London, the most populous city in Christendom, is situated on both sides
of the Seine, and is surrounded by walls and a strong line of
fortifications. When Cæsar conquered Gaul, he rebuilt Lutetia, which had
been nearly destroyed through the obstinacy of the Celtic tribe who here
had their stronghold, and it rose to be a place of considerable
importance during the 500 years of Roman dominion. In the beginning of
the 5th century it suffered much from the northern hordes, and
ultimately fell into the hands of the Franks, headed by Clovis, who,
having embraced Christianity, made it his residence in 508. In 845 the
city was ravaged by the Normans, and in 845 and 920 suffered from
famine; in 885 it was gallantly defended by the Count Eudes and the
Bishop Goslin against the Danes; in 1231 it was rebuilt; and in 1411-18
suffered by the factions of the Armagnacs and Burgundians; taken by the
English in 1420, and retaken by the French in 1436; on August 24, 1572,
the massacre of St. Bartholomew occurred; in 1589-90 Henry IV. vainly
besieged it, and he entered it in March, 1594; surrendered to the allies
on March 30, 1814. Paris was the scene of many revolutions from July,
1830, to February 22, 1848. The following are the great treaties of
Paris: Between England, France, Spain, and Portugal, cession of Canada
to Great Britain by France, and Florida by Spain, on February 10, 1763;
between France and Sardinia; the latter ceding Savoy, May 15, 1796;
France and Sweden, whereby Swedish Pomerania and the island of Rugen
were given up to the Swedes, who agreed to adopt the French prohibitory
system against Great Britain, January 6, 1810; on April 11, 1814, Paris
capitulated, and Napoleon renounced the sovereignty of France; the
convention of Paris, between France and the allied powers, the
boundaries of France to be the same as on the first day of January,
1792; peace of Paris ratified by France and all the allies on May 14,
1814; convention of St. Cloud, between Marshal Davoust, Wellington, and
Blücher, for the surrender of Paris, July 3, 1815, and the allies
entered it on July 6; treaty of Paris, between Great Britain, Austria,
Russia, and Prussia, styling Napoleon the prisoner of those powers, and
confiding his safeguard to England on August 2, 1815; establishing the
boundaries of France, and stipulating for the occupation of certain
fortresses by foreign troops for three years, on November 20, same year,
and the treaty of Paris, confirming the treaties of Chaumont and Vienna,
same day; treaty between Russia and Turkey, England, France, and
Sardinia, March 30, 1856; another between England and Persia, March 4,
1857; the treaty between the European powers, Prussia, and Switzerland,
respecting Neufchâtel, May 26, 1857; and the convention between France
and Italy for withdrawal of French troops from Rome, September 15, 1864.
In the late war with Prussia the armies of France having been defeated
by the Germans, on August 7, 1870, Paris was declared in a state of
siege. On September 4, a republic was proclaimed and a “provisional
government of national defense” instituted under the presidency of Gen.
Trochu. On September 20, Paris was invested by the Germans, and
communication was kept up with the outer world by means of pigeons and
balloon mails. On October 30, riot reigned in Paris, and the members of
the provisional government were arrested and held prisoners for several
hours. On November 28, 300,000 troops supported by 700 field-pieces,
divided into three corps, were concentrated at points around the city
under Gen. Trochu as commander-in-chief. Early in January the
bombardment was begun, and continued most of the month without serious
injury. The city, nearly reduced to starvation and threatened with
intestine commotion, surrendered on January 28, with 1900 pieces of
artillery, 180,000 prisoners, a forced contribution of 200,000,000
francs having been levied by the enemy. The National Assembly having
ratified the preliminaries of peace on February 28, the German troops,
who, to the number of 30,000, had occupied a quarter of Paris, quietly
withdrew. The terms of peace proving distasteful to the populace, Paris
was soon plunged into political chaos, and sanguinary conflicts followed
between the government of the Commune, or Red Republicans, and the
Versailles government under the presidency of Thiers.
=Park.= The space occupied by the animals, wagons, pontons, and
materials of all kinds, whether of powder, ordnance stores, hospital
stores, provisions, etc., of an army when brought together; as, a park
of wagons; a park of artillery; a park of provisions; engineer park, and
the like.
=Park.= To bring together in a park, or compact body; as, to park the
artillery, etc.
=Parley.= An oral conference with an enemy. It takes place under a flag
of truce, and usually at some spot--for the time neutral--between the
two armies. _To beat a parley_, is to give a signal for such a
conference by beat of drum or sound of trumpet.
=Parma.= A kind of round buckler used by the velites in the Roman army.
It was 3 feet in diameter, made of wood and covered with leather. Its
form was round, and its substance strong; but Servius on the Æneid, and
even Virgil, say that it was a light piece of armor in comparison with
the clypeus, though larger than the pelta.
=Parma.= A city of Italy, situated on a river of the same name, about 72
miles southeast of Milan. It is supposed to be of Etruscan origin, but
is first mentioned as a Roman colony, having become of considerable
importance in the time of the republic. It took a prominent part against
Antony in 43 B.C., and was in consequence taken by that general and
plundered by his troops. Under Augustus it received a fresh colony, and
it again rose to be one of the principal towns of this populous and
flourishing part of Italy. In 377 a colony of Goths was settled in the
territory of Parma by order of Gratian; Attila devastated and plundered
it; and it was taken by Narses in his wars against the Goths and their
allies. In 1247, Frederick II. besieged it without success. It
subsequently became a prey to feudal lords, and afterwards fell into the
hands of the popes. Parma is now part of the province of Æmilia, in the
kingdom of Italy, to which it was annexed March 18, 1860.
=Parma, Battles of.= An indecisive engagement took place at Parma, June
29, 1734, between the confederated armies of England, France, and Spain
and the Austrians; and on June 19, 1799, the French under Macdonald were
routed by the Russians under Suwarrow, with a loss of 4 generals and
10,000 men.
=Paroi= (_Fr._). A stout wooden frame having long, sharp-pointed stakes
driven into it horizontally; it is placed upon the parapet to oppose
scaling parties.
=Parole.= A watch-word differing from the countersign (which see) in
that it is only communicated to officers of guards, while the
countersign is given to all the members. The parole is usually the name
of a person, generally a distinguished officer, while the countersign is
the name of a place, as of a battle-field. It is also the declaration
made on honor by an officer, in a case in which there is no more than
his sense of honor to restrain him from breaking his word. Thus, a
prisoner of war may be released from actual prison on his parole that he
will not go beyond certain designated limits; or he may even be allowed
to return to his own country on his parole not to fight again during the
existing war against his captors. To break _parole_ is accounted
infamous in all civilized nations, and an officer who has so far
forgotten his position as a gentleman ceases to have any claim to the
treatment of an honorable man, nor can he expect quarter should he again
fall into the hands of the enemy he has deceived.
=Paros.= One of the larger islands of the Grecian archipelago, situated
west of Naxos. In ancient times, it is said to have been colonized by
Cretans, and was very wealthy and powerful. It submitted to the
Persians; and after the battle of Marathon was assailed ineffectually by
Miltiades, who received here the wound of which he soon after died.
After the death of Xerxes, Paros came under the supremacy of Athens, and
shared the fate of the other Cyclades.
=Parrain= (_Fr._). In military orders, the person who introduces or
presents a newly-elected knight. The term is also used to signify the
comrade who is selected by a soldier who is condemned to be shot to bind
the handkerchief over his eyes.
=Parrott Gun.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.
=Parrott Projectile.= See PROJECTILE.
=Parry.= To ward off; to stop or to put or turn off; to prevent; as, to
parry a thrust, a blow, or the like, or anything that means or threatens
harm.
=Parry.= A defensive movement in sword and bayonet exercises; also a
command; as, _tierce parry_, _quarte parry_, etc.
=Parrying.= The action of warding off the push or blow aimed at one by
the other.
=Parsees=, or =Guebres=. The followers of Zerdusht, dwelt in Persia till
638, when, at the battle of Kadseah, their army was decimated by the
Arabs, and the monarchy annihilated at the battle of Náhárand in 641.
Many submitted to the conquerors (and their descendants are termed
Guebres), but others fled to India, and their descendants still reside
at Bombay (where they are termed Parsees), where they numbered 114,698
in 1849.
=Parsons Gun.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.
=Parsonstown= (anc. _Birr_). A considerable inland town on the river
Brosna, in King’s Co., Ireland, 69 miles west-southwest from Dublin.
Birr was the scene of many important events, both in the Irish and in
the post-invasion period. The castle, which was anciently the seat of
the O’Carrols, was granted by Henry II. to Philip de Worcester; but it
frequently changed masters, and even alternated between English and
Irish hands. Through the entire period of the civil wars it was
constantly disputed, until after 1690, when the Parsons family was
finally established in possession of the castle and adjoining lands.
Parsonstown is a large military station.
=Partheniæ.= A word derived from the Greek, signifying children born of
unmarried women. The name was applied to a particular class of citizens
in Sparta after the Messenian war, whose origin was ascribed to the
following circumstances: The Spartans having been at war with the
Messenians for twenty years, and having by that means very much
depopulated their country, and apprehending that if the war continued it
might eventually strip Sparta of all its male inhabitants, they sent
some of their young men from the army into the city, with license to be
familiar with as many unmarried women as they would; and the children
begotten by them in this manner were called _partheniæ_, on account of
the uncertainty as to who were their fathers. At the end of the war,
this brood were deemed bastards, and were denied the bearing of any
office in the government, etc. This unjust exclusion enraged them so
much that they conspired with the slaves to destroy all the nobility;
but, on the discovery of their plot, they were driven out of the city;
after which, being headed by Phalantus, a bold and enterprising son of
chance, they traveled into Magna Grecia in Italy, and built Tarentum.
=Parthenopean Republic.= Was the name given to the state into which the
kingdom of Naples was transformed by the French republicans, January 23,
1799, and which only lasted till the following June, when the invading
army was forced to retreat.
=Parthia.= Anciently a country of Western Asia, lying at the southeast
end of the Caspian Sea, from which it was separated by a narrow strip,
known as Hyrcania, now forms the northern portion of Khorassan, and is
an almost wholly mountainous region. The original inhabitants are
believed to have been of Scythian race, as shown by their language as
well as by their manners, and to belong to the great Indo-Germanic
family. The Parthians, during the time of the Roman republic, were
distinguished by primitive simplicity of life and extreme bravery,
though, at the same time, much given to bacchanalian and voluptuous
pleasures. They neglected agriculture and commerce, devoting their whole
time to predatory expeditions and warfare. They fought on horseback, and
after a peculiar fashion. Being armed solely with bows and arrows, they
were rendered defenseless after the first discharge, and, to gain time
for adjusting a second arrow to the bow, turned their horses, and
retired, as if in full flight; but an enemy incautiously pursuing was
immediately assailed by a second flight of arrows; a second pretended
flight followed, and the conflict was thus carried on till the Parthians
gained the victory, or exhausted their quivers. They generally
discharged their arrows backwards, holding the bow behind the shoulder;
a mode of attack more dangerous to a pursuing enemy than to one in order
of battle. The Parthians first appeared in history as subject to the
great Persian empire. After the death of Alexander the Great, Parthia
formed part of the Syrian kingdom, but revolted under Antiochus II., and
constituted itself into an independent kingdom under the _Arsacidæ_, 250
B.C., a race of kings who exercised the most completely despotic
authority ever known. The Parthian dominion rapidly became a most
powerful and flourishing empire. In spite of repeated attacks on the
part of the Romans, the Parthians maintained their independence; and
though Trajan, in 115-116, seized certain portions of the country, the
Romans were soon compelled to abandon them. In 214, during the reign of
Artabanus IV., the last of the Arsacidæ, a revolt headed by Ardshir, son
of Babegan, broke out in Persia, and the Parthian monarch, beaten in
three engagements, lost his throne and life, while the victor
substituted the Persian dynasty of the Sassanidæ for that of the
Arsacidæ. Some scions of the Parthian royal family continued for several
centuries to rule over the mountainous district of Armenia, under the
protection of the Romans, and made frequent descents upon Assyria and
Babylonia.
=Partiality.= An unequal state of judgment or leaning in favor of one of
two parties. Every member of a court-martial is sworn to do justice,
without partiality, favor, or affection. A previous opinion expressed by
a member, before the court is sworn, is deemed a good and sufficient
cause of challenge by either the prisoner or prosecutor, and the
individual cannot sit on the trial and judgment of the case.
=Partisan.= The name given to small corps detached from the main body of
an army, and acting independently against the enemy. In partisan warfare
much liberty is allowed to partisans. Continually annoying the flanks
and rear of columns, they intercept convoys, cut off communications,
attack detachments, and endeavor to spread terror everywhere. This kind
of warfare is advantageously pursued only in mountainous or
thickly-wooded districts. In an open country, cavalry very readily
destroys partisans. The Spanish race make active partisans. The party is
called _guerrilla_, the partisan a _guerrillero_.
=Partisan.= A term formerly applied to a pike or halbert.
=Partition Lines.= In heraldry, lines dividing the shield in directions
corresponding to the ordinaries. According to the direction of the
partition lines, a shield is said to be party or parted per fess, per
pale, per bend, per chevron, per saltire; a shield divided by lines in
the direction of a cross is said to be quartered; and a shield parted at
once per cross and per saltire is said to be gironné of eight. The
partition lines are not always plain; they may be engrailed, invected,
embattled, wavy, nebuly, indented, dancetté, or raguly.
=Partridges.= In artillery, were very large bombards, formerly in use at
sieges and in defensive works.
=Parts, Bridges By.= See PONTONS.
=Party.= A small detachment of men, horse or foot, sent upon any kind of
duty; as, into an enemy’s country, to pillage, to take prisoners, and
oblige the country to come under contribution.
=Party.= In heraldry, parted or divided;--used with reference to any
division of a field or charge.
=Party, Firing.= Are those who are selected to fire over the grave of
any one interred with military honors.
=Party, Recruiting.= Is a certain number of men, under an officer or
non-commissioned officer, detached from their respective regiments for
the purpose of enlisting men.
=Party, Working.= See WORKING PARTY.
=Pas de Sours= (_Fr._). Steps leading from the bottom to the top of a
ditch in permanent fortification.
=Pasha=, or =Bashaw= (from the Persian _padishah_, “powerful ruler”). A
title applied in the Ottoman empire to governors of provinces, or
military and naval commanders of high rank. The distinctive badge of a
pasha is a horse-tail, waving from the end of a staff crowned with a
gilt ball; in war, this badge is always carried before him when he goes
abroad, and is at other times planted in front of his tent. There are
three grades of pashas, which are distinguished by the number of
horse-tails on their standards; those of the highest rank are pashas of
three tails, and include, in general, the highest functionaries, civil
and military. All pashas of this class have the title of vizier. The
pashas of two tails are the governors of provinces, who are generally
called by the simple title “pasha.” The pashas of one tail, the lowest
rank of pashas, are provincial governors. See HORSE-TAIL.
=Pass.= A straight, difficult, and narrow passage, which, well defended,
shuts up the entrance to a country.
=Pass.= A certificate of leave of absence given to a soldier for a short
period.
=Pass of Arms.= In ancient chivalry, a bridge, road, etc., which the
knights undertook to defend, and which was not to be passed without
fighting the person who kept it. He who was disposed to dispute the pass
touched one of the armories of the other knight who held the pass, that
were hung on pales, columns, etc., erected for the purpose; and this was
a challenge which the other was obliged to accept. The vanquished gave
the conqueror such prize as was agreed on.
=Pass, To.= Is to march in review by open order of columns, for the
purpose of saluting.
=Passable.= Capable of being passed, traveled, traversed, or the like;
as, the roads are not passable for troops.
=Passade=, or =Passado=. In fencing, a push or thrust; also, a sudden
movement to the front.
=Passage.= A pass or encounter; as, a passage at arms.
=Passage of Ditches.= In siege operations the passage of a dry ditch
consists in the _descent_ (which is by a blindage, if the ditch is not
too deep, or a blindage and gallery for deep ditches) and a full sap,
which leads from the outlet of the _descent_ to the bottom of the
breach. The passage of a wet ditch is more difficult, and specially
perilous if the besieged can produce sudden freshets by flood-gates or
other contrivance. The method usually followed is to build a dike or
bridge of fascines and hurdles across the ditch. The abutment for this
bridge is formed by excavating a grand gallery behind the counterscarp
and throwing the earth taken from it into the ditch through the outlet
of the _descent_. The dike is carried forward from this abutment by
sappers, who work on a raft carrying a musket-proof mask on the side of
the enemy. A gabionade parapet on the exposed side of the dike serves to
protect the men in bringing forward the fascines, hurdles, etc., to
extend the dike.
=Passage of Rivers.= The passage is effected by surprise or by main
force, and detachments are thrown by one means or the other upon the
enemy’s bank of the river before proceeding to the construction of
bridges. The passage by force ought always to be favored by diversions
upon other points. Infantry cross bridges without keeping step. Cavalry
dismount in crossing, leading their horses. Wagons heavily loaded pass
at a gallop.
=Passages.= Are openings cut in the parapet of the covered way, close to
the traverses, in order to continue the communication through all parts
of the covered way. See TRAVERSES.
=Passandeau= (_Fr._). An ancient 8-pounder gun, which was 15 feet long,
and weighed about 3500 pounds.
=Passant.= A heraldic term, used to express the attitude of an animal in
a walking position, with his head straight before him.
=Passarowitz.= A well-built town of European Turkey, in the province of
Servia, 5 miles south of the Danube, and 15 miles east of Semendria. The
town is chiefly noteworthy for the treaty which was signed here by
Prince Eugène and the grand viziers, July 21, 1718. By this treaty,
which put an end to the war undertaken by the Turks against Venice in
1714 for the conquest of the Morea, a truce of twenty-five years was
established, and the Banat of Temesvars, the western portion of
Wallachia and Servia, the town and territory of Belgrade, and a part of
Bosnia, were secured to the house of Austria.
=Passau.= A picturesque, fortified, frontier town of Bavaria, at the
confluence of the Inn and the Ilz with the Danube, 90 miles
east-northeast from Munich. Fort Oberhaus, on the left bank of the
Danube, stands on steep wooded cliffs, at an elevation of upwards of 400
feet, and commands the passage of both the Inn and Danube, besides which
the town is further defended by the castle of Niederhause, and by ten
detached forts. The treaty whereby religious freedom was established,
was ratified here between the emperor Charles V. and the Protestant
princes of Germany, July 31, 1552.
=Pass-box.= See IMPLEMENTS.
=Passegardes.= In ancient armor, were ridges on the shoulder-pieces to
turn the blow of a lance.
=Passe-Mur.= An ancient 16-pounder gun, 18 feet long, weighing 4200
pounds.
=Passes-Balles= (_Fr._). Boards or machines made of iron or brass, used
in disparting cannon, and fitted to every species of caliber.
=Passion Cross.= A cross of the form on which our Saviour suffered, with
a long stem and a short traverse near the top. It is of occasional
occurrence as a heraldic charge, though less frequent than many other
varieties of cross. A passion cross, when elevated on three steps or
degrees (which have been said by heralds to represent the virtues of
Faith, Hope, and Charity), is called a Cross Calvary.
=Passive Operations.= Are operations the object of which is solely to
repel an attack of the enemy and thus prevent his advance.
=Pass-parole.= An order passed from front to rear of an army by word of
mouth.
=Passport.= A document given by the competent officer of a state, which
permits the person therein named to pass or travel from place to place
by land or water. Also a license granted in time of war for the removal
of persons and effects from a hostile country; a safe-conduct.
=Pataremo.= A sort of small swivel artillery, having a movable chamber.
=Patavium= (now _Padova_, or _Padua_). An ancient town of the Veneti in
the north of Italy, on the Medoacus Minor, and on the road from Mutina
to Altinum. In 302 B.C. it was powerful enough to drive back the Spartan
king Cleomenes with great loss when he attempted to plunder the
surrounding country. It was plundered by Attila; and in consequence of a
revolt of its citizens, it was subsequently destroyed by Agilolf, king
of the Longobards, and razed to the ground.
=Patay.= A town of France, department of Loiret, 14 miles northwest of
Orleans, where John of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, was present, when the
Earl of Richemont signally defeated the English, June 18, 1429. Talbot
was taken prisoner, and the valiant Fastolfe was forced to fly. In
consequence, Charles VII. of France entered Rheims in triumph, and was
crowned July 17, following year, Joan of Arc assisting in the ceremony
in full armor, and holding the sword of state.
=Patched-up Peace, The.= In French history, the name given to a treaty
of peace between the Duke of Orleans and John of Burgundy, in 1409.
=Paté= (_Fr._). In fortification, a sort of horseshoe, that is, a
platform or terre-plein, irregularly built, yet generally constructed in
an oval form. It is surrounded by a parapet, without anything to flank
it, and having no other defense than what is front or fore right.
_Patés_ are usually erected in marshy grounds to cover the gate of a
fortified town or place. Also an iron or earthen pot filled with powder
and grenades for throwing against besiegers; some were used at Lille in
1708.
=Patereros.= Were small pieces of ordnance, now obsolete, worked on
swivels; most commonly used on board of ships, where they were mounted
on the gunwale, and discharged showers of old nails, etc., into hostile
boats. The French called them Pierriers, from loading them with stones.
=Patience.= The power or faculty of suffering; endurance; the power of
expecting long, without rage or discontent; the power of supporting
faults or injuries, without revenge; long suffering. In military life,
patience is an essential requisite. Without patience half the toils of
war would be insupportable; with patience there are scarcely any
hardships but what coolness, courage, and ability may overcome. It is
one of the greatest virtues, indeed, in an officer or soldier patiently
to support, not only the rigor of discipline, but the keen and vexatious
circumstances of disappointment.
=Patna=, or =Pattana=. A town of British India, capital of a district of
the same name, in the presidency of Bengal, on the right bank of the
Ganges, 10 miles east of Dinapore, and 377 miles northwest of Calcutta.
Factories were established here at an early period by the British. In
1763 disputes began to arise between Meer Cossim, the nawaub of Bengal
and Behar, and the servants of the East India Company, about the transit
dues levied on native traders, from which the English claimed exemption.
The nawaub for some time refused to accede to these demands; but finally
he abolished all the imposts, both on British and native goods, a step
which was not desired by the Company, and which must have greatly
diminished his revenues. In revenge for this injury, he proceeded in
various ways to annoy the British; and at length went so far as to seize
some of their boats on the Ganges. On this Mr. Ellis, the chief of the
factory at Patna, made an attack on the city and took possession of it,
although Meer Cossim soon afterwards recovered it, and forced the
British to take refuge in the factory. For four months hostilities
continued between the two parties, in the course of which the nawaub was
several times defeated, until he became so exasperated at the loss of
the city of Monghyr, that he ordered the murder in cold blood of 200
prisoners. On November 6, in the same year, Patna was taken by the
British; and in May, 1764, Meer Cossim’s troops were totally defeated
under the walls. Since that time the place has remained undisturbed in
the hands of the British.
=Patomemeter.= An instrument for measuring the force of currents.