day, in a certain description of generals. When they are reduced to
defensive operations, their understanding becomes perplexed; they
know not how to act, and not only omit to make use of favorable
opportunities themselves, but unwittingly afford them to their enemies;
whilst, on the other hand, in offensive war, their genius expands
itself into a variety of expedients; they create occasions that did
not seem to exist, turn them to account, and finally succeed. Thus we
see united in the same men, promptitude, vigor, and enterprize in one
species of warfare; and timidity, doubt, and consternation in another.
I have known, says Folard, generals of marked intrepidity, (who in
trifling matters have discovered a solicitude that approaches to a
want of manliness) conceive projects of vast extent, that were full of
intricate developements, and chequered by incertitude; and I have seen
them conquer the greatest obstacles by their courage and good conduct.
Human nature is so strangely constituted, that whilst one man will
rush into danger, as if attracted by blood and devastation, another
will not have firmness enough to stand his ground, and face the coming
evil. He, who in the hour of battle would give fresh courage to his
troops, by being the foremost to advance, has been known to turn pale
in the very trench where a soldier’s boy or woman has sat undisturbed
selling spirits and provisions, or has been discovered to tremble when
the signal for storming was given. The very man that would courageously
lead his troop into action, or would prove the most expert marksman
in the world, were he directed to practise in the front of a whole
line, has been known to shrink at a single combat, and would rather
rush headlong into a guarded breach, than measure swords or point a
pistol with an antagonist. Another again, whom no danger could affect
in public contests or in private feuds, when visited by sickness is
full of apprehension, has recourse to physic, and in proportion as his
malady increases, grows timid, scrupulous, and unhappy. It sometimes
happens, on the other hand, though rarely, that the rankest coward will
he peaceably in bed amidst all the surrounding terrors of dissolution,
and will even smile as his agony approaches.
I have seen, continues the same author, (and daily experience confirms
his observation) one of the bravest officers in the world, suddenly
turn pale in a thunderstorm, and even so far give way to his fears,
as to hide himself in a cellar. One man possesses what the French so
forcibly stile _une valeur journalière_, a sort of ephemeral courage,
or what depends upon the influence of the moment; to-day he is as
bold as Achilles; to-morrow he sinks into the degraded character of
Thersites.
It is related of general Cadwallader, a man of unconquerable
intrepidity in the field, that he trembled at the sight of a cat. The
editor of this work had a friend, a lieutenant _Muloch_, in the Bengal
army, a man of tried valor whose antipathy was of this singular kind,
that he could not eat if there was a shoulder of mutton on the table;
at a card party at Lady Oakley’s, at Madras, a shoulder of mutton was,
without his knowlege, placed under his chair, the effect was, he fell
from his chair in a state of convulsion from which he did not recover
for several hours. The great _Condé_ laughed at a man who said he never
felt the sensation of fear, by asking him “have you never snuffed a
candle _with your naked fingers_?” Going into action one of his friends
observed to him, “My prince you tremble.” He replied, “My body trembles
for the danger into which my soul will lead me.” The peculiarities of
this celebrated hero were, that he was always affected in his nerves by
any surprize, but never lost his presence of mind; some of his friends
attempted to surprize him in his tent, and in Austrian uniform made
their way to his bed side and awoke him with their noise; he turned
round and observed, “If you had excited an emotion of fear in me I
should instantly put you to death.” Count Turpin, in his Art of War,
appears to think that valor which unites deliberation and prudence is
preferable to mere muscular bravery. The French pay more attention to
the former than the latter, they always reward _bravery_ but prefer
_valor_. Mere animal courage is not sufficient for them, and speaking
of those who possess bravery without discretion, they treat it as if
mere animal bravery was common to all men, but valor or discrimination
rare; hence they say of a merely brave man--_Il est brave comme mon
épée, mais general ****_--namely a brainless part of the body.
These changes in the character and constitution which are so visible in
individuals, may be traced in their influence over whole nations, with
little or no deviation. The Persian cavalry still maintains its ancient
reputation for valor, and is still dreaded by the Turks. Tacitus
relates, that the Sarmatian horse was invincible, but when the men
were dismounted, nothing could be more miserably defective in all the
requisites of war. Their whole dependence was on their cavalry, and, as
far as we are enabled to judge, the same partial quality exists to this
day.
The French, until the present revolution, seemed to have preserved the
character and disposition of the ancient Gauls. They went with more
alacrity into action, and met death, at first sight, with more valor,
than they discovered firmness and resolution to wait patiently for its
approach. Hurry and agitation appeared more congenial to their minds,
than calmness and composure.
In order to conquer, it was found necessary, by their ablest generals,
to make them attack and insult their enemy. They grew impatient in
slow operations, and gradually became less capable of meeting their
antagonists in proportion to the time they were restrained from
coming to action. Their whole history, indeed, is a continued proof
of the justness of this observation; and although their character
seems to have undergone considerable changes since their revolution,
they have still retained so much of the original cast, as to shew
more promptitude in offensive, than steadiness and perseverance in
defensive operations. Not that they are deficient in the latter, but
that the former quality has been more brilliantly successful. To the
first they owe their stupendous triumphs under Bonaparte; but they have
again been rendered almost equally conspicuous by their conduct in the
second under general Moreau, in his celebrated retreat from the Black
Forest. But, alas! of what avail is the courage of the multitude, if
the generality of their leaders are deficient in those indispensible
qualities by which French officers have acquired the greatest
reputation. It is like a torch in the hands of a fool or madman, who
would as soon lead an enthusiast to a precipice, as he would shew him
the paths he ought to tread.
VALUE, in a general acceptation of the term, signifies the rate at
which any thing is estimated.
VAN. The front of an army, the first line; or leading column.
VAN-_guard_. That part of the army which marches in the front. See
GUARD.
VANCOURIER. See AVANT COURIER.
VANNE, _Fr._ A floodgate.
VANTAIL, _Fr._ Leaf of a folding door.
VANT-_bras_. Armor for the arm.
_Droits de_ VARECH, _Fr._ The right to salvage. A term used in
Normandy. _Varech_ likewise signifies any vessel under water.
VARLOPE, _Fr._ A carpenter’s large plane.
VARSA, _Ind._ The rainy season.
VASANT, _Ind._ The mild season or spring.
VASSALS. They who in the feudal system were obliged to attend their
lord in war, as a tenure by which they held their lands, &c.
VEDETTE, (_Vedette_, _Fr._) in war, a centinel on horseback, with his
horse’s head towards the place whence any danger is to be feared, and
his carabine advanced, with the butt end against his right thigh.
Vedettes are generally posted at the avenues, and on all the rising
grounds, to guard the several passages when an enemy is encamped.
The Vedettes to the out-posts should always be double, for the
following reasons: first, that whenever they make any discovery, one
may be detached to the commanding officer of the out-posts; secondly,
that they may keep each other watchful; and thirdly, that the
vigilance of both may render it impossible for any thing to come near
them without being seen. They should be at no greater distance from
their detachments than 80 or 100 paces.
For particular instructions relative to the posting of Vedettes, see a
treatise on the duties of an officer in the field, by baron Gross; _Am.
Mil. Lib._
VEKILCHARES. A word used among the Turks, which signifies the same as
_Fourrier_ in the French, and corresponds with quartermaster.
VELITES. Roman soldiers, who were commonly some of the Tiros, or young
soldiers of mean condition, and lightly armed. They had their name,
_a volando_, from flying, or _a velocitate_, from swiftness. They
seem not to have acted in distinct bodies or companies, but to have
hovered in loose order before the army. _Kennett’s R. A._ page 190.
Their arms consisted of a sword and javelin, and they had a shield or
buckler which was sufficiently large to cover its man, being round and
measuring three feet and a half in diameter.
They generally wore wolf’s skins, or some other indifferent ornament
upon their heads, to distinguish them during an action. Their javelins
were a sort of dart, the wood of which measured three cubits in length,
and was about the thickness of a finger. The point was about a hand’s
full breadth in length, and was so thin and brittle, that it snapped
off the instant it reached or penetrated its object, so that the enemy
could not return it. It was distinguished in this particular from other
darts and javelins.
VELOCITY. The quickness of motion with which bodies are moved from one
place to another.
Initial velocity of military projectiles, as ascertained by the
experiments with the Ballistic pendulum at Woolwich, in 1788, 1789, and
1790. These experiments were made with shot of equal diameters, powder
of equal strength, and under a mean height of the barometer; and shew,
1. That there is very little difference in the velocities of shot fired
from guns of the same length, but of unequal weights; the advantage
being sometimes in favor of one and sometimes of the other.
2. That velocities arising from firing with different quantities
of powder, are nearly in the proportion of the square roots of the
quantities or weights of powder.
3. That the velocities decrease as the distances increase, arising from
the resistance of the air, which opposes the progress of the shot,
in a proportion somewhat higher than the squares of the velocities
throughout; and only to a small variation.
4. That very little advantage is gained in point of range, by
increasing the charge more than is necessary to attain the object, the
velocities given by large charges being very soon reduced to those by
moderate charges: those for instance given by half the shot’s weight
are reduced to an equality with those by one third, after passing
through a space of only 200 feet.
5. That very little advantage is also gained by increasing the length
of guns; the velocity given by long guns of 22 calibres length of bore,
being reduced to an equality with those of the short guns of 15¹⁄₂
calibres with similar charges, after passing through the spaces as
follows:
With ¹⁄₂ the shot’s weight 285 feet
¹⁄₃ Do. 200
¹⁄₄ Do. 150
¹⁄₆ Do. 115
6. That the resistance of the air against balls of different diameters
with equal velocities, is very nearly in the proportion of the square
of their diameters; or as their surfaces.
7. That the velocity is not affected by compressing the charge more or
less; or by heating the piece in different degrees.
8. That a very great increase of velocity arises from a decrease of
windage; it appearing, that with the established windage of ¹⁄₂₀
between ¹⁄₃ and ¹⁄₄ of the force is lost.
9. It also appeared, that by firing the charge in different parts; by
varying the weight of the gun to lessen the recoil; or even by stopping
the recoil entirely, no sensible change is produced in the velocity of
the ball.
10. That though the velocity of the shot is increased only to a certain
point peculiar to each gun, (a further increase of powder, producing a
diminished velocity) yet the recoil of the gun is always increased by
the increase of charge.
11. Velocity of a light 6 Pr.--length, 4 feet 8 inches; charge, ¹⁄₃ the
weight of the shot; 1558 feet _per_ second.--6 Prs. heavy; 6 feet 8
inches; charge ¹⁄₃ = 1673 feet.
Velocity of a light 3 Pr. length, 3 feet 4 inches, charge ¹⁄₂--1371
feet _per_ second.
Do. Heavy 3 Pr. length, 5 feet 9¹⁄₂ inches, charge ¹⁄₃ the shot--1584
feet.
_Velocity of French Ordnance._
24 Pr. charge 8 lbs. the eprovette mortar giving 125 fathoms, the
initial velocity is 1425 feet _per_ second; with the eprovette at 90
= 1209 feet; with a charge of 12 lbs. and the eprovette at 125° the
initial velocity will be 1530.
_Charge._ _Eprovette._ _Velocity._
16 pr. 5 lbs. 125 1415
16 pr. 8 do. 1510
12 pr. 4 do.} { 1520
8 pr. 2¹⁄₂ do.} long { 1418
8 pr. 3 do.} guns { 1460
4 pr. 1 do.} { 1335
4 pr. 1¹⁄₂ do.} { 1508
12 pr. 4 do. }field { 1442
8 pr. 2¹⁄₂ do. }guns { 1422
4 pr. 1¹⁄₂ do. } { 1446
8 inch how’r. 1 do. 390
8 inch how’r. 1 2 oz. do. 516
6 inch how’r. 1 do. 532
6 inch how’r. 1 12 oz. do. 704
VENT, (_Lumière_, _Fr._) in artillery, or, as it is vulgarly called,
the touch-hole, is the opening through which the fire is conveyed to
the powder that composes the charge.
As the placing the vents in mortars, howitzers, and guns in the best
manner, is so very delicate a point, and about which both authors and
practitioners differ, we will advance what the result of experiments
has demonstrated. The most common method is to place the vent about a
quarter of an inch from the bottom of the chamber or bore; though we
have seen many half an inch, and some an inch from the bottom. It has
always been imagined, that if the vent was to come out in the middle
of the charge, the powder would be inflamed in less time than in any
other case, and consequently produce the greatest range; because, if a
tube be filled with powder, and lighted in the centre, the powder will
be burnt in half the time it would be, were it lighted at one end. This
gave a grounded supposition, that the greater the quantity of powder
which burnt before the shot or shell was sensibly moved from its place,
the greater force it would receive. To determine this, the king of
Prussia, in 1765, ordered that a light three pounder should be cast,
with three shifting vents, one at the centre of the charge, one at the
bottom, and the other at an equal distance from the bottom and centre
one; so that when one was used, the others were effectually stopped.
The gun weighed 2 cwt. 1 qr. 20 lb.; its length was 3 feet 3 inches,
and the bottom of the bore quite flat. It was loaded each time with one
fourth of the shot’s weight; and it was found, that when the lowest or
bottom vent was used, the shot went farthest, and the ranges of the
others diminished in proportion as they were distant from the bottom.
The piece was elevated to 1 degree 30 minutes.
In 1766 the same monarch caused several experiments to be tried with
three small mortars of equal size and dimensions, but of different
forms in their chambers; each of which held seven ounces and a half of
powder. From these experiments it appeared, that the concave chamber
produced the greatest ranges, and that the bottom of the chamber is the
best place for vents, having in that place the greatest effect.
The vents of English guns are all ²⁄₁₀ of an inch diameter. See remark
9 of the article VELOCITY.
VENT-_field_, is the part of a gun or howitz between the breech
mouldings and the astragal.
VENT-_astragal_, that part of a gun or howitzer which determines the
vent-field.
VENT, _Fr._ That vacancy which is occasioned by the difference between
the calibre of a piece of ordnance, and the diameter of its ball. See
WINDAGE.
VENT, _Fr._ Wind. The French use this word in various senses.
VENT _d’un boulet de canon_, _Fr._ The wind of a cannon ball.
_Coup de_ VENT, _Fr._ Heavy weather; a squall.
VENT _reglé_, _Fr._ A regular wind; such as the trade-wind.
_Avoir du_ VENT, _Fr._ In farriery; to be pursy.
VENTS _alizes_, _Fr._ Trade winds.
VENTAIL. That part of a helmet which is made to lift up.
VENTOUSES, _Fr._ Air-holes, ventilators.
VENTRE, _Fr._ Belly; womb. When a piece of ordnance is off its
carriage, and lies on the ground, it is said, among the French, to be
upon its belly--_etre sur le ventre_.
_Se coucher_ VENTRE _à terre_. To lie down flat on your face. _Le
capitaine ordonna à ses soldats de se coucher ventre à terre._ The
captain ordered his men to lie on their bellies. This frequently occurs
in action, when any part of the line or detached body is so posted as
to be within reach of the enemy’s cannon, and not sufficiently near to
make use of its own musquetry.
_Demander pardon_ VENTRE _à terre_. To ask pardon in the most abject
position.
VERANDA, _Ind._ The covering of houses, being extended beyond the main
wall of building, by means of a slanting roof, forming external rooms
or passages; a colonade; balcony; gallery.
VERBAL _orders_. Instructions given by word of mouth, which, when
communicated through an official channel, are to be considered as
equally binding with written ones.
VERBAL, _Fr._ Verbal; given by word of mouth.
_Procès_ VERBAL, _Fr._ A verbal deposition.
VERD, _Fr._ Green. This word is sometimes used in a figurative sense by
the French, viz.
_Homme_ VERD _or_ VERT, _Fr._ A resolute man.
_Tête_ VERTE, _Fr._ A giddy thoughtless fellow.
VERD _pour les chevaux_, _Fr._ Green forage or grass. In the _ancien
regime_ of France, the cavalry and dragoon horses, when quartered in a
flat country, were allowed to be thirty days at grass; the particular
period was left to the discretion of the commanding officers. The term
was sometimes extended to forty days, without any deduction being
made for the ten days; by means of which an emolument accrued to the
captains of troops, not only from the horses which were actually sent
to grass, but likewise for those that were returned as such.
VERDIGREASE, (_Verd-de-Gris_, _Fr._) A kind of rust of copper, which is
of great use among painters. It is also taken medicinally.
VERGE, _Fr._ A yard; a measure; a switch, &c.
VERGE _Rhinlandique_, _Fr._ The Rhinland rod; a measure which is equal
to two French toises, or to 12 French feet. It is often used by Dutch
engineers, in the measuring of works in a fortification.
VERGE _d’or_, _Fr._ The same as _arbalete_, _arbalestrille_, or Jacob’s
staff; in astronomy, a beam of light.
VERGES, _Fr._ Rods.
_Passer par les_ VERGES, _Fr._ A punishment which was formerly
practised among the French. The same as running the gauntlet. See
PUNITIONS CORPORELLES.
VERGES, _Fr._ Twigs or branches measuring from ten to twelve feet in
length, which are used in making fascines.
VERNIS, _Fr._ Varnish.
VEROLE, _Fr._ Great pox, which see. Notwithstanding the prevalence
of this disorder in France, and throughout Europe, it is reckoned so
dreadful a visitation, that the French have a familiar proverb which
says, _Si tu ne crains pas Dieu, au moins crains la verole_; if thou
art not afraid of God, dread, at least, the pox. Vaccine should be
introduced in all armies.
VERRE _pour prendre hauteur_, _Fr._ A thick colored glass, through
which an observation is taken of the sun.
VERRE _pilé_, _Fr._ Broken pieces of glass, which are sometimes used in
artificial fire-works.
VERRIN, _Fr._ A machine which is used to raise large weights; such as
cannon, &c.
VERROU, _Fr._ A bolt.
VERSER, _Fr._ To spill, to shed.
VERSER _son sang pour la patrie_, _Fr._ To shed one’s blood for the
country.
VERTICAL, (_vertical_, _Fr._) Perpendicular.
VERTICAL _point_, (_point vertical_, _Fr._) A term used in astronomy,
to express an imaginary point in the heavens, which is supposed to fall
perpendicularly upon our heads.
VESTIBULE, _Fr._ Porch; entry; hall.
VESTIBULE, (_vestibule_, _Fr._) In fortification, is that space or
covered ground which is in front of guard houses, and is generally
supported by pillars. In a more general sense, any large open space
before the door or entrance of a house. Daviler derives the word from
_vestes_ and _ambulo_, by reason people there begin to let their trains
fall. It is properly the outer hall in which persons were accustomed to
take off their outer garments or great coats.
VETERAN, (_veteran_, _Fr._) This word comes from the Latin _veteranus_,
a soldier in the Roman militia, who was grown old in the service, or
who had made a certain number of campaigns, and on that account was
entitled to certain benefits and privileges.
Twenty years service were sufficient to entitle a man to the benefit
of a veteran. These privileges consisted in being absolved from the
military oath, in being excused all the duties and functions of a
soldier, and in being allowed a certain salary or appointment.
A French soldier is entitled to the honorable name of veteran, after he
has served twenty-four years, without any break in his service,
VETERANCE, _Fr._ The state, condition of an old soldier.
_Lettre de_ VETERANCE, _Fr._ The document or letter which enables an
old soldier to claim the rights and privileges of a veteran.
VETERINAIRE, _Fr._ See VETERINARY.
_Ecole_ VETERINAIRE, _Fr._ Veterinary school.
VETERINARIAN, (_Veterinarius_, Lat.) One skilled in the diseases of
cattle; a farrier, or horse doctor.
VETERINARY, Appertaining to the science of taking care of cattle.
VETERINARY _surgeon_. The surgeon appointed to take care of the horses
in a cavalry or dragoon regiment is so called. He is subordinate and
accountable to the veterinary college.
VETILLES, _Fr._ This word literally signifies trifles. In artificial
fire-works they are small serpentine compositions, confined within a
single roll of paper. They have generally three lines in diameter.
VEXATIOUS _and groundless_. Charges of accusation, and appeals for
redress of wrongs are so called, when the persons who make them cannot
substantiate their subject matter. Officers, non-commissioned officers,
and soldiers are liable to be punished at the discretion of a general
court martial for vexatious conduct. Charges are sometimes peremptorily
dismissed, without permitting them to stand the investigation of a
court martial, when they appear vexatious and frivolous.
UGHUN, or _Aughun_, _Ind._ A month which partly corresponds with
November; it follows Katik.
VIANDE, _Fr._ Meat; animal food. In the old regime every French soldier
was allowed half a pound of meat per day.
M. de Louvois, who was minister of war under the old government of
France, formed a plan, recommending, that a quantity of dried meat,
reduced to powder, should be distributed to troops on service. He
took the idea from a custom which is prevalent in the East. He did
not, however, live to fulfil his intentions, although he had already
constructed copper ovens that were large enough to contain eight
bullocks. Very excellent broth can be made of this powder; one ounce
of which boiled in water, will supply a sufficient quantity for four
men; and one pound of fresh meat gives one ounce of powder; so that,
according to the inventor’s assertion, there is a saving of one pound.
The portable soup-balls which are sold for sea use, are of the same
nature.
VIBRATION. See PENDULUM.
VICE-ADMIRAL, (_vice-amiral_, _Fr._) A naval officer of the second
rank; who takes rank with generals of horse. Louis XIV. who endeavored
to establish a French navy in 1669, created two vice-admirals of the
fleet, whom he called vice-admiral of the east, and vice-admiral of the
west.
VICTOR. A conqueror; generally applied to the chief officer of a
successful army.
VICTORY, (_victoire_, _Fr._) The overthrow or defeat of an enemy in
war, combat, duel, or the like.
VICTUAILLES, _Fr._ The provisions which are embarked on board ships of
war are so called by the French.
VICTUAILLEUR, _Fr._ Victualler.
VICTUALS. Food or sustenance allowed to the troops, under certain
regulations, whether on shore or embarked in transports.
VICTUALLERS. See SUTLERS.
VIEUX _corps_, _Fr._ A term used among the French before the
revolution, to distinguish certain old regiments. There were six of
this description, viz. Picardy, Piedmont, Navarre, Champagne, Normandy,
and the marine corps. The three first were formed in 1562, and that of
Champagne in 1575. They were then called _Les vieilles bandes_; the
ancient or old bands; and before that period, each was known by the
name of its colonel.
_Les petits_ VIEUX _corps_, _Fr._ La Tour du Pin, Bourbonnois,
Auvergne, Belsunce, Meilly, and the regiment du Roi, or the king’s own,
were so called during the French monarchy. All the other regiments
ranked according to the several dates of their creation, and the
officers took precedence in consequence of it.
VIEW _of a place_. The view of a place is said to be taken when the
general, accompanied by an engineer, reconnoitres it, that is, rides
round the place, observing its situation, with the nature of the
country about it; as hills, valleys, rivers, marshes, woods, hedges,
&c.; thence to judge of the most convenient place for opening the
trenches and carrying on the approaches; to find out proper places for
encamping the army, and for the park of artillery.
_To_ VIEW. See _To_ RECONNOITRE. See _Am. Mil. Lib._
VIF, _Fr._ This word is frequently used among the French to signify the
core, or inside of any thing--viz:
VIF _d’un arbre_, _Fr._ The inside of a tree.
VIF _d’une pierre_, _Fr._ The inside of a stone.
VIF _de l’eau_, _Fr._ High water.
VIGIER, _Fr._ To keep watch.
VIGIER _une flotte de vaisseaux marchands_, _Fr._ To convoy a fleet of
merchantmen.
VIGIES, _Fr._ A term given to certain rocks under water near the
Azores. Vigie likewise signifies a watch, or centinel on board a ship;
but it is chiefly used among the Spaniards in South America.
VIGILANT, (_vigilant_, _Fr._) Watchful, attentive.
VIGOROUS, (_vigoreux_, _Fr._) Strong, brisk, active, resolute.
VIGOTE, _Fr._ A model by which the calibres of pieces of ordnance are
ascertained, in order to pick out appropriate bullets. This model
consists of a plate of sheet iron in which there are holes of different
sizes, according to the several calibres of cannon.
VILBREQUIN, _Fr._ A wimble.
VILLE, _Fr._ See TOWN.
VIN, _Fr._ Wine.
VINCIBLE. Conquerable; in a state to be defeated.
VINDAS, _Fr._ See WINDLASS.
VINEGAR, (_Vinaigre_, _Fr._) Vinegar is frequently used in the
artillery to cool pieces of ordnance. Two pints of vinegar to four of
water is the usual mixture for this purpose.
VINTAINE, _Fr._ A small rope which masons use to prevent stones from
hitting against a wall when they draw them up.
VIOLENCE. Force, attack, assault.
VIRAGO. A female warrior; a scold.
VIRER, _Fr._ To change, to turn round. This word is used figuratively
by the French, viz. _Tourner et virer_; to beat about the bush; as
_Tourner et virer quel-qu’un_, in an active sense, to pump another.
VIREVAU, _Fr._ A draw-beam, a capstan.
VIRE-VOLTE, _Fr._ A quick turning about. It is a term of the manege.
VIROLE, _Fr._ A ferrule; verrel.
VIS, _Fr._ Screw, vice, spindle-tree.
VISIER, VIZIER, VIZIR, (_Visir_, _Fr._) An officer or dignity in the
Ottoman Empire; whereof there are two kinds, the first called by the
Turks Vizir Azem, or grand Vizir, first created in 1370 by Amurath the
First, in order to ease himself of the chief and weightier affairs of
the government. The grand Vizir possesses great powers, especially with
regard to military affairs. The orders he issues are so thoroughly
discretional, that when he quits Constantinople to join the army, he
does not even communicate his intentions to the sultan. This system
entirely differs from that which is followed by European generals.
When the latter take the field, they proceed upon plans that have been
previously digested; and although they may occasionally change their
dispositions, yet they never deviate from the essential and governing
principles.
The grand Vizir, on the contrary, not only makes the arrangements
according to his own judgment, but he even changes an operation that
has been previously ordered by the sultan, if, on his arrival at the
spot, he should think it expedient to employ the troops in a different
way. This absolute power is not, however, without its risk; for if the
grand Vizir should fail in his enterprize, it is more than probable
that the sultan will cause him to be beheaded: a punishment which has
long been familiar to the Turks, from the arbitrary manner in which it
is practised, and the frequency of its occurrence.
When the Turks engage an enemy, the grand Vizir generally remains with
the reserve, and seldom mingles with the main body, which is soon
converted into a mob of desperate combatants. The war which had been
carried into Egypt, bid fair to change the whole system of Turkish
tactics.
VIZIER _Nawab of Oude_, the prime minister of the Mogul empire; he
became sovereign of Oude and Lucknow; he was deposed by the British in
1795, and the sovereignty assumed by the British government.
VISIERE, _Fr._ The _sight_, which is fixed on the barrel of a musquet
or firelock.
_To_ VISIT, (_Visiter_, _Fr._) To go to any place, as quarters,
barracks, hospital, &c. for the purpose of noticing whether the orders
or regulations which have been issued respecting it, are observed.
VISITE _des Postes_, _Fr._ The act of visiting posts, &c.
_Faire la_ VISITE, _Fr._ To visit, to inspect.
VISITEUR, _Fr._ The person who visits or goes the rounds.
VISITING _Officer_. He whose duty it is to visit the guards, barracks,
messes, hospital, &c. See ORDERLY OFFICER.
VISOR, VIZARD, That part of the helmet which covered the face.
VITAL AIR, or azote and oxygene, now properly called _nitrogene gas_;
the cause of the rapid ignition of gunpowder, is the expansion of the
air or oxygene which it contains.
VITCHOURA, _Fr._ A furred coat.
VITESSE, _Fr._ Dispatch; promptitude of action.
VITONIERES, _Fr._ Limber holes.
VIVANDIERS, _Fr._ Victuallers, sutlers, &c.
VIVAT, _Fr._ A familiar exclamation, which is used not only by the
French, but by the Dutch, Germans--it comes from the Latin, and
signifies literally, May he live!
VIVE _le Roi!_ _Fr._ Long live the king!
VIVE _la Republique!_ _Fr._ Long live the republic!
_Qui vive?_ _Fr._ A military phrase which is used in challenging--Who
comes there?
VIVRE, _vivres_, _Fr._ Food, provisions, subsistence. In the
_Dictionnaire Militaire_, vol. iii. page 525, is an interesting account
of the manner in which troops were subsisted during the first years of
the French monarchy.
VIVRES _et leur distribution chez les Turcs_, _Fr._ The kind of
provisions, &c. and the manner in which they are distributed among
the Turks. The food or provisions for the Turkish soldiery form an
immediate part of the military baggage.
The government supplies flour, bread, biscuit, rice, bulgur or peeled
barley, butter, mutton, and beef, and grain for the horses, which is
almost wholly barley.
The bread is generally moist, not having been leavened, and is almost
always ready to mould. On which account the Armenians, who are the
bakers, bake every day in ovens that have been constructed under ground
for the use of the army. When there is not sufficient time to bake
bread, biscuit is distributed among the men.
The ration of bread for each soldier consists of one hundred drams per
day, or fifty drams of biscuit, sixty of beef or mutton, twenty-five
of butter to bake the peeled barley in, and fifty of rice. The rice
is given on Friday every week, on which day they likewise receive a
ration of fifty drams of bulgur mixed with butter, as an extraordinary
allowance, making a kind of water-gruel.
These provisions are distributed in two different quarters. The meat
is given out at the government butchery, where a certain number of
Armenians, Greeks, and Jews regularly attend. Each company sends a head
cook, who goes with a cart and receives the allowance from a sort of
quarter-master serjeant, who is in waiting with a regular return of
what is wanted for each oda.
This person is stiled among the Turks _Meidan Chiaous_. He stands upon
a spot of ground which is more elevated than the rest, and receives the
allowance due to his district.
The distribution of bread, &c. is made within the precincts of
the Tefterdar-Bascy, where the Vekil-karet attends as director or
superintendant of stores and provisions, and by whose order they are
delivered.
When the allowance is brought to the oda or company, the Vekil-karet,
a sort of quarter-master, sees it regularly measured out, and if any
portions be deficient, he takes note of the same, in order to have them
replaced for the benefit of the company. The remainder is then given to
the head cook, who divides it into two meals, one for eleven o’clock in
the morning, and the other for seven in the evening.
These two meals consist of boiled or stewed meat, mixed with rice, and
seasoned with pepper and salt; water-gruel being regularly made for
each man on Friday.
There are six kitchen boys or quateri attached to each oda, by which
they are paid a certain subsistence. On solemn occasions, and on
festival days, the quateri are dressed in long gowns made of skins,
with borders to them; they likewise wear a large knife with an
encrusted silver handle, which hangs at their side. They serve up the
victuals in two copper vessels, that are laid upon a table covered with
a skin, round which seven or eight persons may be seated.
VIVRIERS, _Fr._ Clerks and other persons employed by the
commissary-general, or contractor for stores and provisions.
Mons. Dupré D’Aulnay, in a work entitled _Traité des Subsistances
Militaires_, has suggested the establishment of a regular corps of
_Vivriers_ or persons whose sole duty should be to attend to the
subsistence of an army, in the field as well as in garrison. His
reasoning upon this subject is very acute, full of good sense, and
seems calculated to produce that system of economy and wholesome
distribution, that, to this day, are so manifestly wanted in all
military arrangements.
VIZ, _Ind._ A small coin; it is also a weight equal to about three
pounds; but differs much in value according to place.
VIZARUT, _Ind._ The office of Vizier.
VIZIER, _Ind._ Prime minister.
ULANS, _Fr._ This word is sometimes written Hulans. A certain
description of militia among the modern Tartars was so called. They
formerly did duty in Poland and Lithuania, and served as light cavalry.
It is not exactly known at what epoch the Tartars first came into
Poland and Lithuania. Dlugossus, in his history of Poland, book XI.
page 243, relates, that there were troops or companies of Tartars
attached to the army which was under the command of Alexander Witholde,
grand duke of Lithuania. Heidenstein, in his account of Poland, _Rer.
Polonic._, page 152, makes mention of a corps of Tartars belonging to
the army which Stephen Bathori, king of Poland, carried into the field
when he fought the Russians. This corps, according to the same author,
was headed by one _Ulan_, who said he was descended from the princes of
Tartary.
Although the origin of the word Ulan, as far as it regards the modern
militia so called, does not appear to be indisputably ascertained,
it is nevertheless well proved, that besides the Tartar chief under
Stephen Bathori, the person, who in the reign of Augustus the II.
formed the first pulk, or regiment of that description, was not only
called Ulan himself, but likewise gave the name to the whole body under
his command. This chief is mentioned in the records of the military
institution of Poland in 1717. He was then colonel or commandant of
the first pulk, or king’s regiment, and there were three captains
under him of the same name, viz:--Joseph Ulan, David Ulan, and Cimbey
Ulan. In 1744, one of these was captain of a company of Ulans in
Bohemia, and was afterwards colonel of a corps of the same description
in Poland. He is likewise said to have been descended from the Tartar
princes. It is, however, left undecided, whether _Ulan_ be the name
of a particular family, or a term given to distinguish some post of
honor; or again, whether it barely signify a certain class of turbulent
haughty soldiers, such as the Streletz of Russia, or the Janizaries of
Constantinople.
If there be any thing which can make us question the authenticity or
probability of this account, it is the passage we find in the book
already quoted--viz: Dlugossus, where he says liv. XIII. page 403, that
in 1467 an ambassador from Tartary had arrived at Petrigkow to announce
to king Casimir, that, after the death of Ecziger his son Nordowlad,
had ascended the throne of Tartary with the unanimous consent and
concurrence of all the princes and _Ulans_. Quitting the etymology of
the word, and leaving the original name to the determination of wise
and scientific men, we shall confine our present researches to the
modern establishment of the Ulans; which, by the best accounts, we find
to have happened in 1717.
It is acknowleged by all writers, that the Ulans are a militia, and
not a particular nation or class of people; their origin, in this
particular, resembles that of the Cossacks. When Augustus II. in 1717
altered the military establishment of Poland, he formed two regiments
of Ulans; one consisting of six hundred men, which had already existed,
and was called the king’s pulk, and the other of four hundred men,
which was given to the great general of the republic.
Augustus III. on his accession to the throne, took both these regiments
into his own immediate pay, and afterwards augmented the establishment
by raising several other pulks or corps of this description. The Ulans
are mounted on Polish or Tartar horses, and do the same duty that is
allotted to hussars; with this essential difference, that they are
better armed and accoutred, and that their horses excel those of the
hussars in strength and swiftness, although they are mostly of the same
size. The Ulans have frequently distinguished themselves on service,
particularly in Bohemia.
Their principal weapon is a lance five feet long, at the end of which
hangs a silk streamer, that serves to frighten the horse of the
Ulan’s opponent, by its fluttering and noise. The lance is suspended
on his right side, by means of a belt that is worn across the Ulan’s
shoulders, or by a small leather thong which goes round his right arm,
the end of the lance resting in a sort of stay that is attached to the
stirrup. Before the Ulan takes his aim, he plants his lance upon his
foot and throws it with so much dexterity, that he seldom misses his
object.
The dress of the Ulan consists of a short jacket, trowsers or
pantaloons made like those of the Turks, which reach to the ancle bone,
and button above the hips. He wears a belt across his waist. The upper
garment is a sort of Turkish robe with small facings, which reaches to
the calf of the leg; his head is covered with a Polish cap. The color
of the streamer which is fixed to the end of the lance, as well as that
of the facings, varies according to the different pulks or regiments
which it is meant to distinguish. The Ulan is likewise armed with a
sabre, and a brace of pistols which hang from his waistbelt.
As the Ulans consider themselves in the light of free and independent
gentlemen, every individual amongst them has one servant, if not two,
called _pocztowy_ or _pacholeks_, whose sole business is to attend to
their baggage and horses. When the Ulans take the field, these servants
or batmen form a second or detached line, and fight separately from
their masters. They are armed with a carbine, which weapon is looked
upon with contempt by their masters, and they clothe themselves in the
best manner they can.
The Ulans generally engage the enemy in small platoons or squads,
after the manner of the hussars; occasionally breaking into the most
desultory order. They rally with the greatest skill, and frequently
affect to run away for the purpose of inducing their opponents to
pursue them loosely: a circumstance which seldom fails to be fatal to
the latter, as the instant the pursuers have quitted their main body,
the Ulan wheels to the right about, gets the start of him through the
activity of his horse, and obtains that advantage, hand to hand, which
the other possessed whilst he acted in close order.
The instant the Ulans charge an enemy, their servants or batmen form
and stand in squadrons or platoons, in order to afford them, under
circumstances of repulse, a temporary shelter behind, and to check the
enemy. The batmen belonging to the Ulans are extremely clever in laying
ambushes.
The pay of the Ulans in time of peace is very moderate. Poland,
before its infamous dismemberment and partition by Russia, Prussia,
and Austria, kept a regular establishment of four squadrons and ten
companies on foot. These troops were annually supplied with a thousand
rations of bread and forage, which quantity was paid them at the rate
of 272 florins, Polish money, per ration. The grand duchy of Lithuania
subsisted, in the same manner, fifteen other companies of Ulans. The
other pulks were paid by the king. The annual pay of the captains was
five rations, and that of the subalterns two; that is 1360 florins to
the former, and 544 florins to the latter.
In 1743 marshal Saxe, with the approbation and concurrence of the
French court, raised a regiment of Ulans, which was attached to the
military establishment of that country. This corps consisted of one
thousand men, divided into six squadrons, each squadron composed of one
hundred and sixty men, eighty of whom were Ulans, and eighty dragoons.
So that the regiment consisted of five hundred Ulans, properly so
called, armed and accoutred like those in Poland, and the other five
hundred were dragoons, without being considered as the servants or
batmen of the Ulans; in which instance they differed from the pacholeks
of the Polish Ulans. These dragoons were paid by the king; whereas in
Poland each Ulan paid his own servant or batman, who looked to him only
for clothing, arms, and subsistence. On the death of marshal Saxe,
the Ulans in France were reduced; and the dragoons only kept upon the
establishment. They were considered as a regiment; being at first given
to count de Frise, who was a major-general in the service, and became
their colonel, and they remained on that footing until the revolution.
The uniform of the French Ulans consisted of a green coat or cloak,
with green breeches, Hungarian half-boots, pinchbeck helmet with a
turban twisted round it of Russian leather; the tail or mane of the
helmet consisted of horse-hair, which was colored according to the
facings of the brigade; their arms were a lance nine feet long, with a
floating streamer at the top, a sabre, and a pistol in the waistbelt.
The dragoons were clothed like other regular troops. Their coat was
green, with cream-colored facings and scarlet linings; plain brass
buttons, and aiguillette or tagged point, made of red worsted; a
fawn colored waistcoat, edged round with scarlet; leather breeches;
half-boots that were laced up to the calf of the leg; pinchbeck helmet,
with a seal skin turban round it, and two rosettes made of pinchbeck;
the top was adorned with horse-hair, which hung behind. Their arms
consisted of a fusil with a bayonet, which was always fixed; two
pistols and a sabre; the horse was covered with a wolf’s skin. The
Ulans rode horses which were somewhat lower than those of the dragoons,
and were more active.
At the commencement of the French revolution, particularly in 1792
and 1793, the Ulans belonging to the Imperial army that endeavored to
penetrate into France, were the terror of the inhabitants all along the
frontiers. The excesses which they committed, and the desolation they
occasioned, rendered their very name a signal of alarm. They seldom
gave quarter, and they never received it.
ULTIMATUM. A term used in negociations to signify the last condition or
conditions upon which propositions, that have been mutually exchanged,
can be finally ratified.
ULTRAMARINE. From beyond the sea--foreign. It is also the name of a
very delicate sky blue powder made from _lapis lazuli_, and used in the
_drawing_ of plans, &c.
ULTRAMONTANE. Derived from the Latin _Ultra_, beyond, and _Mons_,
mountain. This term is principally used in relation to Italy and
France, which are separated by the Alps. According to Bayley,
_Ultramontanus_ is a name given by the Italians to all people who live
beyond the Alps.
UMBO. The pointed boss or prominent part in the centre of a shield or
buckler
UMBRIERE. The visor of a helmet.
UMPIRE. An arbitrator, or a power which interferes for the adjustment
of a dispute or contest.
UNARMED. The state of being without armor or weapons.
_To_ UNCASE. In a military sense to display, to exhibit--As to uncase
the colors. It is opposed to the word, _To Case_, which signifies to
put up--to enclose.
_To_ UNCOVER. When troops deploy, the different leading companies or
divisions, &c. successively uncover those in their rear, by marching
out from the light or left of the column.
UNCONDITIONAL. At discretion; not limited by any terms or stipulations.
UNCONQUERED. Not subdued or defeated; in opposition to conquered or
defeated.
UNDAUNTED. Not appalled by fear; valiant.
UNDECAGON. A regular polygon of eleven sides or angles.
UNDER. This preposition is variously used in military matters, viz.
UNDER _Command_, (_Sous Ordre_, _Fr._) In subjection to; liable to be
ordered to do any particular duty.
UNDER _Cover_, (_à couvert_, _à l’abri_, _Fr._) Shielded, protected,
&c. See COVER.
UNDER _Arms_, (_Sous Armes_, _Fr._) A battalion, troop, or company is
said to be under arms when the men are drawn up regularly armed and
accoutred, &c.
_To_ UNDERMINE. To dig cavities under any thing, so that it may fall,
or be blown up; to excavate.
_To_ UNDERMINE. In a figurative sense, to injure by clandestine means.
The discipline of the army may be _undermined_ by secret practices
and cabals; the want of a fit capacity at the head of the war office,
will operate like the want of brains in the human head; and the most
enterprizing officer may be undermined by the insinuations of a
cowardly parasite and reporter.
UNDERMINER. A sapper, one who digs a mine.
UNDER-_officer_. An inferior officer; one in a subordinate situation.
UNDISCIPLINED. Not yet trained to regularity or order; not perfect in
exercise or manœuvres.
_To_ UNFIX. In a military sense, to take off, as _Unfix Bayonet_, on
which the soldier disengages the bayonet from his piece, and returns
it to the scabbard. The word _return_, as we have already observed, is
sometimes used instead of unfix.--But it is improperly used, although
it more immediately corresponds with the French term _Remettre_.
UNFORTIFIED. Not strengthened or secured by any walls, bulwarks, or
fortifications.
UNFURLED. A standard or colors, when expanded and displayed, is said to
be unfurled.
UNGENTLEMANLIKE, UNOFFICERLIKE, (_Malhonnête_, _Grossier_, _Fr._) Not
like a gentleman or officer. Conduct unbecoming the character of either
is so called. This clause which will be always found to depend on the
state of _morals_ and _manners_, affords a vast latitude to a military
court, which, after all, is not more free from prejudice or influence
than any other tribunal, though they are both jurors and judges.
Officers convicted thereof are to be discharged from the service. See
ARTICLES OF WAR.
UNHARNESSED. Disarmed; divested of armor or weapons of offence.
UNHORSED. Thrown from the saddle; dismounted.
UNHOSTILE. Not inimical, or belonging to an enemy.
UNIFORM, (_Uniforme_, _Fr._) This word, though in a military sense it
signifies the same as regimental, which is used both as a substantive
and an adjective, may nevertheless be considered in a more extensive
light. Uniform is applied to the different sorts of clothing by which
whole armies are distinguished from one another; whereas regimental
means properly the dress of the component parts of some national force.
Thus the national uniform of the American army is blue, as is that of
the modern French, white of the Austrian, green of the Russian, and red
of the British, &c. But in each of these armies there are particular
corps which are clothed in other colors, and whose clothing is made
in a shape peculiar to themselves. Though generally speaking each has
an uniform within itself, yet this uniform, strictly considered, is a
regimental.
With respect to the origin of _military uniforms_, we should make
useless enquiries were we to direct our attention to those periods in
which the Romans fought covered with metal armor, or with leather which
was so dressed and fitted to the body, that the human shape appeared
in all its natural formation; nor to those in which the French, almost
naked, or at least very lightly clad in thin leather, conquered the
ancient Gauls. Better information will be acquired by recurring to
the Crusades which were made into Palestine and Constantinople by the
Europeans. We shall there find, that the western nations, France,
England, &c. first adopted the use of rich garments, which they wore
over their armors, and adorned their dresses with furs from Tartary and
Russia.
We may then fix the origin of colored dresses to distinguish military
corps, &c. in the eleventh century. The Saracens generally wore tunics
or close garments under their armor. These garments were made of
plain or striped stuffs, and were adopted by the Crusaders under the
denomination of coats of arms, _Cottes d’armes_. We refer our readers
for further particulars to the author of a French work, entitled,
_Traité des marques rationales_, and to page 533, tom. iii. _du
Dictionnaire Militaire_; observing, that the uniforms of the French
army were not completely settled under the reign of Louis the XIVth,
and that the whole has undergone considerable alterations since the
present revolution.
UNIFORME _des charretiers des vivres_, _Fr._ Uniform of the old French
Waggon Corps. It consisted of white sackcloth edged round with blue
worsted, with brass buttons, two in front and three upon each sleeve.
They wore a dragoon watering cap, with W upon the front fold, and a
tuft at the end. The W and the tuft were made of white worsted.
UNIFORMS.--_Principal color of the military uniforms of the different
powers._
---------------+--------+----------+----------+-----------------------
NATIONS. |CAVALRY.| INFANTRY.|ARTILLERY.| REMARKS.
---------------+--------+----------+----------+-----------------------
America |Blue |Blue |Blue |Black cockades.
Ancient Poland |Blue |Blue |Blue |
Anspach |Blue |Blue |Blue |
Austria |White |White |Grey |
Baden |-- |Blue |-- |
Bavaria |-- |White |Grey |
Berne |Red |Blue |Blue |Black and red cockades.
Brunswick |-- |Blue |-- |
Denmark |-- |Red |-- |Black cockades.
England |Blue |Red |Blue |
France |Blue |Blue |Blue |Blue, red, and white.
Hanover |Blue |Red |Mixt Blue |Green cockades.
Hesse |White |Blue |Blue |
Holland |White |Blue |Blue |
Mayence |-- |White |Mixt Blue |
Mecklenburg |Blue |Blue |Blue |
Nassau |-- |Blue |-- |
Palatine |Crimson |Clear Blue|-- |
Prussia |White |Blue |Blue |Orag. light blue.
Russia |Blue |Green |Green |Black cockades.
Sardinia |Blue |Blue |Blue |
Saxe Cobourg |-- |Blue |-- |
Saxe Gotha |Blue |Blue |Blue |
Saxe Heidelberg|-- |Blue |-- |
Saxe Memingen |-- |Blue |-- |
Saxe Weimer |Blue |Blue |Green |
Saxony |White |White |Green |Dragoons red; White
| | | |cockades.
Spain |Grey |White |Blue |Red and yellow.
Sweden |-- |Blue |-- |Yellow cockades.
Wurtemburg |-- |Blue |Blue |
---------------+--------+----------+----------+-----------------------
UNIFORMITY. Conformity to one pattern; resemblance of one thing to
another.
UNION. The national colors are called the union. When there is a blue
field with white stripes, quartered in the angle of the American
colors, that is of the colors composed of red and white stripes; that
blue field is called the Union; and a small colors of blue with white
stars is called an _Union_ JACK.
UNIVERSITY. In a general acceptation of the word, any nursery where
youth is instructed in languages, arts, and sciences. It likewise means
the whole in general, generality.
_To_ UNSPRING. A word of command formerly used in the exercise of
cavalry, now obsolete.
_Unspring your carbine._ Quit the reins of your bridle, and take hold
of the swivel with the left hand, placing the thumb on the spring, and
opening it; at the same time take it out of the ring.
UNTENABLE. Not to be held in possession; incapable of being defended.
UNTRAINED. Not disciplined to exercise or manœuvre.
UNVANQUISHED. Not conquered or defeated.
UNWALLED. Being without walls of defence.
UNWARLIKE. Not fit for or used to war.
UNWEAPONED. Not provided with arms of offence.
VOGUE, _Fr._ The course or way which a galley or ship makes when it is
rowed forward.
VOGUER, _Fr._ To make way upon water either by means of sailing or by
oars. It also signifies generally to row.
VOIE, _Fr._ Way, means, course of communication.
VOILE, _Fr._ A sail. This word is frequently used by the French to
signify the ship itself; as we say, a sail in sight.
VOILE _quarrée ou à trait quarrée_, _Fr._ A square sail, such as the
main-sail.
VOILE _Latine_, _Voile à tiers-point, ou a Oreille de Liévre_, _Fr._ A
triangular-shaped sail, such as is used in the Mediterranean.
_Jet de_ VOILES, _Fr._ The complete complement of sails for a ship.
_Faire_ VOILE, _Fr._ To go to sea.
VOITURES, _Fr._ Carriages, waggons, &c.
VOL, _Fr._ Theft. The military regulations on this head during the
existence of the French monarchy, were extremely rigid and severe.
Whosoever was convicted of having stolen any of the public stores, was
sentenced to be strangled; and if any soldier was discovered to have
robbed his comrade, either of his necessaries, bread, or subsistence
money, he was condemned to death, or to the gallies for life. So nice,
indeed, were the French with respect to the honesty of the soldiery in
general, that the slightest deviation from it rendered an individual
incapable of ever serving again. When the French troops marched through
the United States during the revolution so exact was their discipline,
that in marching through an orchard loaded with fruit not an apple was
touched.
VOLEE, _Fr._ The vacant cylinder of a cannon, which may be considered
to reach from the trunnions to the mouth.
VOLEE _et culasse d’une piece_, _Fr._ This term signifies the same as
_tête et queue d’une piece_. The mouth or head and breech of a piece of
ordnance.
VOLEE, _Fr._ Also signifies a cannon shot, as _Tirer une volee_, to
fire a cannon shot.
VOLEE, _Fr._ See SONNETTE.
VOLET, _Fr._ A shutter. It likewise means a small sea compass.
VOLLEY. The discharging of a great number of firearms at the same time.
VOLONTAIRES, _Fr._ See VOLUNTEERS.
VOLONTE, _Fr._ Will, &c. It likewise signifies readiness to do any
thing. _Officier, soldat de bonne volonte._ An officer, a soldier that
is ready to do any sort of duty.
_Dernieres_ VOLONTES, _Fr._ The last will and testament of a man.
VOLT, (_Volte_, _Fr._) In horsemanship, a bounding turn. It is
derived from the Italian word _Volta_; and according to the Farrier’s
Dictionary, is a round or a circular tread; a gate of two treads made
by a horse going sideways round a centre; so that these two treads make
parallel tracks; the one which is made by the fore feet larger, and the
other by the hinder feet smaller; the shoulders bearing outwards, and
the croupe approaching towards the centre.
_Mettre un cheval sur les_ VOLTES, _Fr._ To make a horse turn round,
or perform the volts. They likewise say in the manege, _demi-volte_,
half-turn or volt.
VOLTE, _Fr._ In fencing, a sudden movement or leap, which is made to
avoid the thrust of an antagonist.
VOLTE-_face_, _Fr._ Right about.
_Faire_ VOLTE-_face_, _Fr._ To come to the right about. It is chiefly
applicable to a cavalry movement; and sometimes generally used to
express any species of facing about, viz. _Les ennemis fuirent jusqu’à
un certain endroit, ou ils firent volte face_; the enemy fled to a
certain spot, where they faced about.
VOLTE, is also used as a sea phrase among the French to express the
track which a vessel sails; likewise the different movements and tacks
that a ship makes in preparing for action.
VOLTER, _Fr._ In fencing, to volt; to change ground in order to avoid
the thrust of an antagonist.
VOLTIGER, _Fr._ To float; to stream out; to hover about; _La cavalrie
voltige autour du camp_; the cavalry hovers about the camp. It also
means, in the manege, to ride a wooden horse for the purpose of
acquiring a good seat.
VOLTIGUER, _Fr._ A vaulter; a jumper; a hoverer; the French have
trained their light troops to run, vault, and bear fatigues; these
troops act as riflemen on foot or horseback; swim rivers with their
arms; and vault behind horsemen to be transported rapidly to some
point where it is necessary to make an impression. These corps were
formed from an observance of the hardiness and intrepidity of American
riflemen, by general _Berthier_, who served in America with Rochambeau.
VOLUNTEER. In a general acceptation of the word, any one who enters
into the service of his own accord. The signification of it is more or
less extensive, according to the conditions on which a man voluntarily
engages to bear arms.
VOLUNTEERS are also bodies of men who assemble in time of war to
defend their respective districts, and this generally without pay.
_To_ VOLUNTEER. To engage in any affair of one’s own accord. Officers
and soldiers often volunteer their services on the most desperate
occasions; sometimes specifically, and sometimes generally. Hence to
volunteer for any particular enterprize, or to volunteer for general
service. In some instances soldiers volunteer for a limited period, and
within certain boundaries.
Volunteers approach nearer to the regular establishment than the
militia.
VOUGE, _Fr._ A sort of hedging bill. It likewise signifies an axe,
which the ancient bowmen of France had fixed to their halberts. It is
also called a hunter’s staff.
VOUSSOIR or VOUSSURE, _Fr._ The bending of a vault.
VOUTE, _Fr._ A vault; an arch.
VOYAGE _sur Mer_, _Fr._ A sea voyage. The French call a voyage to the
East Indies, _Un voyage de long cours._
UP. An adverb frequently used in military phraseology, viz. _Up in
arms_; in a state of insurrection.
_To draw_ UP. To put in regular array, as to draw _up_ a regiment.
VRILLE, _Fr._ A wimble.
VRILLER, _Fr._ Among fireworkers, to rise in a spiral manner, as
sky-rockets do.
USAAR, _Ind._ The name of a month, which partly corresponds with June;
it follows Jeyt.
_To_ USE. To employ to any particular purpose; to bring into action; as
he his choicest troops on that decisive day.
USTENSILES, _Fr._ The necessary articles which a soldier has a right to
be supplied with.
USTENSILES _de magazins_, _Fr._ Under this word are comprehended all
the various tools, implements, &c. which are required in military
magazines and storehouses.
USTENSILES _d’un vaisseau_, _Fr._ Every thing which is necessary in the
navigation of a ship.
USTENSILES _de canon_, _Fr._ Every thing which is required to load and
unload a piece of ordnance, viz. the rammer, spunge, priming horn,
wedges, &c.
UTENSILS. In a military sense, are necessaries due to every soldier.
In the British service it is directed to be provided for the use of
regimental hospitals, that each hospital ought to be furnished with a
slipper bath, or bathing tub, two water buckets, one dozen of Osnaburgh
towels, one dozen of flannel cloths, half a dozen of large sponges,
combs, razors, and soap; two large kettles capable of making soup for
30 men, two large tea kettles, two large tea pots, two sauce pans, 40
tin cans of one pint each, 40 spoons, one dozen of knives and forks,
two close stools, two bed-pans, and two urinals.
A regiment, consisting of 1000 men, and provided with three medical
persons, ought to be furnished with hospital necessaries and utensils
for at least 40 patients. It should be provided with 40 cotton night
caps, 40 sets of bedding, in the proportion of four for every hundred
men; each set consisting of one paillasse, one straw mattrass, one
bolster, three sheets, two blankets, and one rug.
For regiments of a smaller number, the quantity of hospital necessaries
will of course be proportionally reduced.
_Bakery_ UTENSILS. The following list of bakery utensils, being the
proportion requisite for an army of 36,000 men, has been extracted from
the British commissary, to which useful treatise we refer the military
reader for a specific description of field ovens, &c. and field bakery,
page 16, &c.
12 double iron ovens, 11 feet long, 9 feet diameter, and 3 feet high;
28 troughs and their covers, 16 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet
deep, to kneed the dough.
12 large canvas tents (having double coverings) 32 feet long, and 24
feet wide, to make the bread in.
4 ditto, to cool and deposit the bread in.
2 ditto, to deposit the meal and empty sacks in.
200 boards, 8 feet long, and 1¹⁄₂ feet wide, to carry the bread to the
oven and back when baked; 24 small scales to weigh the dough, with
weights from half an ounce to 6 lbs.; 24 small lamps for night work;
24 small hatchets; 24 scrapers, to scrape the dough from the troughs;
12 copper kettles, containing each from 10 to 12 pails of water; 12
trevets for ditto; 12 barrels with handles, to carry water, containing
each from 6 to 7 pails.
12 pails, to draw water; 24 yokes and hooks, to carry the barrels by
hand; 24 iron peles, to shove and draw the bread from the ovens; 24
iron pitchforks, to turn and move the firewood and coals in the ovens;
24 spare handles, 14 feet long, for the peles and pitchforks; 24 rakes,
with handles of the same length, to clear away the coals and cinders
from the ovens; 4 large scales, to weigh the sacks and barrels of meal,
and capable of weighing 500 lb.; 4 triangles for the said scales; to
each must be added 500 lb. of weights, 3 of 100 lb. each, 2 of 50 lb.
each, and downwards to half a pound.
VULNERABLE. Susceptive of wounds; liable to external injuries; capable
of being taken; as, the town is extremely vulnerable in such a quarter.
It is also applied to military dispositions, viz. the army was
vulnerable in the centre or on the left wing.
An assemblage of men without arms, or with arms but without discipline,
or having discipline and arms, without officers are _vulnerable_.
W.
WAD, (_Bourre_, _Fr._) In _gunnery_, a substance made of hay or straw,
and sometimes of tow rolled up tight in a ball. It serves to be put
into a gun after the powder, and rammed home, to prevent the powder
from being scattered, which would have no effect if left unconfined.
WAD-_mill_. A hollow form of wood to make the wads of a proper size.
WAD-_hook_. A strong iron screw, like those that serve for drawing
corks, mounted upon a wooden handle, to draw out the wads, or any part
of cartridges, which often remain in guns, and when accumulated stop up
the vent.
WADA or WADADARY, _Ind._ A farm of a district.
WADABUNDY, _Ind._ Stated periods or dates, on which money is to be paid.
WADADAR, _Ind._ A government officer, who is responsible for the rents
of a zemindary.
WADDING. Oakum, hay or straw, or any other article generally carried
along with the guns to be made into wads.
_Experiments relative to the effects of_ WADDING. The quantity of
powder requisite to raise a shell weighing 218 lb. clear of the mortar
and bed was found to be 4 oz. 2 dr. without any wadding; but with the
help of a little wadding, rammed over the powder, 3 oz. 1 dr. were
sufficient. The powder, requisite to raise a shell weighing 106 lb.
clear of the mortar and bed, was found to be 2 oz. 6 dr. without any
wadding; but with wadding, properly rammed over the powder, 2 oz. were
found to be sufficient.
To raise a shell of 16 lb. 4 dr. were sufficient without wadding, and
only 3 dr. with wadding.
And to raise a shell of 8 lb. 2 dr. were enough without wadding, and 1
dr. two-thirds with wadding.
From the above experiments it may be observed, that the judicious
ramming of a little wadding over the powder, adds about ¹⁄₄ part of the
whole effect.
WAGGON, in _the army_, (_Chariot_, _Fr._) is a four-wheel carriage,
drawn by four horses, and for sundry uses.
_Ammunition_-WAGGON. (_Chariot d’artillerie_, _Fr._) A carriage made
for transporting all kinds of stores, as also to carry bread, it being
lined round in the inside with basket-work. See CAISSON.
WAGGON-_Train_. The waggons, caissons, carts, &c. provided for the use
of an army are so called. One great engine, on which the movements of
an army depend, is a proper establishment of waggons. In all wars great
abuses have, as well as great ignorance, prevailed in this department.
In the seven years war the British had a general contractor for the
waggon train, and his contract was kept up until the year before the
peace, when that government bought the train of him. In the American
war, waggons were considered almost as a privilege by the departments
to which they were attached, until Brook Watson was appointed
commissary general, who found it necessary to make great reforms in
that branch of the service. The same gentleman, when he went out to
the continent of Europe with the duke of York in 1793, made use of
the waggons of different contractors: but in the beginning of 1794,
an experiment was made by raising a corps called the corps of royal
waggoners, and purchasing waggons and horses. Its miserable state
became proverbial in the army: it failed completely in every part, and
on many occasions, the service suffered very materially in consequence
of the abuses of contractors.
The idea of this corps was probably taken from the fine well regulated
establishment of the French, from whom the Austrians copied it as a
standing establishment, having officers and men trained to the service,
and a system improved and perfect.
The British waggon-train was sold, and every purchaser of not less than
fifty waggons was admitted to the advantages of a contract for all the
waggons he purchased; he was insured the duration of his contract for
three months, and was only to deposit one-third of the cost, allowing
the remainder to be paid out of his earnings. The form of the contract
and the pay of the waggons were previously fixed, and by this mode a
most advantageous sale was procured, while a new set of contractors
were introduced, with the additional advantage of obliging old
contractors to reduce their prices, and to come under the same terms.
_The space of ground occupied by a waggon with four horses_ is about
16 yards; a mile will therefore hold 110 waggons; but allowing a short
distance between each waggon in travelling, a mile may be said to
contain about 100 waggons. Waggons in convoy may travel from one to
two miles per hour, according to the roads and other circumstances. A
great object in convoys is to preserve the horses as much as possible
from fatigue. For this purpose, if the convoy amounts to many hundred
waggons, they must be divided into divisions of not more than 500
each. Should it consist of thousands, it will be advisable to divide
them into _grand_ divisions, and then again into subdivisions of 500
each: by this means, and the time of departure being calculated by the
following rules, each division may remain at rest, till just before its
time of movement; and which will prevent the necessity of the latter
part of a large convoy being harassed for a considerable time before
its turn to move.
Rule 1. _To find the time in which any number of waggons may be driven
off_: Divide the number of waggons by 100, and multiply by the time of
travelling one mile.
Rule 2. _To find the time in which any number of waggons will drive
over any number of miles_: To the time they take in driving off, add
the time any one of the waggons takes to travel the distance.
The different divisions of the convoy should be numbered, and obliged
each day to change the order of their marching.
WAGGONER, (_Charretier_, _Fr._) One who drives a waggon.
_Corps of_ WAGGONERS, (_Corps de Charretiers_, _Fr._) A body of men
employed in the commissariate, so called.
WAGRAM, _battle of_. Decided the war between France and Austria in 1809.
WAKANAGUR, _Ind._ A writer of occurrences.
WAINROPE. The large cord with which the load is tied on the waggon.
WAIT. To lie in wait; to lay wait. See AMBUSH.
WALL. A series of brick, stone, or other materials carried upwards and
cemented with mortar. When used in the plural number, wall signifies
fortification; works built for defence.
_To be driven to the_ WALL, (_Etre acculé_, _Fr._) A figurative term
signifying to be so pressed, that you can neither advance nor retreat.
WALLS _of a Tent or Marquee_. That part of the canvas which is attached
to the fly or top by means of hooks and eyes, and which is fixed to
the earth with wooden pegs. These walls should be frequently lowered
in order to admit fresh air. When there is an hospital tent, this
precaution is indispensible, if the weather will permit.
WALLET. See HAVERSACK, KNAPSACK.
WALLOON, Spanish troops from the Netherlands.
WAPENTAKE, (from the Saxon.) The same as what we call a hundred, and
more especially used in the northern counties of England beyond the
Trent. There have been several conjectures as to the original of the
word; one of which is, that anciently musters were made of the armor
and weapons of the inhabitants of every hundred; and from those that
could not find sufficient pledges of their good abeating, their weapons
were taken away; whence it is said _Wapentake_ is derived. _Spenser_
says it was so named, of touching the weapon or spear of their
alderman, and swearing to follow him faithfully, and serve their prince
truly.
WAR. A contest or difference between princes, states, or large bodies
of people, which, not being determinable by the ordinary measures of
justice and equity, is referred to the decision of the sword, &c.
It is that important event, for which all military education is
designed to prepare the soldier. It is for this that in peace, he
receives the indulgence of a subsistence from society; and for this
he is gratefully bound to secure the repose of that society from the
outrage of an enemy and to guard its possessions from the devastations
of invaders.
It would be needless as impossible to show, how often the art of war
has accomplished the design of its institution; we shall, however,
distinguish those English wars which are remarkable in history.
War with Scotland, 1068.
Peace with{ditto, 1113.
{France, 1113.
War with France, 1116.
Peace with{ditto, 1118.
{Scotland, 1139.
War with France, 1161.
Peace with ditto, 1186.
War again with France, 1194.
Peace with ditto, 1195.
{renewed, 1215.
{ended, 1216.
{with France, 1224.
Civil war{ended, 1243.
{1262.
{ended, 1267.
{with France, 1294.
{with Scotland, 1296.
Peace{with France, 1299.
{with Scotland, 1323.
{again with Scotland, 1327.
War{ended, 1328.
{again with Scotland, 1333.
{with France, 1339.
Peace with France, May 8, 1360.
{with France, 1368.
War{civil, 1400.
{with Scotland, 1400.
Peace with France, May 31, 1420.
{with France, 1422.
War{civil between York and Lancaster,
{1452.
Peace with France, Oct. 1741.
War{civil, 1486.
{with France, Oct. 6, 1492.
Peace{with ditto, Nov. 3, 1492.
{with Scotland, 1502.
War{with France, Feb. 4, 1512.
{with Scotland, 1513.
Peace with France, Aug. 7, 1514.
War with{ditto, 1522.
{Scotland, 1522.
Peace with{France, 1527.
{Scotland, 1542.
War with Scotland, directly after.
Peace with France and Scotland, June 7, 1546.
War with{Scotland, 1547.
{France, 1549.
Peace with both, March 6, 1550.
{civil, 1553.
War{with France, June 7, 1557.
{with Scotland, 1557.
Peace with{France, April 2, 1559.
{Scotland, 1560.
War }with France{1562.
Peace} {1564.
War with{Scotland, 1570.
{Spain, 1588.
Peace with ditto, Aug. 18, 1604.
War with{Spain, 1624.
{France, 1627.
Peace with Spain and France, April 14, 1629.
War{civil, 1642.
{with the Dutch, 1651.
Peace with ditto, April 5, 1654.
War with Spain, 1655.
Peace with Spain, Sept. 10, 1660.
War with{France, Jan. 26, 1666.
{Denmark, Oct. 19, 1666.
Peace with the French, Danes, and Dutch, Aug. 24, 1667.
Peace with Spain, Feb. 13, 1668.
War with the Algerines, Sept. 6, 1669.
Peace with ditto, Nov. 19, 1671.
War with the Dutch, March, 1672.
Peace with ditto, Feb. 28, 1674.
War with France, May 7, 1689.
Peace general, Sept. 20, 1697.
War with France, May 4, 1702.
Peace of Utrecht, March 13, 1713.
War with Spain, Dec. 1718.
Peace with ditto, 1721.
War with{Spain, 1739.
{France, March 31, 1744.
War with{France, 1756.
{Spain, Jan. 4, 1762.
Peace with France and Spain, Feb. 10, 1763.
War with the caribbs of St. Vincent in 1773.
War against America, commenced July 14, 1774.
{with France, Feb. 6, 1778.
War{with Spain, April 17, 1780.
{with Holland, 1780.
Peace with America,}
France, } Sept. 3, 1783.
Spain, }
Holland,}
War against France by the English, Prussians, Austrians, and other
German powers, in 1793, called the _first coalition_.
Peace between Prussia and the French Republic, 1795.
Peace between Spain and the French Republic, 1795.
Peace between the French and the Sardinians in 1796.
Peace between the French and the Austrians in 1797.
War between the British and Tippoo Saib in India, in 1797.
War against the French or the second coalition of the Austrians,
Russians, Neapolitans, &c. 1798.
War with the Turks, and the invasion of Egypt, in 1798.
Peace between the French and the Russians in 1799.
Peace between the French and Austrians in 1800.
Preliminaries of peace commenced between the French and the Ottoman
empire in consequence of the reduction of Egypt by the British forces
in 1801.
Preliminaries of peace between France and Great Britain, &c. called the
peace of Amiens, 1801.
War renewed against France in 1804 by England.
War renewed by Austria in 1805.
War by Prussia in 1806.
War renewed by Austria in April 1809. See _Historical Dictionary_ of
wars, battles, sieges, by the American editor of this work.
There are five different kinds of war, each of which is to be conducted
differently the one from the other, viz. the offensive; the defensive;
that between equal powers; the auxiliary, which is carried on out of
our own territories to succor a state or ally, or to assist a weaker
whom a more powerful nation has attacked; and a civil war.
_Offensive_ war must be long meditated on in private before it be
openly entered upon; when the success will depend upon two essential
points: that the plan be justly formed, and the enterprize conducted
with order. It should be well and maturely considered and digested, and
with the greatest secrecy, lest, however able the leaders or council
may be, some of the precautions necessary to be taken, be discovered.
These precautions are infinite both at home and abroad.
Abroad, they consist in alliances and security not to be disturbed in
the meditated expedition, foreign levies, and the buying up of warlike
ammunition, as well to increase our own stores as to prevent the enemy
from getting them.
The precautions at home, consist in providing for the security of our
distant frontiers, levying new troops, or augmenting the old ones, with
as little noise as possible; furnishing your magazines with ammunition;
constructing carriages for artillery and provisions; buying up horses,
which should be done as much as possible among your neighbors; both to
prevent their furnishing the enemy, and to preserve your own for the
cavalry and the particular equipages of the officers.
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.
A _defensive_ war which a nation attacked by a superior enemy sustains,
depends entirely upon the capacity of the general. His particular
application should be, to chuse advantageous camps to stop the enemy,
without, however, being obliged to fight him; to multiply small
advantages; to harass and perplex the enemy in his foraging parties,
and to oblige them to do it with great escorts; to attack their
convoys; to render the passages of rivers or defiles as difficult to
them as possible; to force them to keep together: if they want to
attack a town, to throw in succors before it is invested; in short, in
the beginning his chief aim should be, to acquire the enemy’s respect
by his vigilance and activity, and by forcing him to be circumspect in
his marches and manner of encampment, to gain time himself, and make
the enemy lose it. An able general, carefully pursuing these maxims,
will give courage to his soldiers, and to the inhabitants of the
country; he gives time to his government to take proper precautions to
resist the enemy who attacks him; and thus changes the nature of this
disagreeable and vexatious kind of warfare.
The management of a defensive war requires more military judgment than
that of an offensive one.
A war between equal powers, is that in which the neighboring states
take no part, so long as the belligerent parties obtain no great
advantage, the one over the other. This sort of war never should last
long if you want to reap any advantages from it. As to its rules, they
are entirely conformable to those already given; but we may look on it
as a certain maxim in this sort of war, that the general who is the
most active and penetrating, will ever in the end prevail over him, who
possesses these qualities in a lesser degree; because, by his activity
and penetration, he will multiply small advantages, till at last they
procure him a decisive superiority. A general who is continually
attentive to procure himself small advantages, ever obtains his end,
which is to ruin the enemy’s army; in which case he changes the nature
of the war, and makes it offensive; which should ever be the chief
object of his prince.
_Auxiliary_ WAR, 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.
If it is in virtue of treaties, he observes them religiously, in
furnishing the number of troops prescribed, and even offering to
augment his quota, if required; or in making a diversion by attacking
the common enemy, or its allies.
If it is to prevent a neighboring prince from being crushed by a power,
who after this conquest may become dangerous to yourself, there are
several measures to be taken for your own particular interest. One of
the chief is, to exact from those you succor, the possession of some
place in security, lest they make their peace without your knowlege, or
to your prejudice.
The general, therefore, who is chosen for the command of this auxiliary
corps, should have wisdom, penetration, and foresight; wisdom, to
preserve a proper discipline in his corps, that the allied prince may
have no cause to complain of him; foresight and penetration, to prevent
his troops suffering for want of subsistence, or being exposed to
the perils of war, but in proportion to their numbers with those of
the allied prince; and, finally, that nothing shall pass without his
knowlege, which may be prejudicial to his master.
_Civil or intestine_ WAR, is that between subjects of the same realm,
or between parties in the same state. In this sense we say, the civil
wars of the Romans destroyed the republic; the civil wars of Grenada
ruined the power of the Moors in Spain: the civil wars in England began
1641, and ended in the tyrant’s death.
_Religious_ WAR, is war maintained in a state on account of religion,
one of the parties refusing to tolerate the other.
_Holy_ WAR, is that species of warfare which was anciently maintained
by leagues and crusades, for the recovery of the Holy Land.
_Civil and religious_ WARS are ever unhappy for the states who sustain
them. These sorts of war, which the animosity of the different parties,
and fanaticism, always carry beyond the bounds of humanity, and the
duties of society, have in general, no other rules but those of the
_offensive_ and _defensive_. It has however always been observed, that
civil wars form great men and good soldiers; because the rich and
poor, citizens and laborers, being equally obliged to fight for their
property and preservation, have all an opportunity of learning the art
of war. This species of war may likewise be called revolutionary, with
the additional circumstance, that in the latter sense it is of a more
extensive nature.
WAR _of opinion_. See OPINION.
_Articles of_ WAR.
SECT. I. _Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of
the United States of America, in Congress assembled_, That from and
after the passing of this act, the following shall be the rules and
articles by which the armies of the United States shall be governed:
Art. 1. Every officer now in the army of the United States, shall, in
six months from the passing of this act, and every officer who shall
hereafter be appointed, shall before he enters on the duties of his
office, subscribe these rules and regulations.
Art. 2. It is earnestly recommended to all officers and soldiers
diligently to attend divine service; and all officers who shall behave
indecently or irreverently at any place of divine worship, shall, if
commissioned officers, be brought before a general court-martial,
there to be publicly and severely reprimanded by the president; if
non-commissioned officers or soldiers, every person so offending shall,
for his first offence, forfeit _one sixth of a dollar_, to be deducted
out of his next pay; for the second offence, he shall not only forfeit
a like sum, but be confined twenty-four hours; and for every like
offense shall suffer and pay in like manner; which money, so forfeited,
shall be applied by the captain or senior officer of the troop or
company, to the use of the sick soldiers of the company or troop to
which the offender belongs.
Art. 3. Any non-commissioned officer or soldier who shall use any
profane oath or execration shall incur the penalties expressed in the
foregoing article, and a commissioned officer shall forfeit and pay
for each and every such offence one dollar, to be applied as in the
preceding article.
Art. 4. Every chaplain commissioned in the army or armies of the United
States, who shall absent himself from the duties assigned him (except
in cases of sickness or leave of absence) shall, on conviction thereof
before a court-martial, be fined not exceeding one month’s pay, besides
the loss of his pay during his absence; or be discharged, as the said
court-martial shall judge proper.
Art. 5. Any officer or soldier who shall use contemptuous or
disrespectful words against the president of the United States, against
the vice-president thereof, against the congress of the United States,
or against the chief magistrate or legislature of any of the United
States in which he may be quartered, if a commissioned officer, shall
be cashiered, or otherwise punished as a court-martial shall direct; if
a non-commissioned officer or soldier, he shall suffer such punishment
as shall be inflicted on him by the sentence of a court-martial.
Art. 6. Any officer or soldier who shall behave himself with contempt
or disrespect towards his commanding officer, shall be punished
according to the nature of his offence, by the judgment of a
court-martial.
Art. 7. Any officer or soldier who shall begin, excite, cause, or join
in any mutiny or sedition in any troop or company in the service of
the United States, or in any party, post, detachment, or guard, shall
suffer death, or such other punishment as by a court-martial shall be
inflicted.
Art. 8. Any officer, non-commissioned officer, or soldier, who, being
present at any mutiny or sedition, does not use his utmost endeavor to
suppress the same, or coming to the knowlege of any intended mutiny,
does not without delay, give information thereof to his commanding
officer, shall be punished by the sentence of a court-martial with
death or otherwise, according to the nature of his offence.
Art. 9. Any officer or soldier who shall strike his superior officer,
or draw or lift up any weapon, or offer any violence against him, being
in the execution of his office, on any pretence whatsoever, or shall
disobey any lawful command of his superior officer, shall suffer death,
or such other punishment as shall, according to the nature of his
offence, be inflicted upon him by the sentence of a court-martial.
Art. 10. Every non-commissioned officer, or soldier, who shall inlist
himself in the service of the United States, shall, at the time of his
so inlisting, or within six days afterwards, have the articles for
the government of the armies of the United States, read to him, and
shall, by the officer who inlisted him, or by the commanding officer
of the troop or company into which he was inlisted, be taken before
the next justice of the peace, or chief magistrate of any city or town
corporate, not being an officer of the army, or where recourse cannot
be had to the civil magistrate, before the judge advocate, and, in
his presence, shall take the following oath or affirmation: “I A. B.
do solemnly swear, or affirm, (as the case may be) that I will bear
true allegiance to the United States of America, and that I will serve
them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies, or opposers,
whatsoever, and observe and obey the orders of the president of the
United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me,
according to the rules and articles for the government of the armies of
the United States.” Which justice, magistrate, or judge advocate is to
give the officer a certificate, signifying that the man inlisted, did
take the said oath, or affirmation.
Art. 11. After a non-commissioned officer or soldier, shall have
been duly inlisted and sworn, he shall not be dismissed the service
without a discharge in writing; and no discharge granted to him
shall be sufficient, which is not signed by a field officer of the
regiment to which he belongs, or commanding officer, where no field
officer of the regiment is present; and no discharge shall be given
to a non-commissioned officer or soldier, before his term of service
has expired, but by order of the president, the secretary of war,
the commanding officer of a department, or the sentence of a general
court-martial, nor shall a commissioned officer be discharged the
service, but by order of the president of the United States, or by
sentence of a general court-martial.
Art. 12. Every colonel, or other officer commanding a regiment, troop,
or company, and actually quartered with it, may give furloughs to
non-commissioned officers or soldiers, in such numbers, and for so long
a time as he shall judge to be most consistent with the good of the
service; and a captain or other inferior officer commanding a troop or
company, or in any garrison, fort or barrack of the United States, (his
field officer being absent), may give furloughs to non-commissioned
officers or soldiers, for a time not exceeding twenty days in six
months, but not to more than two persons to be absent at the same time,
excepting some extraordinary occasion should require it.
Art. 13. At every muster, the commanding officer of each regiment,
troop, or company there present, shall give to the commissary of
musters, or other officer who musters the said regiment, troop, or
company, certificates signed by himself, signifying how long such
officers, as shall not appear at the said muster, have been absent, and
the reason of their absence. In like manner, the commanding officer
of every troop, or company, shall give certificates, signifying the
reasons of the absence of the non-commissioned officers and private
soldiers, which reasons, and time of absence, shall be inserted in the
muster-rolls opposite the name of the respective absent officers and
soldiers. The certificates shall, together with the muster-rolls, be
remitted by the commissary of musters, or other officer mustering, to
the department of war as speedily as the distance of the place will
admit.
Art. 14. Every officer who shall be convicted, before a general
court-martial, of having signed a false certificate, relating to the
absence of either officer or private soldier, or relative to his or
their pay, shall be cashiered.
Art. 15. Every officer who shall knowingly make a false muster of manor
horse, and every officer or commissary of musters, who shall willingly
sign, direct or allow the signing of muster-rolls, wherein such false
muster is contained, shall, upon proof made thereof by two witnesses,
before a general court-martial, be cashiered, and shall be therefore
utterly disabled to have or hold any office or employment in the
service of the United States.
Art. 16. Any commissary of musters or other officer, who shall
be convicted of having taken money or other thing, by way of
gratification, on the mustering any regiment, troop or company, or on
the signing muster-rolls, shall be displaced from his office, and shall
be thereby utterly disabled to have or hold any office or employment in
the service of the United States.
Art. 17. Any officer who shall presume to muster a person as a soldier,
who is not a soldier, shall be deemed guilty of having made a false
muster, and shall suffer accordingly.
Art. 18. Every officer who shall knowingly make a false return to the
department of war, or to any of his superior officers, authorised to
call for such returns, of the state of the regiment, troop, or company,
or garrison, under his command; or of the arms, ammunition, clothing,
or other stores thereunto belonging, shall, on conviction thereof
before a court-martial, be cashiered.
Art 19. The commanding officer of every regiment, troop, or independent
company, or garrison of the United States, shall, in the beginning of
every month, remit through the proper channels, to the department of
war, an exact return of the regiment, troop, independent company, or
garrison, under his command, specifying the names of officers then
absent from their posts, and the reasons for, and the time of their
absence. And any officer who shall be convicted of having, through
neglect or design, omitted sending such returns, shall be punished
according to the nature of his crime, by the judgment of a general
court-martial.
Art. 20. All officers and soldiers, who have received pay, or have
been duly inlisted in the service of the United States, and shall be
convicted of having deserted the same, shall suffer death, or such
other punishment as by sentence of a court-martial shall be inflicted.
Art. 21. Any non-commissioned officer or soldier, who shall, without
leave from his commanding officer, absent himself from his troop,
company, or detachment, shall, upon being convicted thereof, be
punished according to the nature of his offence at the discretion of a
court-martial.
Art. 22. No non-commissioned officer or soldier, shall inlist himself
in any other regiment, troop, or company, without a regular discharge
from the regiment, troop, or company, in which he last served, on
the penalty of being reputed a deserter, and suffering accordingly.
And in case any officer shall knowingly receive and entertain such
non-commissioned officer or soldier, or shall not, after his being
discovered to be a deserter, immediately confine him, and give notice
thereof to the corps in which he last served, the said officer shall by
a court-martial be cashiered.
Art. 23. Any officer or soldier, who shall be convicted of having
advised or persuaded any other officer or soldier, to desert the
service of the United States, shall suffer death, or such other
punishment as shall be inflicted upon him by the sentence of a
court-martial.
Art. 24. No officer or soldier shall use any reproachful or provoking
speeches or gestures to another, upon pain, if an officer, of being put
in arrest; if a soldier, confined, and of asking pardon of the party
offended, in the presence of his commanding officer.
Art. 25. No officer or soldier shall send a challenge to another
officer or soldier, to fight a duel, or accept a challenge, if sent,
upon pain, if a commissioned officer, of being cashiered; if a
non-commissioned officer or soldier, of suffering corporeal punishment
at the discretion of a court-martial.
Art. 26. If any commissioned or non-commissioned officer commanding a
guard, shall knowingly or willingly suffer any person whatsoever to go
forth to fight a duel, he shall be punished as a challenger; and all
seconds, promoters and carriers of challenges, in order to duels, shall
be deemed principals, and be punished accordingly. And it shall be the
duty of every officer, commanding an army, regiment, company, post, or
detachment, who is knowing to a challenge being given, or accepted, by
any officer, non-commissioned officer, or soldier, under his command,
or has reason to believe the same to be the case, immediately to
arrest and bring to trial such offenders.
Art. 27. All officers, of what condition soever, have power to part and
quell all quarrels, frays, and disorders, though the persons concerned
should belong to another regiment, troop, or company; and either to
order officers into arrest, or non-commissioned officers or soldiers
into confinement, until their proper superior officers shall be
acquainted therewith; and whosoever shall refuse to obey such officer
(though of an inferior rank) or shall draw his sword upon him, shall be
punished at the discretion of a general court-martial.
Art. 28. Any officer or soldier, who shall upbraid another for
refusing a challenge, shall himself be punished as a challenger; and
all officers and soldiers are hereby discharged from any disgrace or
opinion of disadvantage, which might arise from their having refused to
accept of challenges, as they will only have acted in obedience to the
laws, and done their duty as good soldiers, who subject themselves to
discipline.
Art. 29. No sutler shall be permitted to sell any kind of liquors or
victuals, or to keep their houses or shops open for the entertainment
of soldiers, after nine at night, or before the beating of the
reveilles, or upon Sundays, during divine service or sermon, on the
penalty of being dismissed from all future sutling.
Art. 30. All officers commanding in the field, forts, barracks, or
garrisons of the United States, are hereby required to see that the
persons permitted to sutle, shall supply the soldiers with good and
wholesome provision, or other articles, at a reasonable price, as they
shall be answerable for their neglect.
Art. 31. No officer commanding in any of the garrisons, forts, or
barracks of the United States, shall exact exorbitant prices for
houses or stalls let out to sutlers, or connive at the like exactions
in others; nor by his own authority, and for his private advantage,
lay any duty or imposition upon, or be interested in the sale of any
victuals, liquors, or other necessaries of life, brought into the
garrison, fort, or barracks, for the use of the soldiers, on the
penalty of being discharged from the service.
Art. 32. Every officer commanding in quarters, garrisons, or on the
march, shall keep good order, and to the utmost of his power, redress
all abuses or disorders, which may be committed by any officer or
soldier under his command; if upon complaint made to him of officers
or soldiers beating, or otherwise ill treating any person, of
disturbing fairs or markets, or of committing any kinds of riots,
to the disquieting of the citizens of the United States, he, the
said commander, who shall refuse or omit to see justice done to the
offender or offenders, and reparation made to the party or parties
injured, as far as part of the offender’s pay shall enable him or
them, shall, upon proof thereof, be cashiered or punished, as a general
court-martial shall direct.
Art. 33. When any commissioned officer or soldier, shall be accused of
a capital crime, or of having used violence, or committed any offence
against the persons or property of any citizen of any of the United
States, such as is punishable by the known laws of the land, the
commanding officer, and officers of every regiment, troop, or company,
to which the person or persons, so accused, shall belong, are hereby
required, upon application duly made by, or in behalf of the party, or
parties injured, to use their utmost endeavors to deliver over such
accused person or persons, to the civil magistrate, and likewise to be
aiding and assisting to the officers of justice, in apprehending and
securing the person or persons so accused, in order to bring him or
them to trial. If any commanding officer or officers, shall wilfully
neglect, or shall refuse, upon the application aforesaid, to deliver
over such accused person or persons, to the civil magistrates, or to be
aiding and assisting to the officers of justice in apprehending such
person or persons, the officer or officers, so offending, shall be
cashiered.
Art. 34. If any officer shall think himself wronged by his colonel,
or the commanding officer of the regiment, and shall, upon due
application being made to him, be refused redress, he may complain to
the general, commanding in the state, or territory where such regiment
shall be stationed, in order to obtain justice; who is hereby required
to examine into the said complaint, and take proper measures for
redressing the wrong complained of, and transmit as soon as possible,
to the department of war, a true state of such complaint, with the
proceedings had thereon.
Art. 35. If any inferior officer, or soldier, shall think himself
wronged by his captain, or other officer, he is to complain thereof
to the commanding officer of the regiment, who is hereby required
to summon a regimental court-martial, for the doing justice to the
complainant; from which regimental court-martial, either party may, if
he thinks himself still aggrieved, appeal to a general court-martial.
But if, upon a second hearing, the appeal shall appear vexatious
and groundless, the person, so appealing, shall be punished at the
discretion of the said court-martial.
Art. 36. Any commissioned officer, store keeper, or commissary, who
shall be convicted, at a general court-martial, of having sold, without
a proper order for that purpose, embezzled, misapplied, or wilfully,
or through neglect, suffered any of the provisions, forage, arms,
clothing, ammunition, or other military stores, belonging to the United
States, to be spoiled, or damaged, shall at his own expence, make good
the loss or damage, and shall moreover, forfeit all his pay, and be
dismissed from the service.
Art. 37. Any non-commissioned officer or soldier, who shall be
convicted, at a regimental court-martial, of having sold, or
designedly, or through neglect, wasted the ammunition delivered out
to him, to be employed in the service of the United States, shall be
punished at the discretion of such court.
Art. 38. Every non-commissioned officer or soldier, who shall be
convicted before a court-martial, as having sold, lost, or spoiled,
through neglect, his horse, arms, clothes, or accoutrements, shall be
put under such weekly stoppages (not exceeding the half of his pay) as
such court-martial shall judge sufficient for repairing the loss or
damage; and shall suffer confinement or such other corporeal punishment
as his crime shall deserve.
Art. 39. Every officer, who shall be convicted before a court-martial,
of having embezzled, or misapplied any money with which he may have
been entrusted, for the payment of the men under his command, or
for enlisting men into the service, or for other purposes, if a
commissioned officer, shall be cashiered, and compelled to refund the
money; if a non-commissioned officer, shall be reduced to the ranks,
be put under stoppages until the money be made good, and suffer such
corporeal punishment as such court-martial shall direct.
Art. 40. Every captain of a troop, or company, is charged with the
arms, accoutrements, ammunition, clothing, or other warlike stores
belonging to the troop, or company under his command, which he is to be
accountable for to his colonel, in case of their being lost, spoiled,
or damaged, not by unavoidable accidents, or on actual service.
Art. 41. All non-commissioned officers and soldiers, who shall be
found one mile from the camp, without leave, in writing, from their
commanding officer, shall suffer such punishment as shall be inflicted
upon them by the sentence of a court-martial.
Art. 42. No officer or soldier, shall lie out of his quarters,
garrison, or camp, without leave from his superior officer, upon
penalty of being punished according to the nature of his offence, by
the sentence of a court-martial.
Art. 43. Every non-commissioned officer and soldier shall retire to his
quarters or tent, at the beating of the retreat; in default of which he
shall be punished according to the nature of his offence.
Art. 44. No officer, non-commissioned officer or soldier, shall fail in
repairing, at the time fixed, to the place of parade, of exercise or
other rendezvous, appointed by his commanding officer, if not prevented
by sickness, or some other evident necessity; or shall go from the said
place of rendezvous, without leave from his commanding officer, before
he shall be regularly dismissed or relieved, on the penalty of being
punished according to the nature of his offence by the sentence of a
court-martial.
Art. 45. Any commissioned officer, who shall be found drunk on his
guard, party, or other duty, shall be cashiered. Any non-commissioned
officer or soldier so offending, shall suffer such corporeal punishment
as shall be inflicted by the sentence of a court-martial.
Art. 46. Any centinel who shall be found sleeping upon his post, or
shall leave it before he shall be regularly relieved, shall suffer
death, or such other punishment as shall be inflicted by the sentence
of a court-martial.
Art. 47. No soldier belonging to any regiment, troop, or company, shall
hire another to do his duty for him, or be excused from duty, but in
cases of sickness, disability, or leave of absence; and every such
soldier found guilty of hiring his duty, as also the party so hired to
do another’s duty, shall be punished at the discretion of a regimental
court-martial.
Art. 48. And every non-commissioned officer conniving at such hiring
of duty aforesaid, shall be reduced; and every commissioned officer,
knowing and allowing such ill practices in the service, shall be
punished by the judgment of a general court-martial.
Art. 49. Any officer belonging to the service of the United States,
who, by discharging of firearms, drawing of swords, beating of drums,
or by any other means whatsoever, shall occasion false alarms in camp,
garrison, or quarters, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as
shall be ordered by the sentence of a general court-martial.
Art. 50. Any officer or soldier, who shall, without urgent necessity,
or without the leave of his superior officer, quit his guard, platoon,
or division, shall be punished according to the nature of his offence,
by the sentence of a court-martial.
Art. 51. No officer or soldier shall do violence to any person who
brings provisions or other necessaries to the camp, garrison or
quarters, of the forces of the United States, employed in any parts out
of the said states, upon pain of death, or such other punishment as a
court-martial shall direct.
Art. 52, Any officer or soldier, who shall misbehave himself before
the enemy, run away, or shamefully abandon any fort, post, or guard,
which he or they may be commanded to defend, or speak words inducing
others to do the like; or shall cast away his arms and ammunition, or
who shall quit his post or colors to plunder and pillage, every such
offender being duly convicted thereof, shall suffer death, or such
other punishment as shall be ordered by the sentence of a general
court-martial.
Art. 53. Any person belonging to the armies of the United States, who
shall make known the watch-word to any person who is not entitled
to receive it, according to the rules and discipline of war, or
shall presume to give a parole or watch-word, different from what he
received, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as shall be
ordered by the sentence of a general court-martial.
Art. 54. All officers and soldiers are to behave themselves orderly in
quarters, and on their march; and whosoever shall commit any waste, or
spoil, either in walks of trees, parks, warrens, fish ponds, houses,
or gardens, corn fields, enclosures of meadows, or shall maliciously
destroy any property whatsoever, belonging to the inhabitants of the
United States, unless by order of the then commander in chief of the
armies of the said states, shall (besides such penalties as they are
liable to by law,) be punished according to the nature and degree of
the offence, by the judgment of a regimental or general court-martial.
Art. 55. Whosoever, belonging to the armies of the United States,
employed in foreign parts, shall force a safe-guard, shall suffer death.
Art. 56. Whosoever shall relieve the enemy with money, victuals, or
ammunition, or shall knowingly harbor or protect an enemy, shall suffer
death, or such other punishment as shall be ordered by the sentence of
a court-martial.
Art. 57. Whosoever shall be convicted of holding correspondence with,
or giving intelligence to the enemy, either directly or indirectly,
shall suffer death, or such other punishment as shall be ordered by the
sentence of a court-martial.
Art. 58. All public stores taken in the enemy’s camp, towns, forts,
or magazines, whether of artillery, ammunition, clothing, forage, or
provisions, shall be secured for the service of the United States; for
the neglect of which the commanding officer is to be answerable.
Art. 59. If any commander of any garrison, fortress or post, shall
be compelled, by the officers and soldiers under his command, to
give up to the enemy, or to abandon it; the commissioned officers,
non-commissioned officers, or soldiers, who shall be convicted of
having so offended, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as
shall be inflicted upon them by the sentence of a court-martial.
Art. 60. All sutlers and retainers to the camp, and all persons
whatsoever, serving with the armies of the U. States in the field,
though not inlisted soldiers, are to be subject to orders, according to
the rules and discipline of war.
Art. 61. Officers having brevets, or commissions, of a prior date
to those of the regiment in which they serve, may take place in
courts-martial and on detachments, when composed of different corps,
according to the ranks given them in their brevets, or dates of
their former commissions; but in the regiment, troop, or company, to
which such officers belong, they shall do duty and take rank, both
in courts-martial and on detachments, which shall be composed only
of their own corps, according to the commissions by which they are
mustered in the said corps.
Art. 62. If upon marches, guards, or in quarters, different corps
of the army shall happen to join, or do duty together, the officer
highest in rank of the line of the army, marine corps, or militia, by
commission there, on duty, or in quarters, shall command the whole,
and give orders for what is needful to the service, unless otherwise
specially directed by the president of the U. States, according to the
nature of the case.
Art. 63. The functions of the engineers being generally confined to the
most elevated branch of military science, they are not to assume, nor
are they subject to be ordered on any duty beyond the line of their
immediate profession, except by the special order of the president of
the U. States; but they are to receive every mark of respect, to which
their rank in the army may entitle them, respectively, and are liable
to be transferred, at the discretion of the president, from one corps
to another, regard being paid to rank.
Art. 64. General courts-martial may consist of any number of
commissioned officers, from five to thirteen, inclusively, but they
shall not consist of less than thirteen, where that number can be
convened, without manifest injury to the service.
Art. 65. Any general officer commanding an army, or colonel commanding
a separate department, may appoint general courts-martial, whenever
necessary. But no sentence of a court-martial shall be carried into
execution until after the whole proceedings shall have been laid before
the officer ordering the same, or the officer commanding the troops for
the time being; neither shall any sentence of a general court-martial,
in time of peace, extending to the loss of life, or the dismission of a
commissioned officer, or which shall, either in time of peace or war,
respect a general officer, be carried into execution, until after the
whole proceedings shall have been transmitted to the secretary of war,
to be laid before the president of the U. States, for his confirmation
or disapproval, and orders in the case. All other sentences may be
confirmed and executed by the officer ordering the court to assemble,
or the commanding officer, for the time being, as the case may be.
Art. 66. Every officer commanding a regiment, or corps, may appoint,
for his own regiment, or corps, courts-martial, to consist of three
commissioned officers, for the trial and punishment of offences, not
capital, and decide upon their sentences. For the same purpose, all
officers, commanding any of the garrisons, forts, barracks, or other
places, where the troops consist of different corps, may assemble
courts-martial, to consist of three commissioned officers, and decide
upon their sentences.
Art. 67. No garrison, or regimental court-martial shall have the power
to try capital cases, or commissioned officers; neither shall they
inflict a fine exceeding one month’s pay, nor imprison, nor put to hard
labor, any non-commissioned officer or soldier, for a longer time than
one month.
Art. 68. Whenever it may be found convenient and necessary to the
public service, the officers of the marines shall be associated
with the officers of the land forces, for the purpose of holding
courts-martial and trying offenders belonging to either; and in such
cases the orders of the senior officer of either corps, who may be
present and duly authorised, shall be received and obeyed.
Art. 69. The judge advocate, or some person deputed by him, or by the
general or officer commanding the army, detachment, or garrison, shall
prosecute in the name of the U. States, but shall so far consider
himself as counsel for the prisoner, after the said prisoner shall
have made his plea, as to object to any leading question to any of the
witnesses, or any question to the prisoner, the answer to which might
tend to criminate himself; and to administer to each member of the
court, before they proceed upon any trial, the following oath, which
shall also be taken by all members of the regimental and garrison
courts-martial:
“You A. B. do swear that you will well and truly try and determine,
according to evidence, the matter now before you, between the United
States of America and the prisoner to be tried; and that you will
duly administer justice, according to the provisions of ‘An act
establishing rules and articles for the government of the armies of
the United States,’ without partiality, favor, or affection: and if
any doubt shall arise, not explained by said articles, according to
your conscience, the best of your understanding, and the custom of war
in like cases: and you do further swear, that you will not divulge
the sentence of the court until it shall be published by the proper
authority: neither will you disclose or discover the vote or opinion
of any particular member of the court-martial, unless required to give
evidence thereof as a witness, by a court of justice, in a due course
of law. _So help you God._”
And as soon as the said oath shall have been administered to the
respective members, the president of the court shall administer to the
judge advocate, or person officiating as such, an oath in the following
words:
“You A. B. do swear, that you will not disclose or discover the vote or
opinion of any particular member of the court-martial, unless required
to give evidence thereof as a witness, by a court of justice in due
course of law; nor divulge the sentence of the court to any but the
proper authority, until it shall be duly disclosed by the same. _So
help you God._”
Art. 70. When a prisoner arraigned before a general court-martial
shall, from obstinacy and deliberate design, stand mute or answer
foreign to the purpose, the court may proceed to trial and judgment as
if the prisoner had regularly pleaded not guilty.
Art 71. When a member shall be challenged by a prisoner, he must
state his cause of challenge, of which the court shall, after due
deliberation, determine the relevancy or validity, and decide
accordingly; and no challenge to more than one member at a time shall
be received by the court.
Art. 72. All the members of a court-martial are to behave with decency
and calmness; and in giving their votes, are to begin with the youngest
in commission.
Art. 73. All persons who give evidence before a court-martial, are to
be examined on oath or affirmation in the following form:
“You swear or affirm (as the case may be) the evidence you shall give
in the cause now in hearing, shall be the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth. _So help you God._”
Art. 74. On the trials of cases not capital, before courts-martial, the
deposition of witnesses not in the line of staff of the army, may be
taken before some justice of the peace, and read in evidence: provided,
the prosecutor and the person accused are present at the taking the
same, or are duly notified thereof.
Art. 75. No officer shall be tried but by a general court-martial, nor
by officers of an inferior rank, if it can be avoided: nor shall any
proceedings or trials be carried on excepting between the hours of
eight in the morning, and three in the afternoon, excepting in cases,
which, in the opinion, of the officer appointing the court-martial,
require immediate example.
Art. 76. No person whatsoever shall use any menacing words, signs, or
gestures, in presence of a court-martial, or shall cause any disorder
or riot, or disturb their proceedings, on the penalty of being
punished, at the discretion of the said court-martial.
Art. 77. Whenever any officer shall be charged with a crime, he shall
be arrested and confined in his barracks, quarters, or tent, and
deprived of his sword, by the commanding officer. And any officer who
shall leave his confinement before he shall be set at liberty by his
commanding officer, or by a superior officer, shall be cashiered.
Art. 78. Non-commissioned officers and soldiers, charged with crimes,
shall be confined, until tried by a court-martial, or released by
proper authority.
Art. 79. No officer or soldier who shall be put in arrest, shall
continue in confinement more than eight days, or until such time as a
court-martial can be assembled.