buildings, shipping, etc. The charges for hot shot are from one-fourth
to one-sixth the weight of the shot. With small velocities, the shot
splits and splinters the wood, so as to render it favorable for burning.
With great velocity the ball sinks into the wood, is deprived of air by
the closing of the hole, and chars instead of burning the surrounding
wood. It should not penetrate deeper than 10 or 12 inches. Red-hot
balls do not set fire to the wood until some time after their
penetration. They retain sufficient heat to ignite wood after having
made several ricochets upon water. The wads for hot shot should be made
of clay or hay, the latter to be well soaked in water, and before being
used, the water pressed out of it. With proper precautions in loading,
the ball may be permitted to cool in the gun without igniting the
charge. The piece, however, should be fired with as little delay as
possible, as the vapor would diminish the strength of the powder. They
are heated by means of furnaces erected for the purpose, which hold
sixty or more shot. The shot being placed, and the furnace cold, it
requires one hour and fifteen minutes to heat them to a red heat; but
after the furnace is once heated, a 24-pounder shot is brought to a red
heat in twenty-five minutes. Red-hot shot is not in general use.
=Hotchkiss Projectile.= See PROJECTILE.
=Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon.= Consists of five barrels grouped around a
common axis; they are revolved in front of a solid breech-block, which
has in one part an opening to introduce the cartridges, and another
opening through which to extract the empty shells. The cartridges are
fired after being revolved and while motionless in front of the solid
portion of the breech. In exterior aspect it resembles the Gatling gun,
but is entirely different in its interior mechanism. See MACHINE GUNS.
=Hotchkiss Rifle.= See MAGAZINE GUNS.
=Hôtel des Invalides= (_Fr._). A spacious building which was erected by
Louis XIV. in Paris, upon the river Seine, as a public monument of his
charity and munificence. All disabled, infirm, and wounded officers and
soldiers were received, lodged, and subsisted during the remainder of
their lives within its walls.
=Hotte= (_Fr._). A sort of hand-basket, which is often made use of in
the construction of batteries and other works, and serves to carry earth
from one place to another. Hence the word _hod_, a well-known machine
for carrying bricks.
=Hougines= (_Fr._). Parts of ancient armor covering the thighs, legs,
and arms.
=Hounds.= Are pieces of wood used in the construction of limbers for
gun-carriages to connect the splinter-bar with the axle.
=Hours of Sitting= (Courts-martial). See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 94.
=Household Troops.= See GUARDS.
=Housing.= Cover or cloth over or under a horse’s saddle used for
cleanliness, or as an ornamental or military appendage; a saddle-cloth;
a horse-cloth.
=Howitzer= (derived by Grimm and Littré from the Bohemian _haufnice_,
“catapult”). A short, light cannon, having a chamber intended to throw
large projectiles with comparatively small charges. A howitzer is of
larger caliber than a gun of like weight; is mounted in a similar
manner, and is used for shorter ranges. It is said to have been first
introduced by the Dutch in the early part of the 17th century, and soon
afterward came into almost general use. The Russians in 1777 introduced
the _licorne_, an improved howitzer. Howitzers project larger shells
than guns with which they are associated; are well adapted for ricochet
fire, the destruction of field-works, breaking down palisades, and
setting fire to buildings; and the projectiles used are shells,
spherical-case, canister, grape, and carcasses. Howitzers, except for
siege and mountain service, are no longer manufactured in the United
States, as our present guns are equally suitable for shell-firing in
field or garrison service. The ones now in use in the U. S. service are
8-inch and 24-pounder mountain howitzers. The former is used for siege
purposes, and for the defense of ditches in fortifications. The
24-pounder flank defense howitzer, now out of use, was formerly employed
for this purpose. The 8-inch howitzer has, strictly speaking, no
chamber; the bore is, however, terminated by a semi-ellipsoid, the axis
being 6 inches in length. This piece weighs 2600 pounds, and the shell
(not filled) 45 pounds. The mountain howitzer (12-pounder) is a small,
light, bronze piece about 3 feet long, weighing 220 pounds, capable of
being easily removed from its carriage, and transported upon the back of
a mule. The shell weighs, when strapped and charged, 9.35 pounds, and
the maximum range of the piece is about 1000 yards. There are two
distinct kinds of carriage used with it, one similar to the carriage of
the ordinary field-piece, but smaller and lighter, the other having four
wheels and called the prairie carriage. This piece has been extensively
employed in our numerous Indian wars upon the plains and mountains of
the West, and has done good service.
=Hualpais=, or =Hualapais Indians=. A tribe of aborigines who are
located on the Colorado River near the Mojaves.
=Hub.= The hilt of a weapon; as, to drive a dagger into a body up to the
hub.
=Hubbardton.= A village of Rutland Co., Vt., about 46 miles
south-southwest of Montpelier. Here an American force of three regiments
of Warner, Francis, and Hale, numbering about 1300, were defeated by the
British under Col. Fraser, July 7, 1777.
=Hubert, St., Order of.= The highest Bavarian order of knighthood,
founded in 1444.
=Hubertsberg.= A village of Saxony, 24 miles east from Leipsic. The
treaty of peace, by which the Seven Years’ War was ended, was signed in
the royal castle of this place in 1763.
=Hue and Cry.= In Great Britain, an official gazette, which serves to
advertise deserters from her majesty’s service.
=Huguenots.= A term (derived by some from the German _Eidgenossen_,
“confederates,” by others from Hugues, a Genevese Calvinist) applied to
the Reformed party in France, followers of Calvin. They took up arms
against their persecutors in 1561. After a delusive edict of toleration,
a great number were massacred at Vassy, March 1, 1562, when the civil
wars began, which lasted with some intermission till the edict of Nantes
in 1598 (revoked in 1685). The massacre of St. Bartholomew’s day, August
24, 1572, occurred during a truce.
=Huissier d’Armes= (_Fr._). Tipstaff; an officer formerly so called in
France, who was attached to the royal household. They were at first
distinguished by the name of _sergens d’armes_, or sergeants-at-arms.
Some were directed to bear the mace before the king during the day, and
obtained on that account the appellation of _huissiers d’armes_; in
later times they were called the _huissiers_, or tipstaffs of the king’s
chamber. Others kept watch in the king’s bed-chamber during the night,
and were sworn to expose their lives for the safety of his person,
whence they obtained the name of _archers de la garde_, which term was
changed to _gardes du corps_, or body-guards.
=Hulan.= See UHLAN.
=Hull=, or =Kingston-upon-Hull=. A seaport town of England, in
Yorkshire, situated on the great inlet of the Humber, at the point where
it is entered by the river Hull. It is a very ancient town; during the
civil war it declared for the Parliament, and sustained two severe
sieges by the royalists.
=Humaitá.= A strong post on the river Paraguay, defended by a battery of
300 cannon, and believed to be impregnable by Lopez, the president of
Paraguay; was forced by the Brazilian ironclads February 17, 1868. On
the 19th, Caxias, the Brazilian general, stormed a work to the north of
Humaitá, and captured many stores.
=Hungary.= A portion of the Austrian empire. It was a part of the
ancient Pannonia and Dacia; was subjected to the Romans about 106, and
retained by them till the 3d century, when it was seized by the Goths,
who were expelled about 376 by the Huns, under Attila. After his death
in 453, the Gepidæ, and in 500 the Lombards held the country. It was
acquired by the Avars about 568, and retained by them till their
destruction by Charlemagne in 799. About 890 the country was settled by
a Scythian tribe, named Vingours, or Ungri (whence the German name
_Ungarn_), and the Magyars of Finnish origin. The progress of the
Magyars westward was checked by their defeat by the emperor Henry the
Fowler, 934. After various changes of rulers it came permanently under
the dominion of Austria in 1526. A revolution took place in Hungary in
1848 under the leadership of Kossuth.
=Huns.= The name of a considerable nation of antiquity, which from time
to time made incursions on the Roman dominions, and which eventually,
under Attila, the most renowned of its leaders, brought in the 5th
century the Eastern and Western empires to the verge of destruction.
They were originally of Asiatic origin, and probably akin to the
Scythians and Turks. In the latter part of the 4th century they settled
along the Danube, in the territory abandoned by the Goths, and
subsequently they pressed onward towards further conquests. In the 5th
century they had acquired considerable power, but after Attila’s death
it was broken. Many of them afterwards took service with the Romans;
others joined the invaders from the north and east that were attacking
the moribund Roman empire.
=Hunters, Death-.= Followers of an army, who, after an engagement, look
for dead bodies in order to strip them.
=Hurdices.= Ramparts, scaffolds, fortifications, etc.
=Hurdles.= In fortification, twigs of willow or osiers, interwoven close
together, and sustained by long stakes. They are made in the figure of a
parallelogram, in length 5 or 6 feet, in breadth 3 or 3¹⁄₂. The closer
they are wattled together the better. They serve to revet, or render
batteries firm, or to consolidate the passage over muddy ditches; or to
cover traverses and lodgments for the defense of the workmen against the
fireworks. Hurdles are constructed in nearly the same manner as gabions,
excepting that the pickets are placed in a straight line instead of a
circle.
=Hurkaru.= A messenger; one who brings intelligence; a scout.
=Hurl.= To send whirling or whizzing through the air; to throw with
violence; to drive with great force; as, to hurl a lance, etc.
=Huron Indians= (also called _Wyandots_). A tribe of aborigines now
almost extinct, who were settled in Canada and in a part of the United
States. They fought against the United States in the war of 1812-15.
=Hurst.= A charge in heraldry representing a small group of trees,
generally borne upon a mount in base.
=Hurter=, or =Heurtoir=. A square beam placed at the foot of a parapet
where there is an embrasure to prevent the wheels of the gun, when the
latter is run up, from injuring the interior slope. A short fascine or
military fagot is sometimes substituted for a beam. A hurter is placed
on the front part of a siege platform, under the wheels. The motion of
gun-carriages is checked, front and rear, by pieces of wood or iron
bolted to the top rails called _hurters_ and _counter-hurters_.
=Hussar.= A name given to the national cavalry of Hungary and Croatia.
They were first raised in 1458, and received their name either from the
method in which they were called out, or from the Tartar _uswar_, which
signifies cavalry. In the armies of modern Europe hussars are light
horse, and differ from light dragoons only in some peculiarities of
dress and equipments.
=Hussites.= Is the name of the followers of Huss. Immediately after his
martyrdom they arose in Bohemia, and took a frightful revenge on the
priests, monks, and prelates of the Roman Catholic Church. Wenceslaus
succeeded, however, in appeasing the storm by granting them religious
freedom. But when the king died in 1419, and the pope issued an order
for the conversion of the Hussites by force, a civil war began. They
assembled under the leadership of John Ziska, on Mount Tabor, captured
Prague, pillaged and burnt the monasteries, and defeated at Deutchbrod
in 1422, and in several other minor encounters, the troops of Sigismund,
the German emperor and heir of Wenceslaus. Ziska died in 1424, but his
successor, Procopius, a former monk, was still more successful. He
defeated Sigismund at Miess and Tachau, and carried the war into
Austria, Bavaria, Franconia, and Saxony. Meanwhile, the Hussites had
separated into two parties, the Taborites and Calixtines. In the
beginning they acted in perfect concert with each other. But in 1433 the
Council of Basle succeeded in coming to an agreement with the Calixtines
and in drawing them out of the contest; the result of which was that the
Taborites were totally defeated at Bomishbrod in 1434. Toleration was
granted, and Sigismund entered Prague, August 23, 1436. The Hussites
opposed his successor, Albert of Austria, and called Casimir of Poland
to the throne, but were defeated in 1438. A portion of the Hussites
existed in the time of Luther, and were called “Bohemian Brethren.”
=Hut.= Is a wooden structure, more or less rough in details, for the
housing of troops. It is substituted very often for the tent, when the
sojourn in a camp or cantonment is likely to be of consideration, as,
for instance, through a winter,--a hut, however rude, which is wind- and
water-tight, being as superior in comfort to a tent as the latter is to
the open air. Huts may be made of almost any size, and are sometimes for
one officer; at others for as many as 100 men. The quarters occupied by
U. S. troops on the American frontiers are very frequently huts made by
the troops.
=Huy.= A town of Belgium, 18 miles southwest from Liege. This town has
withstood several sieges. Its fortifications were dismantled in 1718,
but in 1815 its castle was rebuilt.
=Hyccara= (now _Muro di Carini_). A town of Sicani, on the north coast
of Sicily, west of Panormus. It was taken by the Athenians and
plundered, and its inhabitants sold as slaves, 415 B.C.
=Hydaspes.= A river in India, where Alexander the Great defeated Porus,
after a severely contested engagement, in 327 B.C.
=Hyder.= The Arabic term for lion. This title is frequently given to men
of rank in India.
=Hydraulic Jack.= A powerful portable apparatus for moving heavy weights
through short distances, by an application of the principles of the
hydrostatic press. There are two forms, the _lifting_- and
_pulling_-jack. Those used in the American military service are of 80
tons capacity.
=Hydraulic Loading Apparatus.= The apparatus used in manœuvring heavy
turret-guns in the English navy, invented by Mr. George Rendel (a member
of Sir William Armstrong’s firm), and first tested in the working of a
38-ton gun on the “Thunderer.” It was determined to similarly equip the
“Inflexible,” with her 80-ton armament. The apparatus was thoroughly
tested, in working the 100-ton guns delivered to the Italian government,
in experiments at Spezzia, 1876. The working of the gun, including all
the operations of loading and sponging, is effected by means of
hydraulic pumps, which are all operated by one small steam-engine. The
gun is placed with its trunnions resting on two heavy blocks of metal,
which, being retained by guides, slide on large beams or girders built
in the floor of the turret. In front and rear of the blocks are pistons,
working in cylinders in the direction of the floor-beams. These pistons,
under the influence of water-pressure, move the gun in and out of
battery. The breech is raised and lowered by similar means. When the gun
and trunnion-blocks rush back under the impulse of the recoil from
firing, the water in the rear cylinders is forced out through
escape-valves, which are held down by springs under a tension of 50
atmospheres. The recoil is thus checked in the space of 3 or 4 feet. If
a larger charge is used the tension of the springs can be increased. The
springs only come into play in resisting the desperate force of recoil.
The water pumped into the cylinders (a valve at the rear opening
outwards being raised) is sufficient to run the gun forward without
displacing the recoil-valves, the working-pressure required being less
than 50 atmospheres.
When the gun is to be loaded, it is run forward and the muzzle depressed
till it is in front of an armored hood, which shields an iron door in
the main deck. The door slides back, a sponge appears on the end of a
staff, which enters the bore and lengthens itself like a telescope till
the bottom is reached, when, in obedience to the touch of a valve, a
flood of water is ejected from the sponge to extinguish fire and wash
the bore. The shot and cartridge next appear, lifted from below on a
small truck, which is run out on a trap-door. The cartridge is lifted
in front of the muzzle, the sponge--now converted into a rammer--pushes
it a short distance into the gun, is then withdrawn, and when the shot
rises pushes both to the bottom of the bore. The sponge is then
withdrawn below deck and the trap closes. Each of these movements is
effected entirely by water-pressure, the course of the water and the
corresponding operation being determined by manipulating the proper
valve. The power is supplied by a small steam-engine specially designed
for the purpose. When no manœuvre is to be performed, the engine
occupies itself in pumping water from the tank against the
recoil-valves. When the pressure rises above 50 atmospheres these valves
allow a small quantity to escape, which runs back into the tank. The
engine barely moves in this work. When any manœuvre is to be performed,
such as running the gun forward, a handle is touched, the
cylinder-valves open a passage to the water, and, the enormous
resistance being removed, the engine rattles with energy, and the gun
moves forward as by magic. The valve being closed by the operator, the
engine returns to its sisyphean labor of pumping water against the
loaded valves till some new outlet gives it a specific task.
Every part of this apparatus, notwithstanding its provisional mounting,
worked perfectly in the experiments at Spezzia.
The only defect in the principle was developed by the bursting of one,
the 38-ton gun of the “Thunderer” (January 2, 1879), which was worked by
this apparatus. The disaster has been generally attributed to the
presence in the gun of a double charge of both shot and powder. This
could hardly have occurred in hand-loading. Steps have been taken to
remedy the apparatus in this regard.
=Hygrometer.= An instrument for measuring the degree of moisture of the
atmosphere.
=Hygrometer, Daniell’s.= A form of hygrometer consisting of a bent glass
tube terminating in two bulbs, the one covered with muslin, the other of
black glass, and containing ether and a thermometer. Ether being poured
on the muslin, the black ball, cooled by the evaporation of the ether
within, is soon covered with dew, at which moment the receding of the
inclosed thermometer, compared with that of another in the air, gives
the dew point.
I.
=Iapydes.= A warlike and barbarous people in the north of Illyricum,
between the rivers Arsia and Tedanius; were a mixed race, partly
Illyrian and partly Celtic, who tattooed their bodies. They were subdued
by Augustus. Their country was called Iaiydia.
=Iazyges.= A powerful Sarmatian people, who originally dwelt on the
coast of the Pontus Euxinus and the Palus Mæotis; but in the reign of
Claudius settled near the Quadi in Dacia, in the country bounded by the
Danube, the Theiss, and the Sarmatian Mountains. The Iazyges were in
close alliance with the Quadi, along with whom they frequently attacked
the Roman dominions, especially Mœsia and Pannonia. In the 5th century
they were conquered by the Goths.
=Ice.= In high latitudes, during the winter, rivers are frequently
covered with ice of sufficient thickness to sustain the heaviest loads.
This means of communication should be used with great circumspection. A
change of temperature may not only suddenly destroy this natural bridge,
but render the river impassable by any method for a considerable time in
consequence of the floating ice.
The thickness of ice should be, to allow the passage of infantry in
single file on a line of planks, and 2 yards apart, 2 inches; cavalry or
light guns, with intervals, 4 inches; 12-pounder field-pieces,
unlimbered and on sleds, 5 inches; 12-pounder field-pieces, limbered and
drawn by horses, with intervals between pieces, 6 to 7 inches. Ice when
10 to 12 inches thick bears the heaviest loads. Two tracks of planks
laid on the ice for the carriage-wheels to run on, may be employed when
there is any doubt as to its strength, or the wagon may be transformed
into a sort of sled by fastening two planks under the wheels.
The thickness of the ice may be increased, when the temperature is low
enough, by throwing water on it.
When the river is frozen on each side, but open in the middle in
consequence of the velocity of the current, a boom stretched across the
open space will often check the velocity sufficiently to cause the water
to freeze.
=Iceni.= A British tribe which inhabited chiefly Suffolk and Norfolk. In
61, headed by Boadicea, their queen, they marched southwards and
destroyed Verulam, London, and other places, with great slaughter of the
Romans, but were defeated by Suetonius near London, and their queen
slain.
=Ich Dien.= _I serve_; the motto under the plume of ostrich feathers
found in the helmet of the king of Bohemia after he was slain at the
battle of Crécy, at which he served as a volunteer in the French army,
August 26, 1346. Edward the Black Prince, in veneration of his father,
Edward III., who commanded that day, though the prince won the battle,
adopted this motto, which has since been borne with the feathers by the
heirs to the crown of England; but not as prince of Wales, which many
have erroneously maintained.
=Ichnæ=, or =Ischnæ=. A Greek city in the north of Mesopotamia, founded
by the Macedonians; was the scene of the first battle between Crassus
and the Parthians, in which the former gained the victory. According to
Appian, the Parthians soon after defeated the Romans near the same spot.
=Ichnography.= The plan or representation of the length and breadth of a
fortification, the distinct parts of which are marked out either on the
ground itself, or on paper. A plan upon the correct principles of
ichnography represents a work as it would appear if it were leveled to
its foundations, and shows only the expanse of ground on which it had
been erected. The science does not represent either the elevation or the
different parts belonging to a fortification. This properly comes under
the title “profile,” which does not, however, include length.
=Iconium= (now _Konieh_). A town of Asia Minor, situated on the shores
of the Lake Trogitis, about 120 miles inland from the Mediterranean. In
ancient times it was famous as the capital of Lycaonia, and from 1087 to
1229 it was the seat of a Seljuk sultanate. In December, 1832, a battle
was fought here, in which Ibrahim Pasha completely defeated the Turkish
army.
=Idaho.= A Territory of the United States, bounded on the north by the
British possessions, on the east by Montana and Dakota, and on the south
by Nevada and Utah. It was organized in 1863, and has frequently been
the scene of Indian troubles.
=Idsted.= A village of Selswick. A battle was fought here in 1850,
between the Danes and Schleswig-Holsteiners, in which the latter were
defeated.
=Ignition= (Lat. _ignis_, “fire”). The act of setting fire to, or of
taking fire; as opposed to combustion or burning, which is a consequence
of ignition. By ignition of gunpowder is understood the setting on fire
of a particular point of the charge.
=Ilerda= (now _Lerida_). A town of the Ilergetes, in Hispania
Tarraconensis, situated on a height above the river Sicoris (now
_Segre_). It was afterwards a Roman colony, but in the time of Ausonius
had ceased to be a place of importance. It was here that Africanus and
Petreius, the legates of Pompey, were defeated by Cæsar, 49 B.C.
=Illinois.= One of the Central States of the United States, in the
valley of the Upper Mississippi, and one of the most fertile in the
Union, having scarcely any soil which is uncultivable. It was originally
settled by the French, but fell into the hands of the English in 1763,
becoming the property of the United States at the Revolution. It was
organized as a State December 3, 1818, and during the civil war was a
staunch supporter of the Union.
=Illinois Indians.= A confederacy of Indian tribes, mostly of Algonkin
stock, who formerly inhabited the State now known by their name. Very
few relics of these tribes now exist.
=Illustrious.= Conferring lustre or honor; brilliant; renowned; as,
illustrious deeds or titles.