Part 138

=Tipperary.= A town of the county of the same name, on the river Arra, 111 miles southwest from Dublin. The town is of very ancient foundation, and soon after the invasion was occupied as a strong place by the English, who built a castle in it during the Irish expedition of King John. This castle, however, fell soon afterward into the hands of the Irish under the Prince of Thomond.

=Tippermuir=, or =Tibbermore=. A town of Scotland, near Perth. Here the Marquis of Montrose defeated the Covenanters under Lord Elcho, September 1, 1644.

=Tirailleur.= A skirmisher, often put in front of the line to annoy the enemy, and draw off his attention; or they are left behind to amuse and stop his progress in the pursuit; a rifleman.

=Tire.= Are great guns, shot, shells, etc., placed in a regular form.

=Tirlemont.= A town of Belgium, province of Brabant, 25 miles east of Brussels. It was taken by the French in 1635; was ravaged by Marlborough in 1705; taken by the French in 1792; here the French, under Dumouriez, defeated the Austrians in 1793; taken by the French in 1794. Its fortifications were dismantled in 1804.

=Tiryns.= An ancient town of Argolis, southeast of Argos, and one of the most ancient in all Greece. Homer represents Tiryns as subject to Argos; the town was at a later time destroyed by the Argives, and most of the inhabitants were removed to Argos.

=Titles, Military.= See military titles under appropriate headings throughout this volume.

=Tivoli.= A town of Central Italy, on the left bank of the Teverone, 18 miles east-northeast from Rome. In the Middle Ages, Tivoli was an imperial city, independent of Rome, and was the occasion of many contentions between the emperors and the popes; in the course of which it was frequently taken and retaken as either party gained the ascendant.

=Tlemsen=, or =Tlemecen=. A town of Algeria, in the province of Oran, 67 miles southwest from Oran. It was once an important place; but in consequence of a revolt of the inhabitants against his authority, Hassan, the dey of Algiers, laid it in ruins. It was occupied by the French in 1836 and 1842.

=Tobago.= One of the British islands in the West Indies, belonging to the Windward group. This island was first colonized by the Dutch, who were expelled by the Spaniards. It was then settled by the English, to whom it was ceded by the peace of 1763. In 1781 it was taken by the French, and in 1793 was retaken by the British, by whom it was retained at the peace of Amiens.

=Tobitschau= (Moravia). In a sharp action, on July 15, 1866, the Austrians were defeated by the army of the crown-prince of Prussia, with the loss of 500 killed and wounded, and 500 prisoners and 17 guns.

=Tocsin.= An alarm-drum; a bell. It was formerly used in an army as a signal for charging, on the approach of an enemy.

=Toga Picta.= Was an outer garment, worn by Roman generals in triumphs, by consuls under the empire, and by prætors when they celebrated games; and was embellished with Phrygian embroidery. In war the toga was laid aside for the _sagum_ or _paludatogatus_, or some less cumbrous style of attire.

=Toggle and Chain.= See ORDNANCE.

=Toise.= A measure derived from the French, containing 6 feet, and a term of frequent use in fortification and military surveying.

=Toison d’Or= (_Fr._). See GOLDEN FLEECE.

=Toledo= (anc. _Toletum_). A city of Spain, capital of the province of the same name, on the north bank of the Tagus, 55 miles south-southwest from Madrid. It was conquered by the Romans under M. Fulvius, 192 B.C. (193 B.C.); was captured by the Goths, 467; possessed by the Moors from 714 to 1085. Alfonso VI. of Castile and Leon recovered it from the Moors.

=Toledo.= An esteemed Spanish sword, so called from the place of manufacture.

=Tolenon= (_Fr._). An ancient machine of war, having a long lever moving on a pivot, suspended from an upright higher than the rampart, having at one end a box to contain 20 men, who, by drawing down the other end, might be raised high enough to fire into the loop-holes, or even to get upon the wall.

=Tolentino.= A town of Italy, province of Macerata, 12 miles from Macerata. It was here, in February, 1797, that the pope ceded the Romagna to the French republic by treaty, and in May, 1815, Murat retired to this place with his troops before the Austrians, and was defeated.

=Tolosa.= A town of Spain, province of Guipuzcoa, on the Oria, 35 miles southwest from Bayonne. Near here, Alfonso, king of Castile, aided by the kings of Aragon and Navarre, gained a great victory over the Moors, July 16, 1212. This conflict is sometimes termed the battle of Muradal. It was occupied by the French from 1808 till 1813.

=Tomahawk.= A light war-hatchet of the North American Indians. The early ones were rudely made of stone, ingeniously fastened to their handles by animal sinews, or cords of skin. Traders supplied hatchets of steel, the heads of which were made hollow, for a tobacco-pipe; the handle of ash, with the pith removed, being the stem. These hatchets are used in the chase and in battle, not only in close combat, but by being thrown with a wonderful skill, so as always to strike the object aimed at with the edge of the instrument. The handles are curiously ornamented. In the figurative language of the Indians, to make peace, is to bury the tomahawk; to make war, is to dig it up.

=Toman.= In the East Indies, signifies 10,000 men.

=Tom-tom.= A large, flat drum, used by the Hindoos; a tam-tam.

=Tongue.= The pole of an ox-cart (local).

=Tongue of a Sword.= That part of the blade on which the gripe, shell, and pummel are fixed. The bayonet is figuratively called a triangular tongue, from its shape.

=Tonnelon= (_Fr._). An ancient drawbridge, used nearly in the same manner and for similar purposes as the _harpe_ and _exostre_.

=Tonquin=, or =Tonkin=. The northernmost province of Anam, Southeast Asia. Tonquin was conquered by the Chinese in 1406, and by the Anamese in 1790.

=Tooksowars= (_Ind._). The vizier’s body of cavalry.

=Topekhana= (_Ind._). The place where guns are kept; the arsenal.

=Topeys=, or =Topgis=. Turkish artillerymen or gunners.

=Topgi-Bachi.= Master-general of the Turkish artillery.

=Topikhannah= (_Ind._). A house for keeping guns; an arsenal; an armory.

=Töplitz.= A town of Bohemia. Here were signed, in 1813, two treaties,--one between Austria, Russia, and Prussia, September 9; and one between Great Britain and Austria, October 3.

=Topographical Engineers.= The duties of this corps consist in surveys for the defense of the frontiers and of positions for fortifications; in reconnoissances of the country through which an army has to pass, or in which it has to operate; in the examination of all routes of communication by land or by water, both for supplies and military movements; in the construction of military roads and permanent bridges connected with them; and the charge of the construction of all civil works authorized by acts of Congress, not specially assigned by law to some other branch of the service. The U. S. Corps of Topographical Engineers was merged into the Corps of Engineers in 1863.

=Topography.= Is the art of representing and describing in all its details the physical constitution, natural or artificial, of any determined portion of a country; in making maps and giving a descriptive memoir. Military topography differs from geography in seeking to imitate sinuosities of ground: it represents graphically and describes technically commanding heights, water-courses, preferable sites for camps, different kinds of roads, the position of fords, and extent of woods. It enumerates the resources that a country offers to troops and the difficulties which are interposed. By means of colored maps and other conventional signs, military topography presents before the eyes of a general much that is necessary to guide his operations.

=Torce=, or =Wreath=. In heraldry, a garland of twisted silk, by which the crest is joined to the helmet. A crest is always understood to be placed on a torce, unless where it is expressly stated to issue out of a coronet or chapeau.

=Torches.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Tordesillas.= A town of Spain, province of Valladolid. Here was signed, in 1494, a treaty modifying the boundary-line which Pope Alexander VI. had assigned, in 1493, in his division of the New World between Spain and Portugal.

=Torgau.= A fortified town of Prussian Saxony, on the left hank of the Elbe, 70 miles south-southwest from Berlin. Here a battle was fought between Frederick II. of Prussia and the Austrians, in which the former obtained a signal victory, the Austrian general, Count Daun, a renowned warrior, being wounded, November 3, 1760. It was besieged and taken by the allied Prussians and Saxons in January, 1814; the besieged lost about 30,000 men.

=Tormentum.= A pistol; a gun; a piece of ordnance.

=Tormes.= A river of Spain, falls into the Douro, on the borders of Portugal. Its banks were the scene of many conflicts between the French and Spaniards during the Peninsular war, from 1808 to 1814.

=Toro.= A city of Spain, province of Leon, on the Douro, 20 miles east from Zamora. Ferdinand the Catholic defeated Alonzo V. of Portugal near this place in 1476, and gained the kingdom of Castile for himself and his wife Isabella.

=Toronto.= The capital of the province of Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Ontario, 165 miles from Kingston, and 323 miles from Montreal. Its harbor or bay is capable of accommodating the largest vessels that navigate the lakes, and is defended at the entrance by a fort, which was thoroughly repaired in 1864 by the imperial government, and mounted with the most efficient modern ordnance. The town was founded in 1794, by Gov. Simcoe. It was burned by the Americans in 1813, and suffered severely in the insurrection of 1837, on which occasion it was the headquarters of the rebellion.

=Torpedo.= During the war between Great Britain and the United States in 1812-14, this name was applied to certain mysterious boats invented by Fulton and other Americans for the purpose of navigating beneath the surface of the water, and injuring the bottom of hostile vessels. In those days of hand-to-hand naval war, these designs (which, by the way, were failures) were looked upon as little less than diabolical. The progress of destructive weapons during half a century has removed this aversion, and nations do not scruple now to employ similar unseen agents for offense and defense. The modern torpedo is really a stationary bomb-shell, intended to explode under the bottom of an enemy’s ship. The weapon was first used by the Russians in the Baltic in 1854; and in the American war of Secession, 1861-65, it was employed extensively, and often successfully. The damage effected by a torpedo exploding beneath a ship is very great; and although the failures are frequent by the explosion happening at a wrong moment, the danger from torpedoes is considerable in fact, and far more in apprehension, for sailors naturally dread navigating waters where destruction lurks at unknown points concealed from view. There are several varieties of torpedoes, but they may be divided into two classes,--those which are self-explosive on a ship touching them, and those which are dependent on an electric current supplied from the shore. The second are the safest for friendly vessels; but they are rather uncertain in action, and can only be employed at a moderate distance from the shore. The first are more certain in action, as they can only explode on a ship, being somewhere in contact, but they attack indiscriminately friend and foe.

=Torque= (_Fr._). A metal collar formerly bestowed upon a Roman soldier who had killed his adversary in a single combat.

=Torqued.= In heraldry, twisted; bent;--said of a dolphin haurient, which forms a figure like the letter _S_.

=Torre di Mare.= A village of Naples, at the mouth of the Bassento, in the Gulf of Taranto. Its prosperity received a fearful blow when, after the battle of the Metaurus (207 B.C.), Hannibal was compelled to give up this part of Italy, and carried with him all the citizens of Megapontum, in order to defend them from the vengeance of the Romans. In the time of Cicero the city still existed, but in a state of rapid decay.

=Torres-Vedras.= A town of Estremadura, kingdom of Portugal, on the left bank of the Sizandro, about 30 miles north of Lisbon. It derives its reputation solely from having given name to those famous lines of defense within which Wellington took refuge in 1810, when he found it impossible to defend the frontier of Portugal against the French armies; and from which, in the year following, he issued on that career of slow and hard-won victory which ended in the expulsion of the French from the Peninsula. The _first_, or outermost of these lines, extending from Alhandra, on the Tagus, to the mouth of the Sizandro, on the sea-coast, and following the windings of the hills, was 29 miles long; the _second_ (and by far the most formidable) lay from 6 to 10 miles behind the first, stretching from Quintella, on the Tagus, to the mouth of the St. Lorenza, a distance of 24 miles; the _third_, situated to the southwest of Lisbon, at the very mouth of the Tagus, was very short, being intended to cover a forced embarkation, if that had become necessary. The entire ground thus fortified was equal to 500 square miles.

=Torrington.= A town of England, county of Devon, 10 miles south-southwest of Barnstaple. The name of Torrington emerges frequently during the great civil war; and the capture of the town by Fairfax in 1646, on which occasion the church, with 200 prisoners, and those who guarded them, were blown into the air by gunpowder, proved fatal to the king’s cause in the west.

=Torse=, or =Torce=. In heraldry, a wreath.

=Tortona.= A town of Italy, province of Alessandria, on a hill nearly 900 feet above the sea. Tortona was once a strongly fortified city, but its last defenses were destroyed by order of Napoleon, after the battle of Marengo.

=Tortosa.= A town of Spain, in Catalonia, on the Ebro, 42 miles southwest from Tarragona. It was taken by the French under Suchet in 1811.

=Tortu d’Hommes= (_Fr._). A particular formation which was formerly adopted by the besieged when they made a sortie.

=Tory.= The word tory first occurs in English history in 1679, during the struggle in Parliament occasioned by the introduction of the bill for the exclusion of the Duke of York from the line of succession, and was applied by the advocates of the bill to its opponents as a title of obloquy or contempt. The name has, however, ceased to designate any existing party; the political successors of the tories are now commonly known as conservatives. In the Revolutionary war of the United States, the loyalists were called _tories_.

=Touch-box.= A box containing lighted tinder, formerly carried by soldiers who used matchlocks, to kindle the match.

=Touch-hole.= The vent of a cannon or other species of fire-arms, by which fire is communicated to the powder of the charge.

=Toula=, or =Tula=. An important town of Great Russia, capital of the government of the same name, on the Upa, 110 miles south of Moscow. It is an ancient town, and has suffered severely from Tartar invasion, and during the wars of the commencement of the 17th century. The Russian army is largely supplied with muskets and small-arms from the works of this town.

=Toulon.= A great seaport and naval arsenal of France, department of Var. It stands at the head of a deeply-penetrating inlet of the Mediterranean. It is a fortress of immense strength, and is surrounded by a double rampart, and by a wide and deep fosse. Toulon was destroyed by the Saracens in 889, and again by them about the close of the 12th century. It was only at the end of the 16th century that Toulon came to be important as a naval and military stronghold. In 1707, it was assailed without success by the Duke of Savoy by land, and the English and Dutch by sea. It was taken by the English and Spaniards in 1793; but the allies were obliged to evacuate the town in December of the same year, after being fiercely attacked by the republicans, whose guns were commanded by Napoleon,--then a simple officer of artillery,--who here evinced for the first time his genius and self-reliance.

=Toulouse= (anc. _Tolosa_). An important city of France, capital of the department of Haute-Garonne, on the right bank of the river Garonne, 160 miles southeast of Bordeaux. The ancient _Tolosa_ and its temple were plundered by the consul Q. Servilius Cæpio in 106 B.C. It was ravaged by the Visigoths and Franks, who successively overran and possessed the country. A battle was fought here in 1814, between Wellington and Soult, in which the latter was defeated, and obliged to evacuate the town.

=Tour=, or =Turn=. That which is done by succession. _Tour of duty_, turn to go on duty.

=Tourbillon.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Tournament=, or =Tournay=. A military sport of the Middle Ages, in which combatants engaged one another with the object of exhibiting their courage, prowess, and skill in the use of arms, or for the honor of the ladies attending. According to Ducange, the difference between a tournament and a _joust_ is, that the latter is a single combat, while in the former a troop of combatants encounter each other on either side. But this distinction has not been always observed.

=Tournay= (anc. _Tornacum_, or _Turris Nerviorum_, “Fort of the Nervii”). A fortified town of Belgium, province of Hainault, on both sides of the Scheldt, near the French frontier. It was in the 5th and beginning of the 6th centuries the seat of the Merovingian kings, subsequently belonged to France, but at the peace of Madrid was included in the Spanish Netherlands. Subsequently it was oftener than once taken by France, but again restored by treaty. During the month of May, 1794, it was the scene of several hotly contested fights between the French and Austro-English armies, the most important of which was that of May 19, in which Pichegru heat the Duke of York.

=Tours.= A city of France, capital of the department of Indre-et-Loire, 146 miles southwest from Paris. Near it Charles Martel gained a great victory over the Saracens, and saved Europe, October 10, 732. This conflict was also called the battle of Poitiers. The church was pillaged by the Huguenots and utterly destroyed, with the exception of two towers, at the revolution.

=Tower.= A citadel; a fortress; hence, a defender.

=Tower Bastion.= In fortification, is one which is constructed of masonry, at the angles of the interior polygon of some works; and has usually vaults or casemates under its terre-plein, to contain artillery, stores, etc.

=Tower of London.= In feudal days, a powerful fortress; then, and long after, a state prison of gloomy memories; now a government store-house and armory, and still in some sense a stronghold; is an irregular quadrilateral collection of buildings on rising ground adjoining the Thames, and immediately to the east of the city of London. The kings frequently resided there, holding their courts, and not unfrequently sustaining sieges and blockades from their rebellious subjects. At present, the Tower of London is a great military store-house in charge of the war department, containing arms and accoutrements for the complete equipment of a large army. It is needless to say that, viewed as a fortress, the Tower would be useless against modern arms. The government is vested in a constable, who has great privileges, and is usually a military officer of long service and distinguished mark; the deputy-constable, also a general officer of repute, is the actual governor. He has a small staff under him, and the corps of Yeomen of the Guard, more commonly known as Beef-eaters.

=Towered.= Adorned or defended by towers.

=Towers, Movable.= The _purgi_ of the Greeks, and the _turres mobiles_ of the Romans, consisted of several stories, furnished with engines, ladders, casting-bridges, etc., and moving on wheels, for the purpose of being brought near the walls. They were usually of a round form, though sometimes square or polygonal. Before the invention of guns, they used to fortify places with towers, and to attack them with movable towers of wood, mounted on wheels, to set the besiegers on a level with the walls, and drive the besieged from under the same. These towers were sometimes 20 stories, and 30 fathoms high. They were covered with raw skins, and 100 men were employed to move them.

=Tow-hooks.= See IMPLEMENTS.

=Town-Adjutant=, =Town-Major=. In Great Britain, officers on the staff of a garrison. They are often veteran officers, too much worn for field service. The pay depends on the magnitude of the trust. The town-major ranks as a captain; the adjutant as a lieutenant. The duties of these officers consist in maintaining discipline, and looking after the finding of the batteries, etc.

=Towton.= A township of England, county of York, West Riding. Here a sanguinary battle was fought, March 29, 1461, between the houses of York (Edward IV.) and Lancaster (Henry VI.), to the latter of whom it was fatal, and on whose side more than 37,000 fell. Edward issued orders to give no quarter, and the most merciless slaughter ensued. Henry was made prisoner, and confined in the Tower; his queen, Margaret, fled to Flanders.

=Traband.= A trusty brave soldier in the Swiss infantry, whose particular duty was to guard the colors and the captain who led them. He was armed with a sword and a halbert, the blade of which was sharpened like a pertuisan. He generally wore the colonel’s livery, and was excused from all the duties of a sentinel.

=Tracing=, or =Outline=. Is the succession of lines that show the figure of the works, and indicate the direction in which the defensive masses are laid out, in order to obtain a proper defense.

=Tracing-pickets.= These are short pickets, 18 inches long, and about 1 inch in diameter, which are useful in marking out the details of field-works. They are made rather more expeditiously than fascine-pickets, and should be tied up in bundles of 25 each. Every bundle weighs about 8 pounds when the wood is dry.

=Track.= In gunnery, by track is understood the distance between the furrows formed by the wheels of artillery carriages in the ground. It is important that the track should be the same for all carriages likely to travel the same road, in order that the wheels of one carriage may follow in the furrows formed by those of its predecessor, and thereby prevent a loss of tractile force. The track of artillery carriages is 5 feet, and the extreme length of the axle-tree is 6¹⁄₂ feet for field-, and 6³⁄₄ feet for siege-carriages.

=Trail.= In tactics, to carry, as a fire-arm, with the butt near the ground, and the muzzle inclined forward, the piece being held by the right hand near the middle.

=Trail.= In gunnery, the end of a traveling-carriage, opposite to the wheels, and upon which the carriage slides when unlimbered. See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Trail Hand-spike.= See HAND-SPIKE.

=Trail-handles.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Trail-plate.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Trail-bridge.= See PONTONS.

=Train.= To teach and form by practice; to exercise; to discipline; as, to train the militia to the manual exercise; to train soldiers to the use of arms.

=Train.= A line of gunpowder, laid to lead fire to a charge, or to a quantity intended for execution.

=Train, Artillery-.= See ARTILLERY-TRAIN.

=Train, Ponton-.= See PONTONS, BRIDGE EQUIPAGE.