Part 69

_The Turkish_ INFANTRY (_Infanterie Turque_, _Fr._) is generally composed of regiments that are chosen or select. This body is first divided into two parts called _Capikuli_ and _Serratkuli_. The militia, which is named _Capikuli_, is subdivided into _Janizaries_, _Agemolans_, _Topeys_, _Gebegys_ and _Sakkas_. The agemolans constitute the military school, in which young men, destined for the corps of Janizaries, are educated; The _Topeys_ are Turkish cannoniers, the _Gebegys_ are armorers, and the _Sakkas_ are water carriers.

The Serratkuli infantry is composed of _Azapes_, _Izarelys_, _Seimenys_, _Lagumgys_ and _Musellims_. Count de Marsilly in his _Etat militaire_ de l’Empire Ottoman, gives the following account of these corps.

The Porte being convinced, that the body of Janizaries was not sufficiently strong to garrison all the frontier places belonging to the Turkish empire, established in the different provinces new corps of infantry, whose duty was similar to that of the Janizaries, in camp and garrison. These corps were maintained at the expence of each Beglerbey or principality. Some writers have inconsiderately confounded this corps with that of the Janizaries, merely distinguishing it by the name of _Capikuli_. It differs, however, very materially from them, being superior in the formation of its divisions, more celebrated for the valor of its troops, and in every respect better disciplined.

This corps is not upon the same footing as the militia called Capikuli. It is, in general under the direction of the Bachas of the different provinces, the command of which is given to those persons who are either the particular friends of the Bachas, or have the means of bribing handsomely for the appointments. This militia does not receive any pay, unless it be actively employed, and its subsistence in that case is drawn from the provinces, much in the same manner as British militia is from the different counties, at the monthly meetings. With regard to its institution, the principal object of it is to support the Janizaries, and to replace them, when vacancies occur.

The _Serratkuli_ infantry, is divided into _Azapes_, _Izarelys_, _Seimenys_, _Lagumgys_, and _Musellims_.

The number of the Azapes is not particularly fixed. They consist chiefly of independent companies, which are distributed among the different departments of the Turkish empire. They are distinguished among their own people by the different names of the week, and are divided into as many odas or companies.

These odas or companies are indiscriminately subject to the orders of two general officers, viz. the Azape-Agasi who is commander in chief of the Azapes, and the Azape-Kiatiby their commissary general, who keeps a register of their names and countries.

They obey subordinate officers called _derys_, oda-baschys, and bairactars. There are ten derys attached to each company, who may be properly considered as corporals, entrusted with the discipline of the soldiers. The bairactars are the standard-bearers. Each standard belonging to an oda or company consists of a horse’s tail, which hangs from the end of a lance, that is capped with a gilt ball. The officers are moreover directed to superintend the messes belonging to their different companies.

It is usual for each azape to be a native of the province, in which he serves, and he is generally clothed after the fashion of the country. At Buda the azapes were ordered to be dressed in the Hungarian manner, which consisted in a cloth cap bordered with skin, a sabre, an arquebus or fusil: which similarity of dress and accoutrement has frequently confounded the azapes with Hungarian christians.

The isarelys are chiefly employed in the frontier towns, and have charge of the artillery in the room of the topeys or cannoniers. They are under the direction and command of an artillery officer, who is sent from Constantinople and is called _Topey-Agasi_.

Their number is uncertain, and they are not subdivided, as their employment depends wholly upon the quality and quantity of artillery that are used. One man is attached to small field pieces, and two to those of larger calibre; so that instead of being distributed by companies, they are ordered upon duty according to the nature and number of the ordnance.

They have no other officer, besides the one already mentioned, attached to them, which officer is subordinate to the Bacha of the province, as their service does not require subaltern officers. The Bolukys-Baschys are officers merely employed to bring orders from the general officers, but they cannot interfere in the direction or management of the artillery.

The _Seimenys_ are the least respected body belonging to this national militia, being composed wholly of peasants, that are called out and enrolled like the supplementary militia of Great Britain, in cases of extreme necessity. They are only in fact considered as a mass of people serving to increase the number of troops, without having any credit for military skill or valor. They consist of Turks, Greeks, and even of Roman Catholics, who enrol themselves in order to be exempted from the annual tax.

Their only chief or commanding officer, is the bacha of the province. The seimenys belonging to Natolia are all Mahomedans. They are called _Jajas_, or _men on foot_, and although they do not receive any pay, except when embodied, they are nevertheless divided into _Bairacts_ or standards, which are similar to the _Odat_, and they obey their Seimeny-Boluk-Beschy, who commands sixty men that are attached to his standard, and to the Bairactar, who escorts the standard, which is generally red and of a moderate size.

The seimenys usually do duty in camp and garrison. For although the Turks place little confidence in christians, yet there have been instances wherein their services have been required on very important occasions. At the siege of Vienna they employed Christian troops, and increased their infantry by those means very considerably; they even formed a reserve from troops of that description; and their conduct was such, that they acquired a marked reputation by the obstinate resistance which they made at Colemberg.

These troops, however, are in general ill-armed; having only rough polished sabres, and very indifferent arquebusses with locks, or bad fusils of different sizes, and consequently of little use in the hands of such men.

The _Lagumgys_ are what we call miners: This body is chiefly composed of Armenians and christians, out of Greece or Bosnia, who being in the habit of mining, are extremely serviceable in that line, and act under the immediate direction of some old officers called lagumgys-baschys or chiefs of the miners. Some particular privileges are annexed to these appointments.

The _Musellims_ are christian tributaries, whose duty is to march before the advanced guard of the army, to clear the roads and to construct bridges for the passage of the troops. On this account they are called pioneers.

The bachas of the different Turkish towns pay great attention to these musellims or pioneers. They not only exempt them from all taxes, but even give them lands and freeholds. By a particular privilege which is attached to this corps, only five out of thirty are obliged to do duty on a march, and they are then joined to the carpenters, which renders the service less fatiguing. Their number is not fixed. It depends indeed, more or less, upon the population of the different provinces, and on the extent of land which may be disposed of in their favor.

They are commanded by a bas-musellim or principal person belonging to the exempts, whose only duty is to superintend the regular discharge of their functions.

Those, however, belonging to Natolia are subject to the bey or sangiah, who superintends the distribution of their subsistence, &c. in the same manner that he does that of the cavalry which is attached to his department.

The only weapon they carry is a hatchet; but the neighboring villages or the public magazines belonging to the artillery, are obliged to supply them with pickaxes and other tools that may be wanted in their profession. They are strictly forbidden the use of a sabre or fusil.

Whenever the Turkish army is on its march, the musellims are obliged to go forward every preceding day, in order to prepare the way for its progress.

During a siege they are frequently attached to the garrison guns, which they work in the best manner they can; and when a town is besieged by the Turks, the musellims are employed in the trenches, from which duty they derive considerable profit; so much so, that the Janizaries are extremely jealous of them on these occasions. They are, in a word, the most formidable body of infantry which the Turks possess; for the groundwork of every species of attack or defence, and the management of all warlike machines rest upon their exertions.

_The_ INFERNAL. Strada gives a very curious and interesting account of this machine, in his history of the Belgic war.

The infernal was tried by the English at Dunkirk and St. Maloes, and by the Dutch and English under king William. It is likewise mentioned by Grose in his history of the English army.

The only time during the present war at which its dreadful powers have been attempted, was in the month of December, 1800, when a conspiracy was formed and emissaries under the direction of one _Jackson_, sent from London to destroy Bonaparte. It failed as to its immediate objects, but proved by its collateral effects, that the invention is as destructive as the most sanguine destroyer of the human race could wish.

_To_ INFEST, _infester_, _Fr._ This word is more strictly applicable to places than to things.

_To_ INFEST _a place_ (_infester un lieu_) signifies to frequent any particular spot for the evident purpose of doing damage, to create uneasiness and to commit depredations. Thus free-booters or thieves are said to infest places.

INFINIMENT PETIT, _Fr._ Infinitely small. Modern calculators call, by this name, every thing which is so exiguous that it cannot be compared to any other quantity, or which is smaller than any other assignable quantity. The new calculation which has been adopted among geometricians respecting quantities that are infinitely small; is called the calculation of _infinitesimals_.

INFIRMARY. See HOSPITAL.

INFLUENCE _of example_. In a military sense the influence of example is of the greatest consequence. We have already spoken generally on the necessity of good example (see EXAMPLE); we think it proper further to observe, that the influence which every action of a commanding officer bears, is of so much importance to the service, as to render it incumbent upon every superior person to consider its effects upon the mind and conduct of an inferior. A circumstance once occurred, which is frequently quoted. It was briefly this: an officer happening to appear upon the parade without being strictly uniform as to dress, was ordered to fall out. Some little time after the commanding officer (by whom the subaltern had been noticed) was himself irregularly dressed; the latter availed himself of an opportunity to mention the circumstance in a familiar and good-humored manner; upon which the former very shrewdly replied--_It is true, sir, that I am not strictly in uniform to-day, but you will be pleased to recollect, that I have the commanding officer’s leave_. The repartee was not amiss, as it conveyed at the same time a sound piece of advice to every inferior officer; but it did not justify the deviation. An admiral, from motives, we conceive, of duty, as well as principles of economy, was so tenacious of regularity, that rather than appear not strictly correct, he has been known to have a second naval uniform, made of coarse flannel, which he constantly wore on board. Notwithstanding this laudable instance, it is well known, that both in the army and navy, the repartee of the commanding officer has been frequently used.

INFORMERS. Soldiers who give information of false musters, or of pay illegally detained, are entitled to their discharge. See MUTINY ACT, sections 27 and 69.

INGINEER. See ENGINEER.

INGENIEUR, _Fr._ Ingineer. See ENGINEER.

INGENIEUR _par rapport à l’architecture civile_, _Fr._ An engineer who may be properly called an adept in civil architecture. A person of this description was always employed among the French. He was a skilful and intelligent man, perfectly master of mechanics; by which means he could invent machines for the purpose of increasing propellents, so as either to draw or to raise heavy loads with facility, or to elevate and direct the course of waters.

INGENIEUR _en architecture militaire_, _Fr._ An engineer who is perfectly master of military architecture. The term itself points out, that the requisite qualifications are ingenuity, skill, and an apt talent at invention. The French, in former times, made use of the word _ingeigneur_ instead of _ingenieur_; deriving the former from _engin_, which originally signified a machine amongst them, and has since been adopted by us. All warlike machines, such as cannons, &c. were, in fact, called engines, because they were, for the most part, invented by engineers. So that even the word _engin_, _Fr._ and _engine_ comes from the Latin _engenium_, or invention. These machines were, indeed, frequently called in bad Latin _ingenia_. Hence the etymology of _ingenieur_. The situation of _ingenieur_, among the French, has always been deemed extremely honorable. They have always risen to the highest posts in the army, and their skill and judgment have always been thought indispensibly necessary in all the operations of war. We have already pointed out, under the article ENGINEER, the outlines of this important character. We only regret, that the limits of our undertaking will not admit the very sensible observations which are to be found under the head INGENIEUR in several French publications.

The French, and after them several other nations, have formed their engineers into select corps; the French call them _corps de Genie_.

INGENIEUR _Directure_, _Fr._ A responsible person in the old French service, whose duty was to superintend and take charge of a certain number of fortified towns or places, and to transmit a regular account of the actual state of the works, and to represent whatever might appear defective, or stand in need of repair.

INGENIEUR _en Chef_, _Fr._ chief engineer. It was the business of this officer to superintend the construction of all sorts of military works, having several subordinate engineers under him to assist and put his plans into execution. In order to make some distinction between the man of skill and genius, and the mere pretenders to knowlege in this great branch of military acquirements, it was usual, during the monarchy of France, to call all engineers that were acknowleged by government, _ingenieurs ordinaires du roi_, engineers in ordinary to the king.

The usual pay of the French engineers was, from _vingt ecus_ or two pounds ten shillings up to one hundred _ecus_ or 4_l._ 10_s._ English, per month, according to each individual’s length of service, peculiar talents, or appointment. Persons were received as engineers by the superintendant of the board of ordnance, after having passed a mathematical examination; and the situation was the more eagerly sought after, inasmuch as it led to the highest military post; as that of marshal of France, to which the celebrated Vauban was promoted.

In 1755, the French engineers were formed into one corps, under the name of the royal corps of artillery and engineers; the principal officers of which communicated with the secretary of war, and received through him the king’s orders.

No country has ever paid so much attention to the art of engineering, as France has under all her vicissitudes; and this has arisen not so much from a natural predilection to that peculiar study, as from a conviction of its utility in all warlike operations, but most especially in sieges. This class of military men was, however, extremely neglected, until the reign of Louis the XIVth. Few ever saw, or were present at above five or six sieges; being either wounded at the beginning, or during the operations of a siege. They seldom indeed, witnessed the termination of it; and from the want of engineers, the investment of a town or fortified place became tedious, and many lives were unnecessarily lost. Louis the XIVth, by his personal appearance and attention gave fresh life to his army, and instilled into every part of it a spirit of subordination, which had been hitherto unknown. He was actuated by a thorough conviction, that in every species of offensive and defensive operation the use of artillery, under the guidance of scientific men, was essentially requisite. In no instance however, does the skill of an able engineer appear so much to advantage as in the attack of a fortified place. This the king witnessed himself, and on that account he considerably increased the number of engineers. Persons of the first distinction became candidates for situations in that honorable body.

Whenever there was a deficiency during a siege of subordinate engineers or _ingénieurs en second_, it was usual among the French to select lieutenants or sub-lieutenants from the different infantry corps to superintend the works, and to see that the workmen did their duty. They received an additional pay of ten ecus, or one pound five shillings per month, in consideration of this extra service, and their being selected in this manner was a sure step to the rank and emoluments of an engineer. It has been very justly observed by a French writer, that every infantry officer should be acquainted with field fortification at least; for a thousand instances occur, in which the immediate assistance of an engineer is required, and to which in actual service, it is impossible for the regularly bred officer of that establishment to pay personal attention. We allude among other cases, to the temporary defence of out-posts, to the laying and springing of fougasses, &c.

Before the revolution, the frontier towns and other fortified places belonging to France were under the direction of 350 engineers, called _ingénieurs du roi_, who were subordinate to one director general.

All instructions relative to the fortifications passed through the latter officer to the king.

All engineers were subject to the orders that the commissary general thought proper to issue, with respect to the attack or defence of places, the construction of works, &c. and they were further directed to see, that all the necessary implements for a siege were duly provided. They gave in a weekly report to the director general of the progress and state of the works, and had authority to draw upon the treasury for whatever sums were wanted to pay the contractors. Every engineer was particularly enjoined to see that the contractors furnished good materials.

INGLEZ, _Ind._ The English are so called by the natives of Bengal: they are frequently called Feringhees, that is strangers, _Wullaget_, which signifies to the country. Americans are called _Nia-Feringhees_, or new strangers, or foreigners.

INHIBITION. See EMBARGO.

INN-HOLDERS. In England, persons who have a licence to enable them to sell spirituous liquors, beer, &c. and who are obliged by the conditions specified in that license, to provide victuals and beer for military men, under certain restrictions. See 39th and 40th Geo. III. Cap. 27. Art. XLI. XLII. XLIII.

INIMICAL, hostile.

INLISTING, the act of engaging soldiers, to serve either in the cavalry, infantry, or artillery. For the regulations respecting the inlisting soldiers, see RECRUITING.

INNONDER, _Fr._ See INUNDATE.

INQUIRY. See COURTS _of_.

INROAD, incursion, sudden and desultory invasion.

INSCONSED, in the military art. When any part of an army has fortified itself with a sconce, or small work, in order to defend some pass, &c. it is said to be insconsed.

INSIDE _guard_, a guard with the broad sword, to secure the face and front of the body, from a cut made at the inside of the position above the wrist. See BROADSWORD.

INSPECTEUR, _Fr._ Inspector. Military inspectors were originally instituted among the French, after the peace of Aix la Chapelle in 1668. Two persons at that epoch occupied this important situation; one being called inspector general of cavalry, and the other inspector general of infantry. Louis XIV. under whom France assumed over the rest of Europe a preponderance of military character, increased the number of inspectors, and ordered them to be distributed in the different departments for the purpose of reviewing the troops every month, and of transmitting to him a regular statement of their effective force, &c.

It was the duty of these inspectors to examine minutely at the commencement of every month the state of each regiment, to look at the books belonging to the several companies, and to mark out such men as did not appear fit for the service. Each inspector had a separate dwelling-house allotted to him in the garrison town of his department, and he had the power, on giving previous notice to the governor, of ordering the men under arms. A brigade major delivered to him every evening the orders of the day.

Inspectors general of this description ranked with the army, without bearing any direct commission, and in time of war, they were acknowleged as general officers, brigadiers, or colonels.

Their inspection did not extend to the troops of the household, the French, or Swiss guards, nor to the regiment _du Roi infanterie_. The artillery were also out of their superintendance.

Previous to the French revolution, there were eleven inspectors of infantry, and eleven of cavalry attached to the French army. There was likewise one inspector general of infantry, and one inspector general of cavalry.

INSPECTEUR _de construction_, _Fr._ an officer in the French army, in whose presence all plans and profiles for fortification, &c. were drawn, before any work could be undertaken. An accurate estimate was made of the wood which would be required to complete it. It was likewise a part of his duty to point out to the carpenters the precise method by which ground, plans, and elevations, forts, batteries, and bridges, &c. were to be conducted. It was his business, in a word, to attend to the construction and repair of every part of a fortification.

INSPECTING _officer of a district_, a responsible character, selected from the line, who is nominated by the war-office, to superintend the troops, stations, and recruiting parties, within the limits of his station.

Field officers of districts may order detachment courts-martial, to be composed of the recruiting officers in their districts, in the usual number and ranks, and they may approve of every such court martial, and to direct the punishment awarded thereby to be executed, mitigated or remitted, as they shall think expedient. They are to receive orders from the adjutant general respecting the nature of their returns; and all returns and reports are to come to the inspector general through them. Each district field officer in the British service has an allowance of ten shillings a day, in addition to the full pay of his respective regimental rank, and he is to be reimbursed for the actual expence he incurs for stationary and postage of letters; which charge must be accompanied by a certificate upon honor.

Each district field officer is allowed to appoint a subaltern officer (not employed upon the recruiting service) to act as adjutant in the district. The pay or allowance of such subaltern is three shillings a day in addition to his full regimental pay; he is also authorised to nominate two serjeants, with the additional pay of sixpence each, one to act as serjeant major, and the other as clerk to the district.