Part 84
=Officer, Field-.= See FIELD-OFFICER.
=Officer, General.= See GENERAL OFFICER.
=Officer in Waiting.= In the British service, the officer next for duty is so called. He is also mentioned in orders, and ought to be ready for the service specified at a minute’s warning. He must not on this account quit the camp, garrison, or cantonment.
=Officer, Non-commissioned.= See NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICER.
=Officer of the Day.= Is an officer whose immediate duty is to attend to the interior economy of the corps or garrison to which he belongs, or of those with which he may be doing duty. The officer of the day has charge of the guard, prisoners, and police of the garrison, inspects the soldiers’ barracks, messes, hospital, etc.
=Officer of the Guard.= An officer detailed daily for service with the guard. It is his duty, under the officer of the day, to see that the non-commissioned officers and men of his guard are well instructed in all their duties, he inspects the reliefs, visits the sentinels, is responsible for the prisoners and the property used by them and the guard; he is also responsible for good order, alertness, and discipline, and should never quit his guard duty unless properly relieved.
=Officer, To.= To furnish with officers; to appoint officers over.
=Officers.= Commissioned officers are all those officers of a government who receive their commissions from the executive, and are of various grades from the ensign to the marshal, all of which see under their respective headings. See APPOINTING POWER and COMMISSIONS.
=Officers, Marine.= All those who command in that body of troops employed in the sea service.
=Officers, Staff-.= Are all those officers who are not attached to regiments, whose duties extend over the whole, or a large section, such as a brigade or a division; such as the adjutant-general, the quartermaster-general, etc., and their subordinates, together with brigade-majors and aides-de-camp. The regimental staff-officers are those who are not attached to companies; they are the adjutant and quartermaster, in the U. S. service, and in European armies the surgeon, paymaster, adjutant, assistant-surgeon, and quartermaster. See STAFF.
=Officers, Subaltern.= Are all those officers below the grade of captain.
=Officers, Warrant-.= Are those who have no commissions, but only warrants from such boards or persons as are authorized by law to grant them. The only warrant-officers in the British service are master-gunners and schoolmasters. Technically the non-commissioned officers of the U. S. army are not warrant-officers, though they are appointed by warrants.
=Official.= All orders, reports, applications, memorials, etc., which pass through the regular channels of communication, are called official.
=Official Courtesies.= The interchange of official compliments and visits between foreign military or naval officers and the authorities of a military post are international in character. In all cases it is the duty of the commandant of a military post, without regard to his rank, to send a suitable officer to offer civilities and assistance to a vessel of war (foreign or otherwise) recently arrived. After such offer it is the duty of the commanding officer of the vessel to send a suitable officer to acknowledge such civilities, and request that a time be specified for his reception by the commanding officer of the post. The commanding officer of the post, after the usual offer of civilities, is always to receive the first visit without regard to rank. The return visit by the commanding officer of the military post is made the following day, or as soon thereafter as practicable.
When a military commander officially visits a vessel of war he gives notice of his visit to the vessel previously thereto, or sends a suitable officer (or an orderly) to the gangway to announce his presence, if such notice has not been given. He is then received at the gangway by the commander of the vessel, and is accompanied there on leaving by the same officer. The officer who is sent with the customary offer of civilities is met at the gangway of a vessel of war by the officer of the deck; through the latter he is presented to the commander of the vessel, with whom it is his duty to communicate.
When a civil functionary entitled to a salute arrives at a military post, the commanding officer meets or calls upon him as soon as practicable. The commanding officer tenders a review, provided the garrison of the place is not less than four companies of troops. When an officer entitled to a salute visits a post within his own command, the troops are paraded and he receives the honor of a review, unless he directs otherwise. When a salute is to be given an officer junior to another present at a post, the senior will be notified to that effect by the commanding officer. Military or naval officers of whatever rank, arriving at a military post or station, are expected to call upon the commanding officer. Under no circumstances is the flag of a military post _dipped_ by way of salute or compliment.
=Officially.= By the proper officer; by virtue of the proper authority; in pursuance of the special powers vested; as, accounts or reports officially verified or rendered; letters officially communicated; persons officially notified.
=Off-reckonings.= A specific account was so called which existed between the government and colonels of British regiments for the clothing of the men.
=Ogee=, or =Ogive=. In pieces of ordnance, an ornamental molding on guns, mortars, and howitzers.
=Ogival.= The form given the head of oblong projectiles. It was found by Borda that this shape experienced less resistance from the air than any other.
=Ohio.= One of the Western States of the American Confederacy, lying between Lakes Michigan, Erie, and the Ohio River. In 1680, La Salle explored the State, and built a military post on the Ohio, which the French claimed; but in 1763 they relinquished it. The first settlement was made subsequent to the Revolution, a company of New Englanders having settled at Marietta in April, 1788. The early inhabitants were much annoyed by incursions of the Indians, who had successively defeated Gens. Harmar and St. Clair (the latter with great slaughter of his troops, leaving scarcely one-fourth) in 1791 and 1792, but were themselves in turn utterly routed by Gen. Wayne in August, 1794. Ohio was admitted as a State in 1802. In the second war with Great Britain, Ohio suffered greatly from raids by the British and Indians. Fort Sandusky was attacked by Gen. Proctor, with 500 regulars and as many Indians, and was successfully defended by Maj. Croghan, a youth of twenty-one years, with 160 men. But the most important action which occurred was the naval engagement on Lake Erie, fought at Put-in-Bay, September 10, 1813, in which Commodore O. H. Perry defeated a superior British fleet under command of Barclay. Ohio contributed greatly to the cause of the Union in the late civil war; she sent her full quotas of troops to the field, and the women attended to the sick and wounded with untiring zeal. The State was twice invaded by Confederate guerrillas, but suffered no material damage.
=Oillets=, or =Œillets=. Apertures for firing through in the walls of a fort.
=Ojibways.= See CHIPPEWAS.
=Okanagans=, or =Cutsanim=. A semi-civilized tribe of Indians who, to the number of about 300, reside to the east of the Cascade Mountains, in Washington Territory.
=Olcades.= An ancient people in Hispania Tarraconensis, north of Carthago Nova, nearer the sources of the Anas, in a part of the country afterwards inhabited by the Oretani. They are mentioned only in the wars of the Carthaginians with the inhabitants of Spain.
=Oldensworth= (Denmark). A conference was held here in 1713, between Peter the Great and Frederick IV. of Denmark.
=Olifant=, or =Oliphant= (_Fr._). A horn which a paladin or knight sounded in token of defiance, or as a challenge.
=Olinde.= A sort of sword-blade.
=Olivenza.= A fortified town of Spain, in Estremadura, situated on the Guadiana, 16 miles southwest from Badajos. This town was ceded by Portugal to Spain in 1801; and for having arranged this cession, Godoy received his title of “Prince of Peace.” In 1811 it was taken by the French.
=Olmütz.= The chief fortress of Moravia, in the district of the same name, in Austria, 40 miles north-northeast from Brünn. Olmütz was taken by the Swedes during the Thirty Years’ War; but was besieged in vain for seven weeks by Frederick the Great in 1758. Lafayette was confined here in 1794. A conference was held here November 29, 1850, under the czar Nicholas, when the difficulties between Austria and Prussia respecting the affairs of Hesse-Cassel were arranged.
=Olot.= A town of Spain, in the province of Gerona, 85 miles from Barcelona. It figured and suffered much in the war of independence, being a strong point, and passed alternately into the hands of French and Spaniards, until the latter dismantled the fortifications. In the civil war of 1856 and 1857 it was much coveted and frequently attacked by the Carlists, but unsuccessfully.
=Oltenitza.= A fortified village of Turkey in Europe, in Wallachia, situated on the Danube, 2 miles north from Turtukai. A Turkish force having crossed the Danube under Omar Pasha, established themselves at Oltenitza in spite of the vigorous attacks of the Russians, who were repulsed with loss November 2-3, 1853. On November 4, a desperate attempt to dislodge the Turks by Gen. Danneberg with 9000 men, was defeated with great loss.
=Olympic Games.= Were instituted by Hercules A.M. 2856, in honor of Jupiter Olympus, at Olympia, a city of Elis, in Peloponnesus. They were celebrated about every four years, about the summer solstice. The design of them was to accustom the young military men to running, leaping, and every other military exercise.
=Olynthus.= A town of Chalcidice, stood at the head of the Toronaic Gulf, between the headlands of Sithonia and Pallene, about 60 stadia from Potidæa. During the second Persian invasion of Greece, Artabazus, the general of Xerxes, captured the town, slaughtered its Bottiæan inhabitants, and gave it to the Chalcidians. It was subdued in war by Sparta in 382-379 B.C. It resisted Philip of Macedon 350 B.C., by whom it was destroyed in 347.
=Omagh= (Irish, _Oigh magh_, “seat of the chiefs”). An ancient town, capital of the county of Tyrone, in Ireland, 34 miles south from Londonderry. Omagh grew up around an abbey founded in the year 792, but is first heard of as a fortress of Art O’Nial in the end of the 15th century, about which time it was forced to surrender to the English, although its possession long continued to alternate between Irish and English hands. It formed part of James I.’s “Plantation grants,” and was strongly garrisoned by Mountjoy. On its being evacuated by the troops of James II. in 1689, it was partially burned.
=Omaha Indians.= A tribe of aborigines, of Dakota stock, who, to the number of 1000, inhabit a reservation in Nebraska. They are generally peaceful and industrious.
=Omer, St.= A fortified town of France, in the department of Pas-de-Calais, 24 miles southeast from Calais. This place was taken by Louis XIV. in 1677. It suffered severely during the revolution of 1830.
=Omra=, or =Omhra= (plural of _ameer_, a “lord”) Ind. They were persons of considerable consequence in the dominions of the Great Mogul. Some of them had command of 1000 horse, others of 2000, and so on to 20,000; their pay being regulated according to their commands. The governors and great officers of state were generally chosen out of this body.
=On.= A preposition frequently used in military exercise. It precedes the word of command which directs the change or formation of bodies of men upon points that are fixed; as, form on the centre company.
=On the Alert.= In a state of vigilance or activity.
=Onagre= (_Fr._). A warlike machine, which was used by the ancients to throw stones of different sizes. It is mentioned by Vegetius.
=Oneidas.= A tribe of Indians forming one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, who resided in the county and near the lake which bears their name. They were continually at war with the early French settlers in Canada, and took sides with the colonists against the British in the war of the Revolution. For this they suffered severely. Their castle, church, and villages were destroyed by the Tories in 1780, and they were compelled to flee to the white settlements for protection. In 1788 they ceded most of their lands to the State and moved to Canada; subsequently some of the tribe settled in Wisconsin, where they are still comfortably located on a reservation; and a remnant still resides near Rome, Oneida Co., N. Y. They are well advanced in the arts of civilization, and, contrary to the usual fate of Indian tribes, have increased in numbers.
=Onein.= An offensive weapon of mediæval times, consisting of a staff with a hooked iron head.
=Onondagas.= One of the confederate tribes of Indians known as the Five Nations. They resided in the State of New York, in the county which bears their name. They were long the enemies of the Canadian French, with whom, and with the Hurons, they were continually at war. They were allies of the English in the French war, 1756-63, fought against the colonists in the Revolutionary war, and suffered severely in the contest. In 1788 they ceded their lands to the State and moved to Ontario, Canada, where about 400 of them now reside.
=Onset.= A rushing or setting upon; a violent attack; assault; a storming; especially the assault of an army or body of troops upon an enemy or a fort.
=Onsetting.= A rushing upon or assaulting.
=Onslaught.= Attack; onset; aggression; assault. “By storm and onslaught to proceed.”
=Onward.= Toward the point before or in front; forward; as, to move onward.
=Oodeypoor=, or =Mewar=. A Rajpoot state in India. It became tributary to the British government by the treaty of 1818. A corps of Bheels was raised in 1841 at the joint expense of the British and Oodeypoor governments, in order to reduce to subjection the Bheel districts of the country.
=Oojein=, or =Oojain=. A city of India, in the territory of Gwalior, 152 miles southwest from Goonah. It fell into the power of the Mohammedans in 1310. At this time it was the capital of Malwa; and along with this country it afterwards came under the power of the Patans, but was recovered by Akbar in 1561. In the middle of the 18th century it was conquered by the Mahrattas.
=Opatas=, or =Yakis=. An Indian people who reside in the state of Sonora, Mexico. They number about 25,000, and are generally peaceable and industrious.
=Open.= In military movements and dispositions, this term is frequently used in contradistinction to _close_; as, open column, open distance, open order, etc. It also constitutes part of a word of command; as, rear rank take open order. By _open distance in column_ is meant that the intervals are always equal in depth to the extent in front of the different component parts of the column.
=Open Flank.= In fortification, is that part of the flank which is covered by the orillon.
=Opening of Trenches.= Is the first breaking of ground by the besiegers, in order to carry on their approaches towards the place.
=Operations, Lines of.= See LINES OF OPERATIONS.
=Operations, Military.= Consist in the resolute application of preconcerted measures in secrecy, dispatch, regular movements, occasional encampments, and desultory combats or pitched battles.
=Opinion.= In military proceedings that regard the interior government of an army, this word signifies decision, determination, judgment formed upon matters that have been laid before a court-martial or court of inquiry.
=Opinion.= Officers on courts-martial give their opinion by seniority, beginning with the youngest in rank.
=Oporto.= A city of Portugal, in the province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho, about 2 miles from the mouth of the Douro, and 175 miles north from Lisbon. It was attacked by the Moors under Abderrahman in 820. In 1092 certain knights of Gascony, commanded by Don Alfonso Fredrico, captured it from the Moors. It was famous for the strength of its fortifications during the Middle Ages, its walls being 3000 paces in circumference, 30 feet in height, and flanked with towers. From the 17th to the present century, Oporto has been the scene of an unusual number of popular insurrections. In 1808 it was taken by the French. The French, under Marshal Soult, were surprised here by Lord Wellington, and defeated in an action fought May 11, 1809. It was besieged in 1832 and 1833 by Dom Miguel, and successfully defended by Dom Pedro with 7500 men. In this siege, the city suffered severely, and more than 16,000 of the inhabitants were killed. It has since been the scene of civil war. The insurgents entered Oporto January 7, 1847; a Spanish force entered Oporto, and the Junto capitulated, June 26, 1847.
=Oppenheim.= A town of the grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, on the left bank of the Rhine, 10 miles southeast of Mayence. It occupies the site of the Roman castle of _Bauconia_, and was made a royal palatinate under the Carlovingians. It afterwards became one of the most important free towns of the empire. It was taken in 1218 by Adalbert, archbishop of Mayence, in 1620 by the Spaniards, in 1631 by the Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus, and in 1634 by the Imperialists, suffering much upon all these occasions. In 1689 the French under Melac almost entirely destroyed it.
=Opponent.= One who oppones, or opposes; an adversary; an antagonist; a foe.
=Oppose.= To act as an adversary against another; to resist, etc. It likewise signifies to place as an obstacle.
=Oppugn.= To fight against, whether in attack, resistance, or simple opposition; to attack; to oppose; to resist.
=Oppugnant.= Tending to awaken hostility; hostile; opposing.
=Or.= In heraldry the metal gold, represented in heraldic engravings by an unlimited number of dots.
=Oran.= A seaport town of Algeria, about 220 miles west-southwest of Algiers; it is defended by strongly armed forts. The town of Oran was built by the Moors. It was taken by the Spaniards in 1509, by the Turks in 1708, and again by the Spaniards in 1732. It was taken by the French in 1831, and has since remained in their hands.
=Orb.= In tactics, is the disposing of a number of soldiers in circular form of defense. The orb has been thought of consequence enough to employ the attention of the famous Marshal de Puysegur, in his “Art of War,” who prefers this position to throw a body of infantry in an open country to resist cavalry, or even a superior force of infantry; because it is regular, and equally strong, and gives an enemy no reason to expect better success by attacking one place than another. Cæsar drew up his whole army in this form when he fought against Labienus. The whole army of the Gauls was formed into an orb, under the command of Sabinus and Cotta, when fighting against the Romans. The orb was generally formed six deep.
=Orchomenus.= A city of Bœotia, and the capital of the powerful tribe of the Minyæ, was situated near the western shore of Lake Copaic, on a hill which overlooked the windings of the Cephissus. Its original inhabitants are said to have been Thessalian emigrants, and its name was derived from Orchomenus, one of the kings of the Minyans. Homer compares its treasures to those of Egyptian Thebes, and tells us that it sent 30 ships to the Trojan war. Some time after this event it became a member of the Bœotian confederacy. During the Persian war, like the other towns of Bœotia, it abandoned the national cause. Its government was thoroughly aristocratic, and after the Peloponnesian war, when Thebes became a democracy, Orchomenus took part with Sparta, and shared in its first triumph over Thebes; but the victory of Epaminondas at Leuctra (371 B.C.) placed it at the mercy of the Thebans, who soon after destroyed it by fire, and sold its inhabitants as slaves. It was again rebuilt during the Phocian war, but was a second time destroyed in the reign of Philip of Macedon, who, however, once more rebuilt it; but it never again became prominent in history. The site is now occupied by the modern village of Skripú.
=Orchomenus.= An ancient city of Arcadia, stood in a plain surrounded by hills, which separated its territory from that of Mantinea on the south and those of Pheneus and Stymphalus on the north. Its founder is said to have been Orchumenus, the son of Lycaon, and several of its kings are said to have spread their rule over all Arcadia. During the Peloponnesian war, when its acropolis had fallen into ruins, and its last king, Pisistratus, had been murdered by an oligarchical faction, Orchomenus began to decline. About 367 B.C. three of its tributary towns were depopulated to furnish inhabitants to the newly-founded city of Megalopolis; in 313 B.C. it was taken by the Macedonian general Cassander; and ever afterwards it continued to be bandied about between different belligerent powers. At the time of Pausanias it was still inhabited, and at the present day its ruins are seen near the village of Kalpáki.
=Order.= This term, considered in its relation to the army, embraces divers subjects. It gives an idea of harmony in the accomplishment of duties; a classification of corps or men; injunctions emanating from authority; measures which regulate service, and many tactical details. In tactics, the natural order is when troops coming upon ordinary ground are ranged in line of battle by the prescribed tactical means, and when they are formed in column, right in front. The _oblique order_ is contradistinguished from the parallel, and in general means every tactical combination, the aim of which is to produce an effect upon two points of an enemy’s line by bringing a superior force to bear down on these two points. Such combinations constitute the _oblique order_, whatever manœuvres may be used to accomplish the object. The _parallel order_ operates, on the contrary, against the whole front of an enemy. Turenne and Condé fought habitually in parallel order, although they sometimes made a skillful use of oblique attacks. Guibert well says that a contiguous and regular parallel order can be of no use in war.
=Order Arms.= A word of command directing that the musket be brought down to the right side of the soldier, the butt resting on the ground.
=Order, Beating.= In the British service, is an authority given to an individual empowering him to raise men by beat of drum for any particular regiment, or for general service. It consists of a warrant which is signed by the secretary at war, or issued in his name by the adjutant-general.
=Order Book.= Every company in the service has such a book, in which orders are written for the information of officers and men. Order books are also kept at all military headquarters.
=Order, Close.= In tactics, comprehends space of about one-half pace between ranks.
=Order, Entire.= When applied to rank, means a straight line composed of half-files.
=Order, Extended.= Is preparatory to rank entire, and is frequently practiced in light infantry manœuvres. It comprehends the opening of files of a battalion or company standing two deep, so as to have just space enough for one man between each two. The battalion or company, after it has obtained all its relative distances and been halted, is fronted, and each rear rank man springs into the vacancy when the word of command is given.
=Order of Alcantara.= A Spanish military order. It was established by Ferdinand II., king of Leon and Castile, in 1170. The knights wore a green cross upon their garments. See ALCANTARA.