government institution in the United States for the military training of
cadets and their preparation for the duties of officers. The necessity
for such an institution was recognized at an early date in the history
of the country. A committee of Congress which had visited the
Continental army at New York recommended the establishment of a
military academy in their report, October 3, 1776. The subject was
subsequently brought to the notice of Congress on several occasions, but
without result until 1794, when provision was made for the establishment
of 4 battalions of engineers and artillerists, 8 cadets to be attached
to each battalion. The number was increased to 56 in 1798, and provision
made for procuring books and apparatus for their instruction. By the act
of March 16, 1802, determining the military peace establishment, the
artillerists and engineers were made two distinct corps; 40 cadets were
attached to one regiment of artillery, and 10 to the corps of engineers,
said corps to be stationed at West Point, and to constitute a military
academy. The act also provided that the senior engineer officer present
should be superintendent of the academy, and authorized the Secretary of
War to procure the necessary books, apparatus, etc., for the
institution. Another act, dated February 28, 1803, authorized the
President to appoint teachers of French and drawing. At the expiration
of five years, however, further legislation was deemed necessary, and on
April 12, 1808, a bill was passed which added 156 members to the corps
of cadets. By the act of April 19, 1812, it was declared that the
Military Academy should consist of the corps of engineers, the teachers
of French and drawing already provided for, a professor of natural
philosophy, a professor of mathematics, and a professor of engineering,
with an assistant for each professor. Provision was also made for a
chaplain, who was to officiate as professor of geography, physics, and
history. The number of cadets was limited to 260; the requirements for
admission, terms of study and service, and rate of pay and emoluments
were also prescribed. But the commencement of its great success as an
educational institution, and the reputation which the academy possesses
for its elevating and disciplinary government, dates from July, 1817,
when Brevet Maj. Sylvanus Thayer, of the engineer corps, assumed command
as superintendent. He was an early graduate of the academy, had served
with distinction in the war of 1812, and having studied in the military
schools of France, had acquired matured views for the government of such
an institution. He organized and perfected a system of management, which
he carried into successful operation for sixteen years, and which, with
but little modification, is followed to-day. In 1818 the department of
geography, history, and ethics was organized, and the chaplain appointed
professor; the clerical and secular duties thus combined have ever since
remained inseparable. A professorship of chemistry, mineralogy, and
geology was created by act of July 5, 1838, and an assistant authorized,
“to be taken from the officers of the line, or cadets.” In May, 1846,
the teachers of French and drawing were styled professors, and the
appointment of assistants was authorized. In 1857 a professorship of
the Spanish language was established. By act of Congress approved June
23, 1879, whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of professor of the
French or Spanish language, both these offices shall cease, and the
remaining one of the two professors shall be professor of modern
languages. A professorship of law has also been established, which is
held by an officer of the bureau of military justice. The academic staff
consist of the superintendent; the commandant of cadets, who is
instructor of artillery, cavalry, and infantry tactics, and is charged
with the discipline of the cadets, having usually 8 officers detailed
from the line of the army as assistants; and of the professors of civil
and military engineering and science of war, of natural and experimental
philosophy, of mathematics, of history, geography, and ethics
(chaplain), of chemistry, mineralogy, and geology, of drawing, of
French, of Spanish, and of law, all of whom have one or more
commissioned officers as assistants. There are also detailed on duty
several officers of the engineer and ordnance corps as instructors in
practical military engineering, military signals and telegraphing, and
in ordnance and gunnery. A sword-master is also employed. The military
staff consists of an adjutant; a treasurer, quartermaster and
commissary, of the battalion of cadets; a quartermaster, surgeon, and
assistant surgeon. In 1843 the custom which had prevailed of appointing
one cadet from each Congressional district received the sanction of law,
and thus the number was limited to the number of Representatives. But as
the District of Columbia and the army and navy were not represented, the
President was empowered to appoint 1 cadet from the former and 10 cadets
“at large,” the latter to be selected annually from the army or navy, or
any other quarter at his option, without regard to Congressional
districts. The age for admission is from seventeen to twenty-two years,
except when the candidate has served one year in the war of the
Rebellion, in which case he may be admitted up to twenty-four, and the
course of instruction is fixed at four years. Candidates must be able to
read and write well, have a good knowledge of grammar, of geography, and
history, particularly of the United States, and of arithmetic, including
vulgar and decimal fractions. Examinations are held annually on January
1 and June 1. All newly-appointed cadets must report for examination by
June 25, and none are examined after September 1, unless detained by
sickness or other unavoidable cause, when they may be examined with the
fourth class on January 1, and if found competent may proceed with that
class. Each cadet on admission takes the oath of allegiance and binds
himself to serve the United States for eight years, unless sooner
discharged. For purposes of instruction, the cadets are divided into
four classes, the fourth being the junior class, and for matters of
discipline the permanent organization is that of a battalion of infantry
composed of four companies. During their academic course cadets receive
$500 a year and one ration a day. Upon graduating, the cadets highest in
merit are usually commissioned as second lieutenants and appointed to
the engineer corps, those next in order of merit to the artillery, and
the remainder to the cavalry and infantry. Those for whom no vacancies
exist at graduation are attached to regiments or corps as additional
second lieutenants, and promoted second lieutenants as soon as a vacancy
occurs in the arm to which they are attached. By act of Congress
approved June 23, 1879, each member of the graduating classes of 1879-80
may elect, with the assent of the Secretary of War, to receive the sum
of $750 and mileage to the place of his residence in lieu of an
appointment in the army, except in the event of war, until two years
after his graduation. There is also an artillery school at Fort Monroe,
Va., for the training of officers and enlisted men. The school is
entirely conducted by commissioned officers, and the course of
instruction is one year.
=Military Asylum.= See SOLDIER’S HOME.
=Military Asylum, Royal.= See ASYLUM, ROYAL MILITARY.
=Military College.= See MILITARY ACADEMIES (SANDHURST).
=Military Column.= See COLUMN, MILITARY.
=Military Discipline.= Next to the forming of troops, military
discipline is the first object that presents itself to our notice: it is
the soul of all armies; and unless it be established among them with
great prudence, and supported with unshaken resolution, soldiers become
a contemptible rabble, and are more dangerous to the very state that
maintains them than even its declared enemies. See DISCIPLINE.
=Military Execution.= The ravaging or destroying of a country or town
that refuses to pay the contribution inflicted upon them. Also, the
punishment inflicted by the sentence of a court-martial.
=Military First Principles.= Is the bodily training for a soldier, to
make him hardy, robust, and capable of preserving health amidst fatigue,
bad weather, and change of climate; to march at such possible pace, for
such length of time, and with such burden, as without training he would
not be able to do.
=Military Frontier, The.= A crown-land of the Austrian empire, bounded
on the north by Croatia, Slavonia, and the Wojwodschaft, on the east by
Transylvania and Wallachia, on the south by Turkey and Dalmatia, and on
the west by the Adriatic, comprising an area of 12,800 square miles. The
military frontier owes its origin as a crown-land to the necessity of
having a permanent body of defenders on the borders during former wars,
and especially during wars with the Turks. In the 15th century the
Austrians had gained from the Turks certain tracts of territory on the
banks of the Save and Danube. These tracts they colonized, making it,
however, a condition that the colonists must render military service
against the Turks. The Warasdin frontier originated in the same manner
under Ferdinand I. In the 17th century the Petrinier frontier, which at
a later period received the name of the Banat frontier, was erected. The
military stations along the frontier serve a threefold purpose,--the
defense of the country, the prevention of smuggling, and the prevention
of the spread of contagious disease into the territories of the Austrian
empire. The inhabitants of this crown-land enjoy peculiar privileges.
Their immigrant ancestors received only the temporary use of lands
consigned to them; but in 1850 a law was passed making over the land to
the occupiers as their own property. This right of property does not
belong, however, to individuals, but to the family in a united sense.
The oldest member of a family is intrusted with the management of the
land; his partner ranks equal with him, and they each receive a double
share of the profits. All who are able to bear arms are sworn to the
service from their twentieth year. The soldier of the frontier, who is
clothed as well as armed and supplied with ammunition by government,
finds it his duty not only to watch and protect the frontier, but to
preserve peace and order in the interior, and to go on foreign service
when required. Only the smaller portion of the forces of the military
frontier is retained in readiness for active service, while the
remainder pursue their ordinary employments. To facilitate the
accomplishment of the purposes aimed at by the military frontier, the
_cordon_, a series of guard-houses along the whole frontier, affording
accommodation to from 4 to 8 men, as well as larger ones, accommodating
12 men and a junior officer, has been instituted. Within this line are
the officers’ posts. Without announcing himself at the posts, no one is
allowed to pass the boundary; and after permission is given the
passenger must remain a longer or shorter time at the quarantine
establishment, in order that all introduction of disease may be
prevented.
=Military Indications.= Officers should study attentively the customs of
their enemy, their hours for dining, commencing their marches, etc., and
the many indications of intended movements which an enemy may
unwittingly afford. The collection of boats, heavy guns,
scaling-ladders, gabions, etc., at particular places, are indications
that must always precede the passage of rivers, sieges, etc. If large
magazines of stores or provisions are collected anywhere, it is clear
that no retreat is contemplated; if, on the other hand, the parks of
heavy, or spare guns, ammunition, engineer stores, etc., are being sent
to the rear, a retreat is imminent, or being prepared for. The dust
raised by columns is a fair guide in some countries as to the numbers
and composition of the force marching. That raised by cavalry forms a
high, light cloud, by infantry, a lower and dense one, by parks and
baggage, one more dense still. With a good glass you can sometimes learn
from the manner in which troops move, and from their dress, whether they
are regulars or militia, or if they belong to any special corps. The
manner and bearing of people in a hostile country is usually a fair
indication of the public spirit and feeling; if they are gloomy and
anxious, it is an indication of want of confidence in their cause, and
that their troops are distant; whilst if they are excited and insolent,
it shows that they rely upon assistance near at hand, and anticipate
success from the number and efficiency of their army. In following a
retreating army much can be learned from its trail; if the _débris_ of
arms, accoutrements, etc., lie about, there is a want of transport, and
it is a sign of demoralization, according to the extent to which it is
the case; a large number of graves indicates the existence of disease in
the enemy’s army. The places where they halted for the night should be
carefully examined; and all indications carefully noted. Did they
bivouac or pitch tents; was their camp laid out with regularity; were
their cooking-places neatly made. Is their track strewn with dead or
dying transport animals; have they plundered the inhabitants or burnt
their crops or houses; have they effectually or only partially destroyed
the bridges, etc. The most insignificant circumstance affords sometimes
whole pages of information to officers who, having studied the manners
and customs of an enemy, know how to interpret them aright. Officers
commanding small detached parties sent out on reconnoitring duties may
many times avoid falling into the hands of strong patrols or detachments
by learning their proximity from their track if crossed anywhere; the
number and composition of such detachments may easily be estimated from
it.
=Military Knights.= See KNIGHTS, MILITARY.
=Military Law.= See LAW, MILITARY.
=Military Mines.= See MINES, MILITARY.
=Military Necessity.= As understood by modern civilized nations,
consists in the necessity of those measures which are indispensable for
securing the ends of war, and which are lawful according to the modern
law and usages of war. Military necessity admits of all direct
destruction of life or limb of _armed_ enemies, and of other persons
whose destruction is incidentally _unavoidable_ in the armed contests of
war; it allows of the capturing of every armed enemy, and every enemy of
importance to the hostile government, or of peculiar danger to the
captor; it allows of all destruction of property, and obstruction of the
ways and channels of traffic, travel, or communication, and of all
withholding of sustenance or means of life from the enemy; of the
appropriation of whatever an enemy’s country affords necessary for the
subsistence and safety of the army, and of such deception as does not
involve the breaking of good faith, either positively pledged, regarding
agreements entered into during the war, or supposed by the modern law of
war to exist. Men who take up arms against one another in public war do
not cease on this account to be moral beings, responsible to one
another, and to God. Military necessity does not admit of cruelty, that
is, the infliction of suffering for the sake of suffering, or for
revenge, or of maiming or wounding, except in fight, or of torture to
extort confessions. It does not admit of the use of poison in any way,
or of the wanton devastation of a district. It admits of deception, but
disclaims acts of perfidy; and in general, military necessity does not
include any act of hostility which makes the return to peace
unnecessarily difficult.
=Military Orders.= Religious associations which arose from the mixture
of the religious enthusiasm and the chivalrous love of arms which almost
equally formed the characteristic of mediæval society. The first origin
of such associations may be traced to the necessities of the Christian
residents of the Holy Land, in which the monks, whose first duty had
been to serve the pilgrims in the hospital at Jerusalem, were compelled
by the necessity of self-defense to assume the character of soldiers as
well as of monks. (See SAINT JOHN OF JERUSALEM.) The order of the
Templars (see TEMPLAR, KNIGHTS) was of singular origin. Those of
Alcantara and Calatrava (which see), in Spain, had for their immediate
object the defense of their country against the Moors. These orders as
well as that of Avis in Portugal, which was instituted with a similar
view, followed the Cistercian rule, and all three differed from the
Templars and the Knights of St. John in being permitted by their
institute to marry once. The same privilege was enjoyed in the Savoyard
order of Knights of St. Maurice, and the Flemish order of St. Hubert. On
the contrary, the Teutonic Knights, who had their origin in the Crusades
(see GRAND MASTER), were bound by an absolute vow of chastity. With the
varying conditions of society, these religious associations have at
various times been abolished or fallen into disuse; but most of them
still subsist in the form of orders of knighthood, and in some of them,
attempts have recently been made to revive, with certain modifications,
the monastic character which they originally possessed.
=Military Positions.= See POSITIONS, MILITARY.
=Military Punishment.= See PUNISHMENT, MILITARY.
=Military Regulations.= The rules and regulations by which the
discipline, formations, field-exercise, and movements of the whole army
are directed, to be observed in one uniform system. See ARMY
REGULATIONS.
=Military Science.= See LOGISTICS, STRATAGEM, STRATEGY, TACTICS, and
WAR.
=Military Secretary.= An officer on the personal staff of generals in
high command. His duties are to conduct the correspondence of his chief,
and to transact a great amount of confidential business, which would
dangerously occupy the time of the general himself. In the British
service the military secretary to the commander-in-chief is usually a
general officer. To a commander-in-chief in the field, he is for most
part below that rank, while to a general commanding a division only, an
assistant military secretary is allowed. His staff pay is of course
additional to the officer’s regimental or unattached pay.
=Military Service.= In the feudal ages, a tenure of lands by knight’s
service, according to which the tenant was bound to perform service in
war unto the king, or the mesne lord, of whom he held by that tenure. As
the king gave to the great nobles, his immediate tenants, large
possessions forever, to hold of him for this or that service or rent, so
they in time parceled out to such others as they liked, the same lands
for rents and services as they thought good. And these services were
divided into two sorts, chivalry and socage; the first whereof was
martial and military, whereby the tenant was obliged to perform some
noble or military office unto his lord. This was of two kinds: either
regal, that is, held only by the king, or common, when held of a common
person. That which was held only of the king was called _servitium_, or
_serjeantia_, and was again divided into grand and petit serjeantry. The
grand serjeantry was where one held lands of the king by service, which
he ought to do in his own person; as, to bear the king’s banner or
spear, to lead his horse, or to find a man-at-arms to fight, etc. Petit
serjeantry was when a man held lands of the king, to yield him annually
some small thing towards his wars, as a sword, dagger, bow, etc.
Chivalry that might be holden of a common person was termed _scutagium_,
or _escuage_; that is, service of the shield, which was either uncertain
or certain. _Escuage uncertain_ was likewise twofold: first, where the
tenant was bound to follow his lord, by going in person to the king’s
wars, or sending a sufficient man in his place, there to be maintained
at his cost so long as was agreed upon between the lord and his first
tenant at the granting of the fee. The days of such service seem to have
been rated by the quantity of land so holden; as, if it extended to a
whole knight’s fee, then the knight was to follow his lord forty days;
if but a half a knight’s fee, then twenty days; and if a fourth part,
then ten days, etc. The other kind of this escuage was called
_castle-ward_, where the tenant was obliged by himself or some other, to
defend a castle as often as it should come to his turn.
=Military Stores.= See STORES, MILITARY.
=Military Tenure.= Tenure of land, on condition of performing military
service.
=Military Train.= A highly important corps of the army of Great Britain,
of which the function is to transport the provisions, ammunition, and
all other material, together with the wounded in time of battle. It was
formed after the Crimean war, on the dissolution of the Land-Transport
Corps. In the year 1863 it comprised 6 battalions, in all 1840 officers
and men. The corps ranks after the Royal Engineers, and is classed as
Mounted Infantry, the officers receiving infantry rates, and the men
cavalry rates of pay. The men are armed with carbine and sword, but
rather for defensive than aggressive purposes. Attached to each
battalion are 166 horses, with proportionate wagons and ambulances. It
is proper to observe that the Military Train constitutes the nucleus of
a transport service for a large army, and that in time of war it would
be expanded by the addition of thousands of horses or mules, and the
incorporation of many hundred drivers, etc. The advantage of possessing
even a few men ready trained and capable of directing the movements of
others was amply demonstrated by the failures of the Crimea in 1854-56;
so that Parliament votes ungrudgingly the expense of this corps,
although in time of peace it is comparatively without employment. It is
now termed the Army Service Corps.
=Military Ways.= The large Roman roads which Agrippa caused to be made
through the empire in the reign of Augustus for the marching of troops
and conveying of carriages. They were paved from the gates of Rome to
the utmost limits of the empire. The British have constructed a military
road throughout India, with wells and other accommodations at certain
distances.
=Militia.= From the Latin _miles_, a “soldier,” a term which was
formerly synonymous with “military,” or the whole fighting force of a
country, but in modern times has come to signify the domestic force for
the defense of a nation, as distinguished from the regular army, which
can be employed at home or abroad in either aggressive or defensive
operations. Every nation has a reserve, under its law military, upon
which its defense would fall on the discomfiture of the regular army;
but the system differs in each country. France has her _Gardes
Nationaux_, Prussia the _Landwehr_ and _Landsturm_, and similar
organizations exist in other European states. It also comprehends the
volunteer organizations of Great Britain and the United States. The laws
of the United States require the enrollment into the militia of all
able-bodied males between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years,
with certain exceptions specified in general and State laws. The militia
of each State is required to be arranged into companies, battalions,
regiments, brigades, and divisions, as the Legislature of the State may
direct, and it shall be subject to military duty and shall serve a
definite time. These organizations are to be officered by the respective
States, the grades and number of officers being named in the laws
requiring enrollment. The Constitution of the United States has given
the power to Congress to provide for “calling forth the militia to
execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel
invasions.” Congress by legislation has given the President the
authority to call forth the militia under certain exigencies, as has
been frequently done. When called into actual service of the United
States, the militia receive pay from the government, and are subject to
the Rules and Articles of War. The militia is therefore a part and
parcel of the army of the United States, although in common use the term
is limited to mean the regular army alone. The organized militia of the
United States numbers 125,906 men, the number of men available for
military duty unorganized, is 6,598,105.
=Militia-man.= One who belongs to the militia.
=Mill, Gunpowder-.= Is a machine used for mixing or incorporating the
ingredients of which gunpowder is composed. The operation was formerly
effected as follows: The ingredients being duly proportioned and put
into the mortars of the mills, which are hollow pieces of wood, each
capable of holding 20 pounds of paste, are incorporated by means of the
pestle and spindle. There are 24 mortars in each mill, where are made
each day 480 pounds of gunpowder, care being taken to sprinkle the
ingredients in the mortars with water from time to time, lest they
should take fire. The pestle is a piece of wood 10 feet high, and 4¹⁄₂
inches broad, armed at the bottom with a round piece of metal. It weighs
about 60 pounds. For more modern methods of incorporation, see
GUNPOWDER.
=Mill Springs.= A village of Wayne Co., Ky., about 100 miles south of
Frankfort. Near here a Federal force under Gen. Geo. H. Thomas defeated
a Confederate army under Gen. G. B. Crittenden, January 19, 1862. In
this engagement the Confederate general F. K. Zollicoffer was killed.
=Mill-cake.= The incorporated materials for gunpowder, in the form of a
dense mass or cake, ready to be subjected to the process of granulation.
=Milliken’s Bend.= A village of Madison Parish, La., on the right bank
of the Mississippi River, about 25 miles above Vicksburg. On June 6,
1863, the Confederates under Gen. McCullough made an attack on this
place, which was defended by a body of colored troops and part of an
Iowa regiment, and were repulsed after a severe engagement.
=Mim Bashy.= In the East Indies, a commander of 1000 horse.
=Minas, Sabbatha.= A fort in Babylonia, built in the time of the later
Roman empire on the site of Seleucia, which the Romans had destroyed.
=Mincio.= A river of Lombardy, Italy. Here the Austrians were repulsed
by the French under Brune, December 25-27, 1800, and by Eugene
Beauharnais, February 8, 1814, near Valeggio.
=Minden.= A strongly fortified town of Prussia, in Westphalia, situated
on the Weser, 35 miles southwest from Hanover. In its neighborhood the
battle of Minden was fought, on August 1, 1759, between the English,
Hessians, and Hanoverians (under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick), and the
French were beaten and driven to the ramparts of Minden. Lord George
Sackville (afterwards Lord Germaine), who commanded the British and
Hanoverian horse, for some disobedience of orders was tried by a
court-martial on his return to England, found guilty, and dismissed
April 22, 1760. He was afterwards restored to favor, and became
secretary of state, 1776.
=Mines, Military.= Constitute one of the most important departments in
military engineering, and a very formidable accessory both in the attack
and defense of fortresses. A military mine consists of a gallery of
greater or less length, run from some point of safety under an opposing
work, or under an area over which an attacking force must pass, and
terminating in a chamber, which, being stored with gunpowder, can be
exploded at the critical moment. Mines are of use to the besiegers in
the overthrow of ramparts and formation of a breach; the _countermines_
of the besieged in undermining the glacis over which the assaulting
column must charge, and blowing them into the air, or in destroying
batteries erected for breaching, are equally serviceable. But far above
the actual mischief wrought by the mine--often very great--is its moral
influence on the troops, and especially on the assailants. Mines are
either vertical,--when they are called _shafts_,--horizontal, or
inclined, in either of which cases they are “galleries,” the word
“ascending” or “descending” being added, if there be inclination. The
dimensions range from the “great gallery,” 6 feet 6 inches by 7 feet, to
the “small branch,”--the last diminutive of the gallery,--which has but
2 feet 6 inches height, with a breadth of 2 feet. The most frequent work
is the “common gallery,” 4 feet 6 inches by 3 feet, which is considered
the easiest for the miner.
=Minié Ball.= A ball or bullet of peculiar construction. It is cast
hollow for nearly two-thirds of its length, and into the opening of the
internal cylinder there is introduced a small concave piece of iron,
which the powder at the moment of firing forces into the slug, spreading
it open, and causing it to fit perfectly to the barrel. Hence a great
increase in the precision of aim and the extent of range.
=Minié Rifle.= A species of fire-arm, invented by Capt. Minié, from whom
it receives its name. It is certain in aim, and fatal in its results at
800 yards.