peninsula of Kattywar. In 1515 the Portuguese gained possession of it;
they fortified it, and in ten years rendered it impregnable against all
the powers of India. With the decline of Portuguese power it fell into
decay, and was plundered by the Arabs of Muscat in 1670.
=Diversion.= An attack upon an enemy in a place where he is weak and
unprovided, in order to draw off his forces from making an irruption
elsewhere; or a manœuvre, where an enemy is strong, which obliges him to
detach part of his forces to resist any feint or menacing attempt of his
opponent.
=Divest.= To strip of clothes, arms, or equipage.
=Divine Service.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 52.
=Division.= In military matters, is one section of an army, comprising 2
or more brigades, commanded by a general officer. In regimental
formation, 2 companies of a regiment or battalion constitute a division,
when in column.
=Dizier, St.= A town of France, on the Marne. The emperor Charles V.
besieged and took this place in 1544; and in its neighborhood Napoleon
defeated the allies in two battles fought January 27 and March 26, 1814.
=Djokjokarta.= A Dutch residency of Java, near the middle of the south
coast of that island. The town of the same name is the seat of a Dutch
resident and a native sultan, who has a body-guard of young females,
completely armed and equipped, some of whom do duty on horseback. It was
taken by the British in 1812.
=Dobrudscha= (anc. _Scythia Minor_). A name used to denote the
northeastern portion of Bulgaria. The Dobrudscha has long been a famous
battle-ground. Some of the earliest incidents of the Russian war of
1854-56 took place here.
=Dolabra.= A rude ancient hatchet. They are represented on the columns
of Trajan and Antoninus, and abound in all museums. When made of flint,
which was their earliest and rudest form, they are usually called
_celts_.
=Dôle.= A town of France, in the department of Jura, on the right bank
of the Doubs. In 1479 it was taken by Louis XI., when the greater part
of the town was destroyed, and many of its inhabitants were put to the
sword. It subsequently came into the hands of the Spaniards, and was
fortified by Charles V. in 1530. In 1636 it was ineffectually besieged
by the Prince of Condé. In 1668 it was taken by the French; and again in
1674, when its fortifications were destroyed.
=Dolphins.= Two handles placed upon a piece of ordnance with their
centres over the centre of gravity, by which it was mounted or
dismounted. They are no longer in use in the U. S. service.
=Domingo, San.= The capital of the Spanish part of the island of Hayti,
in the West Indies. About the year 1586 the city was sacked by Sir
Francis Drake.
=Dominica.= An island in the West Indies, belonging to the Leeward
group, lying about 20 miles to the north of Martinique. This island was
discovered by Columbus in 1498, and was claimed alternately by England,
France, and Spain: it was finally ceded to Great Britain in 1763.
=Dommage= (_Fr._). In a general acceptation of the term, signified in
the old French service, the compensation which every captain of a troop,
or company, was obliged to make in consequence of any damage that their
men might have done in a town, or on a march.
=Donabue.= A town in India, in the British province of Pegu. In 1825,
during the Burmese war, it maintained a successful resistance against
the assault of a British force under the command of Brigadier Cotton;
and here in 1853, during the last war with the same nation, the British
troops suffered a repulse in an encounter with a Burmese force, losing
several officers.
=Donauwörth.= A town of Bavaria, situated at the confluence of the
Wernitz and the Danube. Here Marlborough stormed and carried the
intrenched camp of the Bavarians in 1704, and on October 6, 1805, the
French under Soult obtained a victory over the Austrians under Mack.
=Donelson, Fort.= A position on a slight bend of the Cumberland River,
in Tennessee, which was strongly fortified by the Confederates during
the civil war. On the afternoon of February 14, 1862, Commodore Foote
commenced with his gunboats an attack on this place, but met with a
decided reverse. Meantime, Gen. Grant’s army, advancing from the capture
of Fort Henry, gradually approached, and surrounded the fort, with
occasional skirmishing on the line. Next day the Confederates attacked
them, but were repulsed with loss, and finding all hope of
reinforcements unavailing, they surrendered the fort on the 16th. About
10,000 prisoners, 40 pieces of artillery, and a large quantity of stores
of all kinds fell into Gen. Grant’s hands.
=Dongola, New=, or =Maraka=. A town on the Nile, and capital of a
province of the same name, in Nubia. Ibrahim Pasha took it from the
Mamelukes in 1820.
=Donjon=, or =Dungeon=. The principal tower or keep of a castle or
fortress. It was so called either from being placed on a _dun_ or
elevation, natural or artificial, or because, from its position, it
dominated or commanded the other parts of the fortress. From the
circumstance that the lower or under-ground story of the donjon was used
as a prison, has come the modern meaning of the word dungeon.
=Doolee.= A palanquin litter, used in Indian armies, to carry sick and
wounded men.
=Dormans.= In Northeast France. The Huguenots and their allies under
Montmorency were here defeated by the Duke of Guise, October 10, 1575.
=Dormant.= (_Fr._). Sleeping. In heraldic representation, an animal
_dormant_ has its head resting on its fore-paws, whereas an animal
_couchant_ has its head erect.
=Dornach.= A village of Switzerland, 20 miles northeast from Soleure,
remarkable for the victory obtained by the Swiss over the Austrians,
July 22, 1499, and which gave Switzerland her independence.
=Dorogoboozh=, =Dorogobush=, or =Dorogobouge=. A town of Russia, in the
government of Smolensk. At this place the French were defeated by the
Russians, October 12, 1812.
=Dosser.= In military matters, is a sort of basket, carried on the
shoulders of men, used in carrying the earth from one part of a
fortification to another, where it is required.
=Dossière= (_Fr._). Back-piece of a cuirass.
=Douai=, or =Douay=. A fortified town of France, on the small river
Scarpe, 18 miles south from Lille. This place was taken from the
Flemings by Philip the Fair in 1297; restored by Charles V. in 1368. It
reverted to Spain, from whom it was taken by Louis XIV. in 1667. It was
captured by the allies, under the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugène,
in 1710, but was retaken by the French, September 8, 1712.
=Double.= To unite, as ranks or files, so as to form one. _To double
upon_, to inclose between two fires.
=Double-quick.= Performed in the time called double-quick; as, a
double-quick step or march.
=Double-quick.= To move, or cause to move, in double-quick time.
=Double-rank.= A line formed of double files.
=Double-shell.= A shell used in the 7-inch English rifles. It is 27
inches long, and has a large cavity. To strengthen it against outside
pressure it has three internal longitudinal ribs projecting about an
inch into the cavity.
=Double-shotting.= Is an increase of the destructive power of ordnance
by doubling the shot fired off at one time from a gun. Sometimes three
shots are fired at once, in which case the piece is said to be
_treble-shotted_.
=Double-time.= The fastest time or step in marching, next to the run,
requiring 165 steps, each 33 inches in length, to be taken in one
minute. The degree of swiftness may vary in urgent cases, and the number
of steps be thus increased up to 180 per minute.
=Doubling.= The putting of two ranks of soldiers into one.
=Doublings.= The heraldic term for the linings of robes or mantles, or
of the mantlings of achievements.
=Doullens.= A town of France, 15 miles northeast of Amiens. This place
was taken by the allies in 1814.
=Doune.= A village of Perthshire, Scotland. The ruins of Doune Castle, a
large and massive fortress built about the 14th century, are situated on
the point of a steep and narrow elevation. Doune was held for Prince
Charles in 1745, and here he confined his prisoners taken at Falkirk,
among the rest the author of the tragedy of “Douglas.”
=Douro.= A large river in Spain and Portugal, which was crossed in 1809
by the British army under the Duke of Wellington, when he surprised the
French under Marshal Soult, and won the battle of Oporto.
=Dover= (anc. _Dubris_). A city and seaport of England, in the county of
Kent, on Dover Strait. The city is defended by Dover Castle, which is
built on chalk-cliffs 320 feet high, and is a fortress of great strength
and extent. The castle is said to have been founded by the ancient
Romans. Near here Julius Cæsar is said to have first landed in England,
August 26, 55 B.C., and here King John resigned his kingdom to Pandolf,
the pope’s legate, May 13, 1213.
=Dowletabad.= A celebrated city and fortress of Hindostan, province of
Hyderabad, deemed impregnable by the natives; but notwithstanding its
strength, it has been frequently taken.
=Drabants.= A company of 200 picked men, of which Charles IX. of Sweden
was captain.
=Draft.= A selecting or detaching of soldiers from an army, or any part
of it, or from a military post; also from any company or collection of
persons, or from the people at large for military service.
=Draft.= See DRAUGHT.
=Draft, To.= To draw from a military band or post, or from any company,
collection, society, or from the people at large; to detach; to select.
Written also _draught_.
=Dragon.= An old name for a musketoon.
=Dragon et Dragon Volant= (_Fr._). Some old pieces of artillery were
anciently so called. The Dragon was a 40-pounder; the Dragon Volant a
32-pounder. But neither the name nor the size of the caliber of either
piece is now in use.
=Dragonner= (_Fr._). According to the French acceptation of the term, is
to attack any person in a rude and violent manner; to take anything by
force; to adopt prompt and vigorous means; and to bring those people to
reason by hard blows, who could not be persuaded by fair words.
=Dragoon.= From the old fable that the dragon spouts fire, the head of
the monster was worked upon the muzzle of a peculiar kind of short
muskets which were first carried by the horsemen raised by Marshal
Brissac in 1600. This circumstance led to their being called dragoons;
and from the general adoption of the same weapon, though without the
emblem in question, the term gradually extended itself till it became
almost synonymous with horse-soldier. Dragoons were at one time a kind
of mounted infantry, drilled to perform the services both of horse and
foot. At present, dragoon is simply one among many designations for
cavalry, not very precise in its application. This term is not now used
in the U. S. service.
=Dragoon, To.= Is to persecute by abandoning a place to the rage of the
soldiers.
=Dragoon Guards.= In the British service, seven regiments of heavy
cavalry bear this title.
=Drag-rope.= This is a 4-inch hemp rope, 28 feet long, with a thimble
worked into each end, one of the thimbles carrying a hook. Six handles,
made of oak or ash, are put in between the strands of the rope, and
lashed with a marline. It is used to assist in extricating carriages
from different positions by the men, for dragging pieces, etc.
=Drag-rope Men.= The men attached to light or heavy ordnance, for the
purpose of expediting movements in action. The French _servans à la
prolonge_ are of this description.
=Drain=, or =Drein=. In the military art, is a trench made to draw water
out of a ditch, which is afterwards filled with hurdles and earth, or
with fascines or bundles of rushes, and planks, to facilitate the
passage over the mud.
=Drake.= A small piece of artillery, no longer used.
=Draught.= The act of drawing men from a military band, army, or post,
or from any company or society; draft; detachment; also, formerly, a
sudden attack or drawing upon an enemy.
=Draughted.= The soldiers of any regiment allotted to complete other
regiments are said to be draughted, or drafted.
=Draught-hook.= Either of two large hooks of iron fixed on the cheeks of
a gun-carriage, two on each side, used in drawing the gun backward and
forward.
=Drawbridge.= A bridge of which the whole or part is made to be let
down, or drawn or turned aside, to admit or hinder communication at
pleasure, as before the gate of a town or castle. It is called
_bascule_, _swivel_, or _rolling_ bridge according as it turns on a
hinge vertically, on a pivot horizontally, or is pushed lengthwise on
rollers.
=Drawing.= In a military sense, is the art of representing the
appearances of all kinds of military objects by imitation or copying,
both with and without the assistance of mathematical rules.
=Drawn Battle.= A fight from which the combatants withdraw without
either side claiming the victory.
=Draw off, To.= In a military sense, means to retire; also to abstract
or take away; as, to draw off your forces. To _draw on_ is to advance;
also to occasion; as, to draw on an enemy’s fire. To _draw over_ is to
persuade to revolt; to entice from a party. To _draw out_ is to call the
soldiers forth in array for action. To _draw up_ is to form in battle
array. To _draw out a party_ is to assemble any particular number of
armed men for military duty. The French say, _faire un detachement_.
=Drayton-in-Hales=, or =Market Drayton=. A town of England, in
Shropshire. Here the partisans of the house of York defeated the
Lancastrians in 1459.
=Dresden.= The capital of the kingdom of Saxony, and one of the best
built towns of Europe. Taken by Frederick of Prussia in 1756; by the
Austrians in 1759; bombarded in vain by Frederick, July, 1760. On August
26-27, 1813, the allies were defeated in a terrible battle by the French
under the walls of this city; and about a mile from it is a granite
block, surmounted by a helmet, marking the spot where Moreau fell in the
conflict, while conversing with the emperor Alexander.
=Dress.= A word of command for alignment of troops; also of the
alignment itself.
=Dressers.= See GUIDES.
=Dress, Full.= Dress uniform. The French is _grande tenue_, or _grande
uniforme_.
=Dress Parade.= Parade in full uniform; one of the ceremonies prescribed
in tactics.
=Dress, To.= To cause a company or battalion to take such a position or
order as will preserve an exact continuity of line in the whole front,
or in whatever shape the command is to be formed. Soldiers dress by one
another in ranks, and the body collectively by some given object. To
_dress the line_ is to arrange any given number of soldiers, so as to
stand perfectly correct with regard to the several points of an
alignment that have been taken up.
=Dress Uniform.= The dress prescribed for occasions of ceremony.
=Dreux.= An old town of France, in the department of the Eure and Loire,
on the Blaise. In 1188 this town was burned by the English; and in 1562
the Prince of Condé was taken prisoner in a severe action fought between
the Huguenots and Roman Catholics in its neighborhood.
=Drift.= A tool used in driving down compactly the composition contained
in a rocket, or like firework.
=Drift.= A deviation peculiar to oblong rifle projectiles. See
PROJECTILES.
=Drill.= Is a general name for the exercises through which soldiers and
sailors are passed, to qualify them for their duties. There are many
varieties of drill,--that of the cavalry, infantry, and artillery,--all
have different drills conformable to their different organizations.
=Drill-Sergeant.= A non-commissioned officer, whose office it is to
instruct soldiers as to their duties, and to train them to military
evolutions.
=Drogheda.= A seaport town of Ireland, in the counties of Meath and
Louth, built on both sides of the Boyne. From the 14th to the 17th
century, Drogheda was the chief military station in Ulster. In 1641 the
town was besieged by O’Neal and the northern Irish forces, but was
gallantly defended by Sir Henry Tichbourne, and after a long blockade
relieved by the Marquis of Ormond, who also relieved it a second time
when invested by the Parliamentary army under Col. Jones. In 1649,
Cromwell was twice repulsed in besieging this town; but in the third
attempt he was successful, when most of the garrison were slaughtered.
This place surrendered to William III. the day after the battle of the
Boyne, which was fought in 1690 at Oldbridge, 4 miles west of Drogheda.
=Drum.= A musical instrument of percussion, formed by stretching a piece
of parchment over each end of a cylinder formed of thin wood, or over
the top of a caldron-shaped vessel of brass; the latter is hence called
a kettle-drum. The large drums which are beaten at each end are called
_double drums_, or _bass drums_, and are used chiefly in military bands.
Kettle-drums are always used in pairs; one of which is tuned to the
key-note, the other to the fifth of the key. The drum is principally
used for military purposes, especially for inspiring the soldiers under
the fatigue of march or in battle. It is supposed to be an Eastern
invention, and to have been brought into Europe by the Arabians, or
perhaps the Moors. In the French army the drum is now, to some extent,
abolished.
=Drum.= To execute on a drum, as a tune;--with _out_, to expel with beat
of drum; as, to drum out a deserter, etc.; with _up_, to assemble by
beat of drum; to gather; to collect; as, to drum up recruits, etc.
=Drumclog.= In Western Scotland; here the Covenanters defeated Graham of
Claverhouse, June 1, 1679. An account of the conflict is given by Walter
Scott, in “Old Mortality.”
=Drum-head.= The head or upper part of a drum.
=Drum-head Court-martial.= A court-martial called suddenly by the
commanding officer to try offenses committed on the line of march, and
which demand an immediate example. This method is not resorted to in
time of peace.
=Drum-Major.= Is that person in a regiment of infantry who has command
of the drummers and teaches them their duty. He also directs the
movements of the regimental band, while on parade.
=Drummer.= The soldier who plays a drum. The majority of drummers are
boys, generally the sons of soldiers. In former times it was the part of
a drummer’s duty to flog men sentenced to corporal punishment.
=Drumming Out.= The ceremony of ignominiously discharging a soldier from
the service. The culprit is marched out of the garrison at the point of
the bayonet, the drummers or musicians playing the “Rogue’s March.”
=Drum-stick.= A stick with which a drum is beaten, or shaped for the
purpose of beating a drum.
=Drunk on Duty.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 38.
=Druses.= A warlike people dwelling among the mountains of Lebanon,
derive their origin from a fanatical Mohammedan sect which arose in
Egypt about 996, and fled to Palestine to avoid persecution. They now
retain hardly any of the religion of their ancestors. In 1860, in
consequence of disputes, the Druses attacked their neighbors, the
Maronites, whom they massacred, it was said, without regard to age or
sex. This led to a general massacre of Christians soon after. But the
Turkish troops, with French auxiliaries, interfering on behalf of the
Christians, invaded Lebanon in August and September, when the Druses
surrendered, giving up their chiefs, January, 1861.
=Dry Camp, To Make a.= Troops on the march are said _to make a dry camp_
when they are compelled by exhaustion, or other causes, to camp at a
place where there is no water. For such camps water is usually
transported with the troops.
=Dualin.= See EXPLOSIVES.
=Dubicza=, or =Dubitza=. A town and fort of European Turkey, in Bosnia,
on the Unna. The Austrians took this town in 1738.
=Dublin.= The capital city of Ireland, on the Liffey, close to its
entrance into Dublin Bay. It is alleged that this city has been in
existence since the time of Ptolemy. In the earlier part of the 9th
century, Dublin was taken by the Danes, who infested it for several
centuries thereafter. In 1169 it was taken by storm by the English under
Strongbow. From about this period the history of Dublin is that of
Ireland.
=Ducenarius.= An officer in the Roman armies who commanded two
centuries.
=Dudgeon.= A small dagger (rare).
=Duel.= Was the old form of a combat between two persons, at a time and
place indicated in the challenge, cartel, or defiance borne by one party
to the other. A duel generally takes place in the presence of witnesses,
called seconds, who regulate the mode of fighting, place the weapons in
the hands of the combatants, and enforce compliance with the rules
which they have laid down. In the United States the practice of fighting
duels, being declared illegal by statutes, is very seldom resorted to.
=Dueling.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 26, 27.
=Duffadar.= A rank in the East Indian Native Cavalry, corresponding with
that of sergeant.
=Duffadar, Kot.= A non-commissioned officer in the East Indian Native
Cavalry, corresponding with a troop sergeant-major.
=Duffadar Major.= A rank in the East Indian Native Cavalry,
corresponding with that of regimental sergeant-major.
=Duke.= From the Latin _dux_, a “leader,” a title that first came into
use when Constantine separated the civil and military commands in the
provinces. This title was successively borrowed by the Goths and Franks,
and since the time of the Black Prince, who was created first duke in
England (Duke of Cornwall) in 1335, it has been a title of the nobility,
ranking next below the blood royal.
=Dukigi-Bachi.= Second officer in the Turkish artillery, who commands
the Topelas, or gunners and founders.
=Duledge.= A peg of wood which joins the ends of the felloes, forming
the circle of the wheel of a gun-carriage; and the joint is strengthened
on the outside of the wheel by a strong plate of iron, called the
_duledge plate_.
=Dumdum.= The name of a town and of a valley in India, well known in the
military history of the country; it is 8 miles to the northeast of
Calcutta, having extensive accommodations for troops, and a
cannon-foundry. The place is famous in connection with the mutiny of
1857, as the scene of the first open manifestation on the part of the
Sepoys against the greased cartridges.
=Dumfries.= A royal burgh and parish of Scotland, the capital of
Dumfriesshire, on the Nith. This town was exposed to repeated calamities
from the invasions of the English during the border wars. In this town
John Comyn, the competitor for the Scottish throne, was stabbed by
Robert Bruce in 1305.
=Dünaburg.= A strongly fortified town of Western Russia, on the Düna. It
is of great military importance, owing to the strength of its
fortifications. It was founded by the Knights of the Sword in 1277.
=Dunbar.= A seaport town of Scotland, in Haddingtonshire, at the mouth
of the Frith of Forth. On the high rocks at the entrance to the new
harbor are a few fragments of the ruins of an old castle, which was once
very strong, and an important security against English invasions. Edward
I. took it, and Edward II. fled thither after the battle of Bannockburn;
it was demolished in 1333, and rebuilt in 1336; it was successfully
defended in a siege of six weeks against the Earl of Salisbury by Black
Agnes, countess of Dunbar, in 1338; it sheltered Queen Mary and
Bothwell in 1567; and in the same year it was destroyed by the regent
Murray. In 1650, Cromwell, at the “Race of Dunbar,” defeated the
Scottish army under Leslie.
=Dunblane=, or =Dumblane=. A town and parish of Scotland, in Perthshire,
on the Allan. Not far from this place is Sheriffmuir, where, in 1715, a
battle was fought between the royal troops and the followers of the
Pretender.
=Dungan Hill= (Ireland). Here the English army, commanded by Col. Jones,
signally defeated the Irish, of whom 6000 are said to have been slain,
August 8, 1647.
=Dungeon= (originally _Donjon_, which see). A prison; a dark and
subterraneous cell or place of confinement.