name, in the presidency of Madras. In 1678 Tanjore was conquered by the
Mahratta chief, Vencajeo, brother of Sevajee. In the reign of the rajah
Tooljajee, the nabob of Arcot, supported by the Madras government, laid
claim to tribute from Tanjore, and the rajah was deposed, but was
subsequently restored.
=Tannadar.= In the East Indies, a commander of a small fort or
custom-house.
=Tannenberg= (East Prussia). Here Ladislaus V., Jagellon of Poland,
defeated the Teutonic Knights with great slaughter, the grand master
being among the slain, July 15, 1410. The order never recovered from
this calamity.
=Tap.= A gentle blow on the drum.
=Taps.= A sound of drum or trumpet which takes place usually about a
quarter of an hour after tattoo, and is an indication that all lights in
the soldiers’ quarters will be extinguished, and the men retire to bed.
=Tapuri.= A powerful people, apparently of Scythian origin, who dwelt in
Media, on the borders of Parthia, south of Mount Coronus. They also
extended into Margiana, and probably farther north on the eastern side
of the Caspian, where their original abodes seem to have been in the
mountains called by their name.
=Tara.= A hill in Meath, Ireland, where it is said a conference was held
between the English and Irish in 1173. Near here, on May 26, 1798, the
royalist troops, 400 in number, defeated the insurgent Irish 4000
strong.
=Taranto= (anc. _Tarentum_). A town of Southern Italy, province of Terra
d’Otranto, is situated on a rocky islet formerly an isthmus between the
Mare Piccolo (Little Sea), and the Mare Grande (Great Sea), or Gulf of
Taranto, on the west. Ancient Tarentum was a far more splendid city than
its modern representative. Its greatness dates from 708 B.C., when the
original inhabitants were expelled, and the town was taken possession of
by a strong body of Lacedæmonian Partheniæ under the guidance of
Phalanthus. It soon became the most powerful city in the whole of Magna
Græcia, and exercised a kind of supremacy over the other Greek cities in
Italy. It possessed a considerable fleet of ships of war, and was able
to bring into the field, with the assistance of its allies, an army of
30,000 foot and 3000 horse. The people of Tarentum, assisted by Pyrrhus,
king of Epirus, supported a war which had been undertaken in 281 B.C. by
the Romans, to avenge the insults the Tarentines had offered to their
ships when near their harbors; it was terminated after ten years;
300,000 prisoners were taken, and Tarentum became subject to Rome.
Except the citadel, Tarentum was captured by the Carthaginians, 212, but
recovered by Fabius, 209 B.C. Tarentum has shared in the revolutions of
Southern Italy.
=Tarazona.= A town of Spain, in the province of Zaragoza, on the
Queyles, a tributary of the Ebro. It is the ancient _Turiaso_, and here
a few Roman troops routed a Celtiberian army. It became a _municipium_
under the Romans.
=Tarbes.= A town of France, in the department of Hautes Pyrenees, on the
left bank of the Adour. For a long time it belonged to the English
monarchs, and it was the residence of the Black Prince. On March 20,
1814, a combat took place here between the British under Wellington and
the French under Soult, in which the former gained the victory.
=Tar-bucket.= See IMPLEMENTS.
=Tard-venus=, or =Malandrins= (_Fr._). Freebooters, banditti, who
elected their own chief, and appeared first in France in 1360.
=Tarentum.= See TARANTO.
=Target.= In its modern sense, is the mark for aiming at in practicing
with the cannon, rifle, or bow and arrow. In its more ancient meaning, a
target, or _targe_, was a shield, circular in form, cut out of ox-hide,
mounted on light but strong wood, and strengthened by bosses, spikes,
etc. Of modern targets, the simplest is that used for archery. With
regard to rifle-targets, the numerous rifle-matches have caused ranges
to be constructed over the whole country. The necessities are: a butt,
artificially constructed or cut in the face of a hill, to prevent wide
balls from scattering; a marker’s shot-proof cell, near the targets; and
a range of such length as can be procured. The targets used at the
Creedmoor range on Long Island, and by the U. S. army, are divided into
three classes and are of the following sizes: The _third class_, to be
used at all distances up to and including 300 yards, is a rectangle 6
feet high and 4 feet wide. Three concentric circles are described, with
the middle point as a centre and radii of 4, 13, and 23 inches
respectively. The inner circle is black, and so are the lines marking
the circumference of the middle and outer circles; the rest of the
target is white. The _second class_ is a square, 6 feet high. Three
concentric circles are drawn, with the middle point as a centre and
radii of 11, 19, and 27 inches respectively. The inner circle is black,
as well as the circumferences of the other circles; the rest of the
target is white. This target is used at all distances over 300, to, and
including, 600 yards. The _first class_, to be used at all distances
over 600 yards, is a rectangle, 6 feet high and 12 feet wide. It has two
concentric circles, described with a radii of 18 and 27 inches
respectively, the centre being at the middle point of the target, and
two lines drawn parallel to, and 3 feet from, each end (leaving the
_inner_, square, 6 feet by 6 feet). The target is white, except the
lines just indicated and the inner circle, which are black. The smallest
circle, always painted black, is called the _bull’s-eye_, and when
struck, counts 5 for the marksman; the ring embraced between the
bull’s-eye and the circumference of the next larger circle is called the
_centre_, which counts 4; and the ring between the second and third
circles is called the _inner_, which scores 3; and the space outside of
the larger circle is called the _outer_, and scores 2. In the
first-class target the space between the second circle and the vertical
lines is the _inner_, and the space outside the vertical lines is the
_outer_.
In artillery practice, targets of considerable size are used at long
ranges. The usual practice is over the sea; targets are then painted on
the sides of old vessels, or are floated by buoys. For trying the power
of ordnance, solid targets are constructed to resemble the sides of
iron-plated ships, portions of fortification, etc.
=Targeted.= Furnished or armed with a target.
=Targeteer=, or =Targetier=. One armed with a target or shield.
=Tariere= (_Fr._). A machine of war similar to the battering-ram (which
it preceded), excepting that the head was pointed. It made the first
opening in the wall, which was increased by the _belier_.
=Tarifa.= A seaport town of Spain, 20 miles southwest from Gibraltar. It
was successfully defended in 1811 by Col. Gough, with a body of 2500
British and Spanish troops against a French force of 10,000 men, under
Victor and Laval.
=Tarquinii.= An ancient city of Etruria, on the left bank of the Marta,
about 4 miles from the Mediterranean. In 398 B.C., while the Romans were
at war with the Veii, they were attacked by the Tarquinians, who seem
from this time to have been frequently united with the other Etruscan
cities against Rome. War was carried on with varying success and some
intermissions till 351, when a truce of forty years was agreed upon.
After its expiration, hostilities were again for a short time renewed;
but in 309 another truce was concluded, in the course of which Tarquinii
seems to have gradually become subject to Rome. It continued to be a
flourishing town under the empire, and after its fall, until it was
destroyed by the Saracens.
=Tarragona= (anc. _Tarraco_). A seaport city of Spain, capital of the
province of the same name, at the mouth of the Francoli, in the
Mediterranean, 52 miles west-southwest from Barcelona. The ancient
Tarraco was originally a Phœnician settlement; it afterwards became the
capital of the Roman province called by its name. After the fall of the
empire, it was taken by the Goths; and at a later period was laid in
ruins by the Moors. In the 11th century the modern town was founded on
the site of the former. In 1705, it was captured by the English, but was
afterwards abandoned; and in 1811 it was taken and sacked by the French
under Suchet.
=Tarred-links.= See PYROTECHNY.
=Tarsus= (now _Tersus_). Anciently the chief city of Cilicia, and one of
the most important in all Asia Minor, situated on both sides of the
navigable river Cydnus, about 18 miles from the sea. In the time of
Xenophon, who gives us the first historical notice of Tarsus, it was
taken by Cyrus. At the time of the Macedonian invasion, it was held by
the Persian troops, who were prevented from burning it by Alexander’s
arrival. It played an important part as a military post in the wars of
the successors of Alexander, and under the Syrian kings. As the power of
the Seleucidæ declined, it suffered much from the oppression of its
governors, and from the wars between the members of the royal family. At
the time of the Mithridatic war, it suffered, on the one hand, from
Tigranes, who overran Cilicia, and, on the other, from the pirates, who
had their strongholds in the mountains of Cilicia Aspera, and made
frequent incursions into the level country. From both these enemies it
was rescued by Pompey, 66 B.C. In the civil war it took part with Cæsar.
For this the inhabitants were severely punished by Cassius, but were
recompensed by Antony, who made Tarsus a free city. It was the scene of
important events in the wars with the Persians, the Arabs, and the
Turks, and also in the Crusades.
=Tartares= (_Fr._). A word used in the French army to distinguish
officers’ servants and batmen from the soldiers who serve in the ranks.
_Tartare_ likewise means a groom.
=Tartary= (properly _Tatary_). Is the name under which, in the Middle
Ages, was comprised the whole central belt of Central Asia and Eastern
Europe, from the Sea of Japan to the Dnieper, including Mantchuria,
Mongolia, Eastern Turkestan, Independent Turkestan, the Kalmuck and the
Kirghis steppes, and the old khanates of Kasan, Astrakhan, and the
Crimea, and even the Cossack countries; and hence arose a distinction of
Tartary into European and Asiatic. But latterly the name Tartary had a
much more limited signification, including only that tract bounded on
the north by Siberia, and on the south by China and Thibet, along with
Independent Turkestan; and at the present day, many writers apply it as
a synonym for Turkestan. The Tartars (or, more properly, Tatars) was
originally a name of the Mongolic races, but came to be extended to all
the tribes brought under Mongolic sway by Genghis Khan and his
successors, including Tungusic and Turkic races. The term is therefore
not to be considered as ethnological, though all, or almost all, the
peoples included under it, in its widest sense, belong to the Turanian
family, but is rather to be understood in the same sense as the term
“Franks” used by the Mohammedans. During the decline of the Roman
empire, these tribes began to seek more fertile regions; and the first
who reached the frontier of Italy were the Huns, the ancestors of the
modern Mongols. The first acknowledged sovereign of this vast country
was the famous Genghis Khan. His empire by the conquest of China,
Persia, and all Central Asia (1206-27), became one of the most
formidable ever established; but it was split into parts in a few
reigns. Timur, or Tamerlane, again conquered Persia, broke the power of
the Turks in Asia Minor (1370-1400), and founded the Mogul dynasty in
India, which began with Baber in 1525, and formed the most splendid
court in Asia, till the close of the 18th century. The Calmucks, a
branch of the Tartars, expelled from China, settled on the banks of the
Volga in 1672, but returned in 1771, and thousands perished on the
journey.
=Tasa.= In the East Indies, a kind of drum, formed of a hemisphere of
copper, hollowed out and covered with goat-skin. It is hung before from
the shoulders, and beat with two rattans.
=Taslet.= A piece of armor formerly worn on the thigh.
=Tasse.= Formerly a piece of armor for the thighs; an appendage to the
ancient corselet, consisting of skirts of iron that covered the thighs,
fastened to the cuirass with hooks.
=Tattoo.= The evening sound of drum or trumpet, after which the roll is
called, and all soldiers not on leave of absence should be in their
quarters.
=Tau, Cross.= In heraldry, a cross of a form somewhat resembling the
Greek letter _Tau_. St. Anthony is generally represented with a cross of
this description, embroidered on the left side of his garment.
=Taulantii.= A people of Illyria, in the neighborhood of Epidamnus. One
of their most powerful kings was Glaucias, who fought against Alexander
the Great.
=Taunton.= A town of England, county of Somerset, on the river Tone. It
was taken by Perkin Warbeck, September, 1497; and here he was
surrendered to Henry VII. October 5 following. The Duke of Monmouth was
proclaimed king of Taunton, June 20, 1685; and it was the scene of the
“bloody assize” held by Jeffreys upon the rebels in August.
=Taupins=, or =Francs-Taupins= (_Fr._). A name which was formerly given
to a body of free-arches, or francs-archers, in France. This body
consisted chiefly of countrymen and rustics.
=Tauromenium.= An ancient Greek city in Sicily, on the east coast of the
island, about half-way between Messina and Catania. In 394, Dionysius
besieged the new city, and spent the greater part of a winter in an
unsuccessful effort to take it. A peace was concluded in 392, in terms
of which Tauromenium became subject to Dionysius, who immediately
expelled the former inhabitants, and supplied their place by mercenaries
of his own. In 358, Andromachus collected the survivors of the original
inhabitants of Naxos, and settled them at Tauromenium. Under Andromachus
the city made rapid progress. He assisted Timoleon in his expedition to
Sicily. At a later period the city was conquered by Hiero of Syracuse,
and it remained subject to that city until, with the whole of Sicily, it
passed into the power of the Romans. In the Servile war in Sicily
(134-32 B.C.), it was captured by the insurgent slaves, and held by them
till the last extremity, suffering the utmost calamities, until the
citadel was betrayed to the Romans. It was taken and destroyed by the
Saracens after a siege of two years, in 906.
=Taxiarchs.= In the Athenian army, were ten in number (every tribe
having the privilege of electing one), and commanded next under the
_strategeoi_. Their business was to marshal the army, give orders for
their marches, and appoint what provisions each soldier should furnish
himself with. They had also power to cashier any of the common soldiers,
if convicted of a misdemeanor; but their jurisdiction was only over the
foot.
=Tchernaya.= A river in the Crimea. On August 16, 1855, the lines of the
allied army at this place were attacked by 50,000 Russians under Prince
Gortschakoff without success, being repulsed with the loss of 3329
slain, 1658 wounded, and 600 prisoners. The brunt of the attack was
borne by two French regiments under Gen. d’Herbillon. The loss of the
allies was about 1200; 200 of these were from the Sardinian contingent,
which behaved with great gallantry, under the command of Gen. La
Marmora. The Russian general Read, and the Sardinian general
Montevecchio, were killed. The object of the attack was the relief of
Sebastopol, then closely besieged by the English and French.
=Tearless Victory.= In 367 B.C. Archidamus, king of Sparta, defeated the
Arcadians and Argives in the “Tearless Battle,” so called because he had
won it without losing a man.
=Tebet= (_Fr._). A kind of axe which the Turks carry at their saddle-bow
during war.
=Teepe.= See WIGWAM.
=Teflis=, or =Tiflis=. A city of Russia in Asia, in Transcaucasia,
capital of the province of Georgia. It was founded about the middle of
the 5th century, by a powerful monarch called Waktang; and afterwards
rose to great importance. It was taken by Genghis Khan in the 12th
century, and by Mustapha Pasha, 1576. In 1723 it was taken by the Turks,
in 1734 by Kouli Khan, and it was destroyed by Aga Mohammed in 1795. It
came into the possession of the Russians in 1801. A treaty of peace was
concluded here between Russia and Persia, October 12, 1813.
=Tefterdar Effendi.= The commissary-general is so called among the
Turks.
=Tegea.= An ancient city of Greece, forming one of the most powerful
states in Arcadia. The Tegeatæ long resisted the supremacy of Sparta,
and it was not till the Spartans discovered the bones of Orestes that
they were enabled to conquer this people. The Tegeatæ sent 3000 men to
the battle of Platææ, in which they were distinguished for their
bravery. They remained faithful to Sparta in the Peloponnesian war; but
after the battle of Leuctra they joined the rest of the Arcadians in
establishing their independence. During the wars of the Achæan league,
Tegea was taken both by Cleomenes, king of Sparta, and Antigonus Doson,
king of Macedonia, and the ally of the Achæans.
=Tekrit= (anc. _Birtha_). A town situated on the Euphrates, in
Mesopotamia. It was unsuccessfully besieged by Sapor I., king of Persia,
in 260.
=Telegraph, Field= or =Flying=. During the civil war (1861-65) in the
United States a signal corps was organized, whose duties extended to the
management of field telegraphs, and light lines, when the formation of
the country was such that aerial signals could not be used, or it was
for any reason desirable that short electric lines be extended. It has
been demonstrated that electric instruments may be of the most simple
construction; and electric lines can be set up, and be utilized in
places where a few years ago it was deemed impracticable to employ them;
and can be worked without other skilled labor than that of the soldiers
attached to the posts, and with no apparatus but such as can be had at a
trivial expense. There is no reason why, with properly drilled parties,
electric lines may not be thrown out in the moments which precede, or
even during the progress of, a battle, and be so worked as to lessen
infinitely that difficulty of rapid communication which has so often
caused disaster. With a corps well organized and well equipped, the
connection between the corps of an army, and between the corps
headquarters and general headquarters, ought to be perfected in a very
few hours after the halt of the army. The field lines of the Signal
Corps consist of rolls of wire carried in light-wheeled vehicles, and
light “lance poles,” us they are called, on which the wire is stretched
when necessary. The wire made for the purpose is of small strands of
iron and copper twisted, to give it strength and flexibility. It is
insulated with prepared india-rubber, or other material, and wound on
reels which, in an emergency, can be carried anywhere by hand, while the
wire reeling out can be raised upon fences, fastened to trees, or laid
along the ground. The instruments used at first were of a kind known as
the Beardslee instrument. These instruments are worked without
batteries, the electric current being generated by revolving magnets.
They were “indicating,” an index upon a dial pointing, at the receiving
station, to whatever letter was designated by the index handle upon a
similar dial at the sending station. There were as advantages attaching
to this instrument, that it was portable and compact, could be set at
work anywhere, required no batteries, acids, or fluids; and what was
thought of importance in the early days of the civil war, and while the
corps was a temporary organization, it could be worked by soldiers
without skill as operators. The defects were, that messages could not be
sent as rapidly or as far as by some other instruments. Nor could
several instruments work easily upon a single circuit. For some uses on
the field of battle, or under fire, where the attention of the reader is
disturbed, it is, perhaps, as good an instrument as has been devised.
With a permanent corps, or at secure stations, it gives place to some of
the forms of signal or of sound instruments. The instruments upon field
lines may be of very simple structure. The signal instruments, either
the needle or the letter instruments, can be used in actual conflict, if
the reports of heavy guns or other disturbances of action render reading
by sound unreliable. The manufacture of both instruments and batteries
has been improved, until there is now no trouble in carrying either in
the field in the roughest campaigns. The difficulty in reading from
telegraphic instruments by sound, which has been the greatest obstacle
to their use, can be almost done away with by using them with codes of
easy signals. In the Prussian army, also, the electric telegraph is
applied for field purposes. Morse’s system is used. Each headquarters of
an army and each army corps, has a telegraphic division of 3 officers,
137 men, 73 horses, and 10 wagons. Two of the latter are fitted up as
operating-rooms, and the other 8 are used for carrying poles and other
material, including 5 miles of wire to each wagon, which can be reeled
off by the moving of the vehicle. Of the whole 40 miles, 5 are
insulated, and can be run along the ground. It will be seen that each
army corps can put out 40 miles of line without recourse to other wires,
but use is always made of lines found in the country, in case they will
answer. Single poles of light material are used, without joints, and
about 10 feet long, and only every third pole is put in the ground. The
_personnel_ is brought into the army from the civil telegraphic service
at home. While in the field, the operators assume military rank, and,
like agents of the Post-office Department, are known as “military
officials,” not as “military officers.” The men are on a footing with
train-soldiers. The operating-wagons are a little larger than the Rucker
ambulances of the U. S. service, but much heavier. Just in the rear of
the driver is a partition shutting off the rear portion of the carriage.
At his back, and under his seat, is a capacious box, in which are
carried tools, and the material necessary in telegraphing. On one side
of the rear closed portion is a neat table with a compact operating
instrument on it, and a battery under it; and on the opposite side is
the operator’s bench, the space underneath it being also economized. On
the outside near the table are sockets, with thumb-screws connected with
the battery, to receive the wires. During the Franco-Prussian war,
besides keeping the king in telegraphic communication with his
ministers, lines were run from Gen. von Moltke’s headquarters to all the
different corps in the field. The telegraph corps always evinced
admirable promptness in keeping the lines closed up as the army moved
forward. In Great Britain, the system of military telegraphy forms part
of the duties of the Royal Engineers.
=Telemeter.= An instrument for determining long distances. (See
RANGE-FINDER.) One of the best-known telemeters is the invention of
Capt. A. Gautier of the French army. It consists of a short tube
containing two mirrors set at an angle of 45° with each other, one of
which is fixed; the other admits of a slight rotation. A hole in the
side of the tube allows the image of a secondary distant object on the
prolongation of the base-line to be brought in line with that of the
distant object whose distance is to be measured. An observation is next
taken from the other end of the short base-line, and the image of the
secondary object again brought in contact with that of the principal
object by rotating a ring on the front of the tube. The extent of this
rotation (as denoted by a scale), gives a factor which, multiplied by
the base-line, gives the required distance.