Part 33

=Engineer, Military.= An officer in the service of a government, whose duties are principally to construct fortifications, to make surveys for warlike purposes, to facilitate the passage of an army by the construction of roads and bridges; in short, to execute all engineering works of a military nature. He is also called upon to undertake many works which more properly belong to the business of a civil engineer, such as the survey of the country, the inspection of public works, and, in short, all the duties of a government engineer.

=Engineering.= The business of the engineer; the art of designing and superintending the execution of railways, bridges, canals, harbors, docks, the defense of fortresses, etc.

=Engineer Corps.= In modern nations, the necessity for a corps of staff-officers, trained to arrange for and overcome the embarrassments of the movements of an army in the field, has been thoroughly demonstrated, and hence, in European armies, a trained staff of officers is organized for this purpose. In the United States a force of about 300 officers and enlisted men are engaged in these duties. See SAPPERS AND MINERS.

=Engineers, Topographical.= See TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS.

=England.= The southern and larger division of the island of Great Britain, and the principal member of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was so named, it is said, by Egbert, first king of the English, in a general council held at Winchester, 829. It was united with Wales, 1283; with Scotland in 1603; and Ireland was incorporated with them, January 1, 1801. For previous history, see BRITAIN; and for further details of battles, etc., see separate articles.

=Enlargement.= The act of going or being allowed to go beyond the prescribed limits; as the extending the boundaries of an arrest, when the officer is said to be enlarged, or under arrest at large.

=Enlargement.= Enlargements of the bore and vent are injuries suffered by all cannon that are much used. The term is technically applied to certain injuries to brass cannon. See INJURIES TO CANNON.

=Enlistment.= The voluntary enrollment of men in the military or naval service.

=Enniscorthy.= A town of Ireland, in the county of Wexford, on the river Slaney. It arose in the Norman castle, still entire, founded by Raymond le Gros, one of the early Anglo-Norman invaders. Cromwell took this place in 1649; and the Irish rebels stormed and burned it in 1798.

=Enniskillen.= A town of Ireland, in the county of Fermanagh. This place is famous for the victory, in 1689, won by the troops of William III., under Lord Hamilton, over a superior force of James II., under Lord Gilmoy. The banners taken in the battle of the Boyne hang in the town-hall of Enniskillen.

=Enniskillen Dragoons.= A British regiment of horse; it was first instituted from the brave defenders of Enniskillen, in 1689.

=Enrank.= To place in ranks or in order.

=Enroll.= To place a man’s name on the roll or nominal list of a body of soldiers.

=Ensconce.= To cover as with a fort.

=Enseigne= (_Fr._). The colors. The French designate all warlike symbols under the term _enseigne_; but they again distinguish that word by the appellations of _drapeaux_, colors, and _etendards_, standards. _Drapeaux_ or colors are particularly characteristic of the infantry; _etendards_ or standards belong to the cavalry.

=Ensemble.= Together; the exact execution of the same movements, performed in the same manner, and by the same motions. It is the union of all the men who compose a battalion, or several battalions or companies of infantry and cavalry, who are to act as if put in motion by the same spring.

=Enshield.= To cover from the enemy.

=Ensiform.= Having the shape of a sword.

=Ensign-bearer.= One who carries a flag; an ensign.

=Ensigncy.= The rank or office of an ensign.

=Ensisheim.= In Eastern France; here Turenne defeated the imperial army, and expelled it from Alsace, October 4, 1674.

=Entanglement.= Abatis, so called, when made by cutting only partly through the trunks, and pulling the upper parts to the ground, where they are picketed.

=Entanglement, Wire.= Formed by twisting wire round stout stakes or trees 7 feet apart. The wires are placed about a foot or 18 inches above the ground. The trees-pickets or trees are in two or three rows, arranged checkerwise, the wires crossing diagonally.

=Enter, To.= To engage in; to enlist in; as, to enter an army.

=Enterprise.= An undertaking attended with some hazard and danger.

=Enterpriser.= An officer who undertakes or engages in any important and hazardous design.

=Entire=, or =Rank Entire=. A line of men in one continued row by the side of each other. When behind each other, they are said to be in file.

=Entonnoir= (_Fr._). The cavity or hole which remains after the explosion of a mine. It likewise meant the tin case or port-feu which is used to convey the priming powder into the vent of a cannon.

=Entrench, To.= Is to construct hastily thrown-up field-works for the purpose of strengthening a force in position. See INTRENCH.

=Entrepôts.= Magazines and places appropriated in garrison towns for the reception of stores, etc.

=Envelope.= In fortification, a work of earth, sometimes in the form of a single parapet, and at others like a small rampart; it is raised sometimes in the ditch, and sometimes beyond it. Envelopes are occasionally _en zigzag_, to inclose a weak ground, where that is practicable, with single lines. Envelopes, in a ditch, are sometimes called sillons, contregardes, conserves, lunettes, etc.

=Environ, To.= To surround in a hostile manner; to hem in; to besiege.

=Enzersdorf.= A fortified town of Austria, 8 miles east from Vienna.

=Epaule.= In fortification, denotes the shoulder of a bastion, or the place where its face and flank meet and form the angle, called the angle of the shoulder.

=Epaulement= (Fr. _epaule_). In siege works, is a portion of a battery or earthwork. The siege batteries are generally shielded at one end at least by epaulements, forming an obtuse angle with the main line of the battery. The name is often given erroneously to the parapet of the battery itself, but it applies properly to the flanking return only. Sometimes the whole of a small or secondary earthwork, including the battery and its flanks, is called an epaulement; and sometimes the same name is given to an isolated breastwork intended to shield the cavalry employed in defending a body of besiegers.

=Epaulette.= A shoulder-knot worn by commissioned officers of the army and navy, as a mark of distinction. The insignia of their rank are usually marked on officers’ epaulettes.

=Epauletted.= Furnished with epaulettes.

=Ephebi.= In Grecian antiquity, the name given to the Attic youth from the age of 18, till they entered upon their 20th year. During this period they served a sort of apprenticeship in arms, and were frequently sent, under the name of _peripoli_, to some of the frontier towns of Attica to keep watch against foreign invasion.

=Epibatæ.= In Grecian antiquity, the name given to soldiers whose duty it was to fight on board ship. They corresponded almost exactly to the marines of modern naval warfare. The term is sometimes found in Roman authors to denote the same class of soldiers, but the general phrase adopted by them is _milites classiarii_, or _socii navales_.

=Epignare= (_Fr._). A small piece of ordnance which does not exceed one pound in caliber.

=Epigoni.= A term which signifies “heirs” or “descendants.” It was applied to the sons of the seven chiefs who conducted an expedition against Thebes to restore Polynices, and who were all killed except Adrastus. Ten years later the Epigoni--namely, Alcmæon, Thersander, Diomedes, Ægialeus, Promachus, Sthenelus, and Euryalus--renewed the enterprise and took Thebes. The war of the Epigoni was celebrated by several ancient epic and dramatic poets.

=Epinglette= (_Fr._). An iron needle with which the cartridge of any large piece of ordnance is pierced before it is primed.

=Epinikian.= Pertaining to, or celebrating, victory; as an epinikian ode.

=Epirus.= A celebrated country of ancient Greece, lying between the Ionian Sea and the chain of Pindus.

=E Pluribus Unum.= “One out of many.” A motto adopted by the United States since their declaration of independence, in 1776.

=Epouvante= (_Fr._). A sudden panic with which troops are seized, and under which they retreat without any actual necessity for so doing.

=Eprouvette= (_Fr._). A small mortar to prove the strength of gunpowder. There are different sorts of eprouvettes, according to the fancy of different nations who use them. Some raise a weight, and others throw a shot, to certain heights and distances. As a test of gunpowder the eprouvette is comparatively worthless, and it has been generally superseded by instruments for measuring the initial velocity obtained by firing the powder in the particular gun for which it is intended. A short mortar is, however, still used, to a certain extent, for testing the power of modern blasting powders, such as the mixtures of nitro-glycerine. A very small charge and a heavy shot of chilled iron which enters two or three inches only into the mortar are used. The square roots of the ranges (other things being equal) give the relative powers of the different powders, nearly.

=Equalize.= To render the distribution of any number of men equal as to the component parts. To _equalize a battalion_, to tell off a certain number of companies in such a manner that the several component parts shall consist of the same number of men.

=Equation of Time.= See TIME, MEAN SOLAR TIME.

=Equerry.= Any person who is appointed to attend the sovereign, or prince of the royal blood, upon out-door excursions, and who has the care and management of their horses.

=Eques Auratus.= A heraldic term for a knight.

=Equestrian.= A man who rides on horseback; a horseman; a rider.

=Equestrian Order.= Among the Romans, signified their knights or equites; as, also, their troopers or horsemen in the field.

=Equip, To.= To furnish an individual, a corps, or an army with everything that is requisite for military service, such as arms, accoutrements, uniforms, etc.

=Equipage.= In military matters, is the name given to the necessaries of the soldier. The equipment of a private is often used as a name for the whole of his clothes, arms, and accoutrements, collectively. The equipage of the camp is of two kinds, _camp_ and _field_ equipage.

=Equipments, Cannoneers’.= Include the _hausse pouch_, _cartridge pouches_, _primer pouches_, and _thumb-stall_, used in the field service. The equipments for a field-piece are the _tampion_ and _strap_, _vent cover_ and _tarpaulin_. Other things used in service of cannon are called _implements_, which see.

=Equipments, Horse.= In the mounted service, comprise the _bridle_, _halter_, _watering bridle_, _saddle_, _saddle-bags_, _saddle blanket_, _nose-bag_, _lariat_, _curry-comb_, _brush_, etc.

=Equipments, Infantry.= Comprise the personal outfit of the soldier, excluding arms proper and clothing. A set of equipments is called a _kit_ (which see). The standard equipments for infantry include the _knapsack_, _belts_, and _plates_, _cartridge-box_, _bayonet-scabbard_, _haversack_, and _canteen_. The knapsack, haversack, and canteen are only used in marching. In the United States there is a strong tendency towards discarding the knapsack; a roll made of the blanket, piece of shelter-tent, or overcoat, being frequently used instead. A clothing-bag is also sometimes used to take its place. The best manner of arranging and slinging the various articles carried, for the comfort and health of the soldier, is still an open question. In future wars it is probable that an intrenching tool will be added to the soldier’s equipment. The equipments for a cavalry soldier in the United States are very much the same as for infantry.

=Equipments, Signal.= The _flags_, _staffs_, _flying torches_, _fort torches_, _flame shades_, _haversacks_, _telescopes_, etc., used in signaling. A set of equipments for one man is called a _signal kit_.

=Equites.= An order of equestrian knights introduced among the Romans by Romulus.

=Eretria.= One of the most celebrated of ancient cities, and, next to Chalcis, one of the most powerful in Eubœa. After the Peloponnesian war, the city was governed by tyrants.

=Erfurt.= A town of Prussian Saxony, on the river Gera; it was founded in 476. Erfurt was ceded to Prussia in 1802. It capitulated to Murat, when 14,000 troops surrendered, October 16, 1806. In this city Napoleon and Alexander met, and offered peace to England, September 27, 1808. The French retreated from Leipsic to Erfurt, October 18, 1813. This place was restored to Prussia by the Congress of Vienna.

=Ericius.= In Roman antiquity, a military engine, so named from its resemblance to a hedge-hog. It was a kind of chevaux-de-frise, placed as a defense at the gate of the camp.

=Erie, Fort.= A strong fortification in Upper Canada, on the northern shore of Lake Erie. Here the British were defeated by the Americans, August 15, 1814.

=Erlau.= A fortified town of Hungary, the old castle of which was frequently besieged during the Turkish wars, both by Moslem and Christian.

=Eryx.= A city and mountain in the west of Sicily, 6 miles from Drepana, and a short distance from the sea-shore. The possession of the town of Eryx was contested by the Syracusans and Carthaginians. A great battle was fought off the town between the fleets of the two nations, in which the Syracusans were victorious. The town subsequently changed hands more than once, but it seems to have owned the Carthaginian supremacy at the time of the expedition of Pyrrhus, 278 B.C. Though taken by that monarch, it once more fell into the hands of its original conquerors, who retained it till the close of the first Punic war.

=Erzroom=, =Erzroum=, or =Erzrum=. A fortified town of Armenia (Asiatic Turkey), on the river Kara-Soo, a branch of the Euphrates. Its position renders it an important military post. In 1210 it was taken by the Seljooks, who are said to have destroyed here 100 churches; taken by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. It was taken by the Russians in 1829, but was restored to Turkey in the following year.

=Escadron= (_Fr._). Squadron. Froissart was the first French writer who made use of the word escadron to signify a troop of horse drawn out in order of battle. The term escadron is more ancient than the word battalion.

=Escalade.= From the Latin _scala_, a ladder. In siege operations, a mode of gaining admission within the enemy’s works. It consists in advancing over the glacis and the covert way, descending, if necessary, into the ditch by means of ladders, and ascending to the parapet of the curtain and bastions, and are either procured on the spot, or are sent out with the siege army. The leaders constitute a forlorn hope.

=Escale= (_Fr._). A machine used to ply the petard.

=Escape of Gas.= See GAS-CHECK and BREECH MECHANISM.

=Escarp.= In fortification, the surface of the ditch next the rampart, the surface next the enemy being termed the counterscarp. Called also scarp.

=Escarp Galleries.= Galleries constructed in the escarp for the purpose of flanking the ditch caponnière.

=Escarpment.= Ground cut away nearly vertically about a position, in order to render it inaccessible to the enemy.

=Escort.= A body of troops attending an individual as a guard. The term is also applied to a guard placed over prisoners on a march, to prevent their escape, and to the guard of a convoy of stores.

=Escort, Funeral.= See FUNERAL ESCORT.

=Escort of Honor.= A body of troops attending a personage of rank by way of military compliment.

=Escort of the Color.= The military ceremony of sending for and receiving the colors of a battalion.

=Escouade= (_Fr._). In the old French service generally meant the third part of a company of foot or a detachment. Companies were divided in this manner for the purpose of more conveniently keeping the tour of duty among the men. We have corrupted the term, and called it squad.

=Escuage.= An ancient feudal tenure by which the tenant was bound to follow his lord to war or to defend his castle.

=Espadon.= In old military works, a kind of two-handed sword, having two edges, of a great length and breadth; formerly used by the Spanish.

=Espauliere= (_Fr._). A defense for the shoulder, composed of flexible, overlapping plates of metal, used in the 15th century; the origin of the modern _epaulette_.

=Espiere.= A town of Belgium, 8 miles from Courtrai, where the allied Austrian and English army defeated the French, May 22, 1794.

=Espingard=, or =Epingare= (_Fr._). An ancient name for a small gun under a 1-pounder. They were used as early as the 14th century.

=Espingole=, or =Spingole= (_Fr._). A blunderbuss; a kind of blunderbuss which, in early times, was loaded with several balls; the charges were separated from each other by tampions in which a hole was made, and thus the balls were fired in succession.

=Espinosa de la Monteros.= A town of Spain, on the Trueba, 50 miles from Burgos. The French defeated the Spaniards here in 1808.

=Esplanade.= In fortification, is the open space intentionally left between the houses of a city and the glacis of its citadel, so that the enemy may not be able to erect breaching batteries under cover of the houses. In old works on fortification, the term is often applied to the glacis of the counterscarp, or the slope of the parapet of the covered way towards the country.

=Espontoon= (_Fr._). A sort of half pike, about 3 feet in length, used in the 17th century. The colonels of corps as well as the captains of companies always used them in action. This weapon was also used by officers in the British army.

=Espringal.= In the ancient art of war, a machine for throwing large darts, generally called muchettæ.

=Esprit de Corps= (_Fr._). This term is generally used among all military men in Europe. It may not improperly be defined a laudable spirit of ambition which produces a peculiar attachment to any particular corps, company, or service. Officers without descending to mean and pitiful sensations of selfish envy, under the influence of a true _esprit de corps_ rise into an emulous thirst after military glory. The good are excited to peculiar feats of valor by the sentiments it engenders, and the bad are deterred from ever hazarding a disgraceful action by a secret consciousness of the duties it prescribes.

=Esquimaux.= The tribes inhabiting Greenland and Arctic America. Those inhabiting the continent are found in sparse settlements from Behring Strait to Labrador. They are generally peaceable. Some of these in Greenland have been civilized by the influence of the Danes.

=Esquire.= In chivalry, was the shield-bearer or armor-bearer to the knight. He was a candidate for the honor of knighthood, and thus stood to the knight in the relation of a novice or apprentice. When fully equipped each knight was attended by two esquires.

=Essedarii.= In Roman antiquity, gladiators who fought in a heavy kind of chariot called _esseda_ or _essedum_. The _esseda_ (which derived its name from the Celtic word _ess_, signifying a carriage) was a ponderous kind of chariot much used in war by the Gauls, the Belgæ, and the Britons. It differed from the currus in being open before instead of behind; and in this way the owner was enabled to run along the pole, from the extremity of which, or even from the top of the yoke, he discharged his missiles with surprising dexterity.

=Essek=, or =Eszek=. A town and fortress of the Austrian empire, in Sclavonia, on the Drave. It contains an arsenal, barracks, and other military buildings. There were several battles fought here between the Turks and Germans. It was finally taken from the Turks in 1687, since which time it has continued in the hands of the house of Austria.

=Essling.= A village of Lower Austria, on the left bank of the Danube, 6 miles east of Vienna. Between this village and that of Aspern the French were repulsed by the Austrians in a severe engagement in 1809. See ASPERN.

=Establish.= A technical phrase to express the quartering of any considerable body of troops in a country. Thus it is common to say, the army took up a position in the neighborhood of ----, and established the headquarters at ----.

=Establishment.= The quota of officers and men in an army, regiment, troop, or company.

=Establishment, Peace.= Is the reduced condition of an army suited to a time of peace.

=Establishment, War.= Is the augmentation of regiments to a certain number, by which the whole army of a country is considerably increased, to meet war exigencies.

=Estacade= (_Fr._). A dike constructed of piles in the sea, a river, or a morass, to check the approach of an enemy.

=Estafette= (_Fr._). A military courier, sent express from one part of an army to another.

=Esthonia=, or =Revel=. A Russian province, said to have been conquered by the Teutonic knights in the 12th century; after various changes it was ceded to Sweden by the treaty of Oliva in 1660, and finally to Russia by the peace of Nystadt in 1721, having been conquered by Peter in 1710.

=Estimates.= Army estimates are the computation of expenses to be incurred in the support of an army for a given time.

=Estimating Distances.= See POINTING.

=Estoc= (_Ital._). A small dagger worn at the girdle, called in Elizabethan times a _tucke_.

=Estoile.= See ETOILES.

=Estradiots=, or =Stradiots=. Grecian and Albanian horsemen, some of whom were employed in the Italian wars by Charles VIII.; their favorite weapon was the zagaye; besides this they had a broadsword, and club slung on the bow of the saddle, with sleeves and gauntlets of mail.

=Estramacon= (_Fr._). A sort of two-edged sword formerly used. A blow with the edge of a sword.

=Etat Major= (_Fr._). The staff of an army, including all officers above the rank of colonel; also, all adjutants, inspectors, quartermasters, commissaries, engineers, ordnance officers, paymasters, physicians, signal-officers, judge-advocates; also, the non-commissioned assistants of the above officers.

=Etoiles= (_Fr._). Small redoubts which are constructed by means of angles rentrant and angles sortant, and have from 5 to 8 salient points. This species of fortification has fallen into disuse, and are superseded by square redoubts, which are sooner built and are applicable to the same purpose of defense.

=Etoupille= (_Fr._). An inflammable match, composed of three threads of very fine cotton, which is well steeped in brandy mixed with the best priming gunpowder.

=Etruria=, or =Tuscia= (hence the modern name _Tuscany_). A province of Italy, whence the Romans, in a great measure, derived their laws, customs, and superstitions. The subjugation of this country forms an important part of early Roman history. A truce between the Romans and Etrurians for forty years was concluded in 351 B.C. The latter and their allies were defeated at the Vadimonian Lake, 310 B.C.; with the Boii their allies, 823 B.C., and totally lost their independence about 265 B.C.

=Eubœa.= The largest island in the Ægean Sea. Two of its cities, Chalcis and Eretria, were very important, till the former was subdued by Athens, 506 B.C., and the latter by the Persians, 490. After the Persian war Eubœa became wholly subject to Athens. It revolted in 445, but was soon subdued by Pericles. After the battle of Chæronea, 338, it became subject to Macedon. It was made independent by the Romans in 194, but was afterwards incorporated in the province of Achaia. It now forms part of the kingdom of Greece.