Part 29
=Dellamcotta.= A fortress of Northern Hindostan, in the province of Bootan, commanding the principal pass into that province. It was stormed by the British troops in 1773, which so alarmed the Booteans that they petitioned for peace. The fortress was then restored to them.
=Dellis.= Were Bosnian and Albanian horsemen, who served without pay in the Turkish armies.
=Delphi= (now _Castri_). An ancient town of Phocis, Greece, celebrated on account of its oracle of Apollo. Its temple was burnt by the Pisistratidæ, 548 B.C. A new temple was raised by the Alcmæonidæ. The Persians (480 B.C.) and the Gauls (279 B.C.) were deterred from plundering the temple by awful portents. It was, however, robbed and seized by the Phocians, 357 B.C., which led to the Sacred War, and Nero carried from it 300 costly statues in 67 A.D.
=Demembré=, or =Dismembered=. A heraldic term signifying that the members of an animal are cut from its body.
=Demerara and Essequibo.= Colonies in Guiana, South America, founded by the Dutch in 1580, were taken by the British, under Maj.-Gen. Whyte, April 22, 1796, but were restored at the peace of Amiens, 1802. They again surrendered to the British under Gen. Grinfield and Commodore Hood, September, 1803, and became English colonies in 1814.
=Demi=, or =Demy=. In heraldry, an animal is said to be demi when only the upper or fore half of it is represented.
=Demi-bastion.= A piece in fortification, which generally terminates the branches of crown-works or horn-works towards their head.
=Demi-brigade.= A half brigade.
=Demi-cannon.= A kind of ordnance, anciently used, carrying a ball of from 30 to 36 pounds in weight.
=Demi-culverin.= A kind of ordnance anciently used, carrying a ball of 9 or 10 pounds in weight.
=Demi-distances= (_Fr._). Half distances; as, _serrez la colonne à demi-distances_, close to the column at half distances.
=Demi-file= (_Fr._). Is that rank in a French battalion which immediately succeeds to the _serre-demi-file_, and is at the head of the remaining half of its depth.
=Demi-gorge.= In fortification, is half the gorge or entrance into the bastion, not taken directly from angle to angle, where the bastion joins the curtain, but from the angle of the flank to the centre of the bastion, or the angle which the two curtains would make by their prolongation.
=Demihag.= A long pistol, much used in the 16th century.
=Demi-lance.= A light lance; half-pike. Also a light horseman who carried a lance.
=Demi-lune.= In fortification, is a work constructed beyond the main ditch of a fortress, and in front of the curtain between two bastions, intended to defend the curtain; a ravelin.
=Demi-parallel.= In fortification, is a place of arms formed between the second and third parallels to protect the head of the sap.
=Demi-pike.= A kind of spontoon, 7 feet long, used by infantry or for boarding.
=Demi-place d’Armes.= In fortification, a circular trench constructed upon the prolongation of the lines of the covered way, to the right and left of the zigzags, to cover the troops employed in their defense.
=Demi-revetment.= A revetment of the scarf only to the height protected by the glacis.
=Demmin.= A town of Prussia, on the river Peene, on the borders of Pomerania and Mecklenburg. It is a town of considerable antiquity, having been a place of importance in the time of Charlemagne, and is noted for the number of sieges it has sustained. Its fortifications were destroyed in 1759. In 1807 several engagements took place here between the French and Russians.
=Demonstration.= In military operations, is an apparent movement, the chief object of which is to deceive the enemy, and induce him to divide his force, as if to meet dangers from various quarters. When thus divided and weakened, he may be attacked with greater chance of success.
=Denain.= A village of France, department of the North. It is celebrated in history as the scene of the decisive victory gained in 1712 by Marshal Villars over the allies commanded by Prince Eugène.
=Denbigh.= The capital town of the county of the same name, North Wales. In ancient times it was a place of great military importance. The castle was gallantly held by Col. William Salisbury for the king during the civil wars of the revolution, but finally surrendered to the Parliamentary forces under Gen. Mytton.
=Dendermonde.= A town of Belgium, in the province of East Flanders. It is fortified, and has a citadel dating from 1584, and possessing the means of laying the surrounding country under water in case of an attack. Louis XIV. besieged it in vain in 1667, but Marlborough, aided by a long drought, succeeded in taking it in 1706.
=Denmark.= A kingdom of Northern Europe, which, with Sweden and Norway, was originally called Scandinavia. In ancient times it was occupied by a fierce and warlike people, whose principal occupation was piracy. In 832 the Danes landed in England, and there established two kingdoms, and two centuries afterwards the conquest of England was completed by Canute, king of Denmark. In the 15th century Christian I. connected Norway, Sleswick, and Holstein with the crown of Denmark, but in consequence of siding with Napoleon, Denmark was obliged to cede Norway to Sweden in 1814. In 1848 Sleswick and Holstein revolted, the duchies being aided by Prussia and other powers of the Germanic Confederation, who, however, concluded a peace on their own account, July 2, 1850. The duchies continued the war, were defeated at Idstet, July 25, 1850, and peace was restored by the intervention of the powers in January, 1851. Hostilities again commenced in 1863, and were terminated by the peace of Vienna in 1864, Denmark renouncing all claim on Sleswick-Holstein.
=Dennewitz.= A small village in the province of Brandenburg, Prussia. Here was fought, on the 6th of September, 1813, a battle between 70,000 French, Saxons, and Poles, commanded by Marshal Ney, and 45,000 Prussians, under Gen. Tauentzien. Both armies more than once drove each other from their positions, but the Prussians finally prevailed, and Ney gave orders to retreat. At this moment Bernadotte, crown-prince of Sweden, appeared at the head of a large army, and turned the retreat of the French army into a complete rout.
=Denonciateur= (_Fr._). In a general sense, may not improperly be called a military informer. So rigid indeed were the regulations (even in the most corrupt state of the French government) against every species of misapplication and embezzlement, that if a private dragoon gave information to the commissary of musters of a troop horse that had passed muster, having been used in the private service of an officer, he was not only entitled to his discharge, but received, moreover, 100 livres in cash, and became master of the horse and equipage, with which he retired unmolested. The officer was summarily dealt with.
=Densimeter.= An apparatus for obtaining the specific gravity of gunpowder by immersing it in mercury. It consists of an open vessel containing mercury, a frame supporting a glass globe communicating by a tube with the mercury in the open vessel, and joined at top to a graduated glass tube, which communicates by a flexible tube with an ordinary air-pump. Stop-cocks are inserted in the tubes above and below the glass globe, and a diaphragm of chamois-skin is placed over the bottom orifice and one of wire cloth over the top orifice of the globe. The arrangement allows the globe to be filled with mercury to any mark on the graduated tube, or with gunpowder and mercury. The globe can be taken off and weighed in both cases. The specific gravity is obtained from the relation between the weights in the two cases.
=Density.= The density or specific gravity of gunpowder is one of its most important properties. In the form of dust, the velocity of combustion increases rapidly with the density up to about 1.60, when it decreases. In grained powder the velocity of combustion decreases as the density increases. For English or American powder this velocity is about four-tenths of an inch per second. For French and most of the continental powders, which are less dense than the English, it is about forty-eight-hundredths of an inch. The excellent preservative qualities of English and American powders are largely due to their high densities,--the standard being about 1.75. A certain degree of density is absolutely essential to grain powder to prevent the inflamed gases from penetrating the pores of the powder and flashing off the whole mass to the destruction of the gun. In the manufacture of powder the density depends, first, upon the amount of trituration to which the ingredients are subjected in the incorporating mill; second, upon the pressure employed to form the cake; and, third, upon the degree of moisture it contains when subjected to these operations, particularly the last. The pressure-gauge is not a reliable measure of the _density_ given to a powder, though a good indication of the _hardness_, with which density must not be confounded. Dry powder meal offers a great resistance to compression, but becomes very hard,--the work being consumed in consolidating the surface particles. To obtain uniform density a certain amount of moisture is necessary to assist the particles in their movement. As much as 6 per cent. of moisture is used in making prismatic powder.
=Department Commander.= See GEOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT, COMMANDER OF.
=Department, Military.= A military subdivision of a country. The whole territory of the United States is divided into military departments, each under a general officer. See GEOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT, COMMANDER OF.
=Department of War.= That department of a government which takes charge of all matters relating to war. See SECRETARY OF WAR.
=Depenses= (_Fr._). In a military sense, implies secret service money.
=Deploy.= Signifies a military movement, in which a body of troops is spread out in such a way that they shall display a wider front and a smaller depth than before deploying. To _ploy_ is to execute the reverse of this movement.
=Deployment.= The act of unfolding or expanding any given body of men, in order to extend their front.
=Deposits, Soldiers’.= Soldiers in the U. S. service may deposit with the paymaster any portion of their savings, in sums not less than $5, the same to remain so deposited until final payment on discharge. Interest on deposits at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum will be paid on final settlement upon each deposit from the date thereof to date of discharge. No interest is payable, however, upon any deposit of less than $50, or upon any sum, whatever its amount, which has been on deposit for a less period than six months prior to date of discharge. Deposits are forfeited by desertion.
=Depot.= Any place at which military stores are deposited for the use of an army. It also signifies a fort or other suitable place appropriated for the reception of recruits, or detached parties belonging to different regiments. In fortification, the term is likewise used to denote a particular place at the trail of the trenches out of the reach of the cannon of a besieged place. It is here that besiegers generally assemble when ordered to attack the outworks, or support the troops in the trenches when there is reason to imagine the besieged intend making a sally.
=Depredate.= To take plunder or prey; to commit waste; as, the troops depredated on the country; also, in an active sense, to plunder or pillage; to spoil; to lay waste.
=Depressed Gun.= Any piece of ordnance having its mouth depressed below the horizontal line.
=Depression.= The pointing of any piece of ordnance so that its shot may be projected short of the point-blank.
=Depth.= A technical word, peculiarly applicable to bodies of men drawn up in line or column. The depth of a battalion or squadron is the number of men in rank and file from front to rear.
=Deputy-Marshal.= In the British service, is the senior sergeant-major of each regiment of Foot Guards, who sees after and makes out the routes of deserters, and receives an allowance for so doing.
=Deraser= (_Fr._). To cut off the superfluous clay from a gun-mold previous to its being placed in the pit.
=Derayeh, El.= A town of Arabia, nearly in the centre of the district called El Nedjed. It is tolerably well fortified, but after a siege of seven months, in 1819, it was nearly destroyed by the troops of Ibrahim Pasha.
=Derbend=, or =Derbent=. A town of Russia, the capital of the province of Daghestan. It is surrounded by strong walls and flanked and strengthened by massive bastions. It was taken from Persia by Russia in 1722, restored to the former power in 1735, and retaken by the Muscovites in 1795.
=Derivation= (_Fr._). Drift of rifle projectiles. See PROJECTILES.
=Descend.= In a military sense, means to make an attack or incursion as if from a vantage-ground.
=Descents.= In fortification, are the holes, vaults, and hollow places made by undermining the ground.
=Descents into the Ditch.= Cuts and excavations made by means of saps in the counterscarp, beneath the covert way. They are covered with thick boards and hurdles; and a certain quantity of earth is thrown upon the top in order to obviate the bad effects which might arise from shells, etc.
=Descriptive Book.= A book in which descriptive lists of the soldiers belonging to a company are kept.
=Descriptive List of Soldier.= A paper giving a short history of the soldier, a description of his person, and the statement of his account. It accompanies him wherever he goes, being intrusted to his detachment or company commander.
=Descriptive Memoir.= This memoir, which should always accompany a sketch of a topographical reconnoissance, is intended to convey that information relating to the natural features of the ground not expressed upon the sketch; to express that information for which there are no conventional signs, and to present those facts relative to the ground which become important by being considered in connection with the probable military operations to be undertaken.
=Desenzano.= A town of Lombardy, in the province of Brescia. Garibaldi, in command of the Italian volunteers, defeated an Austrian force near this place in 1859.
=Desert.= To quit a service without permission; to run away; as, to desert from the army; to forsake in violation of duty; as, to desert one’s colors.
=Deserter.= A soldier who absconds, during the period for which he is enlisted, from the service of the army or navy. In England this crime was by certain old statutes made punishable with death, but now the punishment is left to the discretion of a court-martial. In the United States, deserters in the time of war may be sentenced to death, but in time of peace the penalty for this offense is lighter.
=Desertion.= The act of absence from duty without intention to return. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 47.
=Despatch=, or =Dispatch=. An official military letter sent by the commander of an army in the field to the authorities at home. The term is also applied to the military letters giving an account of military operations sent by subordinate officers holding detached commands to the general of an army in the field. See DISPATCHES.
=Detach.= To separate for a special object or use; as, to send out a body of men on some particular service, separate from that of the main body.
=Detached Bastion.= In fortification, is that basis which is separated from the enceinte by a ditch.
=Detached Works.= In fortification, are such outworks as are detached, or at a distance from the body of the place; such as half-moons, ravelins, bastions, etc.
=Detachment.= In military affairs, an uncertain number of men drawn out from several regiments or camps equally, to march or be employed as the general may think proper, whether on an attack, at a siege, or in parties to scour the country. A detachment of 2000 or 3000 men is a command for a general officer, 800 for a colonel, 500 for lieutenant-colonel, 200 or 300 for a major, 80 or 100 for a captain, 40 for a lieutenant, 12 for a sergeant, and 6 for a corporal.
=Detachment, Gun.= The men required for the service of a piece of artillery.
=Detachment, Manœuvring.= The men required for mechanical manœuvres of a siege or sea-coast gun.
=Detail for Duty.= Is a roster, or table, for the regular performance of duty either in camp or garrison. The general detail is regulated by the adjutant-general, according to the strength of the several corps. The adjutant of each regiment superintends the detail of officers and non-commissioned officers for duty, and orderly sergeants detail the privates.
=Detmold.= A town of Northwestern Germany, capital of the principality of Lippe-Detmold, on the Werra. In the vicinity is the battle-field on which the army of Varus was destroyed by the Germans under Arminius, in 9 A.D.
=Detonating Powder.= A term applied in chemistry to fulminating mercury and silver, and to other compounds which suddenly explode when struck or heated. Some of these compounds have been much used for the ignition of gunpowder in percussion locks.
=Detonation.= The instantaneous conversion of an explosive into gas; a term applied to the phenomena attending the explosion of certain substances, such as _nitro-glycerine_, _chloride of nitrogen_, _iodide of nitrogen_, _gun-cotton_, the _picrates_, etc. Detonation, or explosion of the first order, is distinguished from ordinary explosion, or explosion of the second order, by the different way in which the explosion is propagated. Ordinary explosion proceeds by inflammation, being nothing more than a rapid combustion. Detonation is propagated by vibration. A detonating agent is a substance used to produce the _initial vibration_, or “impulse of explosion.” The exploder, or cap, used for this purpose is usually primed with fulminate of mercury, a substance having a wide range in bringing about detonation in the high explosives.
=Dettingen.= A village of Bavaria, on the Maine. It is noted for a victory gained by the English, under George II., over the French, commanded by Marshal Noailles, in 1743.
=Devastation.= In warfare, is the act of destroying, laying waste, demolishing, or unpeopling towns, etc.
=Deviation of Projectiles.= See PROJECTILES.
=Device.= The emblem on a shield or standard.
=Devicotta.= A fort and seaport town in the south of India, and district of Tanjore. It was taken in 1749 from the rajah of Tanjore.
=Devonshire.= A maritime county in the southwest peninsula of England, between the Bristol and English Channels. The Saxons failed to conquer Devonshire till the 9th century. It was ravaged by the Danes in the 9th and 10th centuries, and by the Irish in the 11th century. In 1688 the Prince of Orange landed at Tor Bay, in this county.
=Deyrah=, or =Dehra=. A town of Northern Hindostan, and the principal place of the British province designated the Deyrah Doon. During the Nepaul war in 1815, the Deyrah Doon became the scene of military operations, and acquired a mournful celebrity by the obstinate defense made by the Goorkhas at Kalunga, or Nalapani, in the siege of which the British lost a considerable number of men, including their gallant commander, Gen. Gillespie.
=Diable= (_Devil-carriage_), _Fr._ A truck-carriage on four trucks, for carrying mortars, etc., to short distances; it is provided with draught-hooks at each end, so as to be drawn to front or rear.
=Diameter.= In both a military and geometrical sense, implies a right line passing through the centre of a circle, and terminated at each end by the circumference thereof.
=Diaphragm Shell.= An obsolete spherical shell formerly used in the English service, so named from the arrangement of the interior.
=Diapré.= A term applied in heraldry to fields and charges relieved by arabesque and geometrical patterns. This ornamentation, not affecting the heraldic value of the objects to which it was applied, was generally left to the fancy of the painter.
=Diarbekir.= A city of Asiatic Turkey, and capital of the pashalic of Diarbekir. This place was successively taken, retaken, and destroyed, in the ancient wars between the Persians and Romans. It was pillaged by Tamerlane in the year 1393; and was successively taken and retaken by the Persian kings, until it was conquered by Selim, the first sultan of the Osmanli Turks, in the year 1515. In 1605 it again fell into the power of Persia; but it was afterwards retaken by the Turks, under whose dominion it has since continued.
=Dictator.= In the earliest times, was the name of the highest magistrate of the Latin Confederation, and in some of the Latin towns the title was continued long after these towns were subjected to the dominion of Rome. In the Roman republic the dictator was an extraordinary magistrate, irresponsible and endowed with absolute authority. The dictatorship could not lawfully be held longer than six months. Dictators were only appointed so long as the Romans had to carry on wars in and out of Italy, or when any vigorous measure had to be acted upon. The limits of his power were as follows: he could not touch the treasury; he could not leave Italy; and he could not ride through Rome on horseback without previously obtaining the permission of the people.
=Dideon’s Formulas.= Certain equations relating to the trajectory of a projectile in the air, obtained by Capt. Dideon of Metz by integrating the differential equations of the trajectory under certain assumptions as to the law of the resistance, etc. See PROJECTILES, TRAJECTORY, IN AIR.
=Diego.= A very strong and heavy sword.
=Diest.= A town of Belgium, in Southern Brabant, on the Demer. This town was taken by the Duke of Marlborough in 1705, but retaken by the French, and dismantled, in the same year. Since 1830 it has been surrounded with fortifications and made a place of great strength.
=Dietary, Military.= See SUBSISTENCE OF ARMIES and FOOD.
=Dieu et Mon Droit= (_Fr._). “God and my Right.” The motto of the royal arms of England, first assumed by Richard I., to intimate that he did not hold his empire in vassalage of any mortal. It was afterwards assumed by Edward III., and was continued without interruption to the time of William, who used the motto _Je maintiendray_, though the former was still retained upon the great seal. After him Anne used the motto _Semper eadem_; but ever since her time _Dieu et mon droit_ has continued to be the royal motto.
=Differences.= In heraldry, are marks introduced into a coat of arms to distinguish brothers and their descendants from the father or head of the house, while he is alive; marks of cadency being used for a similar purpose after his death.
=Differential Pulley.= A hoisting apparatus consisting of an endless chain and two pulleys of slightly different diameters. The chain winds upon one while unwinding from the other. It is attached to a crane, and used to hoist heavy shot to the muzzle of large cannon.
=Dijon.= An ancient walled city of France, chief town of the department of Côte-d’Or. It has been several times captured in war. It was attacked by the Germans under Gen. Beyer, October 30, 1870. The heights and suburbs were taken by Prince William of Baden, and the town surrendered October 31.
=Dike=, or =Dyke=. A channel to receive water; also a dam or mound, to prevent inundation. Dikes differ from sluices; the former being intended only to oppose the flowing of other water into a river, or to confine the stream by means of strong walls, pieces of timber, or a double row of hurdles, the intervals of which are filled with earth, stones, or pebbles.
=Dimachæ.= In ancient military affairs, were a kind of horsemen, answering to the dragoons of the moderns.