Part 115

ORDERS, in a _military sense_, all that is lawfully commanded by superior officers. Orders are given out every day, whether in camp, garrison, or on a march, by the commanding officer; which orders are afterwards given to every officer in writing by their respective serjeants.

_Commander in chief’s_ ORDERS. Such orders as issue directly from the commander in chief’s office for the government of the army at large, or for any specific purpose. These orders are sanctioned by the king, and are irrevocable elsewhere.

_General_ ORDERS, are such as are issued out by the general who commands, who gives them in writing to the adjutant general, who first sends exact copies to the general officers of the day, and distributes them at his own quarters to all the brigade majors, who daily go to head quarters for that purpose: where they write down every thing that is dictated to them; from thence they go and give the _orders_, at the place appointed for that purpose, to the different majors or adjutants of the regiments which compose that brigade, who first read them to their colonels and lieutenant colonels, or majors, and then dictate them to the serjeants of companies (this is more frequently done by the serjeant major) who write them correctly down in their respective orderly books, and bring them to all the officers belonging to the company.

_Garrison_ ORDERS, such orders and instructions as are given by the governor or commanding officer of a town or fortified place.

_Brigade_ ORDERS, orders which are issued by the generals commanding, through the brigade majors, to the several adju- corps that do duty together, or are brigaded.

_Regimental_ ORDERS, such orders and instructions as grow out of general or garrison orders, or proceed immediately from the commanding officer of a regiment.

_Standing_ ORDERS, certain general rules and instructions which are to be invariably followed, and are not subject to the temporary intervention of rank; of this description are those orders which the colonel of a regiment may judge fit to have inserted in the orderly books, and which cannot be altered by the next in command without the colonel’s concurrence.

_Sailing_ ORDERS, final instructions which are given to ships of war, and the commander in chief.

_Beating_ ORDER, an authority given to an individual empowering him to raise men, by beat of drum, for any particular regiment, or for general service. It consists of a warrant which is signed by the secretary at war, or issued in his name, by the adjutant general, or adjutant and inspector of the army.

_Military_ ORDERS, are companies of knights, instituted by kings and princes; either for defence of the faith, or to confer marks of honor on their military subjects. They are as follow:

ORDER _of the Bear_, a military order in Switzerland, erected by the emperor Frederic II. in 1213, by way of acknowlegement for the service the Swiss had done him, and in favor of the abbey of St. Gall. To the collar of the order hung a medal, on which was represented a _bear_, raised on an eminence of earth.

_Amaranth_, an order of military knighthood, instituted in Sweden, by queen Christina, in 1645, at the close of an annual feast, celebrated in that country, and called _wirtschaft_. Their device was the cypher of _amarante_, composed of two _A’s_, the one erect, the other inverted, and interwoven together; the whole inclosed by a laurel crown, with this motto, _Dolce nella memoria_.

_Argonauts of St. Nicolas_, was the name of a military order, instituted by Charles III. king of Naples, in the year 1382, for the advancement of navigation, or as some authors say, merely for preserving amity among the nobles. They wore a collar of shells, inclosed in a silver crescent, whence hung a ship with this device, _Non credo tempori_.

ORDER _of Calatrava_, a Spanish military order. It was instituted in 1130 by don Santio, of Toledo. The habit of these knights is a black garment, with a red cross upon the breast.

ORDER _of Alcantara_, a Spanish military order. It was established by Ferdinand the second, king of Leon and Castile, in 1170. They wore a green cross upon their garment.

ORDER _of St. James_, instituted by Ferdinand II. in 1175. These knights had the privilege of wearing their hats in the chapter, in the presence of their sovereign.

ORDER _of St. Michael_, instituted in 1469, by Lewis XII. in honor of the important services done to France by that archangel at the siege of Orleans, where he is supposed to have appeared at the head of the French troops, disputing the passage of a bridge, and to have repulsed the attack of the English, whose affairs ever after declined in that kingdom. The order is a rich collar, with the image of that saint pendent thereto; with this inscription: _Immensi tremor oceani_.

ORDER _of the Holy Ghost_, instituted by Henry II. of France, in 1578. The number of knights are 100, besides the sovereign, who is always grand-master.

ORDER _of St. Louis_, instituted by Louis XIV. in the year 1693. This order has remained entirely in the possession of military men, ever since its institution, and has been of singular use in keeping up the spirit, and rewarding the services, of those who have distinguished themselves. The number of knights is unlimited, being given to every man of merit. The order is a golden cross, with eight points, which hang pendent to a broad crimson riband. The motto is _Bellicæ virtutis præmium_.

ORDER _of Mount Carmel_, instituted by Henry IV. in 1608.

ORDER _of St. Lazarus_, is of a very early institution, but has been often neglected, and as often revived, till Louis XV. united the order of St. Carmel and St. Lazarus in April 1722. The king was sovereign, chief, founder, and protector.

ORDER _of the knights of Malta_. See MALTA.

ORDER _of the knights of the Garter_. See GARTER.

ORDER _of the knights of the Bath_. See BATH.

ORDER _of the golden fleece_, instituted by Philip duke of Burgundy, surnamed the Good, in 1429. See FLEECE.

ORDER _of the Annunciation_, instituted by Amadeo, count of Savoy, surnamed the Green, in memory of Amadeo, the first earl, who had valorously defended the island of Rhodes against the Turks. The collar belonging to this order is of gold, and on it are these four letters, _F. E. R. T._ which means _Fortitudo ejus Rhodum tenuit_, with the figure of the annunciation hanging to it.

ORDER _of knights templars_, instituted at Jerusalem about the year 1118. At first there were but nine of the order, and the two principal persons were Hugo de Paganis, and Jeoffroy of St. Omer’s. This order, after having performed many great exploits against the infidels, became rich and powerful all over Europe; when, on the 22d of May, 1312, the pope by his bull, pronounced the extinction of the order, and united their estates to the order of St. John of Jerusalem. They took the name of templars, because their first habitation stood near the temple dedicated to our Saviour at Jerusalem.

ORDER _of the knights of St. Jago_, instituted by king Ramico, of Spain, in commemoration of a victory obtained against the Moors, A. D. 1030. Their ensign is a red cross in form of a sword.

ORDER _of knights of the band_, erected by Alphonso, king of Spain, in the year 1268. Their name proceeded from the knights wearing a red scarf, or lace of silk, the breadth of three inches, which hung on their left shoulder.

ORDER _of knights of the Redemption_, erected in the kingdom of Arragon, by king James, who conquered the island of Majorca, in the year 1212. Their garments are white, with a black cross thereon.

ORDER _of Teutonic knights_, established towards the close of the 12th century, and thus called, as chiefly consisting of Germans, anciently called Teutons.

ORDER _of the knights of St. Stephen_, instituted in the year 1561, by Cosmo, duke of Florence. They wear a red cross with a border of gold.

ORDER _of merit_, instituted by Frederic III. king of Prussia, as a reward to those officers whose behaviour deserved some marks of distinction. The ensign of this order is a golden star of eight rays, enamelled with blue, which is worn appendant to a black riband, edged with silver: the motto, _Pour le mérite_.

ORDER _of St. Alexander Newski_, or the red riband, which was instituted by Peter I. emperor of Russia; but the czarina Catharine I. conferred it in the year 1725.

ORDER _of the stole_, an order of knights instituted by the kings of Arragon.

ORDER _of the golden stole_, a Venetian military order, so called from a golden stole, which those knights wore over their shoulder, reaching to the knee, both before and behind, a palm and a half broad. None are raised to this order but patricians, or noble Venetians. It is uncertain when this order was instituted.

ORDER _of Maria Theresa_. This order was instituted in June, 1757, by the empress queen of Hungary. In 1765, an intermediate class, styled knights commanders, was added to the two classes that originally composed the order. See THERESA.

ORDERLY _Officer_. See OFFICER OF THE DAY.

ORDERLY _serjeant_, ORDERLY _men_, are appointed to attend general, or other officers that are entitled to have them.

ORDERLIES, the non-commissioned officers and private men who do orderly duty are so called.

Orderly serjeants when they go for orders are sashed.

Orderly corporals and orderly men wear their side arms, and carry a small osier switch or cane in their hands.

In the dragoons, orderly men, on foot, have their sword-belts and bayonets; and on horseback, are dressed the same, only with gloves, and boots, and spurs of course, with the sword-belt and sword. They likewise have their pistols. When an orderly dragoon or foot soldier is sent from one quarter to another, the time of his setting out must be specified on the back of the letter which he carries; the dragoon must take care to bring his horse in cool and properly (unless he has been sent on any pressing occasion) and they must both return to quarters perfectly sober.

ORDERLIES _in general_. It is the duty of the serjeant-majors to see that the orderlies are properly dressed and accoutred, before they are inspected by the adjutant, who parades them every morning in front of the main guard, &c. When private soldiers are chosen for orderlies in mixed duty, the credit of the corps from which they are taken requires, that they should be the best set up and the best behaved men belonging to it.

ORDERLY _non-commissioned officers_, are those who are orderly, or on duty for that week; who, on hearing the drum beat for orders, are to repair to the place appointed to receive them, and to take down in writing, in the orderly book, what is dictated by the adjutant or serjeant-major; they are then immediately to show those orders to the officers of the company, and afterwards warn the men for duty.

ORDERLY _book_. Every company has such a book in which the serjeants write down both general and regimental orders, for the specific information of the officers and men. This book is provided by the public.

ORDERLY _Drum_. The drummer that beats orders, and gives notice of the hour for messing, &c. is so called.

ORDINAIRE, _Fr._ The soldier’s messing together is so called among the French.

ORDINANCE, or ORDNANCE, a name given to all that concerns artillery, or engineering: thus, the commander in chief is called master general of the _ordnance_; and the next officer, lieutenant general of the _ordnance_, instead of _artillery_.

ORDNANCE. The British value of all brass ordnance is at 84_l._ 17_s._ or 371 dollars _per_ ton, for the metal; that is, the weight of the gun, and 12lbs. _per_ hundred weight for waste: to which is added for casting, on the total weight of metal used, 64_l._ or 286 dollars _per_ ton for light pieces; 54_l._ or 240 dollars for medium; and 44_l._ 195¹⁄₂ dollars for heavy.

Iron ordnance cost 20_l._ or 90 dollars _per_ ton. See also the words GUNS, MORTARS, HOWITZERS, &c.

For the proof of all kinds of ordnance, see the word PROOF.

ORDINARY TIME. This in the British service is the slowest time in marching that is permitted to be used by infantry, and consists of a pace which is 30 inches from heel to heel, and of which only 75 are to be taken in a minute. But there is a manifest absurdity in having a different length of pace; in the American service the pace in all time is 24 inches; and the ordinary time is what the British call _quick_ time; and is in fact gay and lively, or the time of country dances.

ORDONNANCE. _Fr._ A warrant. This word is variously used among the French, viz.

_Compagnies d’_ORDONNANCE. Independent companies, or such bodies of armed men as do duty by detached companies, and are not formed into regular regiments. Of this description were the gendarmes, the light horse, and the musqueteers, under the French monarchy.

ORDONNANCES, _Fr._ Orderly men, whether on foot or horseback.

ORDONNANCE, _Fr._ The disposition or arrangement of troops for battle.

ORDRE, _Fr._ Parole and countersign so called.

_Aller à l’_ORDRE, _Fr._ To go for the parole or countersign.

_Récevoir_ _l’_ORDRE, _Fr._ To receive or get the parole or countersign.

ORDRE _que l’on donne à la tranchée_, _Fr._ Parole and countersign together with specific orders, which are given out every night in the trenches.

ORDRES _Militaires_, _Fr._ Military orders.

_Nouveaux_ ORDRES, _Fr._ Fresh orders.

ORDRES _de mouvement_. Marching orders.

ORGANIZATION _of Troops_. The act of putting troops into such uniform state of discipline, as may fit them to co-operate on any service.

ORGUES, thick long pieces of wood, pointed and shod with iron, clear one of another, hanging perpendicular each by a rope, over a gate of a strong place to be dropped in case of emergency.

Their disposition is such, that they stop the passage of the gate, and are preferable to _horses_ or _portcullises_; because these may be either broken by a petard, or stopped, by different contrivances, in their falling down. But a petard is useless against an _orgue_; for if it break one or two of the pieces, others immediately fall down and fill up the vacancy.

ORGUE, (_un Orgue_, _Fr._) A term used to express that arrangement or disposition of a certain quantity of musquet barrels in a row, which by means of a priming train of gunpowder, may be subjected to one general explosion. This machine has been found extremely serviceable in the defence of a low flank, a tenaille, or to prevent an enemy from crossing the ditch of a fortified place.

ORIENT, _Fr._ The east.

ORIFLAMME, _Fr._ The ancient banner belonging to the abbey of St. Denis, which the counts du Vexin, who possessed the perpetual advowson of the abbey, always bore in the different wars or contests that formerly prevailed between the abbot and some neighboring lords. When the Vexin country fell into the hands of the French kings, they made the oriflamme the principal banner of their armies, in honor of St. Denis, whom they chose for the patron and tutelary saint of France.

ORILLON. See FORTIFICATION.

ORME, _Fr._ Elm. This wood was considered of such consequence by the old French government, (and perhaps is equally so by the present) that a specific order was made out in 1716, enjoining all persons letting or holding land in French Flanders, Artois, and Hainault, to plant elm trees, in order that there might be a constant supply in future of carriages and wainage for the artillery.

ORNAMENTS _Military_. Those parts of the dress of a soldier which are more for appearance or distinction than for absolute use; as gorgets, plates for cross-belts, pouch ornaments, &c.

ORTEIL. See BERM in FORTIFICATION.

ORTHOGON, any rectangular figure.

ORTHOGRAPHIE, _Fr._ See ORTHOGRAPHY.

ORTHOGRAPHY. The art of drawing or sketching out a work according to its breadth, thickness, elevation, and depth.

OSIER, a young willow twig, with which hurdles are made.

OSTAGE, _Fr._ See HOSTAGE.

OTTOMAN. A name generally given to the Turks, and to the Turkish empire, from Ottoman, who was one of their most celebrated emperors.

OVATION, (so called of a sheep, because the general who so triumphed, offered only a sheep; whereas in the great triumph he offered a bull) an inferior sort of triumph allowed by the Romans to the generals of their armies for lesser victories, as over slaves, &c. or when the war had not been declared pursuant to military usage. According to Kennett, in his Roman Antiquities, page 224, the word ovation is said to have derived its name from shouting _evion!_ to Bacchus; but the true original is _ovis_. The shew generally began at the Albanian mountain, whence the general, with his retinue, made his entry into the city: he went on foot with many flutes or pipes, sounding in concert as he passed along, wearing a garment of myrtle as a token of peace, with an aspect rather raising love and respect than fear.

We have already observed, with Gellius, that this honor was then conferred on the victor, when either the war had not been proclaimed in due method, or not undertaken against a lawful enemy, and on a just account; or when the enemy was but mean and inconsiderable. But Plutarch has delivered his judgment in a different manner; he believes that heretofore the difference betwixt the _ovation_ and the triumph was not taken from the greatness of the achievements, but from the manner of performing them: for they who, having fought a set battle, and slain a great number of the enemy, returned victors, led that martial, and, as it were, cruel procession of the triumph. But those who without force by benevolence and civil behaviour, had done the business, and prevented the shedding of human blood; to these commanders custom gave the honor of this peaceable ovation. For a pipe is the ensign or badge of peace; and myrtle the tree of Venus, who, beyond any other deities, has an extreme aversion to violence and war. _Vide Plut. in Marcell._ For a full account of this ceremony, as well as of the Roman triumph, see _Kennett_, page 224.

OVENS. The modern improvements in the art of war, has beside making biscuit, the common food of man and horse, also introduced in the equipage of armies, ovens of _cast iron_, which travel with the waggon train, and the bakers are classed and under military discipline, in the performance of their important functions. The operations of dressing food in military camps, have been also improved by the introduction of count _Rumford’s_ process of boiling, roasting, and baking by steam; all performed by the single fire which heats the oven.

OVERFLOW. See INUNDATION.

_To_ OVERLAP, to overspread any preceding object. In marching by echellon, for the purpose of forming upon any given point, but particularly in wheeling from column into line, troops may loose their relative distances by not taking ground enough; when this occurs, the rear division, company, or section, unavoidably crouds upon its preceding one, and it is then said to _overlap_. When this happens on service, the troops, so shut out, must remain as serre-files, or reserve, to fill up the intervals that will necessarily present themselves in action. But whether so or not, the line must, on no account, be deranged by moving it to right or left.

OVERLANDRES, _Fr._ Small barges that ply upon the Rhine and the Meuse.

_To_ OVER-RUN. In a military sense, to ravage, to lay waste. A country which is harassed by incursions, is said to be _over-run_.

OVERSEER, an officer in the ordnance department, who superintends the artificer in the construction of works, &c.

OVERSLAGH, as a _military phrase_, which is derived from the Dutch, to skip over, will be better explained by the following table.--For instance, suppose 4 battalions, each consisting of 8 captains, are doing duty together, and that a captain’s guard is daily mounted: if in the first regiment the second captain is doing duty of deputy adjutant-general; and the 4th and 7th captains in the second are acting, one as aid-de-camp, the other as brigade major; the common duty of these three captains must be _overslaghed_, that is _skipped_ over, or equally divided among the other captains.

TABLE _of Explanation_.

+------+-----------------------+ |No. of| Heads of each column. | ------------+ cap- +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ Regiments. |tains.| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| ------------+------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ Pennslvania.| 8 | 1| 5| 8|12|15|19|23|26| ------------+------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ Georgia. | 8 | 2| 6| 9|13|16|20|24|27| ------------+------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ Massachu’s. | 8 | 3| |10|14|17|21|25|28| ------------+------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ Virginia. | 8 | 4| 7|11| |18|22| |29| ------------+------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ Total. | 32 | | | | | | | | | ------------+------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+

N. B. The three blanks shew where the overslaughs take place.

OVERTHROW, total defeat, discomfiture, rout.

OUEST _ou Occident_, _Fr._ One of the four cardinal points of the world, or the west.

OURAGAN, _Fr._ A violent tempest.

OUTBAR, to shut out by fortification.

OUT-GUARD. See OUT-POSTS.

OUTILS, _Fr._ Tools of every description that are used by the artificers and workmen belonging to the artillery, &c.

OUTILS _à mineur_. _Fr._ Tools used in mining.

OUTLINE, the line by which any figure is defined.

OUTPART, at a distance from the main body. See OUT-POSTS.

OUT-_posts_, a body of men posted beyond the grand guard, called out-posts, as being without the rounds or limits of the camp. See POSTS.

OUTSIDE, in _fencing_, that part which is to the right of the line of defence.

OUTSIDE _Guard_, a guard used with the broad sword and sabre, to defend the outside of the position. See BROADSWORD.

OUTWALL. See REVETEMENT.

OUTWARD FACE, a word of command for troops to face to the right and left from their centre.

_To_ OUTWING, to extend the flanks of an army or line in action, so as to gain an advantageous position against the right or left wing of an enemy. This manœuvre or evolution is effected by the _movement on an oblique line_. See MOVEMENTS.

OUT-_works_, in _Fortification_, are works of several kinds, which cover the body of the place, as ravelins, half-moons, tenailles, horn-works, crown-works, counter-guards, envelopes, swallow-tails, lunettes, covert-ways, &c.

These out-works, not only cover the place, but likewise keep an enemy at a distance, and hinder his gaining any advantage of hollow or rising grounds; as such cavities and eminences may serve for lodgments to the besiegers, facilitate the carrying on approaches, and enable them to raise their batteries against the town. When outworks are placed one before another, you will find a ravelin before the curtain, a horn-work before the ravelin, and a small ravelin before the curtain of the horn-work; those works which are nearest to the body of the place must be the highest, though lower than the body of the place, that they may gradually command those without them, and oblige the enemy to dislodge, if in possession of them.

OUVERTURE _des portes_, _Fr._ The opening of the gates in a fortified town or place, according to specific military rules. The method in all regular governments is too well known to require any particular explanation.