color as the facings of the arm to which the officer belongs, with
insignia of rank and number of regiment embroidered on the cloth ground.
They are worn on the shoulder by commissioned officers of the army, and
are sometimes embroidered. A kind of epaulette.
=Shoulder-strap.= A narrow strap, 1³⁄₈ inches wide by 4 inches long,
bordered with an embroidery of gold ¹⁄₄ inch wide. It is worn on the
shoulder of a commissioned officer in the army, indicating by a suitable
device the rank he holds in the service. See RANK, INSIGNIA OF.
=Shrapnel.= See PROJECTILE, SMOOTH-BORE PROJECTILES.
=Shrewsbury.= An ancient town of England, in Shropshire, on the Severn.
It was the scene of many military events, the inhabitants always taking
an active share in the various contests of the most turbulent period of
English history, from the conquest to the civil war. It was taken by
Llewellyn the Great, prince of North Wales, in 1215, during the
disturbances between King John and the barons. The famous battle of
Shrewsbury, in which Henry IV., then prince of Wales, first
distinguished himself in the field, and the fiery Hotspur was slain, was
fought in 1403.
=Shropshire, Battle of.= In which the Britons were completely
subjugated, and Caractacus, the renowned king of the Silures, became,
through the treachery of the queen of the Brigantes, a prisoner to the
Romans.
=Shunt Gun.= A rifled fire-arm having two sets of grooves, down one of
which the shot is passed in loading, and along the other of which it
passes out when fired, having been shunted from one set to the other,
when at the bottom, by turning upon its axis.
=Shuternaul.= In the East Indies, is a sort of arquebuse, which is fixed
upon the back of a camel.
=Siberia=, or =Siberi=. A vast territory in Northern Asia, belonging to
Russia, and including all the Russian possessions in that continent,
with the exception of the Transcaucasian and Armenian provinces. Siberia
seems to have been first made known to the Russians by a merchant named
Anika Stroganoff; and soon after the conquest of West Siberia was
effected by the Cossack Vassili Yermak, an absconded criminal, at the
head of a numerous band of wild followers. After Yermak’s death, in
1554, the Russians pursued their conquests eastward, founding Tomsk in
1604, and though they often experienced serious reverses, their progress
was rapid, the Sea of Okhotsk being reached in 1639, and Irkutsk founded
in 1661. Frequent disturbances have occurred between the Russians and
the Chinese and Tartars, which have resulted in the extension southward
of the Siberian boundary into Manchuria and Turkestan.
=Sicarii= (_i.e._, _Assassins_). The name given by the Romans to certain
savage mountain tribes of the Lebanon, who were, like the _Thugs_ of
India, avowed murderers by profession. In the same mountains there
existed, at the time of the Crusades, a branch of the fanatic sect
called “Assassins,” whose habits resembled those of the Sicarii, and
whose name the Crusaders imported into Europe; but these were of Arabian
origin.
=Sicilian Vespers.= The name given to the massacre of the French in
Sicily, on the day after Easter (March 30), 1822, the signal for the
commencement of which was to be the first stroke of the vesper-bell. On
the evening of Easter Monday, the inhabitants of Palermo, enraged
(according to the common story) at a gross outrage which was perpetrated
by a French soldier on a young Sicilian bride, suddenly rose against
their oppressors, the French, and put to the sword every man, woman, and
child, and did not even spare those Italians and Sicilians who had
married Frenchmen. This example was followed by Messina and other towns,
and the massacre soon became general over the island. The French were
hunted like wild beasts, and dragged even from the churches, where they
vainly thought themselves secure. More than 8000 of them were slain by
the Palermitans alone. This event was the final overthrow of Charles of
Anjou’s domination in Sicily.
=Sicily= (anc. _Sicilia_). The largest island in the Mediterranean Sea,
situated between Italy and the coast of Africa, and separated on the
northeast from Naples by the Strait of Messina; it is a province of the
kingdom of Italy. It was successively occupied by the Phœnicians,
Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans. For history of the Carthaginians in
Sicily, see CARTHAGE. The western part of Sicily was made a Roman
province in 241 B.C.; but after the revolt of Syracuse in the second
Punic war, and the conquest of that city by Marcellus, the whole island
was made a Roman province. On the downfall of the Roman empire, Sicily
formed part of the kingdom of the Ostrogoths; but it was taken from them
by Belisarius in 536, and annexed to the Byzantine empire. In the 8th
and 9th centuries the Saracens succeeded in conquering it. The Normans
conquered the island in the 11th century under Roger Guiscard, duke of
Apulia. It passed successively into the hands of France (see SICILIAN
VESPERS), Germany, and Spain. By the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, it was
given to the Duke of Savoy; was added to the kingdom of Naples in 1720.
The war of 1734, however, carried on by France and Spain against
Austria, transferred the crown of Naples, or, as it was subsequently
termed, of the Two Sicilies, to a branch of the royal family of Spain;
it remained in their hands until the French revolution led, in 1799, to
the expulsion of the royal family from Naples. In 1815, Ferdinand IV. of
Naples assumed the title of Ferdinand I. of the Two Sicilies. In 1847,
1848, and 1849, the Sicilians made several attempts, in common with the
Neapolitans, to rid themselves of their obnoxious monarch, Ferdinand
II., but without success. The Bourbons were, however, driven from the
throne by Garibaldi in 1860, and in the same year Sicily was united to
the new kingdom of Italy. See NAPLES.
=Sick and Hurt.= A board so called, to which the agents, commissaries,
etc., belonging to the several military hospitals in Great Britain were
responsible.
=Sick Call.= A military call which is sounded on the drum, bugle, or
trumpet, whereby the sick men are warned to attend the hospital.
=Sick-flag.= The yellow quarantine flag hoisted to prevent
communication; whence the term of the yellow flag and yellow admirals.
There are two others,--one with a black ball, the other with a square in
the centre,--denoting plague or actual diseases.
=Sick Report Book.= A book in which the names of the men who are sick in
a company, troop, etc., are entered, also the names of their diseases,
and probable cause of same. This book is signed by one of the company
officers to which the men belong, and the attending surgeon.
=Sicyonia.= A small district in the northeast of Peloponnesus. Its chief
town was _Sicyon_, which was destroyed by Demetrius Poliorcetes. In the
Persian war the Sicyonians sent fifteen ships to the battle of Salamis,
and 300 hoplites to the battle of Plætæ. In the interval between the
Persian and Peloponnesian wars the Sicyonians were twice defeated and
their country laid waste by the Athenians,--first under Tolmides in 456
B.C., and again under Pericles in 454 B.C. In the Peloponnesian war they
took part with the Spartans.
=Side-arms.= Such arms as are suspended by the side and attached to the
person, such as a bayonet or sword.
=Sidon=, or =Zidon= (now _Saida_, or _Seida_). For a long time the most
powerful, and probably the most ancient, of the cities of Phœnice. It
was the chief seat of the maritime power of Phœnice until eclipsed by
its own colony, Tyre. It submitted to Shalmanezer at the time of the
Assyrian conquest of Syria. In the expedition of Xerxes against Greece
the Sidonians furnished the best ships in the whole fleet. Sidon
received the great blow to her prosperity in the reign of Artaxerxes
III. (Ochus), when the Sidonians, having taken part in the revolt of
Phœnice and Cyprus, and being betrayed to Ochus by their own king
Tennes, burned themselves with their city, 351 B.C. It was rebuilt. On
September 27, 1840, the town was taken from the pasha of Egypt by the
troops of the sultan and of his allies, assisted by some ships of the
British squadron, under Admiral Sir Robert Stopford and Commodore
Charles Napier.
=Siege= (Fr. _siege_, “a seat, a sitting down”). Is the sitting of an
army before a hostile town or fortress with the intention of capturing
it. With certain elements, the success of a siege is beyond doubt; the
result being merely a question of time. These elements are: First, the
force of the besiegers shall be sufficient to overcome the besieged in
actual combat, man to man. If this be not the case, the besieged, by a
sortie, might destroy the opposing works and drive away the besiegers.
The second element is, that the place must be thoroughly invested, so
that no provisions, reinforcements, or other aliment of war can enter.
The third element is, that the besiegers be undisturbed from without.
For this it is essential that there shall not be a hostile army in the
neighborhood; or if there be, that the operations of the besiegers be
protected by a covering army able to cope with the enemy’s force in the
field. The ancients executed gigantic works to produce these effects. To
complete the investment they built a high and strong wall around the
whole fortress; and to render themselves secure from without they built
a similar wall, facing outwards, beyond their own position. The first
was circumvallation, the second contravallation. It was thus that Cæsar
fortified himself while besieging Alexia, and maintained 60,000 men
within his ring. In modern warfare it is considered preferable to
establish strong posts here and there round the place, and merely
sentinels and videttes between. Let us now assume that a fortress of
great strength has to be reduced, and that the force of the enemy in the
vicinity has been either subdued or held in check by a covering army. By
rapid movements the place is at once invested on all sides. This step
constitutes merely a blockade; and if time be of little importance, it
is a sufficient operation, for hunger must sooner or later cause the
fortress to surrender; but if more energetic measures are required, the
actual siege must be prosecuted. Advantage is taken of any hidden ground
to establish the park of artillery and the engineer’s park; or, if there
be none, these parks have to be placed out of range. The besieging force
is now encamped just beyond the reach of the guns of the fortress; and
their object is to get over the intervening ground and into the works
without being torn to pieces by the concentrated fire of the numerous
pieces which the defenders can bring to bear on every part. With this
view, the place is approached by a series of zigzag trenches so pointed
that they cannot be enfiladed by any guns in the fortress. In order to
accommodate the forces necessary to protect the workers, the trenches at
certain intervals are cut laterally for a great length, partly
encircling the place, and affording safe room for a large force with
ample battering material. These are called _parallels_, and they are
generally three in number. The distance of the first parallel will
increase as small-arms become more deadly; but with smooth-bore muskets
it has been usual to break ground at 600 yards from the covered way of
the fortress, while in the case of Sebastopol, ground was broken at 2000
yards. The engineers having, by reconnoissances, decided the locality of
the parallel, and taken advantage of any inequalities of surface, a
strong body of men is sent to the spot soon after nightfall. The
attention of the garrison is distracted by false alarms in other
directions. Half the men are armed _cap-a-pie_, and lie down before the
proposed parallel; while the other half, bearing each a pick and shovel,
and two empty gabions, prepare for work. Each man deposits the gabions
where the parapet of the trench should be. He then digs down behind
them, filling the gabions with the earth dug out, and after they are
filled, throwing it over them, to widen and heighten the parapet. Before
daylight the working party is expected to have formed sufficient cover
to conceal themselves and the troops protecting them. During the day,
they--being concealed from the garrison--widen and complete their
parallel, making it of dimensions sufficient to allow of wagons and
bodies of troops with guns passing along. During the same night other
parties will have been at work at zigzags of approach from the depots
out of range to the first parallel, which zigzags will be probably not
less than 1000 yards in length. As a rule, the defenders will not expend
ammunition on the first parallel, for its extent (often several miles)
will render the probability of doing material damage extremely small.
For this reason also, the dimensions of the parapet and its solidity are
of far less importance in the first parallel than in the more advanced
works of attack. The first parallel being completed, the engineers
select points near its extremities, at which they erect breastworks to
cover bodies of cavalry, who are kept at hand to resist sorties from the
garrison. The length of the parallel is usually made sufficient to
embrace all the works of two bastions at least. Sites are then chosen
for batteries, which are built up of fascines, gabions, sand-bags, and
earth. They are placed at points in the parallel formed by the
prolongation of the several faces of the bastions, ravelins, and other
works of the fortress, which faces the batteries are severally intended
to enfilade by a ricochet fire. Other batteries will be formed for a
vertical fire of mortars. By these means it is hoped that the traverses
on the hostile ramparts will be destroyed, the guns dismounted, and the
defenders dispersed, before the final approaches bring the assailants to
the covered way. The sappers will now commence their advance towards the
points, or salient angles, of the two bastions to be attacked. If,
however, the trench were cut straight towards the fortress, its guns
could easily destroy the workmen, and enfilade the approach. To prevent
this, it is cut into short zigzags, the direction always being to a
point a few yards beyond the outmost flanking-works of the garrison. The
side of each trench nearest the fortress is protected by gabions and
sand-bags, as in the case of the parallel. At intervals short spurs of
trench, incipient parallels, are cut, to contain infantry, to act as
guards to the sappers. The second parallel is about 300 yards from the
enemy’s works, and has to be more strongly formed than the first. It
often terminates in a redoubt to hold some light artillery, and a strong
force of infantry, who could assail any sortie in flank; or it may run
into the first parallel, giving easier access for troops than through
the zigzags. The second parallel is revetted with sand-bags, in which
loop-holes are left for musketry. After passing the second parallel, the
angles of the zigzags become more acute, to prevent enfilading. At about
150 yards, certain demi-parallels are cut, and armed with
howitzer-batteries to clear the covered way, while riflemen also act
from it. The third parallel is at the foot of the glacis. Thence the
place, after being sufficiently battered, is taken by a storming party,
who make their way over the glacis; or the covered way is topped by the
double sap, which is a safer plan for the array generally, though much
more deadly to the sappers. When the crest of the covered way has thus
been reached, batteries of heavy artillery will be there established,
for the purpose of breaching the walls of the ravelin and bastion; while
at the same time miners will first seek to destroy the defenders’
countermines (which would otherwise be likely to send these batteries
into the air), and then will excavate a tunnel to the ditch at the foot
of the counterscarp. If the breach becomes practicable, a storming party
will emerge from this tunnel or gallery, and seek to carry the opposite
work by hard fighting. If inner works still subsist, which would tear
assailants to pieces, the double sap may be continued across the ditch,
if a dry ditch, right up the breach, that counter-batteries may be
formed. If the ditch be wet, means must be adopted for a causeway or a
bridge. By these means, however obstinate may be the defense, if the
besieging force be sufficiently strong, and aid do not arrive from
without, the ultimate success of the attack becomes certain. Vauban
raised attack to a superiority above defense, first by the introduction
of ricochet fire, which sweeps a whole line; and secondly by
originating parallels. Before his time, the whole attack was conducted
by zigzag approaches, in which the troops actually in front could be but
few, and were therefore unable to withstand strong sorties of the
garrison, who, in consequence, frequently broke out and destroyed the
works of the besiegers, rendering a siege an operation of the most
uncertain character.
=Siege and Sea-coast Ammunition.= See ORDNANCE, AMMUNITION FOR.
=Siege Artillery.= Is heavy ordnance used for battering purposes, and of
too weighty a character to take the field. A siege-train of guns and
their ponderous ammunition is usually maintained in the rear of an army,
ready to be brought up for use when required. See ARTILLERY.
=Siege Carriages.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.
=Siege-train.= The number and kind of pieces composing a siege-train
must altogether depend on circumstances; but the following general
principles may be observed in assigning the proportion of different
kinds and calibers, and the relative quantity of other supplies, for a
train of 100 pieces:
_Guns_, about three-fifths the whole number (60); _howitzers_,
one-fourth (25); _mortars_, 10-inch siege, one-eighth (12), 8-inch
siege, 3; _Coehorn mortars_, in addition to the 100 pieces, 6. Total
number of guns, 106.
_Carriages_, for guns and howitzers, one-fifth spare, 102; for 10-inch
mortars, one-sixth spare, 14; for 8-inch mortars, 4.
_Mortar-wagons_, one for each 10-inch mortar and bed, and for three
8-inch mortars and beds, 14.
_Wagons_, for transporting implements, intrenching and miners’ tools,
laboratory tools and utensils, and other stores, each loaded with about
2700 pounds,--say 140.
_Carts_, carrying balls, etc., on the march, 50.
_Park battery-wagons_, fully equipped, 28.
_Park forges_, fully equipped, 8.
_Sling-carts_, large, 5.
_Sling-carts_, hand, 4.
Total number of carriages, 369.
_Draught-horses_, for each gun and howitzer, with its carriage, 8; for
each spare gun-carriage, 6; for each mortar-wagon, 8; for each
battery-wagon, 6; for each forge, 6; for each cart, 2; for each
sling-cart, large, 2; spare horses, one-tenth. Total, about 1900 horses.
=Siemens-Martin Steel.= See ORDNANCE, METALS FOR, STEEL.
=Siena=, or =Sienna=. A city of Central Italy, about 30 miles southeast
from Florence. In the Middle Ages, Siena became one of the powerful city
republics of Italy. It embraced the Ghibelline cause, and in conjunction
with the forces of Pisa, defeated the Tuscan Guelfs, in the memorable
battle of Monte Aperto (1206). Through intestine quarrels it was
subjugated by the emperor Charles V., and given to his son in 1555, who
ceded it to Cosmo of Tuscany, 1557. It was incorporated with France,
1808-14.
=Sierra Leone.= A district of Western Africa, situated on the Atlantic.
The British settlement of Sierra Leone was established in 1787, when 400
negroes, with 60 wives, mostly women of bad character, were removed to
it from London. The settlement was attacked by the French in September,
1794, and by the natives in February, 1802.
=Sight.= A small piece of brass or iron fixed to a cannon or a musket,
to serve as a point of direction, and to assist the eye in aiming the
piece.
=Sight.= To give the proper elevation and direction to by means of a
sight; as, to sight a rifle or cannon. _To take sight_, to take aim; to
look for the purpose of directing a piece of artillery, or the like.
=Sight, Angle of.= See POINTING.
=Sight, Breech-.= See BREECH-SIGHT.
=Sight, Buckhorn-.= A form of rear-sight much used in sporting rifles,
which takes its name from the curved form of the notch used. This form
of notch is now attached to the Springfield rifle in use by U. S.
troops.
=Sight, Coarse.= An aim of a piece in which a considerable portion of
the front-sight covers the object.
=Sight, Elevating.= The rear-sight of a small-arm, arranged to give
varying heights of sight for different ranges. There are a variety of
forms. The _leaf-sight_ has a number of hinged leaves of different
lengths. The one now used in the U. S. army has one hinged leaf. Up to
500 yards, the elevation is given by moving the sighting-piece up a
curved incline. Above 500 yards, the leaf is turned up to the
perpendicular.
=Sight, Fine.= An aim in which only the summit of the front-sight is
used to get the line of sight.
=Sight, Front-.= The sight nearest the muzzle of a cannon or small-arm.
In military arms, it is set on a short projection which is used also as
the bayonet-stud. In cannon of old model, using the _tangent scale_, or
pendulum hausse, the height of the front-sight is made equal to the
dispart, making the _natural line of sight_ parallel to the axis of the
piece. See DISPART.
=Sight, Line of.= See POINTING.
=Sight, Peep-.= A form of rear-sight for small-arms in which the
marksman looks through a small hole.
=Sight, Plane of.= See POINTING.
=Sight, Quarter-.= The quarter-sights of a cannon are divisions marked
on the upper quarters of the base-ring, commencing where it would be
intersected by a plane parallel to the axis of the piece, and tangent to
the upper surface of the trunnions; used for giving elevations up to
three degrees, and especially for pointing at a less elevation than the
natural angle of sight. Now obsolete.
=Sight, Rear-.= The sight nearest the breech of a cannon or small-arm.
The term is specially applied to small-arms.
=Sight, Telescopic.= An apparatus for sighting a cannon or small-arm,
consisting of a telescope so mounted as to give varying angles of sight;
used especially for long ranges. Rifles with such an attachment are
sometimes called telescopic rifles.
=Sight, Trunnion.= A front-sight fixed on or near the trunnions of a
gun.
=Sign.= An indication or token. In astronomy, one of the twelve
divisions of the zodiac.
=Sign.= To affix a signature; to subscribe.
=Sign Language.= A pantomimic system of communicating ideas, extensively
used by North American Indians. The range of its use is not exactly
known, but it is common among all the tribes of the plains and many of
those beyond the Rocky Mountains. It is in one sense the court language
of the Indians, being the only means of communication between tribes not
speaking a common dialect. According to Gen. Marcy, it is accurately
used and perfectly understood by all the Indians from the Gila to the
Columbia. The same author tells a remarkable story, which seems to show
that the system is very nearly, if not exactly, the same as that used in
teaching mutes in deaf and dumb asylums.
=Signal.= Any sign made for marching, fighting, etc. Signals are
likewise given by the drum, bugle, and trumpet, during the exercise of a
battalion. See SIGNAL SERVICE.
=Signal Code.= See SIGNALING.
=Signal Equipments.= See EQUIPMENTS, SIGNAL.