breech, or revolving barrels, can be made to fire more than once without
reloading. The invention is very far from new, specimens, with even the
present system of rotation, being still in existence, which were
manufactured at the beginning of the 17th century. Probably the first
revolver to suggest itself was one in which several barrels were mounted
on an axis, and made to revolve by the action of the trigger, so that
their powder-pans came successively under the action of the lock. This
principle was never entirely abandoned, and in the reign of George IV.
was produced a pistol called the “Mariette,” which had from 4 to 24
small barrels bored in a solid mass of metal, made to revolve as the
trigger was drawn back. At close quarters, such a pistol would doubtless
have been useful; but its great weight and cumbrous mechanism rendered
aim extremely unsteady. Contemporaneously from the first with the
revolving barrels, went the formation of a revolving chamber or breech,
pierced with several cylindrical apertures to receive the charges. Being
made to revolve, each motion brought a chamber into line with the one
barrel, common to all, whereupon the weapon was ready for use. Numerous
patents for this principle have been taken out, including one by the
celebrated Marquis of Worcester in 1661. Various improvements were made,
especially in the mode of causing revolution; an American patented such
a weapon in the United States and England about 1818. In 1835, Col.
Samuel Colt brought to a conclusion experiments of some years’ standing,
and patented his world-renowned Colt’s revolver, which was a great
advance on all previous attempts, and is substantially still in use. The
fame attached to Colt’s revolvers renders them so well known as to
require but little introduction necessary. This make is now extensively
used in the United States, and indeed in almost every country of the
world, and seems not to lose favor anywhere. The barrel is rifle-bored.
The lever-ramrod renders wadding or patch unnecessary, and secures the
charge against moisture, or becoming loose by rough handling or hard
riding. The hammer, when at full cock, forms the sight by which to take
aim, and is readily raised at full cock by the thumb, with one hand. The
movements of the revolving chamber and hammer are ingeniously arranged
and combined. The breech, containing six cylindrical cells for holding
the powder and ball, moves one-sixth of a revolution at a time; it can
only be fired when the chamber and the barrel are in a direct line. The
base of the cylinder being cut externally into a circular ratchet of six
teeth (the lever which moves the ratchet being attached to the hammer);
as the hammer is raised in the act of cocking, the cylinder is made to
revolve, and to revolve in one direction only; while the hammer is
falling the chamber is firmly held in position by a lever fitted for the
purpose; when the hammer is raised the lever is removed, and the chamber
is released. So long as the hammer remains at half-cock, the chamber is
free and can be loaded at pleasure. Col. Colt has improved on this
patent. Revolvers made by Remington, Smith & Wesson, Daw, Adams & Dean,
and others, are mostly on the same principle as the Colt.
=Smart-money.= In England, the money which was paid by the person who
had taken the enlisting money, in order to get released from an
engagement entered into previous to a regular enlistment. Also, money
allowed to soldiers or sailors in the British service for wounds or
injuries received.
=Smite.= To destroy the life of by beating, or by weapons of any kind;
to slay by a blow; to kill; as, to smite one with the sword, or with an
arrow or other weapon. Also, to beat or put to rout in battle; to
destroy or overthrow by war.
=Smoke-ball.= Is a hollow sphere similar to a light-ball, and filled
with a composition which emits a dense, nauseous smoke; it is employed
to suffocate the enemy’s miners when at work, or to conceal one’s own
operations; it burns from 25 to 30 minutes.
=Smolensk.= A fortified town of Russia, capital of the government of the
same name, 250 miles west-southwest from Moscow. The French in a most
sanguinary engagement here were three times repulsed, but ultimately
succeeded in entering Smolensk, and found the city which had been
bombarded burning and partly in ruins, August 16-17, 1812. Barclay de
Tolly, the Russian commander-in-chief, incurred the displeasure of the
emperor Alexander because he retreated after the battle, and Kutusoff
succeeded to the command.
=Smooth-bore Projectile.= See PROJECTILE, SPHERICAL PROJECTILES.
=Smyrna.= One of the most ancient and important cities of Asia Minor,
and the only one of the Greek cities on the western coast which has
retained its name and importance to the present day. At an early period
it fell into the hands of the Ionians of Colophon; it became a member of
the Panionic Confederacy. Its early history is obscure; but thus much is
clear, however, that at some period the old city of Smyrna, which stood
on the northeast side of the Hermaean Gulf (now the Gulf of Smyrna), was
abandoned, and that it was succeeded by a new city, on the southeast
side of the same gulf (the present site), which is said to have been
built by Antigonus. It had a magnificent harbor, the largest ships could
lie alongside the quays. In the civil wars it was taken and partly
destroyed by Dolabella, but it soon recovered. In the successive wars
under the Eastern empire it was frequently much injured, but always
recovered. After various vicissitudes during the Middle Ages, the city
fell finally into the hands of the Turks, in whose possession it has
since remained.
=Snaffle-bit.= A kind of slender bit, having a joint in the part to be
placed in the mouth.
=Snaphance.= An old musket of the 17th and first half of the 18th
centuries, called also _asnaphan_. See GUN.
=Snare-drum.= The smaller, common military drum, as distinguished from
the bass-drum;--so called because (in order to render it more resonant)
there is stretched across its lower head a catgut string, or collection
of strings.
=Snick and Snee.= A combat with knives such as the Dutch carry.
=Snider Rifle.= See SMALL-ARMS.
=Soanes.= A powerful people of the Caucasus, governed by a king who
could bring 200,000 soldiers into the field. They are also called Suani
and Suanocolchi.
=Sobraon.= A town of Northwest India, on the left bank of the Sutlej, 25
miles east-northeast of Ferozpur (or Ferozepoore), near which, on
February 10, 1846, a most obstinate battle was fought between the
British army under Sir Hugh Gough and a Sikh force numbering about
35,000. The Sikhs were strongly intrenched, and vigorously resisted the
attacks of their opponents, but the courage and perseverance of the
latter ultimately gave them the mastery; the various earthworks were
captured in succession, and the Sikhs driven across the Sutlej, with a
loss in killed, wounded, and drowned of 13,000. Gough immediately
followed up his victory by crossing into the Punjab in pursuit of the
fleeing enemy.
=Social War.= A celebrated contest between the Socii of Italy and the
city of Rome, which lasted from 91 B.C. till 89, and was the most
formidable war ever carried on in Italy during the dominion of the
Romans. It arose from the desire of the Italians to be placed on a
footing of equality with the Romans. Nearly 300,000 lives were
sacrificed in the contest, and numerous towns destroyed. The senate of
Rome were at length compelled to grant the franchise and all other
privileges, which they at first absolutely refused to the Italians.
=Socket.= Generally means any hollow pipe that receives something
inserted.
=Socket of a Bayonet.= The round hollow near the bent or heel of a
bayonet, into which the muzzle of a fire-arm is received when the
bayonet is fixed.
=Sogdiana.= The northeastern province of the ancient Persian empire,
separated on the south from Bactriana and Margiana by the upper course
of the Oxus; on the east and north from Scythia by the Sogdii Comedarum
and Oxii Mountains, and by the upper course of the Iaxartes, and bounded
on the northwest by the great deserts east of the Sea of Aral. It was
conquered by Cyrus, and afterwards by Alexander. After the Macedonian
conquest it was subject to the kings, first of Syria and then of
Bactria, till it was overrun by the barbarians. The natives of the
country were a wild, warlike people of the great Arian race, resembling
the Bactrians in their character and customs.
=Soissons= (anc. _Noviodunum_, subsequently _Augusta Suessonum_). A town
of France, in the department of Aisne, on the banks of the river Aisne,
about 65 miles northeast of Paris. It was subdued by Julius Cæsar, 57
B.C.; held by Syagrius, after his father Ægidius, till his defeat by
Clovis, 486.
=Solaks.= Were bowmen or archers belonging to the personal guard of the
grand seignor. They were always selected from the most expert bowmen
that were among the Janissaries. Their only arms were the sabre, bow,
and arrows.
=Soldan.= The title of the lieutenant-generals of the caliphs, which
they bore in their provinces and armies. These officers afterwards made
themselves sovereigns. Saladin, general of the forces of King Noureddin
of Damascus, was the first that took upon him this title in Egypt, 1165,
after having killed the caliph Caym.
=Soldier.= Is one who enters into an obligation to some chieftain or
government to devote for a specified period his whole energies, and even
if necessary his life itself, to the furtherance of the policy of that
chief or government. The consideration may be immediate pay, or
prospective reward; or the contract may be merely an act of loyal
devotion. The acknowledgment of the service by the employer constitutes
the man a recognized soldier, and empowers him to take life in open
warfare, without being liable to the penalties of an assassin and a
robber. The fact of being mercenary--that is, of receiving wages for
killing and being killed--does not render a soldier’s trade less
honorable. He bears arms that others may be able to do without them; he
is precluded by the exigencies of military training from maintaining
himself by peaceful occupation; and it is therefore but fair that those
whom he protects should support him, and give him, over and above actual
maintenance, reasonable wages for the continual risk of his life. If a
man willingly enlist himself as a soldier in what he believes to be an
unrighteous cause, it is an act of moral turpitude; but when once
enlisted, the soldier ceases to be morally responsible for the justice
or iniquity of the war he wages; that rests with his employer.
Obedience, implicit and entire, is his sole virtue. The maxim is, “The
military force never deliberates, but always obeys.” _Brother soldier_
is a term of affection which is commonly used by one who serves under
the same banners, and fights for the same cause, with another. In a more
extensive signification, it means any military man with respect to
another.
=Soldier of Fortune.= During the frequent wars which occurred in Italy,
before the military profession became so generally prevalent in Europe,
it was usual for men of enterprise and reputation to offer their
services to the different states that were engaged. They were originally
called _condottieri_, or leaders of reputation. They afterwards extended
their sphere of action, and under the title of _soldiers of fortune_,
sought for employment in every country or state that would pay them.
=Soldiering.= The estate of being a soldier; the occupation of a
soldier.
=Soldierly.= Like, or becoming, a real soldier; brave; martial; heroic;
honorable.
=Soldiers’ Friend.= A term in the military service which is generally
applied to such officers as pay the strictest attention to their men;
granting them reasonable indulgences without injuring the service;
seeing their wants relieved; and, above all things, enforcing just
dealings and the most prompt settlements. There is much confidence in
the multitude when they are justly dealt by, and every soldier fights
well under the guidance of a soldiers’ friend.
=Soldiers’ Homes.= In the United States, are homes of a permanent
character established by the general government for the benefit of old
soldiers, or men who were disabled in the military service of their
country. The “Soldiers’ Home,” which is situated about 3¹⁄₂ miles from
the Capitol of Washington, was founded in compliance with provisions of
act of Congress dated March 3, 1851. It contains about 470 acres, some
of which is cultivated for garden produce, flowers, etc., and the
remainder forms a magnificent park. In 1848, Gen. Scott forwarded to the
Secretary of War the sum of $118,791.19, levied on Mexico during the war
with that country, for the benefit of the soldiers of the U. S. army,
and he requested that this amount might be set aside for the
construction of an army asylum. The following funds are also set apart
for the maintenance of the “Soldiers’ Home”: All stoppages or fines
adjudged against soldiers by sentence of courts-martial, over and above
any amount that may be due for the reimbursement of government or
individuals; all forfeitures on account of desertion; and all moneys
belonging to the estate of deceased soldiers, which are now or may
hereafter be unclaimed for the period of three years subsequent to the
death of said soldier or soldiers, to be repaid by the commissioners of
the institution, upon the demand of the heirs or legal representatives
of the deceased; also the sum of 12¹⁄₂ cents per month is stopped from
every non-commissioned officer, musician, artificer, and private of the
U. S. army. The following persons, members of the “Soldiers’ Home,” are
entitled to the rights and benefits of the institution, viz.: Every
soldier of the army of the United States who has served, or may serve,
honestly and faithfully, twenty years in the same, and every discharged
soldier, who has suffered by reason of disease or wounds incurred in the
service and in the line of his duty, rendering him incapable of further
military service, if such disability has not been occasioned by his own
misconduct. No deserter, mutineer, or habitual drunkard is received into
the institution without such evidence of subsequent service, good
conduct, and reformation of character as the commissioners may deem
sufficient to authorize his admission. There are three commissioners
designated to administer the affairs of the asylum, namely, the
commissary-general of subsistence, the surgeon-general, and the
adjutant-general, whose duty it is to examine and audit the accounts of
the treasurer quarter-yearly, and to visit and inspect the “Home” at
least once in every month. The officers of the institution consist of a
governor, a deputy governor, and a secretary and treasurer, who, with a
medical officer, are detailed from the active or retired list of the
army. Inmates of this institution receive a small allowance of
pocket-money per month, and they are also paid for any labor they can
perform. About $8 per month is allowed to old soldiers, who, having
families, are permitted to live elsewhere than at the “Home.” There was
also incorporated by the act of Congress dated March 3, 1865, “the
National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers,” which consists of the
central asylum, at Dayton, Ohio, the eastern branch at Augusta, Me., and
the northwestern branch at Milwaukee, Wis. This asylum is kept up by
annual appropriations of Congress. There are similar institutions for
old and disabled soldiers in Europe. See ASYLUM, ROYAL MILITARY, and
HÔTEL DES INVALIDES.
=Soldiers’ Thigh.= When tight breeches were worn in the British army,
the term had its peculiar military application, from the notorious
poverty of army men. _Soldiers’ thigh_ figuratively meant an empty
purse; or speaking familiarly, a pair of breeches that sit close and
look smooth, because the pockets have nothing in them.
=Soldiership.= A term which is rarely used; it means military qualities;
military character or state; martial skill; behavior becoming a soldier.
=Soldiery.= A body of soldiers collectively considered; the military. “A
camp of faithful soldiery.”
=Solduriers= (_Fr._). A term anciently used among the French, to signify
those persons who attached themselves to some particular general or
military knight, whose fortunes they followed, in consequence of being
paid and supported by him.
=Sole.= The bottom or lower surface of an embrasure.
=Solferino.= A village of Northern Italy, province of Brescia, 20 miles
northeast from Mantua. Here, in 1796, the French conquered the
Austrians, and on June 24, 1859, it was again the scene of an
overwhelming victory obtained by the French and Italians over the
Austrians.
=Soli.= An ancient town of Asia Minor, on the coast of Cilicia. In the
war between Mithridates and the Romans, Soli was destroyed by Tigranes,
but subsequently rebuilt by Pompey, who settled there many of the
pirates whom he had captured, and called the town after himself,
Pompeiapolis.
=Solicinium.= A town in Roman Germany, on the mountain Pirus, where
Valentinian gained a victory over the Alemanni in 369, probably in the
neighborhood of the modern Heidelberg.
=Solid Shot.= See PROJECTILE.
=Solid Square.= A square body of troops; a body in which the ranks and
files are equal.
=Sollerets= (_Fr._). Armor for the feet.
=Somma.= A town of Italy, Lombardy, not far from the Tecino, near the
foot of Lake Maggiore, 27 miles northwest of Milan. It was near Somma
that Hannibal gained his first victory on Italian ground, completely
defeating the Romans under Scipio, 218 B.C.
=Somnauth=, or =Somnath-Putten=. A town of Guzerat, in Hindostan, is
situated on the southwest coast of the peninsula of Kattywar. In 1024,
Mahmud of Ghizni, the zealous idol-destroyer, appeared before Somnauth,
drove its defenders to take refuge in the temple, where they defended
themselves with such valor that Mahmud’s army was forced to retreat; but
the subsequent rout of two Hindu armies which had advanced to the aid of
the sacred city so dispirited the defenders, that Somnauth was
immediately surrendered, the idol destroyed, and the enormous wealth of
the temple carried off, along with the gates of the temple.
=Songhay.= A former kingdom of Africa. In 1468-1469 the ruler of Songhay
marched upon Timbuctoo, and conquered the town and surrounding state.
Under Háj Mohammed Askia, who came into power at the end of the 15th
century, and who was perhaps the greatest sovereign that ever ruled over
Negroland, the Songhay empire extended from Hausa almost to the shores
of the Atlantic, and from lat. 12° N. to the confines of Morocco. After
many years of revolution and civil war, this great empire became a
province of Morocco in 1607.
=Sonthals.= A tribe of Northern India, brought to Bengal about 1830,
where they prospered, till, partly from the instigation of a fanatic,
and partly from the exactions of money-lenders, they broke out into
rebellion in July, 1855, and committed fearful outrages. They were quite
subdued early in 1856, and many were removed to the newly-conquered
province of Pegu.
=Sooloo=, or =Suluk Islands=. A group of the East Indian Archipelago.
The sultan of Sooloo and his subordinate chiefs were formerly notorious
for their piracy, and kept up a large fleet for that purpose; but their
power was entirely broken by the Spaniards in 1851.
=Sora.= A town of Naples, in the province of Terra di Lavoro, 15 miles
east-northeast from Frosinone. Sora was originally a Volscian city; was
seized by the Romans in 345 B.C., and subsequently made a colony; but in
315 the inhabitants rose against the Romans, and joined their enemies,
the Samnites. It was not finally secured as a Roman colony till the end
of the second Samnite war in 303.
=Sorn.= Formerly a servile tenure in Scotland, by which a chieftain
might, with his followers, live upon his tenants at free quarters.
=Sorties= (Fr. _sortir_). In a siege, parties who sally out of a town
secretly to annoy the besiegers, and retard their operations.
=Sottiates=, or =Sotiates=. A powerful and warlike people in Gallia
Aquitanica, on the frontiers of Gallia Narbonensis, were subdued by P.
Crassus, Cæsar’s legate, after a hard-fought battle. The modern _Sos_
probably represents the ancient town of this people.
=Sound.= The velocity of sound in the air, at the temperature of 32°
Fahr., is about 1090 feet in a second. It is increased or diminished
1.07 feet for each degree of temperature above or below 32°. The
distance of an object can be ascertained by the report of fire-arms, by
observing the number of seconds that elapse between the flash and the
report of a gun, and multiplying the number by the velocity of sound in
air.
=Sound, To.= To betoken or direct by a sound; as, to sound the retreat;
sound the assembly, etc.
=Sourabaya=, =Soerabaya=, =Soorabaya=, or =Surabaya=. A large seaport
town of Java, on the northeast coast. When the French had possession of
Java, the French government resolved to make Sourabaya a port of
consequence. Gen. Daendels expended large sums in the construction of
works for the defense of the harbor, and was proceeding in his plans
when the island was taken by the British.
=South Carolina.= An Atlantic State of the American Union, of a
triangular form, with North Carolina and Georgia on its inland sides. It
is said to have been discovered by Sebastian Cabot in 1498, or by De
Leon in 1512, and to be permanently settled by the English about 1660.
The province was divided into North and South in 1729. The Carolinas
were slave States. Great excitement prevailed in them in November, 1860,
on account of Mr. Abraham Lincoln’s election to the presidency of the
United States, he being strongly opposed to slavery. South Carolina
began the secession from the United States December 20, 1861. The State
was restored to the Union in June, 1868. This State took an active part
in the civil war (1861-65), on the Confederate side. See CHARLESTON,
COLUMBIA, MORRIS ISLAND, MOULTRIE, FORT SUMTER, etc.
=Southern Confederacy.= See CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.
=Sow.= A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up
and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping or mining the wall,
and the like. It had its name from its being used for rooting up the
earth like swine, or because the soldiers therein were like pigs under a
sow.
=Sowar.= A trooper in an Indian cavalry regiment.
=Space.= A quantity or portion of extension; the interval between any
two or more objects; as, the space between ranks.
=Spadroon.= A sword much lighter than a broadsword, and made both to cut
and thrust.
=Spahis.= Were the cavaliers furnished by the holders of military fiefs
to the Turkish army, and formed the _élite_ of its cavalry. The Spahis
along with the Janissaries owe their organization primarily to Orchan,
the second of the Ottoman sultans, finally to Sultan Amurath I., and
when levied _en masse_ could number 140,000, but such a levy was very
seldom called for. In the field they were divided into two classes,
distinguished by the color (red and yellow) of their standards. One
class had pistols and carbines, the other bows and arrows, and both
carried a sabre, lance, and _jerid_, or javelin. They were excellent
irregular troops; but when European organization was introduced into the
Turkish army, they were replaced (1826) by regular horse. At the present
time the French have numerous regiments of Spahis, raised from among the
native tribes of Algeria and from France in about equal proportions; the
dress, especially of the indigenous soldiers, partakes very much of the
Arab character. The natives are allowed to rise to any grade below that
of captain; but all the superior officers are of French descent.