Part 69
=Marches, Combined.= When the movements of the divisions or corps are made independent of each other, but having the same object in common, they are known as combined marches. They are arranged with the intention of having the several columns arrive at a given position but coming from different directions.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Marches, Flank.= Are marches made parallel or obliquely to the enemy’s position. They are used when it is desired to turn the enemy’s position or attack him on the flank.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Marches, Manœuvre.= Marches are sometimes made by which an army gains a position, the possession of which compels the enemy to leave the position he is occupying. If these marches are under the observation of the enemy, they are termed “manœuvres”; but if made out of his sight, they are called _manœuvre marches_.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Marches of Concentration.= The marches which are made by several bodies of troops, starting from points separated from each other, for the purpose of bringing these troops together at some stated place, are termed _marches of concentration_. Forced marches are much used in concentrating troops, especially before a battle. Many examples are given in military history.
Friant’s division of Davoust’s corps marched over 80 miles in forty-eight hours in 1805, to join Napoleon in the battle of Austerlitz. Craufurd’s brigade marched, so Napier says, 62 miles in twenty-six hours, to join Wellington at Talavera, in 1809. Napoleon marched an army to the relief of Dresden, in 1813, by forced marches of over 30 miles a day for three consecutive days. The marches of the different corps of the Army of the Potomac on the 30th of June and the 1st of July, 1863, by means of which the army was concentrated at Gettysburg, are good examples of _marches of concentration_. The 6th Corps under Gen. Sedgwick made on this occasion a march over 30 miles.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Marches, Route.= Route marches are used by troops both during war and in peace. They are used in peace to conduct a body of troops from one station or post to another. They are used in war for the purpose of assembling the fractions of an army on its base of operations; of conducting troops through a district or country where there is no enemy, etc.
There are three kinds of _route marches_, according to the manner in which they are made, viz.: _ordinary_, _forced_, and _marches by rail_.
_Ordinary route marches_ are those made along ordinary roads and where the length of the march in any one day is not greater than 20 miles. Twenty miles is a long march, especially if the body of troops is large, and this distance is taken as the limit for an ordinary march. If the distance marched in any one day is greater than 20 miles, the march is _forced_.
_Forced marches_ are extremely exhausting upon the troops and should not exceed 30 miles per day, although greater distances have been overcome by good troops. The number of forced marches made in succession must be few, only two or three, even for the best of troops. They are used but rarely in time of peace, and then only under pressing circumstances. They are much used in war, when a rapid concentration of troops is to be made; when a strategical combination is to be effected, etc.
_Route marches by rail_ are employed both in peace and war. This kind of march includes all those in which the troops do not actually march, but are transported bodily to their destination. Railroads have become in recent years the great factor in rapid and cheap means of moving troops, and the term “rail” is therefore applied to this method of conducting troops from one place to another.
This method is of especial service when the time given to the troops to reach their destination is short, and the distance is great. It is especially used in the case of assembling armies and forwarding the reserves and recruits to the theatre of war. The late war in the United States, the war in 1859 in Italy, the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, etc., all furnish examples.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Marches, Strategical.= Marches which made in the theatre of war, near an enemy whose position is not exactly known, having in general for their object the completion of some strategical combination, are designated _strategical marches_. They are used to conduct an army to a position from which an attack can be made on the enemy, or to a position in which the army can remain and receive an attack; in other words, to a position immediately in the presence of the enemy.
_Strategical marches_ are either _ordinary_ or _forced_ marches, and are used principally to mass troops at some stated point on the theatre of operations before the enemy can make arrangements to prevent it or can prepare counter-movements to weaken or nullify the effect of the movement. Secrecy, celerity, and good order are therefore indispensable requisites for success in marches of this kind.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Marches, Tactical.= Marches made in the immediate vicinity of the enemy, and so near that they may be observed by him, are called _tactical marches_. Since these marches are made very near the enemy, greater precautions are required to guard against an attack than are necessary in _strategical marches_.
_Tactical marches_ differ from _route_ and _strategical_ marches in one material particular, and that is in the number and sizes of the wagon-trains accompanying the troops on the march. Both in _route_ and _strategical_ marches the troops are cumbered with long and unwieldy wagon-trains carrying the baggage and supplies of the army, whereas in a _tactical_ march there are none, or the trains are reduced to a minimum. Since the enemy may attack the moving columns at any minute, everything is sacrificed to the important one of being ready to fight at a minute’s notice, and the army carries with it only supplies enough for two or three days, and little or no baggage. Everything not essential for feeding the troops and not necessary for fighting is therefore left behind the army while it is making a _tactical march_.--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._
=Marchfeld.= In Austria, where Ottocar II. of Bohemia was defeated and slain by his rival, the emperor Rodolph of Hapsburg, August 26, 1278.
=Marching.= One of the first necessities to distinguish a body of disciplined troops from a mere crowd of men is a regular cadenced step, taken by every individual at the same time, and with the same foot. When troops are to march a long distance the _route_ step is employed, the men keeping the same distance and their places in the ranks as when marching on drills, parades, reviews, musters, etc., where the cadenced step in common, quick, or double time is employed. In the U. S. service the length of the step in common and quick time is 28 inches, and the cadence is at the rate of 90 steps per minute for common time and 110 for quick time; in double time the length of the step is 33 inches and the cadence at the rate of 165 steps per minute, but it may be increased to 180. In the feudal ages, when infantry fell into disrepute, cadenced marching was unattended to, and seems only to have been thoroughly revived by Marshal Saxe.
=Marching Money.= The additional pay which officers and soldiers receive for the purpose of covering the expense necessarily incurred when marching from one place to another.
=Marching Order.= In the British service a soldier is said to be in marching order when he is fully equipped with arms, ammunition, and a portion of his kit, which weighs from 30 to 35 pounds. In _service marching_ order, by the addition of provisions and some campaigning necessaries, he carries nearly 50 pounds. But _heavy marching order_, which was yet heavier, is now happily abolished. See HEAVY MARCHING ORDER, and LIGHT MARCHING ORDER.
=Marching Orders.= The orders issued preparatory to troops marching; and in the British service signifies six days’ journey at least.
=Marching Regiments.= A term given in England to those who had not any permanent quarters, but were liable to be sent not only from one end of Great Britain to another, but to the most distant of her possessions abroad. Although the word _marching_ is insensibly confounded with those of _line_ and _regulars_, it was originally meant to convey something more than a mere liability to be ordered upon any service; for by marching the regular troops from one town to another, the inhabitants, who from time immemorial have been jealous of a standing army, lost their antipathy to real soldiers, by the occasional absence of regular troops. At present the English guards, infantry, etc., may be considered more or less as marching regiments. The marines and volunteers have stationary quarters.
=Marcomanni.= A powerful confederacy of ancient Germans, who were resident, as their name imports, on the borders. They are first mentioned in history by Cæsar, and seem at that time to have dwelt upon the banks of the Rhine. From Tacitus and several others we learn that they soon afterwards moved westward, under their king Maroboduus, drove the Boii out of Bohemia, and settled in that country. After organizing a government, Maroboduus formed a league with the neighboring tribes, for the purpose of defending Germany against the Romans. He was thus enabled to muster 70,000 disciplined soldiers, and to conclude an honorable treaty with the emperor Tiberius in 6 A.D. In 17 he was defeated by the Cherusci, and in two years afterwards he was expelled from his throne by the Goth Catualda, and forced to seek refuge in Italy. The same fate soon afterwards befell his dethroner and successor, and the Marcomanni once more came under the sway of native kings. After this they gradually extended their dominions, until they had reached the Danube, and had provoked the jealousy of the Romans in the time of Domitian. Then began hostilities between the Romans and the Marcomanni, which led to the protracted struggle of the Marcomannic war, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, but was finally quelled by the peace of Commodus, in 180. Favored, however, by the feeble rule of Commodus, they continued their predatory inroads into the Roman provinces of Noricum and Rhætia, and ventured sometimes as far as the defiles of the Alps. In 270, in the reign of Aurelian, they pushed forward into Italy, and penetrated even to Ancona, spreading consternation around them. After this period they disappear gradually, and are mentioned for the last time among the hordes of Attila.
=Marcouf, St.= Two small islands of France, in the department Manche, and which protect the roadstead off Cape La Hogue. They were taken by the British in 1795, but restored to France at the peace of Amiens.
=Maréchal= (_Fr._). Major-general.
=Maréchal de Bataille= (_Fr._). A military rank which once existed in France, but was suppressed before the revolution, or rather confined to the body-guards. An officer belonging to that corps received it as an honorary title. Its original functions, etc., with respect to general service, sunk in the appointments of _maréchal de camp_ and major-general. It was first created by Louis XIII. _Maréchal-général des logis de la cavalerie_, this appointment took place under Charles IX. in 1594. He had the chief direction of everything which related to the French cavalry. _Maréchal des logis pour les vivres_, a person belonging to the quartermaster-general’s department was so called in the old French service.
=Maréchal de Camp= (_Fr._). A military rank which existed during the French monarchy. The person invested with it was a general officer, and ranked next to a lieutenant-general. It was his duty to see the army properly disposed of in camp or quarters, to be present at all the movements that were made; to be the first to mount his charger, and the last to quit him. He commanded the left in all attacks. The appointment under this distinction was first created by Henry IV. in 1598.
=Maréchal-Général des Camps et Armées du Roi= (_Fr._). A post of high dignity and trust, which during the French monarchy was annexed to the rank of _maréchal de France_. Military writers differ with respect to the privileges, etc., which belonged to this appointment; it is, however, generally acknowledged that the general officer who held it was intrusted with the whole management of a siege, being subordinate only to the constable, or to any other _maréchal de France_, who was his senior in appointment.
=Maréchal-Général des Logis de l’Armée= (_Fr._). This appointment, which existed during the old French government, and has since been replaced by the _chef de l’état-major_, corresponds with that of quartermaster-general in the British service.
=Maréchaussées de France= (_Fr._). A species of military police which formerly existed in France. During the French monarchy there were 31 companies of _maréchaussées à cheval_, or mounted policemen. These companies first formed for the purpose of preserving public tranquillity, and were distributed in the different provinces of the kingdom. This useful body of men was first formed under Philip I. in 1060; they were afterwards suppressed, and again re-established in 1720, as constituting a part of the gendarmerie of France. There were other companies of _maréchaussées_, who were particularly distinguished from the 31 above mentioned; such, for instance, as that of the constables, called the gendarmerie.
=Marengo.= A village of Italy, in Piedmont, near the Bormida, 2 miles southeast from Alessandria. Here the French army, commanded by Bonaparte, attacked the Austrians, June 14, 1800; his army was retreating, when the arrival of Gen. Dessaix turned the fortunes of the day. The slaughter on both sides was dreadful. By this victory Bonaparte gained 12 strong fortresses, and became master of Italy.
=Margarita.= An island in the Caribbean Sea lies off the coast of Venezuela, of which republic it forms a province. This island was first visited by Columbus in 1498, and has in more recent times (1816) been the scene of a bloody warfare between the revolutionists and the Spanish troops under Gen. Murillo, in which the latter were defeated.
=Margrave.= A German nobleman corresponding in rank to the English marquis. _Margravine_ is the wife of a margrave.
=Margum=, or =Margus=. A fortified place in Mœsia Superior, west of Viminacium, situated on the river Margus (now _Morava_), at its confluence with the Danube. Here Diocletian gained a decisive victory over Carinus.
=Maricopa Indians.= A tribe of aborigines, numbering about 400, who are located with the Pimas on a reservation on the Gila River, Arizona, about 180 miles above its mouth. They are peaceable, and follow agricultural pursuits.
=Marienbourg.= A fortified town of Belgium, situated in the province of Namur. This place was occupied by the French from 1659 till 1815.
=Marignano= (now _Malegnano_). A village of Northern Italy, near Milan. Three battles have been fought near here: (1) Francis I. of France defeated the Duke of Milan and the Swiss, September 13-14, 1515; above 20,000 men were slain; this conflict has been called the “battle of the giants.” (2) Near here was fought the battle of Pavia. (See PAVIA.) (3) After the battle of Magenta, June 4, 1859, the Austrians intrenched themselves at Malegnano. Marshal Baraguay d’Hilliers with 16,000 men was sent to dislodge them, which he did, on June 8, with a loss of about 850 killed and wounded. The Austrians suffered severely.
=Marine.= A soldier serving on ship-board; a sea-soldier; one of a body of troops trained to do duty on vessels of war.
=Marine Fortification.= This kind of fortification differs from land fortification in that the approaches of the enemy which are to be resisted take place on the level of the sea, so that he can come near without having to overcome the dangerous slope of the glacis. The combat is simply one between two powerful batteries, and the question to be decided is, whether the ship or the fort will first be placed _hors de combat_; the ship having ordinarily the largest number of guns, while the fort has more solid battlements, and its fewer guns of great caliber can be fired with a steadiness unattainable on so shifting a base as the ocean. Under these circumstances, the less relief a sea-fortress has the better, the less likely is it to be hit from shipping. Its walls are usually built perpendicular, or nearly so. The magazines and quarters for the men are bomb-proof, as also are the casemates, from which the guns are usually fired, although sometimes, as in the martello tower, the gun is worked on top of the structure. Sea fortifications may be of various importance, the simplest being the battery consisting of a mere parapet formed in a cliff or on a hill, and mounted with guns to command the sea; these are generally built in such concealed situations, that it is hoped the hostile ship will not perceive them until they actually open fire. These are numerous all around the British coast. Next greater in importance is the martello tower (which see). More powerful still are the breach-forts, such as those which on either shore defend the entrance to Portsmouth harbor, England. These are constructed of the most solid masonry, and armed with guns of the heaviest caliber, sweeping the very surface of the sea so as to strike an approaching ship between wind and water. The guns are usually in bomb-proof casemates, and the fort is often defended on the land side, if the coast be level; if, however, higher ground be behind, this would be useless, and then the sea-front alone is defensible. Most terrible of all sea-forts, however, are the completely isolated forts with perpendicular faces and two and three tiers of heavy guns. Such are the tremendous batteries which render Cronstadt almost unapproachable, and by which Spithead and Plymouth Sound, England, are now being fortified. These forts are generally large, with all the requisites for a garrison to maintain itself; against them wooden ships stand no chance, and in the American civil war, Fort Sumter, at Charleston, has shown itself no mean antagonist for ironsides. In the new forts, as Spithead, etc., iron is to be employed as the facing, in plates of such vast thickness and weight that it is supposed no ship can ever possess any comparable power; and as they are to be armed with guns the smallest of which will probably be 300-pounders, it is expected that they will be able to destroy any fleet that could be sent against them. At the present day, the value of sea fortifications is disputed, as iron-plated vessels may pass them with impunity, unless the artillery in the fort be so heavy as to destroy the armor of the ships. In the long run, however, it is apparent that the fort can command the greater power; for its armor may be of any thickness, while that of the ship must be limited by her floating powers, and on the other hand, the limit to the size of artillery must be sooner reached in a ship than in a solid and stationary fortress.
=Marines, Corps of.= In the U. S. service is a body of troops who serve at the different naval stations, and on board ships of war. The men are drilled in all respects as infantry, and therefore, when on shore, are ordinary land forces. On board ship, their ordinary functions are as sharpshooters in time of action, and at other times to furnish sentries for guarding the stores, gangways, etc.; and they are useful as exercising a good control over the less rigidly disciplined sailors. They are also instructed as guns’ crews, and when not on guard, are subject to the orders of the naval officers in the same manner as the seamen. The corps was first established in the United States in 1775, and was permanently organized by act of Congress in 1798. By this act, marines were made liable to do duty at the call of the President in any of the forts or posts of the United States, and were placed on the footing of infantry soldiers, as far as regards pay and allowances. When detached for duty with the army, marines are subject to the Articles of War; at all other times they are subject to the laws and regulations for the government of the navy. The corps numbers about 2000 men commanded by a colonel. The corps has undergone many changes in respect of numbers, equipment, drill, and methods of recruiting since its organization, and was never in a better state of discipline and efficiency than now. No man is enlisted who is unable to read and write, under 5 feet 6 inches high, or over thirty-five years of age. It is organized into battalions for duty on shore, and into “guards,” or companies, for service afloat, each having its proper complement of officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, and is considered an indispensable auxiliary to the navy. Civilians between twenty and twenty-five years of age are eligible at present to appointment as lieutenants in line of promotion, and are stationed at the head-quarters of the corps in Washington for their preliminary instruction. In the British service, besides the infantry, there is a division of marine artillery. In rank, marine officers correspond with army officers of the same grade, according to seniority; they are usually appointed from civil life.
=Maritime.= Bordering on, or situated near, the ocean; connected with the sea by site, interest, or power.
=Mark.= That toward which a missile is directed; a thing aimed at; what one seeks to hit or reach.
=Mark, St., Knights of.= An order of knighthood which formerly existed in the republic of Venice, under the protection of St. Mark the Evangelist.
=Mark Time.= To mark time is to move each leg alternately in quick or ordinary time, without gaining ground. This is frequently practiced when a front file or column has opened too much, in order to afford the rear an opportunity of getting up; and sometimes to let the head of a column disengage itself, or a body of troops file by, etc.
=Marker.= The soldier who forms the pivot of a wheeling column, or marks the direction of an alignment. Also, the one who records the number of hits and misses made by soldiers at target practice.
=Marks, Inspection.= Are certain marks cut on cannon to show the number of the gun, the name of the founder, name of inspector, weight of the piece, etc. Condemned shot are also marked. See INSPECTION OF PROJECTILES.
=Marksman.= One who is skillful to hit a mark; one who shoots well.
=Marksmanship.= The skill of a marksman.
=Marlins.= Are tarred white skeins or long wreaths or lines of untwisted hemp, dipped in pitch or tar, with which cables and other ropes are wrapped round, to prevent their fretting and rubbing in the blocks or pulleys through which they pass. The same serves in artillery upon ropes used for rigging gins, usually put up in small parcels called skeins.