Part 80

LINE, _or camp courts-martial_. These courts-martial are frequently resorted to, and differ from regimental ones, in as much as they are composed of the officers belonging to different corps, and the ratification of the sentence is vested in the general or commanding officer of the camp. So that no time is lost in waiting for the commander in chief’s approbation, when he is delegated by him; nor has the colonel or commanding officer of the regiment to which the offender may belong, any power to interfere. The sentences of line or camp, field, and garrison courts-martial, are confined to corporeal punishments, but they can neither affect life, nor occasion the loss of a limb. The proceedings are read by the adjutant of the day; the surgeon is from the regiment to which the prisoner belongs, and the punishment is inflicted in front of the piquet by the drummers of the different corps under the direction of the drum-major, who is from the regiment to which the adjutant of the day belongs. Field and drum-head courts-martial, may be considered in the same light, when an army is on its march; with this difference, that the prisoner is tried either by officers belonging to his own corps, or by a mixed roster. A circle is formed at a short distance from the men under arms, and the sentence is written upon a drum-head; whence the appellation of drum-head courts-martial is derived. When there are several regiments present, the same forms are attended to in punishing prisoners as are observed in line or camp courts-martial; and when there is only one regiment, the examination and the punishment of the prisoner or prisoners take place within itself.

LINES, in fortification, bear several names and significations; such as,

{_defence_ } {_defence fichant_ } {_defence razant_ } LINE _of_{_circumvallation_ }See FORTIFICATION. {_countervallation_ } {_counter-approach_ } {_defence prolonged_} LINE, _Capital_ }

LINE _of communication_. (_Ligne de communication_, _Fr._) That space of ground in a fortified place which joins the citadel to the town.

LINES _of communication_, are trenches that unite one work to another, so that men may pass between them without being exposed to the enemy’s fire: thence the whole intrenchment round any place is sometimes called a _line of communication_, because it leads to all the works.

_Inside_ LINES, are a kind of ditches towards the place, to prevent sallies, &c.

_Outside_ LINES, are a kind of ditches towards the field, to hinder relief, &c.

_Capital_ LINE _of the half moon_. (_Ligne capitale de la demi-lune_, _Fr._) That which is drawn from the flanked angle of a half moon, to the rentrant angle of the counterscarp on which it is constructed.

LINE _of counter approach_. (_Ligne de contre-approche_, _Fr._) A sort of trench which the besieged make, and push forward from the glacis, for the purpose of counteracting the enemy’s works. See APPROACHES.

LINE _of defence_. (_Ligne de dèfense_, _Fr._) See FORTIFICATION.

LIGNE _magistrale_, _Fr._ See _Capital line_ in FORTIFICATION.

LINE _of circumvallation_. (_Ligne de circonvallation_, _Fr._) See FORTIFICATION.

LINE _of direction_ in gunnery, is a line formerly marked upon guns, by a short point upon the muzzle, and a cavity on the base ring, to direct the eye in pointing the gun.

LINE _of distance_, the interval between two things, either in regard to time, place, or quantity.

LINE _of gravitation_, of any heavy body, is a line drawn through its centre of gravity, and according to which it tends downwards.

LINE _of swiftest descent_, of a heavy body, is the cycloid. See CYCLOID.

LINE _of projectile_. See PROJECTILES.

LINE _of the least resistance_, (_ligne de moindre resistance_, _Fr._) that line, which being drawn from the centre of the furnace or the chamber of a mine, takes a perpendicular direction towards the nearest superficial exterior.

LINE _of fire_, (_ligne de feu_, _Fr._) in fortification. This term admits of two distinct acceptations; first, when it is found necessary to give an idea of the manner in which a rampart, or an entrenchment overwhelms and crosses any space of ground by the discharge of ordnance or musquetry, lines must be drawn to express the distances which have been traversed by the shot, &c. These lines are called lines of fire, being an abbreviation of those lines of direction which have been given to the shot.

In order to convey a more just and accurate conception of this species of line of fire, it is recommended to give a profile, which shall not only shew the curves of the trajectories, but likewise point out the intersections and impressions which have been made by such fire upon a rampart, entrenchment, ground, or fortification of any description.

In the second place, all that extent of a rampart or entrenchment, from whence the shot of ordnance or musquetry is discharged, is understood to be a line of fire.

If, for instance, it were to be said that a reserve or oblique direction was taken against a long extent of rampart or entrenchment, by means of a _jettée_ or any great work thrown up, so as to out-flank or take it in the rear, it might be concluded that those points would be supplied with a long line of fire.

LINE _of direction_, (_Ligne de direction_, _Fr._) In mechanics any straight line down which a heavy body descends. There are likewise lines of direction which relate to powers; they are then straight lines by means of which a power draws or urges on a weight for the purpose of supporting or moving it.

_Capital_ LINE _of the bastion_, (_Ligne capital du bastion_, _Fr._) a line which is drawn from the centre angle of a bastion to its flanked angle. In regular fortification this line cuts the bastion in two equal parts.

LINES _of entrenchment_, (_Lignes retrenchées_, _Fr._) all lines which are drawn in front of a camp, &c. to secure it from insult or surprize are so called. Whenever an army is not sufficiently strong to run the hazard of being attacked, the general who commands it, must have the precaution to dig a ditch in front measuring three toises at least in breadth and two in depth. He must likewise throw up a parapet with redans, or have it flanked at intermediate distances by small bastions two toises thick, made of strong close earth, and get it covered and supported by fascines, with a banquette behind sufficiently high to cover the soldiers tents. If water can be got into the ditch from a neighboring stream or rivulet, an additional advantage will be derived from that accession. When the _lines_ are constructed for any space of time, it will then be proper to make a covert-way in the usual manner.

Other _lines_ are likewise constructed for the purpose of communicating with different quarters; great care must be taken lest any of them be exposed to the enemy’s enfilade. To prevent this they must be supported by redoubts, or by works belonging to the neighboring forts; for the enemy might otherwise make good his ground within them, and use them as a trench.

If an army is so weak as to be within _lines_, you take care to have communications between the villages, and small parties of light horse patroling towards the enemy, and to have videttes and sentries posted so near one another, that you may have intelligence of all their transactions.

LINE _in fencing_, that part of the body opposite to the enemy, wherein the shoulders, the right arm, and the sword, should always be found; and wherein are also to be placed the two feet at the distance of 18 inches from each other. In which sense, a man is said to be in his line, or to go out of his line, &c.

LINE, also denotes a French measure, containing ¹⁄₁₂th part of an inch. It is of late frequently made use of in calculations.

LINE OF SCIENCE, is substituted for the old and awkward oblique step; movements to a flank oblique are now by _half_ or _quarter facing_, that is, the whole who are to move in the required direction are faced on a line midway between a front and full faced position; so that _quarter faced_ to the right, the right shoulder of the second man is behind the left shoulder of the right file; and so on each along each rank have their right shoulders behind the man on their right: so if the movement is to be oblique to the left, they are quarter faced to the left, and the files will stand successively with their left shoulders in the rear of the right of those who stood on their left.

_To_ LINE, from the French _aligner_, is to dress any given body of men, so that every individual part shall be so disposed as to form collectively a straight continuity of points from centre to flanks.

_To_ LINE _men_. Officers, and non-commissioned officers, are said to line the men belonging to their several battalions, divisions, or companies, when they arrive at their dressing points, and receive the word _dress_ from the commander of the whole.

When a single battalion halts, it is dressed or lined on its right centre company, and must of course be in a straight line. When several battalions dress from the centre of each on its next colors, the general line will be straight, provided all the colors have halted regularly in a line. On these occasions every thing will depend upon the two centre guides of each battalion.

_To_ LINE _a Coast_. To line a coast well under the immediate pressure of invasion, requires not only great ability and exertion in the commanding officer of the particular district against which an insult may be offered, but it is moreover necessary, that every individual officer in the different corps should minutely attend to the particular spot on which he may be stationed. The English coast, especially where there are bays, is almost always intersected by narrow passes through the rocks or sandhills. On this account, when any body of men receives orders to line a specified extent of ground, the officers who are entrusted with the several parts of a battalion or brigade, should take care to make the most of their men, and to extend their files in such a manner, as not only to present an imposing front from the crown of the hill, but to be able, at a moment’s warning, to carry their whole strength to prevent the enemy from getting upon the flanks by suddenly rushing up the gap. Much coolness is required on these occasions.

_To_ LINE _hedges_, &c. to plant troops, artillery, or small arms, along them under their cover, to fire upon an enemy that advances openly, or to defend them from the horse, &c.

_To_ LINE _a street or road_, is to draw up any number of men on each side of the street or road, and to face them inwards. This is frequently practised on days of ceremony, when some distinguished person is received with military honors on his way through places where troops are stationed.

This is the usage also in funerals, when the corps under arms form a lane, by the ranks being faced to the _right and left inward_; and the party _rests on arms reversed_.

_To_ LINE, in a fortification, is nothing more than to environ a rampart, parapet, or ditch, &c. with a wall of masonry or earth.

LINCE, _et chaussure du soldat_, _Fr._ necessaries belonging to a soldier. During the monarchy of France, a sol or one English half-penny per day, was added to the pay of each serjeant, and about six deniers or three English farthings to that of each corporal, anspessade or lance-corporal, grenadier, private soldier, and drummer, to enable them to keep up a certain list of necessaries. On any deficiency being discovered it was in the power of the commanding officer of the regiment to reduce the soldier’s subsistence to four sols or two-pence English per day, until the full complement was made up.

LINGERER, one who pretends to be indisposed, in order to avoid his tour of duty--a skulker. Hence the term malingerer, or a soldier who avoids duty in a disreputable manner.

_To_ LINK _together_, to tie together. Cavalry horses are frequently linked together when it is found necessary for the men to dismount. When the word of command _link your horses_ is given, the right hand files are to move up into the intervals, slip their bridoons and dress by the right, standing in front of their own horses’ heads; the left files slipping the bridoons in their hands at the same time, and stepping to the front of their horses’ heads. As soon as up and dressed, the whole advance their left feet by a motion from the right, and by another motion from the right, the whole go to the left about together, and link; as soon as done linking, the left hand man of each rank falls back, two paces from his horse, and the whole dress well to him, with the carabine in the trailing position. But before they do this they must put their belts and plates in order.

It ought to be recollected, that when the right hand files come up, they must take care not to bring their horses past the others; and in order to dress with the left files they must slip the bridoon to the left hand, leaving the horse in his place in the rank.

When dragoons are ordered to dismount, and are to mount again immediately, without moving from their horses, the word of command _unlink your horses_ is made use of; in which case the dragoon drops his carabine, which is then in a trailing position, on his left arm, and unlinks: as soon as that is done, he takes his carabine in his left hand, the horse in the right, by the right bridoon rein, waiting for the word _prepare to mount_.

LINKS, in the art of war, are distinct reins, or thongs of leather used by the cavalry to link their horses together, when they dismount, that they may not disperse. Every tenth man is generally left to take care of them.

LINS-_pins_. See LINCHPINS.

LINSTOCK. (_Boute-feu_, _Fr._) In gunnery, a short staff of wood, about three feet long, having at one end a piece of iron divided into two branches, each of which has a notch to hold a lighted match, and a screw to fasten it there, the other end being shod with iron to stick into the ground.

LIS, _Fr._ A warlike machine was formerly so called: it consisted of a piece of wood or stake, about the size of the human body, which was made smaller at the top than at the bottom, and resembled a lilly not yet blown. Several of these were tied together with ozier or willow twigs, and were used for the security of a camp. They were not unlike the palisades of the present day.

_Fleur de_ LIS, _Luce_, _Fr._ A flower borne in the ancient arms of France, and adopted by the English kings until the French insisted on its abandonment, which was done on the consummation of the union with Ireland. The electoral cap, as emblematic of Hanover, and the shamrock for Ireland, have been substituted in their stead.

FLEUR-_de-Lis_, during the French monarchy signified also a mark of infamy, which was made with a hot iron, upon the back of a malefactor.

LISSE, _Fr._ Any smooth and unornamented piece in architecture is so called by the French.

LISSOIRE, _Fr._ from _lisser_ to smooth. This word was particularly applied in France to an operation which gunpowder went through in order to make coarse grains smooth and round. This was effected by tying several barrels together and by means of a mill, turning them round, so as to occasion considerable friction within.

LISTS, in a military sense, a place inclosed, in which combats are fought.

_To enter the_ LISTS, is to contend with a person.

_To_ LIST _soldiers_, _To inlist_, to retain and enroll soldiers, either as volunteers, or by a kind of compulsion.

LISTING. Persons listed, are to be carried before the next justice of peace or magistrate of any city or town and sworn.

Persons, owning before the proper magistrate, that they voluntarily listed themselves, are obliged to take the oath, or suffer confinement by the officer who listed them, till they do take it.

The magistrate is obliged in both cases, to certify, that such persons are duly listed; setting forth their birth, age, and calling, if known; and that they had taken the oath.

Persons receiving inlisting money from any officer, knowing him to be such, and afterwards absconding, and refusing to go before a magistrate to declare their assent or dissent, are deemed to be inlisted to all intents and purposes, and may be proceeded against as if they had taken the oath. See ATTESTATION.

LIT _de_ CAMP, _Fr._ A camp bed, which takes to pieces, and is portable. The French frequently call it _lit brisé_, or a bed which may be taken to pieces. The Turks never use these beds; they always carry mattrasses, which they spread upon sophas when they halt at night.

LITTER, a sort of hurdle-bed, on which wounded officers or men are carried off the field.

LITTLE _fortification_. The first division of the first system of M. de Vauban, and is so called when the exterior side of a fortification does not exceed 175 toises, or 350 yards. It is used in the construction of citadels, small forts, horn and crown-works.

LIVRE. An old French money of account, consisting of 20 sols, about 18_d._ English: each sol containing 12 deniers. The livre is of two kinds, Tournois and Parisis.

LIVRE _Tournois_ contains 20 sols Tournois, and each sol 12 deniers Tournois.

LIVRE _Parisis_, is 12 sols Parisis, being worth 12 deniers Parisis, or 15 deniers Tournois; so that a livre Parisis is worth 25 sols Tournois. The word Parisis is used in opposition to Tournois, because of the rate of money, which was one-fourth higher at Paris than at Tours.

LIVRER _bataille_, _Fr._ To deliver, give or join battle.

LIVRER _assaut_, _Fr._ To storm.

LIVRER, _une ville au pillage_, _Fr._ to give a town up to plunder.

LOAD, a word of command given, when men are to charge their guns or musquets.

LOAD. Artillery carriages, or waggons, are frequently loaded with 14 cwt. for 3 horses, and 20 cwt. for 4 horses. This, however it may answer on an English road, is a great deal too much for general service. No doubt a carriage of one construction will travel easier than of another, with the same weight; and where the mechanical advantage thus gained is greatest, the heaviest weight may be put, with the same number of horses; but in the carriages usually made for the service of artillery, 4 cwt. per horse, beside the weight of the carriage, is the utmost they ought to be allowed to draw.

The French ammunition waggons, which are drawn by 4 horses, are always charged with 1200 pounds only.

The regulations for British home service in 1798 state the load for a bread waggon at 2400 lbs. and for a cart of entrenching tools at 400 lbs. Men used to bear loads, such as porters, will carry from 150 to 250 pounds.

A horse will carry about 300 lbs. and a mule about 250 lbs. See also the word HORSES.

LOCHABER-AXE, a tremendous Scotch weapon, now used by none but the town guard of Edinburgh; one of which is to be seen among the small armory in the tower of London.

LOCKS, in gunnery, are of various sorts; common for lockers in travelling carriages, or for boxes containing shot, powder, or cartridges. Also locks for fire arms, being that part of the musquet, by which fire is struck and the powder inflamed.

LOCK-STEP. This step was first introduced into the British service by the Elliot Lord Heathfield, when he commanded the garrison at Gibraltar; and is the same that general Saldern (from whose works all the British regulations have been almost literally selected) calls the _deploy step_. This step consists in the heel of one man being brought nearly in contact with the joint of the great toe of another, so that when men step off together they constantly preserve the same distance. The lock or deploy step was always practised when a battalion marched in file or close column; and the great advantage to be derived from it was, that the last file gained ground at the same time that the front advanced. It is now exploded, and very properly, as an excessive absurdity.

_To_ LOCK, is to fasten one or more of the wheels of a carriage from going round, in going down a hill, &c.

_To_ LOCK _up_, to take the closest possible order inline or in file. The expression is derived from the lock-step.

LOCK _up!_ a word of command which is frequently used in the British service, to direct soldiers to take or preserve the closest possible order, especially in _file-marching_.

LOCKER _hinges_, serve to fasten the cover of the lockers in travelling carriages.

LOCKING _plates_, in artillery, are thin flat pieces of iron nailed on the sides of a held carriage, where the wheels touch it in turning, to prevent the wearing the wood in those places. See CARRIAGE.

LOCKSPIT, in field fortification, a small cut or trench made with a spade, about a foot wide, to mark out the first lines of a work.

_To_ LODGE ARMS. A word of command which is used on guards and pickets. When a guard has closed its ranks, and the men are to place their arms in front of the guard-house or quarter-guard, according to circumstances, the commanding officer gives the words _port arms_, _to the right or right about_, (as the case may be) _face_. _Lodge Arms._

LODGMENT, in military business, is a work made by the besiegers in some part of a fortification, after the besieged have been driven out, for the purpose of maintaining it, and to be covered from the enemy’s fire. It also means possession of an enemy’s works.

When a _lodgment_ is to be made on the glacis, covert way, or in a breach, there must be a great provision made of fascines, sand bags, gabions, wool packs, &c. in the trenches; and during the action, the pioneers (under the direction of an engineer) with fascines, sand bags, &c. should be making the lodgment, in order to form a covering, while the grenadiers are storming the covert way, &c.

LOGARITHMS, the indexes of the ratios of numbers, one to another; of which the following is a concise account.

_Of arithmetical progression._--By arithmetical progression is meant a series of terms, each of which exceeds, or is exceeded by, that which precedes it by the same given number.

For instance, the series 1 . 3 . 5 . 7 . 9 . 11 is in arithmetical progression, since each of the terms exceeds that which precedes it by the same number, which is 2. The series 11 . 9 . 7 . 5 . 3 . 1 is also in arithmetical progression, since each of the terms is exceeded by that which precedes it, and by the same number.

_Of geometrical progression._--Geometrical progression is that in which each term of a series contains the preceding term, or is itself contained in it, the same number of times throughout.

For instance, the series 1 . 3 . 9 . 27 . 81 . 243, &c. is in geometrical progression, since each term contains that which precedes it the same number of times, which is 3.

The series 243 . 81 . 27 . 9 . 3 . 1 is also in geometrical progression, each of the terms being contained by the preceding the same number of times.

_Of the formation of logarithms._--Logarithms are numbers in arithmetical progression, corresponding, term by term, with a similar series of numbers in geometrical progression. If, for instance, we have a geometrical series and an arithmetical series as follows,

1 . 3 . 9 . 27 . 81 . 243 1 . 3 . 5 . 7 . 9 . 11

we shall call each term of the lower series the logarithm of the corresponding term in the upper series.

Any given quantity may therefore have an infinite number of different logarithms, since the same geometrical progression may be made to correspond with an infinite diversity of series in arithmetical progression.