engineering
corps of the British army. This board was abolished after the Crimean
war.
=Board, Pointing.= In gunnery, this is a piece of wood 1 foot long, 2 or
3 inches wide, and 1 inch thick, having a notch cut in the middle of one
side to fit on the stake, and graduated into equal divisions from its
middle. When not in use the pointing cord may be wound on it. This board
is used for directing mortars.
=Boards of Examination.= In the army, are instituted to determine upon
appointments in regiments, and for appointments and promotion in the
medical staff, engineer corps, and ordnance department. They are
composed of army officers.
=Boards of Survey.= In the army, are convened for the purpose of fixing
the responsibility for public property lost, damaged, or destroyed, of
ascertaining what articles of public property may have been lost or
abstracted whenever a soldier deserts, and of taking an inventory of the
public property in charge of a deceased officer.
=Boats, Blanket-.= See BLANKET-BOATS.
=Bobruisk.= A fortified town of Russia, in the government of Minsk. It
is situated on the right bank of the Beresina, and is a station for the
steam-packets navigating the Dnieper and Beresina. It was besieged
ineffectually by the French in 1812.
=Boccacci.= The Italians have a peculiar kind of fire-arm which they
call by this name; it is enlarged towards the muzzle in the shape of a
trumpet. This gun is principally used by the Calabrians.
=Bocchetta.= A celebrated pass of the Apennines, the key of the route
from Novi to Genoa. Redoubts were constructed here by the Imperialists
in 1746 for the defense of the pass. The French traversed this pass when
they entered Italy in 1796.
=Bodegraven.= A fortified town of Holland. On November 28, 1672, it was
captured by the Duke of Luxemburg, who tarnished his victory by
authorizing the town to be pillaged.
=Bodkin.= A dirk or dagger; a word still in use, though Johnson says it
is the oldest acceptation of it.
=Body.= In the nomenclature of modern ordnance, is the part of the piece
in rear of the trunnions.
=Body.= In the art of war, is a number of forces, horse or foot, united
and marching under one commander. _Main_ body of _an army_, sometimes
means the troops encamped in the centre between the two wings, and
generally consists of infantry. The main body on a march, signifies the
whole of the army exclusive of the van- and rear-guards.
=Body of the Place.= The _enceinte_ of a fortress, or main line of
bastions and curtains, as distinguished from outworks.
=Body-guard.= A guard to protect or defend the person; a life-guard.
=Bœotia.= One of the political divisions of ancient Greece, lying
between Attica and Megaris on the south, and Locris and Phocis on the
north, and bounded on the other side by the Eubœan Sea and the
Corinthian Gulf. The tribes of greatest importance who appear as rulers
of Bœotia in the heroic age were the Minyæ and the Cadmeans, or
Cadmeones,--the former dwelling at Orchomenus, and the latter at Thebes.
About 60 years after the Trojan war the Bœotians, an Æolian people who
had hitherto dwelt in Thessaly, having been expelled from that country,
took possession of the land then called Cadmeis, to which they gave
their own name of Bœotia. At the commencement of the historic period all
the ancient tribes had disappeared, and all the cities were inhabited by
Bœotians, the most important forming a political confederacy under the
presidency of Thebes. After the battle of Chæronea (338 B.C.) and the
destruction of Thebes by Alexander three years after, Bœotia rapidly
declined, and so low had it sunk in the time of the Romans, that of all
its great cities there remained only two, which had dwindled into
insignificant towns; of the other great cities nothing remained but
their ruins and their names. The people are represented as a dull and
heavy race, with little susceptibility and appreciation of intellectual
pleasures.
=Bohain.= A small town of France, in the department of Aisne, which fell
into the hands of the Imperialists in 1537, and was recaptured a short
time afterwards.