Part 34

ETOILES, _Fr._ small redoubts, which are constructed by means of angles rentrant and angles sortant, and have from five to eight saliant points. Each one of their sides or faces may contain from 12 to 25 toises. This species of fortification has fallen into disuse, not only because etoiles do not possess the advantage of having their angle rentrant effectually flanked, but because they have been superceded by square redoubts, which are sooner built, and are applicable to the same purposes of defence.

ETOUPILLE, _Fr._ an inflammable match, composed of three threads of very fine cotton, which is well steeped in brandy mixed with the best priming gunpowder.

EVACUATE, in military history, a term made use of in the articles of capitulation granted to the besieged at the time they surrender to the besiegers; and is the same as quitting a place.

EVENT, _Fr._ Vent. This word is particularly applicable to the vent or cavity which is left in cannon, or other fire arms, after they have been proved and found defective. The vent is sometimes round and sometimes long. Vents are frequently so exiguous, that they appear like the lines of a small fibre, through which water will ooze, and smoke evaporate. These pieces, whether of ordnance, or of musquetry, are of course rejected.

EVIDENCE, a declaration made _viva voce_ of what any person knows of his own knowlege relative to the matter in question. Military men are obliged to attend and give evidence before courts-martial, without any expence to the prosecutor, or prisoner.

_Hearsay_ EVIDENCE, the declaration of what one has heard from others. As in all other courts of ordinary judicature, this species of evidence is not admissible in courts-martial.

EVOCATI, were a class of soldiers among the Romans, who, after having served their full time in the army, entered as volunteers to accompany some favorite general. Hence they were likewise called _emeriti and beneficiarii_.

EVOCATION. A religious ceremony which was always observed among the Romans, at the commencement of a siege, wherein they solemnly called upon the gods and goddesses of the place to forsake it, and come over to them. When any place surrendered, they always took it for granted, that their prayer had been heard, and that the _Dii Penates_, or the household gods of the place had come over to them.

EVOLUTION, in the art of war, the motion made by a body of troops, when they are obliged to change their form and disposition, in order to preserve a post, occupy another, to attack an enemy with more advantage, or to be in a condition of defending themselves the better. That evolution is best, which, with a given number of men, may be executed in the least space, and consequently in the least time possible.

EVOLUTION _of the moderns_, is a change of position, which has always for its object either offence or defence. The essentials in the performance of an evolution are, order, directness, precision, and the greatest possible rapidity.

EVOLUTIONS may be divided into two classes, the simple and the compound; simple evolutions are those which consist in simple movements, which do not alter the shape or figure of the battalion, but merely afford a more or less extended front or depth, keep it more or less closed to its flanks or centre, turn its aspect to flank or rear, or break it into divisions, subdivisions, sections, or files, in order that it may unfold itself, or defile and resume its proper front or order of battle. All the various ways of defiling, forming line, opening to right and left, closing or deploying, doubling the ranks or files, or changing front upon either of the flanks by conversion, are called simple evolution.

Compound evolutions are those which change the shape and figure of battalions, break them into divisions or companies, separate the companies from the main body, and again replace or rejoin them; in a word which afford the means of presenting a front at every direction.

Compound evolutions are practised either by repeating the same simple evolution several times, or by going through several simple evolutions, or moving in different modes with different parts of the same corps, which ultimately tend to the same object.

The EVOLUTIONS _of the ancients_ were formed and executed with uncommon good sense and ability. Considering the depth and size of the Grecian phalanx, it is astonishing how the different parts could be rendered susceptible of the most intricate and varied evolutions. The Roman legion, though more favorable to such changes and conversions, from being more loose and detached, did not execute them upon more sound or better principles.

EVOLUTION (_in geometry_) the equal _evolution_ of the periphery of a circle, or any other curve, is such a gradual approach of the circumference to rectitude, as that all its parts do meet together, and equally evolve or unbend; so that the same line becomes successively a less arch of a reciprocally greater circle, till at last they turn into a straight line.

EVOLUTION _of powers_ (_in algebra_) extracting of roots from any given power, being the reverse of involution.

EXAGON. See HEXAGON.

EXAMINER. One who scrutinizes.

EXCAVATION, the act of cutting or otherwise making hollows; also the cavity formed. In military matters, it is generally applied to the place from whence the earth or other substance has been taken by mining.

EXAMPLE, any act or word which disposes to imitation. The example of a superior officer has considerable influence over the mind of an inferior; but in no instance does it appear more important than in the good and bad behaviour of a non-commissioned officer or corporal. These characters, therefore, should be particularly correct in their duties, tenacious of every principle of military honor, and remarkable for honesty. Old soldiers should likewise direct their attention to the strict observance of rules and regulations, as young recruits always look up to them for example.

EXAMINATION, a scrutiny or investigation of abilities, conduct, &c. All officers of artillery and engineers should undergo an examination in mathematics, fortification, and gunnery, prior to their having commissions. Surgeons and assistant surgeons should be examined before a medical board.

EXAUCTORATIO, in the Roman military discipline, differed from the missio, which was a full discharge, and took place after soldiers had served in the army 20 years; whereas the exauctoratio was only a partial discharge: they lost their pay indeed, but still kept under their colors or vexilla, though not under the aquila or eagle, which was the standard of the legion: whence instead of _legionarii_, they were called _subsignani_, and were retained till they had either served their full time, or had lands assigned them. The exauctoratio took place after they had served 17 years.

EXCELLENCY, a title absurdly given to kings and emperors, in Europe, and with equal falsehood and absurdity given to governors, ambassadors, generals, and other persons.

EXCHANGE, in a military sense, implies the removal of an officer from one regiment to another, or from full to half pay, and _vice versa_: It is usual on these occasions for individuals belonging to the latter class to receive a pecuniary consideration. See DIFFERENCE.

EXCHANGE _of prisoners_, the act of giving up men, that have been taken in war, upon stipulated conditions which are subscribed to by contending powers.

EXCHANGE, in a general sense, signifies any contract or agreement whereby persons or things are exchanged for others.

EXCHEQUER. The public office from whence all monies are issued for the use of the English army. With respect to the militia, it is enacted that the money paid for that particular service, shall be kept apart from all other money.

Officers belonging to the exchequer, are not to take any fees for receiving, or issuing such money.

EXCITE. See ANIMATE.

EXCUBIÆ, in antiquity, the watches and guards kept in the day by the Roman soldiers. They differed from the _vigiliæ_ which were kept in the night.

EXECUTER, _Fr._ The French use this verb technically. They say, _exécuter et servir une piéce_. See the particular method of so doing, under TIRER _le canon_, to fire a gun or cannon.

EXECUTER, _Fr._ to execute, to put to death.

EXECUTION. _Military_ EXECUTION is the pillaging or plundering of a country by the enemy’s army.

_Military_ EXECUTION also means every kind of punishment inflicted on the army by the sentence of a court martial; which is of various kinds. When a soldier is to be punished with death, a detachment of about 200 men from the regiment he belongs to form the parade, when a file of grenadiers shoots the prisoner to death.

Every nation has different modes of military execution.

EXEMPT, men of 45 years of age are exempt from serving in the militia. An aid-de-camp and brigade major are exempt from all regimental duties while serving in these capacities. Officers on courts martial are sometimes exempt from all other duties until the court is dissolved. The people called _Quakers_, and all others who are religiously scrupulous, are by the laws of the U. States exempt from militia duty, an indulgence which they have hitherto repaid with extreme ingratitude.

EXEMPTION, the privilege to be free from some service or appearance. Thus officers in the British militia who have served during the war, according to prescribed regulations, are exempted from being balloted for.

EXEMTS, _Fr._ so called originally, from being exempted from certain services, or entitled to peculiar privileges.

EXEMTS _du ban et arriere ban_ persons exempted from being enrolled for that particular service, were so called. They consisted of the domestic attendants belonging to the palace, those attached to the princes and princesses of the blood; all persons actually serving his majesty, together with the sons of officers who were in the army.

EXEMTS _des gardes du corps_. Exempts belonging to the body guards. They were twelve in number, and held the rank of captains of cavalry, taking precedence of all captains whose commissions were of a younger date to the brevet of the exempts.

These brevet commissions were given away under the old government of France.

EXEMTS _des maréchaussées_. Certain persons employed to keep the public peace. _Maréchaussée_ means in a literal sense, marshalsey. But the functions of the exempts were of a nature peculiar to France. They held their situations under commissions, bearing the great seal, which were forwarded to them by the secretary at war. The privileges they enjoyed were to be exempted from all taxes, &c. but they could not institute any species of criminal information without the concurrence of the greffier or sheriff.

EXERCISE, in military affairs, is the practice of all those motions and actions, together with the whole management of arms, which a soldier is to be perfect in, to render him fit for service, and make him understand how to attack and defend. Exercise is the first part of the military art; and the more it is considered the more essential it will appear. It disengages the human frame from the stiff rusticity of simple nature, and forms men and horses to all the evolutions of war. The honor, merit, appearance, strength, and success of a corps depend wholly upon the attention which has been paid to the drill and exercise of it, according to prescribed rules and regulations; while on the other hand we see the greatest armies, for want of being exercised, instantly disordered, and that disorder increasing in spite of command; the confusion oversets the art of skilful masters, and the valor of the men only serves to precipitate the defeat: for which reason it is the duty of every officer to take care, that the recruits be drilled as soon as they join the corps.

The greatest advantage derived from the exercise, is the expertness with which men become capable of loading and firing, and their learning an attention to act in conformity with those around them. It has always been lamented, that men have been brought on service, without being informed of the uses of the different manœuvres they have been practising; and that having no ideas of any thing but the uniformity of the parade, they instantly fall into disorder and confusion when they lose the step, or see a deviation from the straight lines they have been accustomed to at exercise. It is a pity to see so much attention confined to show, and so little given to instruct the troops in what may be of use to them on service. Though the parade is the place to form the characters of soldiers, and to teach them uniformity, yet when confined to that alone, it is too limited and mechanical for true military use.

The great loss which the British troops sustained in Germany, America, and the West Indies, during the war of 1783, from sickness, as well as from the enemy, was chiefly owing to a neglect of exercise. An army whose numbers vanish after the first 4 months of a campaign, may be very ready to give battle in their existing period; but the fact is, that although fighting is one part of a soldier’s business, yet bearing fatigue, and being in health, is another, and at least as essential as the first. A campaign may pass without a battle; but no part of a campaign can be gone through without fatigue, without marches, without an exposure to bad weather; all of which have exercise for their foundation; and if soldiers are not trained and enured to these casualties, but sink under them, they become inadequate to bodily fatigue, and eventually turn out a burthen to the country.

It is not from numbers, nor from inconsiderate valor, that we are to expect victory; in battle she commonly follows capacity, and a knowlege of arms. We do not see, that the Romans made use of any other means to conquer the world, than a continual practice of military exercises, an exact discipline in their camps, and a constant attention to cultivate the art of war. Hence, both ancients and moderns agree, that there is no other way to form good soldiers but by exercise and discipline; and it is by a continual practice and attention to this, that the Prussians arrived at that point of perfection which was long so much admired in their evolutions, and manual exercise.

Formerly in the British service every commander in chief, or officer commanding a corps, adopted or invented such manœuvres as he judged proper, excepting in the instance of a few regulations for review: neither the manual exercise, nor quick and slow marching were precisely defined by authority. In consequence when regiments from different parts were brigaded, they were unable to act in line till the general officer commanding had established some temporary system to be observed by all under his command.

These inconveniences were at length obviated by the rules and regulations compiled by general Dundas on the system of the Prussian discipline, as established by Frederic the Great.

During the American revolution, a committee of officers was appointed by congress to digest a system of discipline for the military forces of the United States. A considerable body of materials were thrown together by the several officers, which proving too voluminous, amounting to three volumes folio, Baron Steuben, an officer who had been in the Prussian service, was appointed to make a digest, which was afterwards adopted, and continues still to be the only regulation for discipline. This work which is very brief, was of much use where there was no sort of order established, or rather where utter disorder prevailed; but is not by any means adapted to the uses of a good discipline in the present state of military knowlege. It is confined to the duties of a regiment of infantry only, and is in fact no more than an abstract modification of the Prussian system of 1741. The war department of the United States, has had the provision of a more enlarged and competent system under preparation for three or four years, and the commander in chief (general Wilkinson) had made great progress in a general arrangement of a system comprehending all the details of drill, exercise, manœuvre, formations of separate, and co-operating bodies, and of various kinds of troops; as well as the police of camps, garrisons, rank, and rotation; and other regulations, but public service having called him off to the southern frontier, and general Dearborne having resigned, the system of Steuben remains, while the new discipline of Europe has become known to all the volunteer corps of the Union, commanded by intelligent officers; and the old discipline of Steuben, has from actual deficiency been superceded.

_Infantry_ EXERCISE, includes the use of the firelock and practice of the manœuvres for regiments of foot, according to the regulations issued by authority.

When a regiment of foot is drawn up, or paraded for exercise, the men are placed two and sometimes three deep, which latter is the natural formation of a battalion. In order to have the manual exercise well performed, it is in a particular manner requisite, that the ranks and files be even, well dressed, and the file leaders well covered: this must be very strictly attended to both by the major, and his adjutant: all officers also, on service in general, where men are drawn up under arms, or without, must be careful, that the ranks and files are exactly even; and the soldiers must learn to dress themselves at once, without the necessity of being directed to do it. The beauty of all exercise and marching, consists in seeing a soldier carry his arms well, keep his firelock steady and even in the hollow of his shoulder, the right hand hanging down, and the whole body without constraint. The musquets when shouldered, should be exactly dressed in rank and file; the men must keep their bodies upright, and in full front, not having one shoulder too forward, or the other too backward. The distances between the files must be equal, and not greater than from arm to arm, which gives the requisite room for the motions. The ranks are to be two paces distant from each other. Every motion must be done with life, and all facings, wheelings, and marchings, performed with the greatest exactness. Hence a regiment should never be under arms longer than three hours without rest. See FIRINGS, MANUAL and MANŒUVRES.

_Cavalry_ EXERCISE, is of two sorts, on horseback, and on foot. The squadrons for exercise are sometimes drawn up three deep, though frequently two deep; the tallest men and horses in the centre and front. When a regiment is formed in squadrons, the distance of 24 feet, as a common interval, is always to be left between the ranks; and the files must keep boot top to boot top. The officers commanding squadrons must, above all things, be careful to form with great celerity, and, during the whole time of exercise, to preserve their several distances. In all wheelings, the flank which wheels, must come about in full gallop. The men must keep a steady seat upon their horses, and have their stirrups at a fit length.

_Cavalry Sword_ EXERCISE. See SWORD EXERCISE.

_Artillery_ EXERCISE, is the method of teaching the corps of artillery the use and practice of all the various machines of war, viz.

EXERCISE _of the light field pieces_, teaches the men to load, ram, and spunge the guns well; to elevate them according to the distance, by the quadrant and screw; to judge of distances and elevations without the quadrant; how to use the port fire, match, and tubes for quick firing; how to fix the _bricole_ and _prolonge_, and use them in advancing, retreating, and wheeling with the field pieces; how to fix and unfix the trail of the carriage on the limbers, and how to fix and unfix the boxes for grape shot on the carriages of each piece.

EXERCISE _of the garrison and battering artillery_, is to teach the men how to load, ram, and spunge; how to handle the handspikes in elevating and depressing the metal to given distances, and for ricochet; how to adjust the coins, and work the gun to its proper place; and how to point and fire with exactness, &c.

_Mortar_ EXERCISE, is of two different sorts, viz. with powder and shells unloaded, and with powder and shells loaded; each of which is to teach the men their duty, and to make them handy in using the implements for loading, pointing, traversing, and firing, &c. See PRACTICE.

_Howitz_ EXERCISE, differs but little from the mortar, except that it is liable to various elevations; whereas that of the mortar is usually fixed to an angle of 45°; but the men should be taught the method of ricochet firing, and how to practise with grape shot: each method requiring a particular degree of elevation. See PRACTICE.

EXERCISE _of guns with reduced numbers._ When 15 men are attached to the service of a gun in the field, they may be classed to the right and left sides of the gun; or they may be placed in a kind of roster, by a succession of numbers from 1 to 15; the two first numbers of each gun being the first and second gunner; and the remaining 13 as aids. This numerical distribution, upon a little practice, will be found as easy as the regulation of the guard duties, and is well calculated for service where discipline is good. It is by this arrangement also well suited to use, where there are men not well disciplined, as these can be placed on the remotest numbers. So it is also well calculated for horse artillery, where it will require some men to take care of the horses; and it is also well adapted to service where men are lost by the casualties of war.

Supposing, therefore, that a 12 pound gun with 15 men, is required to exercise with 9 men. The six numbers, beginning with the 4th aid of the left, or Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, that is, the fourth of the left, fifth and sixth aids of the right and left, in the practice; they are either employed on other service, or engaged in securing the horses, or in preserving and securing the caisson. The first gunner has provided a return of the names and stations of each man at the gun. They are posted as follows: and the numbers which precede their stations are the numbers of their roster, and they should be prepared to answer by their number, whenever called for.

No. 1. First gunner on the right. 2. Second gunner on the left. 3. First aid on the right. 4. First aid on the left. 5. Second aid on the right. 6. Second aid on the left. 7. Third aid on the right. 8. Third aid on the left. 9. Fourth aid on the right. 10. Fourth aid on the left. 11. Fifth aid on the right. 12. Fifth aid on the left. 13. Sixth aid on the right. 14. Sixth aid on the left. 15. Thirteenth aid.

A reference to the number prefixed to these stations, simplifies the return, and points out the duty of each, which may be done by either telling them off in ranking, or giving them a ballot with their number on it, or any other arbitrary sign that may be devised. It is proposed then to post the artillerists to a gun on the march; and so of several guns. A twelve pounder is detached with 15 men, and they are numbered, it is required to know the stations of the artillerists according to their numbers, and according with the dipositions of the men to the same duties.

First rule, all the odd numbers are on the right side of the gun; all the even numbers on the left side. This is their position in _battery_, and prepared for action. The next rule is their positions in advancing.