to carry dispatches of battles gained, lost, etc., or any other
occurrences that happened in war.
=Courland.= A duchy of Livonia, subjected to Poland in 1582, conquered
by Charles XII. of Sweden in 1701; Ernest Biren, duke, 1737; his son,
Peter, 1769; annexed to Russia, March, 1795.
=Couronement=, or =Couronnement=. In fortification, implies the most
exterior part of a work when besieged.
=Courtel.= A military implement which served both for a knife and a
dagger.
=Court-martial.= In the army, a tribunal for the examination and
punishment of offenders against martial law or against good order and
discipline. Under the present construction of law, members of
courts-martial become judges and jurors. In ancient feudal times the
lords had arbitrary power over vassals who held their lands by tenure of
military service, and punished them as they saw fit, and courts of
chivalry took cognizance of offenses committed by the nobles. With the
decline of feudalism the system of military despotism became obnoxious
to the English people, and although the necessity for a standing army
was admitted in time of peace, it could only exist with the consent of
Parliament. The first military act passed after the accession of William
to the throne of England is believed to have laid the foundation of the
present system of courts-martial, which has also been adopted to a
certain extent in the American service. Parliament having been notified
that a body of English and Scotch troops who were ordered to Holland had
mutinied, that body passed, on April 3, 1689, an act for punishing
mutiny, desertion, etc., which has been renewed annually by Parliament
to the present day. It authorized the king to grant commissions to
certain officers to hold courts-martial for the trial of crimes
committed by officers and soldiers. Similar acts were at different times
passed in relation to offenses committed in the navy. A court-martial is
a court of limited and special jurisdiction called into existence by
force of express statute for a special purpose, and to perform a
particular duty; and when the object of its creation is accomplished it
ceases to exist. The law presumes nothing in its favor. He who seeks to
enforce its sentences, or to justify its conduct under them, must set
forth affirmatively and clearly all the facts which are necessary to
show that it was legally constituted, and that the subject was within
its jurisdiction. And if in its proceedings or sentence it transcends
the limits of its jurisdiction, the members of the court and its officer
who executes its sentence are trespassers, and as such are answerable to
the party injured in damages in the courts of common law. Courts are
classed into general, garrison, summary, regimental, and
field-officers’, according as the authority convening, the nature of the
offenses to be inquired into, the punishment to be awarded, or other
circumstances may determine. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 72 to 114;
also TRIAL.
=Court of Honor.= Is a military court authorized by the regulations of
the Prussian service, convened for the purpose of sustaining the honor
of the service and of individuals, and of punishing officers who may be
found guilty of conduct deviating even in the least from the principles
which actuate military men as men of honor. The court of honor of a
regiment consists of all commissioned officers in it, except the
prosecutor, the defendant, near relations, officers appearing as
witnesses in the case, officers on leave, detached service, under
arrest, or awaiting trial before any court; and has for its regular
business management a council of honor, consisting of the senior
captain, senior first lieutenant, and senior second lieutenant. The
court has jurisdiction over all acts or omissions (not provided for by
any fixed laws) which are unofficerlike or ungentlemanly in their
nature, particularly such as contracting debts, improper choice of
society, excessive use of intoxicating liquors, gambling, quarrels,
carelessness or neglect of duty, and scandal. With the exception of
general officers, all officers of the standing army, the reserve, the
landwehr, and those of the retired list are subject to the laws of the
court of honor. The court to investigate the conduct of a field-officer
is made up of the field-officers of the division to which the officer
belongs.
=Court of Inquiry.= In the military service of the United States, is a
legally constituted court which may be ordered by the President or by
any commanding officer to examine into the nature of any transaction of,
or accusation or imputation against, any officer or soldier upon a
demand by the officer or soldier whose conduct is to be inquired into.
It may consist of one, two, or three officers, and a judge-advocate or
other suitable person as recorder, all of whom are sworn. It has the
same powers as a court-martial to summon witnesses and to examine them
on oath. Courts of inquiry cannot award punishment, but must report to
the officer by whose order they were assembled. (See APPENDIX, ARTICLES
OF WAR, 115 to 121; also INQUIRY, BOARD OF.) In the British service
courts of inquiry are not regulated by any statute or standing
regulation, but depend on the will of the sovereign, or of the superior
officer convoking the court, both as to the officers who may compose it,
and as to every particular of its constitution. It is not a judicial
body, but is rather a council, having no power to compel the attendance
of witnesses not of the army or navy, nor to administer oaths.
=Courtrai.= A fortified town of Belgium, on the river Lys. Here Robert,
count of Artois, who had defeated the Flemings in 1297, was defeated and
slain by them, July 11, 1302. The conflict was named the “Battle of the
Spurs,” from the number of gilt spurs collected.
=Coussinet à Mousquetaire= (_Fr._). A bag formerly worn by a French
soldier on his left side beneath the cross-belt. It hung on a hook near
the butt of his musket. It likewise signifies a wedge used to support
the mortar in its frame.
=Coutere.= A piece of armor which covered the elbow.
=Coutras.= In Southwestern France. Here Henry of Navarre totally
defeated the Duc de Joyeuse and the Royalists, October 20, 1587.
=Cover.= Natural or artificial protection from the fire of the enemy,
the former being afforded by hills, woods, banks, walls, etc., the
latter by fortifications constructed for the purpose. To cover is, in
military language, to stand exactly behind another man.
=Covering.= Standing exactly in front or in rear of another man or an
object.
=Covering-fascines.= Are those made of stout picket stuff, not less than
1 inch thick, without any mixture of small brush-wood. They may be used
in place of planks for the superstructure of wooden bridges; and may
also be used, if no stout planks or spars are to be had, for the roofs
of field powder-magazines. They may be made of the usual diameter of 9
inches. Their length will depend upon the special purpose for which they
are intended. The withes should be particularly good.
=Covert Way=, or =Covered Way=. Is a road or broad path outside the
fosse or moat of a fortified place, between the counterscarp and the
glacis. It is usually about 30 feet wide, and sunk so far below the
crest of the glacis that soldiers standing upon it cannot be seen by the
besiegers; hence the name. The covert way is broad enough to allow
troops to form on it, either to act defensively or make sorties; and to
increase this accommodation enlarged portions, called _places of arms_,
are made at certain spots.
=Covinarii.= The soldiers who fought on the _covinus_ were so called.
=Covinus.= A kind of war-chariot used by the ancient Britons and
Belgians.
=Cowardice.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 42.
=Cow-boys.= A band of marauders in the time of the American Revolution,
consisting mostly of refugees who adhered to the British side, and who
infested the so-called “neutral ground” lying between the American and
British lines, plundering all those who had taken the oath of allegiance
to the Continental Congress. See SKINNERS.
=Cowpens.= A village in Spartanburg Co., N. C. At this place Gen. Morgan
defeated Col. Tarleton, January 17, 1781; it is said that Tarleton lost
300 men in killed and wounded, and about 500 prisoners. The American
loss was also considerable.
=Cracow.= A city in Austrian Poland, on the left bank of the Vistula. It
was taken by Charles XII. in 1702; taken and retaken several times by
the Russians and other confederates. The Russians were expelled from the
city March 24, 1794; but it surrendered to the Prussians June 15, the
same year, and in 1795 was awarded to Austria. It was occupied by 10,000
Russians, who followed the defeated Poles, September, 1831. It was
finally incorporated with the Austrian empire, November 16, 1846.
=Cradle.= A narrow frame-work of heavy timbers upon which heavy guns are
sometimes placed, to be moved upon rollers.
=Crakers.= Choice soldiers were so called in the time of Henry VIII.
=Crakys.= An old term for great guns.
=Crampets.= The cramp rings of a sword scabbard.
=Crampton’s Gap.= A pass in the South Mountains, Frederick Co., Md. A
stubborn fight of four or five hours took place here September 14, 1862,
between part of Gen. McClellan’s army under command of Gen. W. B.
Franklin and a portion of the Confederate army under Gen. Cobb, which
was defending the pass. The Confederates were forced to retire, having
suffered severe loss in killed and wounded.
=Cranon.= In Thessaly, Northern Greece. The Macedonians under Antipater
and Craterus defeated the confederated Greeks, twice by sea, and once by
land, near Cranon.
=Craonne.= A town of France, in the department of Aisne. Here Victor and
Ney defeated the Prussians under Blücher, after a severe contest, March
7, 1814.
=Crater.= The pit left by the explosion of a military mine.
=Cravant.= See CREVANT-SUR-YONNE.
=Crécy=, or =Cressy=. A village in France, department of the Somme,
famous for a great victory obtained over the French, under Philip of
Valois, by Edward III. of England, August 26, 1346. In this battle fell
the king of Bohemia, the Count of Flanders, 8 other sovereign princes,
80 bannerets, 1200 knights, 1500 gentlemen, 4000 men-at-arms, with the
Duke of Alençon and the flower of the French nobility. The English army
was drawn up in three lines; of which the first was commanded by Edward,
prince of Wales, assisted by the Earls of Warwick and Oxford; the second
led by the Earls of Arundel and Northampton; while the third, or body
reserve, was posted along the summit of a hill, under the command of the
king in person, attended by the Lords Mowbray, Mortimer, and others. The
English loss in this battle was very small.
=Crécy-sur-Serre.= A town of France, department of Aisne. Its castle was
taken and razed by Louis le Gros in 1115. The English took the town in
1339, 1358, and 1373; it was taken by the forces of the League in 1589;
and it was burned by the Spaniards in 1662.
=Creedmoor.= About 10 miles east of New York, noted for its splendid
rifle range, which was established in 1871.
=Creek Indians.= Formerly a numerous and powerful tribe dwelling in
Georgia and Alabama. Their number was much reduced by the war of 1814,
in which year they waged war against the United States, but were subdued
by Gen. Jackson. Of the survivors most removed beyond the Mississippi,
and are now settled in Indian Territory, where they are rapidly
advancing in the art of civilization. For numbers, etc., see INDIANS AND
THEIR AGENCIES.
=Creil.= A town of France, department of the Oise. It was ravaged
several times by the Normans; taken by the king of Navarre in 1358; by
the English in 1434; by Charles VII. in 1441; pillaged by the Calvinists
in 1567, and occupied by forces of the League in 1588.
=Cremaille.= In field fortification, is when the inside line of the
parapet is broken in such a manner as to resemble the teeth of a saw.
This advantage is gained by the measure, that a greater fire can be
brought to hear upon the defile than if only a simple face was opposed
to it; and consequently the passage is rendered more difficult.
=Crémaillère= (_Fr._). An indented or zigzag line of intrenchment.
=Cremona.= A fortified city of Northern Italy, the capital of the
province of the same name. It was besieged by the Gauls in 200 B.C.; by
Primus, a general of Vespasian, in 69; by Frederick Barbarossa in 1160.
Prince Eugène took possession of it in 1702; it was taken by the French
in 1796 and 1800.
=Crenaux= (_Fr._). In fortification, small openings or loop-holes, made
through the walls of a fortified town or place. They are extremely
narrow towards the enemy, and wide within; so that the balls from the
besiegers can scarcely ever enter, whereas two or three soldiers may
fire from within.
=Crenelle=, or =Crenel=. A term used sometimes to denote a battlement,
but more frequently an embrasure in a battlement. The adjective
crenellated is employed to signify that a building is supplied with
crenelles.
=Crépy.= A town of France, department of the Oise; it was captured and
sacked by the English in 1339; by the Duke of Lancaster in 1373;
occupied by the Burgundians in 1418; by Pothon and Xaintrailles in 1419;
it was besieged by the Duke of Burgundy in 1420; taken by the English
and their allies in 1431; by Charles VII. in 1433; by the Duc de Mayenne
in 1588.
=Crépy en Laonois.= A town of France, department of Aisne. It was sacked
by the English in 1339 and 1373, and taken by the Burgundians in 1418
and 1420. A treaty of peace was concluded here between Spain and France,
September 18, 1544.
=Crescent.= The figure or likeness of the new moon borne in the Turkish
flag or national standard; also the standard itself.
=Crescent.= The name of three orders of knighthood; the first instituted
by Charles I., king of Naples and Sicily, in 1268; the second by René of
Anjou, in 1448; and the third by the sultan Selim, in 1801. Of these the
last is still in existence, and is remarkable for the fact that none but
Christians are eligible. See CRESCENT, TURKISH ORDER OF.
=Crescent.= In heraldry, is used both as a bearing or charge, and as a
difference or mark of cadency. In the latter case it designates the
second son, and those that descend from him.
=Crescent, Turkish Order of the.= In 1799, after the battle of Aboukir,
the sultan Selim III. testified his gratitude to Nelson by sending him a
crescent richly adorned with diamonds. Selim was flattered by the value
which the English admiral seemed to attach to this gift, and it was this
circumstance which determined him, in 1801, to found the order of the
Crescent, which is only conferred on Christians who have done service to
the state. The second person on whom it was conferred was Gen.
Sebastiani, for his defense of Constantinople against the English fleet
in 1807.
=Cressit.= A small crease or dagger.
=Crest.= Signifies the line which marks the top of a parapet. It is
sometimes called the interior crest. The exterior, or sub-crest, is the
line marking the meeting of the exterior and superior slopes.
=Crest.= In feudal times was the distinctive ornament of the helmet;
hence the term is frequently applied to the helmet itself. In heraldry
the crest is shown as an appendage to the shield, placed over it, and
usually borne upon a wreath. It is generally either some portion of the
coat-armor, or a device commemorative of some incident in the history
of a family, and often contains an allusion to the office of the bearer.
=Crete.= In fortification, implies the earth thrown out of the ditch in
a fortification, trench, etc. The most elevated part of a parapet or
glacis.
=Crete.= See CANDIA.
=Crevant-sur-Yonne.= In Northern France; besieged by John Stuart, earl
of Buchan, with a French army, July, 1423, and relieved by the Earl of
Salisbury with an army of English and Burgundians; after a severe
contest the French were totally defeated.
=Creveldt.= Near Cleves, Western Prussia. Here, on June 23, 1758, Prince
Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated the French under the Count of Clermont.
=Crimea.= A peninsula of Southern Russia, formed by the Sea of Azof and
the Black Sea. It was the _Taurica Chersonesus_ of the ancient Greeks,
by whom it was colonized about 550 B.C. Here was founded the kingdom of
_Bosporus_, which formed part of the dominions of Mithridates, king of
Pontus, whose descendants continued to rule the country under Roman
protection until the irruption of the Goths, Huns, etc., 258 A.D. It
fell into the hands of the Mongols in the 13th century, was subjected to
the Ottoman yoke in 1475, and was ceded to Russia in 1783. War having
been declared against Russia by England and France, March 28, 1854, an
expedition against the Crimea was determined on. Accordingly, the allied
British, French, and Turkish forces, amounting to 58,000 men, commanded
by Lord Raglan and Marshal St. Arnaud, sailed from Varna September 3,
and landed on the 14th, 15th, and 16th without opposition at Old Fort,
near Eupatoria, about 30 miles from Sebastopol. On the 20th they
attacked the Russians (40,000 to 50,000 strong), who were intrenched on
the heights of Alma, supposed to be unassailable. After a sharp contest
the Russians were totally routed. It was the scene of several other
engagements during the continuance of the war, until the proclamation of
peace in April, 1856. The allies quitted the Crimea July 12, following.
=Crimes, Capital.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 21, 22, 23, 39, 42,
43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 56, 57, 105, and Section 1343.
=Crimes, Military.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR.
=Crimisus.= A river in Sicily, near which Timoleon defeated the
Carthaginians, 339 B.C.
=Crimping-houses.= Houses in which persons were entrapped into the army;
hence the name of “crimp sergeant.” In a riot in London some of these
receptacles were destroyed by the populace, in consequence of a young
man who had been enticed into one being killed in endeavoring to escape,
September 16, 1794.
=Criques= (_Fr._). Small ditches which are made in different parts of a
ground for the purpose of inundating a country, in order to obstruct the
approaches of an enemy.
=Croatia.= A province of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. This region was
anciently inhabited by the Pannonians, who were conquered by the Romans
in the reign of Augustus. It was conquered by Coloman, king of Hungary,
in 1102, and was with that country united to Austria in 1526.
=Croats.= In military history, light irregular troops were so called;
generally people of Croatia. They were ordered upon all desperate
services, and their method of fighting was the same as the Pandours.
=Crochert.= A hagbut or hand-cannon, anciently in use.
=Cronstadt.= A seaport and fortress of Russia, about 20 miles west from
St. Petersburg. It was founded by Peter the Great in 1710, the island
having been taken from the Swedes by him in 1703. A Swedish fleet was
defeated here by the Russians in 1790, and in 1855 an English fleet,
commanded by Sir Charles Napier, proceeded to the Baltic, with the view
of taking this place or destroying its fortifications; but either from
the inadequacy of the means placed at his disposal, or from the great
strength of the forts, no attempt was made upon them.
=Cropedy Bridge.= Near Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. Here the royalists
defeated Sir William Waller and the army of Parliament, June 29, 1644.
=Cross-belts.= Belts worn over both shoulders, and crossing the breast.
=Cross-bow.= A weapon formerly used in discharging arrows, formed by
placing a bow crosswise on a stock.
=Crossen.= A town of the Prussian province of Brandenburg. In 1758 this
place was taken by the Russians.
=Cross-fire.= The crossing of lines of fire from two or more points or
places.
=Cross, Victoria.= See VICTORIA CROSS.
=Crotchet.= In fortification, an indentation in the glacis of the
covered way at a point where a traverse is placed.
=Crotchet.= The arrangement of a body of troops, either forward or
rearward, so as to form a line nearly perpendicular to the general line
of battle.
=Croton=, or =Crotona=. One of the most celebrated of the Greek colonies
in Southern Italy, founded about 710 B.C. About 510 a Crotoniat army of
100,000 men, under Milo, defeated a greatly superior force of Sybarites
on the banks of the Tracis, took the city of Sybaris, and utterly
destroyed it. (See SYBARIS.) In the second Punic war the Bruttians, with
the assistance of the Carthaginian general Hanno, succeeded in making
themselves masters of the city of Crotona, with the exception of the
citadel, which held out until induced to surrender on terms. The ravages
of this war completed the decay of the city, and it sunk into the
condition of an obscure provincial town.
=Crown.= The emblem of sovereignty in modern Europe. It was originally
an Oriental decoration, and was adopted by Alexander the Great from the
kings of Persia. In modern states crowns were of various forms, till
heralds devised a regular series of them to mark the various gradations
of sovereignty, from that of the emperor down to what are called the
coronets of counts and barons. In England, so entirely has the crown
been regarded as the symbol of sovereignty, that the word is frequently
used as synonymous with the monarchy.
=Crown, Civic.= See CIVIC CROWN.
=Crown, Mural.= See MURAL CROWN.
=Crown, Obsidional.= See OBSIDIONAL CROWN.
=Crown, Triumphal.= See TRIUMPHAL CROWN.
=Crown, Vallary.= See VALLARY CROWN.
=Crowning.= A term in fortifications generally applied to the operation,
by the besieged, of establishing works on the crest of the glacis or
summit of the breach. It is sometimes used when describing the movements
of troops, to signify that they have reached the top of a hill or
parapet, which they are said to have crowned.
=Crown-work.= A term used in fortification to signify a work consisting
of two or more fronts of fortification, joined by two long branches to
the ditch of another work, a river, a village, etc. It is generally used
to defend a bridge or suburb.
=Crows=, or =Absorokas=. A tribe of Indians inhabiting the northern part
of Wyoming Territory and the southern part of Montana. They are divided
into two bands, and belong to the Dakota family. See INDIANS AND THEIR
AGENCIES.
=Crows-foot.= An implement of metal with four points, so formed that, in
whatever way it falls, there is one point upward; intended to injure the
feet of horses; a caltrop.
=Crucible, Steel.= Steel melted in crucibles; cast steel. See ORDNANCE,
METALS FOR.
=Crusader.= A knight engaged in the Crusades.
=Crusades.= From the Latin _crux_, a “cross.” A term applied to the
military expeditions undertaken by Christian powers in the 11th, 12th,
and 13th centuries for the recovery of Palestine, or the “Holy Land,”
from the Mohammedans. They were originated by Peter the Hermit, an
enthusiastic French officer of Amiens, who turned pilgrim. There were in
all eight crusades, from 1096 to 1270. The last one ended in the
Christians being driven out of Syria.
=Ctesiphon= (afterwards _Al Madayn_). On the Tigris, the splendid
capital of Parthia, was taken by Trajan in 116, and by Alexander Severus
(who made 100,000 captives), 198. Its defenses deterred Julian from the
siege, 363. Through the cowardice or treachery of the defenders, it was
taken by Omar and the Saracens, 637, and utterly destroyed. He built
Cufa near it with the remains.