A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer. Thomas Wilhelm
(now Azio). A town of ancient Greece in Arcanania, near the entrance of the Ambracian Gulf. It became famous for the great naval engagement fought near here in 31 B.C. between Octavius and Antony, in which the former was victorious.
Active Service. Duty against an enemy; operations in his presence. Or in the present day it denotes serving on full pay, on the active list, in contradistinction to those who are virtually retired, and placed on the retired list.
Activity. In a military sense, denotes attention, labor, diligence, and study.
Acto, or Acton. A kind of defensive tunic, made of quilted leather or other strong material, formerly worn under the outer dress and even under a coat of mail.
Act of Grace. In Great Britain, an act of Parliament for a general and free pardon to deserters from the service and others.
Actuarius. A name given by the Romans to officers charged with the supplying of provisions to troops.
Adacted. Applies to stakes, or piles, driven into the earth by large malls shod with iron, as in securing ramparts or pontons.
Adda. A stream in Italy. The Romans defeated the Gauls on its banks in 223 B.C.
Addiscombe Seminary. An institution near Croydon, Surrey, England, for the education of young gentlemen intended for the military service of the East India Company; closed in 1861.
Aden. A free port on the southwest corner of Arabia. It was captured by England in 1839, and is now used as a coal depot for Indian steamers.
Aderbaidjan (Fr.). A mountainous province of Persia, celebrated for raising the finest horses in the province for army purposes.
Adige (anc. Athesis). A river in Northern Italy formed by numberless streamlets from the Helvetian Alps. In 563 the Romans defeated the Goths and Franks on its banks. Gen. Massena crossed it in 1806.
Adis. A city in Africa. Xantippe, chief of the Carthaginians, defeated under its walls the Romans commanded by Regulus.
Adit. A passage under ground by which miners approach the part they intend to sap.
Adjeighur. A fortress in Bundelcund, which was captured in 1809 by a force under the command of Col. Gabriel Martindell.
Adjourn. To suspend business for a time, as from one day to another; said of military courts. Adjournment without day (sine die), indefinite postponement.
Adjutant (from adjuvo, “to help”). A regimental staff-officer with the rank of lieutenant, appointed by the regimental commander to assist him in the execution of all the details of the regiment or post. He is the channel of official communication. It is his duty to attend daily on the commanding officer for orders or instructions of any kind that are to be issued to the command, and promulgate the same in writing after making a complete record thereof. He has charge of the books, files, and men of the headquarters; keeps the rosters; parades and inspects all escorts, guards, and other armed parties previous to their proceeding on duty. He should be competent to instruct a regiment in every part of the field exercise, should understand the internal economy of his corps, and should notice every irregularity or deviation from the established rules or regulations. He should, of course, be an officer of experience, and should be selected with reference to special fitness, as so much depends upon his manner and thoughtfulness in the exercise of the various and important duties imposed upon him. Unexceptionable deportment is especially becoming to the adjutant.
Adjutant-General. An officer of distinction selected to assist the general of an army in all his operations. The principal staff-officer of the U. S. army. The principal staff-officers of generals of lower rank are called assistant adjutant-generals.
Adjutant-General’s Department. In the United States, consists of 1 adjutant-general with the rank of brigadier-general; 2 assistant adjutant-generals, colonels; 4 lieutenant-colonels, and 10 majors; also about 400 enlisted clerks and messengers. The officers are generally on duty with general officers who command corps, divisions, departments, etc. “They shall also perform the duties of inspectors when circumstances require it.” The lowest grades must be selected from the captains of the army.
Administration. Conduct, management; in military affairs, the execution of the duties of an office.
Administration, Council of. A board of officers periodically assembled at a post for the administration of certain business.
Admissions. In a military sense, the judge-advocate is authorized when he sees proper to admit what a prisoner expects to prove by absent witnesses.
Adobe (Sp.). An unburnt brick, dried in the sun, made from earth of a loamy character, containing about two-thirds fine sand mixed intimately with one-third or less of clayey dust or fine sand.
Adour. A river in the southwest of France, which Lord Wellington, after driving the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte across the Pyrenees, passed in the face of all opposition, on the 26th of February, 1814.
Adrana. A river in Germany, at present called Eder. Germanicus defeated the Germans on its bank in 15.
Adrianople. A Turkish city named after the Emperor Adrian; unsuccessfully besieged by the Goths in the 4th century; the army of Murad I. took the city in 1361; unconditionally surrendered to the Russians in August, 1829; peace was declared in this city between Russia and Turkey, September 14, 1829, and the city relinquished to the Turks.
Adrumetum, or Hadrumetum. An ancient African city, now in ruins, situated on the Mediterranean, southeast from Carthage. The Moors took this city from the Romans in 549, but it was retaken soon after by a priest named Paul.
Advance. Before in place, or beforehand in time; used for advanced; as, advance-guard, or that before the main guard or body of an army; to move forward.
Advanced Covered Way. Is a terre plein on the exterior of the advanced ditch, similar to the first covered way.
Advanced Ditch. Is an excavation beyond the glacis of the enceinte, having its surface on the prolongation of that slope, that an enemy may find no shelter when in the ditch.
Advanced Guard. A detachment of troops which precedes the march of the main body.
Advanced Guard Equipage. See Pontons.
Advanced Lunettes. Works resembling bastions or ravelins, having faces or flanks. They are formed upon or beyond the glacis.
Advanced Works. Are such as are constructed beyond the covered way and glacis, but within range of the musketry of the main works.
Advancement. In a military sense, signifies honor, promotion, or preferment in the army, regiment, or company.
Advantage Ground. That ground which affords the greatest facility for annoyance or resistance.
Adversary. Generally applied to an enemy, but strictly an opponent in single combat.
Advising to Desert. Punishable with death or otherwise, as a court-martial may direct. See Appendix, Articles of War, 51.
Advocate, Judge-. See Judge-Advocate.
Adynati. Ancient name for invalid soldiers receiving pension from the public treasury.
Ægide (Æges). A name, according to Homer, for a protecting covering wound around the left arm in the absence of a shield; used