about 6 feet deep, and pointed at the bottom, like an inverted cone,
with a stake placed in the middle. _Trous de loup_ are frequently dug
round a redoubt to obstruct the enemy’s approach. They are circular at
the top, of about 4¹⁄₂ feet in diameter.
=Trou de Rat= (_Fr._). Literally, a rat-hole, or rat-catch;
figuratively, any disadvantageous position into which troops are rashly
driven.
=Trowel Bayonet.= So called from its shape. A bayonet intended to serve
also as an intrenching tool; invented by Lieut. Rice, 5th U. S.
Infantry. It is used by part of the U. S. troops at the present time
(1880).
=Troy.= The earliest traditions of the Greek people represent the
country on both sides of the Ægean as peopled by various races, either
of genuine Hellenic, or of closely affiliated tribes. Among those who
peopled the eastern Asiatic coast were the Trojans. The story of the
Trojan war is extremely simple. The Trojans, in the person of Paris, or
Alexander, the son of the reigning monarch, Priam, are represented as
having had certain dealings with the Achæans, or Greeks of the
Peloponnesus, in the course of which the gay young prince carries off
from the palace of Menelaus, king of Sparta, his spouse Helen, the
greatest beauty of her age. To revenge this insult, the Greeks banded
themselves together and sailed against Troy with a large fleet. The most
notable of the tribes who took part in this expedition were the Argives,
or Achæans, the Spartans, the Bœotians, and the Thessalians. Of the
Thessalians, the most prominent captain was Achilles; and the general
command of the whole expedition was committed to Agamemnon, king of
Mycenæ. This well-appointed European army is represented as having spent
nine years in besieging the god-built walls of the city of Priam
without making any impression on its strength. A violent quarrel between
Achilles and Agamemnon, breaking out in the tenth year, so weakened the
invading force that the Trojans, under Hector, pushed the Greeks back to
the very verge of the sea, and almost set their ships on fire. At the
critical moment, however, the Thessalian captain was reconciled to the
head of the expedition; and with his return to the field the fortune of
war changed; Hector, the champion of Troy, fell, and the impending doom
of the city was darkly foreshadowed; it was finally captured and sacked,
1184 B.C. (the date generally accepted).
=Troyes.= A town of France, capital of the department of Aube, on the
left bank of the Seine. It occupies the site of the ancient Augustobono,
the chief town of the Tricasses. It suffered severely in the civil wars
of the 15th century, and was taken by Joan of Arc in 1429. A treaty was
concluded here between England, France, and Burgundy, May 21, 1420,
whereby it was stipulated that Henry V. should marry Catherine, daughter
of Charles VI., be appointed regent of France, and after the death of
Charles should inherit the crown. Troyes was taken by the allied armies
February 7; retaken by Napoleon February 23; and again taken by the
allies March 4, 1814.
=Truce.= An agreement between belligerent parties, by which they
mutually engage to forbear all acts of hostility against each other for
some time, the war still continuing. Truces are of several kinds:
_general_, extending to all the territories and dominions of both
parties; and _particularly_, restrained to particular places; as, for
example, by sea, and not by land. They are also _absolute_,
_indeterminate_, and _general_; or _limited and determined_ to certain
things, for example, to bury the dead. During a truce, it is
dishonorable to occupy more advanced ground, or to resort to any act
which would confer advantage. A truce requires ordinarily to be
confirmed by the commander-in-chief to become binding. It is lawful to
break it before the prescribed period, on notice previously agreed on
being given to the opposite party. This is called denouncing a truce.
=Truce, Flag of.= See FLAG OF TRUCE.
=Truce of God.= A suspension of arms, which occasionally took place in
the Middle Ages, putting a stop to private hostilities, at or within
certain periods.
=Truck.= Wooden-wheels for the carriage of cannon, etc. The trucks of
garrison-carriages are generally made of cast iron. Trucks of a
ship-carriage are wheels made of one piece of wood, from 12 to 19 inches
in diameter, and their thickness is always equal to the caliber of the
gun.
=Truck, Casemate.= See IMPLEMENTS.
=Trumpet=, or =Trump=. A wind instrument, made of brass or silver, used
in the cavalry and mounted artillery.
=Trumpet-call.= A call by the sound of the trumpet.
=Trumpeter.= A soldier whose duty it is to sound the trumpet.
=Trumpet-Major.= The non-commissioned officer in charge of the
trumpeters of a regiment of cavalry.
=Truncheon.= A club; a cudgel; also, a staff of command. The truncheon
was for several ages the sign of office. Generals were presented with
the truncheon as the sign of investiture with command; and all those
officers who belonged to the suite of the general, and were not attached
to regiments, carried a truncheon, or staff, whence the name of officers
of the staff.
=Trunnion-gauge.= See INSPECTION OF CANNON.
=Trunnion-plate.= In gunnery, is a plate in the carriage of a gun,
mortar, or howitzer, which covers the upper part of the cheek, and goes
under the trunnion.
=Trunnions.= In gunnery, are two cylinders at or near the centre of
gravity of a gun, by which it is supported on its carriage. The axes are
in a line perpendicular to the axis of the bore, and, in our guns, in
the same plane with that axis. By means of the trunnions the piece is
attached to its carriage; and by being placed at or near the centre of
gravity, it is easily elevated or depressed.
=Trunnion-square.= See INSPECTION OF CANNON.
=Truxillo.= A town of the republic of Venezuela, capital of a province
of the same name. Though now a poor, mean place, it is said to have
been, previously to 1678, when it was pillaged by the buccaneer
Grammont, one of the finest and wealthiest cities of America.
=Tubantes.= A people of Germany, allies of the Cherusci, originally
dwelt between the Rhine and the Yssel. They are subsequently mentioned
as a part of the great league of the Franci.
=Tube-pouch.= See IMPLEMENTS.
=Tuberated.= In heraldry, knotted or swelled out.
=Tuck.= A long, narrow sword.
=Tudela= (anc. _Tutella_). A city of Spain, province of Navarre, on the
right bank of the Ebro, 52 miles northwest from Saragossa. Here the
French under Marshal Lannes totally defeated the Spaniards, on November
23, 1808.
=Tugenbund= (“League of Virtue”). This league was formed in Prussia soon
after the peace of Tilsit, June, 1807, for relieving the sufferers by
the late wars, and for the revival of morality and patriotism, gradually
became a formidable secret political society, opposed to the French
predominance in Germany. It excited the jealousy of Napoleon, who
demanded its suppression in 1809. It was dissolved at the peace in 1815.
=Tuileries, Palace and Gardens of the.= Are situated in the middle of
Paris, on the right bank of the Seine. In 1793, the National Convention
held its sittings in the Tuileries; and when Bonaparte became First
Consul, he chose it for his official residence. It was the imperial
residence of Napoleon III.; but was burned down by the Commune in 1871.
=Tulwar.= In the East Indies means a sword.
=Tumbril.= A covered cart on two wheels, for the carriage of ammunition,
tools, etc., belonging to the artillery. The name obtained a melancholy
celebrity from being applied to the carts which served to carry the
unfortunate victims of the French revolution to the guillotine.
=Tunic.= A close-fitting coat, with short sleeves, worn in ancient times
by the Romans. This sort of clothing was prevalent among the French
after their return from the Crusades to the Holy Land. They adopted it
from the Saracens, and seemed ambitious of appearing in a garb which
bore testimony to their feats of valor. These tunics, which were
converted into a sort of uniform, obtained the name of _saladines_ among
the French, in compliment to the emperor Saladin.
=Tunis.= One of the Barbary States forming a considerable territory or
regency of the Ottoman empire, in Northern Africa. Its history is nearly
identical with the city of the same name (which see).
=Tunis.= A fortified city of Africa, and the capital of the country of
that name, at the mouth of the Mejerdah, 400 miles east by north from
Algiers. Tunis is situated about 3 miles to the southwest of the ruins
of ancient Carthage, and it is itself a place of great antiquity. During
the Punic wars it was repeatedly taken and retaken. In 439 it fell into
the hands of the Vandals, but having been wrested from them about a
century thereafter by Belisarius, it continued to be subject to the
Greek empire till the end of the 7th century, when Northern Africa was
overrun by the victorious armies of the Saracens and became a dependency
of the caliphs of Bagdad. In 1286 Tunis became an absolute sovereignty
under Aboo-Ferez, who soon added the greater part of Algiers and
Tripoli. About this time it became notorious for its piracies, and in
1270, Louis IX. of France, in a chivalrous attempt to suppress them,
lost both his army and his life. It remained under African kings till
taken by Barbarossa, for Solyman the Magnificent. It was taken with
great slaughter, and Barbarossa expelled, by the emperor Charles V.,
when 10,000 Christian slaves were set at liberty, 1535. The country was
subjugated by the Turks (1574), who at first governed it by a Turkish
pasha and divan, with a body of Janissaries sent from Constantinople,
but were ultimately obliged to allow the Moors to elect their own bey,
only reserving to themselves the power of confirming the election and
exacting a tribute. The piracies of the Tunisians subjected them to
severe chastisement, first from the British under Admiral Blake, who
reduced it, on the bey refusing to deliver up the British captives,
1655; and afterwards from France and Holland. During the 18th century it
became tributary to Algiers. About the beginning of the 19th century,
Hamuda Pasha threw off the Algerian yoke, subdued the Turkish militia,
and created a native Tunisian army; in consequence of which Tunis
virtually attained independence. An insurrection broke out April
18,1864, and in May, the European powers sent ships of war to protect
their subjects.
=Turin.= A large city of Italy, capital of Piedmont, at the confluence
of the Dora-Susina with the Po, 79 miles west-southwest from Milan. The
foundation of Turin is generally attributed to a colony of Transalpine
origin called Taurini, or Taurisci. Shortly after Hannibal crossed the
Alps, he made himself master of the territory in which it is situated;
but after his expulsion from Italy, the Romans resumed possession and
converted Turin into a colony, which took the name of _Colonia Julia_.
This name was afterwards changed into that of _Augusta Taurinorum_. It
was taken and sacked by the Goths under Alaric. To ward off similar
disasters, it was shortly after surrounded by walls, but did not escape
the ravages of the Longobards. Charlemagne, into whose hands it
subsequently passed, bestowed it as feudal tenure on its bishops. In
1418 (1416) it was declared by Amadeo V. the capital of the states of
Savoy, and ultimately rose to be the capital of the whole Sardinian
states. The French besieged this city; but Prince Eugène defeated their
army, and compelled them to raise the siege, September 7, 1706. In 1798,
the French republican army took possession of Turin, seized all the
strong places and arsenals of Piedmont, and obliged the king and his
family to remove to the island of Sardinia. In 1799 the French were
driven out by the Austrians and Russians; but shortly afterwards the
city and all Piedmont surrendered to the French. In 1814, it was
delivered up to the allies, who restored it to the king of Sardinia.
=Turkey.= Or the Ottoman empire, called by the Turks _Osmanli Vilayeti_,
includes large portions of the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa,
and consists of Turkey Proper, which is under the direct rule of the
sultan, and of numerous dependent and tributary states, governed by
their own princes. The existing Turkish empire dates only from the end
of the 13th century, when it was founded by Osman, or Othman, a Turk of
noble family, who had been driven westward from Khorasan by the invasion
of Genghis Khan. Osman first invaded the Greek territory of Nicomedia on
July 27, 1299; but the true era of the empire may be dated from the
conquest of the city of Prusa, the capital of Bithynia, which
surrendered to his son Orchan in 1326. Murad I. (Amurath) subdued,
without resistance, the whole of Thrace from the Hellespont to Mount
Hæmus, and made Adrianople the seat of vice-royalty. Murad was succeeded
by his son Bajazet (Byazid), whose reign forms one of the most splendid
epochs in the Turkish annals. His armies were victorious in every
country that he undertook to conquer, until at last he encountered the
famous Mogul chief, Tamerlane, who defeated the Turkish army and took
Bajazet captive. After the death of Tamerlane, Solyman, the son of
Bajazet, obtained the European dominions of his father and eventually
assumed the title of sultan. At his death in 1421 he bequeathed an
undivided empire to his successor, Amurath II., in whose reign the
Turkish empire rose in splendor and opulence. He enlarged the empire by
conquests, and was succeeded in 1451 by Mohammed II., the conqueror of
Constantinople. Mohammed laid siege to Belgrade, three years after the
taking of Constantinople, from which, after an obstinate resistance, he
was at length repulsed with the loss of his large ordnance and 40,000 of
his best troops. Abandoning his attempts upon Hungary, the sultan
undertook an expedition into Greece, and about 1460 succeeded in
subduing the whole of the Morea. Mohammed continued to overrun Europe
with his victorious armies, until death stopped his triumphant career in
1481. A series of domestic broils continued to take place until Selim
ascended the throne in 1512. He was a successful prince, and during his
short reign conquered Egypt, Aleppo, Antioch, Tripoli, Damascus, and
Gaza, and defeated the Persians. On the death of Selim, Solyman the
Magnificent ascended the Ottoman throne, and like several of the
preceding monarchs he continued to humiliate his enemies and add new
territory to his dominions. His dominions extended from Algiers to the
river Euphrates, and from the farther end of the Black Sea to the
extremity of Greece and Epirus. The latter years of his reign were
embittered by domestic dissensions and cruelties. He died while
besieging Sigeth, a city of Hungary, in 1566. His son and successor,
Selim II., besieged and took Cyprus; but in the famous sea-fight at
Lepanto, in 1571, the Turkish fleet was utterly destroyed by Don John of
Austria. Selim afterwards invested and took Tunis by storm. On his death
Amurath III. ascended the throne, and extended his dominions. His son,
Mohammed III., ascended the throne in 1595, but he was involved in a
series of wars which proved disastrous to the Turkish arms, and the
country continued to decline, although each successive monarch continued
to wage war with the neighboring provinces, which nearly always ended
disastrously to the Turkish arms; the country was also torn asunder by
internal strife. The downward course of Turkey was for a time stayed by
Mustapha II., who succeeded to the throne in 1695; he commanded his
troops in person, and passed the Danube at the head of 50,000 men,
carried Lippa by assault, and closed a campaign against the Austrians
with success. But two years afterwards he was defeated by Prince Eugène,
in the bloody battle of Zenta, where the Turks left 20,000 dead on the
field, and 10,000 were drowned in their attempt to escape. Shortly after
this disaster Mustapha was dethroned. During the reign of Mustapha III.,
in 1769, a destructive war broke out with Russia which lasted till 1774,
when the Turks were compelled to make the dishonorable treaty of
Kainargi. Another disastrous war broke out between Russia and Turkey in
the autumn of 1787, in which Austria took sides with the former. This
war, which was concluded in 1792, was a series of terrible conflicts, in
which much desperate valor was displayed on the one side, and many brave
actions were performed on the other; but in which Turkey lost much
territory. Turkey was drawn into the French revolutionary war by the
invasion of Egypt by the French, and in 1807 she was convulsed by a
sanguinary insurrection, which cost Selim his throne, and raised Mahmoud
to it. During the event of this insurrection, a war which had been going
on with Russia had languished; but on the accession of Mahmoud, the
armies on both sides were augmented, and the contest was carried on with
great ferocity. The campaign of 1811 was short, but disastrous to the
Porte, the main body of the Ottoman army having surrendered as prisoners
of war. In 1821 began that celebrated insurrection which, after a bloody
war of eight years, terminated in the complete emancipation of the
Greeks from the Turkish yoke. In 1828 war again broke out between Turkey
and Russia. The first campaign was unfavorable to Turkey, but not
completely decisive; it ended with the loss of Varna; but, in 1829, the
Russians having crossed the Balkans, a treaty of peace was concluded,
which was both humiliating and injurious. Shortly after occurred that
rupture between the sultan and Mehemet Ali, the pasha of Egypt, which
shook the Ottoman empire to its foundation. In every conflict the
Turkish troops were overthrown. The battle of Homs decided the fate of
Syria, and the victory at Konieh placed the sceptre almost within the
grasp of the ambitious pasha. In this extremity the sultan was reduced
to apply to Russia for aid. A peace was concluded by which the pasha
augmented his territory. In 1839 the Turks were again defeated in
several battles by the Egyptians; but the latter were reduced to
subjection by the allied powers, Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia,
and compelled to pay an annual tribute to Turkey. In October, 1858, the
Porte declared war against Russia, and in 1854 the French and English
entered into the contest as allies of Turkey. In the latter part of this
war, Sardinia also sent an army to co-operate with those of the allies.
The result of this war, which was virtually ended by the treaty of Paris
signed on March 30, 1856, was, that Turkey gained some territory, and
took her place as a member of the European confederation of states. A
revolution took place in Constantinople in 1876, which resulted in the
deposition of Abd-ul-Aziz, and the accession to the throne of Murad V.,
who in his turn was superseded by Hamid II. For important battles, etc.,
which occurred in Turkey, see names of towns, places, etc., under
separate headings in this work.
=Turks.= The name of a numerous, important, and widely-spread family of
the human race, members of which are to be found as well on the banks of
the Lena in Siberia, as on those of the Danube and the shores of the
Adriatic in Europe. They consist of many different tribes, but speak
very nearly the same language. For history of the Turks, see TURKEY and
other countries inhabited by them.
=Turma.= In the Roman cavalry, a troop consisting of 30 horsemen. There
were 10 _turmæ_ in every legion, and 3 _decuriæ_ in every _turma_.
=Turn.= To give another direction, tendency, or inclination; to direct
otherwise; to deflect. _To turn a hostile army_, to turn the enemy’s
flank, and the like, to pass round and take a position behind it, or
upon the side of it. _To turn tail_, to retreat ignominiously.
=Turn Out, To.= To bring forward, to exhibit; as, to turn out the guard;
to turn out so many men for service. To _turn in_, to withdraw; to order
under cover; as, to turn in the guard.
=Turnau= (Boh. _Turnov_). A walled town of Bohemia, circle of
Jung-Bunzlau, on the east bank of the Iser, 50 miles northeast from
Prague. Here was fought, in July, 1866, a battle between the Prussians
and Austrians, in which the former were victorious.
=Turnhout.= A well-built town of Belgium, province of Antwerp, 34 miles
east-northeast from the city of Antwerp. Turnhout is historically
noteworthy as the scene of two battles, the first won January 22, 1597,
by the Netherlands, under Maurice, prince of Orange, over the Spaniards;
and the second October 27, 1789, by the patriots, under Van der Mersch,
over the Austrians.
=Turning.= In tactics, a manœuvre by which an enemy or position is
turned.
=Turning and Boring.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.
=Turret.= In military antiquity, a movable building, of a square form,
consisting of 10 or even 20 stories, sometimes 120 cubits high, usually
moved on wheels, and employed in approaches to a fortified place, for
carrying soldiers, engines, ladders, casting bridges, and other
necessaries.
=Turtukai=, or =Tortokan=. A town of Turkey in Europe, in Bulgaria,
situated on the Danube. It is opposite Oltenitza, where the Russians
were defeated by the Turks in a series of battles which extended over
three days, in November, 1853.
=Tuscany= (Ital. _Toscana_). A former grand duchy of Italy, hounded on
the north by the duchies of Parma and Modena, and the Papal States; east
and south by the Papal States; west by the Mediterranean. Tuscany
embraces the far greater part of ancient Etruria, shared the common fate
of all the other Italian states, and fell under the Romans about 280
B.C. From the Romans it passed first to the Goths, next to the Lombards,
and then to Charlemagne, who governed it by counts. After numerous
vicissitudes, the whole of Tuscany became united, in 1557, under the
Medici family. In 1737 the Medici became extinct and the grand duchy
passed to the Duke of Lorraine. It was declared by Napoleon I. an
integral part of the French empire; but, on his downfall in 1814, it was
restored to the Archduke Ferdinand. On August 20, 1860, the National
Assembly at Florence unanimously voted its annexation to and it now
forms part of the new kingdom of Italy.
=Tuscaroras.= A tribe of North American Indians, who at the settlement
of North Carolina had fifteen towns on the Tar and Neuse Rivers, and
1200 warriors. In 1711, they began a war with the settlers, and after a
series of savage encounters were defeated, and joined the Iroquois in
New York, where they became the allies of the English. About 400 of them
still reside on a reservation in the western part of the State of New
York.
=Tusculum.= An ancient city of Latium, on a western prolongation of the
Alban hills, about 15 miles east-southeast of Rome. It was one of the
most strongly fortified places in all Italy, both by nature and art.
After the expulsion of the Tarquins from Rome, Octavius Mamilius, the
chief man in Tusculum, is said to have supported their cause, and led an
army against the Romans; but he was totally defeated and slain at the
small lake Regillus, near Tusculum. Thereupon an alliance was formed
between Tusculum and Rome, which lasted unbroken for 140 years, until,
in 357 B.C., the whole of the Latin cities, and Tusculum among the rest,
joined in a war with Rome, which ended in their entire and final
subjection to that power. The ancient city continued to exist amid all
the vicissitudes of the times till near the end of the 12th century,
when it was demolished by the Romans, and the town of Frascati rose in
the vicinity.
=Tuttlingen.= A town of Würtemberg, on the right bank of the Danube, 20
miles west-southwest from Sigmaringen. Tuttlingen is historically
notable as the scene of a battle in 1643, during the Thirty Years’ War,
in which an Austrian Bavarian force under Hatzfeld and Mercy defeated
the French.
=Twist.= This term is employed by gun-makers to express the inclination
of a groove at any point, and is measured by the tangent of the angle
made by the groove with the axis of the bore.
=Two-handed.= Used with both hands; as, a two-handed sword.