A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer. Thomas Wilhelm
appropriate obstacles or facilities for an army acting on the offensive or defensive. An army is said to have an imposing aspect, when it appears stronger than it really is. This appearance is often assumed for the purpose of deceiving an enemy, and may not improperly be considered as a principal ruse de guerre, or feint in war.
Aspern, Great. A town near the Danube and Vienna, where a series of desperate conflicts took place between the Austrian army under the Archduke Charles, and the French under Napoleon, Massena, etc., on May 21–22, 1809, ending in the retreat of Napoleon on May 22. The loss of the former exceeded 20,000 men, and of the latter 30,000. The daring Marshal Lannes was mortally wounded on May 22, and died May 31. The bridge of the Danube was destroyed and Napoleon’s retreat endangered; but the success of the Austrians had no beneficial effect on the subsequent prosecution of the war.
Aspic (Fr.). An ancient piece of ordnance which carried a 12-pound shot; the piece itself was 11 feet long, and weighed 4250 pounds.
Aspis. A large, round, or oblong shield which was used by the heavy infantry of the ancient Grecians.
Aspromonte (Naples). Here Garibaldi was defeated, wounded, and taken prisoner, August 29, 1862, having injudiciously risen against the French occupation of Rome.
Assagai, or Assegai. An instrument of warfare among the Kaffirs.
Assail. To attack with violence, or in a hostile manner; to assault, etc. See Attack.
Assailable. Capable of being assailed, attacked, or invaded.
Assas-Bachi. A superior officer of janissaries, who was also administrator of the police department in Constantinople, and presided over public executions.
Assassins, or Assassinians. Fanatical Mohammedans, collected by Hassan-ben-Sabah, and settled in Persia about 1090. In Syria they possessed a large tract of land among the mountains of Lebanon. They murdered the Marquis of Montferrat in 1192, Louis of Bavaria in 1213, and the Khan of Tartary in 1254. They were extirpated in Persia about 1258, and in Syria about 1272. The chief of the corps was named “Old Man of the Mountain.” They trained up young people to assassinate such persons as their chief had devoted to destruction. From them the word assassin has been derived.
Assault. A furious but regulated effort to carry a fortified post, camp, or fortress by personal attack, uncovered and unsupported. While an assault during a siege continues, the batteries of the besiegers cease, lest the attacking party should be injured. The party which leads the assault is sometimes called “the forlorn hope.”
Assaye. A small town in the province of Bahar, in the Deccan, celebrated for a battle fought in 1803, between the British army, 4500 strong, under the Duke of Wellington, then Gen. Wellesley, and the confederated armies of India, numbering 50,000 troops; the latter were completely routed, leaving 1200 dead on the field, with nearly the whole of their artillery. Such was the battle of Assaye, which established the fame of the greatest commander of the age, and fixed the dominion of Britain over prostrate India.
Asseerghur. A strong hill fortress, situated about 12 miles northerly and easterly from Burhampoor, India. It was taken from the Mahrattas by the British on two occasions; the first time in 1803, and finally in 1819.
Asseguay. The knife-dagger used in the Levant.
Assembly. A beat of the drum or sound of the bugle as a signal to troops to assemble.
Assens. A maritime town of Denmark on the island of Funen; here Christian III. defeated his insurgent subjects in 1535.
Asser. An instrument of warfare used by the Romans on their war ships; it consisted of a heavy pole with an iron head, and was used as a battering-ram against hostile ships. Other authorities assert that it was used to destroy the rigging only.
Assessment of Damages. In the English army, is the determination by a committee of officers of the value of the injury done to the barracks each month, in order that stoppages in liquidation may be made from men who have committed the damage.
Assidui Milites. Roman soldiers who served in the army without receiving pay.
Assignment. If, upon marches, guards, or in quarters, different corps of the army shall happen to join or do duty together, the officer highest in rank of the line of the army, marine corps, or militia, by commission, there on duty or in quarters, shall command the whole, and give orders for what is needful to the service, unless otherwise specially directed by the President of the United States, according to the nature of the case. See Appendix, Articles of War, 122.
Assignment of Pay. By a non-commissioned officer or private, previous to discharge, is invalid. A transfer subsequent to the discharge is valid.
Assinaries, or Assinaires. Festivals which were instituted at Syracuse, in commemoration of the destruction of the Athenian fleet commanded by Nicias and Demosthenes.
Assinarus (now Falunara). A small river in Sicily, near which the army of Nicias and Demosthenes was defeated 413 B.C.
Assistant. In the English army, is the third grade in any particular branch of the staff, such as the quartermaster-general’s or adjutant-general’s. After the principal comes the deputy and then the assistant. In the United States it is the second grade in the staff branches of the army.
Assyria. A name which is usually appropriated to the first of what are known as the four great empires of the world, but which in geography nearly corresponds with the modern Koordistan. Its capital was Nineveh, of which the ancient ruins may still be traced. In 625 B.C., Nineveh was destroyed by Cyaxares the Mede, and Assyria became a province of Media.
Astapa (now Estepa). A city in the province of Seville, Spain; it was besieged by the Romans under Marius; the besieged slew their women and children and allowed themselves to be cut down to a man before they would surrender to the Romans.
Asta-Regia. A city of Spain (now in ruins); near here the prætor Caius Atinius gained a victory over the ancient Lusitanians, in 186 B.C.
Asti, or Asta. A city in Piedmont, Italy. Chevert took its fortress in 1745.
Astorga (anc. Asturica Augusta). A city in Spain, which was taken by the French in 1810.
Astragal and Fillets. Are the mouldings at the front end of the chase, used in the ornamental work of ordnance.
Astrakhan (Southeast Russia). Capital of a province of the same name; it was captured by the Russians in 1554; besieged by the Turks in 1569, who were defeated with great slaughter; seized by the rebel Stenko Razin in 1670, who was soon dispossessed of it by his uncle Jacolof. The province was visited and settled by Peter the Great in 1722.
Astrolabe. An instrument for observing the position of the stars, now disused. A graduated ring with sights for taking altitudes at sea was also formerly so called.
Asturias. An ancient principality in Northwest Spain. Here Pelayo collected the Gothic fugitives, about 713, founded a new kingdom, and by his victories checked Moorish conquests. In 1808 the junta of Asturias began the organized resistance to the French usurpation.
Asylum, Royal Military. A benevolent institution erected at Chelsea, Middlesex, England, for the reception and education of the children of soldiers of the regular army. The first stone was laid by the Duke of York, June 19, 1801. The direction and control of the institution are placed in the hands of commissioners appointed by her majesty, the principals of which are the commander-in-chief, the secretary