shore of the Indian Ocean, in the province of Canara. The Portuguese had
a factory here, which was destroyed by the Arabians. In 1793 the town
was taken by Hyder Ali, then the Mysore general; in 1768 it was captured
by a detachment from Bombay; but was shortly afterwards retaken by
Hyder. In 1783 Mangalore again surrendered to a force from Bombay; and
after the destruction of Gen. Matthews’s army, sustained a long siege
from Tippoo Sahib, and was gallantly defended by Col. Campbell. Upon the
conclusion of peace in 1784, it was restored, and the fortifications
were dismantled. In 1799, on the overthrow of Tippoo, it was finally
taken possession of by the British.
=Mangan= (_Fr._). This word is sometimes written _mangon_, a warlike
machine formerly used. The term itself was generally adopted to signify
any species of warlike machine. But it more particularly meant the
largest and most powerful machine that could be used for warlike
purposes; whether it was practiced to throw enormous stones against
besieged places, or to cast javelins, etc. It was likewise called
_ballista_, from the Greek, _tormentum_, from the Latin, _torquendo_,
and sometimes _petraria_, because stones weighing upwards of 360 pounds
were thrown from it. This machine answered the double purpose of
defending or attacking fortified places, and it was sometimes used at
sea.
=Mangonel= (Fr. _mangonel_, _mangoneau_). A very strong and powerful
cross-bow, from 15 to 20 feet long, for throwing arrows, darts, or
stones. The _trebuchet_, _ribaudequin_, etc., were only a variety of the
above.
=Manheim=, or =Mannheim=. A town of Germany, in the grand duchy of
Baden, at the confluence of the Neckar and the Rhine. It surrendered to
the French, under command of Pichegru, September 20, 1795. On October
31, the Austrians under Wurmser defeated the French near the city.
Several battles were fought with various success in the neighborhood
during the late wars.
=Manifesto=, or =Manifest=. A public declaration, usually of a prince or
sovereign, showing his intentions, or proclaiming his opinions and
motives in reference to some act done or contemplated by him; as, a
manifesto declaring the purpose of a prince to begin war, and explaining
his motives.
=Maniglions.= The two handles on the back of a piece of ordnance.
=Manilla=, or =Manila=. A town of the island of Luzon, and the capital
of the Spanish settlements in the Philippine Islands. It was taken by
the English in 1757; and again in October, 1762, by storm.
=Manipularis= (Fr. _manipulaire_). The chief officer in a part of the
Roman infantry called _manipulus_, was so called. This officer was
likewise ordinary (Fr. _ordinaire_).
=Manipulus.= So called from its standard or flag, which was made of
cloth, and hung suspended on a staff with a hand. The manipulus was
distinguished in this manner from the chief standard of each legion,
which was an eagle of massive metal.
=Manipulus= (Fr. _manipule_). A small body of infantry originally, so
called among the Romans during the reign of Romulus. Their ensign was a
hand on the end of a staff. The manipulus consisted of 100 men, and in
the days of the consuls and first Cæsars, of 200. Three manipuli
constituted a Roman cohort. Each manipulus was commanded by two officers
called _centurions_, one of whom acted as lieutenant to the other. Every
manipulus made two centuries, or _ordines_. This, however, cannot be
said to have been the uniform establishment or formation of the
manipulus; for according to Varro and Vegetius, it was the smallest body
of men employed in the Roman armies, and composed the tenth part of a
century. Spartian says, “it consisted of only ten soldiers.” Some
authorities assert that it takes its name from _manipulus_, “a handful
of straw,” the latter having been fixed to a long pole to serve as a
rallying signal, before the eagles were adopted. This circumstance has
given rise to the modern expression, a handful of men, _une poignée de
gens_. Vegetius, on the other hand, says it comes from _manus_, which
signified a small body or handful of men collected together, and
following the same standard; and Modestus as well as Varro state it to
have been so called because, when they went into action, they took each
other by the hand, or fought all together. A French writer conceives
that the manipulus may be considered as one of those parts of a modern
battalion which are distributed in different rooms, etc., and which is
called _une chambree_, or a company that messes together.
=Manly.= Having qualities becoming a man; firm; brave; undaunted; noble,
etc.
=Mannite, Nitro-.= A high explosive resembling nitro-glycerine in its
properties, and made in an analogous manner by the action of nitric and
sulphuric acids upon mannite, a form of sugar.
=Manœuvre=, or =Maneuver=. Management; dexterous movement; specifically,
an evolution, movement, or change of position among military or naval
bodies. To perform a movement in military or naval tactics; to make an
evolution. Also, to change the positions of, as troops or ships.
=Manœuvring-wheels.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, SEA-COAST CARRIAGES.
=Manresa.= A town of Spain, in Catalonia, 30 miles northwest from
Barcelona. It suffered much in the war of independence; and in March,
1811, it was almost completely burnt to the ground by Marshal Macdonald.
=Mans, Le.= A city of France, formerly capital of the province of Maine,
now of the department of Sarthe. The final struggle between the Vendean
troops and the French republicans took place here in 1793, in which the
latter were victorious; and in 1871, another battle took place between
the Germans and French, in which the former were victorious.
=Mansoura=, or =Mansourah=. A town of Lower Egypt, 34 miles southwest
from Dalmietta. Here Louis IX. was defeated by the Saracens and taken
prisoner, April 5, 1250. Some French troops which occupied the garrison
were massacred here in 1798.
=Manteau= (_Fr._). This word, which literally signifies a cloak, is
frequently used among the French to express the covering that hussars or
light infantry troops carry for the double purpose of shielding their
bodies from the inclemencies of the weather in outposts, etc., and for
spreading over their heads, by means of poles, when they occasionally
halt, and take a position.
=Mantelet= (_Fr._). A large osier buckler which was used in ancient
times; it was held upright, under cover of which archers shot their
arrows. Also a circular frame upon wheels covered with osier or
horse-hair, used for the same purpose.
=Mantes.= A town of France, in the department of Seine-et-Oise, 30 miles
west-northwest of Paris. It was taken and reduced to ashes by William
the Conqueror in 1087.
=Mantillis.= A kind of shield, anciently fixed upon the tops of ships as
a cover for archers.
=Mantinea=, or =Mantinœa=. Anciently a city of the Morea, 9 miles north
from Tripolitza. It is now the modern Greek village of Palespoli. It was
famous as being the scene of several battles, of which the most
important was that fought between the Spartans and the Thebans under
Epaminondas (362 B.C.), in which the former were defeated.
=Mantle.= A long flowing robe, worn in the Middle Ages over the armor,
and fastened by a fibula in front, or at the right shoulder. The mantle
is an important part of the official insignia of the various orders of
knighthood.
=Mantlet.= A sort of temporary fortification intended to protect the men
working guns in embrasures, casemates, or port-holes from the bullets of
sharpshooters. The mantlet is usually made to be hoisted up while the
gunner takes aim, and then lowered to cover the whole opening except a
circular aperture for the muzzle of the cannon. With every increase in
the range and precision of small-arms, mantlets become more essential
for the safety of gunners. Mantlets are made of thick fir, of solid oak
planks, or of iron plates, the last being preferable, as the lightest.
At Sebastopol, the Russians effectively blocked their embrasures by
thick mantlets of plaited rope suspended freely. A mantlet of planks or
iron plates, about 5 feet high, and occasionally mounted on small
wheels, is also used to protect sappers working at the end of a sap,
although a rolling gabion is preferred for this purpose by many
engineers.
=Mantling=, or =Lambrequin=. A heraldic ornament depicted as hanging
down from the helmet, and behind the escutcheon. It is considered to
represent either the cointise (an ornamental scarf which passed round
the body and over the shoulder) or the military mantle or robe of
estate. When intended for the cointise, it is cut into irregular strips
and curls of the most capricious forms, whose contortions are supposed
to indicate that it has been torn into that ragged condition in the
field of battle. When the mantling is treated as a robe of estate, the
bearings of the shield are sometimes embroidered on it. A mantling
adjusted so as to form a background for the shield and its accessories
constitutes an _Achievement of Arms_. In British heraldry, the mantling
of the sovereign is of gold lined with ermine; that of peers, of crimson
velvet lined with ermine. Knights and gentlemen have generally crimson
velvet lined with white satin; but sometimes the livery colors are
adopted instead, as is generally the practice in continental heraldry.
=Mantonet= (_Fr._). A small piece of wood or iron, which is notched, for
the purpose of hanging anything upon it. The pegs in soldiers’ rooms are
sometimes so called.
=Mantua.= A fortified city of Northern Italy, 22 miles southwest from
Verona. Mantua is both by nature and art one of the strongest places in
Europe. It can boast of an antiquity almost equal to that of Rome, and
experienced all the vicissitudes of the Middle Ages, and, like other
Italian cities, emerged from them into liberty and independence. It
surrendered to the French, February 2, 1797, after a siege of eight
months; was retaken by the Austrian and Russian army, July 30, 1799,
after a short siege. In 1800, after the battle of Marengo, the French
again obtained possession of it. It was included in the kingdom of Italy
till 1814, when it was restored to the Austrians, who surrendered it to
the Italians, October 11, 1866, after the peace.
=Manual.= Book of reference; as, ordnance manual, etc.
=Manual.= A prescribed exercise by means of which soldiers are taught to
handle and use their weapons. The _manual of arms_ is the exercise with
the musket; the _manual of the piece_, the exercise with the field-gun.
There are also _manuals for the sabre, pistol_, etc.
=Manuballiste= (_Fr._). A cross-bow. There were two kinds in the reign
of Henry VII., viz., the _latch_ which was used for quarrels, and the
_prodd_ for bullets.
=Manufacture of Ordnance.= See ORDNANCE, MANUFACTURE OF.
=Manufacture of Powder.= See GUNPOWDER.
=Manx.= Pertaining to the Isle of Man.
=Maoris.= A New Zealand word signifying _native_, is the name given to
themselves by the inhabitants of New Zealand, and that by which they are
now usually designated. In 1861 war broke out between them and the
British, terminating in favor of the latter in 1862; but in 1863 the
Maoris recommenced hostilities, and a formidable conspiracy was formed
to expel the British troops. In 1868 they massacred many settlers and
offered a desperate resistance, and were not subdued until the following
year. They numbered at that time about 40,000. They are now
comparatively peaceable.
=Map.= In a military and geographical sense, is a plane figure,
representing the surface of the earth, or a part thereof, according to
the law of the particular kind of projection used; distinguishing the
situation of cities, mountains, rivers, roads, etc.
=Marathon.= A village on the east shore of Attica, 20 miles northeast
from Athens. Here on September 28 and 29, 490 B.C., the Greeks, only
10,000 strong, defeated the Persian army amounting to 200,000, who had
6400 killed. The Greek loss was 192 Athenians killed, besides some
Platæans and slaves. The Greeks were commanded by Miltiades, Aristides,
and Themistocles. Among the slain was Hippias, the instigator of the
war. The Persian army was forced to retreat to Asia.
=Marathus.= An important city on the coast of Phœnicia, opposite to
Aradus. It was destroyed by the people of Aradus in the time of the
Syrian king, Alexander Balas, a little before 150 B.C.
=Maraud.= To rove in quest of plunder; to make an excursion for booty;
to plunder.
=Marauder.= A rover in quest of booty or plunder; a plunderer.
=Marauding.= Is irregular plunder or violence offered to the inhabitants
of a country by the individuals of an army. In all armies where
discipline is maintained, marauding is, at least professedly, punished
by death; the provost-marshal having power to inflict that penalty
summarily on all offenders taken in the act. Marauding is also applied
to plundering at sea; as, the Barbary corsairs are systematic
marauders.
=Marburg.= A town of Germany, in Hesse-Cassel, situated on the Lahn. It
suffered much during the Seven Years’ War, 1753-60.
=March.= The movement of a body of men from one place to another. In
marching it cannot be too strongly inculcated that every just movement
and manœuvre depends upon the correct equality of march established and
practiced by all the troops of the same army, and that when this is not
attended to confusion must follow on the junction of several battalions.
Also, the distance marched over; as, a march of 20 miles.
=March.= To cause to move in military array; to push forward, as troops;
to cause to advance in a steady, regular, or stately manner.
=March.= The military signal for soldiers to move; a piece of music,
designed or fitted to accompany and guide the movement of troops; or a
piece of music composed after the measure of a march. Also, the command
for soldiers to move.
=March.= The length of a day’s march for troops of any arm depends, to a
great extent, upon the condition of the roads, the supply of water,
forage, etc.; also upon the advantages to be gained over an enemy.
Infantry marches at the rate in common time of 90 steps = 70 yards in
one minute, or 2 miles 680 yards in an hour; in quick time, 110 steps =
86 yards in one minute, or 2 miles 1613 yards in an hour; in double
time, 165 steps = 151¹⁄₄ yards in one minute, or 5 miles 275 yards in an
hour. Under ordinary circumstances infantry should march from 15 to 20
miles a day, halting about ten minutes every hour.
Cavalry should march about 20 miles a day, and be kept at a walk,
halting several times during the day, when the men should dismount and
permit the horses to refresh themselves by giving them a few mouthfuls
of grass and water. On a forced march the horses should not be halted,
but they should be relieved fifteen minutes every hour by dismounting
the men and requiring them to march. For selection of cavalry horses,
rate of speed at a trot, gallop, etc., see HORSE.
The march of artillery should be governed by the movements of the arms
of the service to which it is assigned for duty. The care of men and
horses is a combination of what has been laid down for cavalry and
infantry. For the rates of march of, and loads carried by, artillery
horses, see PACK AND DRAUGHT HORSES.
=Marchands= (_Fr._). Slop-sellers, petty sutlers. Men of this
description always flock round and follow an army on its march. As they
generally deal in articles which are required by the officers and
soldiers, it is the business of every general to see them properly
treated, to insure their safety, and to permit them, under certain
regulations, to have access to the camp.
=Marcher.= One who marches. In ancient times the lord or officer who
defended the marches or borders of a territory.
=Marches.= A frontier, a border. In English history, the boundary
between England and Wales, also between England and Scotland.
=Marches, Combined.= When the movements of the divisions or corps are
made independent of each other, but having the same object in common,
they are known as combined marches. They are arranged with the intention
of having the several columns arrive at a given position but coming from
different directions.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Marches, Flank.= Are marches made parallel or obliquely to the enemy’s
position. They are used when it is desired to turn the enemy’s position
or attack him on the flank.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Marches, Manœuvre.= Marches are sometimes made by which an army gains a
position, the possession of which compels the enemy to leave the
position he is occupying. If these marches are under the observation of
the enemy, they are termed “manœuvres”; but if made out of his sight,
they are called _manœuvre marches_.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Marches of Concentration.= The marches which are made by several bodies
of troops, starting from points separated from each other, for the
purpose of bringing these troops together at some stated place, are
termed _marches of concentration_. Forced marches are much used in
concentrating troops, especially before a battle. Many examples are
given in military history.
Friant’s division of Davoust’s corps marched over 80 miles in
forty-eight hours in 1805, to join Napoleon in the battle of Austerlitz.
Craufurd’s brigade marched, so Napier says, 62 miles in twenty-six
hours, to join Wellington at Talavera, in 1809. Napoleon marched an army
to the relief of Dresden, in 1813, by forced marches of over 30 miles a
day for three consecutive days. The marches of the different corps of
the Army of the Potomac on the 30th of June and the 1st of July, 1863,
by means of which the army was concentrated at Gettysburg, are good
examples of _marches of concentration_. The 6th Corps under Gen.
Sedgwick made on this occasion a march over 30 miles.--_Prof. J. B.
Wheeler._
=Marches, Route.= Route marches are used by troops both during war and
in peace. They are used in peace to conduct a body of troops from one
station or post to another. They are used in war for the purpose of
assembling the fractions of an army on its base of operations; of
conducting troops through a district or country where there is no enemy,
etc.
There are three kinds of _route marches_, according to the manner in
which they are made, viz.: _ordinary_, _forced_, and _marches by rail_.
_Ordinary route marches_ are those made along ordinary roads and where
the length of the march in any one day is not greater than 20 miles.
Twenty miles is a long march, especially if the body of troops is
large, and this distance is taken as the limit for an ordinary march. If
the distance marched in any one day is greater than 20 miles, the march
is _forced_.
_Forced marches_ are extremely exhausting upon the troops and should not
exceed 30 miles per day, although greater distances have been overcome
by good troops. The number of forced marches made in succession must be
few, only two or three, even for the best of troops. They are used but
rarely in time of peace, and then only under pressing circumstances.
They are much used in war, when a rapid concentration of troops is to be
made; when a strategical combination is to be effected, etc.
_Route marches by rail_ are employed both in peace and war. This kind of
march includes all those in which the troops do not actually march, but
are transported bodily to their destination. Railroads have become in
recent years the great factor in rapid and cheap means of moving troops,
and the term “rail” is therefore applied to this method of conducting
troops from one place to another.
This method is of especial service when the time given to the troops to
reach their destination is short, and the distance is great. It is
especially used in the case of assembling armies and forwarding the
reserves and recruits to the theatre of war. The late war in the United
States, the war in 1859 in Italy, the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, etc.,
all furnish examples.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Marches, Strategical.= Marches which made in the theatre of war, near
an enemy whose position is not exactly known, having in general for
their object the completion of some strategical combination, are
designated _strategical marches_. They are used to conduct an army to a
position from which an attack can be made on the enemy, or to a position
in which the army can remain and receive an attack; in other words, to a
position immediately in the presence of the enemy.
_Strategical marches_ are either _ordinary_ or _forced_ marches, and are
used principally to mass troops at some stated point on the theatre of
operations before the enemy can make arrangements to prevent it or can
prepare counter-movements to weaken or nullify the effect of the
movement. Secrecy, celerity, and good order are therefore indispensable
requisites for success in marches of this kind.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Marches, Tactical.= Marches made in the immediate vicinity of the
enemy, and so near that they may be observed by him, are called
_tactical marches_. Since these marches are made very near the enemy,
greater precautions are required to guard against an attack than are
necessary in _strategical marches_.
_Tactical marches_ differ from _route_ and _strategical_ marches in one
material particular, and that is in the number and sizes of the
wagon-trains accompanying the troops on the march. Both in _route_ and
_strategical_ marches the troops are cumbered with long and unwieldy
wagon-trains carrying the baggage and supplies of the army, whereas in a
_tactical_ march there are none, or the trains are reduced to a minimum.
Since the enemy may attack the moving columns at any minute, everything
is sacrificed to the important one of being ready to fight at a minute’s
notice, and the army carries with it only supplies enough for two or
three days, and little or no baggage. Everything not essential for
feeding the troops and not necessary for fighting is therefore left
behind the army while it is making a _tactical march_.--_Prof. J. B.
Wheeler._
=Marchfeld.= In Austria, where Ottocar II. of Bohemia was defeated and
slain by his rival, the emperor Rodolph of Hapsburg, August 26, 1278.
=Marching.= One of the first necessities to distinguish a body of
disciplined troops from a mere crowd of men is a regular cadenced step,
taken by every individual at the same time, and with the same foot. When
troops are to march a long distance the _route_ step is employed, the
men keeping the same distance and their places in the ranks as when
marching on drills, parades, reviews, musters, etc., where the cadenced
step in common, quick, or double time is employed. In the U. S. service
the length of the step in common and quick time is 28 inches, and the
cadence is at the rate of 90 steps per minute for common time and 110
for quick time; in double time the length of the step is 33 inches and
the cadence at the rate of 165 steps per minute, but it may be increased
to 180. In the feudal ages, when infantry fell into disrepute, cadenced
marching was unattended to, and seems only to have been thoroughly
revived by Marshal Saxe.
=Marching Money.= The additional pay which officers and soldiers receive
for the purpose of covering the expense necessarily incurred when
marching from one place to another.
=Marching Order.= In the British service a soldier is said to be in
marching order when he is fully equipped with arms, ammunition, and a
portion of his kit, which weighs from 30 to 35 pounds. In _service
marching_ order, by the addition of provisions and some campaigning
necessaries, he carries nearly 50 pounds. But _heavy marching order_,
which was yet heavier, is now happily abolished. See HEAVY MARCHING
ORDER, and LIGHT MARCHING ORDER.
=Marching Orders.= The orders issued preparatory to troops marching; and
in the British service signifies six days’ journey at least.