Part 148

SOUDOYES, _Fr._ From _Soudoyer_. To keep in pay. This name was originally given to a body of men who inlisted themselves under Philip Augustus of France, on condition that they should receive a certain daily pay in the way of subsistence. Froissart calls all soldiers, who are paid for doing duty, or for going to war, _soudoyes_,

SOUFLE, _Fr._ The wind of a cannon.

SOUFLER _les canons_, _Fr._ To scale pieces of ordnance. This is done by means of a moderate charge of gunpowder, for the purpose of cleaning them.

SOUFLURE, _Fr._ A cavity or hole, which is frequently occasioned when pieces of metal have been forged in too intense a fire. Cannon balls lose their required weight by flaws of this sort.

SOUFRE, _Fr._ See SULPHUR.

SOUGARDE, _Fr._ Guard, throat-band of a gun. A semi-circular piece of brass which ts fixed beneath the trigger of a musquet, to prevent it from going off by accident.

SOUGARDES. See DECHARGEURS.

SOUGORGE, _Fr._ Throat-band of a bridle.

SOUKARS, _Ind._ A general name for bankers.

SOULEVEMENT, _Fr._ Insurrection, revolt.

SOULEVER, _Fr._ To stir up, to excite to insurrection.

_Se_ SOULEVER, _Fr._ To rise, to revolt, to mutiny; _l’armee s’est soulevee contre son general_; the army rose, or mutinied against its general.

SOUMETTRE, _Fr._ (As an active verb) to subdue, to overcome, to reduce to subjection.

_Se_ SOUMETTRE, _Fr._ To submit oneself. To yield.

SOUMISSION, _Fr._ Submission.

SOUMIS, _ise_, _Fr._ In fortification; to lie under, to be commanded. Thus one work is said to be commanded, _ou être soumis_, when it is lower than another. The same signification holds good with respect to heights or elevations.

SOUND. Any thing audible; noise; that which is perceived by the ear. The experiments are numerous by which it has been found, that sound is audible to the distance of 50, 60, or 80 miles; but Dr. Hearne, physician to the king of Sweden, tells us, that at the bombardment of Holmia, in 1658, the sound was heard 30 Swedish miles, which make 180 of ours: and in the fight between England and Holland in 1672, the noise of the guns was heard even in Wales, which cannot be less than 200 miles.

The velocity of sound is 380 yards, or 1142 feet in a second of time, as found by very accurate experiment. The exactness of measuring distances by sound, has been sufficiently proved by measuring the same distances by trigonometry.

The medium velocity of sound is nearly at the rate of a mile, or 5280 feet in 4²⁄₃ seconds; or a league in 14 seconds; or 13 miles in one minute. But sea miles are to land miles nearly as 7 to 6: therefore sound moves over a sea mile in 5³⁄₄ seconds nearly; or a sea league in 16 seconds.

Sound flies 1142 feet in one second.

It is a common observation, that persons in good health have about 75 pulsations at the wrist in a minute, consequently in 75 pulsations sound flies about 13 land miles, or 11¹⁄₇ sea miles, which is about 1 land mile in 6 pulsations, and 1 sea mile in 7 pulses, or a league in 20 pulses.

The velocity of sound does not very much vary, whether it goes with the wind or against it. As sound moves vastly swifter than the wind, the acceleration it can thereby receive can be but inconsiderable; and the chief effect we can perceive from the wind is, that the sound will be carried to a greater distance by it. Sound will be louder in proportion to the condension of the air. Water is one of the greatest conductors of sound; it can be heard nearly twice as far as on land.

SOUND, (_Sonde_, _Fr._) An instrument used by surgeons in probing.

_To_ SOUND. To betoken or direct by a sound; as to sound the retreat. Hence

SOUNDINGS. Signals made by any kind of instruments.

_Trumpet_ SOUNDINGS, practised by cavalry regiments, viz. for duty.

1. _Revillé._ 2. _Stable call._ For stable duties. 3. _Boots and saddles._}When to turn out on horseback for a march, 4. _To horse._ }exercise, or other duty. 5. _Draw swords._ }These soundings begin at the instants of drawing 6. _Return swords._}the sword _from_, and returning it _to_ the scabbard. 7. _Parade march._ 8. _Parade call._ For assembling on foot. 9. _Officers call._ 10. _Serjeants call._ 11. _Trumpeters call._ 12. _Orders._ 13. _Dinner call._ For men, and for officers. 14. _Watering call._ To turn out in watering order. 15. _Setting the watch._

These duty soundings, according to situation, are given by one trumpet, or by the whole of the quarter, regiment, or camp.

_For exercise._

16. _March._ The squadron, regiment, or line being halted, the trumpet of the commander will accompany the word, _the ---- will advance_; and at the word _march_, the whole will move at a walk.

17. _Trot._ 18. _Gallop._ 19. _Charge._ When the body is marching at a walk, on the signal to trot, the whole instantly receive the word _trot_, and change pace immediately. The same is to be observed from the trot to the light _gallop_, and from the gallop to the _charge_. During the charge itself, the trumpets of all the squadrons that are charging, may sound.

20. _Halt._ The whole halt on the word of command. After the halt of a retreating body, the proper command will bring it to its proper front.

21. _Retreat._ The signal of _retreat_, (which will be often preceded by that of halt) is a general caution for the several words of execution to be given.

22. _Rally._ The signal to _rally_, may be continued as long as it is necessary, and be repeated by the trumpets of such parts of the body, as are concerned in the operation, till the end is answered.

These signals are given by the chief commander only of the whole body that is exercised, whether of a squadron, regiment, brigade, or a line: they are not repeated by other commanders; they are addressed as cautions to the commanding officers of the parts of such body, not to the men; nor is any movement, or alteration of movement, to take place, but in consequence of the words, march, trot, gallop, &c. &c. rapidly and loudly repeated, the instant the trumpet caution is given.

The signals of movement are so short, that the words of execution may nearly coincide with them.

These signals for quick movement, may in regular exercise be given by a person who at the instant of giving them is stationary; but if he leads the body in motion, it is evident that in the gallop, the charge, and the halt, the voice and the eye, can only determine, and regulate.

23. _Turn out skirmishers._ This signal is made by the commander of the whole, if the whole is concerned, otherwise by the commander of such part only as is to execute; if one, or two squadrons only, the voice will suffice. It may be a signal for pursuers after a charge.

24. _Call in skirmishers._ This signal is made by the commander of the whole, and repeated by the commander of the detachments; is for the skirmishers to join their detachments; or it may originally come from the commander of the detachments. On the signal to rally, the whole join the bodies they were detached from.

25. _Skirmishers cease firing._ This signal is made by the commander of the whole, and repeated (or originally made) by the commander of the supporting detachments, from which the skirmishers are advanced.

_Bugle Horn_ SOUNDINGS, are different calls which are made by the bugle horn for duty and exercise. The following constitute the principal ones. See _Am. Mil. Lib._

1st. _For duty._

1. _Revillé._ {These soundings are different in their 2. _Rouse, or turn out._{notes from those of the trumpet, but may be 3. _Dinner call._ {used under the same circumstances. 4. _Setting the watch._ {

2d. _For exercise._

5. _March._ } 6. _Trot._ } 7. _Gallop._ } 8. _Charge._ }These soundings exactly the same as 9. _Halt._ }those of the trumpet, in the place of 10. _Retreat._ }which the bugle horn may be 11. _Rally._ }occasionally substituted. 12. _Turn out skirmishers._ } 13. _Skirmishers cease firing._} 14. _Call in skirmishers._ }

These signals, of the trumpet, and bugle horn, are meant in aid of the voice, but are by no means to be substituted for, or prevent the ordered words of execution.

The trumpet is always to be considered as the principal military instrument for these soundings, and particularly belongs to the line; the bugle horn to riflemen and detached parties.

SOUPAPE, _Fr._ Sucker of a pump.

SOURA, _Ind._ A division; as that of chapter.

SOURD, _e._ _Fr._ Literally means deaf, dull. It is variously applied by the French--viz.

_Lanterne Sourde_, _Fr._ A dark lantern.

_Lime Sourde_, _Fr._ A file which is made in such a manner, that you may separate pieces of iron without making any noise in the operation. It is likewise used in a figurative sense--to signify a person who says little, but is always meditating something mischievous or injurious to others.

The French likewise say, _sourdes pratiques_, _pratiques sourdes_; secret or underhand practices; _sourdes menees_, _menees sourdes_, secret or underhand ways. These terms are always used in a bad sense. In mathematics, the French call those quantities, _quantites sourdes_, which are incommensurable, that is, which cannot be exactly expressed, either by whole numbers or by fractions. Thus the square root, or _racine carree_, of two is a _quantite sourde_.

SOURDINE, _Fr._ A little pipe, a mute. It likewise means a small spring, which is fixed in a dumb repeater. The French make use of this word in a figurative sense, to signify, literally, without noise. _Les ennemis ont délogé à la sourdine_, the enemy decamped privately, and without noise.

SOURIS, _Fr._ Literally a mouse. For its application in fortification, see PAS DE SOURIS. It is likewise used to express a want of expedients or resources in critical moments, and the consequent danger of being caught in the snare one is endeavoring to avoid--_La souris qui n’a qu’un trou est bientôt prise_, the mouse that has only one hole to run to, is soon caught.

SOUS, _Fr._ A proposition which is used to denote the state or condition of one thing with respect to another which is above it, viz.

SOUS-_tangente_, _Fr._ Sub-tangent.

SOUS-_lieutenant_, _Fr._ Sub-lieutenant.

SOUSIGNER, _Fr._ To undersign.

SOUSIGNE, _ée_, _Fr._ The undersigned.

_La_ SOUTE, _Fr._ The powder or bread room.

SOUTENIR, _Fr._ In exercise and evolution to turn upon the left foot in proportion as any given line bears towards the fixed point upon which it is directed to rest; The point on which the soldier turns is called the pivot, _Le pivot_.

SOUTENIR, _Fr._ To maintain; as _soutenir le combat_, to maintain the fight.

SOUTENIR _le feu de l’ennemi_, _Fr._ To stand the enemy’s fire.

SOUTENIR _le siege_, _Fr._ To hold out in a besieged place.

SOUTERRAINS, _Fr._ Subterraneous passages, lodgments, &c. that are bomb-proof.

SOUVERAIN, _Fr._ Sovereign. The person in whom sovereignty is vested.

SOUVERAINETE. Sovereignty; supremacy; highest place; supreme power.

SOW, in ancient military history, a kind of covered shed, fixed on wheels, under which the besiegers filled up and passed the ditch, sapped or mined the wall, and sometimes worked a kind of ram. It had its name from its being used for rooting up the earth like a swine, or because the soldiers therein were like pigs under a sow.

SOWAR, _Ind._ A horseman.

SOWARRY, _Ind._ A retinue, cavalcade; the English residents in India say, such a man travels with a large _sowarry_, meaning a great number of followers.

SOWGUND, _Ind._ An oath.

SPADE, (_Beche_, _Fr._) an instrument for digging. See INTRENCHING TOOLS, MINING, &c.

SPADROON, a sword much lighter than a broadsword, and made both to cut and thrust.

SPADROON _Guard_, a guard sometimes used with the cut and thrust sword, and also with the broadsword. It consists in dropping the point towards the right from the outside guard, till it comes under your adversary’s blade, the edge being upwards, and your wrist at the same time raised.

SPAHI, _Persian_. A soldier or military man, whence the common Hindustan term SEPAHI, corrupted by the English into _Sepcy_.

SPAHI. An upper garment made of blue cloth, which is worn by the Janizaries, in the same manner that we wear a loose great coat or surtout.

SPAHIS. A corps of Turkish cavalry, which is kept in pay by the grand signor. The Spahis do not possess any lands as the Zaims and Timariots are allowed to do. This corps is composed of twelve or fifteen thousand men, and consists of the _Silbataris_, whose standard or cornet is yellow, and of the _Spahis-Glanis_, who have a red one. When the troops were first formed, the latter acted as servants or batmen to the former: they became a separate class or troop in consequence of their superior conduct on service, and were distinguished in this manner:--They are armed with a sabre and a lance, which they call _Misra_. They likewise make use of a long dart or javelin, called a _Gerie_, with an iron ferrel at one end, which they throw at the enemy with surprising skill; and if they should happen to miss their aim, they can instantly bend from their saddles, and catch it up, whilst the horse is on full gallop. Others again are armed with bows and arrows, and some have pistols and carbines. When the grand signor takes the field in person, he generally makes a present of five thousand aspres to each _Spahi_. This bounty is called _Sadach akchiasi_, or gift to enable each man to purchase bows and arrows.

When the _Spahis_ take the field, they march in rear of their standard; but they do not observe any particular order of route. They divide themselves, on the contrary, into small bodies, and advance in the most desultory manner.

Besides these two troops of _Spahis_, there are four others in the Turkish service, which are only called upon under circumstances of extreme pressure and emergency. The first is called _Sag-Vlesigi_; the standard is red and white. The second is named _Sol-Vlesigi_; the standard is white and yellow. The third is styled _Sag-Gureba_, the standard is green: and the fourth, _Sol-Gureba_; the standard is white. All these _Spahis_ receive a daily pay of twelve to twenty aspres; and they are subject to every species of duty. Those are _Spahis_, called _Timars_, or _Timariots_. See TIMARIOTS.

SPANNER, the lock of a fusil or carabine.

SPATTERDASHES, a kind of covering for the legs of soldiers, made of cloth, or coarse linen waxed over, and buttoned tight: by which the wet is kept off, now called long gaiters.

SPATTS, a small sort of spatterdashes, that reach only a little above the ancle, called also half gaiters.

SPEAKING _Trumpet_, a trumpet by which the voice may be carried to a great distance. It was formerly used in large armies; and even so late as the siege of Gibraltar, when general Elliot, (afterwards Lord Heathfield) caused the brigade words of command to be given by means of this instrument.

SPEAR, a _lance_, or long weapon with a sharp point, formerly used as a manual, or missive weapon. See LANCE.

_To_ SPEND. This term is used at sea of a mast of a ship; when it is broken down by foul weather, it is said to be spent. It is sometimes used in military matters to express the consumption of any thing: as to spend all your ammunition.

SPENT _Ball_, (_Boulet mort_, _Balle morte_, _Fr._) A cannon or musquet ball, &c. is said to be spent, when it reaches an object without sufficient force to pass through it, or otherwise wound, than by a contusion. Spent balls, however, are frequently fatal in their effects, especially when they hit any of the noble parts. It is on occasions of this sort, that the activity and skill of a field or ambulating surgeon, are indispensibly necessary; for which reason a sufficient number of these useful attendants upon an army, ought always to accompany the different battalions that go into action. The French pay the strictest attention to this branch of the service. Their flying hospitals are not only well supplied with all the requisites for so important an establishment, but every dependent part is equally well provided.

SPHERE, SPHERICAL, a round body of which the centre is at the same distance from every point of the circumference; as is the case with _Shots_, _Shells_, &c.

SPHERES _d’artifice_, _Fr._ Iron hoops with matches, steeped in combustible matter, fixed round them. When there is only one hoop it is called _Circle d’artifice_; when there are two or three, one within the other, the assemblage of them is called _sphere d’artifice_, from its resemblance to that figure.

SPHERICAL. Round.

SPHEROID, an oblong body, approaching the form of a sphere.

SPIES, SPIALS, in _war_, are persons employed to give intelligence of what the enemy is doing. They should be well paid: who pays them ill, is never well served. They should never be known to any but the general who employs them, nor should they know one another. When they propose any thing very material, their persons, or their wives and children, should be secured and kept as hostages for their fidelity. If they are apprehended, they immediately suffer death.

SPIES are found in the cabinets of princes, in the closets of ministers, amongst the officers of an army, and in the councils of generals; in towns belonging to the enemy, and in monasteries. The greatest generals strongly recommend them, whatever expence they may occasion; and indeed a commander had better be in want of many particulars, however necessary, than be destitute of spies. Nothing should be spared to procure them; and even the promises made to them should be observed with the most inviolable integrity. By making a proper use of these necessary creatures, the most secret designs of an enemy may be discovered, the positions his armies are to take, the stations of his fleets, and even the manner in which the former is to be secured by masked batteries, or the latter be kept firm with chain moorings; as was the case off Boulogne in 1800.

_To_ SPIKE _a gun_. This term is chiefly used at sea, and signifies to fasten a quoin with spikes to the deck, close to the breech of the carriages of the great guns, so that they may keep firm and close to the sides of the ship, and not break loose when the ship rolls. It is likewise used in military matters to signify the choaking up the touch-hole of a piece of ordnance, so as to render it useless. See TO NAIL.

SPIKES, in _gunnery_. See HAND-SPIKES.

SPIN, or _to spin hay_, is to twist it up in ropes, very hard, for an expedition; by which means it is less bulky, and less troublesome for the cavalry to carry behind them. An expert horseman can spin five days forage into a very narrow compass.

SPIRAL, (_Spirale_, _Fr._) In architecture, a curve that ascends winding about a cone or spire, so that all the points thereof continually approach the axis.

SPIRAL _Line_, (_Ligne spirale_, _Fr._) A curve line, which makes a circular movement like a screw, perpetually diverging or going off from its centre.

SPIRAL, SPIRE, a line drawn progressively round the same axis, with a distance between each circle; as the thread of a screw. See SCREW.

SPOKES, the bars of a wheel that pass from the nave to the felly.

SPONTOON, is a spear formerly used instead of a half-pike, by officers of infantry; when the spontoon was planted, the regiment halted; when pointed forwards, the regiment marched; and when pointed backwards, the regiment retreated.

_To_ SPRAWL, to widen out in an irregular and unsoldier-like manner. This term is chiefly applicable to the cavalry.

SPRAWLING. Loose, unconnected, wide of each other.

_A_ SPRAWLING _charge_, a loose and irregular movement of cavalry, instead of a close, compact, forward attack.

_To_ SPRING. To give vent to any combustible matter upon which gunpowder principally acts by the power of explosion. Hence to spring globes of compression, &c. The latter are frequently used for the same purposes that skyrockets, &c. are, viz. to serve as signals when any sudden attack is to be made.

SPRING, in a general acceptation, an elastic body; a body which when bent, or distorted, has the power of restoring itself to its former state. It is in general a piece of tempered metal, which by means of its elastic force, is useful in several machines to give them motion. In a gun lock the springs are distinguished by various appellations according to their several uses, viz.

_Cear and Cear_ SPRING. The cear is a piece of hardened iron or steel in a gun lock, which moves on a pivot, and the point of which is received in a notch cut in the tumbler, and the other end is acted upon by the trigger.

The cear spring is a small spring, which throws the cear into the notch cut in the tumbler of a gun-cock, when the piece is at half cock or full cock.

_Feather_ SPRING. The spring of a gun lock beneath the foot of the hammer; called likewise hammer-spring.

_Main_ SPRING. The spring in a gun lock which operates on the tumbler, and gives force to the cock.

_To_ SPRING, in a military sense, to step forward with a certain degree of elasticity.

SPRING _up_. A word of command, which has been occasionally used when sections double up. It signifies, indeed, the same as double up, and is sometimes used singly, as _Spring!_ particularly to light infantry men.

_To_ SPRING _the firelock_. To bring it briskly up to any ordered position; to the recover, for instance.

SPUNGE, (_ecouvillon_, _arroussement_, _griffon_, _Fr._) A long staff with a roll at one end, covered with a sheep’s skin, of the bigness of the bore of a gun, to scour it after firing; and to prevent any sparks from remaining. It is sometimes called Merkin, from its artificial texture of hair at the end of the staff.

_Pyrotechnical_ SPUNGES. Spunges which constitute the black match or tinder that is brought from Germany, for striking fire with a flint and steel. These spunges are made of the large mushroom, or fungous excrescences which grow upon old oaks, ash trees, firs, &c. These are steeped in water, boiled and beaten, and then put in a strong lye made of saltpetre, and afterwards dried in an oven.

_To_ SPUNGE _the gun_, (_écouvillonner le canon_, _Fr._) To cool and cleanse the bore of a piece of ordnance by means of a wet spunge which is fixed to the end of a long pole.

SPURS, in _old fortifications_, are walls that cross a part of the rampart, and join to the town wall.

SPURS, instruments fixed to the heels of horsemen, with which they can at pleasure, goad the horse to action.

SQUAD. A diminutive of squadron. It is used in military matters to express any small number of men, horse or foot, that are collected together for the purposes of drill, &c.

_To_ SQUAD. To divide a troop or company into certain parts, in order to drill the men separately, or in small bodies, or to put them under the direction and care of some steady corporal, or lance corporal. In every well regulated troop or company, the men are squadded in such a manner, that the most minute concern with respect to the interior economy can be instantly accounted for. The following distinct instructions have appeared in print. We quote them the more readily because they not only coincide with our own ideas on the subject, but seem perfectly calculated to preserve good order and discipline. They relate chiefly to the cavalry, but are equally applicable to infantry corps.