A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer. Thomas Wilhelm
viz.: Absent with leave, such as officers with permission, or enlisted men on furlough. Absent without leave; men who desert are sometimes reported absent without leave, to bring their crimes under cognizance of regimental, garrison, or field-officers’ courts; thus, under mitigating circumstances, trial by general court-martial is avoided. Absence without leave entails forfeiture of pay during such absence, unless it is excused as unavoidable. An officer absent without leave for three months may be dropped from the rolls of the army by the President, and is not eligible to reappointment.
Absolute Force of Gunpowder. Is measured by the pressure it exerts on its environment when it exactly fills the space in which it is fired. Various attempts have been made to determine this force experimentally with widely different results. Robins estimated the pressure on the square inch at 1000 atmospheres, Hutton at 1800, and Count Rumford as high as 100,000 atmospheres. While Rodman, by experiments upon strong cast-iron shells, verified the accuracy of Rumford’s formulas, he found that his estimate of the force was greatly in error. According to Rodman the pressure is approximately 14,000 atmospheres. Dr. Woodbridge, another American philosopher and inventor, has shown that, fired in small quantities, the force of gunpowder does not exceed 6200 atmospheres. This agrees closely with the conclusion arrived at by the English “Committee on Explosives,” 1875, who found that even in large guns the force did not exceed 42 tons.
Absorokas. A tribe of North American Indians. See Crows.
Absterdam Projectile. See Projectile.
Abydus. An ancient city of Mysia on the Hellespont nearly opposite Sestus on the European shore. Near this town Xerxes placed the bridge of boats by which his troops were conveyed across the channel to the town of Sestus, 480 B.C.
Abyssinia. A country of Eastern Africa, forming an elevated table-land and containing many fertile valleys. Theodore II., the king of this country, having maltreated and imprisoned some English subjects, an expedition under Lord Napier was sent against him from Bombay in 1867. On April 14, 1868, the mountain fortress of Magdala was stormed and taken with but little trouble, and Theodore was found dead on the hill, having killed himself. The country is at present governed by Emperor John of Ethiopia, who was crowned in 1872.
Academies, Military. See Military Academies.
Accelerator. A cannon in which several charges are successively fired to give an increasing velocity to the projectile while moving in the bore. See Multi-charge Gun.
Accessible. Easy of access or approach. A place or fort is said to be accessible when it can be approached with a hostile force by land or sea.
Accintus. A word in ancient times signifying the complete accoutrements of a soldier.
Accolade. The ceremonious act of conferring knighthood in ancient times. It consisted of an embrace and gentle blow with the sword on the shoulder of the person on whom the honor of knighthood was being conferred.
Accord. The conditions under which a fortress or command of troops is surrendered.
Accoutre. To furnish with accoutrements.
Accoutrements. Dress, equipage, trappings. Specifically, the equipments of a soldier, except arms and clothing.
Accused. In a military sense, the designation of one who is arraigned before a military court.
Acerræ (now Acera). A city in the kingdom of Naples, taken and burned by Hannibal in 216 B.C. In 90 B.C. the Romans defeated under its walls the allied rebels commanded by Papius.
Acerræ. A city of the Gauls, taken by Marcellus in 222 B.C.
Achæan League. A confederacy which existed from very early times among the twelve states of the province of Achaia, in the north of the Peloponnesus. It was broken up after the death of Alexander the Great, but was set on foot again by some of the original cities, 280 B.C., the epoch of its rise into great historical importance; for from this time it gained strength, and finally spread over the whole Peloponnesus, though not without much opposition, principally on the part of Lacedæmon. It was finally dissolved by the Romans, on the event of the capture of Corinth by Mummius, 147 B.C. The two most celebrated leaders of this league were Aratus, the principal instrument of its early aggrandizement, and Philopœmen, the contemporary and rival, in military reputation, of Scipio and Hannibal.
Achern. A city in the grand duchy of Baden, on the river Acher. Near this place a monument marks the spot where Marshal Turenne was killed by a random shot in 1675.
Acheron. A small stream in ancient Bruttium. In 330 B.C., Alexander, king of Epirus, was killed while crossing it.
Acinaces. A short sword used by the Persians.
Aclides. In Roman antiquity, a kind of missile weapon with a thong fixed to it whereby it might be drawn back again.
Acoluthi. In military antiquity, was a title given in the Grecian empire to the captain or commander of the body-guards appointed for the security of the emperor’s palace.
Aconite. A poisonous plant. Several ancient races poisoned their arrows with an extract from this plant.
Acontium. In Grecian antiquity, a kind of dart or javelin resembling the Roman spiculum.
Acquereaux (Fr.). A machine of war, which was used in the Middle Ages to throw stones.
Acqui. A walled town of the Sardinian states on the river Bormida in the division of Alessandria. It was taken by the Spaniards in 1745, retaken by the Piedmontese in 1746; it was dismantled by the French, who defeated the Austrians and Piedmontese here in 1794.
Acquit. To release or set free from an obligation, accusation, guilt, censure, suspicion, or whatever devolves upon a person as a charge or duty; as, the court acquits the accused. This word has also the reflexive signification of “to bear, or conduct one’s self;” as, the soldier acquitted himself well in battle.
Acquittance Roll. In the British service, a roll containing the names of the men of each troop or company or regiment, showing the debts and credits, with the signature of each man, and certificate of the officer commanding it.
Acre, or St. Jean d’Acre. A seaport town of Palestine (in ancient times the celebrated city of Ptolemais), which was the scene of many sieges. It was last stormed and taken by the British in 1840. Acre was gallantly defended by Djezzar Pacha against Bonaparte in July, 1798, till relieved by Sir Smith, who resisted twelve attempts by the French, between March 16 and May 20, 1799.
Acre, or Acre-fight. An old duel fought by warriors between the frontiers of England and Scotland, with sword and lance. This dueling was also called camp-fight.
Acrobalistes (Fr.). A name given by the ancients to warlike races, such as the Parthians and Armenians, who shot arrows from a long distance.
Acropolis. In ancient Greece, the name given to the citadel or fortress of a city, usually built on the summit of a hill. The most celebrated was that of Athens, remains of which still exist.
Acs. A village in Hungary on the right bank of the Danube, noted as the scene of several battles in the Hungarian revolution, that of August 3, 1849, being the most important.
Acting Assistant Surgeons. See Surgeons, Acting Assistant.
Action. An engagement between two armies, or bodies of troops. The word is likewise used to signify some memorable act done by an officer, soldier, detachment, or party.
Actium