Part 108

MOUSQUETADE, _Fr._ a musquet shot. _Il fut tué d’une mousquetade_; he was killed by a musquet shot. This term is generally used to express a smart discharge of musquetry: _On a entendu une vive_ MOUSQUETADE; they have heard a brisk discharge of musquetry.

MOUSQUETAIRES, Musqueteers, _Fr._ A body of men so called during the old government of France. It consisted of two companies, selected from the young men of noble extraction. The first company was formed in 1622, by Louis XIII. out of another company, called his Majesty’s Carabineers. The king was captain, so that the person who commanded had only the rank of captain lieutenant. The company remained upon this footing until 1640, when it was reduced at the instigation of cardinal Mazarine, who from personal motives, had taken a decided aversion to it. But Louis XIV. restored it in 1657, by the same appellation, and increased the establishment to 150 musqueteers. They were commanded by one captain-lieutenant, one sub-lieutenant, two ensigns, and two quarter-masters.

The second company, when first created, was attached to cardinal Mazarine as his personal guard; but the officers received their commissions from the king. An alteration took place in the management of this company in 1660, the men being incorporated with the rest of the troops that were destined for the immediate protection of his majesty’s person. In consequence of this change they did duty on foot, but were again mounted, in order to accompany the expedition against Marsal, which took place that year.

Louis XIV. named himself captain of this company, as well as of the first; and from that period both companies became subject to the same regulations, with no other difference, than that of precedency as first and second company. From the year 1663, the establishment of each company was 300, exclusive of the officers. They were subsequently reduced to a lower establishment. Having originally been raised to serve on foot or horseback, the mousquetaires were allowed drums and fifes when they acted as infantry troops; and trumpets when they acted as cavalry. In 1603 hautboys were substituted for fifes and trumpets. It is supposed that mounted drummers were first used among the mousquetaires du Roi. Previous to the revolution, each of these companies consisted of one captain-lieutenant, two sub-lieutenants, two ensigns, two cornets, two aid-majors, eight quarter-masters, four brigadiers, sixteen sub-brigadiers, six standard-bearers, one ensign or color-bearer, one hundred and eighty musqueteers, six drummers, four hautboys, one commissary, one chaplain, one quarter-master serjeant, one surgeon, one apothecary, one blacksmith, one saddler, and three treasurers.

This corps was raised, not only for the purpose of attending his majesty on foot or horseback, and of going on service, as circumstances might require, but it was further intended to be a sort of military school for the French nobility. Several princes, almost all the general officers, and old marshals of France, were indebted to this establishment for the first elements of military science.

The officers, belonging to these companies, clothed, armed, and mounted themselves, without putting government to the expence of one shilling. Their uniform was a scarlet coat faced with the same, and a scarlet waistcoat. Those attached to the first company had gold buttons and button-holes, and their coats were edged with gold. Those attached to the second company, had the same ornaments in silver; their hats, in which they wore a white feather, were laced according to the same distinction, as were likewise their horse cloths and holsters. Instead of the musquet, which they formerly carried, they were latterly armed with a carbine, two pistols in the saddle-bow, and a sword calculated for infantry or cavalry duty. The brigadiers and sub-brigadiers were armed in the same manner. The quarter-masters, when mounted, had only a sword and two pistols, but on foot they each carried a halbert or pike, which they used as the sergeants belonging to infantry regiments were directed to do.

The cloaks and great coats of the mousquetaires were made of blue cloth laced with silver. The quarter-masters, brigadiers, and sub-brigadiers, wore the same, with more or less lace according to the rank they held. These cloaks, &c. were distinguished from those worn by the rest of the army; having white crosses sewed before and behind with red streaks running into the corners or rentrant angles. The first company was marked with red, and the second with yellow streaks. The uniform of the superior officers, (who were generally called _officiers a hausse-col_, or officers wearing gorgets or breast plates) was embroidered in gold or silver, according to the company which they commanded. The troop horses of the first company, were of a white or dapple-grey color; those of the second company were black. Each company had a flag and two standards: so that when the mousquetaires served on foot, the flag or color was unfurled, and the standards were cased; and when they were mounted, the standards were displayed, and the colors cased. The standards belonging to the first company represented a bomb falling upon a besieged town, with this motto: _Quo ruit et lethum_: those of the second company bore a bunch of arrows, with these words underneath: _Alterius Jovis altera tela_. The mousquetaires received their colors from the king’s hands.

The mousquetaires never served on horseback, except when the king travelled: on those occasions they stood next to the light horse. Their duty when on foot, was the same as that of the royal regiment of guards.

When they did duty on foot at the palace, they were provided with a handsome table at the expence of the civil list. The two companies always mounted guard without being mixed with any other troops; whereas the rest of the household did duty by detachment.

The mousquetaires did not take rank in the army, but they enjoyed the same privileges that were attached to the body guards, gensdarmes, and light horse. They were frequently called _mousquetaires gris_, and _mousquetaires noirs_, from the color of their horses.

MOUSSE, _Fr._ Moss.

MOUSSE, _garcon de bord_, _Fr._ a cabin boy. The _Powder Monkey_, on board ships of war, corresponds with the term Mousse. According to a French writer, these boys were so hardly used in the old French navy, that, whether they deserved punishment or not, some captains of ships directed them to be chastised regularly once a week.

MOUSTACHE, _Fr._ This word was originally derived from the Greek, adopted by the Italians, subsequently by the French, and then used generally. It literally means the hair which is allowed to grow upon the upper lip of a man; and which is better known amongst us by the familiar term whiskers. The French use it in a figurative sense, viz.

_Enlever sur la moustache, jusque sur la moustache de quelqu’un_, _Fr._ To seize or take possession of any thing under the very nose, or in the presence of a person. _Les ennemis sont venus pour défendre cette place, on la leur a enlevée sur la moustache._ The enemy drew near to defend the town, but it was taken under their very whiskers.

_Donner sur la_ MOUSTACHE, _Fr._ To give a slap on the face.

MOUTARDE, _Fr._ means literally mustard. The word, however, is frequently used by the French in a figurative sense, viz. _S’amuser à la moutarde_. To be uselessly employed, or busy about nothing. It is likewise used to express impatience: _La moutarde lui monte au nez_, _Fr._ The mustard rises in his nose, that is, he grows restless and impatient.

_C’est de la_ MOUTARDE _après diner_, _Fr._ This expression is in general use among the French, and signifies, that assistance, &c. is brought when there is no longer need of it. When commissaries, &c. make up a lame account for monies received, it is common to say. _Et le reste en moutarde._

MOUTH. See _Muzzle_.

MOUTH _of_ FIRE. The entrance into the garrison of Gibraltar by the grand battery and the old Mole, is so called by the Spaniards, on account of the formidable appearance of the ordnance from the lines.

MOUTONNIER, _Fr._ Sheep-like; gregarious.

MOUVEMENS _de Tête_, _Fr._ Motions of the head. For the English explanation of these motions, see _eyes_. The French express them in the following manner: _Tête à droite_, right dress.--_Tête à gauche_, left dress.--_Fixe_, front dress.

MOUVEMENS _des troupes sous les armes_, _Fr._ By these are understood the different changes of position, and the various facings which soldiers go through under arms.

MOUVEMENS _de pied ferme_, _Fr._ That exercise, consisting of the manual and facings, which a soldier performs, without quitting his original ground. The left foot on this occasion becomes a standing pivot.

MOUVEMENS _ouverts_, _Fr._ Movements, or evolutions, which are made at open order.

MOUVEMENS _serrés_, _Fr._ Movements, or evolutions, which are made at close order.

MOUVEMENS _opposés_, _Fr._ Opposite movements, or evolutions.

MOUVEMENT, _Fr._ See MOVEMENT.

MOUVEMENT, _Fr._ See MOTION for its general acceptation.

MOUVEMENS, _Fr._ Commotions, broils.

MOYENNE, _Fr._ A piece of ordnance formerly so called. See MINION.

MOYEN. The bastions which are constructed on the angles are called royal bastions. Some engineers have distinguished those bastions by the name of _moyens royaux_, or medium royals, whose flanks contain from ninety to one hundred toises.

MOYENNE _Ville_, _Fr._ A term given by the French to any town in which the garrison is equal to the third of the inhabitants, and which is not deemed sufficiently important to bear the expence of a citadel; more especially so, because it is not in the power of the inhabitants to form seditious meetings without the knowlege of the soldiers who are quartered on them.

MOYENS _côtés_, _Fr._ In fortification, are those sides which contain from eighty to one hundred and twenty toises in extent: these are always fortified with bastions on their angles. The _moyens côtés_, are generally found along the extent of irregular places; and each one of these is individually subdivided into small, mean, and great sides.

MUD-WALLS. The ancient fortifications consisted chiefly of mud or clay, thrown up in any convenient form for defence against sudden inroads.

MUET, _Fr._ See MUTE.

_To_ MUFFLE. To wrap any thing up so as to deaden the sound, which might otherwise issue from the contact of two hard substances. When the French effected their passage over the march Albaredo, on their route to the plain of Marengo, they were so much exposed to the Austrians, that, in order to get their artillery and ammunition over, without being betrayed by the noise of the carriage wheels, and the clattering of the horses’ shoes, both were muffled with bands of hay and straw, and dung was spread over the ground. In this manner they crossed that stupendous rock. Thirty men were put to the drag ropes of each piece, and as many were employed to draw up the caissons.

MUFFLED. Drums are muffled at military funerals or burials, and at military executions, particularly when a soldier is shot for some capital crime.

MUGS. An Indian nation, living on the borders of Bengal and Arracan.

MUHLAGIS, _Fr._ Turkish cavalry which is mounted by expert horsemen, who generally attend the beglierbeys. They are not numerous.

MULATTOS, (_Mulâtre_, _Fr._) In the Indies, denotes one begotten by a negro man on an Indian woman, or by an Indian man on a negro woman. Those begotten of a Spanish woman and Indian man are called _metis_, and those begotten of a savage by a _metis_, are called _jambis_. They also differ very much in color, and in their hair.

Generally speaking, especially in Europe, and in the West Indies, a Mulatto is one begotten by a white man on a negro woman, or by a negro man on a white woman. The word is Spanish, _mulata_, and formed of _mula_, a mule, being begotten as it were of two different species.

Mulattoes abound in the West Indies; so much so, that on the dangerous symptoms of insurrection, which appeared among the blacks after the success of Toussaint in St. Domingo, a proposal was made to the British government by a rich planter, to raise a mulatto corps, as an intermediate check upon the blacks. After six months suspence, the memorial was rejected by the war-minister.

MULCT. A soldier is said to be mulct of his pay when put under fine or stoppages for necessaries, or to make good some dilapidations committed by him on the property of the people or government.

MULTANGULAR, is said of a figure, or body which has many angles.

MULTILATERAL, having many sides.

MULTIPLE, one number containing another several times: as 9 is the multiple of 3, 16 that of 4, and so on.

MUNIMELL, a strong hold, fortification, &c.

MUNITION, _Fr._ This word is used among the French to express not only victuals and provisions, but also military stores and ammunition.

MUNITIONS _de bouche_, _Fr._ Victuals or provisions, (such as bread, salt, meat, vegetables, butter, wine, beer, brandy, &c. which may be procured for soldiers) are so called by the French. Corn, oats, hay, straw, and green forage, for cavalry, bear the same appellation. See SUBSISTENCE.

MUNITIONS _de guerre_, _Fr._ Military stores, such as gunpowder, shot, balls, bullets, matches, &c. See STORES.

MUNITIONNAIRE _ou entrepreneur des vivres_, _Fr._ Military purveyor, or commissary of stores. Amaury Bourguignon, from Niort, a town of Poitou, was the first _munitionnaire_ and _entrepréneur général_, or purveyor-general, among the French. He was appointed in the reign of Henry III. in 1574. See PURVEYOR.

MUNITIONNAIRE _pour la marine_, _Fr._ The head of the victualling office was so called among the French. There was a person on board every ship of war, called _commis_, or clerk, who acted under his orders. The appointment of the latter was somewhat similar to that of a purser in the British navy.

MUNSUBDAR, _Ind._ A title which gives the person invested with it, a right to have the command of ten thousand horse, with the permission of bearing amongst his ensigns that of the fish; neither of which distinctions is ever granted, excepting to persons of the first note in the empire. The office is called a _Munsub_, and it is generally supported by a district named, on which the corps is quartered.

MUR, _Fr._ a wall.

MUR CRENELE, _Fr._ A wall which has small intervals or spaces at the top, that serve more for ornament or ostentation than for real defence. This method of building prevailed very much in former times.

MUR _de face_, _Fr._ Outside wall of any building.

MUR _de face de devant_, _Fr._ Front outside wall; it is likewise called _mur anterieur_.

MUR _de face de derriére_, _Fr._ The wall which forms the backside of a building is so called: it is likewise named _mur postérieur_.

MURS _lateraux_, _Fr._ The side walls of a building.

_Gros_ MURS, _Fr._ All front and partition walls are so called.

MUR _de pierres sèches_, _Fr._ A wall that is built of stone, without mortar or cement. Walls or this construction are seen in several counties in England, particularly in the west country.

MUR _en l’air_, _Fr._ Every wall is so called that does not rise uniformly from a parallel foundation. Walls built upon arches are of this description.

MUR _mitoyen_, _Fr._ Partition wall.

MUR _d’appui_, _Fr._ Wall of support. Any wall that is built to support a quay, terrace, or balcony, or to secure the sides of a bridge, is so called. _Mur de parapet_, or parapet wall, may be considered as a wall of support.

MURAGE. Money appropriated to the repair of military works, was anciently so called.

MURAILLE _de revêtement_, _Fr._ the wall which surrounds a fortified place is so called.

_Charger en_ MURAILLE, _Fr._ To charge or attack an enemy, in a firm, compact, and steady line.

MURAL-_Crown_. See CROWN.

_Couronne_ MURALE, _Fr._ See MURAL-CROWN.

MURDRESSES, in _ancient fortification_, a sort of battlement with interstices, raised on the tops of towers to fire through.

_Ville_ MUREE, _Fr._ A walled town.

MURRION. See MORION.

MURTHERERS, or _murthering pieces_, small pieces of ordnance, having chambers, and made to load at the breech. They were mostly used at sea, in order to clear the decks when an enemy boarded a vessel.

MUSCULUS. Kennett in his Roman Antiquities, page 237, says, “the Musculus is conceived to have been much of the same nature as the _testudines_; but it seems to have been of a smaller size, and composed of stronger materials, being exposed a much longer time to the force of the enemy; for in these _musculi_, the pioneers were sent to the very walls, where they were to continue, while with their dolabræ or pick-axes, and other instruments, they endeavored to undermine the foundations.” Cæsar has described the _muscalus_ at large in his second book of the civil wars.

MUSIC, a general term for the musicians of a _regimental band_.

MUSICIANS. It has been often asked, why the dress of musicians, drummers and fifers, should be of so varied and motley a composition, making them appear more like harlequins and mountebanks, than military appendages? The following anecdote will explain the reason, as far at least as it regards the British service:--The musicians belonging to the English guards formerly wore plain blue coats, so that the instant they came off duty, and frequently in the intervals between, they visited alehouses, &c. without changing their uniform, and thus added considerably to its wear and tear. It will be here remarked, that the clothing of the musicians then fell wholly upon the colonels of regiments; no allowance being specifically made for that article by the public. It is probable, that some general officer undertook to prevent this abuse by obtaining permission to clothe the musicians, &c. in so fantastical a manner that they would be ashamed to exhibit themselves at public-houses, &c.

PHRYGIAN MUSIC. A martial sort of ancient music, which excited men to rage and battle: by this mode Timotheus stirred up Alexander to arms.

_Modes of_ MUSIC. There were three modes among the ancients, which took their names from particular countries, namely, the _Lydian_, the _Phrygian_, and the _Doric_.

MUSKET, MUSQUET, the most serviceable and commodious fire-arm used by an army. It carries a ball of 18 to 1 pound. Its length is 3 feet 6 inches from the muzzle to the pan. The Spaniards were the first who armed part of their foot with musquets. At first they were made very heavy, and could not be fired without a rest: they had match locks, and did execution at a great distance. These kinds of musquets and rests were used in England so late as the beginning of the civil wars.

MUSQUETS were first used at the siege of Rhege, in the year 1521.

MUSQUET BASKETS. These are about a foot, or a foot and an half high, eight or ten inches diameter at bottom, and a foot at the top; so that, being filled with earth, there is room to lay a musquet between them at bottom, being set on low breast-works, or parapets, or upon such as are beaten down.

MUSQUETEERS, soldiers armed with musquets; who, on a march, carried only their rests and ammunition, and had boys to bear their musquets after them. They were very slow in loading, not only by reason of the unwieldiness of the pieces, and because they carried the powder and ball separate, but from the time required to prepare and adjust the match: so that their fire was not so brisk as ours is now. Afterwards a lighter kind of matchlock musquet came in use; and they carried their ammunition in bandeliers, to which were hung several little cases of wood, covered with leather, each containing a charge of powder; the balls they carried loose in a pouch, and a priming-horn, hanging by their side. These arms were about the beginning of this century, universally laid aside in Europe, and the troops were armed with flint firelocks.

MUSQUETOONS, a kind of short thick musquet, whose bore is the 38th part of its length: it carries five ounces of iron, or 7¹⁄₂ of lead, with an equal quantity of powder. This is the shortest sort of blunderbusses.

MUSRAL. The noseband of a horse’s bridle.

MUSSUK, _Ind._ A skin in which water is carried.

MUSTACHES. Whiskers, worn by the Asiatics, Germans, Russians, and other foreign troops.

MUSTER, in _a military sense_, a review of troops under arms, to see if they be complete, and in good order; to take an account of their numbers, the condition they are in, viewing their arms, and accoutrements, &c.

MUSTER. This word is derived from the French _mustrer_, to shew. At a muster every man must be properly clothed and accoutred, &c. and answer to his name. The French call it _appel nominatif_. We call it an _Inspection_.

MUSTERS. By sect. 4th of the British Articles of War, it is enacted, that musters shall be taken of the regiments of life guards, horse guards, and foot guards, twice at least in every year, at such times as shall have been or may be appointed, and agreeably to the forms heretofore used therein.

The musters of every other regiment, troop, or company, in the service, are to be taken at such times, and in such manner, as is directed by the late regulations touching regimental and district paymasters, and the mode of mustering, paying, and settling the accompts of the army.

All commanding officers, and others concerned in the mustering, as well of the regiments of life guards, horse guards, and foot guards, as of the other forces, are enjoined to give the utmost care and attention to the making up of the muster rolls with strict exactness and accuracy.

Every officer who shall be convicted before a general court-martial of having signed a false certificate, relating to the absence of either officer, non-commissioned officer, or private soldier, will be cashiered.

Every officer who shall knowingly make a false muster of man or horse, and every officer and commissary, or muster-master, who shall wittingly sign, direct, or allow the signing of the muster rolls, wherein such false muster is contained, shall, upon proof made thereof, by two witnesses before a general court-martial, be cashiered, and suffer such other penalty as he is liable to by the act for punishing mutiny and desertion.

Any commissary or muster-master, who shall be convicted before a general court-martial, of having taken money, by way of gratification, on the mustering any regiment, troop, or company, or on the signing the muster-rolls, shall be displaced from his office, and suffer such other penalty as he is liable to by the said act.

Every colonel, or other field officer, commanding a regiment, troop, or company, and actually residing with it, may give furloughs to non-commissioned officers and soldiers, in such numbers, and for so long a time, as he shall judge to be most consistent with the good of our service; but no non-commissioned officer or soldier, shall, by leave of his captain, or inferior officer, commanding the troop or company, (his field officer not being present) be absent above twenty days in six months; nor shall more than two private men be absent at the same time from their troop or company, unless some extraordinary occasion shall require it; of which occasion the field officer present with and commanding the regiment is to be the judge.

It is strictly forbidden to muster any person as a soldier who does not actually do his duty as a soldier, &c. See LIVERY.

MUSTER-_master-general_, _Commissary-general_ of the MUSTERS, one who takes account of every regiment, their number, horses, arms, &c. reviews them, sees that the horses are well mounted, and all the men well armed and accoutred, &c.