Part 143

In consequence of the king’s approbation, the following specific regulation, relative to the orders of Mont-Carmel, and St. Lazarus, of Jerusalem, was issued on the 21st of January 1779, by Louis Stanislaus Xavier de Franks, brother to his majesty, and grand master of those orders, (the present head of the Bourbons, who uses the title of Louis XVIII.)

It was therein stated, that, in future, the order of Notre Dame du Mont-Carmel, should be reserved for such students belonging to the royal military school, as had been approved of in every respect, conformably to the prescribed instructions on that head, for the purpose of being admitted knights of the order. The mark by which they were distinguished consisted of a small cross similar to the one, already described, which was formerly worn by the students.--The candidates were obliged to prove four degrees of nobility on the father’s side, and to produce the certificates required by the different colleges. Three out of the six received the cross, and became entitled from the day of their admission to an annual allowance of 100 livres, or twenty dollars, which they continued to enjoy as long as they remained in the service, and after they quitted it, provided they retired from the causes already stated. If a knight of the order of Notre Dame du St. Carmel, did any singular act of bravery, or discovered talents of superior military knowlege, on a proper attestation being produced of the same, signed by the general under whom he served, and countersigned by the minister of war, he became knight of the order of St. Lazarus, and by thus uniting the two orders, preserved an uncontestable proof of the service he had rendered.

This regulation, however, did not interfere with the ancient forms and rules of the royal military school, as far as they concerned those students who had already been received into two orders. It only went to restrict the number of such as might lay claim to the particular marks of distinction, &c. which were thereby granted to the newly admitted.

In these schools, and in those of the artillery noted below, is to be found the true foundation of the military triumphs of France from 1792 to 1810.

The great military school of France is now established at Fontainbleau by Bonaparte.

The French had likewise a marine school, (_école de marine_), which was kept at the expence of government, and was regularly attended to, in one of the departments. There was also a ship, distinguished by the name of school, (_école_) which was regularly manned and equipped for the instruction of young marines.

There were several schools of artillery, _écoles d’artillerie_, distributed in different parts of the kingdom, and supported at the public charge. The five principal ones were at _La Fêre_, _Metz_, _Grenoble_, _Strasburgh_, and _Perpignan_.

They were under the direction of an inspector-general, who had the rank of a lieutenant-general in the army. Each school was superintended by three commandants, and was composed of ordinary and extraordinary commissaries belonging to the artillery, of officers who had the immediate direction of the levelling and pointing pieces of ordnance, and of volunteer cadets.

These schools were open throughout the year; advantage being taken of occasional fine weather during the winter months to practise and exercise. They were divided into schools of theory, _écoles de théorie_, and into schools of practice, _écoles de pratique_.

The theoretical establishments were for the immediate instruction of all officers belonging to the engineer and the artillery departments.

The practical schools were open indiscriminately to all officers and soldiers. There was also a particular school for the information of those persons who directed their attention to mining and sapping; this school was called _L’école des Sappeurs_. The miner’s school. There was likewise a school established at _La Fére_, to which none but artillery officers could be admitted. The students consisted of one company, whose number never exceeded 50. They had the rank of sub-lieutenants, and received a monthly subsistence, amounting to forty French livres, a little more than seven dollars.

The school at Méziéres, which was established before the additional one at La Fére, for the exclusive use and advantage of the artillery, was calculated to receive 30 officers; and those who went from La Fére had the rank of second lieutenants, with 60 livres, something more than ten dollars, as monthly subsistence.

It will naturally strike every observer, from these several establishments, which were all supported by government, and warmly patronised by the different reigning monarchs in France, that military science constituted one of the chief objects of French policy; and it is only bare justice to say, that their encouragement was not fruitlessly bestowed. All Europe has testified to the effect; the _neglect_ of military science in other nations is equally striking, and ought to produce more wise precautions. The Turks have a military school, called the school for the Agemolans, or young men attached to the corps of Janizaries. This institution was created by Amurat, for the purpose of enuring a certain number of persons to every possible hardship of military service.

_Fencing_ SCHOOL, (_école d’armes_, _Fr._) Every French regiment, when in barracks or otherwise conveniently quartered, has a room allotted for the exercise of the small sword, the spadroon, &c. Some active clever serjeant or soldier is authorised to teach his comrades, and to derive what benefit he can from giving lessons abroad. We need scarcely add, that some internal regulation of the kind would be highly advantageous to officers every where.

SCIAGE, (_Bois de Sciage_, _Fr._) Sawing. Wood that is proper to be sawed in planks, or to be made fit for any use in carpentry.

SCIAGRAPHY, (_Sciagraphe_, _Fr._) The profile or section of a building to shew the inside thereof.

SCIE, _Fr._ a saw.

SCIENCE. Any art or species of knowlege; as military science, &c.

SCIENCE _de la guerre_, _Fr._ Military knowlege, or the science of war.

SCITIE, _or_ SETIE, _Fr._ a small decked barge with Levant sails.

SCORPION, (_Scorpion_, _Fr._) a sort of long thick javelin or arrow, which was used among the ancients. For a specific description, see Vegetius and Justus Lipsius. The Cretans are supposed to have invented the scorpion.

SCIMITAR, a short crooked sword, more or less incurvated.

_To_ SCOUR, (_Battre à toute volée_, _Fr._) This term is frequently used to express the act of firing a quick and heavy discharge of ordnance or musquetry, for the purpose of dislodging an enemy.--Hence to scour the rampart or the covert way. It likewise signifies to clear, to drive away, viz. _To scour the seas_: Ecumer les mers, _Fr._--_To scour the streets_: Ecumer les rues; also to run about in a loose desultory manner, as to scour the country.

_To_ SCOUR _a line_, is to flank it, so as to see directly along it, that a musquet ball, entering at one end, may fly to the other, leaving no place of security.

SCOUTS, are generally horsemen sent out before, and on the wings of an army, at the distance of a mile or two, to discover the enemy, and give the general an account of what they see. See VIDETTES.

SCREW, (_Escrou_, _Fr._) One of the mechanical powers, which is defined a right cylinder cut into a furrowed spiral. Wilkins calls it a kind of wedge, that is multiplied or continued by a helical revolution about a cylinder, receiving its motion not from any stroke, but from a vectis at one end of it.

SCREWS, in _gunnery_, are fastened to the cascable of light guns and howitzers, by means of an iron bolt, which goes through a socket fixed upon the centre transom, to elevate or depress the piece with, instead of wedges.

SCREW _of direction_, (_Vis de Pointage_, _Fr._) The screw of direction, used in the artillery, is formed of a brass horizontal roller, placed between the two cheeks of the carriage. The trunnions of the roller move upon two vertical iron pivots, which are fixed against the interior sides of the cheeks. By means of this screw the direction of pieces is either raised or lowered with a regular movement, and in the smallest space.

The screw of direction, or _Vis de Pointage_, is equally used for howitzers as well as for heavy pieces of ordnance. It has been invented by the French, and serves in lieu of the _Coins à Cremaillère_, or indented coins. So little progress has military science made in the United States, that there are many old officers in the U. States’ service who know nothing even of this little but important particular.

_Lock_ SCREWS. Small screws which are attached to the lock of a musquet.

SCULLCAP. See HELMET.

SCURVY, (_Scorbut_, _Fr._) A disease to which soldiers and seamen are peculiarly exposed, from idleness, inattention to cleanliness of person and food, eating salted meat and drinking bad water, &c.

Scute _or Canot_, _Fr._ In Dutch _Schoot_, and Canot, is pronounced with us as if written _cannoo_. Any small boat which is used in navigation for the accommodation of a ship.

SEARCHER, an instrument used by the founders to discover any flaws in the bore of cannon, &c. See PROOF.

_To_ SEASON. In a military sense, to accustom, to enure. Soldiers are frequently sent to Gibraltar in order to be seasoned for a hot climate.

SEASONED _Troops_. Troops that have been accustomed to climate, and are not so liable to become the victims of any endemical disorder, as raw men must unavoidably be. The French use the word _acclimater_; to get accustomed to a change of climate. Hence _Troupes acclimatees_; troops that have been seasoned.

SEAT _of war_. The country in which war is carrying on.

SECANT, (_Secante_, _Fr._) A line which cuts another, or divides it into two parts. See table at the end of the word GUNNERY.

SECANT _of an arch_. In trigonometry, is a right line drawn from the centre of the circle to the extremity of the tangent.

SECANT _of an angle_. Supposing an angle to be terminated by a base that is perpendicular to one of the sides, and that the smallest side of the angle be taken for the radius or whole sinus, the greatest of the two sides of that angle will be its secant.

SECOND, (_Second_, _Fr._) The next in order to the first. The ordinal of two. The next in dignity, place, or station. The French use the word _Second_ in military matters, somewhat differently from the English, viz.

_Compagnie en_ SECOND, _Fr._ This literally means second company, but according to the old French regulations it signifies a company which consists of half the number of men that other companies are composed of. This was however, applied to the cavalry only.

_Capitaine en_ SECOND _ou reformé en pied_, or _Lieutenant en_ SECOND, _ditto_, _Fr._ are officers whose companies have been reduced, but who do duty in others, and are destined to fill up the first vacancies. We have borrowed the expression and say, _to be seconded_. When an officer is _seconded_, he remains upon full pay, in the British service, his rank goes on, and he may purchase the next vacant step, without being obliged to memorial in the manner that a half-pay officer must. Should the latter have taken a difference, he will find much difficulty in getting upon full pay, and he can only avail himself of his standing in the army when the last object is accomplished. So that a _seconded_ officer stands in a more favorable light. He is besides likely to be appointed to the vacant commission of the regiment in which he is seconded.

_Prendre pour son_ SECOND, _Fr._ To take for a second.

_Les_ SECONDS _de côté et d’autre se sont tués_, _Fr._ Both the seconds were killed; or the seconds on each side killed one another. It was very usual among the French for the seconds to make common cause with their principals, and to fight upon the decease of the former. The practice is reprobated and out of date.

_To_ SECOND, (_seconder_, _Fr._) To aid or assist, to support.

SECOND _covert way_, that beyond the second ditch. See FORTIFICATION.

SECOND _ditch_, that made on the outside of the glacis, when the ground is low, and there is plenty of water. See FORTIFICATION.

SECOND _Flanc_, _Fr._ See _Flank oblique_ in FORTIFICATION.

SECOURIR _une place_, _Fr._ To throw succours into a besieged town or place. It sometimes signifies to force an investing or attacking army to raise the siege.

SECRECY. In a military economy this quality is peculiarly requisite. It signifies fidelity to a secret; taciturnity inviolate; close silence. Officers, in particular, should be well aware of the importance of it, as the divulging of what has been confidentially entrusted to them, especially on expeditions, might render the whole project abortive. The slightest deviation from it is very justly considered as a breach of honor, as scandalous conduct, unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. In official matters the person so offending is liable to the severest punishment and penalty.

SECRET, (_Secret_, _Fr._) Under this word may be considered the caution and circumspection which every good general should observe during a campaign; the feints he may think proper to make for the purpose of covering a projected attack; and the various stratagems to which he may resort to keep his own intentions concealed, and to get at those of others.

SECRET. Kept hidden, not revealed. Hence secret expedition, secret enterprise, &c. Secret articles of a treaty, being the correlative words to public articles.

SECRET, _Fr._ The spot chosen by the captain of a fire-ship to apply the saucisson of communication.

SECRET _expedition_. Those are often called such, which in fact are known to the enemy before they are put in execution; they should never be communicated to any other than the commander of the troops, and the first naval officer, until they are in absolute readiness to act, and but a few hours before the enterprize is put in execution: no officer being allowed to open his instructions until he is either at his destination, or at sea. See EXPEDITION.

SECRETAIRE, _Fr._ The clerk belonging to the Swiss regiments in the old French service, was so called. He acted likewise as quarter master serjeant, and was styled _Musterschreiber_.

SECRETAIRE _général d’artillerie_, _Fr._ A place of trust, which, during the French monarchy, was in the nomination of the grand master.

SECRETARY _at war_, (_Secrétaire de guerre_, _Fr._) The first officer of the war department.

SECRETARY _of state_. (_Secrétaire d’etat_, _Fr._) The secretary who has charge of the foreign relations.

_To_ SECRETE, to hide; to keep private; to harbor; to conceal, &c. By the articles of war it is provided, that if any person shall harbor, conceal, or assist any deserter from his majesty’s service, knowing him to be such, the person so offending shall forfeit, for every such offence, the sum of five pounds.

SECTION. (_Section_, _Fr._) from the Latin word _sectio_, which is derived from _seco_, to cut, a part of a thing divided, or the division itself. Such particularly are the subdivisions of a chapter, called also paragraphs and articles. Sometimes we find the term section divided into articles; as in the articles of war.

SECTION. (_Section_, _Fr._) A certain proportion of a battalion or company, when it is told off for military movements and evolutions. A section may consist of four or any other number of files. This relates to the infantry; the cavalry into ranks by three’s, and after that in any number of files or sections. The French use the word section for the same purpose; and form their companies into platoons, and divide their platoons into any number of sections.

SECTOR, (_Secteur_, _Fr._) A mathematical instrument of great use in finding the proportion between quantities of the same kind, as between lines and lines, surfaces and surfaces, &c. for which reason the French call it the compass of proportion.

The great advantage of the sector, above common scales, &c. is, that it is adapted to all radii, and all scales. The sector is founded on the fourth proposition of the sixth book of Euclid. The sector consists of two equal legs, or rules of brass, &c. riveted together, but so as to move easily on the rivet; on the faces of the instrument are placed several lines; the principal of which are: the line of equal parts, line of chords, line of sines, line of tangents, line of secants, and line of polygons.

_To_ SECURE, in a military sense, to preserve, to keep, to make certain. As to secure a place, to secure a conquest. In the management of the firelock, it signifies to bring it to a certain position, by which the locks are secured against rain. Hence

SECURE _arms!_ a word of command which is given to troops who are under arms in wet weather. To bring your firelock to the secure; 1st, throw your right hand briskly up, and place it under the cock, keeping the piece steady in the same position.

2d. Quit the butt with the left hand, and seize the firelock with it at the swell, bringing the elbow close down upon the lock: the right hand kept fast in this motion, and the piece still upright.

3d. Quit the right hand, and bring it down to your right side, throwing the firelock nimbly down to the secure; the left hand in a line with the waist-belt. In order to _shoulder_ from the secure, you must 1st, bring the firelock up to a perpendicular line, seizing it with the right hand under the cock.

2d. Quit the left hand, and place it strong upon the butt.

3d. Quit the right hand, and bring it smartly down the right side.

SEDITION, in a military sense is to disobey orders; to cabal or form factions against the officer or officers in command; to loosen confidence; to resist or oppose orders, or to stir up mutiny. It is an offence in military law of the most fatal character and always punished in a most exemplary manner. See MUTINY.

SEER, _Ind._ A weight nearly equal to a pound.

SEESAR, _Ind._ the dewey season.

SEEARISH, _Ind._ A recommendation.

SEEPEEYA, _Ind._ A triangle to which culprits are tied to be punished.

SEFFY, _Ind._ A dynasty of Persia.

SEGBANS. Horsemen among the Turks, who have care of the baggage belonging to cavalry regiments.

SEGMENT, a figure contained between a chord and an arch of the circle, or so much of the circle as is cut off by that chord.

SEJA, _Ind._ A fenced terrace.

SEILLURE, (_Sillage, eau, bouage ou ouiache_, _Fr._) terms used among the French to express the way a ship makes: it corresponds with our naval word _Wake_, which is also called _Eaux_.

SEJOUR, _Fr._ In a military sense signifies a halting day. In a naval one, the time that a ship remains in port.

SCION, _Fr._ A sand-crack in a horse’s hoof.

SEIN, _Fr._ In the midst. The French say figuratively, _porter la guerre dans le sein d’un royaume_. To carry a war into the heart of a kingdom. _Au sein de ses soldats._ In the midst of his soldiers.

SEL, _Fr._ Salt. Before the revolution of 1789, the French troops were allowed a specific quantity of salt, which was regularly accounted for at the back of the muster-rolls.

SEL, _Fr._ The salt used in the artillery is lixivial, and of a fixed quality. It is extracted from saltpetre, and must be thoroughly washed, as no saltpetre can be good which has the least saline or greasy particle about it.

SELICTAR. A Turkish sabre.

_To_ SELL, to give for a price; the word correlative to _buy_. Hence to buy and sell commissions.

SELLE, _Fr._ A saddle. See BOUTE-SELLE.

SELLE _rase_, _Fr._ A saddle without a bow.

SELLE _à arcon_, _Fr._ A bow-saddle.

SEMBLABLES, _Fr._ In geometry, similar, alike, equal. This term is applied to any two figures, the sides of one of which correspond with the sides of the other, and are always in the same ratio. So that semblable or alike, only means in this sense _equal_. Two circles, though unequal in their sizes, may still be alike; that is, their several parts may agree according to a certain ratio.

_Les_ SEMELLES, _Fr._ The axle-trees belonging to the carriage of a gun.

SEMESTRE, _Fr._ This word literally signifies a term of six months; but it is generally understood to express any term of leave of absence which is granted to officers or soldiers. With respect to the latter, it means furlough.

SEMICIRCLE, part of a circle divided by the diameter.

SEMIDIAMETER, half of the line which divides a circle into two equal parts.

SEMIORDINATE, a line drawn at right angles to be bisected by the axis, and extending from one side of the section to the other.

SENAU, _Fr._ A small skiff or tender calculated for quick sailing.

SENECHALE, _Fr._ The seneschal’s wife or lady.

SENESCHAL, (_Senéchal_, _Fr._) One who had in great houses the care of feasts, or domestic ceremonies.

SENS-_dessus-dessous_, _Fr._ Topsy-turvy.

SENS-_devant-derriére_, _Fr._ Wrong way.

SENIORITY, in military matters, is the difference of number in two regiments, whereby the one is said to be so much senior to the other. All regiments take place according to seniority.

SENTENCE. Decision; determination, final judgment. There is an appeal allowed from the sentence of a regimental court-martial to the opinion of a general one.

SENTINEL, SENTRY, is a private soldier, placed in some post, to watch the approach of the enemy, to prevent surprises, to stop such as would pass without order, or discovering who they are. Sentries are placed before the arms of all guards, at the tents and doors of general officers, colonels of regiments, &c.

All sentries are to be vigilant on their posts; they are not, on any account to sing, smoke tobacco, nor suffer any noise to be made near them. They are to have a watchful eye over the things committed to their charge. They are not to suffer any light to remain, or any fire to be made near their posts in the night-time; neither is any sentry to be relieved, or removed from his post, but by the corporal of the guard. They are not to suffer any one to touch or handle their arms, or in the night-time to come within 10 yards of their post.

No person is to strike or abuse a sentry on his post; but when he has committed a crime, he is to be relieved, and then punished according to the rules and articles of war.

A sentinel, on his post in the night, is not to know any body, but by the countersign: when he challenges, and is answered, _relief_, he calls out _stand, relief! advance, corporal!_ upon which the corporal halts his men, and advances alone within a yard of the sentry’s fire-lock (first ordering his party to port arms, on which the sentry does the same) and gives him the same countersign, taking care that no one hears it. See ROUNDS.

SENTINELLE, _Fr._ Sentinel; sentry. This word is likewise used to express the duty done by a sentinel. _Faire sentinelle._ To stand sentry.

SENTINELLE _perdue_, _Fr._ A sentry posted in a very advanced situation, so as to be in continual danger of surprise from the enemy.

SEPTANGULAR, having seven angles.

SEPTILATERAL, having seven sides.

SEPTUPLE. Seven-fold.

SERASKIER, (_Serasquier_, _Fr._) Among the Turks, the next in rank to the Vizier, in whose absence he commands, but to whose orders he is constantly subservient.

SERGENT _d’armes_, _Fr._ During the old monarchy of France, particularly in the reign of Philip Augustus, a guard was composed of firm trusty men for the safety of the king. This guard was called _Sergens d’armes_, from the Latin words _servientes armorum_. The company of the _Sergens d’armes_ was composed of one hundred and fifty, or two hundred men. The number was reduced by Philip de Valois to one hundred. Charles V. during the regency broke the company, keeping only six men of that description round his person; and Charles VI. had only eight, half of whom did duty alternately every month. With us the serjeant at arms is a person appointed to attend a public body, arrest traitors, and persons offending.