movement of the axis of a piece in a vertical plane as distinguished
from _direction_ or its movement horizontally. The elevation is usually
positive,--that is, the gun is pointed above the horizontal. When it is
pointed below, it is said to be depressed. The word is also used to
express degree, or as a synonym for _angle of elevation_. The sights or
elevating apparatus of guns are graduated on the theory that the object
is in the horizontal plane of the piece, or that the line of sight is
horizontal, which is not always the case in practice. When the elevation
is determined by sights the angle of elevation is the angle between the
line of sight and the axis of the piece, when these lines are in the
same vertical plane,--or the angle between the line of sight and a plane
containing the axis of the piece and a horizontal line intersecting it
at right angles, when they are not. The graduations of tangent scales
and fixed breech-sights give this angle in degrees. The graduation of
the pendulum hausse gives the angle correctly only when the line of
sight is horizontal. When the elevation is given by elevating arcs or
gunner’s quadrant, the angle of elevation becomes the angle of fire, or
the angle which the axis of the piece makes with the horizontal.
Elevation is necessary to overcome the effect of gravity on the
projectile. The degree of elevation increases with the range. _In vacuo_
the elevation corresponding to the maximum range is 45°. In the air the
angle of maximum range diminishes with the velocity and increases with
diameter and density of the ball. It is greater in mortars than in
howitzers, and greater in howitzers than in guns. In mortars it
approximates to 42°; in guns it is about 37°.
=Ellisburgh.= A village of Jefferson Co., N. Y. In 1814 an engagement
took place here between the Americans and British, in which the latter
were defeated.
=Elmina.= A fortified town and seaport of West Africa, founded by the
Portuguese in 1481; was the first European settlement planted on the
coast of Guinea. It was taken by the Dutch in 1637, and was ceded by
them to Portugal. It was burned by the British troops in 1873.
=Elsass= (Fr. _Alsace_). One of the old German provinces, having the
Rhine on the east and the Vosges Mountains on the west. It was ceded to
France in 1648; but after the Franco-German war was annexed by Prussia,
under treaty of May 10, 1871.
=Elswick Compressor.= An arrangement for compressing friction plates
used in the English navy to take up the recoil of gun-carriages upon
their slides. The 7 friction plates arranged longitudinally under the
carriage and attached to its lower part, have alternating between them 6
long flat bars attached at their ends to the slide by bolts passing
through them, but allowing them a side motion. The plates and bars are
tightly clamped by short rocking levers, the lower ends of which act on
the outside plates. The levers are worked by collars on a threaded
shaft, which catch their upper ends. The shaft is called the compressor
shaft, and has a handle or crank on the outside of each cheek or
bracket,--one is called the _adjusting lever_, the other the _compressor
lever_. The first is used to give an initial compression to suit the
charge, the other is operated by the recoil being forced down by a
tripper on the slide. Two forms of the compressor are used,--one for the
_single plate_, the other for the _double-plate carriage_. In the
double-plate carriage the adjusting lever can be set to any degree of
compression without causing any motion in the compressor shaft or lever.
=Elswick Gun.= Armstrong gun (which see).
=Elvas.= A strong frontier town of Portugal, in the province of
Alemtejo, situated on a rocky hill, 10 miles northwest from Badajos. It
is one of the most important strongholds in Europe. The arsenal and
bomb-proof barracks are capable of containing 6000 or 7000 men. In 1808
it was taken and held for five months by the French.
=Emaum Ghaur.= In Scinde, was a strong fortress in the Thur or Great
Sandy Desert, separating that province from the rajpoot state of
Jessulmere. It was captured by Sir Charles Napier in January, 1843.
=Embark.= To put or cause to go on board a vessel or boat; as, to embark
troops. To go on board of a ship, boat, or vessel; as, the troops
embarked for Egypt.
=Embarkation.= The act of putting or going on board of a vessel.
=Embaterion.= A war-song of the Spartans, accompanied by flutes, which
they sung marching in time, and rushing on the enemy. The origin of the
embaterion is lost in antiquity.
=Embattle.= To arrange in order of battle; to draw up in array, as
troops for battle; also, to prepare or arm for battle.
=Embattle.= To furnish with battlements. “_Embattled_” house.
=Embattlement.= An indented parapet; battlement.
=Embezzlement.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 60.
=Emblazonry.= See BLAZONRY.
=Emblee= (_Fr._). A prompt, sudden, and vigorous attack, which is made
against the covert way and outworks of a fortified place.
=Embody.= To form or collect into a body or united mass; as, to embody
troops.
=Embrasseur= (_Fr._). A piece of iron, which grasps the trunnions of a
piece of ordnance, when it is raised upon the boring machine, to widen
its caliber.
=Embrasure.= In fortification, is an opening in the parapet, or a hole
in the mask wall of a casemate through which the guns are pointed. The
_sole_ or bottom of the embrasure is from 2¹⁄₂ to 4 feet (according to
the size of the gun) above the platform upon which the gun stands.
Parapet embrasures are smallest at the interior opening, which is called
the mouth, and is from 1¹⁄₂ to 2 feet wide. The widening of the
embrasure is what is called the _splay_. The sole slopes downward about
one in six. Its exterior line, or its intersection with the exterior
slope, is usually made half the length of the sole. The line which
bisects the sole is called the _directrix_. The sides are called cheeks.
The masses of earth between embrasures are called _merlons_. When the
directrix makes an angle with the direction of the parapet, the
embrasure is _oblique_. The embrasures of casemates have in horizontal
section a shape something like an hour-glass. The nearest part is called
the throat. This is sometimes closed with iron shutters.
=Embrocher.= A vulgar term used among French soldiers to signify the act
of running a man through the body; literally to _spit him_.
=Emery.= A powder made by grinding a mineral,--corundum,--used by
soldiers for cleaning their arms.
=Eminence.= A high or rising ground, which overlooks and commands the
low places about it. Such places, within cannon-shot of any fortified
place, are a great disadvantage, if the besiegers become masters of
them.
=Emir=, or =Emeer=. An Arabic word, equivalent to “ruler,” is a title
given to all independent chieftains, and also to all the actual or
supposed descendants of Mohammed through his daughter Fatima. In former
times, the title of Emir was borne by the leaders in the religious wars
of the Mohammedans, and by several ruling families.
=Emissary.= A person sent by any power that is at war with another, for
the purpose of creating disaffection among the people of the latter.
=Emousser= (_Fr._). To blunt, to dull. In a military sense, it signifies
to take off the four corners of a battalion, which has formed a square,
and to give it, by those means, an octagon figure; from the different
obtuse angles of which it may fire in all directions.
=Emperor= (_Imperator_). Among the ancient Romans, signified the
general of an army, who, for some extraordinary success, had been
complimented with this appellation. Subsequently it came to denominate
an absolute monarch or supreme commander of an empire. In Europe, the
first who bore the title was Charlemagne.
=Empilement= (_Fr._). From _empiler_, to pile up. The act of disposing
shot and shell in the most secure and convenient manner. This generally
occurs in arsenals and citadels.
=Emprise.= A hazardous attempt upon the enemy.
=Encamp.= To form and occupy a camp; to halt on a march, spread tents,
and remain for a night or for a longer time; as, an army or company.
=Encampment.= The pitching of a camp. The act of pitching huts or tents,
as by an army, for temporary lodging, or rest; the place where an army
or company is encamped. There are _intrenched_ camps, where an army is
intended to be kept some time, protected against the enemy; _flying_
camps, for brief occupation; camps of _position_, bearing relation to
the strategy of the commander; and camps of _instruction_, to habituate
the troops to the duties and fatigues of war.
=Enceinte.= In fortification, denotes generally the whole area of a
fortified place. Properly, however, it means a cincture or girdle, and
in this sense the _enceinte_ signifies the principal wall or rampart
encircling the place, comprising the curtain and bastions, and having
the main ditch immediately outside it.
=Encircle.= To pass around, as in a circle; to go or come round; as, the
army encircled the city.
=Encombrer= (_Fr._). In fortification, to fill up any hollow place, such
as a stagnant lake, etc., with rubbish.
=Encompass.= To describe a circle about; to go around; to encircle; to
inclose; to environ; as, an army encompasses a city; a ship’s voyage
encompasses the world.
=Encounter.= A meeting with hostile purpose; hence, a combat; a battle.
=Encounter.= To come against face to face; to engage in conflict with;
to oppose; as, two armies encounter each other.
=Encounters.= In military affairs, are combats or fights between two
persons only. Figuratively, battles or attacks by small or large armies.
=Encroachments.= The advancement of the troops of one nation on the
rights or limits of another.
=Enemy.= In military language, the opposing force; as, “We have met the
enemy, and they are ours.”
=Enfans Perdus.= Forlorn hope, in military history, are soldiers
detached from several regiments, or otherwise appointed to give the
first onset in battle, or in an attack upon the counterscarp, or the
breach of a place besieged; so called (by the French) because of the
imminent danger to which they are exposed.
=Enfield Rifle-musket.= The service arm of Great Britain prior to the
adoption of breech-loaders; manufactured at Enfield, England, at the
royal small-arms factories. It was first extensively introduced in 1853,
and was used during the Crimean war. It had three grooves, with a twist
of about one turn in 6 feet. Before the adoption of the Martini-Henry,
large numbers of those guns were utilized by converting them into
breech-loaders on the Snider principle. The Enfield rifles, though very
serviceable weapons, much better than the Belgian and Austrian arms
imported to the United States during the civil war, were in almost every
respect inferior to the old Springfield (U. S.) rifle-musket, nearly of
the same caliber (.58), the Enfield being .577. All those weapons have
now given place to various breech-loading arms.
=Enfilade.= Is to fire in the direction of the length of a line of
parapet or troops; to “rake it,” as the sailors say. In the siege of a
fortress, the trenches of approach are cut in a zigzag, to prevent the
defenders enfilading them from the walls.
=Enfilading Batteries.= In siege operations are one of the classes of
batteries employed, the other classes being _counter_ and _breaching_
batteries. Enfilading batteries are located on the prolongation of the
faces and flanks of the works besieged, to secure a raking fire along
the terre-pleins.
=Engage.= To gain for service; to enlist.
=Engage.= To enter into conflict; to join battle; as, the armies engaged
in a general battle.
=Engagement.= A general action or battle, whether by land or sea.
=Engarrison.= To protect any place by a garrison.
=Engen.= In Baden; here Moreau defeated the Austrians, May 3, 1800.
=Enghien=, or =Steenkirk=. In Southwestern Belgium. Here the British
under William III. were defeated by the French under Marshal Luxemburg,
July 24, 1692.
=Engineer, Military.= An officer in the service of a government, whose
duties are principally to construct fortifications, to make surveys for
warlike purposes, to facilitate the passage of an army by the
construction of roads and bridges; in short, to execute all engineering
works of a military nature. He is also called upon to undertake many
works which more properly belong to the business of a civil engineer,
such as the survey of the country, the inspection of public works, and,
in short, all the duties of a government engineer.
=Engineering.= The business of the engineer; the art of designing and
superintending the execution of railways, bridges, canals, harbors,
docks, the defense of fortresses, etc.
=Engineer Corps.= In modern nations, the necessity for a corps of
staff-officers, trained to arrange for and overcome the embarrassments
of the movements of an army in the field, has been thoroughly
demonstrated, and hence, in European armies, a trained staff of officers
is organized for this purpose. In the United States a force of about 300
officers and enlisted men are engaged in these duties. See SAPPERS AND
MINERS.
=Engineers, Topographical.= See TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS.
=England.= The southern and larger division of the island of Great
Britain, and the principal member of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland. It was so named, it is said, by Egbert, first king of the
English, in a general council held at Winchester, 829. It was united
with Wales, 1283; with Scotland in 1603; and Ireland was incorporated
with them, January 1, 1801. For previous history, see BRITAIN; and for
further details of battles, etc., see separate articles.
=Enlargement.= The act of going or being allowed to go beyond the
prescribed limits; as the extending the boundaries of an arrest, when
the officer is said to be enlarged, or under arrest at large.
=Enlargement.= Enlargements of the bore and vent are injuries suffered
by all cannon that are much used. The term is technically applied to
certain injuries to brass cannon. See INJURIES TO CANNON.
=Enlistment.= The voluntary enrollment of men in the military or naval
service.
=Enniscorthy.= A town of Ireland, in the county of Wexford, on the river
Slaney. It arose in the Norman castle, still entire, founded by Raymond
le Gros, one of the early Anglo-Norman invaders. Cromwell took this
place in 1649; and the Irish rebels stormed and burned it in 1798.
=Enniskillen.= A town of Ireland, in the county of Fermanagh. This place
is famous for the victory, in 1689, won by the troops of William III.,
under Lord Hamilton, over a superior force of James II., under Lord
Gilmoy. The banners taken in the battle of the Boyne hang in the
town-hall of Enniskillen.
=Enniskillen Dragoons.= A British regiment of horse; it was first
instituted from the brave defenders of Enniskillen, in 1689.
=Enrank.= To place in ranks or in order.
=Enroll.= To place a man’s name on the roll or nominal list of a body of
soldiers.
=Ensconce.= To cover as with a fort.
=Enseigne= (_Fr._). The colors. The French designate all warlike symbols
under the term _enseigne_; but they again distinguish that word by the
appellations of _drapeaux_, colors, and _etendards_, standards.
_Drapeaux_ or colors are particularly characteristic of the infantry;
_etendards_ or standards belong to the cavalry.
=Ensemble.= Together; the exact execution of the same movements,
performed in the same manner, and by the same motions. It is the union
of all the men who compose a battalion, or several battalions or
companies of infantry and cavalry, who are to act as if put in motion by
the same spring.
=Enshield.= To cover from the enemy.
=Ensiform.= Having the shape of a sword.
=Ensign-bearer.= One who carries a flag; an ensign.
=Ensigncy.= The rank or office of an ensign.
=Ensisheim.= In Eastern France; here Turenne defeated the imperial army,
and expelled it from Alsace, October 4, 1674.
=Entanglement.= Abatis, so called, when made by cutting only partly
through the trunks, and pulling the upper parts to the ground, where
they are picketed.
=Entanglement, Wire.= Formed by twisting wire round stout stakes or
trees 7 feet apart. The wires are placed about a foot or 18 inches above
the ground. The trees-pickets or trees are in two or three rows,
arranged checkerwise, the wires crossing diagonally.
=Enter, To.= To engage in; to enlist in; as, to enter an army.
=Enterprise.= An undertaking attended with some hazard and danger.
=Enterpriser.= An officer who undertakes or engages in any important and
hazardous design.
=Entire=, or =Rank Entire=. A line of men in one continued row by the
side of each other. When behind each other, they are said to be in file.
=Entonnoir= (_Fr._). The cavity or hole which remains after the
explosion of a mine. It likewise meant the tin case or port-feu which is
used to convey the priming powder into the vent of a cannon.
=Entrench, To.= Is to construct hastily thrown-up field-works for the
purpose of strengthening a force in position. See INTRENCH.
=Entrepôts.= Magazines and places appropriated in garrison towns for the
reception of stores, etc.
=Envelope.= In fortification, a work of earth, sometimes in the form of
a single parapet, and at others like a small rampart; it is raised
sometimes in the ditch, and sometimes beyond it. Envelopes are
occasionally _en zigzag_, to inclose a weak ground, where that is
practicable, with single lines. Envelopes, in a ditch, are sometimes
called sillons, contregardes, conserves, lunettes, etc.
=Environ, To.= To surround in a hostile manner; to hem in; to besiege.
=Enzersdorf.= A fortified town of Austria, 8 miles east from Vienna.
=Epaule.= In fortification, denotes the shoulder of a bastion, or the
place where its face and flank meet and form the angle, called the angle
of the shoulder.
=Epaulement= (Fr. _epaule_). In siege works, is a portion of a battery
or earthwork. The siege batteries are generally shielded at one end at
least by epaulements, forming an obtuse angle with the main line of the
battery. The name is often given erroneously to the parapet of the
battery itself, but it applies properly to the flanking return only.
Sometimes the whole of a small or secondary earthwork, including the
battery and its flanks, is called an epaulement; and sometimes the same
name is given to an isolated breastwork intended to shield the cavalry
employed in defending a body of besiegers.
=Epaulette.= A shoulder-knot worn by commissioned officers of the army
and navy, as a mark of distinction. The insignia of their rank are
usually marked on officers’ epaulettes.
=Epauletted.= Furnished with epaulettes.
=Ephebi.= In Grecian antiquity, the name given to the Attic youth from
the age of 18, till they entered upon their 20th year. During this
period they served a sort of apprenticeship in arms, and were frequently
sent, under the name of _peripoli_, to some of the frontier towns of
Attica to keep watch against foreign invasion.
=Epibatæ.= In Grecian antiquity, the name given to soldiers whose duty
it was to fight on board ship. They corresponded almost exactly to the
marines of modern naval warfare. The term is sometimes found in Roman
authors to denote the same class of soldiers, but the general phrase
adopted by them is _milites classiarii_, or _socii navales_.
=Epignare= (_Fr._). A small piece of ordnance which does not exceed one
pound in caliber.
=Epigoni.= A term which signifies “heirs” or “descendants.” It was
applied to the sons of the seven chiefs who conducted an expedition
against Thebes to restore Polynices, and who were all killed except
Adrastus. Ten years later the Epigoni--namely, Alcmæon, Thersander,
Diomedes, Ægialeus, Promachus, Sthenelus, and Euryalus--renewed the
enterprise and took Thebes. The war of the Epigoni was celebrated by
several ancient epic and dramatic poets.
=Epinglette= (_Fr._). An iron needle with which the cartridge of any
large piece of ordnance is pierced before it is primed.
=Epinikian.= Pertaining to, or celebrating, victory; as an epinikian
ode.
=Epirus.= A celebrated country of ancient Greece, lying between the
Ionian Sea and the chain of Pindus.
=E Pluribus Unum.= “One out of many.” A motto adopted by the United
States since their declaration of independence, in 1776.
=Epouvante= (_Fr._). A sudden panic with which troops are seized, and
under which they retreat without any actual necessity for so doing.
=Eprouvette= (_Fr._). A small mortar to prove the strength of gunpowder.
There are different sorts of eprouvettes, according to the fancy of
different nations who use them. Some raise a weight, and others throw a
shot, to certain heights and distances. As a test of gunpowder the
eprouvette is comparatively worthless, and it has been generally
superseded by instruments for measuring the initial velocity obtained by
firing the powder in the particular gun for which it is intended. A
short mortar is, however, still used, to a certain extent, for testing
the power of modern blasting powders, such as the mixtures of
nitro-glycerine. A very small charge and a heavy shot of chilled iron
which enters two or three inches only into the mortar are used. The
square roots of the ranges (other things being equal) give the relative
powers of the different powders, nearly.
=Equalize.= To render the distribution of any number of men equal as to
the component parts. To _equalize a battalion_, to tell off a certain
number of companies in such a manner that the several component parts
shall consist of the same number of men.
=Equation of Time.= See TIME, MEAN SOLAR TIME.
=Equerry.= Any person who is appointed to attend the sovereign, or
prince of the royal blood, upon out-door excursions, and who has the
care and management of their horses.
=Eques Auratus.= A heraldic term for a knight.
=Equestrian.= A man who rides on horseback; a horseman; a rider.
=Equestrian Order.= Among the Romans, signified their knights or
equites; as, also, their troopers or horsemen in the field.
=Equip, To.= To furnish an individual, a corps, or an army with
everything that is requisite for military service, such as arms,
accoutrements, uniforms, etc.
=Equipage.= In military matters, is the name given to the necessaries of
the soldier. The equipment of a private is often used as a name for the
whole of his clothes, arms, and accoutrements, collectively. The
equipage of the camp is of two kinds, _camp_ and _field_ equipage.
=Equipments, Cannoneers’.= Include the _hausse pouch_, _cartridge
pouches_, _primer pouches_, and _thumb-stall_, used in the field
service. The equipments for a field-piece are the _tampion_ and _strap_,
_vent cover_ and _tarpaulin_. Other things used in service of cannon are
called _implements_, which see.
=Equipments, Horse.= In the mounted service, comprise the _bridle_,
_halter_, _watering bridle_, _saddle_, _saddle-bags_, _saddle blanket_,
_nose-bag_, _lariat_, _curry-comb_, _brush_, etc.
=Equipments, Infantry.= Comprise the personal outfit of the soldier,
excluding arms proper and clothing. A set of equipments is called a
_kit_ (which see). The standard equipments for infantry include the
_knapsack_, _belts_, and _plates_, _cartridge-box_, _bayonet-scabbard_,
_haversack_, and _canteen_. The knapsack, haversack, and canteen are
only used in marching. In the United States there is a strong tendency
towards discarding the knapsack; a roll made of the blanket, piece of
shelter-tent, or overcoat, being frequently used instead. A clothing-bag
is also sometimes used to take its place. The best manner of arranging
and slinging the various articles carried, for the comfort and health of
the soldier, is still an open question. In future wars it is probable
that an intrenching tool will be added to the soldier’s equipment. The
equipments for a cavalry soldier in the United States are very much the
same as for infantry.
=Equipments, Signal.= The _flags_, _staffs_, _flying torches_, _fort
torches_, _flame shades_, _haversacks_, _telescopes_, etc., used in
signaling. A set of equipments for one man is called a _signal kit_.
=Equites.= An order of equestrian knights introduced among the Romans by
Romulus.