other title. It serves to convey the ammunition, provisions, sick,
wounded, camp equipage, etc. Wagons in convoy travel at a rate of from 1
to 2 miles an hour, according to the state of the roads, and other
circumstances; and a mile may be said to contain 100 wagons. A great
object in the march of a convoy, is to preserve the draught animals as
much as possible from fatigue. For this purpose, if the convoy amount to
many hundred wagons, they must be formed into divisions of not more than
500 each. Should it consist of thousands, it will be advisable to form
them into grand divisions, and then again into subdivisions of 500 each.
By this means, and by calculating the time of departure, each division
may remain at rest until just before its time of movement, and the
necessity will thus be prevented of the latter part of a large convoy
being harassed for a considerable time before its turn to move. The
different divisions of the convoy should be numbered, and obliged each
day to change the order of their marching. Whenever the progress of a
wagon-train is arrested by the breaking down of one of the wagons, or
other delay, all the wagons in rear of the stoppage should immediately
drive up into the first open space, to as great a number as it will
hold. This will keep the convoy together, and better under the care of
the escort. The escort should be divided into front, centre, and rear
guards; besides the divisions in the flanks, which should never be more
than 400 yards from each other.
=Wagram.= A village of Lower Austria, on the left bank of the Rossbach,
11 miles northeast from Vienna. It is the site of a battle between the
French under Napoleon, Davoust, Masséna, and Macdonald, and the
Austrians under the Archduke Charles, in which the former were
victorious, July 5-6, 1809. The Austrians retreated in the most orderly
manner, carrying with them about 5000 prisoners, and leaving about
25,000 dead or wounded on the field of battle,--the French loss being
about equal; the latter claim to have taken 20,000 prisoners.
=Wahabees=, =Wahabis=, or =Wahabites=. A warlike Mohammedan reforming
sect, considering themselves the only true followers of the Prophet,
arose in Arabia about 1750, under the rule of Abd-el-Nahab
(Ibn-abdul-Wahab). His grandson Savoud (Saud, or Saood), in 1801,
defeated an expedition headed by the caliph of Bagdad. The conquest of
Hejaz was next undertaken by the Wahabees. In 1803, Saoud collected a
large army, defeated Ghaleb, the ruler of Mecca, in several battles,
laid siege to Mecca, which, after a resistance of two or three months,
surrendered at discretion. Not the slightest excess was committed, but
the people had to become Wahabees. Failing to take Jiddah, into which
Ghaleb had thrown himself, the Wahabi forces went northwards, and, in
1804, took Medina, where they stripped the tomb of Mohammed of its
accumulated treasures, and prohibited the approach to it of all but
Wahabees. For several years after the conquest of Hejaz, Saoud continued
to extend and consolidate his power. Plundering incursions were made to
the very vicinity of Bagdad, Aleppo, and Damascus. On the east, Saoud
took the island of Bahrein, and annexed a part of the Persian coast, on
the east side of the Gulf, and exacted tribute from the sultan of Oman.
This brought him into conflict with Great Britain, which sent (1808) a
force and severely chastised the Wahabi pirates that infested the
commerce of the Persian Gulf. Saoud’s son, Abdallah, long resisted
Mehemet Ali, pasha of Egypt, but in 1818 he was defeated and taken
prisoner by Ibrahim Pasha, who sent him to Constantinople, where he was
put to death. Ibrahim continued some months in Arabia, consolidating his
conquests throughout Nejed and the adjoining provinces. But soon an
insurrection broke out, and the Egyptians had to retire to Kasim, and
Turki, a son of Abdallah, was proclaimed sultan of Nejed. Renewed
expeditions were undertaken by the Egyptian commanders, driving, first,
Turki from his capital for a time and then his son and successor,
Feysul. But soon after the death of Mehemet Ali (1849) the Egyptians
gave up the struggle; Feysul was recalled from exile; and under him and
his son Abdallah II., who unites in a high degree the fanaticism and
ferocity of the Wahabi, with great skill in military tactics, the Wahabi
sway, according to the accounts of Palgrave in 1863, and of Col. Pelly
in 1865, had become more powerful and extensive, and threatens to
swallow up the entire peninsula.
=Wahlstatt.= See KATSBACH.
=Wait.= Ambush. _To lay wait_, to lie in ambush; to prepare an
ambuscade. _To lie in wait_, to lie in ambush; to be secreted in order
to fall by surprise on an enemy.
=Waiting, In.= This term is used in the British service, to mark out the
person whose turn is next for duty; as, an officer in waiting.
_Field-officer in waiting_, is the term applied to the monthly duty
taken by the field-officers of the three regiments of Foot Guards, who
attend the sovereign on court-days, to present the detail of his corps,
and receive the parole or other orders from her personally, which are
afterwards given to the guards in orders. The field-officer in waiting
commands all the troops on duty, and has the immediate care of the
sovereign’s person within-doors, as the gold stick has of it while in
court. The latter also receives the parole from the sovereign.
=Waiving Amain.= A salutation of defiance, as by brandishing weapons,
etc.
=Waiwode=, or =Waywode=. In the Turkish empire, the governor of a small
province or town; a general.
=Wakefield.= A town of England, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 26
miles from York. Near it is the site of a battle between Margaret, the
queen of Henry VI., and the Duke of York, in which the latter was slain,
and 3000 Yorkists fell upon the field, December 31, 1460. The death of
the duke, who aspired to the crown, seemed to fix the good fortune of
Margaret; but the Earl of Warwick espoused the cause of the duke’s son,
the Earl of March, afterwards Edward IV., and the civil war was
continued.
=Walcheren.= An island of Holland, in the province of Zealand, in the
German Ocean, at the mouth of the Scheldt. The unfortunate expedition of
the British to this isle in 1809 consisted of 35 ships of the line, and
200 smaller vessels, principally transports, and 40,000 land forces, the
latter under the command of the Earl of Chatham, and the fleet under Sir
Richard Strachan. For a long time the destination of the expedition
remained secret; but before July 28, 1809, when it set sail, the French
journals had announced that Walcheren was the point of attack. Perhaps
a more powerful and better appointed armament had never previously left
the British ports, or ever more completely disappointed public
expectation. The plan was to send the fleet and army up the Scheldt, and
attack Antwerp (the principal naval station and arsenal in the north of
France), whose fortifications, though formidable, were much in need of
repair, and whose garrison at the time only numbered about 2000 invalids
and coast-guards; while there were not more than 10,000 French soldiers
in Holland. The expedition, after numberless needless delays, at last
sailed on July 28, and reached the Dutch coast on the following day.
But, instead of obeying the orders of the minister of war, Lord
Castlereagh, to _advance at once in force against Antwerp_, the
commander-in-chief, Lord Chatham, frittered away his time in the
reduction of Vlissingen (Flushing), which was not effected till August
16, by which time the garrison of Antwerp had been reinforced by King
Louis Bonaparte with the troops at his command (about 6000), and by
detachments sent from France, which swelled the garrison, by August 20,
to 15,000 men. About the end of August, Chatham, who, as a general, was
a methodical incapable, “found himself prepared” to march upon Antwerp,
but by this time 30,000 men, under Bernadotte, were gathered to its
defense, and the English army was decimated by marsh-fever, so that
success was not to be hoped for. However, it was judged right to hold
possession of Walcheren, in order to compel the French to keep a strong
force on the watch in Belgium, and, accordingly, 15,000 men remained to
garrison the island, the rest returned to England; but the malaria
proved too fatal in its ravages, and as peace had been concluded between
Austria and France, this force was also recalled. Thus an excellently
devised scheme, through utter stupidity of the agent chosen by royalty
to carry it out, failed in every point of consequence, and ended in the
loss of 7000 men dead, and the permanent disablement of half the
remainder. The House of Commons instituted an inquiry, and Lord Chatham
resigned his post of master-general of the ordnance, to prevent greater
disgrace; but the policy of the ministers in planning the expedition
was, nevertheless, approved.
=Wales= (anc. _Britannia Secunda_). A principality in the southwest part
of Great Britain. After the Roman emperor Honorius quitted Britain,
Vortigern was elected king of South Britain. He invited over the Saxons
to defend his country against the Picts and Scots; but the Saxons
perfidiously sent for reinforcements, consisting of Saxons, Danes, and
Angles, by which they made themselves masters of South Britain. Many of
the Britons retired to Wales, and defended themselves against the
Saxons, in their inaccessible mountains, about 447. In this state Wales
remained unconquered till Henry II. subdued South Wales in 1157; and in
1282, Edward I. entirely reduced the whole country, putting an end to
its independence, by the death of Llewelyn, the last prince. The Welsh,
however, were not entirely reconciled to this revolution, till the queen
gave birth to a son at Caernarvon in 1284, whom Edward styled prince of
Wales, which title the heir to the crown of Great Britain has borne
almost ever since. For further history of Wales, see separate articles
in this work.
=Walk About.= A military expression used by British officers when they
approach a sentinel, and think proper to waive the ceremony of being
saluted.
=Wall.= A series of brick, stone, or other materials, carried upward and
cemented with mortar. When used in the plural number, wall signifies
fortification; works built for defense. _To be driven to the wall_, a
figurative term, signifying to be so pressed that you can neither
advance nor retreat.
=Wallachia.= One of the Danubian principalities, in the northeast of
Turkey in Europe. This country formed part of the ancient Dacia of the
Romans, and was subsequently brought under the dominion of the Goths and
Huns. During the two centuries which preceded the fall of the empire of
the East, it was sometimes subject to the Greek emperors, and sometimes
to the monarchs of Hungary. It was conquered by the Turks in the 14th
century, but the inhabitants struggled to assert their independence
until 1536, when it became a province of the Ottoman empire. In 1829 it
was placed under the protection of Russia, though it was still
considered a dependency of Turkey. See MOLDAVIA.
=Walloon Guard.= The body-guard of the Spanish monarch;--so called
because formerly consisting of Walloons.
=Wall-piece.= A small cannon (or, in ancient times, an arquebuse)
mounted on a swivel, on the wall of a fortress, for the purpose of being
fired at short range on assailants in the ditch or on the covert way.
There are distinct evidences that the great wall of China was originally
constructed for the reception of wall-pieces.
=Wandewash.= A town on the Coromandel coast, about 30 miles south of
Madras. In 1739, when M. de Lally, the French governor in the East
Indies, threatened with utter subjection the English settlements in the
Carnatic, he was opposed most gallantly by Col. Coote, upon the
Coromandel coast. Coote reduced the French settlements of Masulipatam
and Conjeveram, and made a vigorous attack upon Wandewash, which he
captured. Lally, in the autumn of 1739, made a bold attempt to regain
possession of the disputed settlement, but his force was utterly broken;
he lost 600 men, and was happy to save the wreck of his army by
abandoning his camp to the victor.
=Wapinschaw.= A periodical gathering of the people, instituted by
various Scots statutes, for the purpose of exhibiting their arms, these
statutes directing each individual to be armed on a scale proportionate
to his property. There are numerous Scots acts of the 15th and 16th
centuries regulating the subject of wapinschaws. In the time of war or
rebellion, proclamations were issued charging all sheriffs and
magistrates of burghs to direct the attendants of the respective
wapinschawings to join the king’s host. During the reign of the later
Stuarts, attendance on the wapinschaws was enforced with considerable
strictness; and in addition to military exercises, sports and pastimes
were carried on by authority at these gatherings. The Covenanters, in
consequence of this sport being of a kind disapproved by them, did what
they could to discourage attendance on the wapinschaws.
=War.= A contest between nations or states, carried on by force, either
for defense or for revenging insults and redressing wrongs, for the
extension of commerce or acquisition of territory, or for obtaining and
establishing the superiority and dominion of one over the other. It is
the armed conflicts of sovereign powers, declared and open hostilities.
Wars are various in their occasions and objects; but in all cases, the
aim of each contending party is to weaken and overthrow the opposing
party. At one time, the art of war was supposed to consist very much in
wearing out the enemy by a slow process of exhaustion, and thus wars
were much protracted. But more recently, the greatest generals have
adopted the method of rather endeavoring to strike sudden and terrible
blows, by which the war is sooner brought to a termination, and this
method, although it may often have been adopted without regard to
considerations of humanity, is, in all probability, less productive of
suffering to mankind than the other. Among rude nations, wars are
conducted by tumultuary hosts, suddenly congregated, and in general,
either after defeat or victory, soon dispersed. But the wars of the more
civilized and powerful nations have long been conducted by armies
carefully trained and disciplined; and in the case of maritime powers,
by means of fleets at sea as well as of armies on land. Preparation for
war among such nations requires not only the forming and training of the
army, but vast provision in many various ways of the means and
_matériel_ of war. Much science and skill are also applied to the
conduct of military operations, and the principles upon which they ought
to be conducted have been carefully investigated and theories tested by
an examination of the history of the most important campaigns. See
STRATEGY and TACTICS.
Wars are classified in various ways. They are classified from the nature
of the military operations employed in their prosecution; into
_offensive_ or _defensive_ wars: from the end to be attained; into wars
of _conquest_, wars of _independence_, etc.: from the causes producing
the war; into wars of _insurrection_, _religious_ wars, etc.: from the
general locality in which they are waged; into _American_, _African_,
_European_, etc. Other classifications than these are also used, being
based on the nature and object of the war. War is both a _science_ and
_an art_. All investigations which have for their object the
determination of the great principles which should govern a general in
conducting his military operations; all analyses which are made to show
the important and essential features which characterize a campaign or
battle, and comparisons made with other campaigns and battles; all
deductions and formations of rules which are to be used in military
operations; all these belong to the _science_ of war. The practical
application of these great principles and rules belongs to the _art_ of
war. In the science of war as well as in the other physical sciences,
the facts must precede theory; and although the number of known facts is
steadily increasing, the number of general principles upon which the
theories of the science are based is constant, if not decreasing. These
general principles are deduced by a close and critical examination of
such methods of waging war as have been adopted by those great generals
who are known as eminent in their profession. It is evident, then, that
an intimate connection exists between military history and the science
of war. Napoleon said, “Alexander made eight campaigns; Hannibal,
seventeen,--one in Spain, fifteen in Italy, and one in Africa; Cæsar,
thirteen, of which eight were against the Gauls and five against the
legions of Pompey; Gustavus Adolphus, three; Turenne, eighteen; Prince
Eugène of Savoy, thirteen; Frederick, eleven, in Bohemia, Silesia, and
on the banks of the Elbe. The history of these eighty-four campaigns,
written with care, would be a complete treatise on the art of war. From
this source, the principles which ought to be followed, in offensive as
well as defensive warfare, could at once be obtained.” To these
campaigns are to be added the battles and campaigns of Napoleon. Jomini,
an eminent writer on military art, says, “Correct theories, founded upon
right principles, sustained by actual events of war, and added to
accurate military history, will form a true school of instruction for
generals.” If these means do not produce great men, they will at least
produce generals of sufficient skill to take rank next after the
“natural masters of the art of war.” The sources of all treatises on the
“Art and Science of War,” are to be found in the military histories
narrating the events and results of the battles and campaigns just
enumerated.
In the progress of society, certain _usages of war_ have come to be
generally recognized. These, of course, have varied at different times,
and in different parts of the world, according to the state of
civilization and the prevalent feelings of the time. They are also
subject to modification from causes less general. But the changes which
have taken place in them during the lapse of ages have been in general
favorable to the interests of humanity. Prisoners of war are no longer
put to death, nor are they reduced to slavery, as was once very
frequently the case, but their treatment has become generally more and
more mild and kind. It is a well-understood rule, however, that a
prisoner of war obtaining his liberty by exchange or otherwise, with the
condition of not serving again during a fixed period against the same
power, forfeits his life, if he is found so serving, and is again taken
prisoner. Among all civilized nations, quarter is granted in battle
whenever it is sought; and there are certain usages universally
prevalent with regard to the capitulation of fortified places, and of
bodies of troops hopelessly hemmed in by superior forces, etc.
=War, Articles of.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR.
=War, Auxiliary.= Is that in which a nation succors its neighbors,
either in consequence of alliances or engagements entered into with
them; or sometimes to prevent their falling under the power of an
ambitious prince.
=War, Civil.= A war between different sections or parties of the same
country or nation.
=War, Council of.= See COUNCIL OF WAR.
=War, Defensive.= Is a war undertaken to repel invasion or the attacks
of an enemy. Defensive war may be divided into three kinds. It is either
a war sustained by a nation, which is suddenly attacked by another who
is superior in troops and in means; or a nation makes this sort of war
by choice on one side of its frontiers, while it carries on offensive
war elsewhere; or it is a war become defensive by the loss of a battle.
=War Department.= See DEPARTMENT OF WAR.
=War Establishment.= See ESTABLISHMENT.
=War, Game of.= See STRATEGOS.
=War, Holy.= A crusade; a war undertaken to deliver the Holy Land, or
Judea, from infidels. See CRUSADE.
=War Minister.= See MINISTER, and SECRETARY OF WAR.
=War, Offensive.= See OFFENSIVE WAR.
=War Office.= The immediate office of the British secretary of state for
war, and the centre on which pivots the entire administration of the
army. It is subdivided into a number of departments, each under a chief
officer, who is at the head of that section of the labor, and is
directly responsible to the secretary of state. The last named high
officer is aided by two under-secretaries of state, an assistant
under-secretary, and a military assistant. Under these and the heads of
departments there are about 450 clerks, with 50 messengers, etc.
=War of Succession.= See SUCCESSION WARS.
=War, Religious.= Is a war maintained in a state on account of religion,
one of the parties refusing to tolerate the other.
=Warasdins.= A kind of Sclavonian soldiers, clothed like the Turks, with
a sugar-loaf bonnet instead of a hat.
=War-beat=, or =War-beaten=. Worn down in service.
=Warburg= (Northern Germany). Here the French were defeated by the Duke
of Brunswick and the allies, July 31, 1760.
=War-cry.= A cry or signal used in war. For mutual recognition and
encouragement in battle, war-cries have always been common, each rude
nation or tribe having its own. The ancient war-cry of the English was
_Saint George!_ that of the Spaniards, _San Jago!_ and that of the
French, _Montjoie Saint-Denis!_ that of the dukes of Burgundy, _Montjoie
Saint-André!_ and that of the dukes of Bourbon, _Montjoie Notre-Dame!_.
In the feuds of the Middle Ages, each party, or the retainers of each
noble family, had a distinctive war-cry. Sometimes the war-cry was the
name of the family. Thus, in Scotland, the retainers of the noble houses
of Douglas and of Home rushed into battle with the cry of _A Douglas! a
Douglas!_ or _A Home! a Home!_ The French armies under Napoleon were
accustomed to charge with shouts of _Vive l’Empereur!_
=Ward.= Watch, the act of guarding. A garrison or party stationed for
defense of any place; a position of defense or guard made by a weapon in
fencing. Also, to guard; to watch; to defend; to parry an attack.
=Ward-Burton Rifle.= See MAGAZINE GUNS.
=War-dance.= A dance among savages preliminary to going to war. Among
the North American Indians, it is begun by some distinguished chief, and
whoever joins in it thereby enlists as one of the party engaged in a
warlike excursion. The war-dance is also indulged in upon the close of
any successful expedition, as well as for pleasure.
=Warden.= An officer appointed for the naval or military protection of
some particular district of country. In order to keep the districts of
England adjoining to Scotland and Wales in an attitude of defense, great
officers, called _lord wardens_ of the marches, were appointed, to whom
the duty of protecting the frontier was committed. From this source
originated the name _ward_, applied to the subdivisions of the counties
of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham,--a term afterwards extended to
divisions of a city, town, or burgh adopted for municipal purposes. The
custodier of Dover Castle was created by William the Conqueror warden of
the Cinque Ports, and guardian of the adjacent coast, an office
comprising extensive jurisdiction, civil, naval, and military, the
greater part of which was taken away by 18 and 19 Vict., c. 48.
=Warder.= A truncheon, or staff of command, carried by a king or any
commander-in-chief, the throwing down of which seems to have been a
solemn act of prohibition to stay proceedings.
=Warfare.= Military service; military life; war; hostilities; contest
carried on by enemies.
=Warfarer.= One engaged in warfare; a military man; a soldier.
=War-field.= A field of war or battle.
=War-horse.= A horse used in war; the horse of a cavalry soldier;
especially, a strong, powerful, spirited horse for military service; a
charger.
=Warlike.= Fit for war; disposed for war; as, a warlike state. Belonging
or relating to war; military; martial.
=Warlike Virtues.= Are love of our country, courage, valor, prudence,
intrepidity, temperance, disinterestedness, obedience, wisdom,
vigilance, and patience. In the celebration of the anniversary of the
destruction of the Bastile, which took place at Paris July 14, 1789, the
French characterized these eleven virtues by the following emblems: a
pelican, a lion, a horse, a stag, a wolf, an elephant, a dog, a yoked
ox, an owl, a cock, and a camel.
=Warned.= Admonished of some duty to be performed at a given time or
place. Thus, officers and soldiers are warned for guard, etc.
=War-paint.= Paint put on the face and other parts of the body by
savages, as a token of going to war.
=War-path.= The route taken by a party going on a warlike
expedition,--usually applied to hostile Indians.
=War-proof.= Valor tried by war.
=Warrant.= A certificate of rank issued by commissioned officers. See
OFFICERS, WARRANT-.
=Warrant.= In Great Britain, is a royal ordinance on any matter relating
to the army.