Welsh, in honor of St. David. Tradition states that on St. David’s
birthday, 540, a great victory was obtained by the Welsh over their
Saxon invaders, and that the Welsh soldiers were distinguished by order
of St. David by a leek in their caps.
=Dax.= A well-built town of France, department of Landes. It is
surrounded by an old wall, flanked with towers, and is also protected by
a castle. Dax was taken by the English in the 12th century, and remained
in their possession till the middle of the 15th century.
=Day-book.= In the British service, is a sort of private
memorandum-book, in which the pay-sergeant enters all details of
expenditure other than pay under each man’s head. These entries are made
at the moment, and afterwards transferred to the ledger.
=Day’s March.= See MARCH.
=Dead Angle.= In fortification, is any angle or piece of ground which
cannot be seen, and which therefore cannot be defended from behind the
parapet of the fortification.
=Dead-head.= In casting a cannon, is the surplus metal in the top of the
mold; called also the _sprue_.
=Dead March.= A piece of solemn music intended to be played as an
accompaniment to a funeral procession.
=Dead Pay.= Was the pay formerly drawn for soldiers really dead, whose
names were kept on the rolls; and whose pay was appropriated by
dishonest officers.
=Dead-shot.= An unerring marksman.
=Debark.= To leave a ship or boat and pass to the land; to go on shore;
as, the troops debarked at 4 o’clock; disembark.
=Deblai.= The hollow space or excavation formed by removing earth for
the construction of parapets in fortification. Thus the ditch or fosse
whence the earth has been taken represents the _deblai_, while the earth
itself, so removed, constitutes the _remblai_.
=Deblayer un Camp= (_Fr._). To evacuate a camp for the purpose of
cleaning and purifying the ground.
=Debouch.= A military term, signifying to march out from a wood, defile,
or other confined place into open ground; also an outlet or available
issue by which an army can march out.
=Débris= (_Fr._). Remains, ruins of a building or town which has been
sacked; broken remains of an army after defeat.
=Debruised.= A term in English heraldry used to indicate the restrained
position of an animal in a coat of arms, by having any of the ordinaries
laid over it.
=Decagon.= In fortification, is a polygon figure, having 10 sides, and
as many angles; and if all the sides and angles be equal, it is called a
regular decagon, and may be inscribed in a circle. The sides of a
regular decagon are in power and length equal to the greatest segment of
a hexagon, inscribed in the same circle and cut in extreme and mean
proportion.
=Decamp, To.= To march an army or body of men from the ground where it
before lay encamped. It also signifies to quit any place or position in
an unexpected manner.
=Decanus.= In Roman military history, a petty officer who presided over
the 10 soldiers of his contubernium, or those living in the same ten.
=Deccan.= An extensive region of India; invaded by the Mohammedans in
1294. About 1686-90, Aurungzebe I. recovered the Deccan, but soon lost
great part of it to the Mahrattas. A large part of the Deccan was ceded
to the English in 1818.
=Deceased Officers and Soldiers.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 125,
126.
=Dechargeurs= (_Fr._). Are men appointed to attend the park of
artillery, and to assist the non-commissioned officers, etc., who are
employed on that service. It is the duty of the former to keep a
specific account of articles received and consumed, in order to enable
the latter to furnish their officers with accurate statements.
=Decimation.= A military punishment inflicted among the Romans on
cowardly or mutinous troops. It consisted in selecting by lot one-tenth
of the whole body of troops who misbehaved, and putting them to death.
There have been a few instances of this species of punishment in modern
times. In 1642 the Archduke Leopold employed it against a regiment of
cavalry; Marshal Créqui also had recourse to it against the mutinous
garrison of Trèves, and before the battle of Waterloo Blücher is said to
have punished in this manner a body of mutinous troops.
=Decisions.= In courts-martial, the majority of votes decides all
questions as to the admission or rejection of evidence, and on other
points involving law or custom. If equally divided, the doubt is in
favor of the prisoner.
=Declaration of Independence.= This celebrated document by which the
thirteen United Colonies of America announced their intention of taking
their affairs into their own hands, renouncing their allegiance to Great
Britain, and asserting their freedom, was drawn up by Thomas Jefferson,
and received the unanimous approval of the delegates in the Congress of
the Colonies, July 4, 1776.
=Declaration of War.= The formal announcement by a government of its
intention to wage war against another, is a proceeding which is observed
among all civilized nations. In the United States the declaration of war
is a power exercised by Congress alone. During the age of chivalry, a
herald made declaration of war at the enemy’s court, his tabard on his
arm.
=Decompte= (_Fr._). Signifies a liquidation or balance, which from time
to time was made in the old French service, between the captain of a
company and each private soldier for money advanced or in hand.
=Decoration Day.= The anniversary, in the United States, on which
flowers are placed on soldiers’ graves, and which is observed on May 30.
This day was set apart for the purpose mentioned soon after the war of
the Rebellion, 1861-65.
=Decoration, Military.= A medal, cross of honor, etc., bestowed for
distinguished services.
=Decorations.= In pyrotechny, are the compositions which are placed in
the heads of rockets, in paper shells, etc., to make a brilliant display
when the receptacle is burst.
=Decouplé.= In heraldry, signifies severed or disjoined, so that the
ends stand at a distance from one another, as a _chevron decouplé_.
=Decoy.= To lead or to entice into a snare; to lead into danger by
artifice; to entrap. An enemy is said to be decoyed when a small body of
troops draws them in to action, whilst the main body lies in ambush
ready to act with the greatest effect.
=Decrement.= Is a heraldic term by which the wane of the moon is
indicated. _Decrescent_ and _decours_ are also used in the same sense. A
moon _decrescent_ is a half-moon with her horns turned to the sinister.
=Decurion.= An officer in the Roman cavalry, who commanded a decuria,
which was a body consisting of 10 men.
=Deeg.= A strong fortress of Hindostan, in the province of Agra, which
was captured by the British arms under Gen. Lake in 1804.
=Deep.= A term used in the disposition or arrangements of soldiers
placed in ranks before each other; hence, two deep, three deep, etc.
_Deep line of operations_, a long line.
=Default.= A military offense, in the British service, is so called.
=Defaulter.= A soldier who has been guilty of a military offense. It is
generally applied to men sentenced to confinement to barracks, and
attaches to them until the completion of their punishment.
=Defaulter Book.= The book in which the defaulter sheets are contained.
The regimental defaulter book containing regimental, and the company
defaulter book company, defaults.
=Defaulters’ Sheet.= For every soldier there are two sheets of foolscap
paper, in one of which, called his company defaulter sheet, are entered
all offenses and the punishments awarded. The other, called the
regimental defaulter sheet, contains only offenses for which a man has
been punished by more than seven days confined to barracks, or other
awards considered of equal gravity.
=Defeat.= This word expresses the complete want of success of an army; a
repulse signifying less, and a rout more, than defeat.
=Defeat.= To resist with success; as, to defeat an assault.
=Defection.= The act of abandoning a person or cause to which one is
bound by allegiance or duty, or to which one has attached himself.
=Defend.= To secure against attack; to maintain; as, to defend a town;
to defend a cause.
=Defender.= One who defends; one who maintains, supports, protects, etc.
=Defense.= In military law, is the defendant’s answer to the plea; an
opposing or denial of the truth or validity of the plaintiff’s case; the
method of proceeding adopted by the defendant to protect himself against
the plaintiff’s action.
=Defense.= In fortification, consists of all sorts of works that cover
and defend the opposite posts; as flanks, parapets, casements, etc.
=Defense, Active.= Comprehends every species of offensive operation
which is resorted to by the besieged to annoy the besiegers.
=Defense, Distant.= Consists in being able to interrupt the enemy’s
movements by circuitous inundations; to inundate, for instance, a
bridge, when a convoy is passing, or to insulate batteries, the heads of
saps or lodgments which have been made in the covert way. By this
species of defense an enemy’s communications may be perpetually
intercepted, and his approaches so obstructed as to force him to leave
dangerous intervals.
=Defense, Line of.= Represents the flight of a rifle-ball from the place
where the soldiers stand, to scour the face of the bastion. The line of
defense should never exceed the range of a rifle. It is either _fichant_
or _rayant_. The first is when it is drawn from the angle; the last,
when it is drawn from a point in the curtain, ranging the face of the
bastion in fortification.
=Defense, Lines of.= Are the distances between the salient angle of the
bastion and the opposite flank; that is, the faces produced to the
flanks.
=Defense, Passing.= Is chiefly confined to inundations, and is effected
by letting out water in such a manner that the level ground which lies
round a fortified town or place may be entirely overflowed, and become
an inert stagnant pool.
=Defensive.= A force is said to be on the defensive, or to assume a
defensive attitude, when it takes up a position to receive an attack.
=Defensive War.= See WAR, DEFENSIVE.
=Defilading=, or =Defilement=. The art of arranging the plan and profile
of works, so that their lines shall not be liable to enfilade, nor their
interior to plunging or reverse fire.
=Defile.= A narrow passage, or road, through which troops cannot march
otherwise than by making a small front and filing off.
=Defile, To.= To reduce a body of troops into a small front, in order to
march through a defile; also, to defilade.
=Deformer= (_Fr._). In a military sense, signifies to break; as,
_deformer une colonne_, to break a column.
=Dégat= (_Fr._). The laying waste an enemy’s country, particularly in
the neighborhood of a town which an army attempts to reduce by famine,
or which refuses to pay military exactions.
=Degorgeoir= (_Fr._). A sort of steel pricker used in examining the vent
of a cannon; a priming wire.
=Degradation.= In military life, the act of depriving an officer forever
of his commission, rank, dignity, or degree of honor, and taking away at
the same time every title, badge, or privilege he may possess.
=Degraded.= In heraldry, means placed upon steps or degrees.
=Degsestan, Battle of.= See SCOTLAND.
=Dehors.= In the military art, all sorts of outworks in general, placed
at some distance from the walls of a fortification, the better to secure
the main places, and to protect the siege, etc.
=Delaware.= One of the Middle States of the United States, and one of
the original thirteen. It derives its name (as do the Delaware River and
Bay and Delaware Indians) from Thomas West, lord de la Warr, who visited
the bay in 1610, and died on his vessel at its mouth. It was first
settled by the Swedes and Dutch, but came into possession of the English
in 1664, and formed part of the grant to William Penn in 1682. In 1701
it was separated from Pennsylvania, though subject to the same governor
down to the period of the Revolution, to the success of which it
contributed its full share, and for the maintenance of the results of
which it has ever been a zealous advocate.
=Delaware Indians.= A tribe of aborigines, called by themselves
_Lenni-Lenape_, who formerly lived on the Delaware River, but are now
settled in Indian Territory, on the Wichita Agency, with the Caddos. See
INDIANS AND THEIR AGENCIES.
=Delf.= A heraldic charge representing a square sod or turf, the term
being probably derived from the word _delve_, to dig. A _delf tenné_ is
the appropriate abatement for him who revokes his challenge, or
otherwise goes from his word.
=Delhi.= A celebrated city of Northern India, situated on an offset of
the river Jumna. The city was taken by a British army under Lord Lake,
September 8, 1803, and has ever since continued under British rule. In
1857 it was held by the Sepoys, who murdered several English subjects,
but was retaken, after a successful assault, September, 1857.
=Deliver Battle.= A term taken from the French _livrer bataille_,
meaning to enter practically upon a contest; the opposing armies being
in sight of each other.
=Dellamcotta.= A fortress of Northern Hindostan, in the province of
Bootan, commanding the principal pass into that province. It was stormed
by the British troops in 1773, which so alarmed the Booteans that they
petitioned for peace. The fortress was then restored to them.
=Dellis.= Were Bosnian and Albanian horsemen, who served without pay in
the Turkish armies.
=Delphi= (now _Castri_). An ancient town of Phocis, Greece, celebrated
on account of its oracle of Apollo. Its temple was burnt by the
Pisistratidæ, 548 B.C. A new temple was raised by the Alcmæonidæ. The
Persians (480 B.C.) and the Gauls (279 B.C.) were deterred from
plundering the temple by awful portents. It was, however, robbed and
seized by the Phocians, 357 B.C., which led to the Sacred War, and Nero
carried from it 300 costly statues in 67 A.D.
=Demembré=, or =Dismembered=. A heraldic term signifying that the
members of an animal are cut from its body.
=Demerara and Essequibo.= Colonies in Guiana, South America, founded by
the Dutch in 1580, were taken by the British, under Maj.-Gen. Whyte,
April 22, 1796, but were restored at the peace of Amiens, 1802. They
again surrendered to the British under Gen. Grinfield and Commodore
Hood, September, 1803, and became English colonies in 1814.
=Demi=, or =Demy=. In heraldry, an animal is said to be demi when only
the upper or fore half of it is represented.
=Demi-bastion.= A piece in fortification, which generally terminates
the branches of crown-works or horn-works towards their head.
=Demi-brigade.= A half brigade.
=Demi-cannon.= A kind of ordnance, anciently used, carrying a ball of
from 30 to 36 pounds in weight.
=Demi-culverin.= A kind of ordnance anciently used, carrying a ball of 9
or 10 pounds in weight.
=Demi-distances= (_Fr._). Half distances; as, _serrez la colonne à
demi-distances_, close to the column at half distances.
=Demi-file= (_Fr._). Is that rank in a French battalion which
immediately succeeds to the _serre-demi-file_, and is at the head of the
remaining half of its depth.
=Demi-gorge.= In fortification, is half the gorge or entrance into the
bastion, not taken directly from angle to angle, where the bastion joins
the curtain, but from the angle of the flank to the centre of the
bastion, or the angle which the two curtains would make by their
prolongation.
=Demihag.= A long pistol, much used in the 16th century.
=Demi-lance.= A light lance; half-pike. Also a light horseman who
carried a lance.
=Demi-lune.= In fortification, is a work constructed beyond the main
ditch of a fortress, and in front of the curtain between two bastions,
intended to defend the curtain; a ravelin.
=Demi-parallel.= In fortification, is a place of arms formed between the
second and third parallels to protect the head of the sap.
=Demi-pike.= A kind of spontoon, 7 feet long, used by infantry or for
boarding.
=Demi-place d’Armes.= In fortification, a circular trench constructed
upon the prolongation of the lines of the covered way, to the right and
left of the zigzags, to cover the troops employed in their defense.
=Demi-revetment.= A revetment of the scarf only to the height protected
by the glacis.
=Demmin.= A town of Prussia, on the river Peene, on the borders of
Pomerania and Mecklenburg. It is a town of considerable antiquity,
having been a place of importance in the time of Charlemagne, and is
noted for the number of sieges it has sustained. Its fortifications were
destroyed in 1759. In 1807 several engagements took place here between
the French and Russians.
=Demonstration.= In military operations, is an apparent movement, the
chief object of which is to deceive the enemy, and induce him to divide
his force, as if to meet dangers from various quarters. When thus
divided and weakened, he may be attacked with greater chance of success.
=Denain.= A village of France, department of the North. It is celebrated
in history as the scene of the decisive victory gained in 1712 by
Marshal Villars over the allies commanded by Prince Eugène.
=Denbigh.= The capital town of the county of the same name, North Wales.
In ancient times it was a place of great military importance. The
castle was gallantly held by Col. William Salisbury for the king during
the civil wars of the revolution, but finally surrendered to the
Parliamentary forces under Gen. Mytton.
=Dendermonde.= A town of Belgium, in the province of East Flanders. It
is fortified, and has a citadel dating from 1584, and possessing the
means of laying the surrounding country under water in case of an
attack. Louis XIV. besieged it in vain in 1667, but Marlborough, aided
by a long drought, succeeded in taking it in 1706.
=Denmark.= A kingdom of Northern Europe, which, with Sweden and Norway,
was originally called Scandinavia. In ancient times it was occupied by a
fierce and warlike people, whose principal occupation was piracy. In 832
the Danes landed in England, and there established two kingdoms, and two
centuries afterwards the conquest of England was completed by Canute,
king of Denmark. In the 15th century Christian I. connected Norway,
Sleswick, and Holstein with the crown of Denmark, but in consequence of
siding with Napoleon, Denmark was obliged to cede Norway to Sweden in
1814. In 1848 Sleswick and Holstein revolted, the duchies being aided by
Prussia and other powers of the Germanic Confederation, who, however,
concluded a peace on their own account, July 2, 1850. The duchies
continued the war, were defeated at Idstet, July 25, 1850, and peace was
restored by the intervention of the powers in January, 1851. Hostilities
again commenced in 1863, and were terminated by the peace of Vienna in
1864, Denmark renouncing all claim on Sleswick-Holstein.
=Dennewitz.= A small village in the province of Brandenburg, Prussia.
Here was fought, on the 6th of September, 1813, a battle between 70,000
French, Saxons, and Poles, commanded by Marshal Ney, and 45,000
Prussians, under Gen. Tauentzien. Both armies more than once drove each
other from their positions, but the Prussians finally prevailed, and Ney
gave orders to retreat. At this moment Bernadotte, crown-prince of
Sweden, appeared at the head of a large army, and turned the retreat of
the French army into a complete rout.
=Denonciateur= (_Fr._). In a general sense, may not improperly be called
a military informer. So rigid indeed were the regulations (even in the
most corrupt state of the French government) against every species of
misapplication and embezzlement, that if a private dragoon gave
information to the commissary of musters of a troop horse that had
passed muster, having been used in the private service of an officer, he
was not only entitled to his discharge, but received, moreover, 100
livres in cash, and became master of the horse and equipage, with which
he retired unmolested. The officer was summarily dealt with.
=Densimeter.= An apparatus for obtaining the specific gravity of
gunpowder by immersing it in mercury. It consists of an open vessel
containing mercury, a frame supporting a glass globe communicating by a
tube with the mercury in the open vessel, and joined at top to a
graduated glass tube, which communicates by a flexible tube with an
ordinary air-pump. Stop-cocks are inserted in the tubes above and below
the glass globe, and a diaphragm of chamois-skin is placed over the
bottom orifice and one of wire cloth over the top orifice of the globe.
The arrangement allows the globe to be filled with mercury to any mark
on the graduated tube, or with gunpowder and mercury. The globe can be
taken off and weighed in both cases. The specific gravity is obtained
from the relation between the weights in the two cases.
=Density.= The density or specific gravity of gunpowder is one of its
most important properties. In the form of dust, the velocity of
combustion increases rapidly with the density up to about 1.60, when it
decreases. In grained powder the velocity of combustion decreases as the
density increases. For English or American powder this velocity is about
four-tenths of an inch per second. For French and most of the
continental powders, which are less dense than the English, it is about
forty-eight-hundredths of an inch. The excellent preservative qualities
of English and American powders are largely due to their high
densities,--the standard being about 1.75. A certain degree of density
is absolutely essential to grain powder to prevent the inflamed gases
from penetrating the pores of the powder and flashing off the whole mass
to the destruction of the gun. In the manufacture of powder the density
depends, first, upon the amount of trituration to which the ingredients
are subjected in the incorporating mill; second, upon the pressure
employed to form the cake; and, third, upon the degree of moisture it
contains when subjected to these operations, particularly the last. The
pressure-gauge is not a reliable measure of the _density_ given to a
powder, though a good indication of the _hardness_, with which density
must not be confounded. Dry powder meal offers a great resistance to
compression, but becomes very hard,--the work being consumed in
consolidating the surface particles. To obtain uniform density a certain
amount of moisture is necessary to assist the particles in their
movement. As much as 6 per cent. of moisture is used in making prismatic
powder.
=Department Commander.= See GEOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT, COMMANDER OF.
=Department, Military.= A military subdivision of a country. The whole
territory of the United States is divided into military departments,
each under a general officer. See GEOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT, COMMANDER OF.
=Department of War.= That department of a government which takes charge
of all matters relating to war. See SECRETARY OF WAR.
=Depenses= (_Fr._). In a military sense, implies secret service money.
=Deploy.= Signifies a military movement, in which a body of troops is
spread out in such a way that they shall display a wider front and a
smaller depth than before deploying. To _ploy_ is to execute the reverse
of this movement.
=Deployment.= The act of unfolding or expanding any given body of men,
in order to extend their front.
=Deposits, Soldiers’.= Soldiers in the U. S. service may deposit with
the paymaster any portion of their savings, in sums not less than $5,
the same to remain so deposited until final payment on discharge.
Interest on deposits at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum will be paid
on final settlement upon each deposit from the date thereof to date of
discharge. No interest is payable, however, upon any deposit of less
than $50, or upon any sum, whatever its amount, which has been on
deposit for a less period than six months prior to date of discharge.
Deposits are forfeited by desertion.