in ancient times varied considerably. It was inhabited by a savage
tribe, who were much addicted to piracy and robbery. In 359 B.C. Philip
of Macedon conquered the eastern portion of the country, now Albania,
and it was incorporated with Macedonia. The Illyrians were brought into
a collision with the Romans on account of their piracy, which led to
their subjugation about two centuries before the Christian era. They
made numerous efforts to shake off the Roman yoke, but were always
defeated, and the country became a most important province of the Roman
empire, comprising the territory represented in modern times by Croatia,
Dalmatia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, nearly all Bosnia, and a part of
Albania. On the division of the Roman empire, it shared in the
vicissitudes that followed that act. A decree of Napoleon, on October
14, 1809, gave the name of Illyrian provinces to Carniola, Dalmatia, and
other countries from the Adriatic Sea to the Save, then belonging to the
French empire. At his fall these provinces were united as a kingdom to
the Austrian empire, and some alterations were made in its boundaries,
especially by the restoration to Hungary of what had formerly belonged
to it, and the annexation of the whole of Carinthia.
=Ilmenau.= A town of Saxe-Weimar, on the Ilm, 18 miles west from Weimar.
A battle was fought by the united forces of the Russians and Saxons
against the Swedes near this town in 1706.
=Imbannered.= Furnished with banners.
=Imbellic.= Not warlike or martial. This term is now obsolete.
=Imbody.= See EMBODY.
=Imbrued=, or =Embrued=. An expression used in heraldry to signify
bloody, or dropping with blood. Weapons thus blazoned are drawn with
drops of blood falling from them.
=Imeritia.= Formerly an independent Transcaucasian territory, now part
of the government of Kutais. Its history as an independent dominion
commenced from about the beginning of the 15th century, and was long
marked by internal dissensions. In 1745, Solomon I. was proclaimed, but
his nobles revolting shortly after, and aided by the Turks, dethroned
him. Solomon applied for help to Russia, and in 1769, Count Todtlen, at
the head of a Russian force, entered Emeritia, restored the king, and
drove back the Turks. The civil dissensions of this province, however,
continued, and at last, in 1810, after having long acknowledged
allegiance to Russia, it was formally incorporated in, and proclaimed a
province of that empire.
=Immailed.= Wearing mail or armor; clad in armor. This term is now
obsolete.
=Immartial.= Not martial; not warlike. This term is now obsolete.
=Immortals.= In antiquity, the name of a body of 10,000 troops,
constituting the guard of the king of Persia; so called because they
were always of the same number; for as soon as any of them died, the
vacancy was immediately filled up. They were distinguished from all the
other troops by the richness of their armor, and still more by their
bravery. The same term was applied to the life-guards of the Roman
emperors.
=Imola.= A fortified town of Ravenna, a province of Italy, on a small
island in the river Santerno; it is defended by a strong castle. This
town was founded by the Lombards on the ruins of Forum Cornelii,
destroyed by Justinian, and was afterwards successively held by
different chiefs who ruled in Central Italy. Julius II. annexed it to
the States of the Church, but it was delivered from the papal yoke when
Ravenna declared for annexation to Sardinia in 1859.
=Impact.= In gunnery, the single instantaneous blow or stroke of a body
in motion against another either in motion or at rest.
=Impale.= In heraldry, to arrange two coats of arms side by side in one
shield divided per pale. It is usual thus to exhibit the conjoined coats
of husband and wife, the husband’s arms occupying the dexter, or right
side, and the wife’s the sinister, or left side, of the escutcheon.
=Impedimenta.= The accompaniments to an army received from the Romans
the name of impedimenta. They consist in transportation of munitions,
equipments, provisions, hospital supplies, tents, engineering tools,
bridge equipage, and boats, baggage, cooking utensils, etc., necessary
for the use of an army moving against an enemy. This requires the use of
large numbers of wagons and of draught animals, or shipping, and
necessarily impedes the movement of an army. See BAGGAGE.
=Impenetrable.= Incapable of being penetrated or pierced, not admitting
the passage of other bodies, not to be entered; as, an impenetrable
shield.
=Imperator.= An old Roman title signifying commander, which was applied
to the rulers of provinces, consuls, pro-consuls, etc., or to anybody
who had an _imperium_ assigned him. After a victory the Roman soldiers
frequently saluted their commander by this title.
=Imperial Guards.= See GUARDS, IMPERIAL.
=Imperialists.= This word was chiefly applied to the subjects of, or
forces employed by the house of Austria, when opposed to the troops of
other German powers.
=Imperil.= To bring into peril, to endanger.
=Impetuous.= Rushing with force and violence, moving with impetus,
furious, forcible; as, the troops went pouring forward with impetuous
speed.
=Impetus.= In gunnery, the altitude through which a heavy body must fall
to acquire a velocity equal to that with which a ball is discharged from
a piece.
=Implement.= Whatever may supply a want, especially an instrument or
utensil as supplying a requisite to an end; as, the implements of war.
=Implements, Equipments, and Machines.= In artillery, the two former are
employed in loading, pointing, and firing cannon, and in the mechanical
manœuvres of artillery carriages, the latter to mount and dismount
cannon from their carriages, and to transport artillery material from
one part of a work to another. The implements for loading cannon are,
(1) The _rammer-head_, a short cylindrical piece of beech or other tough
wood, fixed to the end of a long stick of ash, called a _staff_,
employed to push the charge to its place in the bore or chamber of a
cannon. (2) The _sponge_, a _woolen_ brush attached to the end of a
staff, for the purpose of cleaning the interior of cannon and
extinguishing any burning fragments of the cartridge that may remain
after firing. In the field and mountain services, the rammer-head and
sponge are attached to the opposite ends of the same shaft; in the siege
and sea-coast services, they are attached to separate staves, except for
howitzers, in which they are combined. (3) The _ladle_, a copper scoop
attached to the end of a staff for the purpose of withdrawing the
projectile of a loaded piece. (4) The _worm_, a species of double
cork-screw attached to a staff, used in field and siege cannon to
withdraw a cartridge. (5) The _gunner’s haversack_ (which see). (6) The
_pass-box_, a wooden box closed with a lid and carried by a handle
attached to one end. In siege and sea-coast service, where the cartridge
is large, it takes the place of the haversack. (7) The _tube-pouch_ or
_primer-pouch_, a small leather pouch attached to the cannoneer by a
waistbelt. It contains the friction-tubes, lanyard, priming-wire,
thumb-stall, etc. (8) The _budge-barrel_ (which see). (9) The
_priming-wire_, used to pick a hole in a cartridge for the passage of
the flame from the vent. (10) The _thumb-stall_, a buckskin cushion
attached to the thumb or finger to close the vent in sponging and
loading. (11) The _fuze-setter_, a brass drift for driving a wooden fuze
into a shell. (12) The _fuze-mallet_, made of hard wood, and used in
connection with the setter. (13) The _fuze-saw_, a 10-inch tenon saw for
cutting wooden or paper fuzes to the required length. (14) The
_fuze-gimlet_, sometimes employed in place of the saw to open a
communication with the fuze composition. (15) The _fuze-auger_, an
instrument for regulating the time of burning of a fuze by removing a
certain portion of the composition from the exterior. For this purpose
it has a movable graduated scale, which regulates the depth to which the
auger should penetrate. (16) The _fuze-rasp_, a coarse file employed in
fitting a fuze-plug to a shell. (17) The _fuze-plug reamer_, used to
enlarge the cavity of a fuze-plug after it has been driven into a
projectile, to enable it to receive a paper fuze. (18) The _shell-plug
screw_, a wood screw with a handle, used to extract a plug from a
fuze-hole. (19) The _fuze-extractor_, worked by a screw, and is a more
powerful instrument than the preceding; it is used for extracting wooden
fuzes from loaded shells. (20) The _fuze-wrench_, made in the form of a
cross or T-shaped, to unscrew percussion fuzes. (21) The
_mortar-scraper_, a slender piece of iron with a spoon at one end and a
scraper at the other, for cleaning the chamber of a mortar. (22) The
_gunner’s sleeves_, made of flannel or serge; they are drawn over the
coat-sleeves of the gunner to prevent them from being soiled while
loading a mortar. (23) The _funnel_, made of copper, and used in pouring
the bursting charge into a shell. (24) The _powder-measures_, made of
copper, of cylindrical form, and of various sizes, for the purpose of
determining the charges of shells and cannon by measurement. (25) The
_lanyard_, a cord, one end of which has a small iron hook, and the other
a wooden handle. It is used to explode the friction-tubes with which
cannon for the land service are now fired. (26) The _gunner’s gimlet_
and _vent-punch_, used in boring out the vent when it becomes foul. (27)
_Gunner’s pincers_ (which see). (28) The _shell-hooks_, an instrument
made to fasten into the ears of a shell, for the purpose of lifting it
to the muzzle of the piece. (29) The _tow-hook_, in field service, used
in unpacking ammunition and taking projectiles from the chest. The
implements for pointing are: the _gunner’s level_, _gunner’s quadrant_,
the _breech-sight_, the _pendulum-hausse_, and _elevating arc_. (See
appropriate headings.) The _tangent-scale_, a brass plate, the lower
edge of which is cut to the curve of the base-ring of the piece, and the
upper formed into offsets which correspond to differences of elevation
of a quarter of a degree. It is used in pointing by placing the curved
edge on the base-ring, with the radius of the offset corresponding with
the highest point of the ring, and sighting over the centre of the
offset, and the highest point of the swell of the muzzle. The principal
manœuvring implements are: the _trail handspike_, the _manœuvring
handspike_, the _shod handspike_, the _truck handspike_, the _roller
handspike_ (see HANDSPIKE); the _prolonge_, a stout rope used to connect
the lunette of the carriage and pintle-hook of the limber to move the
piece short distances without limber; the _sponge-bucket_, made of
sheet-iron, for washing the bore of the piece; the _tar-bucket_, also
made of sheet-iron, for carrying grease for the wheels; the _watering
bucket_, made of sole-leather, for watering the horses; the
_water-buckets_, made of wood and bound with iron hoops. These are of
two kinds,--one for the traveling-forge, and the other for the service
of garrison batteries. The _drag-rope_, used when necessary to employ a
number of men in hauling loads, or extricating a carriage from a
difficult part of the road. It has a hook at one end, a loop at the
other, and six wooden handles placed about 4 feet apart. The _men’s
harness_, similar to the drag-rope, except that the rope is stouter, and
the handles are replaced by leather loops which pass over the shoulders
of the men, to enable them to exert their strength to advantage. The
_bill-hook_, or hand-bill, used for cutting twigs. The _screw-jack_, a
lifting-machine composed of a screw worked by a _movable nut_ supported
on a _cast-iron stand_. It is used in greasing carriage-wheels.
Artillery machines comprise the _gin_ (see GIN), the _sling-cart_ (see
HAND-SLING-CART), the _casemate truck_, the _hand-cart_ (see HAND-CART),
the _lifting-jack_, and the _lever-jack_. The casemate truck is composed
of a stout frame of wood mounted on three barbette traverse-wheels, and
is employed to move cannon and carriages through posterns and along
casemate galleries. The lifting-jack is a small but powerful screw,
worked by a geared nut. It is useful when the space for manœuvring is
small, and the number of men limited. If the weight to be raised is
sufficiently high, the lifting power is applied at the top; if it be
low, it is applied at the foot. The lever-jack is another but less
powerful apparatus for lifting. It consists of a _lever_ of wood resting
on a _bolt_, which passes through holes in two _uprights_. The height of
the bolt is varied by passing it through different holes in the uprights
(eight in number), and the power of the lever is regulated by a notched
piece of cast iron screwed to the under side of the lever.
=Implements, Re-loading.= See RE-LOADING IMPLEMENTS.
=Impregnable.= Not to be stormed, or taken by assault; incapable of
being reduced by force; able successfully to resist attack; as, an
impregnable fortress.
=Impregnably.= In an impregnable manner; in a manner to defy force; as,
a place impregnably fortified.
=Impress.= To compel any person to serve.
=Impression.= The effect of an attack upon any place or body of
soldiers.
=Imprisonment.= Officers may be sentenced to imprisonment by a general
court-martial in any case where the court may have discretionary
authority. General, garrison, and regimental courts-martial may sentence
soldiers to imprisonment, solitary or otherwise, with or without hard
labor, for various offenses enumerated in the Articles of War. A
garrison or regimental court-martial, in awarding imprisonment, is
limited to a period not exceeding thirty days. When a court awards
solitary imprisonment as a punishment, it is necessary that the words
“solitary confinement” should be expressed in the sentence. The legal
imprisonment in the United States is confinement, solitary confinement,
and confinement on bread and water; confinement on bread and water shall
not extend over fourteen days at a time, with intervals between the
periods of such confinement not less than such periods, and not
exceeding eighty-four days in any one year.
=Impulse.= The act of impelling, or driving onward with sudden force;
impulsion; the action of a force so as to produce motion suddenly, or
without appreciable loss of time. Also sudden motion exciting to action;
hasty inclination; influence acting unexpectedly, or with momentary
force; impression; instigation; as, the troops moved forward with one
impulse.
=In Battery.= The position of field-guns when unlimbered and prepared
for action. Also applied to heavy guns when in the firing position; also
the command for the movement in both cases. Heavy guns are “from
battery” when in the loading position.
=In Gear.= A command in the service of heavy guns, to cause the
eccentrics of the truck-wheels to be thrown in gear. Also refers to the
position of the eccentrics when the command is executed.
=In Line.= Refers to the formation of troops when posted, or marching,
with extended front.
=Inaccessible.= A general term for any distance or height which cannot
be approached for any military purposes.
=Inactive.= Not disposed to action or effort; not diligent or
industrious; not busy; idle; as, an inactive officer.
=Inca.= A king or prince of Peru, before the conquest of that country by
the Spaniards.
=Incapable.= A term of disgrace, frequently annexed to military
sentences, when an officer has been cashiered by the sentence of a
general court-martial, and rendered incapable of ever serving his
country in either a civil or military capacity.
=Incendiary Compositions.= Used to set fire to buildings, shipping,
etc., have been known and used from the earliest times. Greek fire
(which see) was extensively used in the 7th century. Among modern
incendiary compositions are _fire stone_, sometimes called _rock fire_,
and _Valenciennes composition_ (which see).
=Incendiary Shells.= Are shells containing incendiary compositions. See
CARCASS for modern example.
=Incensed=, or =Animé=. An epithet applied in heraldry to panthers or
other wild beasts borne with flames issuing from their mouth and ears.
=Incidence, Angle of.= In projectiles, the angle which the line of
direction of the projectile makes with the surface of the obstacle on
which it impinges.
=Inclination.= In gunnery, the inclination of a plane is the angle it
makes with the horizon either above or below.
=Inclination of the Grooves.= In a rifle is the angle which the tangent
to the groove at any point makes with the element of the bore passing
through the point. The tangent of the angle, which may be taken as a
measure of the inclination, is equal to the circumference of the bore
divided by the length of bore corresponding to one revolution of the
spiral. See TWIST.
=Incline.= To gain ground to the flank, as well as to the front.
Inclining is of great use in the marching of the line in front, to
correct any irregularities that may happen. It is equivalent to the
quarter facing and to the oblique marching of the infantry. It enables
you to gain the enemy’s flank without exposing your own, or without
wheeling or altering the parallel front of the company.
=Inclose.= To surround; to shut in; to confine on all sides; to include;
to shut up; to encompass; as, to inclose a fort or an army with troops;
to inclose a town with walls.
=Incommoder l’Ennemi= (_Fr._). To get possession of a fort, eminence,
etc., from which the enemy may be harassed, or which is necessary to his
security.
=Incompetent.= Incapable; unfit; unequal. No officer, be his situation
what it may, can be said to be competent to command who is not only
willing and able to follow orders himself, but will likewise see them
strictly adhered to by others; whose mind is not superior to
partialities, and whose judgment is not equal to discern real merit from
ignorant assumption.
=Incorporate, To.= To add a smaller body of forces to a larger, and to
mix them together. Independent companies are said to be incorporated,
when they are distributed among different regiments; regiments among
brigades, etc.
=Incorporation.= In the manufacture of gunpowder, is the thorough mixing
of the three ingredients--nitre, sulphur, and charcoal,--a very
important operation. The process should be so complete that the smallest
particle of the gunpowder should contain each ingredient in proper
proportion.
=Increasing Twist.= A term applied to rifle grooves, the inclination of
which increases from the breech to the muzzle. In many guns the grooves
begin at the front of the chamber, without inclination.
=Incursion.= Invasion without conquest; inroad; ravage.
=Indefensible.= Not defensible; not capable of being defended or
maintained; as, a military post may be indefensible.
=Indefensive.= Having no defense.
=Indella.= A body of Swedish yeomen furnished by certain proprietors of
lands, after the manner of the old Norman feudal system.
=Indemnification.= A regulated allowance for losses sustained by
officers or soldiers on actual service.
=Indemnity.= Indemnification, compensation, or remuneration for loss,
damage, or injury sustained.
=Indent, To.= A word particularly made use of in India for the dispatch
of military business. It is of the same import and meaning as _to draw
upon_. It likewise means an order for military stores, arms, etc.; as,
an indent for new supplies, etc.
=Indented.= In heraldry, one of the partition lines of the shield,
similarly notched to dancetté, but with notches much smaller, and not
limited in number.
=Indented Line.= In fortification, is a serrated line, forming several
angles, so that one side defends another. The faces are longer than the
flanks. Indented lines are used on the banks of rivers, where they enter
a town. The parapet of the covered way is also often indented.
=Independence, Declaration of.= The solemn declaration of the Congress
of the United States of America, on July 4, 1776, by which they formally
renounced their subjection to the government of Great Britain.
=Independent.= In a military sense, is a term which distinguishes from
the rest of the army those companies which have been raised by
individuals for rank, and were afterwards drafted into corps that were
short of their complement of men. _Independent company or troop_, is one
that is not incorporated into any regiment.
=India=, or =Hindostan=. An extensive region of Southern Asia,
celebrated during many ages for its riches and natural productions. The
Hindoo histories ascribe the origin of the people to a period ages
before the ordinary chronologies. A race of kings is mentioned as
reigning 2300 B.C. Several ancient nations, particularly the Tyrians and
Egyptians, carried on commerce with India. It was partially conquered by
Darius Hystaspes, who formed an Indian satrapy, 512 B.C., and by
Alexander, 327 B.C. The authentic history of Hindostan commences with
the conquests of Mahmoud Ghuzni, 1004. For further history of India, see
BENGAL, CALCUTTA, MADRAS, etc.
=Indian File.= Single file; arrangement of persons in a row following
one after another; the usual way among Indians of traversing woods,
etc.
=Indian Fortification.= The entrance into an East Indian fortification
is through a large and complicated pile of buildings, projecting in the
form of a parallelogram from the main rampart; and, if the city has two
walls, it projects beyond them both. This building consists of several
continued terraces, which are of the same height as the main rampart,
and communicate with it; the inward walls of these terraces form the
sides of an intricate passage, about 20 feet broad, which leads by
various short turnings, at right angles, through the whole pile to the
principal gate that stands in the main rampart. This is the general
outline of the old Indian fortifications.
=Indian Military Force.= The East Indian military service, like the
civil service, has been undergoing a thorough reorganization, consequent
on the great mutiny, and the transfer of the government of the country
from the East India Company to the crown. In 1857, at the outbreak of
the mutiny, the Indian army consisted of about 277,000 men, of whom
45,000 were Europeans and 232,000 natives. During the mutiny the native
army of Bengal was almost entirely broken up. Fifteen regiments of
regular native infantry, the local infantry, the Gurka and irregular
line regiments, eight regiments of irregular cavalry, and the sappers
and miners, were all that remained at the close of 1860 of the old
native army of Bengal. The Indian army in 1867 numbered 183,148 men;
61,498 being Europeans, and 121,650 Indian forces. The police, civil and
military, forms an important force, and is to a great extent taking the
place of the regular army. In Bengal, for instance, the military police
includes ten battalions of infantry each 700 strong; three squadrons of
cavalry, and some local levies; in all about 10,000 men, of various
races, with 40 European officers. The whole police force of India has
been reorganized on one uniform system, with a central organization of
its own in each presidency.
=Indian Territory.= A large extent of territory, which originally
belonged to the Louisiana purchase, lying north by west of that State.
It was set apart for the use of Indians, many tribes of whom have from
time to time been removed to it, and have wonderfully improved in the
arts of civilized life.