Part 30

=Dimidiation.= In heraldry, a mode of marshaling arms, adopted chiefly before quartering and impaling according to the modern practice came into use, and subsequently retained to some extent in continental, though not in English heraldry. It consists in cutting two coats of arms in halves by a vertical line, and uniting the dexter half of one to the sinister half of the other. Coats of husband and wife were often so marshaled in England in the 13th and 14th centuries.

=Diminish.= In a military sense, means to decrease the front of a battalion; to adopt the columns of march, or manœuvre according to the obstructions and difficulties which it meets in advancing.

=Diminished Angle.= Is that formed by the exterior side and line of defense in fortification.

=Diminutions.= A word sometimes used in heraldry for differences, marks of cadency, and brisures, indifferently.

=Dinan.= A town of France, in the department of Côtes-du-Nord, situated on the Rance. This place was often besieged during the Middle Ages; in 1373 was taken by Du Guesclin, and in 1379 by De Clisson.

=Dinant.= A town of Belgium, on the Meuse, 14 miles south from Namur. It was taken by Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, in 1466, when 800 of its inhabitants were taken by twos, tied back to back, and thrown into the Meuse. The town was also razed to the ground; but in 1493 it was rebuilt. In 1554 and 1675 it was again taken by the French.

=Dinapore=, or =Dinapoor=. A town of British India, in the presidency of Bengal, on the Ganges. It is an important military station, containing extensive barracks and cantonments for English and native troops.

=Dindigul.= Capital of a district in the south of India, in the presidency of Madras. It was captured by the British troops, under Col. Stuart, in 1790.

=Dipping of the Muzzle.= A piece of artillery when fired has been explained by the action of the vent in bringing increased pressure on the elevating screw or quoin, the reaction from which throws down the muzzle.

=Direct Fire.= See FIRE, DIRECT.

=Directing Sergeant.= When a company is being drilled in marching, a sergeant distinguished for precision in marching is selected, who is called a directing sergeant, and placed in front of the guide on the line established. This sergeant is charged with the direction and step, and marches on points selected by himself directly in front of him. The right guide of the company marches straight in the trace of the directing sergeant.

=Direction.= In military mechanics, signifies the line or path of a body in motion, along which it endeavors to force its way, according to the propelling power that is given to it.

=Direction.= In gunnery, is that element of pointing which relates to the movement of the piece around an imaginary vertical axis. The direction is given when the plane of sight passes through the object. Elevation is a movement about a horizontal axis.

=Directory.= In the history of France, the name given by the constitution of 1795, to an executive body composed of five members of the French republic. They assumed authority in a moment of immense peril. France was environed with gigantic adversaries, while distrust, discontent, and the malice of rival factions made her internal administration almost hopeless. The frantic heroism of her soldiers saved her from spoliation by the foreigner; but, on the contrary, the home policy of the Directory was deplorable. In 1799 the Directory was overthrown by the _coup d’état_ of the 18th Brumaire, November 9, 1799, and was succeeded by the Consulate.

=Dirk.= Is a short dagger which at various times and in various countries has been much used as a weapon of defense. It is still worn by Highland regiments in the British service.

=Dirk-knife.= A clasp-knife, having a large, dirk-like blade.

=Disability.= State of being disabled; want of competent physical or intellectual power. When a soldier becomes disabled from exposure, accidents, or other causes, he is discharged from the service on a surgeon’s certificate of disability, which enables him to draw a pension.

=Disarm.= To deprive of arms; to take away the weapons of; to deprive of the means of attack or defense.

=Disarmament.= The act of disarming.

=Disarmed.= Soldiers divested of their arms, either by conquest, or in consequence of some defection.

=Disarmer.= One who disarms.

=Disarray.= To throw into disorder; to break the array of.

=Disarray.= Want of array or regular order; disorder.

=Disbanding.= Is the breaking up of a military organization and the discharge of soldiers from military duty.

=Disbursing Officer.= An officer whose special function is to make disbursements of money.

=Discharge.= From military service, is obtained by non-commissioned officers and privates by expiration of term of service, which varies in different countries; on surgeon’s certificate of disability, and by special authority for various reasons, when recommended by the commanding officer. Soldiers are also discharged with ignominy for great offenses, being in some cases stripped of their decorations and drummed out of the service.

=Disciplinarian.= An officer who pays particular regard to the discipline or the soldiers under his command.

=Discipline.= In military and naval affairs, is a general name for the rules and regulations prescribed and enforced for the proper conduct and subordination of the soldiers, etc. This is the technical meaning. In a higher sense discipline is the _habit of obedience_. The soldier acquires the habit of subordinating his own will, pleasure, and inclinations to those of his superior. When the habit has become so strong that it is second nature, the soldier is disciplined.

=Discomfit.= Defeat, rout, overthrow.

=Discretion.= _Se rendre à discrétion_, surrendering unconditionally to a victorious enemy.

=Disembarkation.= The act of landing troops from a boat or ship. The term has lately been applied to the act of quitting a railway train.

=Disembody.= To disarm a military body, and to dispense with its services.

=Disengage.= To separate the wings of a battalion or regiment, which is necessary when the battalion countermarches from its centre and on its centre by files. It likewise means to clear a column or line which may have lost its proper front by the overlapping of any particular division. It also signifies to extricate oneself and the troops commanded from a critical situation. It likewise means to break suddenly from any particular order in line or column, and to repair to some rallying-point.

=Disengage.= In fencing, means to quit that side of an adversary’s blade on which one is opposed by his guard, in order to effect a cut or thrust where an opportunity may present.

=Disgarnish.= To take guns from a fortress.

=Disgarrison.= To deprive of a garrison.

=Dishelm.= To deprive of the helmet; to take the helmet from.

=Dish of a Wheel.= Is the inclination outward of the spokes when fastened in the nave.

=Dislodge.= To drive an enemy from a position.

=Dismantle.= To render fortifications incapable of defense, or cannon unserviceable.

=Dismiss.= To discard, or deprive an officer of his commission or warrant. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OR WAR.

=Dismount.= To dismount the cavalry is to use them as infantry. Guards, when relieved, are said to dismount. They are to be marched with the utmost regularity to the parade-ground where they were formed, and from thence to their regimental or company parades, previously to being dismissed to their quarters. To dismount cannon, is to break their carriages, wheels, etc., so as to render them unfit for service. It also implies dismounting by the gin, etc.

=Disobedience of Orders.= Any infraction, by neglect or willful omission, of orders. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 21.

=Dispart.= In gunnery, half the difference between the diameter of the base-ring at the breech of a gun and that of the swell of the muzzle. In guns which have no front sights, it is therefore the tangent of the natural angle of sight to a radius equal to the distance from the rear of the base-ring, or base-line, to the highest point of the swell of the muzzle, measured parallel to the axis. For convenience the muzzle sight is usually made equal in height to the dispart in modern guns,--giving a natural line of sight parallel to the axis of the piece.

=Dispatches.= Official messages. In war, important dispatches which have to pass through the enemy’s country, or in the vicinity of his forces, are only intrusted to officers to whom their contents can be confided. Dispatches are frequently in cipher, especially when telegraphed or signaled with a liability to interception. See DESPATCH.

=Disperse.= To scatter any body of men, armed or unarmed, who may have assembled in an illegal or hostile manner. The cavalry are generally employed on these occasions.

=Displaced.= Officers in the British service are sometimes displaced from a particular regiment in consequence of misconduct, but they are at liberty to serve in any other corps.

=Display, To.= In a military sense, is to extend the front of a column, and thereby bring it into line.

=Displayed.= In heraldic usage, means expanded; as, an eagle displaced, or what is commonly known as a spread eagle.

=Displume.= To deprive of decoration or ornament; to degrade.

=Dispose.= To dispose cannon, is to place it in such a manner that its discharge may do the greatest mischief.

=Disposition.= In a general sense, is the just placing of an army or body of men upon the most advantageous ground, and in the strongest situation, for a vigorous attack or defense.

=Disposition de Guerre= (_Fr._). Warlike arrangement or disposition. Under this head may be considered the mode of establishing, combining, conducting, and finally terminating a war, so as to produce success and victory.

=Disrespect to a Commanding Officer.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 20.

=Disrespectful Words.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 19.

=Distance.= In military formation, signifies the relative space which is left between men standing under arms in rank, or the interval which appears between those ranks.

=Distance of the Bastion.= In fortification, is the term applied to the exterior polygon.

=Distances of Objects.= See POINTING.

=Distribution.= Means, generally, any division or allotment made for the purposes of war; also minor arrangements made for the supply of corps.

=District, Military.= One of those portions into which a country is divided, for the convenience of command, and to insure a co-operation between distant bodies of troops.

=Disvelloped=, or =Developed=. Are heraldic terms applied to the colors of a regiment, or army, when they are flying.

=Ditch.= In fortification, is an excavation made round the works, from which the earth required for the construction of the rampart and parapet is obtained. Ditches are of two kinds, wet and dry; but in modern fortification the dry ditch is considered preferable to the wet one. When the excavation is on the side farthest from the enemy it is called a trench.

=Diu.= A once celebrated island and fortress of Hindostan, in the peninsula of Kattywar. In 1515 the Portuguese gained possession of it; they fortified it, and in ten years rendered it impregnable against all the powers of India. With the decline of Portuguese power it fell into decay, and was plundered by the Arabs of Muscat in 1670.

=Diversion.= An attack upon an enemy in a place where he is weak and unprovided, in order to draw off his forces from making an irruption elsewhere; or a manœuvre, where an enemy is strong, which obliges him to detach part of his forces to resist any feint or menacing attempt of his opponent.

=Divest.= To strip of clothes, arms, or equipage.

=Divine Service.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 52.

=Division.= In military matters, is one section of an army, comprising 2 or more brigades, commanded by a general officer. In regimental formation, 2 companies of a regiment or battalion constitute a division, when in column.

=Dizier, St.= A town of France, on the Marne. The emperor Charles V. besieged and took this place in 1544; and in its neighborhood Napoleon defeated the allies in two battles fought January 27 and March 26, 1814.

=Djokjokarta.= A Dutch residency of Java, near the middle of the south coast of that island. The town of the same name is the seat of a Dutch resident and a native sultan, who has a body-guard of young females, completely armed and equipped, some of whom do duty on horseback. It was taken by the British in 1812.

=Dobrudscha= (anc. _Scythia Minor_). A name used to denote the northeastern portion of Bulgaria. The Dobrudscha has long been a famous battle-ground. Some of the earliest incidents of the Russian war of 1854-56 took place here.

=Dolabra.= A rude ancient hatchet. They are represented on the columns of Trajan and Antoninus, and abound in all museums. When made of flint, which was their earliest and rudest form, they are usually called _celts_.

=Dôle.= A town of France, in the department of Jura, on the right bank of the Doubs. In 1479 it was taken by Louis XI., when the greater part of the town was destroyed, and many of its inhabitants were put to the sword. It subsequently came into the hands of the Spaniards, and was fortified by Charles V. in 1530. In 1636 it was ineffectually besieged by the Prince of Condé. In 1668 it was taken by the French; and again in 1674, when its fortifications were destroyed.

=Dolphins.= Two handles placed upon a piece of ordnance with their centres over the centre of gravity, by which it was mounted or dismounted. They are no longer in use in the U. S. service.

=Domingo, San.= The capital of the Spanish part of the island of Hayti, in the West Indies. About the year 1586 the city was sacked by Sir Francis Drake.

=Dominica.= An island in the West Indies, belonging to the Leeward group, lying about 20 miles to the north of Martinique. This island was discovered by Columbus in 1498, and was claimed alternately by England, France, and Spain: it was finally ceded to Great Britain in 1763.

=Dommage= (_Fr._). In a general acceptation of the term, signified in the old French service, the compensation which every captain of a troop, or company, was obliged to make in consequence of any damage that their men might have done in a town, or on a march.

=Donabue.= A town in India, in the British province of Pegu. In 1825, during the Burmese war, it maintained a successful resistance against the assault of a British force under the command of Brigadier Cotton; and here in 1853, during the last war with the same nation, the British troops suffered a repulse in an encounter with a Burmese force, losing several officers.

=Donauwörth.= A town of Bavaria, situated at the confluence of the Wernitz and the Danube. Here Marlborough stormed and carried the intrenched camp of the Bavarians in 1704, and on October 6, 1805, the French under Soult obtained a victory over the Austrians under Mack.

=Donelson, Fort.= A position on a slight bend of the Cumberland River, in Tennessee, which was strongly fortified by the Confederates during the civil war. On the afternoon of February 14, 1862, Commodore Foote commenced with his gunboats an attack on this place, but met with a decided reverse. Meantime, Gen. Grant’s army, advancing from the capture of Fort Henry, gradually approached, and surrounded the fort, with occasional skirmishing on the line. Next day the Confederates attacked them, but were repulsed with loss, and finding all hope of reinforcements unavailing, they surrendered the fort on the 16th. About 10,000 prisoners, 40 pieces of artillery, and a large quantity of stores of all kinds fell into Gen. Grant’s hands.

=Dongola, New=, or =Maraka=. A town on the Nile, and capital of a province of the same name, in Nubia. Ibrahim Pasha took it from the Mamelukes in 1820.

=Donjon=, or =Dungeon=. The principal tower or keep of a castle or fortress. It was so called either from being placed on a _dun_ or elevation, natural or artificial, or because, from its position, it dominated or commanded the other parts of the fortress. From the circumstance that the lower or under-ground story of the donjon was used as a prison, has come the modern meaning of the word dungeon.

=Doolee.= A palanquin litter, used in Indian armies, to carry sick and wounded men.

=Dormans.= In Northeast France. The Huguenots and their allies under Montmorency were here defeated by the Duke of Guise, October 10, 1575.

=Dormant.= (_Fr._). Sleeping. In heraldic representation, an animal _dormant_ has its head resting on its fore-paws, whereas an animal _couchant_ has its head erect.

=Dornach.= A village of Switzerland, 20 miles northeast from Soleure, remarkable for the victory obtained by the Swiss over the Austrians, July 22, 1499, and which gave Switzerland her independence.

=Dorogoboozh=, =Dorogobush=, or =Dorogobouge=. A town of Russia, in the government of Smolensk. At this place the French were defeated by the Russians, October 12, 1812.

=Dosser.= In military matters, is a sort of basket, carried on the shoulders of men, used in carrying the earth from one part of a fortification to another, where it is required.

=Dossière= (_Fr._). Back-piece of a cuirass.

=Douai=, or =Douay=. A fortified town of France, on the small river Scarpe, 18 miles south from Lille. This place was taken from the Flemings by Philip the Fair in 1297; restored by Charles V. in 1368. It reverted to Spain, from whom it was taken by Louis XIV. in 1667. It was captured by the allies, under the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugène, in 1710, but was retaken by the French, September 8, 1712.

=Double.= To unite, as ranks or files, so as to form one. _To double upon_, to inclose between two fires.

=Double-quick.= Performed in the time called double-quick; as, a double-quick step or march.

=Double-quick.= To move, or cause to move, in double-quick time.

=Double-rank.= A line formed of double files.

=Double-shell.= A shell used in the 7-inch English rifles. It is 27 inches long, and has a large cavity. To strengthen it against outside pressure it has three internal longitudinal ribs projecting about an inch into the cavity.

=Double-shotting.= Is an increase of the destructive power of ordnance by doubling the shot fired off at one time from a gun. Sometimes three shots are fired at once, in which case the piece is said to be _treble-shotted_.

=Double-time.= The fastest time or step in marching, next to the run, requiring 165 steps, each 33 inches in length, to be taken in one minute. The degree of swiftness may vary in urgent cases, and the number of steps be thus increased up to 180 per minute.

=Doubling.= The putting of two ranks of soldiers into one.

=Doublings.= The heraldic term for the linings of robes or mantles, or of the mantlings of achievements.

=Doullens.= A town of France, 15 miles northeast of Amiens. This place was taken by the allies in 1814.

=Doune.= A village of Perthshire, Scotland. The ruins of Doune Castle, a large and massive fortress built about the 14th century, are situated on the point of a steep and narrow elevation. Doune was held for Prince Charles in 1745, and here he confined his prisoners taken at Falkirk, among the rest the author of the tragedy of “Douglas.”

=Douro.= A large river in Spain and Portugal, which was crossed in 1809 by the British army under the Duke of Wellington, when he surprised the French under Marshal Soult, and won the battle of Oporto.

=Dover= (anc. _Dubris_). A city and seaport of England, in the county of Kent, on Dover Strait. The city is defended by Dover Castle, which is built on chalk-cliffs 320 feet high, and is a fortress of great strength and extent. The castle is said to have been founded by the ancient Romans. Near here Julius Cæsar is said to have first landed in England, August 26, 55 B.C., and here King John resigned his kingdom to Pandolf, the pope’s legate, May 13, 1213.

=Dowletabad.= A celebrated city and fortress of Hindostan, province of Hyderabad, deemed impregnable by the natives; but notwithstanding its strength, it has been frequently taken.

=Drabants.= A company of 200 picked men, of which Charles IX. of Sweden was captain.

=Draft.= A selecting or detaching of soldiers from an army, or any part of it, or from a military post; also from any company or collection of persons, or from the people at large for military service.

=Draft.= See DRAUGHT.

=Draft, To.= To draw from a military band or post, or from any company, collection, society, or from the people at large; to detach; to select. Written also _draught_.

=Dragon.= An old name for a musketoon.

=Dragon et Dragon Volant= (_Fr._). Some old pieces of artillery were anciently so called. The Dragon was a 40-pounder; the Dragon Volant a 32-pounder. But neither the name nor the size of the caliber of either piece is now in use.

=Dragonner= (_Fr._). According to the French acceptation of the term, is to attack any person in a rude and violent manner; to take anything by force; to adopt prompt and vigorous means; and to bring those people to reason by hard blows, who could not be persuaded by fair words.

=Dragoon.= From the old fable that the dragon spouts fire, the head of the monster was worked upon the muzzle of a peculiar kind of short muskets which were first carried by the horsemen raised by Marshal Brissac in 1600. This circumstance led to their being called dragoons; and from the general adoption of the same weapon, though without the emblem in question, the term gradually extended itself till it became almost synonymous with horse-soldier. Dragoons were at one time a kind of mounted infantry, drilled to perform the services both of horse and foot. At present, dragoon is simply one among many designations for cavalry, not very precise in its application. This term is not now used in the U. S. service.

=Dragoon, To.= Is to persecute by abandoning a place to the rage of the soldiers.

=Dragoon Guards.= In the British service, seven regiments of heavy cavalry bear this title.

=Drag-rope.= This is a 4-inch hemp rope, 28 feet long, with a thimble worked into each end, one of the thimbles carrying a hook. Six handles, made of oak or ash, are put in between the strands of the rope, and lashed with a marline. It is used to assist in extricating carriages from different positions by the men, for dragging pieces, etc.

=Drag-rope Men.= The men attached to light or heavy ordnance, for the purpose of expediting movements in action. The French _servans à la prolonge_ are of this description.

=Drain=, or =Drein=. In the military art, is a trench made to draw water out of a ditch, which is afterwards filled with hurdles and earth, or with fascines or bundles of rushes, and planks, to facilitate the passage over the mud.

=Drake.= A small piece of artillery, no longer used.

=Draught.= The act of drawing men from a military band, army, or post, or from any company or society; draft; detachment; also, formerly, a sudden attack or drawing upon an enemy.

=Draughted.= The soldiers of any regiment allotted to complete other regiments are said to be draughted, or drafted.

=Draught-hook.= Either of two large hooks of iron fixed on the cheeks of a gun-carriage, two on each side, used in drawing the gun backward and forward.

=Drawbridge.= A bridge of which the whole or part is made to be let down, or drawn or turned aside, to admit or hinder communication at pleasure, as before the gate of a town or castle. It is called _bascule_, _swivel_, or _rolling_ bridge according as it turns on a hinge vertically, on a pivot horizontally, or is pushed lengthwise on rollers.

=Drawing.= In a military sense, is the art of representing the appearances of all kinds of military objects by imitation or copying, both with and without the assistance of mathematical rules.