Part 53

=Ilerda= (now _Lerida_). A town of the Ilergetes, in Hispania Tarraconensis, situated on a height above the river Sicoris (now _Segre_). It was afterwards a Roman colony, but in the time of Ausonius had ceased to be a place of importance. It was here that Africanus and Petreius, the legates of Pompey, were defeated by Cæsar, 49 B.C.

=Illinois.= One of the Central States of the United States, in the valley of the Upper Mississippi, and one of the most fertile in the Union, having scarcely any soil which is uncultivable. It was originally settled by the French, but fell into the hands of the English in 1763, becoming the property of the United States at the Revolution. It was organized as a State December 3, 1818, and during the civil war was a staunch supporter of the Union.

=Illinois Indians.= A confederacy of Indian tribes, mostly of Algonkin stock, who formerly inhabited the State now known by their name. Very few relics of these tribes now exist.

=Illustrious.= Conferring lustre or honor; brilliant; renowned; as, illustrious deeds or titles.

=Illyricum=, or =Illyria=. Is the Roman name of a country whose limits in ancient times varied considerably. It was inhabited by a savage tribe, who were much addicted to piracy and robbery. In 359 B.C. Philip of Macedon conquered the eastern portion of the country, now Albania, and it was incorporated with Macedonia. The Illyrians were brought into a collision with the Romans on account of their piracy, which led to their subjugation about two centuries before the Christian era. They made numerous efforts to shake off the Roman yoke, but were always defeated, and the country became a most important province of the Roman empire, comprising the territory represented in modern times by Croatia, Dalmatia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, nearly all Bosnia, and a part of Albania. On the division of the Roman empire, it shared in the vicissitudes that followed that act. A decree of Napoleon, on October 14, 1809, gave the name of Illyrian provinces to Carniola, Dalmatia, and other countries from the Adriatic Sea to the Save, then belonging to the French empire. At his fall these provinces were united as a kingdom to the Austrian empire, and some alterations were made in its boundaries, especially by the restoration to Hungary of what had formerly belonged to it, and the annexation of the whole of Carinthia.

=Ilmenau.= A town of Saxe-Weimar, on the Ilm, 18 miles west from Weimar. A battle was fought by the united forces of the Russians and Saxons against the Swedes near this town in 1706.

=Imbannered.= Furnished with banners.

=Imbellic.= Not warlike or martial. This term is now obsolete.

=Imbody.= See EMBODY.

=Imbrued=, or =Embrued=. An expression used in heraldry to signify bloody, or dropping with blood. Weapons thus blazoned are drawn with drops of blood falling from them.

=Imeritia.= Formerly an independent Transcaucasian territory, now part of the government of Kutais. Its history as an independent dominion commenced from about the beginning of the 15th century, and was long marked by internal dissensions. In 1745, Solomon I. was proclaimed, but his nobles revolting shortly after, and aided by the Turks, dethroned him. Solomon applied for help to Russia, and in 1769, Count Todtlen, at the head of a Russian force, entered Emeritia, restored the king, and drove back the Turks. The civil dissensions of this province, however, continued, and at last, in 1810, after having long acknowledged allegiance to Russia, it was formally incorporated in, and proclaimed a province of that empire.

=Immailed.= Wearing mail or armor; clad in armor. This term is now obsolete.

=Immartial.= Not martial; not warlike. This term is now obsolete.

=Immortals.= In antiquity, the name of a body of 10,000 troops, constituting the guard of the king of Persia; so called because they were always of the same number; for as soon as any of them died, the vacancy was immediately filled up. They were distinguished from all the other troops by the richness of their armor, and still more by their bravery. The same term was applied to the life-guards of the Roman emperors.

=Imola.= A fortified town of Ravenna, a province of Italy, on a small island in the river Santerno; it is defended by a strong castle. This town was founded by the Lombards on the ruins of Forum Cornelii, destroyed by Justinian, and was afterwards successively held by different chiefs who ruled in Central Italy. Julius II. annexed it to the States of the Church, but it was delivered from the papal yoke when Ravenna declared for annexation to Sardinia in 1859.

=Impact.= In gunnery, the single instantaneous blow or stroke of a body in motion against another either in motion or at rest.

=Impale.= In heraldry, to arrange two coats of arms side by side in one shield divided per pale. It is usual thus to exhibit the conjoined coats of husband and wife, the husband’s arms occupying the dexter, or right side, and the wife’s the sinister, or left side, of the escutcheon.

=Impedimenta.= The accompaniments to an army received from the Romans the name of impedimenta. They consist in transportation of munitions, equipments, provisions, hospital supplies, tents, engineering tools, bridge equipage, and boats, baggage, cooking utensils, etc., necessary for the use of an army moving against an enemy. This requires the use of large numbers of wagons and of draught animals, or shipping, and necessarily impedes the movement of an army. See BAGGAGE.

=Impenetrable.= Incapable of being penetrated or pierced, not admitting the passage of other bodies, not to be entered; as, an impenetrable shield.

=Imperator.= An old Roman title signifying commander, which was applied to the rulers of provinces, consuls, pro-consuls, etc., or to anybody who had an _imperium_ assigned him. After a victory the Roman soldiers frequently saluted their commander by this title.

=Imperial Guards.= See GUARDS, IMPERIAL.

=Imperialists.= This word was chiefly applied to the subjects of, or forces employed by the house of Austria, when opposed to the troops of other German powers.

=Imperil.= To bring into peril, to endanger.

=Impetuous.= Rushing with force and violence, moving with impetus, furious, forcible; as, the troops went pouring forward with impetuous speed.

=Impetus.= In gunnery, the altitude through which a heavy body must fall to acquire a velocity equal to that with which a ball is discharged from a piece.

=Implement.= Whatever may supply a want, especially an instrument or utensil as supplying a requisite to an end; as, the implements of war.

=Implements, Equipments, and Machines.= In artillery, the two former are employed in loading, pointing, and firing cannon, and in the mechanical manœuvres of artillery carriages, the latter to mount and dismount cannon from their carriages, and to transport artillery material from one part of a work to another. The implements for loading cannon are, (1) The _rammer-head_, a short cylindrical piece of beech or other tough wood, fixed to the end of a long stick of ash, called a _staff_, employed to push the charge to its place in the bore or chamber of a cannon. (2) The _sponge_, a _woolen_ brush attached to the end of a staff, for the purpose of cleaning the interior of cannon and extinguishing any burning fragments of the cartridge that may remain after firing. In the field and mountain services, the rammer-head and sponge are attached to the opposite ends of the same shaft; in the siege and sea-coast services, they are attached to separate staves, except for howitzers, in which they are combined. (3) The _ladle_, a copper scoop attached to the end of a staff for the purpose of withdrawing the projectile of a loaded piece. (4) The _worm_, a species of double cork-screw attached to a staff, used in field and siege cannon to withdraw a cartridge. (5) The _gunner’s haversack_ (which see). (6) The _pass-box_, a wooden box closed with a lid and carried by a handle attached to one end. In siege and sea-coast service, where the cartridge is large, it takes the place of the haversack. (7) The _tube-pouch_ or _primer-pouch_, a small leather pouch attached to the cannoneer by a waistbelt. It contains the friction-tubes, lanyard, priming-wire, thumb-stall, etc. (8) The _budge-barrel_ (which see). (9) The _priming-wire_, used to pick a hole in a cartridge for the passage of the flame from the vent. (10) The _thumb-stall_, a buckskin cushion attached to the thumb or finger to close the vent in sponging and loading. (11) The _fuze-setter_, a brass drift for driving a wooden fuze into a shell. (12) The _fuze-mallet_, made of hard wood, and used in connection with the setter. (13) The _fuze-saw_, a 10-inch tenon saw for cutting wooden or paper fuzes to the required length. (14) The _fuze-gimlet_, sometimes employed in place of the saw to open a communication with the fuze composition. (15) The _fuze-auger_, an instrument for regulating the time of burning of a fuze by removing a certain portion of the composition from the exterior. For this purpose it has a movable graduated scale, which regulates the depth to which the auger should penetrate. (16) The _fuze-rasp_, a coarse file employed in fitting a fuze-plug to a shell. (17) The _fuze-plug reamer_, used to enlarge the cavity of a fuze-plug after it has been driven into a projectile, to enable it to receive a paper fuze. (18) The _shell-plug screw_, a wood screw with a handle, used to extract a plug from a fuze-hole. (19) The _fuze-extractor_, worked by a screw, and is a more powerful instrument than the preceding; it is used for extracting wooden fuzes from loaded shells. (20) The _fuze-wrench_, made in the form of a cross or T-shaped, to unscrew percussion fuzes. (21) The _mortar-scraper_, a slender piece of iron with a spoon at one end and a scraper at the other, for cleaning the chamber of a mortar. (22) The _gunner’s sleeves_, made of flannel or serge; they are drawn over the coat-sleeves of the gunner to prevent them from being soiled while loading a mortar. (23) The _funnel_, made of copper, and used in pouring the bursting charge into a shell. (24) The _powder-measures_, made of copper, of cylindrical form, and of various sizes, for the purpose of determining the charges of shells and cannon by measurement. (25) The _lanyard_, a cord, one end of which has a small iron hook, and the other a wooden handle. It is used to explode the friction-tubes with which cannon for the land service are now fired. (26) The _gunner’s gimlet_ and _vent-punch_, used in boring out the vent when it becomes foul. (27) _Gunner’s pincers_ (which see). (28) The _shell-hooks_, an instrument made to fasten into the ears of a shell, for the purpose of lifting it to the muzzle of the piece. (29) The _tow-hook_, in field service, used in unpacking ammunition and taking projectiles from the chest. The implements for pointing are: the _gunner’s level_, _gunner’s quadrant_, the _breech-sight_, the _pendulum-hausse_, and _elevating arc_. (See appropriate headings.) The _tangent-scale_, a brass plate, the lower edge of which is cut to the curve of the base-ring of the piece, and the upper formed into offsets which correspond to differences of elevation of a quarter of a degree. It is used in pointing by placing the curved edge on the base-ring, with the radius of the offset corresponding with the highest point of the ring, and sighting over the centre of the offset, and the highest point of the swell of the muzzle. The principal manœuvring implements are: the _trail handspike_, the _manœuvring handspike_, the _shod handspike_, the _truck handspike_, the _roller handspike_ (see HANDSPIKE); the _prolonge_, a stout rope used to connect the lunette of the carriage and pintle-hook of the limber to move the piece short distances without limber; the _sponge-bucket_, made of sheet-iron, for washing the bore of the piece; the _tar-bucket_, also made of sheet-iron, for carrying grease for the wheels; the _watering bucket_, made of sole-leather, for watering the horses; the _water-buckets_, made of wood and bound with iron hoops. These are of two kinds,--one for the traveling-forge, and the other for the service of garrison batteries. The _drag-rope_, used when necessary to employ a number of men in hauling loads, or extricating a carriage from a difficult part of the road. It has a hook at one end, a loop at the other, and six wooden handles placed about 4 feet apart. The _men’s harness_, similar to the drag-rope, except that the rope is stouter, and the handles are replaced by leather loops which pass over the shoulders of the men, to enable them to exert their strength to advantage. The _bill-hook_, or hand-bill, used for cutting twigs. The _screw-jack_, a lifting-machine composed of a screw worked by a _movable nut_ supported on a _cast-iron stand_. It is used in greasing carriage-wheels. Artillery machines comprise the _gin_ (see GIN), the _sling-cart_ (see HAND-SLING-CART), the _casemate truck_, the _hand-cart_ (see HAND-CART), the _lifting-jack_, and the _lever-jack_. The casemate truck is composed of a stout frame of wood mounted on three barbette traverse-wheels, and is employed to move cannon and carriages through posterns and along casemate galleries. The lifting-jack is a small but powerful screw, worked by a geared nut. It is useful when the space for manœuvring is small, and the number of men limited. If the weight to be raised is sufficiently high, the lifting power is applied at the top; if it be low, it is applied at the foot. The lever-jack is another but less powerful apparatus for lifting. It consists of a _lever_ of wood resting on a _bolt_, which passes through holes in two _uprights_. The height of the bolt is varied by passing it through different holes in the uprights (eight in number), and the power of the lever is regulated by a notched piece of cast iron screwed to the under side of the lever.

=Implements, Re-loading.= See RE-LOADING IMPLEMENTS.

=Impregnable.= Not to be stormed, or taken by assault; incapable of being reduced by force; able successfully to resist attack; as, an impregnable fortress.

=Impregnably.= In an impregnable manner; in a manner to defy force; as, a place impregnably fortified.

=Impress.= To compel any person to serve.

=Impression.= The effect of an attack upon any place or body of soldiers.

=Imprisonment.= Officers may be sentenced to imprisonment by a general court-martial in any case where the court may have discretionary authority. General, garrison, and regimental courts-martial may sentence soldiers to imprisonment, solitary or otherwise, with or without hard labor, for various offenses enumerated in the Articles of War. A garrison or regimental court-martial, in awarding imprisonment, is limited to a period not exceeding thirty days. When a court awards solitary imprisonment as a punishment, it is necessary that the words “solitary confinement” should be expressed in the sentence. The legal imprisonment in the United States is confinement, solitary confinement, and confinement on bread and water; confinement on bread and water shall not extend over fourteen days at a time, with intervals between the periods of such confinement not less than such periods, and not exceeding eighty-four days in any one year.

=Impulse.= The act of impelling, or driving onward with sudden force; impulsion; the action of a force so as to produce motion suddenly, or without appreciable loss of time. Also sudden motion exciting to action; hasty inclination; influence acting unexpectedly, or with momentary force; impression; instigation; as, the troops moved forward with one impulse.

=In Battery.= The position of field-guns when unlimbered and prepared for action. Also applied to heavy guns when in the firing position; also the command for the movement in both cases. Heavy guns are “from battery” when in the loading position.

=In Gear.= A command in the service of heavy guns, to cause the eccentrics of the truck-wheels to be thrown in gear. Also refers to the position of the eccentrics when the command is executed.

=In Line.= Refers to the formation of troops when posted, or marching, with extended front.

=Inaccessible.= A general term for any distance or height which cannot be approached for any military purposes.

=Inactive.= Not disposed to action or effort; not diligent or industrious; not busy; idle; as, an inactive officer.

=Inca.= A king or prince of Peru, before the conquest of that country by the Spaniards.

=Incapable.= A term of disgrace, frequently annexed to military sentences, when an officer has been cashiered by the sentence of a general court-martial, and rendered incapable of ever serving his country in either a civil or military capacity.

=Incendiary Compositions.= Used to set fire to buildings, shipping, etc., have been known and used from the earliest times. Greek fire (which see) was extensively used in the 7th century. Among modern incendiary compositions are _fire stone_, sometimes called _rock fire_, and _Valenciennes composition_ (which see).

=Incendiary Shells.= Are shells containing incendiary compositions. See CARCASS for modern example.

=Incensed=, or =Animé=. An epithet applied in heraldry to panthers or other wild beasts borne with flames issuing from their mouth and ears.

=Incidence, Angle of.= In projectiles, the angle which the line of direction of the projectile makes with the surface of the obstacle on which it impinges.

=Inclination.= In gunnery, the inclination of a plane is the angle it makes with the horizon either above or below.

=Inclination of the Grooves.= In a rifle is the angle which the tangent to the groove at any point makes with the element of the bore passing through the point. The tangent of the angle, which may be taken as a measure of the inclination, is equal to the circumference of the bore divided by the length of bore corresponding to one revolution of the spiral. See TWIST.

=Incline.= To gain ground to the flank, as well as to the front. Inclining is of great use in the marching of the line in front, to correct any irregularities that may happen. It is equivalent to the quarter facing and to the oblique marching of the infantry. It enables you to gain the enemy’s flank without exposing your own, or without wheeling or altering the parallel front of the company.

=Inclose.= To surround; to shut in; to confine on all sides; to include; to shut up; to encompass; as, to inclose a fort or an army with troops; to inclose a town with walls.

=Incommoder l’Ennemi= (_Fr._). To get possession of a fort, eminence, etc., from which the enemy may be harassed, or which is necessary to his security.

=Incompetent.= Incapable; unfit; unequal. No officer, be his situation what it may, can be said to be competent to command who is not only willing and able to follow orders himself, but will likewise see them strictly adhered to by others; whose mind is not superior to partialities, and whose judgment is not equal to discern real merit from ignorant assumption.

=Incorporate, To.= To add a smaller body of forces to a larger, and to mix them together. Independent companies are said to be incorporated, when they are distributed among different regiments; regiments among brigades, etc.

=Incorporation.= In the manufacture of gunpowder, is the thorough mixing of the three ingredients--nitre, sulphur, and charcoal,--a very important operation. The process should be so complete that the smallest particle of the gunpowder should contain each ingredient in proper proportion.

=Increasing Twist.= A term applied to rifle grooves, the inclination of which increases from the breech to the muzzle. In many guns the grooves begin at the front of the chamber, without inclination.

=Incursion.= Invasion without conquest; inroad; ravage.

=Indefensible.= Not defensible; not capable of being defended or maintained; as, a military post may be indefensible.

=Indefensive.= Having no defense.

=Indella.= A body of Swedish yeomen furnished by certain proprietors of lands, after the manner of the old Norman feudal system.

=Indemnification.= A regulated allowance for losses sustained by officers or soldiers on actual service.

=Indemnity.= Indemnification, compensation, or remuneration for loss, damage, or injury sustained.

=Indent, To.= A word particularly made use of in India for the dispatch of military business. It is of the same import and meaning as _to draw upon_. It likewise means an order for military stores, arms, etc.; as, an indent for new supplies, etc.

=Indented.= In heraldry, one of the partition lines of the shield, similarly notched to dancetté, but with notches much smaller, and not limited in number.

=Indented Line.= In fortification, is a serrated line, forming several angles, so that one side defends another. The faces are longer than the flanks. Indented lines are used on the banks of rivers, where they enter a town. The parapet of the covered way is also often indented.

=Independence, Declaration of.= The solemn declaration of the Congress of the United States of America, on July 4, 1776, by which they formally renounced their subjection to the government of Great Britain.

=Independent.= In a military sense, is a term which distinguishes from the rest of the army those companies which have been raised by individuals for rank, and were afterwards drafted into corps that were short of their complement of men. _Independent company or troop_, is one that is not incorporated into any regiment.

=India=, or =Hindostan=. An extensive region of Southern Asia, celebrated during many ages for its riches and natural productions. The Hindoo histories ascribe the origin of the people to a period ages before the ordinary chronologies. A race of kings is mentioned as reigning 2300 B.C. Several ancient nations, particularly the Tyrians and Egyptians, carried on commerce with India. It was partially conquered by Darius Hystaspes, who formed an Indian satrapy, 512 B.C., and by Alexander, 327 B.C. The authentic history of Hindostan commences with the conquests of Mahmoud Ghuzni, 1004. For further history of India, see BENGAL, CALCUTTA, MADRAS, etc.

=Indian File.= Single file; arrangement of persons in a row following one after another; the usual way among Indians of traversing woods, etc.

=Indian Fortification.= The entrance into an East Indian fortification is through a large and complicated pile of buildings, projecting in the form of a parallelogram from the main rampart; and, if the city has two walls, it projects beyond them both. This building consists of several continued terraces, which are of the same height as the main rampart, and communicate with it; the inward walls of these terraces form the sides of an intricate passage, about 20 feet broad, which leads by various short turnings, at right angles, through the whole pile to the principal gate that stands in the main rampart. This is the general outline of the old Indian fortifications.