=Guard-chamber.= A guard-room.
=Guard, Counter-.= See COUNTER-GUARDS.
=Guard, Detail.= The men from a company, regiment, or other organization
detailed for guard duty.
=Guard, Dismounting.= The act of coming off guard.
=Guard, Forage.= A detachment sent out to secure foragers. They are
posted at all places where either the enemy’s party may come to disturb
the foragers, or where they may be spread too near the enemy, so as to
be in danger of being taken. This guard consists both of horse and foot,
who must remain on their posts till the foragers are all come off the
ground.
=Guard, Grand.= The main guard of a camp or army. See GRAND GUARD.
=Guard-house.= A building occupied by the guard. The prisoners being
kept in the building, it is frequently used as a synonym for prison-room
or lock-up. _To take one to the guard-house_, is to confine him.
=Guard, Magazine-.= See GARDES-MAGAZINE.
=Guard, Main.= Is that from which all other guards are detached, and
constitutes the chief guard of a garrison.
=Guard Mess.= Is the table which is kept for the officers of the Life
and Foot Guards in St. James’ Palace. The sum of £4000 per annum is
allowed for the mess.
=Guard Mounting.= The act of going on guard. The military ceremony of
marching on guard.
=Guard of Honor.= A guard drawn up to receive eminent personages, as a
mark of respect, or to accompany them.
=Guard, Picket.= An outpost guard for the purpose of preventing a
surprise.
=Guard, Police.= The interior guard of a camp or army in charge of arms,
property, tents, etc. Also a guard in charge of prisoners engaged in
policing a camp or garrison.
=Guard, Provost-.= See PROVOST-GUARD.
=Guard, Quarter.= The guard which is posted in front of a camp.
=Guard, Rear-.= The guard posted in rear of a camp. It also means the
body of troops which, when troops are on the march, bring up the rear,
and hold a pursuing enemy in check.
=Guard Report.= The report which the non-commissioned officer or officer
in charge of the guard sends in on dismounting. It contains a statement
of duties performed, of hours at which the guard was visited by the
officer of the day or field-officer, a list of government property and
its condition, and also of the prisoners handed over to the guard, with
the charge against each, together with the name of the officer by whom
the prisoner was confined.
=Guard Tent.= Tent occupied by the guard.
=Guardable.= Capable of being guarded or protected.
=Guardiagrele.= An old town of Southern Italy, in the province of
Chieti. Belisarius surrounded it with a turreted wall as a defense
against the Goths. It was often besieged during the Middle Ages, and in
1799 was mercilessly sacked and burned by the French.
=Guards.= In the British service constitute in time of peace the
garrison of London, and the guard of the sovereign at Windsor. The
Guards compose what is called the Household Brigade, and include in
cavalry the 1st and 2d Life Guards, and the Royal Horse Guards; and in
infantry the Grenadier Guards, the Coldstream Guards, and the Scots
Fusilier Guards. The officers of the regiments of Foot Guards hold
higher army rank than that they bear regimentally,--that is, ensigns
rank with lieutenants of other regiments, lieutenants with captains, and
so on.
=Guards, Imperial.= The name of a body of select troops organized by the
French emperor, Napoleon I., which greatly distinguished themselves at
Austerlitz.
=Guards’ Institute.= An establishment in London; it consists of
reading-, lecture-rooms, etc., for all officers and soldiers in the
metropolis. It was inaugurated by the Duke of Cambridge, July 11, 1867.
=Guards, The Horse Grenadier.= Formerly a body of horse guards in the
British service; the first troop was raised in 1693, and the second in
1702. This corps was reduced in 1783, the officers retiring on full pay.
=Guastadours= (_Fr._). Turkish pioneers. Armenians and Greeks are
generally employed in the Turkish armies to do the fatigue-work that is
necessary for the formation of a camp, or for conducting a siege.
=Guastalla.= A city in Northern Italy, near which the imperial army,
commanded by the king of Sardinia, was defeated by the French, September
19, 1734. The ancient district of that name, long held by the dukes of
Mantua, was seized by the emperor of Germany, 1746, and ceded to Parma,
1748. After having been comprised in the Italian republic, 1796, and
subjected to other changes, it was annexed to Parma, 1815, and to
Modena, 1847.
=Guatemala.= A republic in Central America, declared independent March
21, 1847. A war between Guatemala and San Salvador broke out in January,
1863, and on June 16 the troops of the latter were totally defeated.
=Guatuso Indians.= A tribe of aborigines living on the Rio Frio, in
Central America. They are said to be a brave and warlike race.
=Gubbio= (anc. _Iguvium_). A city of Central Italy, 27 miles south of
Urbino, on the southern declivity of the Apennines. It bore a
conspicuous part in the beginning of the civil war between Cæsar and
Pompey, when it was occupied by the prætor Minucius Thermus with five
cohorts; but on the approach of Curio with three cohorts, Thermus, who
was apprehensive of a revolt of the citizens, abandoned the town without
resistance.
=Gudda.= An Indian term for a fool; also a small fort erected upon a
hill or eminence.
=Guelphs and Ghibellines.= Names given to the papal and imperial
factions who destroyed the peace of Italy from the 12th to the end of
the 15th century (the invasion of Charles VIII. of France in 1495). The
origin of the names is ascribed to the contest for the imperial crown
between Conrad of Hohenstaufen, duke of Swabia, lord of Wiblingen (hence
_Ghibelin_), and Henry, nephew of Wolf, or Guelf, duke of Bavaria, in
1138. The former was successful; but the popes and several Italian
cities took the side of his rival. _Hie Guelf_ and _Hie Ghibelin_ are
said to have been used as war-cries in 1140, at the battle before
Weinsberg, in Würtemberg, when Guelf of Bavaria was defeated by the
emperor Conrad IV., who came to help the rival duke, Leopold. The
Ghibellines were almost totally expelled from Italy in 1267, when
Conrad, the last of the Hohenstaufens, was beheaded by Charles of Anjou.
Guelph is the name of the present royal family of England.
=Guelphs, Order of.= An order of knighthood for Hanover, instituted by
George IV., when regent, on August 12, 1815. It is both a military and
civil order, unlimited in number, and consisted originally of three
classes,--Knights Grand Cross, Commanders, and Knights; but in 1841
another class of simple members was added to the order.
=Guerite= (_Fr._). A sentry-box, small turret. In fortified towns there
are several small turrets of this denomination, which are sometimes made
of wood, and sometimes built with stones. They are generally fixed to
the acute points of bastions, and sentinels are posted within them for
the purpose of watching the ditch, and of preventing any surprise in
that quarter.
=Guerre= (_Fr._). War; warfare; art of war; dissension; strife. _En
guerre_, at war; in action; ready for action; a piece of ordnance
unlimbered, trunnions shifted, and everything made ready for firing.
=Guerrillas= (Sp. _guérra_, “war”). The name given to armed bands, who
on occasion of foreign invasion or civil wars, carry on an irregular
warfare on their own account. The name was first applied in Spain to
irregular soldiery. From 1808 to 1814 they were regularly organized
against the French, and being favored by the character of the country
which they fought in, were successful on many occasions. In our late
civil war many bands were organized in the Border States, and were a
great annoyance to both armies. If guerrillas are taken captive in open
warfare, they should be treated according to the usual customs of war,
unless they are known to have been guilty of acts not tolerated in
civilized warfare. In the Franco-German war, however, we find that the
Germans refused to recognize as soldiers, or extend the privileges of
war, to the _francs-tireurs_, a body of French volunteer sharpshooters,
who, to a great extent, adopted this system of guerrilla warfare.
=Guerrillero= (_Sp._). An irregular soldier; a member of a guerrilla
band or party; a partisan.
=Guet= (_Fr._). This term was particularly attached to those persons
belonging to the French body-guard, who did duty during the night. It
also signified rounds, or those duties of a soldier, or patroling party,
which are prescribed for the security of a town, etc., and to prevent
surprises. It is also used in a military sense in conjunction with other
words; as _guet à pied_, foot patrol; _guet à cheval_, horse patrol,
etc.
=Gueux= (_Fr._). “Beggars.” A name applied by the Count of Barlaimont in
1566 to the confederated nobles and others of the Low Countries who
opposed the tyrannies of Philip II. The malcontents at once adopted the
title, and calling themselves _gueux_, for many years opposed the
Spanish king by sea and land with varying success.
=Guichet= (_Fr._). A small door or outlet, which is made in the gates of
fortified towns. It is generally 4 feet high, and 2 broad, so that a man
must stoop to get through. In garrison towns the guichet was left open
for the space of one-quarter of an hour after the retreat, in order to
give the inhabitants time to enter.
=Guides.= Generally the country people in the neighborhood where an army
encamps. They give intelligence concerning the country, and the roads by
which the enemy may approach. In time of war, particularly in the seat
of it, the guides invariably accompany headquarters. Of late years it
has been customary to form them into regular corps with proper officers
at their head.
=Guides.= The name given to the non-commissioned officers, or other
enlisted men, who take positions to mark the pivots, marches,
formations, and alignments in modern discipline; the French call them
_jaloneurs_, from _jalon_, a post.
=Guides, Corps des= (_Fr._). The corps of guides. This body was
originally formed in France in 1756, and consisted of 1 captain, 1
first lieutenant, 2 second lieutenants, 2 sergeants, 2 corporals, 1
anspessade, and 20 privates, called _fusiliers-guides_. Another corps of
guides was also formed in 1796. This corps now forms part of the
imperial guard.
=Guidon.= A small flag or streamer, as that carried by cavalry, which is
broad at one end, nearly pointed at the other, and usually of silk; or
that used to direct the movements of infantry, or to make signals at
sea. In the U. S. service, each company of cavalry has a guidon.
=Guidon.= One who carries a flag. Also, one of a community of guides
established at Rome by Charlemagne to accompany pilgrims to the Holy
Land.
=Guienne=, or =Guyenne=. An old province in the southwest of France,
lying to the north of Gascony. It was part of the dominions of Henry II.
Philip of France seized it in 1293, which led to war. It was alternately
held by England and France till 1453, when John Talbot, earl of
Shrewsbury, in vain attempted to take it from the latter.
=Guilford Court-house= was situated about 5 miles northwest of
Greensboro’, N. C. Here an engagement took place between the British
troops under Cornwallis, and the American forces, chiefly composed of
inexperienced militia, under Gen. Greene, on March 15, 1781. The fight
resulted in a partial victory for the royal troops, owing principally to
the disorganization and flight of the North Carolina militia. Gen.
Greene, not wishing to risk the annihilation of his army, retreated to
Speedwell’s iron-works, 10 miles distant. Cornwallis, however, did not
attempt to pursue him, but fell back himself to Cross Creek
(Fayetteville).
=Guillotine.= The instrument of decapitation introduced during the
French revolution by the Convention, and named after its supposed
inventor, J. I. Guillotin. It is composed of two upright posts, grooved
on the inside, and connected on the top by a cross-beam. In these
grooves a sharp iron blade, placed obliquely, descends by its own weight
on the neck of the victim, who is bound to a board laid below. The
invention of machines of this kind is ascribed to the Persians. In
Italy, from the 13th century, it was the privilege of the nobles to be
put to death by a machine of this kind, which was called _mannaia_.
Machines of similar kind were used in Scotland and Holland for the
purpose of decapitation.
=Guinegate, Battle of.= Or more familiarly, the “Battle of the Spurs,”
was fought at Guinegate, not far from Tournai, in the province of
Hainault, August 16, 1513, between the English under Henry VIII.,
assisted by a considerable body of troops headed by the emperor
Maximilian, and the French under the Duc de Longueville. The latter were
defeated. The battle received its familiar designation from the
circumstance of the French knights having made better use of their
_spurs_ than of their _swords_.
=Guisarme=, or =Gisarme= (_Fr._). An offensive weapon formerly used in
France; it was a two-edged axe mounted upon a long handle, and sometimes
called _voulque_. There were three kinds; the _glaive gisarme_ had a
sabre-blade with a spike, the _bill gisarme_ a blade like a
hedging-bill, and the _hand gisarme_ was a kind of bill with a serrated
back.
=Guisarmiers= (_Fr._). Were French foot-soldiers (_piétons_) of the free
archers, armed with the guisarme.
=Gujerat=, or =Guzerat=. A walled town of the Punjab, on the right side
of the Chenab, about 8 miles from the stream. It is a place of some
military importance, being on the great route between Attock and Lahore.
Here on February 21, 1849, a Sikh army of 60,000 men was utterly
defeated by a British force decidedly inferior in point of numbers.
=Gules.= The term by which the color red is known in heraldry. In
engraving it is marked by perpendicular lines traced from the top of the
shield to the bottom. It is supposed to indicate valor, magnanimity, and
the like, and is regarded as the most honorable heraldic color.
=Gun.= In its most general sense, a gun is a machine, having the general
shape of a hollow cylinder closed at one end, and used for the purpose
of projecting heavy bodies to great distances by means of gunpowder.
Technically, it is a heavy cannon, distinguished by its great weight,
length, and absence of a chamber. It is used for throwing projectiles
with large charges of powder to long distances, with great accuracy and
penetration. Guns came into use in the 14th century, and were first
fired from supports, and in reality were artillery. Shortly after, they
took the form of a clumsy hand-gun, called an arquebuse, which was
portable, but discharged from a forked rest. The next modification,
which came into use about the end of the 14th century, was called the
matchlock. The piece was discharged by a lighted match brought down on
the powder-pan by the action of a trigger. This was superseded in 1517
by the wheel-lock, the fire being produced by the action of a toothed
wheel upon flint or iron pyrites. Almost contemporary with this was the
snaphance gun, in which sparks were generated by the concussion of flint
on the ribbed top of the powder-pan. About the middle of the 17th
century the flint-lock began to be employed. This was a combination of
the two latter weapons, but much superior to either. It continued
universally in use until the early part of the present century, when the
percussion-lock was invented, which by 1840 (the time of its adoption by
the British government), had completely superseded it. As the lock
improved, and the rapidity of firing increased, the weight of the piece
diminished; the old tripod first used as a rest gave way to one stake,
and finally, in the 18th century, was abandoned altogether. The weapon
was then the smooth-bore musket, which continued in use with various
modifications until the middle of the 19th century, when it was
partially superseded by the rifle. (See SMALL-ARMS.) In their earlier
stages cannon went by various names, as bombards, culverins, petronels,
and later on were reduced to the three denominations, technically, of
guns, howitzers, and mortars. For the two latter, see HOWITZER and
MORTAR. Guns are subdivided in the U. S. service according to their use,
into field, siege, and sea-coast guns. The field-guns consist of two
rifle pieces; the 3-inch rifle, adopted in 1861, and the 3¹⁄₂-inch
rifle, adopted in 1870 (see ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF), and the Napoleon
gun, a 12-pounder smooth-bore, adopted in 1857. (See NAPOLEON GUN.) The
only siege gun adopted by the United States is a 4¹⁄₂-inch rifle. The
30-pounder Parrott, so extensively employed in our service for siege
purposes, is not a regulation gun. The sea-coast guns consist of 13-,
15-, and 20-inch smooth-bores, and 10- and 12-inch rifles. An 8-inch
rifle has been constructed by converting the 10-inch smooth-bore
according to the Palliser or Parsons method. The 13-inch smooth-bore and
the 10- and 12-inch rifles are regarded as experimental guns. The guns
principally in use for the land and sea forces of the United States are
those known as the Columbiad, or Rodman, Dahlgren, Gatling, Hotchkiss,
Napoleon, Parrott. (For particular descriptions, see appropriate
headings.) In the British service they are the Armstrong, Palliser,
Woolwich, or Fraser, and the Lancaster, Mackay, and Whitworth; the three
latter being now very little used. (See appropriate headings.) The only
breech-loader in general use in Europe is the Krupp, which is largely
employed for all purposes by Germany and Russia. See KRUPP GUN.
=Gun, Curricle.= Is a small piece of ordnance, mounted upon a carriage
of two wheels, and drawn by two horses. The artilleryman is seated on a
box, and the whole can be moved forward into action with astonishing
rapidity. The tumbrils belonging to curricle guns carry 60 rounds of
ball cartridges. This gun is no longer in general use.
=Gun Factories, Royal.= Are government establishments in England, at
Woolwich, and Elswick, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, for the construction of
great guns for the use of the British army and navy.
=Gun-barrel.= The barrel or tube of a gun. Gun-barrels were formerly
made on the coiled principle, and this method is still largely followed
in thin barrels like those of shot-guns. The superior kinds of shot-gun
barrels are known as _stub_, _stub-twist_, _wire-twist_, _laminated_,
etc.
_Stub-iron_ is made from horseshoe nails cleaned by tumbling and mixed
with a small proportion of steel scrap. It is then puddled and put
through various processes, which end in the production of a flat bar
called a _skelp_.
_Twist_ is the term applied to _coiled barrels_. The iron or steel is
made into a ribbon, which is wound spirally around a mandrel and welded.
_Stub-twist_ is stub-iron coiled.
_Wire-twist_ is made by welding iron and steel bars together, or two
qualities of iron, and drawing the compound bar into a ribbon, which is
coiled as before described. The term is specially applied to coiled
barrels made from small ribbons.
_Damascus iron_ is made by twisting compound bars of steel and iron,
welding several of the twisted bars together and forming a ribbon from
the mass.
_Laminated_ is the term applied to barrels made from compound bars.
In twist-barrels, the ribbon is several yards long, about half an inch
wide, and thicker at the breech than at the muzzle end. It is heated to
redness, wound on the mandrel, then removed and heated to the
welding-point slipped over a rod with a shoulder at the lower end. The
rod is then dropped vertically several times on a block of metal, which
welds the spiral edges together. This is called _jumping_. The welding
is completed by hammering.
Rifle-barrels and the cheaper kinds of shot-gun barrels are made
directly from the _skelp_, which is passed between rollers, which first
bend the plate longitudinally and afterwards convert it into a tube. The
tube is then heated to a welding heat, a mandrel is pushed into it, and
it is passed through the welding rolls, which weld the edges and at the
same time taper and lengthen the tube. The boring and turning are done
in lathes.
=Gun-carriage.= See CARRIAGE.
=Gun-carriage, Barbette.= See BARBETTE CARRIAGE.
=Gun-carriage, Field.= See FIELD-CARRIAGE.
=Gun-carriage, Flank Casemate.= See FLANK CASEMATE CARRIAGE.
=Gun-carriage, Mountain.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.
=Gun-carriage, Prairie.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.
=Gun-carriage, Sea-coast.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.
=Gun-carriage, Siege.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.
=Gun-cotton=, or =Pyroxyle=. Gun-cotton was discovered by Schönbein in
1846, and was first made by treating ordinary cotton with a mixture of
nitric and sulphuric acids. The product resembles ordinary cotton in
appearance, but in color is slightly tinged with yellow, and is very
much heavier. It explodes with great violence, but is unfit for most
military purposes on account of its liability to spontaneous explosion,
its corroding residue, and the irregular character of its explosion.
Baron von Lenk, of the Austrian service, however, succeeded to some
extent in regulating the suddenness of the explosion by twisting it into
ropes, and weaving it into cloth, but it never came much into favor for
military purposes. As first made, the length of time necessary for its
manufacture was about two or three months, but Mr. Abel, of the British
war office, has by a series of experiments materially decreased the time
necessary for its manufacture, and greatly increased the safety and
certainty of the product. At Favesham the manufacture of a peculiar kind
of gun-cotton, known as _tonite_, is conducted on a large scale. The
process consists in intimately mixing the ordinary gun-cotton with about
an equal weight of nitrate of baryta. This compound is then compressed
into candle-shaped cartridges, formed with a recess at one end for the
reception of a fulminate of mercury detonator. It contrasts favorably
with soft, plastic dynamite from the fact of its being easily fastened
to the safety-fuze. Among its advantages, said to be due to the use of
the nitrate, are that it contains a great amount of oxygen in a very
small volume, and that it is very ready under the detonator, while its
great density makes it slow to the influence of ordinary combustion. It
is 30 per cent. stronger than ordinary gun-cotton, and takes up but
two-thirds of its space, or the same space as dynamite. The cartridges
are generally made water-proof. The projectile force of gun-cotton, when
used with moderate charges, is equal to about twice its weight of the
best gunpowder. Its explosive force is in a high degree greater than
that of gunpowder, and in this respect its nature assimilates much more
to the fulminates than to gunpowder. It evolves little or no smoke, as
the principal residue of its combustion is water and nitrous acid.
Recently, by the mixture of nitre and cane-sugar its quickness in action
has been reduced so as to make it available for use in small-arms. The
nitrous acid, however, will soon corrode the barrel if the piece is not
carefully wiped after firing. Other explosive substances analogous to
gun-cotton may be prepared from many organic bodies of the cellulose
kind, by immersing them in the same bath as for gun-cotton; among these
may be mentioned paper, tow, sawdust, calico, and wood fibre.
=Gundermuk.= A village of Afghanistan, 28 miles west from Jellalabad.
Here the remnant of the British force, consisting of 100 soldiers and
300 camp-followers, were massacred in 1842, while retreating from Cabul
(Cabool), only one man escaping.
=Gun-fire.= The hour at which the morning or evening gun is fired.