Wexford, and partly in the county of Kilkenny, 27 miles northwest from
Wexford. New Ross was taken by Cromwell in 1649, and in 1798 a severe
battle was fought here between the king’s troops and the Irish
insurgents.
=Rossbach.= A village of Prussian Saxony, in the government of
Merseburg, celebrated for the victory here gained by the Prussians under
Frederick the Great over the allied French and Austrian armies, November
5, 1757. The Prussians lost (according to a French account) only 300
men, while the loss of the allies was more than 1200 slain, 6000
prisoners, among whom were 11 generals and 300 officers, and 72 cannon,
with many other trophies.
=Roster=, or =Rollster=. List of officers for duty. The principle which
governs details for duty is from the eldest down; longest off duty first
on duty. If an officer’s tour of duty for armed service, court-martial,
or fatigue, happen when he is upon either duty, he is credited
therewith. An officer returning from duty after sickness, takes the same
place he had on the post roster before reporting sick; that being sick
on the day of detail he gets the credit of the tour and awaits the
return of his day, when, if well, he is again detailed. An officer
returning from leave of absence is at once subject for detail.
Customarily, an officer who returns from detached service is placed at
the foot of the roster. The same rules should apply to non-commissioned
officers and privates. A regiment or detachment detailed for any duty,
receives credit for the duty when it marches off parade to perform the
duty, but not if it is dismissed on parade. Officers on inlying pickets
are subject to all details. In the British service, regiments proceed on
foreign service according to the roster.
=Rotterdam.= An important commercial city in Holland, in the province of
Southern Holland. Its importance dates from the 13th century; taken by
the Spaniards by stratagem in 1572, and cruelly treated. It suffered
much from the French revolutionary wars.
=Rouen.= A city in the north of France, the chief town of the department
of the Lower Seine, and formerly the capital of Normandy, 68 miles
northwest from Paris. It was held by the English till 1204; and was
retaken by Henry V., January 19, 1419. Joan of Arc was burnt here, May
30, 1431. It was taken by Charles VII. of France in 1449; and by the
Duke of Guise from the Huguenots, October, 1552, and in 1591.
=Rough Rider.= A non-commissioned officer in the British cavalry
regiments, whose business it is to break in refractory horses, and
assist the riding-master when required.
=Rouleaux.= Are round bundles of fascines, which are tied together. They
serve to cover men when the works are pushed close to a besieged town,
or to mask the head of a work.
=Round.= A general discharge of fire-arms by a body of troops, in which
each soldier fires once. _Round of cartridges_, one cartridge to each
man; as, to supply a regiment with a single round, or with twelve
rounds.
=Round, Gentleman of the.= A gentleman soldier, but of low rank, only
above the lance-pesade, whose office it was to visit and inspect the
sentinels and advanced guards; also, one of a number of disbanded
soldiers who had betaken themselves to the trade of begging.
=Round Robin.= This term is a corruption of _ruban rond_, which
signifies a round ribbon. It was usual among French officers, when they
signed a remonstrance, to write their names in a circular form, so that
it was impossible to ascertain who signed first. Hence to sign a round
robin against any person, was for any specific number of men to sign,
one and all, a remonstrance against him.
=Round Table, Knights of.= Known in early English history as knights
belonging to a celebrated order instituted by King Arthur, and whose
exploits and adventures form the subjects of many ballads, and much of
the early romantic poetry of England. The members of the order are said
to have been 40 in number, and to have derived their name from their
custom of sitting about a large, round, marble table, in order to avoid
all distinction of rank.
=Roundel=, or =Roundelle=. Was a shield used by the Norman soldiers. The
word is also applied to the semicircular bastions in early
fortification, as introduced by Albert Dürer. This bastion consisted of
a semicircle of masonry about 300 feet in diameter, containing roomy
casemates for the troops, and for artillery and musketry, with which the
ditch and curtains were flanked.
=Roundheads, The.= In English history, a nickname given, in the reign of
Charles I., to the Puritans, or Parliamentary party, who were accustomed
to wear their hair cut close to the head. They were so called in
opposition to the Cavaliers, or Royalists, who wore their hair in long
ringlets.
=Roundle=, or =Roundlet=. In heraldry, a general name given to charges
of a circular form, which in English heraldry have more special names
indicative of their tinctures. A roundle or is called a _Bezant_; a
roundle argent, a _Plate_; a roundle gules, a _Torteaux_; a roundle
azure, a _Hurt_; a roundle sable, an _Ogress_, or _Pellet_; a roundle
purpure, a _Golpe_; a roundle sanguine, a _Guze_; a roundle tenney, an
_Orange_. In the heraldry of Scotland and of the continent, it is, on
the other hand, usual to design all roundles of metal bezants, and those
of color, torteaux, adding the tincture. Thus the coat blazoned in
England azure three plates, would be in the Scottish mode of blazon,
azure three bezants argent.
=Rounds.= An officer or non-commissioned officer who, attended by one or
more men, visits the sentinels in barracks, in order to ascertain
whether they are vigilant. There are two sorts of rounds, _grand_ and
_visiting_. Grand rounds are the rounds which are gone by general
officers, commandants, or field-officers. When there are no officers of
the day, the officer of the main guard may go the grand rounds. The
grand rounds generally go at midnight; the visiting rounds at
intermediate periods, between sunset and reveille. The grand rounds
receive the parole, and all other rounds give it to the guards. In
officers’ rounds the officer guarding is preceded by a drummer carrying
a lantern, and followed by a sergeant and a file of men. Ordinary rounds
consist of a sergeant and a file of men. Both ordinary and officers’
rounds are termed visiting rounds. The design of _rounds_ is not only to
visit the guards, and keep the sentinels alert, but likewise to discover
what passes in the outworks, and beyond them.
=Rout.= The confusion created in an army or body of troops when defeated
or dispersed. _To put to the rout_, is to defeat and throw into
confusion. The term expresses more than a defeat, because it implies a
dispersion of the enemy’s forces; for a defeated enemy may retreat in
good order; but when routed, order and discipline are at an end.
=Route.= An open road; the course of march of troops. Instructions for
the march of detachments, specifying daily marches, means of supply,
etc., are given from the headquarters of an army in the field, and are
called marching routes.
=Route Step.= In tactics, is a style of march whereby the men carry
their arms at will, keeping the muzzles elevated; they are not required
to preserve silence, or to keep the step, but each man covers the file
in his front. The ranks preserve the distance of 32 inches from each
other. The route step is at the rate of from 2¹⁄₂ to 3 miles per hour.
=Routine.= This word has been adopted by us in the same sense that it is
familiarly used by the French. It signifies capacity, or the faculty of
arranging; a certain method in business, civil or military, which is as
much acquired by habit and practice as by regular study and rule. We say
familiarly the routine of business.
=Rowel.= The pointed part of a riding spur, which is made in a circular
form, with rays or points like a star.
=Royal.= A small mortar which carries a shell whose diameter is 5.5
inches. It is mounted on a bed the same as other mortars.
=Royal.= In England, one of the soldiers of the first regiment of foot,
called the _Royals_, and supposed to be the oldest regular corps in
Europe.
=Rubicon.= A small stream of Central Italy, falling into the Adriatic,
has obtained a proverbial celebrity from the well-known story of its
passage by Cæsar, who by crossing this river--which, at the outbreak of
the civil war between him and Pompey, formed the southern boundary of
his province--virtually declared war against the republic. Hence the
phrase to “cross the Rubicon” has come to mean, to take an irrevocable
step.
=Rudiments.= The first principles, the elements of any particular
science; as, the rudiments of war, which are the first principles or
elements of war; as, marching, facing, wheeling; the drill, manual, and
platoon exercises, manœuvres, etc.
=Ruffle.= Is a low vibrating sound, less loud than a roll, produced by
drummers. It is used as a compliment to general officers and at military
funerals.
=Rugen.= The largest of the islands of Germany, belongs to Prussia, and
lies in the Baltic, off the coast of Pomerania. In 1169 it was conquered
by the Danish king Waldemar I. By the peace of Westphalia it was ceded
to Sweden, but in 1815 it was transferred to Prussia.
=Rules and Articles of War.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR.
=Run.= The greatest degree of swiftness in marching. It is executed upon
the same principles as the _double-quick_, but with greater speed.
=Run the Gantlope.= See GANTLOPE.
=Running Fight.= A battle in which one party flees and the other
pursues, but the party fleeing keeps up the contest.
=Running Fire.= A constant fire of musketry or cannon.
=Rupture.= This word signifies the commencement of hostilities between
any two or more powers.
=Rusellæ= (_Rusellanus_; ruins near _Grosseto_). One of the most ancient
cities of Etruria. It was taken by the Romans in 294 B.C., when 2000 of
its inhabitants were slain, and as many more were made prisoners.
=Rush.= To move or drive forward with impetuosity, violence, and
tumultuous rapidity; as, armies rush to battle. Also, a driving forward
with eagerness and haste; as, a rush of troops.
=Russia.= The largest empire of the world, occupying about one-sixth of
the firm land of our globe, bounded north by the Arctic Ocean, east by
the Pacific, south by China, Independent Toorkistan, Persia, Asiatic
Turkey, the Black Sea, and Roumania, and west by Austria, Prussia, the
Baltic, and the Scandinavian peninsula. When the Greeks founded their
commercial stations along the northern coast of the Black Sea, in the
Crimea, and on the shores of the Sea of Azof, they found the interior
occupied by roving tribes of a fierce and savage character. They called
them Scythians and Sarmatians, and for about eight centuries these two
nations continued to be mentioned in the history of Greece and Rome as
inhabiting the same country, pursuing the same occupations, etc. Then
came, during the migration of nations beginning in the 4th century, the
Goths, Avars, Huns, Alans, etc., rolling over them wave after wave. In
the 6th century the name of the Slaves first appears. They founded Kiev
and Novgorod. The name of _Russians_ is first met with in the 9th
century. Rurik, a Varangian chief, came to Novgorod in 862, not as a
conqueror, but invited, and henceforth his family reigned in the country
till it became extinct, and the people received the name of Russians.
His successor, Oleg (879-912), conquered Kief, defeated the Khazars, and
even attacked the emperor of Constantinople. In the beginning of the
13th century, the Mongols under Genghis Khan broke in from Asia; the
Russians were unable to withstand them. Most of the princes were wholly
subdued. The brilliant victories of Demetrius Donski, prince of Moscow,
in 1378 and 1380, only caused the Mongols to return in larger hordes; in
1382, Moscow was burned to the ground and 24,000 of its inhabitants were
slain. Ivan III. the Great (1462-1505), who united Novgorod, Perm, and
Pskov to Moscow, refused to pay the tribute to the Mongols, defeated
them when they attempted to enforce their claim by arms, and commenced
extending the Russian power to the east, conquering Kazan in 1469, and
parts of Siberia in 1499. Ivan IV., the Terrible (1533-84), conquered
Astrakhan in 1554, the land of the Don Cossacks in 1570, Siberia in
1581, opened a road to Archangel in 1553, and organized in 1545 a
body-guard, the famous _Streltzi_. With his son Feodor I. (1584-98) the
house of Rurik ceased to exist, and after a protracted and
severe struggle between Boris Godunoff, Basil V., and the two
pseudo-Demetriuses, who were supported by the Poles, Michael
Feodorovitch Romanoff, the founder of the present dynasty, ascended the
throne in 1612. Some progress was made under each of his
successors,--Catharine I. (1725-27), Peter II. (1727-30), Anne
(1730-41), Elizabeth (1741-62). Catharine II. (1762-76) carried on
successful wars with Persia, Sweden, and Turkey, conquering the Crimea;
she also acquired Courland and half of Poland. (For history regarding
Poland, see POLAND.) Under Alexander I. (1801-25) Russia appears not
only as one of the great powers, but as the true arbiter in European
politics. In the Napoleonic wars he sided first with Austria, and was
beaten at Austerlitz; then with Prussia, and was beaten at Friedland. By
the peace of Frederikshamn (1809) he obtained Finland from Sweden; by
the peace of Bucharest (1812), Bessarabia and Moldavia from Turkey; and
the war with Persia was successfully progressing when his friendship
with Napoleon suddenly began to wane. A rupture took place, and now
followed with fearful rapidity the invasion of Russia by Western Europe,
the destruction of the grand army, and the overthrow of Napoleon. By the
peace of Paris (1856) Russia lost its supremacy in the Black Sea. (See
CRIMEA.) It only bided its time, however, and October 31, 1870, when
neither England, France, nor Turkey was able to resist, Prince
Gortschakoff informed the various cabinets that Russia felt compelled to
deviate from the stipulations of the treaty of Paris, and keep a fleet
of sufficient capacity in the Black Sea.
=Russo-German War.= The name given by German historians to the last
stage of the great European war against Napoleon, beginning with the
Russian campaign of 1812, and terminating on the field of Waterloo. For
important battles, etc., see appropriate headings.
=Russo-Turkish War.= The name applied to the war which took place
between Russia on one side, and Turkey, France, and Great Britain on the
other; it commenced in 1853 and terminated in 1856. For important events
of this war, see appropriate headings.
=Rustre.= In heraldry, one of the subordinaries, consisting of a
_lozenge_ with a circular opening pierced in its centre. Ancient armor
was sometimes composed of rustres sewed on cloth.
=Rustschuk.= A fortified town of Turkey in Europe, in Bulgaria, situated
at the influx of the Kara Lom into the Danube, 67 miles southwest from
Silitria. Giurgevo (which see) is almost immediately opposite. The
Russians took these towns in 1711 and 1810, but were defeated by the
Turks, before Giurgevo, in 1854.
=Rutuli.= An ancient people in Italy, inhabiting a narrow slip of
country on the east coast of Latium, a little to the south of the Tiber.
They were subdued at an early period by the Romans, and disappeared from
history.
=Ryswick.= A village in the province of South Holland, where the
celebrated treaty of peace was concluded between England, France, Spain,
and Holland, and was signed by their representatives, September 20, and
by the emperor of Germany, October 30, 1697.
S.
=Saalfeld.= A town of Germany, in the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, on the
Saale, 23 miles south from Weimar. Here the Prussians under Prince Louis
Frederick of Prussia were defeated and their leader slain by the French
under Lannes, October 10, 1806.
=Saarbrück= (anc. _Augusti Mari_, or _Saræpons_). An open town on the
left bank of the Saar, in Rhenish Prussia. It was founded in the 10th
century, and was long subject to the bishops of Metz; it was afterwards
ruled by counts (about 1237), and by the house of Nassau about 1380. It
was captured by the French and retaken by the Germans, 1676; reunited to
France, 1794-1814, and ceded to Prussia, 1815. On August 2, 1870, it was
bombarded by the French under Frossard, and the Prussians in small force
were dislodged, and the town occupied by the French general Bataille.
The emperor Napoleon and his son were present during this bombardment.
On August 6, the Prussian generals Goeben and Von Steinmetz, with the
first army, recaptured Saarbrück, after a sanguinary conflict at the
village of Spicheren. The heights taken by the French on the 2d are in
Germany, those taken by the Germans on the 6th are in France, and both
battles were fought between Saarbrück and the town of Forbach, which was
captured and has given a name to the second conflict. The loss was great
on both sides. The French general François was killed, and the 2d Corps
under Frossard nearly destroyed. The French retreated to Metz. They were
greatly superior in numbers at the beginning of the fight, but were
badly commanded.
=Sabander.= The familiar of _shah-bander_, an Eastern title for captain
or governor of a post.
=Sabantines.= Steel coverings for the feet; sometimes slippers or clogs.
=Sabbatons.= A round-toed armed covering for the feet, worn during a
part of the 16th century.
=Sabini.= An ancient people of Central Italy, were generally supposed to
have derived their name from Sabus, their chief tutelary deity. Their
antiquity was very great. They were the parent-stock of many of the
neighboring tribes, such as the Samnites, the Peligni, and the Picentes.
The Sabini inhabited the mountain region lying to the northeast of Rome.
They were a valiant warlike race, and at an early age of authentic
history they issued from their mountain fastness and began a system of
warlike aggression upon their neighbors. Gradually and by repeated
attacks, their invading hordes subdued the aborigines, and advanced
southward, occupying the land. At length, pushing their outposts to the
very gates of Rome, they commenced to interfere with the affairs of that
rising city. By victory or by compromise they gained admittance into the
state upon very advantageous terms. They were not satisfied, but
persisted in their encroachments upon the Roman territory, until
defeated by Tullus Hostilius and by Tarquinius Priscus; however, they
continued their raids until 449 B.C., when M. Horatius gave them a
defeat which kept them quiet for more than a century and a half. They
recovered in 290 B.C., only to be overthrown by Manlius Curius Dentatus
with greater completeness than ever. They finally became a part of the
Roman empire.
=Sable.= One of the tinctures in heraldry, implying black. In heraldic
engravings, it is represented by perpendicular and horizontal lines
crossing each other.
=Sabot.= Is a thick, circular disk of wood, to which, in fixed
ammunition, the cartridge-bag and projectile are attached. For a
spherical projectile, the sabot has a spherical cavity, and circular
groove to which the cartridge-bag is tied; in the canister-sabot, the
spherical cavity is omitted, and a circular offset is added. The effects
of a sabot are: (1) To prevent the formation of a _lodgment_ in the
bore. (2) To moderate the action of the powder on the projectile; and,
(3) To prevent the projectile from moving from its place. In consequence
of the scattering of the fragments, it is dangerous to use the sabot in
firing over the heads of one’s own men. The term is also applied to the
soft metal device attached to the base of rifled projectiles to take the
grooves of the bore.
=Sabre.= A long curved or straight cavalry sword, with a broad and heavy
blade, used for cutting and thrusting.
=Sabre.= To strike, cut, or kill with a sabre.
=Sabretache= (Ger. _Sabeltasche_, “sword-pocket”). A square pocket or
pouch suspended from the sword-belt on the left side, by three slings
to correspond with the belt. It is usually scolloped at the bottom, has
a device in the centre, and a broad lace round the edge. The color of it
always corresponds with that of the uniform. The sabretache is an
appointment or part of accoutrement of hussars in European armies.
=Sabreur= (_Fr._). A blood-thirsty soldier; brave soldier.
=Sabugal.= A town of Portugal, on the Spanish frontier, where an affair
took place between an English light division and the French, April 3,
1811, in which the latter were defeated.
=Sac and Fox Indians.= Two Algonkin tribes, who have always associated.
They formerly dwelt in Canada, but afterward occupied a large tract of
land on both sides of the Mississippi. The Sacs and Foxes often engaged
in wars with the English, French, and Indians. They were gradually
removed southwestward prior to 1849. There are now in the Indian
Territory about 400 Sacs and Foxes. There are also about 200 Sacs and
Foxes in Kansas, about 100 in Nebraska, and about 300 Sacs and Foxes in
Iowa. See FOX INDIANS.
=Sacæ.= One of the most numerous and powerful of the Scythian nomad
tribes, had their abodes in the steppes of Central Asia, which are now
peopled by the _Kirghiz Khasaks_. They were very warlike, and excelled
especially as cavalry, and as archers, both on horse and foot. Their
women shared in their military spirit; and according to Ælian, they had
the custom of settling before marriage whether the man or woman should
rule the house, by the result of a combat between them. In early times
they extended their predatory incursions as far west as Armenia and
Cappadocia. They were made tributary to the Persian empire, to the army
of which they furnished a large force of cavalry and archers, who were
among the best troops that the kings of Persia had.
=Saccatoo=, or =Socoto=. A kingdom of Soodan, in Central Africa. Its
inhabitants, the Fellatas, first made their appearance as conquerors,
coming from the west, apparently from the Senegal; they profess the
Mohammedan religion. Othman, or Danfodio, one of the Fellata chieftains,
marshaled his countrymen under his colors for a crusade against the
unbelievers. Though at first defeated in almost every encounter, yet the
warlike spirit of fanaticism grew so high that Othman obtained for
himself an extensive empire. Under Alin, who ascended the throne in
1837, great internal disturbance took place, which brought the country
into a wretched condition.
=Sachem.= A chief of a tribe of the American Indians; a sagamore. See
SAGAMORE.
=Sack.= The pillage or plunder, as of a town or city; the storm and
plunder of a town; devastation; ravage. Also, to plunder or pillage, as
a town or city; to devastate; to ravage.
=Sackage.= The act of taking by storm and pillage; sack.
=Sacker.= One who sacks; one who captures and plunders a town.
=Sackett’s Harbor.= A town in Jefferson Co., N. Y., on the south shore
of Black River Bay, 8 miles east of Lake Ontario and 170 miles
west-northwest of Albany, having a navy-yard, barracks, etc. In the war
of 1812-15 it was an important port, where the frigate “Superior,” of 66
guns, was built in eighty days, and the “Madison” in forty-five days,
from timber standing in the forest. It is a military post of the United
States named Madison Barracks, which is generally garrisoned by
artillery.
=Sacramento, St.= A Portuguese settlement in South America, claimed by
Spain in 1680; but relinquished in 1713; was several times seized; ceded
in 1777; acquired by Brazil in 1825.
=Sacramentum Militare= (_Lat._). The oath formerly taken by the Roman
soldiers when they were enrolled. This oath was pronounced at the head
of the legion, in an audible voice, by a soldier who was chosen by the
tribune for that purpose. He thereby pledged himself before the gods to
expose his life for the good and safety of the republic, to obey his
superior officers, and never to absent himself without leave. The
aggregate of the legion assented to the oath without going through the
formal declaration of it.