latter to the various articles of defensive covering used in war and
military exercises, especially before the introduction of gunpowder.
Weapons of offence are divisible into two distinct sections--firearms, and
arms used without gunpowder or other explosive substance. The first arms of
offence would probably be wooden clubs, then would follow wooden weapons
made more deadly by means of stone or bone, stone axes, slings, bows and
arrows with heads of flint or bone, and afterwards various weapons of
bronze. Subsequently a variety of arms of iron and steel was introduced,
which comprised the sword, javelin, pike, spear or lance, dagger, axe,
mace, chariot scythe, &c.; with a rude artillery consisting of catapults,
ballistae, and battering-rams. From the descriptions of Homer we know that
almost all the Grecian armour, defensive and offensive, in his time was of
bronze; though iron was sometimes used. The lance, spear, and javelin were
the principal weapons of this age among the Greeks. The bow is not often
mentioned. Among ancient nations the Egyptians seem to have been most
accustomed to the use of the bow, which was the principal weapon of the
Egyptian infantry. Peculiar to the Egyptians was a defensive weapon
intended to catch and break the sword of the enemy. With the Assyrians the
bow was a favourite weapon; but with them lances, spears, and javelins were
in more common use than with the Egyptians. Most of the large engines of
war--chariots with scythes projecting at each side from the axle,
catapults, and ballistae--seem to have been of Assyrian origin. During the
historical age of Greece the characteristic weapon was a heavy spear from
21 to 24 feet in length. The sword used by the Greeks was short, and was
worn on the right side. The Roman sword was from 22 to 24 inches in length,
straight, two-edged, and obtusely pointed, and as by the Greeks was worn on
the right side. It was used principally as a stabbing weapon. It was
originally of bronze. The most characteristic weapon of the Roman legionary
soldier, however, was the _pilum_, which was a kind of pike or javelin,
some 6 feet or more in length. The pilum was sometimes used at close
quarters, but more commonly it was thrown. The favourite weapons of the
ancient Germanic races were the battle-axe, the lance or dart, and the
sword. The weapons of the Anglo-Saxons were spears, axes, swords, knives,
and maces or clubs. The Normans had similar weapons, and were well
furnished with archers and cavalry. The cross-bow was a comparatively late
invention introduced by the Normans. Gunpowder was not used in Europe to
discharge projectiles till the beginning of the fourteenth century. Cannon
are first mentioned in England in 1338, and there seems to be no doubt that
they were used by the English at the siege of Cambrai in 1339. The
projectiles first used for cannon were of stone. Hand fire-arms date from
the fifteenth century. At first they required two men to serve them, and it
was necessary to rest the muzzle on a stand in aiming and firing. The first
improvement was the invention of the match-lock, about 1476; this was
followed by the wheel-lock, and about the middle of the seventeenth century
by the flint-lock, which was in universal use until it was superseded by
the percussion-lock, the invention of a Scottish clergyman early in the
nineteenth century. The needle-gun dates from 1838. The only important
weapon not a fire-arm that has been invented since the introduction of
gunpowder is the bayonet, which is believed to have been invented about
1650. See _Cannon_, _Musket_, _Rifle_, &c.
[Illustration: Greek Armour]
[Illustration: Roman Armour--Soldiers wearing Cuirass]
[Illustration: Chain Armour]
[Illustration: Horse-armour of Maximilian I of Germany _a_, Chamfron. _b_,
Manefaire. _c_, Poitrinal, poitrel, or breastplate. _d_, Croupiere or
buttock-piece.]
[Illustration: Allecret (Light Plate) Armour, A.D. 1540]
Some kind of defensive covering was probably of almost as early invention
as weapons of offence. The principal pieces of defensive armour used by the
ancients were shields, helmets, cuirasses, and greaves. In the earliest
ages of Greece the shield is described as of immense size, but in the time
of the Peloponnesian War (about 420 B.C.) it was much smaller. The Romans
had two sorts of shields: the _scutum_, a large oblong rectangular
highly-convex shield, carried by the legionaries; and the _parma_, a small
round or oval flat shield, carried by the light-armed troops and the
cavalry. In the declining days of Rome the shields became larger and more
varied in form. The helmet was a characteristic piece of armour among the
Assyrians, Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans. Like all other body armour it was
usually made of bronze. The helmet of the historical age of Greece was
distinguished by its lofty crest. The Roman helmet in the time of the early
emperors fitted close to the head, and had a neck-guard and hinged
cheek-pieces fastened under the chin, and a small bar across the face for a
visor. Both Greeks and Romans wore cuirasses, at one time of bronze, but
afterwards of flexible materials. Greaves for the legs were worn by both,
but among the Romans usually on one leg. The ancient Germans had large
shields of plaited osier covered with leather; afterwards their shields
were small, bound with iron, and studded with bosses. The Anglo-Saxons had
round or oval shields of wood, covered with leather, and having a boss in
the centre; and they had also corselets, or coats of mail, strengthened
with iron rings. The Normans were well protected by mail; their shields
were somewhat triangular in shape, their helmets conical. In Europe
generally metal armour was used from the tenth to the eighteenth century,
and at first consisted of a tunic made of iron rings firmly sewn flat upon
strong cloth or leather. The rings were afterwards interlinked one with
another so as to form a garment of themselves, called _chain-mail_. Another
variety of this flexible armour was known as _banded-mail_. This consisted
of rings sewn upon a fabric foundation, the whole being covered with
leather. In addition to this, 'scale armour', which had been in use from
the very earliest periods of history, was still in common fashion in the
thirteenth century. By degrees the suit of mail was reinforced by the
addition of pieces of plate on the breast, knees, elbows, and arms, and by
the end of the fourteenth century the full suit of plate had been evolved,
the mail being only worn as a skirt round the waist or as a coif attached
to the helmet. The golden age of plate armour is the middle of the
fifteenth century, when the design was light and graceful, and at the same
time fully protective. In the sixteenth century, when 'shock tactics' of
cavalry were the order of the day, the 'war harness' became heavier. This
was particularly noticeable in the armour for the joust or tournament, in
which sport the aim of the contestants was to score points and not to
inflict injury. Many of these jousting armours weigh over 80 lb. The
weapons in use through the whole of the plate-armour period were the lance,
the sword, the axe or war-hammer, the long-bow, and the cross-bow. The
introduction of fire-arms in the fourteenth century was one of the causes
which led to the increase of weight in armour, for the armourer was
continually improving and strengthening his products to make them proof
against musket and pistol, and he generally succeeded, but by doing so
increased the weight till it became insupportable. In the seventeenth
century leg armour was abandoned, and by the end of the civil war the
popular defence was the steel cap and breastplate. In the eighteenth
century armour entirely disappeared, except for ceremonial, and was thought
to be entirely obsolete till it was revived in the recent war in the form
of the steel shrapnel-helmet, which was favoured by all the Allies and also
by the enemy. The German troops occasionally used heavy body armour.
Daggers and clubs, weapons likewise thought to be obsolete, were frequently
used by all combatants, especially on raids.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Hutton, _The
Sword of the Centuries_; H. S. Cowper, _The Art of Attack_; C. ffoulkes,
_Armour and Weapons_; C. H. Ashdown, _British and Foreign Arms and Armour_;
C. Hall, _Modern Weapons of War by Land_.
ARMSTRONG, John, Scottish poet and physician, born about 1709, died 1779.
After studying medicine in Edinburgh he settled in London. In 1744 he
published his chief work, the _Art of Preserving Health_, a didactic poem.
This work raised his reputation to a height which his subsequent efforts
scarcely sustained. In 1746 he became physician to a hospital for soldiers,
and in 1760 he was appointed physician to the forces which went to Germany.
After his return to London he published a collection of his _Miscellanies_,
which contained, however, nothing valuable. He afterwards visited France
and Italy, and published an account of his tour under the name of Lancelot
Temple. His last production was a volume of _Medical Essays_.
ARMSTRONG, William George, Lord, engineer and mechanical inventor, born at
Newcastle-on-Tyne, 10th Nov., 1810. He was trained as a solicitor, and
practised as such for some time. Among his early inventions were the
hydro-electric machine, a powerful apparatus for producing frictional
electricity, and the hydraulic crane. In 1847 the Elswick works, near
Newcastle, were established for the manufacture of his cranes and other
heavy iron machinery, and these works are now among the most extensive of
their kind. Here the first rifled ordnance gun which bears his name was
made in 1854. His improvements in the manufacture of guns and shells led to
his being appointed engineer of rifled ordnance under Government, and he
was knighted in 1858. This appointment came to an end in 1863, since which
time his ordnance has taken a prominent place in the armaments of different
countries. He was made a peer, as Baron Armstrong, in 1887. He died 27th
Dec., 1900.
ARMSTRONG GUN, a kind of cannon, so called from its inventor. It has an
inner tube or core of steel, rifled with numerous shallow grooves, the tube
being surrounded by a jacket of spirally-coiled bars of wrought iron, so
disposed as to bring the metal into the most favourable position for the
strain to which it is to be exposed. His first guns were small, but larger
ones were soon made, and afterwards those of the very highest calibre. The
breech-loading principle was also adopted in them, and special provision to
effect this satisfactorily was invented by him. The improved shells
introduced by him were of the elongated and pointed type now so well known,
the charge being inserted in a special chamber behind the bore.
ARMY, a collection of bodies of men armed, disciplined, and organized for
war. The essence of a modern army is that it shall be composed of organized
units each under its own commander, grouped in formations of
ever-increasing size, and owing allegiance through these commanders to one
supreme head. Discipline and organization are essential, or such a force
becomes merely a collection of armed men.
In the early days of our history every able-bodied man was, to a greater or
lesser extent, a possible fighting man, and all had arms of one kind or
another. Consequently, when an army was required, landowners and county
authorities were ordered to provide the troops necessary. Every free
landowner between the ages of sixteen and sixty was liable to service,
which was limited to two months in a year. This was the Saxon 'fyrd'
system. Later it was improved on by the institution of 'Thane's Service',
which made it incumbent on the more considerable landowners to appear fully
armed and mounted, and to serve for the whole campaign. The horse, however,
was only used as a means of locomotion: for fighting purposes their riders
dismounted, as did the dragoons of the seventeenth century and the mounted
infantry of still more modern times. The fyrd was an unorganized and
undisciplined force and entirely ephemeral in its nature, so that we find
the Danish kings of England casting about for some more permanent force,
which came into existence under the title of the 'House Carles', or Royal
Guard. With the Norman Conquest the fyrd was largely supplanted by the
feudal system of knight's service, according to which the country was
divided into knight's fees, each of which had to provide its quotum of men.
The gradual appearance of the custom of avoiding service by payments of
money--in time regulated under the name of scutage--led to the employment
of paid mercenaries, who for some two centuries were almost invariably
foreigners. In the twelfth century it was found that sufficient troops
could not be provided under these two systems, so the fyrd was
re-established as a National Militia by the Assize of Arms, and in the next
century further steps were taken to protect it under the Statute of
Winchester. In the fourteenth century the archer, with his longbow, became
a very important part of the fighting forces of England, and an army of
those days consisted of the heavily-armed and armoured knights and
men-at-arms for shock action, and the unarmoured archers for 'volley
action', to use a later term. With the gradual disappearance of the foreign
mercenaries, it became the custom for the king to issue indents to certain
influential subjects for the raising of paid troops. From this custom arose
the free companies, which, in time, became nothing more or less than
commercial undertakings. The indents were accepted, and the men enlisted
primarily for what could be got out of the business of fighting, either in
the shape of ransom or the sack of towns. Some attempt was also made at
tactical organization, and an army of the period was divided into vanguard,
battle, and rearguard. Artillery also was beginning to be developed in
Germany for siege purposes. The sixteenth century saw the first formation
of companies into regiments, though as yet of no fixed strength. Arms were
also modernized, and by the end of the century muskets, 18-feet pikes, and
swords, were the arms of infantry instead of the varied assortment of
halberds, pikes, muskets, harquebuses, and longbows common at the
beginning. Elizabeth introduced the press-gang as an aid to recruiting, and
abolished the white coat of the soldier in favour of a long red or blue
cassock. In the next century Cromwell's new model army became the first
standing army of England, and, though it was disbanded by Act of Parliament
at the Restoration, one of its regiments--Monk's--remained, and is now the
Coldstream Guards. After this regiments were raised from time to time on
one pretext or another, and the nucleus of a standing army became a _fait
accompli_, though it was for a long time considered more as an appanage of
the king than as a national institution. With the standing army came the
first beginnings of civilian control, a Secretary-at-War being appointed in
1660. He had, however, no responsibility, and was subordinate to the
commander-in-chief, and it was not till 1710 that he assumed his present
responsibility to Parliament. During the eighteenth century the strength of
the army rose or fell according to the state of the military barometer and
the success or otherwise of the various recruiting expedients, among which
was the first attempt at a short-service system in 1703. In 1871-2 the old
numbering in regiments was abolished and a territorial designation
substituted. According to this scheme, the first twenty-five regiments, all
of which had already two battalions, were grouped together, the rest being
joined arbitrarily to form new regiments under county designations. With
these regiments were affiliated the militia and volunteer battalions, which
have now been amalgamated into the Special Reserve and the Territorial
Force.
For the requirements of the war of 1914-8 the Empire, as a whole, including
India, raised and maintained a total of 8,654,467 men, of which the
contribution of the United Kingdom was over 6,000,000. Casualties for the
whole Empire were 3,060,616, of which the United Kingdom has for her share
nearly 2,500,000, including 666,083 killed, 1,644,786 wounded, and 140,312
missing.
During 1918 the combatant strength of all arms of the British army in
France fluctuated between 1,293,000 in March and 1,164,790 in November,
while the rifle or infantry strength was from 616,000 to 416,748 during the
same periods. From the date of the armistice to 31st Dec., 1919, the
following number of demobilizations and discharges were effected:--
Demobilized.--Officers, 144,144; other ranks, 3,332,882.
Discharged as medically unfit.--Officers, 23,476; other ranks, 207,500.
Discharged from reserves.--Other ranks, 143,603.
The modern British army is governed by the Army Council (instituted 1904),
presided over by the Secretary of State for War. This Council, which
consists of five military and five civilian members, including the
president, works through the War Office, of which the principal departments
are in charge of one or other of the members of the Council. On the
military side these departments are those of the Chief of the Imperial
General Staff, the Adjutant-General to the Forces, the
Quartermaster-General to the Forces, and the Master-General of the
Ordnance. For administrative and training purposes the United Kingdom is
divided into seven Commands and the London District. When necessary,
Commands are further subdivided into Districts. The army, generally
speaking, consists of (1) the Regular Army, (2) the Territorial Force, and
(3) the Reserves. The service battalions, which formed such a large and
important part of the army in the war, do not, properly speaking, form part
of the permanent military forces, though the organization of the army as a
whole is such that it is capable of expansion to any extent by the process
of raising new battalions and affiliating them to existing regular or
territorial units. The regular army comprises the Household Cavalry,
Cavalry of the Line, the Royal Regiment of Artillery, the Corps of Royal
Engineers, the Brigade of Guards, and Infantry of the Line. In addition
there are administrative troops and services such as the Royal Army Service
Corps, the Royal Army Medical Corps, with its allied service Queen
Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, the Royal Army Ordnance
Corps, and others. Other corps brought into existence during the war, such
as the Tank and Machine-gun Corps, have at present no permanent status. In
the future, however, machine-gun companies will form an integral portion of
each battalion of the regular army.
Under the conditions of the war the old national method of voluntary
recruitment was found to be insufficient, and recourse was had to the
principle of universal military service. Under the Military Service Acts
the age limit was gradually raised till it finally included all men up to
the age of fifty. Exceptions were made in the case of munition-workers, or
those employed on work of national importance. Since the signature of the
Treaty of Peace the army so raised was gradually demobilized till, by 31st
March, 1920, it had decreased to 400,000, including 100,000 Indians paid by
the Imperial Government. Concurrently with demobilization, voluntary
enlistment was reintroduced, and the post-war army is once more a voluntary
one, in which men serve under very much improved conditions as to pay and
prospects. The period of service under this system is twelve years, of
which seven normally are with the colours and five in the reserve: in
certain cases modifications of these periods are allowed, and, in addition,
a soldier may be allowed to extend his colour service to the full twelve
years, or, in exceptional cases, to complete twenty-one years for pension.
Discharge or transfer to the reserve is ordinarily granted on completion of
the agreed period of service. Pay of all ranks was very materially improved
in 1919. Whereas formerly a private soldier on enlistment received 1s. a
day, he now receives 2s. 9d., and after two years' service 3s. 6d. To this
last amount is added, under very reasonable conditions, a further daily sum
of 6d. proficiency pay. A sergeant now gets 7s. a day instead of from 2s.
4d. to 3s. 4d., and a regimental sergeant-major 14s. instead of 5s. or 6s.
Add to these rates of pay free rations, free housing, free medical
attendance, and, in the future, doubtless free education, and it must be
admitted that the present-day soldier is not badly paid. The rate of pay is
a flat rate for all arms, special allowances being given where necessary.
The Household Cavalry comprises the 1st and 2nd Life Guards and the Horse
Guards (Blues). In peace-time they serve only in London and Windsor. They
alone retain the old cavalry rank of corporal of horse instead of sergeant.
Cavalry of the line consists of dragoon guards, dragoons, hussars, and
lancers. The dragoon guards are numbered separately from 1 to 7, while
dragoons, hussars, and lancers run consecutively from 1 to 21. A regiment
of cavalry is commanded by a lieutenant-colonel and consists of 25 officers
and 497 other ranks. Each regiment is organized in three squadrons
commanded by majors, while a squadron is divided into four troops, each
under a subaltern officer, troops being further subdivided into sections
under non-commissioned officers. Cavalry regiments, except hussars, carry
guidons or standards for ceremonial purposes. These differ from the colours
of infantry in that they are not consecrated and are carried by
non-commissioned officers instead of by officers. Hussars carry no
standards. There are six cavalry depots for recruiting and
preliminary-training purposes, i.e. for lancers at Woolwich, hussars at
Scarborough, Bristol, and Dublin, and dragoons at Newport (Mon.) and
Dunbar. The Cavalry Special Reserve consists of the Irish Horse and King
Edward's Horse, and during the war reserve cavalry regiments were
maintained.
The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises batteries of horse artillery
designated by letters of the alphabet, and batteries of field, siege,
heavy, and mountain by numbers. A battery, with some exceptions in the case
of the heaviest type, consists of six guns or howitzers, horse artillery
having 13-pounder guns, and field artillery 18-pounder guns or 4.5-inch
howitzers. Horse artillery is intended to act with cavalry, and is
therefore provided with a rather lighter gun. It can go anywhere that
cavalry can go, and all the gun detachments are mounted. Field artillery
works with infantry, and the gun detachments either walk or are carried on
the limbers, only the officers, certain non-commissioned officers, and
specialists such as scouts, range-finders, and trumpeters being mounted.
A battery is commanded by a major, with a captain as second-in-command, and
is organized in three sections of two guns each under a subaltern. These
sections are again subdivided into subsections of one gun each under a
sergeant. Each gun is drawn by six horses, the driver of the leading pair
being responsible for direction and pace. A corporal in the Royal Artillery
is known as a bombardier, and the rank and file as gunners or drivers,
according to their special duties, though drivers are also trained to some
extent as gunners.
Heavy and siege artillery have come into their own in the late war, and
consist roughly of all armament heavier than that of field artillery.
Sixty-pounders and 4.7-inch howitzers form heavy batteries, while guns of 6
inch and upwards drawn by mechanical transport or mounted on railway trucks
are known as siege batteries. Mountain artillery, of which most of the
batteries are in India, is armed with 2.95-inch screw guns capable of being
dismantled and carried piecemeal on mules. Another form is found on the
west coast of Africa, where carriers take the place of mules. These guns
are brought into action very quickly, but their shell-power is small.
The corps of Royal Engineers is responsible for the construction and
maintenance of barracks, fortifications, and other military works, and for
the personnel required for search-lights and electrical communications of
the coast and anti-aircraft defences. With few exceptions the personnel of
the corps is recruited entirely from skilled tradesmen and artisans. For
service in the field, Royal Engineer units known as field squadrons and
field companies accompany the fighting troops, and carry a certain amount
of bridging material and tools. More highly specialized units carry out
such services as mining, heavy bridging, railway, survey, and sound-ranging
work. An important feature of Royal Engineer work in war is the supply of
materials and stores, for which purpose an elaborate organization is
provided in addition to the units already noted.
The Brigade of Guards--the infantry of the household troops--comprises the
five regiments of foot-guards. These are the Grenadier, the Coldstream, the
Scots, the Irish, and the Welsh Guards of from one to three battalions
each. Being household troops these regiments are subject to certain special
regulations and have certain privileges. As a general rule they serve only
in London, Windsor, or Aldershot, and only leave England for active
service, though individual battalions have served in the past both in Cairo
and Gibraltar.