by a short point upon the muzzle, and a cavity on the base-ring, to
direct the eye in pointing the gun.
=Line of Duty.= An officer or soldier disabled while performing properly
authorized duty is said to be injured in line of duty, and as such is
entitled to the allowances fixed by law.
=Line of Fire.= In gunnery, the axis of the gun produced.
=Line of Fire.= In fortification, this term admits of two distinct
acceptations: first, when it is found necessary to give an idea of the
manner in which a rampart or an intrenchment covers any space of ground
by the discharge of ordnance or musketry, lines must be drawn to express
the distances traversed by the shot, etc. These lines are called lines
of fire, being representations of the actual ranges; second, all that
extent of a rampart or intrenchment from which the projectiles of
ordnance or musketry are discharged, is understood to be the line of
fire.
=Line of Least Resistance.= The shortest distance from the centre of the
charge of a mine to the open air.
=Line of March.= Arrangement for marching. Course or direction taken by
an army.
=Line of Metal.= Or natural line of sight, is a line drawn from the
highest point of the base-ring or base-line to the highest point of the
swell of the muzzle, or to the top of the sight, if there be one. The
line of sight nearest to the axis of the piece is the _natural_ line of
sight, the others are _artificial_ lines of sight. See ARTIFICIAL LINE
OF SIGHT.
=Line of Sight.= See LINE OF METAL and POINTING.
=Line of the Bastion, Capital.= Is a line which bisects the salient
angle of a bastion. See CAPITAL.
=Line, Retiring.= A line of troops in orderly retreat.
=Line, Tangent.= A straight line, which meets a curve at one point and
touches without cutting it.
=Line, Vertical.= A line which is perpendicular to the horizon. Of this
description are all lines that express height or depth.
=Lineal, or Linear.= Pertaining to length; pertaining to the line of an
army.
=Lineal Rank.= Is the rank of a line-officer in his arm of the service.
=Linear Promotion.= Is promotion of line-officers according to seniority
in the arm of service, as opposed to promotion in the regiment.
=Line-firings.= This term is used when troops fire by line.
=Lines.= A series of field-works, either continuous or at intervals. The
former are connected by means of curtains or straight walls. The rule in
constructing the other is, that the works shall be within cannon- or
musket-shot range of each other, according to their armament.
=Lines, Close and Open.= Formerly when troops were drawn up in order of
battle with intervals between the battalions and squadrons, the lines
were said to be close and open.
=Lines, Continued.= A continued line of field-works constructed for the
defense of a position.
=Lines Cremaillere.= Are composed of alternate short and long faces at
right angles to each other.
=Lines, Full or Close.= Are lines of men drawn up without leaving
intervals between them.
=Lines, Inside.= Are a kind of ditches towards the place, to prevent
sallies, etc.
=Lines of Bastion.= As the name indicates, are formed of a succession of
bastion-shaped parapets, each consisting of two faces and two flanks,
connected by a curtain.
=Lines of Circumvallation.= The defensive works by which a besieging
army covers its rear and flanks against a relieving force.
=Lines of Communication.= Are trenches that unite one work to another,
so that men may pass between them without being exposed to the enemy’s
fire; hence, the whole intrenchment round any place is sometimes called
a line of communication, because it leads to all the works.
=Lines of Communication.= This term is applied to all the practicable
routes and roads connecting the different parts of an army occupying the
theatre of war. Therefore, as the army moves from its base, the lines of
operations become lines of communication, and since these “lines of
operations” are generally the longest and most important lines of
communication, it is to them that the simple term “communications”
generally refers. All the routes used by the trains employed in
provisioning an army, form a part of the communications. The most
important, safest, and most convenient of these routes, all other things
being equal, will be the central one, or the one leading from the centre
of the army back to its base. This particular route is sometimes
designated as the “line of supplies.”--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Lines of Contravallation.= See CONTRAVALLATION.
=Lines of Operations.= The roads or routes by which an army moves from
its base towards its objective-point have been designated by the term
“lines of operations.” Lines of operations are classified from their
number into _single_, _double_, or _multiple_ lines; from their
positions with respect to the lines of operations of the enemy into
_interior_ or _exterior_ lines; and from their position with respect to
each other into _convergent_ or _divergent_ lines. Other classifications
are sometimes used descriptive of the nature or other quality of the
line.
_Single Line of Operations._--An army moving in a given direction with
all its parts united, or with those parts so situated that they can be
readily joined when required, is said to use a “single line of
operations.” Sometimes this line is called a _simple_ line. A single
line of operations does not mean a _single road_, but embraces all the
roads or routes taken by the fractions of the army for the purpose of
reaching a common point of concentration; the condition being imposed
that these roads shall not be so far apart, or have intervening such
obstacles, that the different parts of an army will be prevented from
uniting at any given time which may be appointed.
_Double and Multiple Lines of Operations._--When there are obstacles
intervening between the roads or routes passed over by an army, or the
roads are so far apart as to prevent the parts of the army from being
readily united, the army is then said to employ “double” or “multiple”
lines of operations.
_Interior Lines of Operations._--If these lines are within those
employed by the enemy, they are known as “interior” lines.
_Exterior Lines of Operations._--If these lines are outside of the lines
employed by the enemy, they are called “exterior” lines.
_Convergent Lines of Operations._--If these lines of operations start
from points some distance apart, approach each other, and meet at some
point in advance, they are called “convergent.” Sometimes the term
“concentric” is employed to designate them.
_Divergent Lines of Operations._--These lines are the reverse of
convergent lines, as they continue to separate, or the distance between
them to widen, as the army advances. The term “eccentric” is also
applied to them.
_Accidental Lines of Operations._--Lines of operations are sometimes
employed different from those proposed in the original plan of campaign.
To these lines the term “accidental” is applied. It does not follow that
their adoption is a matter of accident, as might be inferred from their
name. They are frequently the result of a change in the original plan,
which probable change was foreseen and provided for.
_Temporary Lines of Operations._--Sometimes an army in making a movement
employs a line which deviates from that adopted in the general plan of
campaign. As soon as the movement is completed the original lines are
resumed. Such line adopted for such movement is termed a “temporary
line.” The term “manœuvre line” is also applied to it.--_Prof. J. B.
Wheeler._
=Lines of Retreat.= The roads passed over as the army advances are
ordinarily the roads taken when the army retires or is driven back. In
the latter case they are known as “lines of retreat,” and are “single,”
“double,” “diverging,” etc., according to their number and
position.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Lines of Tenailles.= Consist of parapets, forming a series of salient
and re-entering angles.
=Lines of Torres Vedras.= See TORRES VEDRAS.
=Lines Outside.= Are a kind of ditches towards the field, to hinder
relief, etc.
=Lines, Strategical.= The lines followed by an army in making a
strategical movement are called “strategical lines.” Temporary lines of
operations, or manœuvre lines, therefore, are strategical lines. Lines
of operations are important strategical lines. And in general, lines
connecting two or more strategical points, which lines can be used by an
army, and which allow of easy communication between these points, are
“strategical lines.” A base of operations is therefore a strategical
line.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Lines with Intervals.= One or more rows of field-works with large
intervals between them, through which the offensive may be assumed.
=Linesmen.= In the British service, infantrymen of the regular army are
so called.
=Lingerer.= One who pretends to be indisposed, in order to avoid his
tour of duty,--a skulker. Hence the term malingerer, or a soldier who
avoids duty in a disreputable manner.
=Linlithgow-bridge.= Near Edinburgh, Scotland, near which the forces of
the Earl of Angus, who held James V. in their power, defeated the forces
of the Earl of Lennox, who, after receiving promise of quarter, was
killed by Sir James Hamilton, 1526.
=Linstock.= A short staff of wood, about 3 feet long, having at one end
a piece of iron divided into two branches, each of which has a notch to
hold a lighted match, and a screw to fasten it there, the other end
being shod with iron to stick into the ground.
=Linstock Socket.= A socket attached to the piece in which the linstock
was formerly carried.
=Lipan Indians.= A warlike tribe of aborigines residing in Texas and
Mexico.
=Lippe=, or =Lippe Detmold=. A small principality of Northwest Germany,
the chief part of which is comprised between Prussian Westphalia,
Hanover, and the principality Pyrmont. The surface is hilly, partly
covered by the Teutoburger Wald, where Arminius exterminated the legions
of Varus.
=Lis= (_Fr._). A warlike machine was formerly so called. It consisted of
a piece of wood or a stake, about the size of the human body, which was
made smaller at the top than at the bottom, and resembled a lily not yet
blown. Several of these were tied together with ozier or willow twigs,
and were used for the security of a camp. They were not unlike the
palisades of the present day.
=Lisaine.= A small river in France, rising in the Vosges Mountains, and
flowing west of the fortress of Belfort. On January 15, 16, and 17,
1871, a terrible contest raged here between the French army under
Bourbaki and the Germans under Von Werder, the French being finally
compelled to retreat. The German loss was about 2000; the French about
6000.
=Lisbon.= The capital of Portugal, situated on the north bank of the
Tagus, near its mouth in the Atlantic. In 1807 it was occupied by the
French, and was afterwards the scene of important operations between
the British and French armies, until the latter were finally driven from
Portugal.
=Lisburn.= A town of Ireland, in the county of Antrim, on the Lagan, 8
miles southwest from Belfast. It was founded in 1627, and in 1641 was
laid in ashes by the Irish insurgents. It was again burnt in 1707.
=Lisieux.= A town of France, in the department Calvados, situated near
the confluence of the Orbec and the Tanque. The Normans pillaged it in
the 8th century, and retained it for a considerable time. It has since
been frequently besieged and captured, and was last taken by Henri
Quatre in 1588.
=Lisle=, or =Lille=. A city of France, formerly the capital of French
Flanders, and now of the department of the North. It was founded in 1009
by Baudouin IV., count of Flanders. It fell into the power of Philip the
Fair, after a siege of three months in 1297, and was taken again by Guy,
count of Flanders, in 1302. The Protestants attempted in vain to
surprise it in 1581, and the French besieged it without success in 1645.
Wrested from the Spaniards by Louis XIV. in 1667, and retaken by the
allies in 1708, after a long and obstinate siege, it was ceded to France
by the treaty of Utrecht. The Austrians bombarded it from September 29
till October 6, 1792, but the garrison, admirably supported by the
bravery of the inhabitants, compelled them to raise the siege.
=Lissa.= A town of Prussian Poland, near the borders of Silesia. This
place was laid in ruins by the Russian army in the campaign of 1707.
=Lissa.= A mountainous island of Austria, in the Gulf of Venice, near
the coast of Dalmatia, held by the British from 1810 to 1815. Near here
the Italian fleet, commanded by Persano, was defeated with severe loss
by the Austrian fleet, commanded by Tegethoff, July 20, 1866.
=List.= A roll or catalogue; as, the army-list, the pay list, etc.
=List.= A line inclosing or forming the extremity of a piece of ground,
or field of combat; hence, in the plural (lists), the ground or field
inclosed for a race or combat. _To enter the lists_, to accept a
challenge, or engage in a contest.
=List.= To engage in the public service by enrolling one’s name, as
soldiers; to inclose for combat; as, to list a field.
=Litana Silva= (now _Silva di Luge_). A large forest on the Apennines,
in Cisalpine Gaul, southeast of Mutina, in which the Romans were
defeated by the Gauls, 216 B.C.
=Litter= (Lat. _lectica_, from _lectus_, “bed”). According to Rees’s
Cyclopædia, a kind of vehicle borne upon shafts, anciently esteemed the
most easy and genteel way of carriage. It was much in use among the
Romans, among whom it was borne by slaves kept for that purpose, as it
still continues to be in the East, where it is called a _palanquin_. The
invention of litters, according to Cicero, was owing to the kings of
Bithynia. In the time of Tiberius they had become very frequent at
Rome, as appears from Seneca. Horse-litters were much used in Europe
prior to the introduction of coaches. In the military service the litter
is a species of hurdle bed, on which the wounded are sometimes carried
from the field of battle. What is known as the hand-litter or stretcher
is used to carry men from where they fall in battle to field hospitals.
The hand-litter or stretcher is generally constructed with canvas about
6¹⁄₂ feet long by 3 feet wide, the sides securely fastened to two
hard-wood poles about 8 feet in length; the two cross-pieces should be
constructed so that the litter can be rolled up. Small outlying bodies
of troops, especially detachments of cavalry, are not always provided
with them; for these the hand-litter, made with guns and blankets, has
been extemporized; for this purpose the edges of the blanket are rolled
over the guns, and tied firmly with twine, and two stout sticks are also
tied across at the head and foot, serving as handles for the bearers.
This being laid on the ground, the wounded man is placed upon it, with
his knapsack under his head. The Indian litter is made by taking two
stout saplings, and attaching to them three cross-pieces, about 2¹⁄₂ or
3 feet apart, by cords and notches; the sick or wounded man being placed
on his blanket, this frame-work is placed over him, and the blanket
knotted to it. By three bent twigs and an additional blanket, a kind of
top can be made to this in case of a storm. Several kinds of horse or
mule litters for frontier service have been invented, but none seem so
well adapted for all purposes as the one invented by Surgeon J. C.
Baily, U.S.A. Ambulance litters are so constructed as to be drawn from
the ambulance and taken to the wounded man, who is by it conveyed to the
vehicle. It is then slid into place on rollers, and steadied by loops
and guys.
=Little Fortification.= The first division of the first system of
Vauban, and is so called when the exterior side of a fortification does
not exceed 350 yards. It is used in the construction of citadels, small
forts, horn- and crown-works.
=Living Force.= _Vis viva._ That force of a body in motion which
determines the work of which it is capable. Living force is measured by
the product of the mass into the square of the velocity.
=Livonia.= A Russian province on the Baltic Sea, first visited by some
Bremen merchants about 1158. It has belonged successively to Denmark,
Sweden, Poland, and Russia. It was finally ceded to Peter the Great in
1721.
=Liziere.= The berme of a parapet. See BERME.
=Llandeweyer.= In Caermarthenshire, Wales. Here Llewellyn, prince of
Wales, having descended into the plains, was surprised, defeated, and
slain by the lords-marchers, December 11, 1282. This disaster led to the
subjugation of Wales in 1283.
=Llerena.= An ancient town of Spain, in the province of Estremadura, 59
miles north from Seville. Near this place, the English under Combermere
defeated the French under Drouet in 1812.
=Load.= The charge of a fire-arm; as, a load of powder.
=Load.= To place a charge in; to charge, as a gun, with powder, or with
powder and shot, or ball.
=Load.= A word of command given when men are to charge their guns or
rifles.
=Loading.= The process of loading field-shells is as follows: They are
set up on their sabots, the charges measured out in the proper
powder-measure, and poured in through a copper funnel. The fuze-plugs
are then driven in with a mallet, allowing the tops to project about 0.1
inch, care being taken not to split them. The holes in the plugs are
then carefully reamed out, and stopped with tow wads, which are pressed
in firmly with a round stick.
_Process of loading spherical case-shot_: The shot having been cleaned,
the balls are put in. A stick with a less diameter than the fuze-hole,
and having a groove on each side of it, is inserted and pushed to the
bottom of the cavity by working the balls aside. The shot is then placed
in a sand-bath or oven, and brought to a proper temperature to receive
the sulphur, which, in a melted state, is poured in to fill up the
interstices between the balls; the shot is allowed to cool and the
sulphur to harden, when the stick is withdrawn, and the sulphur adhering
to the sides of the eye and the surface of the shot is removed. If a
fuze-plug and paper fuze are to be used, the charge is poured in, and
the plug inserted exactly as in case of a shell; but, if the
Bormann-fuze is to be used, the charge is inserted, and the stopper and
fuze screwed into their places, care being taken before placing the fuze
in position to puncture the covering of the magazine, so that the fire
can communicate with the charge. Spherical-case are now usually loaded
by putting in the bullets and pouring melted sulphur or rosin in until
the case is full. After the sulphur has cooled, the space for the powder
is bored out by a cutter, which removes both the sulphur and portions of
the bullets from the space. This is a quicker method, and gives a more
compact projectile. Case-shot for rifle guns are filled in a similar
manner. The object of the sulphur or rosin is to solidify the mass of
bullets, and preventing them from striking by their inertia against the
sides of the case, and cracking it, when the piece is fired. Coal-dust
is sometimes used instead of sulphur or rosin. Round, leaden balls,
seventeen to the pound, are used.
_Process of filling mortar-shells_: Having been inspected to see that
they are clean, dry, and in good order, place them on a block made for
the purpose, or on rings of rope, or in indentations in the floor of
the magazine, or on the ground with the fuze-holes up. The charge
measured out in a powder-measure is poured in through a funnel, and any
incendiary composition, such as pieces of port-fire, rock-fire, etc., is
inserted. In the mean time the fuze is cut to the proper length
according to the range, by resting it in a groove made in the block, or
inserting it in a hole made in a block or in a post, and sawing it
across with the fuze-saw; or the fuze may be bored through with a gimlet
perpendicularly to the axis at the proper point. The fuze is then tried
in the fuze-hole, and should enter three-fourths of its length. If it
does not, it may be reduced by rasping. The head of it is covered with
tow to prevent the breaking of the composition, the fuze-setter placed
on, and the fuze driven with the mallet until the head projects not more
than 0.2 inch to 0.4 inch above the surface of the shell. These shells
are generally filled and the fuzes driven in the battery magazines, as
they are required. Shells for heavy guns are loaded in the same way as
mortar-shells; but as paper fuzes inserted in wooden or bronze
fuze-plugs are used instead of wooden fuzes, the plug only is driven
into its place, and stopped with tow after the bursting charge has been
poured through it into the shell.
=Loading-bar.= A bar used to carry shot. It is passed through the ring
of the shell-hooks; also called _carrying-bar_.
=Loading-tongs.= A pair of tongs used with siege howitzers to set the
shell home.
=Loano.= A town of Italy, in the province of Genoa, situated on the Gulf
of Genoa. Here the Austrians and Sardinians were defeated by the French,
under Masséna, November 23, 1795.
=Lobau.= An island of Lower Austria, in the Danube, 5 miles
east-southeast of Vienna. Here the French, in 1809, remained intrenched
for six weeks, between the battles of Gross-Aspern and Wagram.
=Lobbes.= A town of Belgium, 10 miles southwest from Charleroi, on the
Sambre. This was the scene of an engagement between the Austrian and
French troops in 1794.
=Local Rank=, or =Temporary Rank=. An officer who receives increased
rank, for a limited period or during the performance of some specific
duty, is said to have local rank. Also sometimes applied to the rank
held by an officer who is assigned to duty by his brevet rank to a
locality fixed by geographical limits, such as a military department or
district. See BREVET RANK.
=Lochaber-axe.= A formidable weapon of war, consisting of a pole bearing
an axe at its upper end, formerly used by the Scotch Highlanders.
=Lochage.= In Greek antiquity, an officer who commanded a cohort.
=Lochleven Castle.= In Scotland, built on an isle in Loch Leven, it is
said by the Picts. It was besieged by the English in 1301 and in 1334.
The Earl of Northumberland was confined in it, 1569. It was the place of
Queen Mary’s imprisonment in 1667.
=Lock.= That part of a fire-arm by which fire is produced for the
discharge of a piece. The first form of the apparatus was the
_match-lock_, which consisted of a lever holding a lighted match, which
by a simple mechanism was brought in contact with the priming. This was
superseded by the _wheel-lock_, invented in Nuremburg, or Italy,
according to different authorities, which made its appearance early in
the 16th century. This consisted of a wheel wound up against a spring
and released by a trigger. In its revolution it evolved sparks by
friction against an alloy of iron and antimony, which fell upon and
ignited the priming. This was replaced about 1680 by the _flint-lock_,
consisting of a hammer, or cock, holding a flint, which in its descent
struck a steel plate. This device gave way in its turn, about 1840, to
the _percussion-lock_, which, in one or another of its many forms,
promises to endure indefinitely. The terms _matchlock_, _flintlock_,
_firelock_, etc., have also been used to designate the weapon itself.
=Lock.= In fencing, to seize, as the sword-arm of an antagonist, by
turning the left arm around it, in order to disarm him.
=Lock-chain Bridles.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF, THE CAISSON.
=Lock-chain Hooks.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF, THE CAISSON.
=Lock-chains.= Are chains used to lock the wheels of field- and
siege-carriages, or to prevent them from turning. For siege-carriages
the chain has a shoe at the end, which goes under the wheel and lifts it
from the ground. In field-carriages the chain is passed around one of
the felloes and secured to itself by a key. In both carriages the chain
is secured to the stock by an assembling-bolt.
=Lock-chains.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF, THE CAISSON.
=Locket.= The chape of a sword-scabbard.