Part 31

DRESSING _of a battalion after the halt_, is to bring all its relative parts in a line with the point, or object, towards which it was directed to move. Whatever correction is necessary, must be made by advancing or retiring the flanks, and not by moving the centre; which, having been the guide in the march, has properly stopped at the point where it has arrived.

DRESSING _of a battalion when it is to retire_, is to have some intelligent officer placed thirty paces in the rear, so as to stand perpendicular to the front directing serjeant, by whom the direction of the march is to be ascertained, as the officer will, of course, be in the line, or nearly so, of the directing serjeants.

DRESSER, _Fr._ See _to_ DRESS.

DRINKING to excess in the army is at all times highly criminal, but upon service it ought never to be overlooked; and the consequence will be a trial by a court martial. It has been productive of almost innumerable mischiefs, and is a most detestable and horrid practice. Whatever commissioned officer shall be found drunk on his guard, party, or other duty, under arms, shall be cashiered; any non-commissioned officer or soldier, so offending, shall suffer such corporal punishment as shall be inflicted by the sentence of a court martial. _Art. of War._

_To_ DRILL, to teach young recruits the first principles of military movements and positions, &c.

_To be sent to_ DRILL, to be placed under the command of the drill officer, or non-commissioned officer, and made to join the recruits in performing the manual and platoon exercise, &c. This is sometimes ordered as a punishment to those who are perfect in their exercise, when a battalion, company, or individual has done something to merit exposure.

DRIVERS _of baggage or artillery_, men who drive the baggage, artillery, and stores, having no other duty in the army.

DRUM, is a martial musical instrument in the form of a cylinder, hollow within, and covered at the two ends with vellum, which is stretched or slackened at pleasure, by means of small cords and sliding leathers. This instrument is used both by infantry and artillery; which is done in several manners, either to give notice to the troops of what they are to do, or to demand liberty to make some proposal to an enemy. Every company of foot or artillery, has two or more drums, according to the effective strength of the party. The drum was first invented by Bacchus, who, as Polyenus reports, fighting against the Indians, gave the signal of battle with cymbals and drums; and the Saracens, who invaded Christendom, introduced the drum into the European armies. The various beats are as follow, among the British.

_The general_, is to give notice to the troops that they are to march.

_The assembly_, _The troop_, to order the troops to repair to the place of rendezvous, or to their colors.

_The march_, to command them to move, always with the left foot first.

_Tat-too_, to order all to retire to their quarters.

_The reveille_, always beats at break of day, and is to warn the soldiers to rise, and the centinels to forbear challenging, and to give leave to come out of quarters.

_To arms_, for soldiers who are dispersed, to repair to them.

_The retreat_, a signal to draw off from the enemy. It likewise means a beat in both camp and garrison a little before sun-set, at which time the gates are shut, and the soldiers repair to their barracks.

_The alarm_, is to give notice of sudden danger, that all may be in readiness for immediate duty.

_The parley_, _The chamade_, is a signal to demand some conference with the enemy.

DRUM, or DRUMMER, the person who beats the drum.

_Kettle_-DRUMS, are two sorts of large basons of copper or brass, rounded at the bottom, and covered with vellum or goatskin, which is kept fast by a circle of iron, and several holes, fastened to the body of the drum, and a like number of screws to stretch it at pleasure. They are used among the horse.

DRUM-_major_, is always that person in the regiment, who beats the best drum, has the command over the other drums, and teaches them their duty. Every regiment has a drum-major.

DRUM-STICKS, the sticks with which the drummer beats his drum.

DUEL, is a single combat, at a time and place appointed, in consequence of a cartel or challenge. Duelling was anciently authorised; but the motive of the duellists was the good of their country, when one, or a small number of combatants were chosen to save the blood of a whole army, and decide, by victory or death, the quarrels of kings or nations. Thus it was with Goliah and David, the Horatii and Curatii, and several others.

DUELLING was so general a method of determining differences among the nobles, that even ecclesiastics were not excused; only, to prevent their being stained with blood, they procured champions to fight for them. None were excepted from combat, but sick people, cripples, and such as were under 21 years of age, or above 60. Justs and tournaments, doubtless, rendered duels more frequent.

No officer or soldier shall pretend to send a challenge to any other officer or soldier, to fight a duel; if a commissioned officer, on pain of being cashiered; if a non-commissioned officer or soldier, of suffering corporal punishment, at the discretion of a court martial. _Articles of war._

Pharamond king of the Gauls, in the year 420, issued the following edict against duelling.

“WHEREAS it has come to our royal notice and observation, that in contempt of all laws, divine and human, it has of late become a custom among the nobility and gentry of this our kingdom, upon slight and trivial, as well as great and urgent provocations, to invite each other into the field, there, by their own hands, and of their own authority, to decide their controversies by combat: we have thought fit to take the said custom into our royal consideration, and find, upon inquiry into the usual causes whereon such fatal decisions have arisen, that by this wicked custom, maugre all the precepts of our holy religion, and the rules of right reason, the greatest act of the human mind, _forgiveness of injuries_, is become vile and shameful; that the rules of good society and virtuous conversation are hereby inverted; that the loose, the vain, and the impudent, insult the careful, the discreet, and the modest; that all virtue is suppressed, and all vice supported, in the one act of being capable to dare to death. We have also further, with great sorrow of mind, observed that this dreadful action, by long impunity, (our royal attention being employed upon matters of more general concern) is become honorable, and the refusal to engage in it ignominious. In these our royal cares and inquiries, we are yet farther made to understand, that the persons of most eminent worth, of most hopeful abilities, accompanied with the strongest passion for true glory, are such as are most liable to be involved in the dangers arising from this licence. Now, taking the said premises into our serious consideration, and well weighing, that all such emergencies (wherein the mind is incapable of commanding itself, and where the injury is too sudden, or too exquisite to be borne) are particularly provided for by laws heretofore enacted; and that the qualities of less injuries, like those of ingratitude, are too nice and delicate to come under general rules; we do resolve to blot this fashion, or wantonness of anger, out of the minds of our subjects, by our royal resolutions declared in this edict, as follows:--No person who either sends or accepts a challenge, or the posterity of either, though no death ensues thereupon, shall be, after the publication of this our edict, capable of bearing office in these our dominions:--The person who shall prove the sending or receiving a challenge, shall receive to his own use and property, the whole personal estate of both parties; and their real estate shall be immediately vested in the next heir of the offenders, in as ample a manner as if the said offenders were actually deceased:--In cases where the laws (which we have already granted to our subjects) admit of an appeal for blood: when the criminal is condemned by the said appeal, he shall not only suffer death, but his whole estate, real, mixed, and personal, shall, from the hour of his death, be vested in the next heir of the person whose blood he spilt:--That it shall not hereafter be in our royal power, or that of our successors, to pardon the said offences, or restore the offenders to their estates, honor, or blood, for ever. Given at our court, at Blois, the eighth of February, 420, in the second year of our reign.”

DUELLING was authorised before the Normans came into England, but the practice was not so frequent as after the conquest.

DULEDGE, a peg of wood which joins the ends of the felloes, forming the circle of the wheel of a gun carriage; and the joint is strengthened on the outside of the wheel by a strong plate of iron, called the _duledge plate_.

DUMB-BELLS, weights which were used in drilling the soldier, who held one in each hand, which he swung backwards and forwards, to open his chest, increase muscular strength, throw back his shoulders, and accustom him to that freedom of action in the arms, and to that erect position of body which are so essentially necessary to a soldier.

The following method of exercising recruits with the dumb-bells, is extracted from a work entitled Military Instruction.

The dumb-bells being placed one on each side of the recruit, and himself in an erect, steady posture--on the word,

_Raise bells_--he will take one in each hand, and by a gentle motion, raise them as high as his arm will suffer him above his head; then gradually sinking them with stretched arm, as much behind him as possible, he will form a circle with them, making the circle complete, by causing the backs of his hands to meet behind his body; this will be repeated according to his strength, 5 or 6 times.

_Extend bells._--The bells being raised to the shoulder, they will be forced forwards, keeping the same height, then brought back in the same manner; this will throw the chest forward, and force back the neck and shoulders, this must be frequently repeated.

_Swing bells._--The top part of the bells to be made meet together in front, the height of the breast; then forced backwards with an extended arm, and be made to touch behind: in doing this, the palm of the hands must be uppermost, and the elbows well down: this circle must be repeated 14 or 15 times: Time, the circle performed, in 2 seconds.

_Ground bells._--The recruit will let fall the bells by his sides, and remain steady and firm.

DUNES, _Fr._ sand hills, commonly called downs. As _les dunes sur la cote de Flandres_; the downs, or sand hills along the coast of Flanders.

DUNGEON, DONJON, _Fr._ in _fortification_, is commonly a large tower or redoubt of a fortress, whither the garrison may retreat, in case or necessity, and capitulate with greater advantage. Also a dark and secluded place in which prisoners were kept.

DUTY, in a military sense, is the exercise of those functions that belong to a soldier; yet with this nice distinction, that duty is counted the mounting guard, &c. where no enemy is directly to be engaged; for when any body of men marches to meet the enemy, this is strictly called _going upon service_.

On all duties, whether with or without arms, picquets, or courts martial, the tour of duty begins with the eldest downwards. An officer who is upon duty cannot be ordered for any other before that duty is finished, except he be on the inlying picquet, as then he shall be relieved, and go on the duty ordered.

_Military_ DUTIES may be divided into two general classes, under the heads of Brigade and Regimental _duties_.

_Brigade duties_, are those which one regiment does in common with another, collectively or by detachments; and of which the brigade major keeps a regular roster.

_Regimental Duties_, are those which the several companies of a regiment perform among themselves, and of which the adjutant keeps a regular roster.

The following _general regulations_ are to be observed, respecting duties in general.

When field or other commissioned officers, are given out at head quarters for one _duty_, they cannot be taken off to be put on any other _duty_.

No officer is allowed to exchange his _duty_ with another, after he has been put in orders for it, without leave of the commanding officer of his regiment.

Guards, or detachments, which have not marched off from the parade, are not to be reckoned as for a _duty_ done; but, if they should have marched from the parade, it stands for a _duty_ done, though they should be dismissed immediately.

If any officer’s tour of _duty_ for the picquet, general court martial, or _duty_ of fatigue, happen when he is on _duty_, he shall not make good such _duty_ when he comes off.

No regiment can demand a tour of _duty_, unless it has marched off the place of parade, and beyond the main guard.

General courts martial that have assembled, and the members sworn in, shall be reckoned for a _duty_, though they should be dismissed without trying any person.

Whenever the picquets are ordered to march to any parade, it is not to be accounted a _duty_, unless they march off that parade.

All commands in the regular forces, fall to the eldest officers in the same circumstances, whether of cavalry or infantry, entire, or in parties. In case two commissions, of the same date, interfere, a retrospect is to be had to former commissions, or to lot.

Officers, on all duties under arms, are to have their swords drawn, without waiting for any word of command for that purpose.

E.

EAGLE. _Black_-EAGLE, an order of military knighthood in Prussia, instituted by the elector of Brandenburg, in 1701, on his being crowned king of Prussia. The knights of this order wear an orange colored riband, from which is suspended a black eagle.

_White_-EAGLE, is a like order in Poland, instituted in 1325, by Uladislaus V. on occasion of the marriage of his son Casimir to the daughter of the great duke of Lithuania. The knights of this order wear a chain of gold, to which a silver eagle, crowned, is suspended.

The white headed eagle, peculiar to America, is the standard of the United States.

EAGLE. The standard of the ancient Romans. In a general sense, it formerly meant the standard of the Roman armies; in a more limited acceptation, the sign or flag of the several legions.

The standard of the German empire was an eagle with two heads, referring to the eastern and western Roman empires, whose successors they claimed to be, and called themselves _Keisar_, or Cæsar.

The difference between the Roman and the Imperial eagle consists in this, that the first were eagles of gold or silver, fixed at the end of a pike, having their wings extended, and holding the lightning in their claws; the second are eagles painted or embossed upon the colors and standards of the emperors. The eagle likewise signified, in a figurative sense, the German empire, now extinct.

EARL-MARSHAL. An officer who has the care and direction of military solemnities. The dukes of Norfolk are by hereditary right, earls marshal of England.

EARTH-_bags_. See BAGS.

EASE, in a military sense, signifies a prescribed relaxation of the frame, from the erect and firm position which every well dressed soldier should observe. He is, on no account to lounge, or in his common gait so far to give way to an idle fluctuation of his limbs, as to feel himself constrained when he returns to duty. A habit of this sort will gradually gain upon recruits, if they are not corrected during the intervals of drill.

_To stand at_ EASE, in a technical acceptation of the term, is to draw the right foot back about six inches, and to bring the greatest part of the weight of the body upon it. The left knee must be a little bent, and the hands brought together before the body, the right hand in front. But the shoulders must invariably be kept back and square, the head to the front, and the whole carriage of the person be unconstrained.

In cold weather, when standing at ease, the men are permitted by command, to move their limbs without quitting their ground.

_Stand at_ EASE, (from the support) on this command the soldier retires his right foot 6 inches, bends his left knee, and carrying the right hand smartly across the body, seizes the firelock by the small of the butt, and raises it sufficiently to slope it over his left shoulder, and relieve the left arm from the pressure of the cock. In some corps, instead of seizing the small of the butt with the right hand, they only place the hollow of the hand below the left elbow.

EASE _arms_, a word of command, given immediately after the order, to _handle arms_, by which the soldier is directed to drop his right hand to the full extent of the arm, from the top of the ramrod on the front of the sling, with his fingers spread along it.

EAU, _Fr._ water, is a principal object to be considered, whenever an army advances, retreats, or encamps. It is the quarter master general’s business, through his subordinate deputies, to secure this indispensible necessary of life. Small running rivulets are preferable to large rivers, because the latter cannot be so easily turned for the convenience of the army; whereas the former may be always stopped, or diverted from their natural course.

Wells are never resorted to, but in case of absolute necessity. Stagnant or pond water is in general unwholesome, and rarely limpid or clear.

_Haute_ EAU. High water.

_Basse_ EAU. Low water.

EAUX _Meres_ ou AMERES, _Fr._ The water which remains after the first boiling of saltpetre. It has a bitter salt taste, and is used to fill the tubs a second time.

_Petites_ EAUX, _Fr._ The water which remains after the saltpetre has been boiled to a certain degree. See SALTPETRE.

ECHANTILLON, _Fr._ means literally a pattern or model. In a military sense, it signifies a plank, which is covered on one side with iron, and serves to finish the mouldings, &c. of a piece of ordnance.

ESCHARPE, _Fr._ a scarf. In ancient times, a military mark to distinguish officers and soldiers from the rest of the people. Before a regular clothing was adopted among the nations in Europe, officers and soldiers appeared with two scarfs of different colors, which crossed each other before and behind, in order to point out the country and the corps to which the wearer of it belonged. The scarf was preserved among the French, as late down as the reign of Louis the XIVth. It consisted of a piece of white silk, which previous to the revolution, was the national color of France.

Scarfs, however, were continued much later among other nations, particularly among the Germans, who wear them to this day across their uniforms. Cross belts succeed the scarf.

_En_ ECHARPE, in the military art. To batter _en echarpe_, is to fire obliquely, or sideways. See BATTERY.

ECHAUGETTE, in military history, signifies a watch-tower, or kind of centry-box.

ECHELLE, _Fr._ scale. In a mathematical sense, is a straight line drawn double, which is divided into a certain number of parts, each part containing as many toises or yards, &c. as the size of the chart or paper will admit, which are again reduced into feet.

ECHELLE, _Fr._ ladder, in civil and military architecture, means a machine, which is made of two side pieces or arms, that receive a certain number of small steps, at equal distances from one another. These _echelles_ or ladders, are of two kinds: large and small. The small ladders are used to descend into the ditches of fortified places, and the large ones for scaling the walls, &c. See SCALING LADDERS.

ECHELLON, _Fr._ from _echelle_, a ladder. A position in military tactics, where each division follows the preceding one, like the steps of a ladder; and is convenient in removing from a direct to an oblique, or diagonal line. When troops advance in _echellon_, they almost invariably adopt the ordinary time. Hence to march in _echellon_, may not improperly be said to approach towards any given object by a gradual movement.

ECHELLON _movements and positions_, are not only necessary and applicable to the immediate attacks and retreats of great bodies, but also to the previous oblique or direct changes of situation, which a battalion, or a more considerable corps already formed in line, may be obliged to make to the front or rear, or on a particular fixed division of the line.

The oblique changes are produced by any wheel of less than the quarter circle of divisions from line, which places them in the echellon situation. The direct changes are produced by the perpendicular and successive march of divisions from line to front, or rear. See _Amer. Mil. Lib._

ECLAIREURS, _Fr._ a corps of grenadiers raised by Bonaparte, in France, who from their celerity of movement were compared to lightning.

ECLOPES, a French military term, to express those soldiers who, though invalids, are yet well enough to follow the army. Among these may be classed dragoons or horsemen, whose horses get suddenly lame, and cannot keep up with the troop or squadron. They always march in the rear of a column.

ECLUSES, _Fr._ See SLUICES.

ECONOMY, in a military sense, implies the minutiæ, or interior regulations of a regiment, troop, or company. Hence regimental economy.

ECORE, _Fr._ steep shore. _Côte en ecore_, signifies a very steep descent.

ECOUPE, _Fr._ An instrument used by the pioneers. See OUTILS.

ECOUVILLON, _Fr._ a maulkin or drag. The spunge made use of to clean and to cool the inside of a cannon, when it has been discharged.

ECOUVILLONER, _Fr._ To clean a piece of ordnance before it has been fired, or to cool it after.

ECRETER, _Fr._ To batter or fire at the top of a wall, redoubt, epaulement, &c. so as to dislodge or drive away the men that may be stationed behind it, in order to render the approach more easy. _Ecreter les pointes des palissades_, is to blunt the sharp ends of the palisades. This ought always to be done before you attack the covert way, which is generally fenced by them.

ECU, _Fr._ A large shield which was used by the ancients, and carried on their left arms, to ward off the blows of a sword or sabre. This instrument of defence was originally invented by the Samnites. The Moors had _ecus_ or shields, sufficiently large to cover the whole of their bodies. The clipei of the Romans, only differed from the _ecu_ in shape; the former being entirely round, and the latter oval.

EDGE. The thin or cutting part of a sword or sabre.

EDICT. See PROCLAMATION.

EDUCATION, in a military sense, implies the training up of youth to the art of war; the first object to be considered is, whether nature has given the young man the talents necessary for the profession or not; for here sense, parts, courage, and judgment, are required in a very eminent degree. The natural qualities of an officer are, a robust constitution, a noble open countenance, a martial genius, fire to produce activity, phlegm to moderate his transports, and patience to support the toils and fatigues of war, almost without seeming to feel them. Acquired qualities in an officer consist in moral virtues and sciences; by the first is meant, a regular good conduct, economy, prudence, and a serious application to what regards the service. Military sciences indispensibly demand the reading of ancient and modern historians; a good knowlege of military mathematics; and the study of the chief languages of Europe.