Part 26
=Corps d’Armée.= In the military organization of large armies two or more divisions form a _corps d’armée_, or army corps, which is complete in itself as an army, with everything needed for service. In European states, where large standing armies are kept, this custom of dividing them into corps, each under an officer of very high rank, and quartering them in different provinces, is followed even in times of peace.
=Correspondence, Official.= Is correspondence carried on officially between military officers and various departments of the service, such as orders, reports, letters, indorsements, etc. All official correspondence between the heads of the different departments of the staff of any command and its commander must pass through the adjutant-general, assistant adjutant-general, or adjutant of the command, as the case may be. Communications to or from a commander and those under his command must pass through the adjutant-general, assistant adjutant-general, or adjutant on duty with it; excepting only such communications between a disbursing officer and the chief of his particular branch of the staff as relate exclusively to the ordinary routine of business in their own department. All communications, whether from an inferior to a superior, or _vice versa_, are, as a general rule, to be passed through the intermediate commanders. The same rule governs in verbal applications: for example, a lieutenant seeking an indulgence must apply through his captain, the captain through the adjutant, and so on. All correspondence relating to or involving the _personnel_ of the army when forwarded to the Secretary of War for his orders, must be forwarded through the adjutant-general for the consideration of the general of the army.
=Corridor.= The covered way lying round the whole compass of the fortifications of a place.
=Corselet.= A little cuirass, or piece of armor to cover the front of the body, worn formerly by pikemen.
=Corsica.= An island in the Mediterranean, held by the French. This island has been successively occupied by the Carthaginians, Romans, Goths, Saracens, Franks, the popes, and Genoese; and lastly by the French, in whose possession it now remains, and to whom it was ceded by the Genoese in 1768. This island was held by the British from June, 1794, to Oct. 22, 1796.
=Cortege.= The official staff, civil or military.
=Corus=, =Corupedion=, or =Cyropedium=. A plain in Phrygia, Asia Minor, where the aged Lysimachus was defeated by Seleucus, and slain, 281 B.C. These two were the only survivors of Alexander the Great’s generals.
=Corygaum.= An insignificant village in the presidency of Bombay; historically interesting in connection with the final subjugation of the Peishwa of the Mahrattas. On Jan. 1, 1818, it was defended for nine hours by a mere handful of men under Capt. Staunton, against a native force numbering at least 3000 infantry and about 20,000 cavalry, the struggle terminating in the repulse of the assailants after terrible slaughter.
=Cossacks= (Russ., _Kasacks_). A military organization of irregulars in the Russian service. They contribute much to the military strength of Russia; but several insurrections, of which the most alarming was that of 1773, have taken place since they became subjects to the Russian government.
=Cossova.= A plain in Servia. Here Amurath I. totally defeated the Christian army (Servians, Hungarians, etc.), September, 1389; but was himself killed by an expiring soldier. At this place, in 1448, John Huniades was defeated by a Turkish army four times larger than his own.
=Costa Rica.= The most southern state of Central America; bounded north by Nicaragua, northeast by the Caribbean Sea, south by New Granada, and south and west by the Pacific. The government of Costa Rica was established in 1832, and is accounted as the best and most liberal in Central America.
=Coston’s Lights.= Colored pyrotechnical compositions used for night signaling. Sometimes used in the form of a pistol cartridge.
=Cotice=, or =Cost=. In heraldry, one of the diminutives of the bend. It is a fourth part of the bend, and is usually borne in couples, with a head between.
=Couchant.= In heraldry, a beast lying down, with his head up, is _couchant_. If the head is down, he is _dormant_.
=Coulmiers.= A village 10 miles west of Orleans, Central France. Here the Bavarians under Gen. Von der Tann were defeated by the French army of the Loire under Gen. d’Aurelle de Paladines, who took about 2000 prisoners, Nov. 9, 1870, and regained Orleans.
=Council of War.= A conference of officers in military or naval warfare, on some matter in which the commander wishes to fortify his judgment by an appeal to that of others. The commandant of a garrison generally solicits the opinion of a council of war before surrendering to besiegers.
=Counter-approach.= A trench by which the besieged proceeds to meet the approaches of the besiegers. It is generally zigzag.
=Counter-arch.= A vertical arch connecting the top of the counter-forts.
=Counter-battery.= A battery which returns the fire of an opposing battery.
=Counter-changed.= In heraldry, when several metals and colors are intermixed, one being set against the other, they are said to be counter-changed.
=Counter-forts.= Interior buttresses constructed for the purpose of strengthening masonry revetments.
=Counter-guards.= Sometimes called couvre-faces, are works constructed in permanent fortifications to cover a bastion or demi-lune. They consist of two faces forming a salient angle.
=Counterhurters.= In gunnery, are pieces of iron bolted to the rails on which the gun-carriage moves to check it in front and rear. See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, SEA-COAST CARRIAGES.
=Countermand.= To revoke, as a former command; to direct or order in opposition to an order previously given, thereby annulling it, or prohibiting its execution.
=Countermarch.= A change of direction of a company or battalion in column from front to rear, by a flank movement, retaining the same ground.
=Countermine.= A gallery underground so constructed as to facilitate the formation of mines, by means of which those of the enemy may be reached and destroyed.
=Countermine.= To oppose by means of a countermine; to frustrate the designs of, by sinking a well and gallery in the earth, in search of an enemy’s mine.
=Counter-parole.= A word given in any time of alarm, as a signal.
=Counterpoise Carriage.= A gun-carriage which, applied to a gun mounted in _barbette_, allows it to recoil behind the parapet or other shelter, and by means of a counterpoise brings it, or assists in bringing it, again into _battery_ after it has been loaded. Among the best known of these carriages are _Moncrieff’s_ and _King’s_,--the former invented by Capt. Moncrieff, of the British army, and the latter by Capt. W. R. King, of the U. S. Engineers. In Moncrieff’s carriage the counterpoise is a heavy weight between the cheeks of the top carriage. In King’s the weight is in a well under the pintle-block, and is attached to the carriage by a wire cable.
=Counter-round.= A body of officers, whose duty it is to visit and inspect the rounds and sentinels.
=Counterscarp.= In fortification, is the vertical or nearly vertical side of the ditch nearest to the besiegers, and opposite to the scarp or escarp. It is generally faced or _revetted_ in permanent works, to render the descent into the ditch difficult.
=Counterscarp Galleries.= Galleries under the counterscarp at the salients, for the purpose of flanking the ditch.
=Countersign.= In military discipline or manœuvres, is a watch-word given by the commanding officer of an army or garrison daily, in order that a friend may be distinguished from an enemy. The countersign is given to sentinels, and others who are immediately concerned. It is given in garrison to prevent unauthorized persons from passing the guards. The countersign is usually the name of a battle.
=Counter-swallowtail.= In fortification, is a kind of an outwork very much resembling a single tenaille.
=Counter-trenches.= Are trenches made against the besiegers, which consequently have their parapets turned against the enemy’s approaches, and are enfiladed from several parts of the place on purpose to render them useless to the enemy, if they should chance to become masters of them; but they should not be enfiladed or commanded by any height in the enemy’s possession.
=Counter-vair.= A heraldic fur. It differs from _vair_ by having its cups or bells of the same tinctures placed base against base, and point against point. The tinctures are _or_ and _azure_.
=Coup de Grace.= A finishing or decisive stroke.
=Coup de Main.= A sudden and vigorous attack, for the purpose of instantaneously capturing a position.
=Coup d’Œil.= The gift of rapidly grasping and turning to the best account the contingencies of war, and the features of the country which is its scene.
=Couped= (Fr. _coupé_). A term in heraldry, used to describe the head or any limb of an animal cut off from the trunk, and smooth. When crosses, bends, bars, etc., are cut so as not to touch the sides of the escutcheon, they are also said to be couped.
=Coupe-gorge= (_Fr._). Literally means cut-throat. It is used in a military sense to signify any spot or position which affords an enemy so many advantages that the troops who occupy it must either surrender or be cut to pieces.
=Coupures.= In fortification, are passages cut through the glacis, of about 12 or 15 feet broad, in the re-entering angle of the covert way, to facilitate the sallies of the besieged. They are sometimes made through the lower curtain, to let boats into a little haven built in the _re-entrant_ angle of the counterscarp of the outworks.
=Courçon= (_Fr._). A long piece of iron which is used in the artillery and serves to constrain or tighten cannon.
=Courier.= In a military sense, means a messenger sent post or express to carry dispatches of battles gained, lost, etc., or any other occurrences that happened in war.
=Courland.= A duchy of Livonia, subjected to Poland in 1582, conquered by Charles XII. of Sweden in 1701; Ernest Biren, duke, 1737; his son, Peter, 1769; annexed to Russia, March, 1795.
=Couronement=, or =Couronnement=. In fortification, implies the most exterior part of a work when besieged.
=Courtel.= A military implement which served both for a knife and a dagger.
=Court-martial.= In the army, a tribunal for the examination and punishment of offenders against martial law or against good order and discipline. Under the present construction of law, members of courts-martial become judges and jurors. In ancient feudal times the lords had arbitrary power over vassals who held their lands by tenure of military service, and punished them as they saw fit, and courts of chivalry took cognizance of offenses committed by the nobles. With the decline of feudalism the system of military despotism became obnoxious to the English people, and although the necessity for a standing army was admitted in time of peace, it could only exist with the consent of Parliament. The first military act passed after the accession of William to the throne of England is believed to have laid the foundation of the present system of courts-martial, which has also been adopted to a certain extent in the American service. Parliament having been notified that a body of English and Scotch troops who were ordered to Holland had mutinied, that body passed, on April 3, 1689, an act for punishing mutiny, desertion, etc., which has been renewed annually by Parliament to the present day. It authorized the king to grant commissions to certain officers to hold courts-martial for the trial of crimes committed by officers and soldiers. Similar acts were at different times passed in relation to offenses committed in the navy. A court-martial is a court of limited and special jurisdiction called into existence by force of express statute for a special purpose, and to perform a particular duty; and when the object of its creation is accomplished it ceases to exist. The law presumes nothing in its favor. He who seeks to enforce its sentences, or to justify its conduct under them, must set forth affirmatively and clearly all the facts which are necessary to show that it was legally constituted, and that the subject was within its jurisdiction. And if in its proceedings or sentence it transcends the limits of its jurisdiction, the members of the court and its officer who executes its sentence are trespassers, and as such are answerable to the party injured in damages in the courts of common law. Courts are classed into general, garrison, summary, regimental, and field-officers’, according as the authority convening, the nature of the offenses to be inquired into, the punishment to be awarded, or other circumstances may determine. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 72 to 114; also TRIAL.
=Court of Honor.= Is a military court authorized by the regulations of the Prussian service, convened for the purpose of sustaining the honor of the service and of individuals, and of punishing officers who may be found guilty of conduct deviating even in the least from the principles which actuate military men as men of honor. The court of honor of a regiment consists of all commissioned officers in it, except the prosecutor, the defendant, near relations, officers appearing as witnesses in the case, officers on leave, detached service, under arrest, or awaiting trial before any court; and has for its regular business management a council of honor, consisting of the senior captain, senior first lieutenant, and senior second lieutenant. The court has jurisdiction over all acts or omissions (not provided for by any fixed laws) which are unofficerlike or ungentlemanly in their nature, particularly such as contracting debts, improper choice of society, excessive use of intoxicating liquors, gambling, quarrels, carelessness or neglect of duty, and scandal. With the exception of general officers, all officers of the standing army, the reserve, the landwehr, and those of the retired list are subject to the laws of the court of honor. The court to investigate the conduct of a field-officer is made up of the field-officers of the division to which the officer belongs.
=Court of Inquiry.= In the military service of the United States, is a legally constituted court which may be ordered by the President or by any commanding officer to examine into the nature of any transaction of, or accusation or imputation against, any officer or soldier upon a demand by the officer or soldier whose conduct is to be inquired into. It may consist of one, two, or three officers, and a judge-advocate or other suitable person as recorder, all of whom are sworn. It has the same powers as a court-martial to summon witnesses and to examine them on oath. Courts of inquiry cannot award punishment, but must report to the officer by whose order they were assembled. (See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 115 to 121; also INQUIRY, BOARD OF.) In the British service courts of inquiry are not regulated by any statute or standing regulation, but depend on the will of the sovereign, or of the superior officer convoking the court, both as to the officers who may compose it, and as to every particular of its constitution. It is not a judicial body, but is rather a council, having no power to compel the attendance of witnesses not of the army or navy, nor to administer oaths.
=Courtrai.= A fortified town of Belgium, on the river Lys. Here Robert, count of Artois, who had defeated the Flemings in 1297, was defeated and slain by them, July 11, 1302. The conflict was named the “Battle of the Spurs,” from the number of gilt spurs collected.
=Coussinet à Mousquetaire= (_Fr._). A bag formerly worn by a French soldier on his left side beneath the cross-belt. It hung on a hook near the butt of his musket. It likewise signifies a wedge used to support the mortar in its frame.
=Coutere.= A piece of armor which covered the elbow.
=Coutras.= In Southwestern France. Here Henry of Navarre totally defeated the Duc de Joyeuse and the Royalists, October 20, 1587.
=Cover.= Natural or artificial protection from the fire of the enemy, the former being afforded by hills, woods, banks, walls, etc., the latter by fortifications constructed for the purpose. To cover is, in military language, to stand exactly behind another man.
=Covering.= Standing exactly in front or in rear of another man or an object.
=Covering-fascines.= Are those made of stout picket stuff, not less than 1 inch thick, without any mixture of small brush-wood. They may be used in place of planks for the superstructure of wooden bridges; and may also be used, if no stout planks or spars are to be had, for the roofs of field powder-magazines. They may be made of the usual diameter of 9 inches. Their length will depend upon the special purpose for which they are intended. The withes should be particularly good.
=Covert Way=, or =Covered Way=. Is a road or broad path outside the fosse or moat of a fortified place, between the counterscarp and the glacis. It is usually about 30 feet wide, and sunk so far below the crest of the glacis that soldiers standing upon it cannot be seen by the besiegers; hence the name. The covert way is broad enough to allow troops to form on it, either to act defensively or make sorties; and to increase this accommodation enlarged portions, called _places of arms_, are made at certain spots.
=Covinarii.= The soldiers who fought on the _covinus_ were so called.
=Covinus.= A kind of war-chariot used by the ancient Britons and Belgians.
=Cowardice.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 42.
=Cow-boys.= A band of marauders in the time of the American Revolution, consisting mostly of refugees who adhered to the British side, and who infested the so-called “neutral ground” lying between the American and British lines, plundering all those who had taken the oath of allegiance to the Continental Congress. See SKINNERS.
=Cowpens.= A village in Spartanburg Co., N. C. At this place Gen. Morgan defeated Col. Tarleton, January 17, 1781; it is said that Tarleton lost 300 men in killed and wounded, and about 500 prisoners. The American loss was also considerable.
=Cracow.= A city in Austrian Poland, on the left bank of the Vistula. It was taken by Charles XII. in 1702; taken and retaken several times by the Russians and other confederates. The Russians were expelled from the city March 24, 1794; but it surrendered to the Prussians June 15, the same year, and in 1795 was awarded to Austria. It was occupied by 10,000 Russians, who followed the defeated Poles, September, 1831. It was finally incorporated with the Austrian empire, November 16, 1846.
=Cradle.= A narrow frame-work of heavy timbers upon which heavy guns are sometimes placed, to be moved upon rollers.
=Crakers.= Choice soldiers were so called in the time of Henry VIII.
=Crakys.= An old term for great guns.
=Crampets.= The cramp rings of a sword scabbard.
=Crampton’s Gap.= A pass in the South Mountains, Frederick Co., Md. A stubborn fight of four or five hours took place here September 14, 1862, between part of Gen. McClellan’s army under command of Gen. W. B. Franklin and a portion of the Confederate army under Gen. Cobb, which was defending the pass. The Confederates were forced to retire, having suffered severe loss in killed and wounded.
=Cranon.= In Thessaly, Northern Greece. The Macedonians under Antipater and Craterus defeated the confederated Greeks, twice by sea, and once by land, near Cranon.
=Craonne.= A town of France, in the department of Aisne. Here Victor and Ney defeated the Prussians under Blücher, after a severe contest, March 7, 1814.
=Crater.= The pit left by the explosion of a military mine.
=Cravant.= See CREVANT-SUR-YONNE.
=Crécy=, or =Cressy=. A village in France, department of the Somme, famous for a great victory obtained over the French, under Philip of Valois, by Edward III. of England, August 26, 1346. In this battle fell the king of Bohemia, the Count of Flanders, 8 other sovereign princes, 80 bannerets, 1200 knights, 1500 gentlemen, 4000 men-at-arms, with the Duke of Alençon and the flower of the French nobility. The English army was drawn up in three lines; of which the first was commanded by Edward, prince of Wales, assisted by the Earls of Warwick and Oxford; the second led by the Earls of Arundel and Northampton; while the third, or body reserve, was posted along the summit of a hill, under the command of the king in person, attended by the Lords Mowbray, Mortimer, and others. The English loss in this battle was very small.
=Crécy-sur-Serre.= A town of France, department of Aisne. Its castle was taken and razed by Louis le Gros in 1115. The English took the town in 1339, 1358, and 1373; it was taken by the forces of the League in 1589; and it was burned by the Spaniards in 1662.
=Creedmoor.= About 10 miles east of New York, noted for its splendid rifle range, which was established in 1871.
=Creek Indians.= Formerly a numerous and powerful tribe dwelling in Georgia and Alabama. Their number was much reduced by the war of 1814, in which year they waged war against the United States, but were subdued by Gen. Jackson. Of the survivors most removed beyond the Mississippi, and are now settled in Indian Territory, where they are rapidly advancing in the art of civilization. For numbers, etc., see INDIANS AND THEIR AGENCIES.
=Creil.= A town of France, department of the Oise. It was ravaged several times by the Normans; taken by the king of Navarre in 1358; by the English in 1434; by Charles VII. in 1441; pillaged by the Calvinists in 1567, and occupied by forces of the League in 1588.
=Cremaille.= In field fortification, is when the inside line of the parapet is broken in such a manner as to resemble the teeth of a saw. This advantage is gained by the measure, that a greater fire can be brought to hear upon the defile than if only a simple face was opposed to it; and consequently the passage is rendered more difficult.
=Crémaillère= (_Fr._). An indented or zigzag line of intrenchment.
=Cremona.= A fortified city of Northern Italy, the capital of the province of the same name. It was besieged by the Gauls in 200 B.C.; by Primus, a general of Vespasian, in 69; by Frederick Barbarossa in 1160. Prince Eugène took possession of it in 1702; it was taken by the French in 1796 and 1800.
=Crenaux= (_Fr._). In fortification, small openings or loop-holes, made through the walls of a fortified town or place. They are extremely narrow towards the enemy, and wide within; so that the balls from the besiegers can scarcely ever enter, whereas two or three soldiers may fire from within.
=Crenelle=, or =Crenel=. A term used sometimes to denote a battlement, but more frequently an embrasure in a battlement. The adjective crenellated is employed to signify that a building is supplied with crenelles.
=Crépy.= A town of France, department of the Oise; it was captured and sacked by the English in 1339; by the Duke of Lancaster in 1373; occupied by the Burgundians in 1418; by Pothon and Xaintrailles in 1419; it was besieged by the Duke of Burgundy in 1420; taken by the English and their allies in 1431; by Charles VII. in 1433; by the Duc de Mayenne in 1588.
=Crépy en Laonois.= A town of France, department of Aisne. It was sacked by the English in 1339 and 1373, and taken by the Burgundians in 1418 and 1420. A treaty of peace was concluded here between Spain and France, September 18, 1544.
=Crescent.= The figure or likeness of the new moon borne in the Turkish flag or national standard; also the standard itself.