Part 64

=Limoges.= A town of France, in the department of the Upper Vienne, on the Vienne. It was besieged and taken by the English in 1370.

=Limonite.= An iron ore (which see).

=Lincelles.= In Northern France, where the allied English and Dutch armies defeated the French, August 18, 1793.

=Linch-pin.= A pin through the end of an axle-arm of an artillery carriage to keep the wheel on. A hook attached to the head of the pin and embracing the axle-arm prevents the pin from being jolted out.

=Linch-pin Washer.= A ring against which the linch pin rubs.

=Lincoln= (anc. _Lindum Colonia_). A city of England, the capital of Lincolnshire, on the Witham. It was at the period of the Conquest rich and populous. It was taken several times by Saxons and Danes. Without Newport-gate, upon Lincoln plain, was fought the battle between the partisans of the empress Maud, commanded by the Earl of Gloucester, and the army of Stephen, in which the king was defeated and taken prisoner, February 2, 1141. Lincoln was the scene of important operations during the civil wars in the reign of King John; and here the party of the Dauphin was completely overthrown by the Earl of Pembroke during the minority of Henry III. During the great civil war the royalists obtained possession of the city, but it was stormed by the Parliamentary army under the Earl of Manchester, May 5, 1644.

=Linden-tree.= The wood used in artificial fireworks, etc.

=Lindisfarne.= See HOLY ISLAND.

=Line.= Various opinions have been given as to what portion of the military establishment should constitute the _line_ of the army, and in the absence of legislation, which should settle the question, it will continue to be a subject of controversy, and some difficulty has arisen from the vague and uncertain meaning of the words “line of the army,” which neither in the English service nor in the United States have a well-defined meaning. The opinion that the words are intended to distinguish the regular army from the militia, or discriminate between officers by brevet and those by ordinary commissions, as understood by some, would seem to be erroneous. Though the words “line of the army” may sometimes be used in a different sense, the opinion prevails that in the 122d Article of War they are used to designate those officers of the army who do not belong to the staff, in contradistinction to those who do. It is now generally conceded that the law contemplates that the fighting portion of the army; as cavalry, artillery, infantry, and engineers, or that part of the service organized or subdivided into units for command, as well as the commanders thereof, constitutes the “line of the army.” The four arms of the service above mentioned form the principal part of a mobilized army, and as they are always formed into a line of battle to resist the attack of an enemy, or to make an attack, they are generally known as the “line of the army,” or “troops of the line,” to distinguish them from other bodies of men who form parts of an army.

=Line.= In the British service, the regular infantry of an army, as distinguished from militia, volunteer corps, artillery, cavalry, etc.

=Line.= In tactics, a body of men in either one or two ranks; generally a body of troops drawn up with an extended front. _To line_, is to place troops in line (see ALIGN); thus, _to line_ hedges or walls, is to place troops behind them. _To form the line_, in land tactics, is to arrange the troops in order of battle, or battle array. _To break the line_, to change the direction from that of a straight line, in order to obtain a cross-fire, and for other purposes. _To line a street or road_, is to draw up any number of men on each side of the street or road, and to face them inwards. This is frequently practiced on days of ceremony, when some distinguished person is received with military honors on his way through places where troops are stationed. This is the usage also in funerals, when the corps under arms form a line facing inwards.

=Line.= In fencing, an imaginary line opposite to the fencer, wherein the shoulders, right arm, and the sword should always be found, and wherein are also to be placed the two feet at the distance of 18 inches apart. In which sense a man is said to be in his _line_, or to go out of his line, etc.

=Line.= A cord or rope; as, a picket line, side lines (which see).

=Line, Horizontal.= A line parallel to the plane of the horizon; as, any line in the level surface of a plane.

=Line, Inclined.= Is a line which is oblique to the plane of the horizon.

=Line, Magistral.= See MAGISTRAL LINE.

=Line, Oblique.= A straight line which is neither parallel nor perpendicular to another line; also a line of troops posted or marching obliquely.

=Line of Battle.= The position of troops drawn up in their usual order without any determined manœuvre.

=Line of Counter-approach.= A sort of trench which the besieged make, and push forward from the glacis, for the purpose of counteracting the enemy’s works.

=Line of Defense.= See DEFENSE, LINE OF.

=Line of Demarcation.= A line which is drawn by consent, to ascertain the limits of lands or territories belonging to different powers.

=Line of Direction.= In gunnery, was a line formerly marked upon guns, by a short point upon the muzzle, and a cavity on the base-ring, to direct the eye in pointing the gun.

=Line of Duty.= An officer or soldier disabled while performing properly authorized duty is said to be injured in line of duty, and as such is entitled to the allowances fixed by law.

=Line of Fire.= In gunnery, the axis of the gun produced.

=Line of Fire.= In fortification, this term admits of two distinct acceptations: first, when it is found necessary to give an idea of the manner in which a rampart or an intrenchment covers any space of ground by the discharge of ordnance or musketry, lines must be drawn to express the distances traversed by the shot, etc. These lines are called lines of fire, being representations of the actual ranges; second, all that extent of a rampart or intrenchment from which the projectiles of ordnance or musketry are discharged, is understood to be the line of fire.

=Line of Least Resistance.= The shortest distance from the centre of the charge of a mine to the open air.

=Line of March.= Arrangement for marching. Course or direction taken by an army.

=Line of Metal.= Or natural line of sight, is a line drawn from the highest point of the base-ring or base-line to the highest point of the swell of the muzzle, or to the top of the sight, if there be one. The line of sight nearest to the axis of the piece is the _natural_ line of sight, the others are _artificial_ lines of sight. See ARTIFICIAL LINE OF SIGHT.

=Line of Sight.= See LINE OF METAL and POINTING.

=Line of the Bastion, Capital.= Is a line which bisects the salient angle of a bastion. See CAPITAL.

=Line, Retiring.= A line of troops in orderly retreat.

=Line, Tangent.= A straight line, which meets a curve at one point and touches without cutting it.

=Line, Vertical.= A line which is perpendicular to the horizon. Of this description are all lines that express height or depth.

=Lineal, or Linear.= Pertaining to length; pertaining to the line of an army.

=Lineal Rank.= Is the rank of a line-officer in his arm of the service.

=Linear Promotion.= Is promotion of line-officers according to seniority in the arm of service, as opposed to promotion in the regiment.

=Line-firings.= This term is used when troops fire by line.

=Lines.= A series of field-works, either continuous or at intervals. The former are connected by means of curtains or straight walls. The rule in constructing the other is, that the works shall be within cannon- or musket-shot range of each other, according to their armament.

=Lines, Close and Open.= Formerly when troops were drawn up in order of battle with intervals between the battalions and squadrons, the lines were said to be close and open.

=Lines, Continued.= A continued line of field-works constructed for the defense of a position.

=Lines Cremaillere.= Are composed of alternate short and long faces at right angles to each other.

=Lines, Full or Close.= Are lines of men drawn up without leaving intervals between them.

=Lines, Inside.= Are a kind of ditches towards the place, to prevent sallies, etc.

=Lines of Bastion.= As the name indicates, are formed of a succession of bastion-shaped parapets, each consisting of two faces and two flanks, connected by a curtain.

=Lines of Circumvallation.= The defensive works by which a besieging army covers its rear and flanks against a relieving force.

=Lines of Communication.= Are trenches that unite one work to another, so that men may pass between them without being exposed to the enemy’s fire; hence, the whole intrenchment round any place is sometimes called a line of communication, because it leads to all the works.

=Lines of Communication.= This term is applied to all the practicable routes and roads connecting the different parts of an army occupying the theatre of war. Therefore, as the army moves from its base, the lines of operations become lines of communication, and since these “lines of operations” are generally the longest and most important lines of communication, it is to them that the simple term “communications” generally refers. All the routes used by the trains employed in provisioning an army, form a part of the communications. The most important, safest, and most convenient of these routes, all other things being equal, will be the central one, or the one leading from the centre of the army back to its base. This particular route is sometimes designated as the “line of supplies.”--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Lines of Contravallation.= See CONTRAVALLATION.

=Lines of Operations.= The roads or routes by which an army moves from its base towards its objective-point have been designated by the term “lines of operations.” Lines of operations are classified from their number into _single_, _double_, or _multiple_ lines; from their positions with respect to the lines of operations of the enemy into _interior_ or _exterior_ lines; and from their position with respect to each other into _convergent_ or _divergent_ lines. Other classifications are sometimes used descriptive of the nature or other quality of the line.

_Single Line of Operations._--An army moving in a given direction with all its parts united, or with those parts so situated that they can be readily joined when required, is said to use a “single line of operations.” Sometimes this line is called a _simple_ line. A single line of operations does not mean a _single road_, but embraces all the roads or routes taken by the fractions of the army for the purpose of reaching a common point of concentration; the condition being imposed that these roads shall not be so far apart, or have intervening such obstacles, that the different parts of an army will be prevented from uniting at any given time which may be appointed.

_Double and Multiple Lines of Operations._--When there are obstacles intervening between the roads or routes passed over by an army, or the roads are so far apart as to prevent the parts of the army from being readily united, the army is then said to employ “double” or “multiple” lines of operations.

_Interior Lines of Operations._--If these lines are within those employed by the enemy, they are known as “interior” lines.

_Exterior Lines of Operations._--If these lines are outside of the lines employed by the enemy, they are called “exterior” lines.

_Convergent Lines of Operations._--If these lines of operations start from points some distance apart, approach each other, and meet at some point in advance, they are called “convergent.” Sometimes the term “concentric” is employed to designate them.

_Divergent Lines of Operations._--These lines are the reverse of convergent lines, as they continue to separate, or the distance between them to widen, as the army advances. The term “eccentric” is also applied to them.

_Accidental Lines of Operations._--Lines of operations are sometimes employed different from those proposed in the original plan of campaign. To these lines the term “accidental” is applied. It does not follow that their adoption is a matter of accident, as might be inferred from their name. They are frequently the result of a change in the original plan, which probable change was foreseen and provided for.

_Temporary Lines of Operations._--Sometimes an army in making a movement employs a line which deviates from that adopted in the general plan of campaign. As soon as the movement is completed the original lines are resumed. Such line adopted for such movement is termed a “temporary line.” The term “manœuvre line” is also applied to it.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Lines of Retreat.= The roads passed over as the army advances are ordinarily the roads taken when the army retires or is driven back. In the latter case they are known as “lines of retreat,” and are “single,” “double,” “diverging,” etc., according to their number and position.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Lines of Tenailles.= Consist of parapets, forming a series of salient and re-entering angles.

=Lines of Torres Vedras.= See TORRES VEDRAS.

=Lines Outside.= Are a kind of ditches towards the field, to hinder relief, etc.

=Lines, Strategical.= The lines followed by an army in making a strategical movement are called “strategical lines.” Temporary lines of operations, or manœuvre lines, therefore, are strategical lines. Lines of operations are important strategical lines. And in general, lines connecting two or more strategical points, which lines can be used by an army, and which allow of easy communication between these points, are “strategical lines.” A base of operations is therefore a strategical line.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Lines with Intervals.= One or more rows of field-works with large intervals between them, through which the offensive may be assumed.

=Linesmen.= In the British service, infantrymen of the regular army are so called.

=Lingerer.= One who pretends to be indisposed, in order to avoid his tour of duty,--a skulker. Hence the term malingerer, or a soldier who avoids duty in a disreputable manner.

=Linlithgow-bridge.= Near Edinburgh, Scotland, near which the forces of the Earl of Angus, who held James V. in their power, defeated the forces of the Earl of Lennox, who, after receiving promise of quarter, was killed by Sir James Hamilton, 1526.

=Linstock.= A short staff of wood, about 3 feet long, having at one end a piece of iron divided into two branches, each of which has a notch to hold a lighted match, and a screw to fasten it there, the other end being shod with iron to stick into the ground.

=Linstock Socket.= A socket attached to the piece in which the linstock was formerly carried.

=Lipan Indians.= A warlike tribe of aborigines residing in Texas and Mexico.

=Lippe=, or =Lippe Detmold=. A small principality of Northwest Germany, the chief part of which is comprised between Prussian Westphalia, Hanover, and the principality Pyrmont. The surface is hilly, partly covered by the Teutoburger Wald, where Arminius exterminated the legions of Varus.

=Lis= (_Fr._). A warlike machine was formerly so called. It consisted of a piece of wood or a stake, about the size of the human body, which was made smaller at the top than at the bottom, and resembled a lily not yet blown. Several of these were tied together with ozier or willow twigs, and were used for the security of a camp. They were not unlike the palisades of the present day.

=Lisaine.= A small river in France, rising in the Vosges Mountains, and flowing west of the fortress of Belfort. On January 15, 16, and 17, 1871, a terrible contest raged here between the French army under Bourbaki and the Germans under Von Werder, the French being finally compelled to retreat. The German loss was about 2000; the French about 6000.

=Lisbon.= The capital of Portugal, situated on the north bank of the Tagus, near its mouth in the Atlantic. In 1807 it was occupied by the French, and was afterwards the scene of important operations between the British and French armies, until the latter were finally driven from Portugal.

=Lisburn.= A town of Ireland, in the county of Antrim, on the Lagan, 8 miles southwest from Belfast. It was founded in 1627, and in 1641 was laid in ashes by the Irish insurgents. It was again burnt in 1707.

=Lisieux.= A town of France, in the department Calvados, situated near the confluence of the Orbec and the Tanque. The Normans pillaged it in the 8th century, and retained it for a considerable time. It has since been frequently besieged and captured, and was last taken by Henri Quatre in 1588.

=Lisle=, or =Lille=. A city of France, formerly the capital of French Flanders, and now of the department of the North. It was founded in 1009 by Baudouin IV., count of Flanders. It fell into the power of Philip the Fair, after a siege of three months in 1297, and was taken again by Guy, count of Flanders, in 1302. The Protestants attempted in vain to surprise it in 1581, and the French besieged it without success in 1645. Wrested from the Spaniards by Louis XIV. in 1667, and retaken by the allies in 1708, after a long and obstinate siege, it was ceded to France by the treaty of Utrecht. The Austrians bombarded it from September 29 till October 6, 1792, but the garrison, admirably supported by the bravery of the inhabitants, compelled them to raise the siege.

=Lissa.= A town of Prussian Poland, near the borders of Silesia. This place was laid in ruins by the Russian army in the campaign of 1707.

=Lissa.= A mountainous island of Austria, in the Gulf of Venice, near the coast of Dalmatia, held by the British from 1810 to 1815. Near here the Italian fleet, commanded by Persano, was defeated with severe loss by the Austrian fleet, commanded by Tegethoff, July 20, 1866.

=List.= A roll or catalogue; as, the army-list, the pay list, etc.

=List.= A line inclosing or forming the extremity of a piece of ground, or field of combat; hence, in the plural (lists), the ground or field inclosed for a race or combat. _To enter the lists_, to accept a challenge, or engage in a contest.

=List.= To engage in the public service by enrolling one’s name, as soldiers; to inclose for combat; as, to list a field.

=Litana Silva= (now _Silva di Luge_). A large forest on the Apennines, in Cisalpine Gaul, southeast of Mutina, in which the Romans were defeated by the Gauls, 216 B.C.

=Litter= (Lat. _lectica_, from _lectus_, “bed”). According to Rees’s Cyclopædia, a kind of vehicle borne upon shafts, anciently esteemed the most easy and genteel way of carriage. It was much in use among the Romans, among whom it was borne by slaves kept for that purpose, as it still continues to be in the East, where it is called a _palanquin_. The invention of litters, according to Cicero, was owing to the kings of Bithynia. In the time of Tiberius they had become very frequent at Rome, as appears from Seneca. Horse-litters were much used in Europe prior to the introduction of coaches. In the military service the litter is a species of hurdle bed, on which the wounded are sometimes carried from the field of battle. What is known as the hand-litter or stretcher is used to carry men from where they fall in battle to field hospitals. The hand-litter or stretcher is generally constructed with canvas about 6¹⁄₂ feet long by 3 feet wide, the sides securely fastened to two hard-wood poles about 8 feet in length; the two cross-pieces should be constructed so that the litter can be rolled up. Small outlying bodies of troops, especially detachments of cavalry, are not always provided with them; for these the hand-litter, made with guns and blankets, has been extemporized; for this purpose the edges of the blanket are rolled over the guns, and tied firmly with twine, and two stout sticks are also tied across at the head and foot, serving as handles for the bearers. This being laid on the ground, the wounded man is placed upon it, with his knapsack under his head. The Indian litter is made by taking two stout saplings, and attaching to them three cross-pieces, about 2¹⁄₂ or 3 feet apart, by cords and notches; the sick or wounded man being placed on his blanket, this frame-work is placed over him, and the blanket knotted to it. By three bent twigs and an additional blanket, a kind of top can be made to this in case of a storm. Several kinds of horse or mule litters for frontier service have been invented, but none seem so well adapted for all purposes as the one invented by Surgeon J. C. Baily, U.S.A. Ambulance litters are so constructed as to be drawn from the ambulance and taken to the wounded man, who is by it conveyed to the vehicle. It is then slid into place on rollers, and steadied by loops and guys.

=Little Fortification.= The first division of the first system of Vauban, and is so called when the exterior side of a fortification does not exceed 350 yards. It is used in the construction of citadels, small forts, horn- and crown-works.

=Living Force.= _Vis viva._ That force of a body in motion which determines the work of which it is capable. Living force is measured by the product of the mass into the square of the velocity.

=Livonia.= A Russian province on the Baltic Sea, first visited by some Bremen merchants about 1158. It has belonged successively to Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and Russia. It was finally ceded to Peter the Great in 1721.

=Liziere.= The berme of a parapet. See BERME.

=Llandeweyer.= In Caermarthenshire, Wales. Here Llewellyn, prince of Wales, having descended into the plains, was surprised, defeated, and slain by the lords-marchers, December 11, 1282. This disaster led to the subjugation of Wales in 1283.

=Llerena.= An ancient town of Spain, in the province of Estremadura, 59 miles north from Seville. Near this place, the English under Combermere defeated the French under Drouet in 1812.

=Load.= The charge of a fire-arm; as, a load of powder.

=Load.= To place a charge in; to charge, as a gun, with powder, or with powder and shot, or ball.

=Load.= A word of command given when men are to charge their guns or rifles.

=Loading.= The process of loading field-shells is as follows: They are set up on their sabots, the charges measured out in the proper powder-measure, and poured in through a copper funnel. The fuze-plugs are then driven in with a mallet, allowing the tops to project about 0.1 inch, care being taken not to split them. The holes in the plugs are then carefully reamed out, and stopped with tow wads, which are pressed in firmly with a round stick.