Part 92
=Osci=, or =Opici=. One of the most ancient tribes of Italy; they inhabited the centre of the peninsula, from which they had driven out the Siculi. Their principal settlement was in Campania, but we also find them in parts of Latium and Samnium. They were subdued by the Sabines and Tyrrhenians, and disappeared from history at a comparatively early period. They were called in their own language _Uskus_.
=Osnabruck=, or =Osnaburg=. A town in Hanover, 71 miles from Hanover. Here was concluded the peace of Westphalia in 1648.
=Ossun.= A town of France, in the department of the Upper Pyrenees, 7 miles southwest from Tarbes. A great battle was fought with the Saracens, in the 8th century, in its neighborhood.
=Ostend.= A fortified seaport town of Belgium, province of West Flanders, situated on the coast of the North Sea, 67 miles northwest from Brussels. During the war of the Dutch against Spain, Ostend sustained a memorable siege for more than three years (1601-4). So tremendous was the bombardment that the noise of the Spanish artillery is said to have been occasionally heard at London. At last, after a loss of 50,000 men on the part of the garrison, and 80,000 on that of the Spaniards, the town surrendered on honorable terms, and the Spanish general Spinola was put in possession of Ostend, now reduced to heaps of ruin. On the death of Charles II. of Spain, the French seized Ostend; but in 1706, after the battle of Ramilies, it was retaken by the allies. It was again taken by the French in 1745, but restored in 1748. In 1756 the French garrisoned this town for the empress queen Maria Theresa. In 1792 the French once more took Ostend, which they evacuated in 1793, but regained in 1794. The English destroyed the works of the Bruges Canal; but the wind shifting before they could re-embark, they surrendered to the French, May 19, 1798.
=Ostrolenka.= A town of Poland, on the Narew. Near here the French repulsed the Russians under Essen, February 16, 1807, and an indecisive and bloody engagement took place between the Poles under Skrzynecki and the Russians under Diebitsch, May 26, 1831.
=Ostrovno.= A village of Russia, in the government of Mohilev, 90 miles northwest from Mohilev. The Russians were defeated here in 1812 by the French.
=Oswego, Fort.= See FORT ONTARIO.
=Oswestry.= A town of England, in Shropshire, 15 miles northwest from Shrewsbury. Oswestry is said to derive its name (originally _Oswaldstree_) from Oswald, the king of Northumbria, who was slain here in the early part of the 7th century, in a battle fought with the ferocious Penda, king of Mercia.
=Otaheite=, or =Tahiti=. The largest of a cluster of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, that were frequently visited by Capt. Cook, and named by him the Society Islands. In 1799, King Pomare ceded the district of Matavai to some English missionaries. Queen Pomare was compelled to put herself under the protection of France, September 7, 1843. She retracted, and Otaheite and the neighboring islands were taken possession of by Admiral Dupetit-Thuars in the name of the French king, November, 1843. The French imprisoned Mr. Prichard, the English consul, March 5, 1844, but the act was censured in France.
=Otchakow.= A small town and seaport of South Russia, in the government of Kherson, 40 miles east-northeast from Odessa. During the Russian wars with Turkey in the 18th century, Otchakow was alternately the property of each, until it was taken by Potemkin in 1788, and definitively annexed to the Russian dominions.
=Otoes.= A tribe of Indians of Dakota stock who reside with the Missourias on a reservation in Nebraska. They are generally peaceful and industrious, and number with their kindred tribe about 450.
=Otomis=, or =Othomis=. An ancient tribe of Indians who are said to have inhabited the Valley of Mexico before the Aztecs. They are now scattered through different parts of the country, and having lost all tribal distinctions are become amalgamated with other Mexican races.
=Otricoli.= A town of Italy, 37 miles north of Rome. The Neapolitans were defeated by the French in its neighborhood in 1798.
=Ottawas.= A tribe of Algonkin Indians, who formerly resided on the shores of Lake Erie. They subsequently moved to Kansas, and in 1870 settled in Indian Territory, where they now prosper. They are well advanced in civilization. A number of this tribe settled in Canada, where their descendants may yet be found; some are also settled on Lake Michigan with the Chippewas.
=Otterburn= (or Chevy Chase), =Battle of=. Was fought in August, 1388; a fight which Froissart declares to have been the bravest and most chivalrous which was fought in his day. According to the ballad (named Chevy Chase) Percy vowed that he would enter Scotland and take his pleasure for three days in the woods of his rival, and slay the deer therein at will. Douglas, when he heard the vaunt, exclaimed, “Tell him he will find one day more than enough.” Accordingly, at the time of the hay harvest, Percy, with stag-hounds and archers, passed into the domains of his foe, and slew a “hundred fallow deer and harts of grice.” When the English had hastily cooked their game and were about to retire, Earl Douglas, clad in armor and heading his Scottish spears, came on the scene. Haughty challenge and defiance passed between the potentates, and the battle joined. In the centre of the fray the two leaders met. “Yield thee, Percy!” cried Douglas. “I will yield to no Scot that was ever born of a woman!” cried Percy. During this colloquy, an English arrow struck Douglas to the heart. “Fight on, my merry men!” cried he, as he died. Percy, with all the chivalrous feeling of his race, took the dead man by the hand, and vowed that he would have given all his lands to save him, for a braver knight never fell by such a chance. Sir Hugh Montgomery having seen the fall of Douglas, clapped spurs to his horse, dashed on Percy, and struck his spear through his body, a long cloth-yard and more. Although the leaders on both sides had fallen, the battle, which had begun at break of day, continued till the ringing of the curfew-bell. Scotsmen and Englishmen claim the victory. When the battle ended, representatives of every noble family on either side of the border lay on the bloody greensward.
=Oude=, or =Oudh=. A province of British India, separated on the north from Nepaul by the lower ranges of the Himalaya, whence it gradually slopes to the Ganges, which forms its boundary on the south and southwest. The people of this province are of a decidedly warlike disposition; they mainly supply the famous (or infamous) Sepoys of the Bengal army. Oude is believed by Sanscrit scholars to be the ancient Kosala, the oldest seat of civilization in India. The country was conquered by a Mohammedan army in 1195, and made a province of the Mogul empire. In 1753 the vizier of Oude, Saffdar Jung, rebelled against his imperial master, Ahmed Shah, and forced the latter to make the governorship hereditary in his family. When the mutiny of 1857 broke out, Oude became one of the great centres of rebellion. The country was subdued by the British.
=Oudenarde= (Fr. _Audenarde_). A town of Belgium, in East Flanders, 14 miles southwest from Ghent. The town was taken by the French, aided by an English force, in 1658; it was again besieged in 1674 by the stadtholder William (III. of England) of Orange; and in 1706 it was taken by Marlborough. An attempt made by the French to retake it brought on the famous battle of Oudenarde, one of Marlborough’s most celebrated victories, which was gained on July 11, 1708, with the aid of Prince Eugène, over a French army under the Duke of Burgundy and Marshal Villars. After this battle the French king made offers of peace, which were not accepted.
=Oulart= (Southeast Ireland). Here 5000 Irish insurgents attacked the king’s troops in small number, May 27, 1798. The North Cork militia, after great feats of bravery, were cut to pieces, 5 men only escaping.
=Ourique.= A town of Portugal, province of Alemtijo, 30 miles southwest of Beja. Hero Alfonso, count or duke of Portugal, is said to have encountered and signally defeated five Saracen kings and a prodigious army of Moors, July 25, 1139, and to have been hailed king on the spot. Lisbon, the capital, was taken, and he soon after was here crowned as the first king, the Moorish dominion being overthrown.
=Outbar.= To shut out by fortification.
=Outbrave.= To excel in bravery or boldness; to defy.
=Outfit.= In the British service, is the necessaries, uniform, etc., which an officer provides when he is gazetted to a regiment, or as proceeding to India. No allowance is made for an outfit, excepting in case of officers first promoted from the ranks, when £100 is granted to infantry and £150 to cavalry officers.
=Outflank.= To go beyond on the flank or side; to get the better of, as by extending one’s lines beyond or around that of one’s enemy.
=Outgeneral.= To exceed in generalship; to gain advantage over by superior military skill.
=Outguard.= A guard at a distance from the main body of an army; or a guard at the farthest distance; hence, anything for defense placed at a distance from the thing to be defended.
=Outline=, or =Tracing=. Is the succession of lines that show the figure of the works, and indicate the direction in which the defensive masses are laid out, in order to obtain a proper defense.
=Outlyers.= In the British service, formerly this term applied to men who were permitted to work, on condition that the whole of their pay was left in the hands of their captain for the time they were so employed. This sum the officer appropriated to his own use, to enable him to increase his pay and to keep a handsome table when he mounted guard. It was also a common practice to place on the muster-rolls the names of officers’ children, and instances have occurred of girls receiving men’s pay as outlyers.
=Outlying.= Lying or being at a distance from the main body; as, outlying pickets. Also, being on the exterior or frontier.
=Outmanœuvre.= To surpass in manœuvring.
=Outmarch.= To march faster than; to march so as to leave behind; as, the horse outmarched the foot.
=Outnumber.= To exceed in number; as, the French were outnumbered.
=Outpart.= At a distance from the main body.
=Out-pensioner.= A pensioner attached to a hospital, as Greenwich or Chelsea, England, who has liberty to live where he pleases.
=Outpost.= A post or station without the limits of a camp, or at a distance from the main body of an army. The troops placed at such a station.
=Outposts.= The term, _outposts_, is used at the present time to designate the particular detachments of troops and the method of arranging them, by means of which an army when in bivouac, in camp, or in cantonment, is protected _from surprise_ by an enemy.
=Outrank.= To take the precedence of, or be superior to, in rank; to rank.
=Out-sentry.= A sentry who guards the entrance or approach to a place; an outguard.
=Outside.= In fencing, that part which is to the right of the line of defense.
=Outside Guard.= A guard used with the broadsword and sabre, to defend the outside of the position.
=Outwall.= The exterior wall of a building or fortress.
=Outward Face.= A word of command for troops to face to the right and left from their centre.
=Outwing, To.= To extend the flanks of an army or line in action, so as to gain an advantageous position against the right or left wing of an enemy.
=Outworks.= In fortification, are minor defenses constructed beyond the main body of a work, for the purpose of keeping the enemy at a distance, or commanding certain salient points which it is undesirable that he should occupy. Such works are ravelins, lunettes, hornworks, crown-works, demi-lunes, tenailles, etc. They occur in certain necessary order, as a ravelin before the curtain and tenaille, a hornwork before a ravelin, and so on.
=Ovation.= See TRIUMPH.
=Ovens.= Are always provided in garrisons, so that the troops may bake their own bread. A large saving of flour is thus made, which is the most considerable element of the post fund. A brick oven large enough to bake 500 rations can be constructed in less than twenty-four hours. The cylindrical form is greatly to be preferred, as it is more easily made and requires less material than the ordinary forms. The want of brick for the arch and fireplace of ovens may be supplied in the field by two gabions of semicircular or semi-elliptical form. They are placed one above the other on the flat side, and form a cradle. The interior and exterior is plastered with clay, which must penetrate the interstices of the basket-work. The front and back parts are shut in the same manner, or with sods. The cradle is then covered with earth to retain the heat; and in order that the superincumbent weight may not cause it to give way, withes are attached to the top of the basket-work, passed vertically through the embankment, and then fastened to the longitudinal beam of a wooden horse straddled against the exterior curve. Ovens may also be made of wood or earth. To construct rapidly an earthen oven, dig a slope with a step, and on its prolongation dig the length of the oven in a trench separated from the step by a mass of earth, to be pierced later as the mouth of the oven. Then dig laterally portions of an elliptical arch so as to make the arch a given breadth. This work finished, pierce the mouth, and cover the trench with from three to five sods as arch stones, leaving a chimney-place at the bottom. Ovens for from 100 to 250 rations may be thus made. In some European armies they have very convenient portable ovens.
=Over.= Above in place, position, or authority; as, he was placed in command over Lord Monkton.
=Overcharge.= An excessive charge, as of a gun.
=Overcharge.= To fill with too much powder and ball, as a gun.
=Overcharged Mine.= A mine whose crater is wider at top than it is deep.
=Overlap.= Is to overspread any preceding object. In marching by echelon for the purpose of forming upon any given point, but particularly in wheeling from column into line, troops may lose their relative distances by not taking ground enough; when this occurs, the rear division, company, or section, unavoidably crowds upon its preceding one, and is then said to overlap.
=Overmarch.= To fatigue or wear out by too much marching.
=Overmatch.= To be too powerful for; to conquer; to subdue; to suppress by superior force. Also, one superior in power; one able to overcome.
=Overpower.= To vanquish by force; to subdue; to defeat.
=Overrun.= In a military sense, to ravage, to lay waste. A country which is harassed by incursions is said to be overrun.
=Overseer.= An officer in the ordnance department, who superintends the artificers in the construction of works, etc. He is also called a superintendent.
=Overshoot.= To shoot beyond the mark.
=Overslaugh.= To hinder or stop; as, by an overslaugh or unexpected impediment; as, to overslaugh a military officer, that is, to hinder or stop his promotion or employment by the appointment of another to his rank or duties.
=Overthrow.= Total defeat; discomfiture; rout.
=Overturn.= To overthrow; to conquer.
=Oviedo.= A town of Spain, capital of the province of the same name, 55 miles north-northwest of Leon. This city was twice plundered of its ecclesiastical and other treasures during the war of independence, first by Soult, and subsequently by Bonnet.
=Own, King’s= or =Queen’s=. A term which has been attached to some British regiments since the revolution in 1688. Thus the 4th Foot, which landed with William III., was called the 4th King’s Own.
=Owyhee=, or =Hawaii=. An island in the North Pacific Ocean, the most eastern, and by far the largest of the Sandwich Islands. It was on this island that the celebrated Capt. Cook fell a sacrifice to a misunderstanding, or sudden impulse of revenge on the part of the natives, on Sunday, February 14, 1779.
=Ox.= See BULLOCK.
=Oxford.= An ancient and famous city in England, the chief town of the county of Oxford, 55 miles west-northwest from London. The townsmen closed their gates against William the Conqueror, who stormed the town in 1067, and gave it to one of his followers, Robert d’Oyley, who built a castle here to overawe the disaffected Saxons. The paction that terminated the strife between Stephen and Henry II. was drawn up at Oxford. During the great civil war of the 17th century, it was for a while the headquarters of the royalist forces, and was conspicuous for its adherence to the cause of Charles I.
=Oxford Blues.= See HORSE GUARDS, ROYAL.
P.
=Pace= (Lat. _passus_). In its modern acceptation, is the distance, when the legs are extended in walking, between the heel of one foot and that of the other. Among disciplined men the pace becomes one of constant length, and as such is of the utmost value in determining military movements, the relative distances of corps and men being fixed by the number of paces marched, and so on. The pace varies in different countries; in the United States it is 28 inches direct step, and 33 double step; in Great Britain 30 inches direct step, and 33 double step. With the Romans the pace had a different signification; the single extension of the legs was not with them a pace (_passus_), but a step (_gradus_); their pace being the interval between the mark of a heel and the next mark of the same heel, or a double step. This pace was equivalent to 4.84 English feet.
=Pack and Draught Animals.= All animals which are used as beasts of burden and of draught, and all artillery horses are considered under this head. Taking the usual effect of a man’s daily labor as unity, a horse can carry a load on a horizontal plane 4.8 to 6.1 times, and a mule, 7.6 times greater than a man. Taking a man with a wheel-barrow as unity, a horse in a four-wheel wagon can draw 17.5, and in a cart, 24.3, and a mule in a cart, 23.3 times greater burden. On account of the peculiar build of a mule he is a superior pack-animal to the horse. There are from 91 to 130 draught horses required for a field-battery; for siege-train about 1900 (see SIEGE-TRAIN); and 8 for a siege-gun. The load allotted to a light artillery horse is 700 pounds; to a heavy field artillery horse, 800 pounds; and to a siege artillery horse, 1000 pounds, including weight of carriages. It is less than that drawn by a horse of commerce, in consequence of bad roads, bad forage, rapid movements, and forced marches. A team of four horses can draw, with useful effect, including the weight of carriage, 2400 pounds; six horses, 3000 pounds; eight horses, 3600 pounds; and twelve horses, 4800 pounds. It is usual to estimate the weight of a carriage exceeding 1200 pounds as part of the load. A pack-horse can carry 250 to 300 pounds 20 miles a day; and a draught horse, 1600 pounds 23 miles a day, weight of carriage included. Usually a horse can draw seven times as much as he can carry. An ordinary march is about 15 miles at 2¹⁄₂ miles per hour for six hours; this must depend upon the condition of the horses, state of the roads, and various other circumstances. Horses starting fresh, and resting after their work, may, on tolerable roads, perform 2 miles in half an hour; 4 miles in one and a half hours; 8 in four, and 16 in ten hours. The daily allowance of water for a horse is four gallons. For the daily ration of forage supplied to animals in the U. S. service, see FORAGE. An army requires to be accompanied by several thousand pack-animals, sometimes horses, but preferably mules; and in Asia, commonly camels, or even elephants. In battle, the immediate reserves of small-arm ammunition are borne in the rear of divisions by pack-animals; the heavy reserves being in wagons between the army and its base of operations.
_Buffalo._--An animal of the ox tribe, very important and useful to man. It is a native of the East Indies, where it has long been domesticated, and from which it was carried to Egypt and the south of Europe. It was introduced into Italy about the close of the 6th century A.D., is now very generally used as a beast of draught and of burden in that country, as it is also in India; it is also used in the latter country by the military as a beast of burden.
_Bullock._--This beast is admirable for slow draught, especially over rough roads, or through forests, or other places where there are no roads at all. Bullocks stand fire better than any other animals, and used to be employed in India for draught in field-batteries. They must not be hurried; their ordinary pace is from 2 to 2¹⁄₂ miles an hour. If used over hard roads, they require shoeing. They want but little care, and thrive well on poor food. They attain their prime at six years, age to be known by annular swelling on horns, allowing three years for first ring, and one for each of the others. They are used in many parts of India as pack-animals, when they carry a load of 200 pounds.
_Camels._--These animals are used in East India from three to sixteen years of age; about 7 feet high (to top of hump), about 8 feet long from nose to tail; pace about 2 miles an hour, kept up steadily for the longest marches; load for work on service about 400 to 450 pounds. They thrive well upon leaves of trees, and can go without water longer than any other animal. During temporary halts the laden camel can kneel down and rest. They are admirably adapted for carrying long articles, such as scaling-ladders, pontons, etc. The camel is at home in the desert and works well in the plains of India; it is unsuited for hilly countries. After rain in clay soil, and over rocks and stony places, they split up and are consequently useless there. They are good for fording rivers that are deep but not rapid, and where the bottom of the river is shifting sand, the passage of a number of camels over it renders it hard and firm. The average weight of the camel is about 1170 pounds.
_Elephant._--A gigantic animal of the order _Proboscidea_, is the largest and heaviest of existing quadrupeds, and is celebrated for sagacity and docility. The ancient Carthaginians and other nations employed elephants in war, not only as beasts of burden but as combatants. These animals formed part of the army which Hannibal led across the Alps, and they are said to have decided the victory at the battle of Trebia. For a long period the elephant was as important an arm of war as the artillery of modern nations. Seleucus is said to have had more than 100 elephants at the battle of Ipsus. The elephant is the king of beasts of burden, becoming fit for work at twenty years of age, and lasting well to fifty and even sixty years of age. The load for steady work varies from 1680 to 2240 pounds exclusive of the pad; pace from 3 to 3¹⁄₂ miles an hour; when laden can keep up well with infantry in their daily marches; full grown his height is from 10 feet to 11 feet; is most tractable in disposition, is invaluable during marches in countries flooded by rain for extricating carts, guns, and wagons that have stuck in the mud. They are now used in India for the draught of guns in siege-trains; before such guns are taken under fire it is necessary to have the elephants taken out and replaced by bullocks, as the former cannot be made to stand fire. The average weight of an elephant in India is about 6600 pounds. They are often used in hilly countries to carry mountain guns on their back.