Part 143
=Turkey.= Or the Ottoman empire, called by the Turks _Osmanli Vilayeti_, includes large portions of the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and consists of Turkey Proper, which is under the direct rule of the sultan, and of numerous dependent and tributary states, governed by their own princes. The existing Turkish empire dates only from the end of the 13th century, when it was founded by Osman, or Othman, a Turk of noble family, who had been driven westward from Khorasan by the invasion of Genghis Khan. Osman first invaded the Greek territory of Nicomedia on July 27, 1299; but the true era of the empire may be dated from the conquest of the city of Prusa, the capital of Bithynia, which surrendered to his son Orchan in 1326. Murad I. (Amurath) subdued, without resistance, the whole of Thrace from the Hellespont to Mount Hæmus, and made Adrianople the seat of vice-royalty. Murad was succeeded by his son Bajazet (Byazid), whose reign forms one of the most splendid epochs in the Turkish annals. His armies were victorious in every country that he undertook to conquer, until at last he encountered the famous Mogul chief, Tamerlane, who defeated the Turkish army and took Bajazet captive. After the death of Tamerlane, Solyman, the son of Bajazet, obtained the European dominions of his father and eventually assumed the title of sultan. At his death in 1421 he bequeathed an undivided empire to his successor, Amurath II., in whose reign the Turkish empire rose in splendor and opulence. He enlarged the empire by conquests, and was succeeded in 1451 by Mohammed II., the conqueror of Constantinople. Mohammed laid siege to Belgrade, three years after the taking of Constantinople, from which, after an obstinate resistance, he was at length repulsed with the loss of his large ordnance and 40,000 of his best troops. Abandoning his attempts upon Hungary, the sultan undertook an expedition into Greece, and about 1460 succeeded in subduing the whole of the Morea. Mohammed continued to overrun Europe with his victorious armies, until death stopped his triumphant career in 1481. A series of domestic broils continued to take place until Selim ascended the throne in 1512. He was a successful prince, and during his short reign conquered Egypt, Aleppo, Antioch, Tripoli, Damascus, and Gaza, and defeated the Persians. On the death of Selim, Solyman the Magnificent ascended the Ottoman throne, and like several of the preceding monarchs he continued to humiliate his enemies and add new territory to his dominions. His dominions extended from Algiers to the river Euphrates, and from the farther end of the Black Sea to the extremity of Greece and Epirus. The latter years of his reign were embittered by domestic dissensions and cruelties. He died while besieging Sigeth, a city of Hungary, in 1566. His son and successor, Selim II., besieged and took Cyprus; but in the famous sea-fight at Lepanto, in 1571, the Turkish fleet was utterly destroyed by Don John of Austria. Selim afterwards invested and took Tunis by storm. On his death Amurath III. ascended the throne, and extended his dominions. His son, Mohammed III., ascended the throne in 1595, but he was involved in a series of wars which proved disastrous to the Turkish arms, and the country continued to decline, although each successive monarch continued to wage war with the neighboring provinces, which nearly always ended disastrously to the Turkish arms; the country was also torn asunder by internal strife. The downward course of Turkey was for a time stayed by Mustapha II., who succeeded to the throne in 1695; he commanded his troops in person, and passed the Danube at the head of 50,000 men, carried Lippa by assault, and closed a campaign against the Austrians with success. But two years afterwards he was defeated by Prince Eugène, in the bloody battle of Zenta, where the Turks left 20,000 dead on the field, and 10,000 were drowned in their attempt to escape. Shortly after this disaster Mustapha was dethroned. During the reign of Mustapha III., in 1769, a destructive war broke out with Russia which lasted till 1774, when the Turks were compelled to make the dishonorable treaty of Kainargi. Another disastrous war broke out between Russia and Turkey in the autumn of 1787, in which Austria took sides with the former. This war, which was concluded in 1792, was a series of terrible conflicts, in which much desperate valor was displayed on the one side, and many brave actions were performed on the other; but in which Turkey lost much territory. Turkey was drawn into the French revolutionary war by the invasion of Egypt by the French, and in 1807 she was convulsed by a sanguinary insurrection, which cost Selim his throne, and raised Mahmoud to it. During the event of this insurrection, a war which had been going on with Russia had languished; but on the accession of Mahmoud, the armies on both sides were augmented, and the contest was carried on with great ferocity. The campaign of 1811 was short, but disastrous to the Porte, the main body of the Ottoman army having surrendered as prisoners of war. In 1821 began that celebrated insurrection which, after a bloody war of eight years, terminated in the complete emancipation of the Greeks from the Turkish yoke. In 1828 war again broke out between Turkey and Russia. The first campaign was unfavorable to Turkey, but not completely decisive; it ended with the loss of Varna; but, in 1829, the Russians having crossed the Balkans, a treaty of peace was concluded, which was both humiliating and injurious. Shortly after occurred that rupture between the sultan and Mehemet Ali, the pasha of Egypt, which shook the Ottoman empire to its foundation. In every conflict the Turkish troops were overthrown. The battle of Homs decided the fate of Syria, and the victory at Konieh placed the sceptre almost within the grasp of the ambitious pasha. In this extremity the sultan was reduced to apply to Russia for aid. A peace was concluded by which the pasha augmented his territory. In 1839 the Turks were again defeated in several battles by the Egyptians; but the latter were reduced to subjection by the allied powers, Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, and compelled to pay an annual tribute to Turkey. In October, 1858, the Porte declared war against Russia, and in 1854 the French and English entered into the contest as allies of Turkey. In the latter part of this war, Sardinia also sent an army to co-operate with those of the allies. The result of this war, which was virtually ended by the treaty of Paris signed on March 30, 1856, was, that Turkey gained some territory, and took her place as a member of the European confederation of states. A revolution took place in Constantinople in 1876, which resulted in the deposition of Abd-ul-Aziz, and the accession to the throne of Murad V., who in his turn was superseded by Hamid II. For important battles, etc., which occurred in Turkey, see names of towns, places, etc., under separate headings in this work.
=Turks.= The name of a numerous, important, and widely-spread family of the human race, members of which are to be found as well on the banks of the Lena in Siberia, as on those of the Danube and the shores of the Adriatic in Europe. They consist of many different tribes, but speak very nearly the same language. For history of the Turks, see TURKEY and other countries inhabited by them.
=Turma.= In the Roman cavalry, a troop consisting of 30 horsemen. There were 10 _turmæ_ in every legion, and 3 _decuriæ_ in every _turma_.
=Turn.= To give another direction, tendency, or inclination; to direct otherwise; to deflect. _To turn a hostile army_, to turn the enemy’s flank, and the like, to pass round and take a position behind it, or upon the side of it. _To turn tail_, to retreat ignominiously.
=Turn Out, To.= To bring forward, to exhibit; as, to turn out the guard; to turn out so many men for service. To _turn in_, to withdraw; to order under cover; as, to turn in the guard.
=Turnau= (Boh. _Turnov_). A walled town of Bohemia, circle of Jung-Bunzlau, on the east bank of the Iser, 50 miles northeast from Prague. Here was fought, in July, 1866, a battle between the Prussians and Austrians, in which the former were victorious.
=Turnhout.= A well-built town of Belgium, province of Antwerp, 34 miles east-northeast from the city of Antwerp. Turnhout is historically noteworthy as the scene of two battles, the first won January 22, 1597, by the Netherlands, under Maurice, prince of Orange, over the Spaniards; and the second October 27, 1789, by the patriots, under Van der Mersch, over the Austrians.
=Turning.= In tactics, a manœuvre by which an enemy or position is turned.
=Turning and Boring.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.
=Turret.= In military antiquity, a movable building, of a square form, consisting of 10 or even 20 stories, sometimes 120 cubits high, usually moved on wheels, and employed in approaches to a fortified place, for carrying soldiers, engines, ladders, casting bridges, and other necessaries.
=Turtukai=, or =Tortokan=. A town of Turkey in Europe, in Bulgaria, situated on the Danube. It is opposite Oltenitza, where the Russians were defeated by the Turks in a series of battles which extended over three days, in November, 1853.
=Tuscany= (Ital. _Toscana_). A former grand duchy of Italy, hounded on the north by the duchies of Parma and Modena, and the Papal States; east and south by the Papal States; west by the Mediterranean. Tuscany embraces the far greater part of ancient Etruria, shared the common fate of all the other Italian states, and fell under the Romans about 280 B.C. From the Romans it passed first to the Goths, next to the Lombards, and then to Charlemagne, who governed it by counts. After numerous vicissitudes, the whole of Tuscany became united, in 1557, under the Medici family. In 1737 the Medici became extinct and the grand duchy passed to the Duke of Lorraine. It was declared by Napoleon I. an integral part of the French empire; but, on his downfall in 1814, it was restored to the Archduke Ferdinand. On August 20, 1860, the National Assembly at Florence unanimously voted its annexation to and it now forms part of the new kingdom of Italy.
=Tuscaroras.= A tribe of North American Indians, who at the settlement of North Carolina had fifteen towns on the Tar and Neuse Rivers, and 1200 warriors. In 1711, they began a war with the settlers, and after a series of savage encounters were defeated, and joined the Iroquois in New York, where they became the allies of the English. About 400 of them still reside on a reservation in the western part of the State of New York.
=Tusculum.= An ancient city of Latium, on a western prolongation of the Alban hills, about 15 miles east-southeast of Rome. It was one of the most strongly fortified places in all Italy, both by nature and art. After the expulsion of the Tarquins from Rome, Octavius Mamilius, the chief man in Tusculum, is said to have supported their cause, and led an army against the Romans; but he was totally defeated and slain at the small lake Regillus, near Tusculum. Thereupon an alliance was formed between Tusculum and Rome, which lasted unbroken for 140 years, until, in 357 B.C., the whole of the Latin cities, and Tusculum among the rest, joined in a war with Rome, which ended in their entire and final subjection to that power. The ancient city continued to exist amid all the vicissitudes of the times till near the end of the 12th century, when it was demolished by the Romans, and the town of Frascati rose in the vicinity.
=Tuttlingen.= A town of Würtemberg, on the right bank of the Danube, 20 miles west-southwest from Sigmaringen. Tuttlingen is historically notable as the scene of a battle in 1643, during the Thirty Years’ War, in which an Austrian Bavarian force under Hatzfeld and Mercy defeated the French.
=Twist.= This term is employed by gun-makers to express the inclination of a groove at any point, and is measured by the tangent of the angle made by the groove with the axis of the bore.
=Two-handed.= Used with both hands; as, a two-handed sword.
=Tyana= (ruins at _Kiz Hisar_). A city of Asia Minor, stood in the south of Cappadocia, at the northern foot of Mount Taurus, on the high road to the Cicilian Gates. It was a position of great natural strength, which was improved by fortifications. Under Caracalla it was made a Roman colony. It was taken in 272 B.C. by Aurelian, in the war with Zenobia, to whose territory it then belonged.
=Tycocktow Island.= An island in the Canton River, China, 8 miles long and 6 miles broad. It is situated at the entrance of the Bocca Tigris, a few miles below Canton. The British took the fort on this island in 1841.
=Tykoczin.= A town of Russia in Europe, situated on the Narew, 17 miles northwest from Bialystock. A battle was fought between the Russians and Poles here in 1831.
=Tyler’s Insurrection.= Arose in opposition of the poll-tax imposed on all persons above fifteen, November 5, 1380. One of the collectors acting with indecent rudeness to Wat Tyler’s daughter, the father struck him dead, June, 1381. His neighbors took arms to defend him, and in a short time almost the whole of the population of the southern and eastern counties were in a state of insurrection, extorting freedom from their lords, and plundering. On June 12, 1381, they gathered upon Blackheath to the number of 100,000 men. On June 14, they murdered Simon of Sudbury, archbishop of Canterbury, and Sir Robert Hales, the royal treasurer. The king, Richard II., invited Tyler to a parley, which took place on the 15th at Smithfield, where the latter addressed the king in a menacing manner, now and again lifting up his sword. On this the mayor, Walworth, stunned Tyler with a blow of his mace, and one of the king’s knights dispatched him. Richard temporized with the multitude by promising them a charter, and thus led them out of the city, when Sir R. Knollys and a band of knights attacked and dispersed them with much slaughter. The insurrection in Norfolk and Suffolk was subdued by the bishop of Norwich, and 1500 of the rebels were executed.
=Tympanum.= A drum, a musical instrument which the ancients used, and which consisted of a thin piece of leather or skin, stretched upon a circle of wood or iron, and beat with the hand. Hence the origin of our drum.
=Tyrant.= A name given in modern times to an arbitrary and oppressive ruler, but originally applied, not necessarily to one who exercised power badly, but merely to one who had obtained it illegally, and therefore equivalent to our word usurper. If the one who thus rose to power as a “tyrant” happened to be a man of sense, and wisdom, and generosity, his “tyranny” might prove a blessing to a state torn by the animosities of selfish oligarchs, and be the theme of praise in after-ages, as was the case with the “tyrannies” of Pesistratos, Gelon, and others; but if he was insolent, rapacious, and cruel, then he sought to reduce the citizens to a worse than Egyptian bondage, and his name became infamous to all time. Such has been the fate of most of the “Thirty Tyrants of Athens.” It was the method of exercising authority pursued by these and similar usurpers that latterly, even in ancient times, gave the word tyrant that evil significance it has ever since uninterruptedly retained.
=Tyre= (ruins at _Sur_). One of the greatest and most famous cities of the ancient world, stood on the coast of Phœnice, about 20 miles south of Sidon. The Assyrian king Shalmanezer laid siege to Tyre for five years (713 B.C.), but without success. It was again besieged for thirteen years by Nebuchadnezzar, and there is a tradition that he took it (572 B.C.), but the matter is not quite certain. At the period when the Greeks began to be well acquainted with the city, its old site had been abandoned, and a new city erected on a small island about half a mile from the shore, and a mile in length, and a little north of the remains of the former city, which was now called Old Tyre. In 322 B.C. the Tyrians refused to open their gates to Alexander, who laid siege to the city for seven months, and united the island on which it stood to the main land by a mole constructed chiefly of the ruins of Old Tyre. After its capture and sack by Alexander, Tyre never regained its former consequence. It recovered, however, sufficiently to be mentioned as a strong fortress and flourishing port under the early Roman emperors; it even took an active part (193) in the contest between Septimius Severus and Pescennius Niger, which, resulting in the success of the former, brought back to it some of its ancient distinction. In St. Jerome’s time it was again one of the noblest and most prosperous cities of the whole East. In the 7th century it came under the dominion of the Saracens; and so remained until taken by the Crusaders. On February 11, 1124, the Christian army encamped before it, and on June 15 it fell into their hands. The strength of its fortifications, the splendor of its houses, and the excellence of its harbor, excited their admiration. On the evening of the day on which Acre was taken by the Mohammedans (May 19, 1291), Tyre was abandoned by the Crusaders, and the Saracens entered it the following morning. It was captured by the French, April 3, 1799; and by the allied fleet, during the war against Mehemet Ali, 1841.
=Tyrol.= The most western province of the Austrian empire, is bounded on the north by Bavaria, on the east by Salzburg, Carinthia, and Venetia, on the south by Italy, and on the west by Switzerland and Italy. In early times Tyrol formed part of Rhætia, was conquered by the Romans, 15 B.C. Subsequently it was overrun by various German tribes; still later the southern valley fell to the share of the Lombards, and the northern valleys to the Bavarians. The dukes of Austria acquired possession of it in 1363. The French conquered Tyrol in 1805, and united it to Bavaria, much to the discontent of the population; but in 1809 an insurrection broke out, headed by Andreas Hofer, an innkeeper, who drove the Bavarians out of the Tyrol, and thoroughly defeated some French detachments, but was overpowered at last by reinforcements sent from France. The Tyrolese riflemen were very effective in the Italian war in 1859.
=Tyrone.= An inland county of the province of Ulster, in Ireland. According to some authorities the Erdini, and to others the Scoti, were the earliest known inhabitants of this district. The chief town of Tyrone was Dungannon, which, though several times taken and sacked by the English forces in their attempts to reduce the country to obedience to the royal authority, continued to be of importance until the close of the reign of Elizabeth, when it was burned by Hugh O’Neill, earl of Tyrone, to prevent its falling into the hands of the English. The insurrection of 1641 may be said to have had its commencement in this county, by the capture of Charlemont Fort and Dungannon by Sir Phelim O’Neill; and in 1646 the Parliamentary forces under Gen. Munroe received a signal defeat from Hugh Roe O’Neill at Benburb. During the greater part of the war between King William and King James, this county was in the possession of the forces of the latter, and suffered much from the partisan warfare carried on chiefly by the townsmen of Enniskillen.
U.
=Ucles.= A fortified town of Spain, in the province of Cuenca, 40 miles southwest from the town of that name. It stands at the foot of a hill crowned by a famous monastery which belonged to the military order of Santiago or St. James of Spain. It was taken by the French in 1809.
=Uglitch.= A town of European Russia, in the government and 60 miles west-southwest from Jaroslav, on the right bank of the Volga. It was destroyed by the Lithuanians in 1607.
=Uhlans= (a Tartar word signifying “brave”). Light cavalry of Asiatic origin, were introduced into the north of Europe along with the colonies of Tartars, who established themselves in Poland and Lithuania. They were mounted on light active Tartar horses, and armed with sabre, lance, and latterly with pistols. Their lance was from 5¹⁄₂ to 6¹⁄₂ feet in length, and, like that of the modern lancers, was attached to a stout leather thong or cord, which was fastened to the left shoulder and passed round behind the back, so as to allow the lance to be couched under the right arm. Immediately below its point was attached a strip of gaudy-colored cloth, the fluttering of which was designed to frighten the enemies’ horses. The early dress was similar to that of the Turks, and the regiments, or _polks_, were distinguished from each other by the red, green, yellow, or blue color of their uniforms. The Austrians and Prussians were the first to borrow this species of cavalry from the Poles. In 1734, an attempt was made by Marshal Saxe to introduce uhlans into France, and a “polk” of 1000 men was formed; but it was disbanded at the author’s death. At the present time, Russia, Prussia, and Austria are the only powers which possess uhlan regiments. In the British army, the place of the uhlans is occupied by hussars.
=Ukraine.= The name given in Poland first to the frontiers towards the Tartars and other nomads, and then to the fertile regions lying on both sides of the middle Dnieper, without any very definite limits. The Ukraine was long a bone of contention between Poland and Russia. It was ceded to the Cossacks by Poland in 1672, and was obtained by Russia about 1682. The country was divided, Poland having the west side of the Dnieper, and Russia the east. The whole country was assigned to Russia by the treaty of partition in 1795. See POLAND.
=Ulans.= See UHLANS.
=Ulm.= The second city of Würtemberg; was, till the war in 1866, a stronghold of the Germanic Confederation. Here a peace was signed, July 3, 1620, by which Frederick V. lost Bohemia (having been driven from it previously). Ulm was taken by the French in 1796. After a battle between the French and Austrians, in which the latter under Gen. Mack were defeated with dreadful loss by Marshal Ney, Ulm surrendered with 28,000 men, the flower of the Austrian army, October 17-20, 1805.
=Ulster.= A province of Ireland, the most northern of the four into which that kingdom is divided. The northeast portion, the present county of Down, was, early after the invasion, overrun by the English under De Courcy, and was subsequently held by Hugh De Lacy. Although various efforts were made by the English to effect a permanent settlement in the north and northwest, their success was little more than nominal until the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., when the well-known plantation of Ulster was attempted.
=Ulster Badge.= On the institution of the order of Baronets in England by James I., a sinister hand, erect, open, and couped at the wrist gules, the armorial ensign of the province of Ulster, was made their distinguishing badge, in respect of the order having been intended for the encouragement of plantations in the province of Ulster. This badge is sometimes borne in a canton, sometimes on an escutcheon, the latter placed either in the fess point or in the middle chief point, so as to interfere as little as possible with the charges of the shield.
=Ulster King-of-Arms.= The king-of-arms or chief heraldic officer of Ireland. A king-of-arms called Ireland existed in the time of Richard II., but the office seems to have fallen into abeyance in the following century. Ulster was created to supply his place in 1552. Ulster holds his appointment from the crown, and acts under the immediate direction of the lord-lieutenant of Ireland; the professional staff under him consists of 2 heralds, 4 pursuivants, 1 registrar, and 1 clerk of records. The official arms of Ulster king-of-arms are: Argent, St. George’s cross gules, on a chief of the last a lion passant gardant between a harp and a portcullis or.