foreign ships of war, are saluted with guns of heavy caliber, the most
suitable being the 10-inch smooth-bore. The United States _national_
salute is one for each State composing the Union; and the
_international_ salute, or salute to the national flag, is 21 guns. The
President of the United States and the sovereign or chief magistrate of
a foreign state receive a salute of 21 guns, both upon arrival and final
departure from a military post. Members of the royal family,--_i.e._,
the heir-apparent and consort of the reigning sovereign of a foreign
state,--21 guns. The Vice-President of the United States receives a
salute of 19 guns. The following civil and diplomatic authorities
receive salutes as follows: members of the Cabinet, the chief justice,
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the governors within their
respective States or Territories, a committee of Congress officially
visiting a military post or station, the viceroy, governor-general, or
governors of provinces belonging to foreign states, ambassadors
extraordinary and plenipotentiary, 17 guns; envoys extraordinary and
ministers plenipotentiary, 15 guns; ministers resident accredited to the
United States, 13 guns; chargés d’affaires, or subordinate diplomatic
agents left in charge of missions in the United States, 11 guns. A
general-in-chief, field-marshal, or admiral receives a salute of 17
guns; a lieutenant-general, or vice-admiral, 15 guns; a major-general,
or rear-admiral, 13 guns; a brigadier-general, or commodore, 11 guns.
The officers of volunteers and militia, when in the service of the
United States, receive the salute specified for their rank. Officers of
foreign services visiting any military post, are saluted in accordance
with their rank. Salutes are fired only between _sunrise_ and _sunset_,
and, as a rule, never on Sunday. A national salute is to be fired at
noon on the anniversary of the independence of the United States at each
military post and camp provided with artillery and ammunition. The
_international_ salute is the only salute that is returned, and this
should be done as soon as possible; foreign ships of war, in return for
a similar compliment, gun for gun on notice being officially received of
such intention. If there be several forts in sight of or within 6 miles
of each other, the principal only shall reciprocate compliments with
ships in passing. The President of the United States, the sovereign or
chief magistrate of a foreign country traveling in a public capacity, is
saluted when _passing_ in the vicinity of a military post. Personal
salutes at the same place and in compliment to the same person, whether
civil, diplomatic, military, or naval, are never to be fired oftener
than once in twelve months, unless such person has, in the mean time,
been advanced in rank.
=Salvo.= Is a concentrated fire from a greater or less number of pieces
of artillery. Against a body of men, a salvo is generally useless, as
the moral effect is greater in proportion to the area over which
devastation is spread; but with fortifications the case is otherwise.
For the purpose of breaching, the simultaneous concussion of a number of
cannon-balls on masonry, or even earthwork, produces a very destructive
result. The effect of a salvo of modern artillery, with its enormous
steel shot, against iron-plated ramparts, has never yet been tried in
actual war. The concentrated fire of a ship’s broadside forms a powerful
salvo.
=Samanide Dynasty.= Began with Ismail Samani, who overcame the army of
the Safferides, and established himself in the government of Persia,
902; his descendants ruled till 999.
=Samarcand=, or =Samarkand= (anc. _Mazacanda_). The most celebrated city
of Central Asia, khanate of Bokhara, but annexed to the dominions of the
czar in 1868. It is situated at the foot of Mount Chobanata, and is 145
miles nearly east by north from Bokhara. It was seized by the Arabs,
707, and from this time belonged either to the califate or to some of
the dynasties which were offshoots from it, till 1219, when it was taken
by Genghis Khan. In 1359 it was captured by Timour, and ten years
afterward became the capital of his empire. On the division of his
empire after his death, it continued the capital of Turkestan till 1468,
when the attacks of the Uzbeks put an end to its prosperity.
=Samaria.= Anciently a city of Palestine, the chief seat of the
Ephraimitic Baal-worship, and, from the seventh year of Omri’s reign,
the capital of the kingdom of Israel. It was twice besieged by the
Syrians (901 and 892 B.C.), under Ahab and Joram, on both occasions
unsuccessfully; but in 721 (720) B.C., it was stormed by Shalmaneser,
king of Assyria, after a three years’ siege, and the inhabitants carried
off into captivity. Their place was supplied by colonists from Babylon
and other places. It was subsequently captured by Alexander the Great,
when the “Samaritan” inhabitants were driven out, and their place
supplied by Syro-Macedonians. It was again taken (109 B.C.) by John
Hyrcanus, who completely destroyed it. Soon rebuilt, it remained for
fifty years in possession of the Jews; but Pompey, in his victorious
march, restored it to the descendants of the expelled Samaritans, who
had settled in the neighborhood, and it was re-fortified by Gabinius.
Its name was changed to Sebaste by Herod the Great. In the 3d century it
became a Roman colony; but its prosperity perished with the Mohammedan
conquest of Palestine, and is at present only a small village called
Sebustieh, an Arab corruption of Sebaste.
=Sambas.= A town on the west coast of Borneo. It was attacked in 1812
and 1813 by the British, who were repulsed in their first attempt, but
succeeded in capturing the town at the second attack.
=Sambre.= A river of French Flanders, which has been the scene of many
sanguinary conflicts at different periods. It arises in the Ardennes,
between La Capelle and Chateaux-Cambressis; runs from southwest to
northeast; washes Landrecy, a fortified town, which was taken by the
Imperialists in 1793. In its vicinity is Troisville, where, in 1794, the
French were defeated by the British under the Duke of York. Maubeuge is
situated in advance of the forest of Mormal. It was fortified by Vauban,
and has a manufactory of fire-arms, and a garrison of infantry and
cavalry. It was vainly besieged by the allies in 1814. Near it is
Wattignies, where Jourdan beat the Austrians in 1813, and compelled them
to raise the siege of Maubeuge. From hence the Sambre flows out of
France, and passing into Belgium, washes Charleroi, a fortified place,
captured by the French in 1672, 1677, 1693, 1736, 1792, and 1794. It
leaves upon the heights on its right bank, Fleurus, a place rendered
famous by four remarkable battles,--that of 1622, gained by the
Spaniards over the Protestants of Germany; that of 1690, gained by
Luxemburg over the Imperialists; the battle of 1794, gained by Jourdan
over the allies; and the battle of 1815 (also designated the battle of
Ligny), gained by Napoleon over the Prussians. The battle of 1794 was
preceded by the siege of Charleroi, during which the French had six
times crossed the Sambre in vain, and had been repulsed in six battles,
the most celebrated of which are those of Grandreng, of the Péchant, and
of Marchienne.
=Sambuque= (_Fr._) An ancient musical instrument of the wind kind,
resembling a flute. It was also the name of an ancient engine of war
used by Marcellus in besieging Syracuse. Plutarch relates that two ships
were required to carry it. A minute description of this engine may be
seen in Polybius.
=Same=, or =Samos= (anc. _Cephallenia_). A town situated on the eastern
coast, opposite Ithaca; was taken and destroyed by the Romans, 189 B.C.
=Samnites.= The people of ancient Samnium, a country of Central Italy.
They were an offshoot of the Sabines, who emigrated from their country
between the Nar and Tiber, and the Anio, before the foundation of Rome,
and settled in Samnium. This country was at the time of their migration
inhabited by Opicans, whom the Samnites conquered, and whose language
they adopted. The Samnites were distinguished for their bravery and love
of freedom. Issuing from their mountain fastnesses, they overran a
great part of Campania; and it was in consequence of Capua applying to
the Romans for assistance against the Samnites that war broke out
between the two nations in 343 B.C. The Romans found the Samnites the
most warlike and formidable enemies whom they had yet encountered in
Italy, and the war, which commenced in 343, was continued with few
interruptions for the space of fifty-three years. It was not until 290,
when all their bravest troops had fallen, and their country had been
repeatedly ravaged in every direction by the Roman legions, that the
Samnites sued for peace and submitted to the supremacy of Rome. They,
never, however, lost their love of freedom; and, accordingly, they not
only joined the other Italian allies in the war against Rome (90), but,
even after the other allies had submitted, they still continued in arms.
The civil war between Marius and Sulla gave them hopes of recovering
their independence; but they were defeated before the gates of Rome
(82), the greater part of their troops fell in battle, and the remainder
were put to death. Their towns were laid waste, the inhabitants sold as
slaves, and their place supplied by Roman colonists.
=Samos.= An island on the west coast of Asia Minor, which was colonized
by Ionians about 1043 B.C. Samos was taken by the Athenians, 440; and,
with Greece, became subject to Rome, 146. It was taken by the Venetians,
1125; taken by the emperor Leo in the 13th century, and then
successively fell into the hands of the Venetians, Genoese, and Turks.
At the time of the Greek insurrection the Samians zealously embraced the
side of liberty. They expelled the Turks from the island, which they put
into a state of defense, establishing an independent government. Various
attempts were made by the Turks to regain the island, but they were all
foiled by the courage of the people and the vigilance of the Greek
fleet. In the treaty, however, which secured the independence and
defined the limits of Greece, Samos was still left to Turkey, and the
subsequent efforts that she has made have only secured a partial
freedom.
=San Antonio=, called also =San Antonio de Bexar=. A city of Texas,
U. S., is built near the sources of the San Antonio River, 110 miles
southwest of Austin. It is one of the oldest Spanish towns on the
continent, and in the Texan revolution of 1836 was the scene of the
massacre of the Alamo, when a garrison of 150 men, led by Col. Travis,
and including David Crockett, was surrounded by several thousand
Mexicans, and after a heroic resistance killed to the last man. It
contains a national arsenal.
=San Jacinto.= A small village of Harris Co., Texas, on Buffalo Bayou,
near its entrance into Galveston Bay, about 18 miles east of Houston. On
April 21, 1836, the main Texan army under Gen. Houston met the
Mexicans, who were double their number, near San Jacinto. Furiously the
Texans rushed to battle, with the cry, “Remember the Alamo!” They fought
at less than half-rifle distance, and in less than half an hour wholly
routed the Mexicans, killing and wounding a number greater than the
whole Texan force. Among the prisoners taken after the battle was Santa
Anna himself. The result of this battle was the undisputed independence
of Texas.
=San Salvador.= The smallest of the Central American republics, and
consists of a strip of territory stretching along between Honduras and
the Pacific, and bounded on the west by Guatemala, and on the east by
Fonseca Bay. It was conquered after a long and obstinate contest by
Pedro de Alvarado, a lieutenant of Cortez. In 1821 it threw off the
yoke, and joined the Mexican Confederation, from which, however, it
seceded in 1823. In 1863, a war broke out between San Salvador and
Guatemala, in which Honduras joined the former and Nicaragua the latter.
The result was the defeat of San Salvador.
=San Sebastian.= A seaport of Spain, capital of Guipuzcoa, one of the
Basque provinces, on the shore of the Bay of Biscay, 42 miles
north-northwest of Pampeluna. From its position and strength, it has
long been a place of much importance, and has sustained several sieges.
The most memorable of these was in 1813, when the British under
Wellington took it by storm.
=San Severo.= A town of Naples, capital of a district in the province of
Capitanata. The inhabitants in 1799 made a gallant but vain resistance
to the French under Duhesme, in revenge for which an indiscriminate
slaughter was begun, and the town was only saved from total destruction
by the heroism of the women, who threw themselves between the victorious
soldiery and their victims.
=Sandhurst Military College.= See MILITARY ACADEMIES (GREAT BRITAIN).
=Sangiac.= A situation or appointment of dignity in Turkey. The sangiacs
are governors of towns or cantons, and take rank immediately after the
_beglerbegs_. (See BEG.) The name is also applied to the banner which he
is authorized to display, and has been mistaken for Saint Jacques.
=Sanjak.= A Turkish word signifying “a standard,” is employed to denote
a subdivision of an _eyalet_, because the ruler of such a subdivision,
called _sanjak-beg_, is entitled to carry in war a standard of one
horse-tail. The sanjak is frequently called _liva_, and its ruler a
_mirmiram_.
=Sanjak-Sherif.= See FLAG OF THE PROPHET.
=Sansculottes= (_i.e._, “without breeches”). Was the name given in
scorn, at the beginning of the French revolution, by the court party to
the democratic “proletaires” of Paris. The latter accepted this
superfine reproach with sardonic pride, and the term soon became the
distinctive appellation of a “good patriot,” more especially as such a
one often made a point of showing his contempt for the rich by
neglecting his apparel, and cultivating rough and cynical manners.
Toward the close of the Convention, the name, connected as it had been
with all the sanguinary excesses of the period, naturally fell into bad
odor, and soon after totally disappeared.
=Santa Fé.= City and capital of the Territory of New Mexico, built among
the Rocky Mountains, on a plain 7047 feet above the sea. It is an old
Spanish Mexican town, about 20 miles east of the Rio Grande del Norte.
The Spaniards were driven out of Santa Fé in 1680 by the Pueblo Indians;
but it was recaptured by the former in 1694, and held by them till the
occupation by Americans in 1846. It was occupied by the Confederates for
several days in 1862.
=Santiago de Compostella.= An important and once famous city of Spain,
formerly the capital of Galicia. It was sacked by the Moors in 995, and
held by them till it was taken by Ferdinand III. in 1235. It was taken
by the French in 1809, and held till 1814.
=Sap.= In military engineering, is a narrow ditch or trench, by which
approach is made from the foremost parallel towards the glacis or covert
way of a besieged place. The sap is usually made by four sappers, the
leading man of whom rolls a large gabion before him, and excavates as he
progresses, filling smaller gabions with the earth dug out, and erecting
them on one or both sides to form a parapet. The other sappers widen and
deepen the sap, throwing more earth on to the parapet. A sap is
considered to advance in average ground about 8 feet per hour. From the
nearness of the enemy’s works, running a sap is an extremely dangerous
operation. When possible, therefore, it is carried on at night; in any
case, the sappers are relieved at least every hour. When a sap is
enlarged to the dimensions of a trench, it bears that name. When the
fire of the enemy is slack, so that many gabions may be placed and
filled at the same time, it is called a _flying sap_. If two parapets,
one on each side of the trench, be formed, it is then called a _double
sap_.
=Sap.= To pierce with saps; to execute saps. Also, to proceed by mining
or secretly undermining.
=Sap-fagots.= Are fascines 3 feet long, placed vertically between two
gabions, for the protection of the sappers before the parapet is thrown
over.
=Sappers and Miners.= Are soldiers belonging to the engineer corps, and
now called engineers, whose business it is to make gabions, fascines,
hurdles, etc., to trace lines and trenches, to drive the various kinds
of saps, to descend into and pass the ditch, to destroy the enemy’s
obstacles, to drain the trenches, to put up the various kinds of
revetments, to post and superintend working parties, and to serve in
the mines when required. They are also taught to adjust and sod the
slopes, to erect palisades, fraises, etc., and to repair the defenses of
a place, as also to erect bridges, and throw pontons over rivers, to
plant torpedoes, and in fact to perform all the duties appertaining to
engineer soldiers. In marching near an enemy, every column should have
with its advance-guard a detachment of sappers, furnished with tools to
open the way or repair the road. Bonaparte considered the proper
proportion of engineer soldiers to an army to be 1 : 40; but now in
France it is 1 : 33; in England 1 : 34; in Prussia 1 : 36; and in the
United States 1 : 60.
=Sapping.= The art of excavating trenches of approach, under the
musketry-fire of the besieged.
=Sap-roller.= Consists of two large concentric gabions, 6 feet in
length, the outer one having a diameter of 4 feet, the inner one a
diameter of 2 feet 8 inches, the space between them being stuffed with
pickets or small billets of hard wood, to make them musket-shot proof.
Its use is to protect the squad of sappers in their approach from the
fire of the place.
=Saracens.= A name variously employed by mediæval writers to designate
the Mohammedans of Syria and Palestine, the Arabs generally, or the
Arab-Berber races of Northern Africa, who conquered Spain and Sicily,
and invaded France. At a later date it was employed as a synonym for all
infidel nations against which crusades were preached, and was thus
applied to the Seljuks of Iconium, the Turks, and even to the pagan
Prussians.
=Saracen’s Head.= A not unfrequent bearing in heraldry. It is
represented as the head of an old man with a savage countenance.
=Saragossa=, or =Zaragoza=. A city of Spain, the capital of a province
of the same name, and formerly of the kingdom of Aragon. It is situated
on the Ebro, which divides the city into two parts. It was a place of
importance under the Romans, but there are few remains of the Roman
city. It was taken by the Moors in the 8th century, and recovered from
them in 1118, after a siege of five years, during which a great part of
the inhabitants died of hunger. It was taken by the French in 1809,
after a siege of eight months, and one of the most heroic defenses
recorded in the history of modern warfare.
=Saratoga.= A township of Saratoga Co., N. Y., situated on the Hudson,
28 miles north from Albany. It is remarkable in American history as the
place where Burgoyne surrendered to the Americans in 1777. From
September 19 to October 7 frequent animated skirmishes occurred between
the British and the Americans, but on the latter date the battle of
Saratoga began. Gen. Gates drew up his army on the brow of a hill, near
the river, his camp being in the segment of a large circle, the convex
side towards the enemy. Gen. Burgoyne’s troops were drawn up with his
left resting on the river, his right extending at right angles to it
across the low grounds, about 200 yards, to a range of steep heights.
The Americans attacked the British along their whole line, when the
action became general. The efforts of the combatants were desperate.
Burgoyne and his officers fought like men who were defending, at the
last cast, their military reputation; Gates and his army like those who
were deciding whether themselves and their children should be freedmen
or slaves. The invading army gave way in the short space of fifty-two
minutes. The defenders of the soil followed them to their intrenchments,
forced the guard and killed its commander. The works of the British were
stormed, but darkness coming on, the Americans desisted, and rested on
their arms upon the field which they had so bravely won, determined to
pursue their victory with returning light. But Burgoyne, aware of the
advantage which the Americans had gained, effected with admirable order
a change of his ground. His entire camp was removed before morning to
the heights. Gates was too wise to attack his enemy in his new position,
but made arrangements to inclose them, which Burgoyne perceiving, put
his army in motion at 9 o’clock at night and removed to Saratoga, 6
miles up the river, abandoning his sick and wounded to the humanity of
the Americans. Burgoyne now made several efforts to effect a retreat;
but in every way he had been anticipated. He found himself in a foreign
and hostile country, hemmed in by a foe whose army, constantly
increasing, already amounted to four times his own wasted numbers. His
boats laden with supplies were taken, and his provisions were failing,
and when he found he could not hold out any longer, his troops being in
the utmost distress, he surrendered on October 17. The whole number
surrendered amounted to 5752 men, which, together with the troops lost
before by various disasters, made up the whole British loss to 9213 men.
There also fell into the hands of the Americans 35 field-pieces and 5000
muskets. It was stipulated that the British should pile their arms at
the word of command, given by their own officers, march out of their
camp with the honors of war, and have free passage across the Atlantic;
they, on their part, agreeing not to serve again in North America during
the war.
=Sarawak.= A town and province of Borneo, on the northeast coast of the
island. The Chinese inhabitants of this place rose in insurrection and
massacred a number of Europeans, February 17 and 18, 1857; the rajah,
Sir J. Brooke, raised a force and speedily chastised the insurgents, of
whom 2000 were killed.
=Sarbacane= (_Fr._). A blow-pipe, or long tube of wood or metal, through
which poisoned arrows were shot by blowing with the mouth.
=Sarceled.= In heraldry, cut through the middle.
=Sardar.= In the East Indies, a chief or leader is so called.
=Sardinia.= A former kingdom in the south of Europe, composed of the
island of Sardinia, Piedmont, Savoy, and the territories of Genoa and
Nice. It takes its name from the island of Sardinia, and was, in 1860,
merged in the new kingdom of Italy. From 1798 to 1814 the continental
part of Sardinia formed a portion of the French empire. In 1848, Charles
Albert, the reigning monarch, encouraged the inhabitants of the
Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, or Austrian Italy, in their attempts to throw
off the Austrian yoke, and marched to their assistance, when they broke
into open revolt. He gained many victories at first over the Austrians,
but he was subsequently defeated by Radetzky, and resigned his crown to
his son, Victor Emmanuel. In 1855 Sardinia took part with Britain and
France against Russia. In 1859 a war broke out between Austria on the
one hand, and France and Sardinia on the other, which resulted in the
defeat of the Austrians and the annexation of Lombardy to the Sardinian
crown.
=Sardinia, Island of.= The largest after Sicily, of the islands of the
Mediterranean, lies directly south of Corsica, from which it is
separated by the Strait of Bonefacio. It was called Sardo by the Romans,
and was colonized at a very early period. The first really historical
event is its conquest, about 480 B.C., by the Carthaginians. They were
forced to abandon it to the Romans (238 B.C.), who gradually subdued the
rebellious natives, and made it a province of the republic; but on three
several occasions, formidable outbreaks required the presence of a
consul with a large army to restore the authority of Rome. It fell into
the hands of the Vandals and other barbarians, and was recovered by the
Eastern empire in 534, but was finally separated from the Roman empire
by the Saracens. They were driven out in their turn by the Pisans. Pope
Boniface took upon him to transfer it to the king of Aragon, who subdued
the Genoese, Pisans, and the rest of the inhabitants, and annexed it to
his own dominions in 1324. It remained united to the crown of Spain till
the allies made a conquest of it in 1708. It was allotted to the emperor
of Germany at the peace of Utrecht, in 1713. The Spaniards recovered it
in 1717, but were obliged to abandon it two years after, when it was
conferred on the duke of Savoy in lieu of the kingdom of Sicily, in
1720. From 1798 to 1814 it was the only portion of the Sardinian
dominions left in the power of its sovereign, the French occupying the
other portion of the kingdom.
=Sardis=, or =Sardes=. Anciently the capital of Lydia, in Asia Minor,
stood at the foot of Mount Tmolus, now called Bozdag, about 50 miles
northeast from Smyrna; the citadel on a steep rock was almost
impregnable, being fortified by three walls. It was thus enabled to hold
out when the lower town was taken by the Cimmerians in the reign of
Ardys. During the Ionian revolt, 501 B.C., the insurgents, aided by the
Athenians, took the city. It was taken by the Turks in the 11th century,
and suffered a severe blow from Tamerlane, who almost entirely destroyed
it about 200 years later.
=Sarmatia.= The ancient name of the country in Asia and Europe, between
the Caspian Sea and the Vistula, including Russia and Poland. The
Sarmatæ, or Sauromatæ, troubled the early Roman empire by incursions;
after subduing the Scythians, they were subjugated by the Goths in the
3d and 4th centuries. They joined the Huns and other barbarians in
invading Western Europe in the 5th century.
=Sarno.= A city of Southern Italy, in the province of Principato Citra,
on the river of the same name, 13 miles northwest of Salerno. In the
plain near Sarno, Teias, king of the Goths, in a desperate battle with
the Greeks, commanded by Narses, in 553, was vanquished and slain, and
the reign of the Goths in Italy brought to a close.
=Sarrazine.= A rough portcullis.
=Sarre= (_Fr._). When artillery was first invented, this name was given
to a long gun, of smaller dimensions than the _bombarde_.
=Sasbach.= A village of Baden, 28 miles southwest from Carlsruhe.
Marshal Turenne was killed here by a random shot in 1675.